25-30 million real trees are brought into people's homes for the holidays in the United States alone, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. Don't let yours be one that ends up in a landfill where it decomposes to create harmful “landfill gas;” a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.
Recycle them instead, and give them back to the environment! Bringing our trees to the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility’s (RDF aka “Dump”) compost area, ensures that they find their way back into the soil. The RDF actually encourages it, asking we just make sure to remove all tree decorations – including ornaments, tinsel and garlands – and the stand, or anything else that may be attached to the tree. In addition, Wellesley’s Natural Resources Commission reminds residents to dispose of holiday greenery responsibly. Dumping them in parks and conservation areas might seem like returning nature to nature, but it’s actually illegal. As environmentally conscious townspeople and educated consumers, it is our responsibility to know where and how our tree is being properly disposed of. If taking a trip to the RDF is not in your future, time is not in your favor, or if roof scratching, messy tree needles aren’t your thing, let some WHS graduates take your tree to the dump for you for a nominal fee. Start your “no pollution” New Year's resolution by getting your tree to the RDF to return to the earth. This holiday season there are many ways you can do your part for the planet including shopping local and buying pre-loved items.
Some Wellesley options include:
There are up-cycled items in and around town too. Please share with us your favorite, "kinder to the planet" gifts so we can let others know too. Here are some beautiful, pre-loved inspiring gift wraps too. Happy Holidays! Join Newton students on Sunday, December 6 from 4-5pm for a pre-holiday Zoom discussion about ways to have a sustainable holiday season. The program will include gift ideas, trivia questions and easy steps to make an environmental difference. Please register in advance for this webinar.
Presentation topics include:
Wellesley’s Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF) wants your clean, recycled newspaper and cardboard. The RDF is urging residents to step up their recycling, or start recycling these high demand products.
Keeping our newspapers and cardboard out of landfills not only helps the environment, but domestic and international buyers are paying good money for Wellesley’s high quality, separated, recycled paper products. To learn more about recycling at the RDF visit the Town of Wellesley website. We get inspired by others.
We are sure you are doing something cool and we want to hear about it. Let us know some climate friendly act --big or small -- that you, your family member, friend, or neighbor is doing. For example,
Please email us at info@sustinablewellesley.com and share your story. We can make a difference learning from one another. We cant wait to hear from you! A freshman at Babson College is working on revamping Babson's Climate Action and Sustainability Plan. She is looking for petition signatories to help gain momentum in the process.
The petition states: "Babson has been recognized as the #1 school for entrepreneurship for the past 20 years by U.S. News. As much of an accomplishment this is, it is evident that sustainability initiatives have not been at the forefront of operations within the College. As a school that embodies the principles of Entrepreneurial Thought & Action™, we must lead by example. Environmental sustainability must take priority in Babson’s teaching, research, operations, and facilities. Babson will be called upon to cultivate entrepreneurial and business-relevant scholarly work, build stronger, collaborative relationships with community stakeholders, and drive their own operations towards less waste and more efficient use of resources; they fulfill our mission as a top-tier college. Babson will need to assume greater responsibility at the local, regional, and global level. As a top private business school, Babson is uniquely positioned to have a meaningful impact in the field to create and implement groundbreaking solutions on an international stage. It has been recognized within and beyond the Babson community that the College is lagging behind many peer institutions in implementing sustainability practices and that the school lacks a comprehensive sustainability strategy. Unfortunately, the last Climate Action Plan was developed in 2011, and most of the benchmarks stated in this document have not been reached within the past decade. Please sign this petition to show your support throughout the development process of a new Sustainability Action Plan so we can take advantage of our institutional strengths and commitment to social innovation. You are encouraged to put a testimony as to why you are signing and why you find this cause important! If you have any questions or want to get involved in the process, please email egokcigdem1@babson.edu" The Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (MLP) is showing itself to be a thought leader in it's approach to the procurement of energy. Last year, it was given the opportunity to enter an energy buying contract with the proposed Palmer Renewable Energy biomass plant in Springfield. This plant, not yet in operation, would be the first major commercial wood-burning power plant in the state.
At a time when municipal light plants seek alternatives to fossil fuels, the Palmer plant first appeared to offer an opportunity to meet energy needs more sustainably. The MLPs of Reading, Braintree, Norwood, Danvers, and Taunton are some of the municipal light plant towns lured into entering 20-year contracts to purchase power from this allegedly “green” power plant. The Wellesley MLP, however, noted the carbon emissions, particulate and chemical pollution, and the environmental injustice concerns regarding the plant, and looked elsewhere for renewable energy opportunities. An October 20, 2020 article in The Boston Globe entitled ‘In the Nation’s Asthma Capital, Plans to Burn Wood for Energy Spark Fury’ notes that residents and city councilors in Springfield have been fighting construction of the plant for over a decade, citing health concerns in a city that the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has already listed as the “asthma capital of the nation” because of existing industrial pollution. Not only do Springfield residents, half of whom are minorities, suffer from a higher rate of asthma than in other cities, but a quarter live under the poverty level. The Baker administration has pushed to weaken the rules for biomass energy to qualify as “renewable” under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, allowing for rate-payer funded subsidies, potentially in the millions, to go to the Palmer plant, which is currently ineligible for these subsidies. Hundreds of Springfield residents, grassroots advocates, environmental organizations, health advocates, local officials and scientists spoke out at public hearings opposing these regulations, and over 100 groups signed on to written comments. Attorney General Maura Healy called Baker’s proposed rule change a “step backward” in addressing climate change. A state-commissioned study in 2010 by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences found that biomass “generally emits more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels per unit of energy produced.” The study also found that large biomass plants are likely to produce much greater particulate and chemical pollution than coal and natural gas plants. In the closing days of July, the Massachusetts House of Representatives rushed through language in it's 2050 Climate Roadmap Bill – a broad package of climate proposals – that defines large-scale biomass power plants as “non-carbon emitting energy” sources. The Senate version - the Next Generation Climate Bill - contains no such loophole; Palmer is projected to emit nearly one ton of carbon dioxide per minute. A conference committee with three members each from the House and Senate will decide the ultimate fate of this legislation. Just last week, the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act Implementation Advisory Committee issued a recommendation that biomass be removed from eligibility in the state’s RPS and other clean energy programs by 2022. “During my 20 years in Town I’ve always been impressed with how much importance the Wellesley community as a whole has placed on the impact their decisions have on other towns and cities,” said WMLP Director, Don Newell. “The Municipal Light Board’s decision not to purchase electricity from a wood burning, biomass plant is reflective of the entire community’s thoughtful consideration of others. Given the premium we place on renewable energy and fuel diversification this wasn’t an easy decision but the Light Board made the correct one.” Do Your Part - Stop burning wood to be labeled as non-carbon emitting by MA state legislature The Conference committee that is conferencing two climate bills is considering adding the House’s definition of wood burning as “non-carbon emitting” to our state laws to allow wood burning to receive state incentives for making electricity. Wood burning is dirtier than coal. You can sign this petition, and contact your legislators to demand they contact the Conference Committee Chairs Senator Barrett and Rep. Golden and tell them to not classify wood burning as “non-carbon emitting.” For draft language from the Sierra Club, and conference committee contact names, click here. Call to Action on Potential MBTA Service Cuts
NEWS FROM THE SIERRA CLUB: The Sierra Club has joined over 30 organizations in calling on the T to make no permanent or long-term decisions regarding potential service cuts before the legislature concludes the session, prioritize a means tested fare program to make transit affordable for those who need it the most, and ensure that critical transformative capital investments move forward. Read the joint statement here. Click here and here for more information about the service cuts. But most importantly, Please tell the T how service cuts will impact your life by providing public comments at the Board meeting on Nov 9. Dear Community Members,
On August 31st, Wellesley’s Select Board voted to amend the Town’s Traffic Regulations to include an Anti-Idling violation. This violation, which has a $15 fine, mirrors the state anti-idling violation, which has a $100 fine. Specifically, the regulation states that no person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the unnecessary operation of the engine of a motor vehicle while the vehicle is stopped for a foreseeable period of time in excess of five minutes, upon any way. In partnership with the Sustainable Energy Committee and Sustainable Wellesley, I requested this new Traffic Regulation amendment as an alternative to officers giving out the $100 citation. This new traffic regulation gives Wellesley officers the option to issue a warning, a $15 ticket, or as mentioned a $100 citation when they encounter someone leaving their vehicle running for over 5 minutes. In the days and months to come, increased enforcement of the anti-idling law by Wellesley police officers will take place. Look for Wellesley Police officers at the schools’ drop-off and pick-up lines, in front of frequently visited restaurants and businesses, and other locations in Town. The goal is to educate and remind Wellesley citizens about the energy waste, harm to our environment and adverse health issues caused when individuals needlessly leave their vehicles running for a lengthy time. Some facts to consider before you leave your car running:
Please help us in this very important effort by complying with the law. Not idling is a choice, and choosing not to idle is better for your car, saves gasoline and helps reduce emissions that cause global warming. It is one of the simplest and most effortless things we can do to help our environment and our health, not to mention saving you money and a possible ticket. Sincerely, Chief Jack Pilecki Wellesley Police Department This was the topic at the Sept. 30th Green Collaborative meeting. Thanks to the 3R Working Group who hosted the well attended Wa$te Wi$e Welle$ley zoom meeting.
If you missed it you can watch it here. You will hear from speakers Jamie Manzolini, Superintendent of Wellesley RDF; Kirstie Pecci, Director of the Zero Waste Project and a Senior Fellow at Conservation Law Foundation who focuses on waste reduction and zero waste solutions; and Chris Beling a Member of the Assistance and Pollution Prevention Unit in the Office of Environmental Stewardship of the EPA who has worked on food waste issues for over 25 years. These interesting and knowledgable speakers discussed the growing waste problem and the number of challenges recycling is facing. The current scale and pace of waste generation is unsustainable. Municipal solid waste (MSW) includes disposed of items from homes, schools, and businesses such as furniture, mattresses, clothing, food scraps and appliances. Between 1990 and 2017 total municipal solid waste in the US increased by nearly 30% to about 268 million tons. Food waste comprises about 15% of total MSW. Americans discard an estimated 40 million tons of food every year which equates to 80 billion pounds of food. The manufacture and use of products, as well as the management of resulting waste via landfills and incinerators, create greenhouse gas emissions thereby contributing to climate change. Landfills and incinerators also release toxic chemicals. Toxins make their way into air, land and water for uptake into plants, animals and humans. Toxins bleach coral reefs and disrupt food chains while plastics fill waterways and harm aquatic life. Simply put, let's all work to minimize the trash sent to incinerators and landfills. Wellesley’s RDF, a leader in municipal waste management, is exhibiting its resiliency continuing to recycle and to divert food waste in the face of a difficult international recycling market and the pandemic. The RDF processes roughly 7,500 tons of municipal solid waste, 5,500 tons of recyclable material and 80 tons of food waste annually. Because of on-site separation of high-quality materials at the RDF, Wellesley is able to sell certain recyclables like cardboard and newspaper for top dollar. The RDF still faces challenges but is doing well despite the current climate. Learn more on how you can do your part by watching the video here, and taking actions to reduce your waste. |
Categories
All
|