Date: Tue, 25 May 1999
Some Reasons to Support the Gateway Greens . . .
Dear Green or Greenish friend,You've seen the Greens local newsletter, the Compost-Dispatch. You've seen Synthesis/Regeneration, the national Green magazine produced by the Gateway Greens in St. Louis.
But have you visited the new Gateway Green Center (6101 Delmar at Rosedale) and seen the genetic engineering display? Have you heard radio broadcasts of the GGAs efforts to have Webster Groves endorse the labeling of genetically altered food? Did you come to Grassroots Earth Day, a celebration initiated by the Gateway Greens without polluter funding? Have you seen "Green Time," St. Louis only environmental cable TV show, which is produced by Gateway Greens?
The Gateway Green Alliance must raise over $1000 per month to continue these efforts. The most important source of income is memberships from people concerned with the environment and social justice. Please look closely at the address label on the envelope. If it has a red "X," the GGA needs to receive your dues in order to continue sending you the Compost-Dispatch and Synthesis/Regeneration. If there is no red "X," we still hope you can send a donation.
Though the most visible recent work of the GGA has been on genetic engineering, we have devoted efforts to a wide range of areas since 1990:
- 1990 The Gateway Green Alliance (GGA) began the Compost-Dispatch and the Greens n Beans buying club, which still allows members to purchase organic dry goods at low cost.
- 1991 The GGA launched a citizens revolt against plans to build a dioxin incinerator in Times Beach and organized a conference on hazardous waste in Eureka. Though the burner was built, citizen vigilance resulted in its being dismantled in 1997, rather than being converted into a permanent waste facility as many feared it would be.
- 1992 GGA members were active in efforts to protect the Shawnee National Forest from clear cuts, oppose the release of radioactive water into the Missouri River, and preserve Forest Park.
- 1993 The GGA was the environmental wing of the coalition to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which also included labor, farm, peace, social justice, student and religious groups. Work with Washington County residents trying to prevent groundwater contamination led to Greens organizing a conference on landfills.
- 1994 Gateway Greens hosted the Second Citizens Conference on Dioxin to coordinate campaigns to combat organochlorines. When the Hospital Association moved to construct a medical waste incinerator in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, a mixed-race, low income community, the GGA provided the neighborhood with the information needed to defeat it.
- 1995 The GGA started a successful coalition effort to persuade the County Council to pass a law prohibiting dioxin incinerators which failed EPA guidelines. The Compost-Dispatch was the first publication to expose the existence of PCBs in soil to be burned at Times Beach. The Greens published Dioxin: The Orange Resource Book, a citizens handbook on defending communities from incinerator operators and other polluters.
- 1996 The GGA joined with others to initiate legal action to block the Times Beach incinerator. Greens led the opposition to the planned transportation of irradiated fuel rods through Missouri and began St. Louis' only environmental cable TV show, "Green Time."
- 1997 Greens marched to keep Regional Hospital open, helped defeat a proposed golf course which would have driven hundreds of black St. Louisans from their near north side homes, and hosted programs exposing the link between lead mining and lead poisoning. Gateway Greens organized the Global Days of Action Against Genetic Engineering in St. Louis.
- 1998 The Gateway Greens hosted the First Grassroots Gathering on Biodevastation: Genetic Engineering which brought together hundreds of activists and scholars from seven countries. The GGA organized the first coalition Earth Day in St. Louis free of corporate polluters.
- 1999 The GGA opened the Gateway Green Center, which features St. Louis' only display on dangers of genetic engineering. The Greens intensified efforts for a Webster Groves resolution urging the labeling of genetically altered food. "Green Time" received the award for the "Best Informational Show" from Double Helix TV.
Please join our efforts. In addition to supporting the GGA financially, we hope that you come to Green events on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons at the Gateway Green Center.
Solidarity,
Barbara Chicherio
Treasurer, Gateway Green Alliance, 314-727-8554