League of Women Voters of Mountain Lakes
Green Community Project Update
February 2009
Last Friday morning began as many others for me. Putting out my trash and recycling is the first order of the day. As I heard the truck come and the containers emptied I heaved a sigh of relief, it must have been sorted properly. However, when my issue of the Mountain Lakes H&S Bulletin arrived, I realized it was not. Thanks to the efforts of the ReThink committee of Green Community Project, I now feel in control of my recycling. ReThink worked with the Department of Public Works to publish a pull out circular in the January edition of the Bulletin and now, we can all recycle with a "green conscious".
Last year LWVML's Green Community Project encouraged us all to "Think Green". We were asked to take bags with us to grocery stores and to make more educated choices in the foods that we choose. We now swap out our light bulbs for compact fluorescents and have reduced our carbon footprint overall. By the end of the year we had learned that there was so much more that we can do to be environmentally responsible. This year, the GCP teams have been working hard to take steps to further the positive impact that we can have on both our community and region.
The Schools committee team has been working with Wildwood School to initiate electronic backpacks flyers. Traditionally, news has been distributed, in an often unread or misplaced "paper version". The new "Virtual Backpack" has been well received by parents. An amazing amount of paper is no longer ending up as trash or recycling, and parents feel better informed. This solution not only provides a cost-cutting benefit to the schools, it also offers a lesson in conservation and responsibility to both the students and parents. Teams are now working with Briarcliff to implement recycling programs there.
Community natural resources are stressed. The Water committee is exploring our water and its purity. Research is being conducted on water quality, sources, waste and potential solutions. In an effort to educate our community about potential ways to ease our impact on our local watershed, Amy Boyajian, from Rutgers University, will be speaking at a joint program with the League and Garden Club on March 24th.
On January 16th, local residents were invited to the first "Green Café". These community meetings double as social and environmental gatherings, providing opportunities to enjoy a lunch of organic and local foods prepared by team members while learning about ways to have a smaller impact on our planet. The first film was the award-winning film "Kilowatt Ours". The film offered a solutions-oriented look at energy and explored the source of our electricity and the problems caused by energy production.
The Green Community Project is hitting the road! In its new "Road Show", the work and lessons learned in this very exciting process will be shared through presentations that have been scheduled for Rockaway Valley Garden Club and Mountain Lakes 55+. In addition, the Road Show team will participate in an Environmental Summit with MLHS students and staff on January 26th to share learning and identify opportunities to work together in the community to further green awareness.
Several Green Community team members have been assisting the Board of Education to research existing solar panel programs and installations in New Jersey. We were delighted to learn recently that Mountain Lakes has been chosen by the Morris County Improvement Authority as one of four towns to receive funding for solar panel installations. Work on the installations should begin in the next six months.
The efforts of GCP are being seen throughout town and are making an impact on the way we live, the way we build and the way we think. As a community we are making better choices. Join us! For further information about the GCP, contact Bonnie Rosenthall at 331-1664 or Nicole Wright at 316-1413.