Skip to main content

Local News- The Roselle park Environmental Committee


A few weeks ago, I was able to sneak my way into a meeting of the Roselle Park Environmental Committee. A sub committee that advises and informs the Town Council, the Environmental Committee is in dire need of funding, and staff- but certainly not spirit.

The agenda, currently lead by councilman Mike Yakubov, included updates on development ideas for several vacant lots in town, an idea for a community garden, recycling discussion, and some neighborly complaints.

I was intrigued by the interest and excitement the few members who were able to make the Friday Night meeting had, and saw only possibilities for the possible influence the committee could have.

Until now, the major topic the committee has tackled is in town recycling. While this is important, I firstly felt that this should be a simple conversation. We provide an easy way for residents to recycle, and recycle as many products as possible. The residents, in turn, will not have trash taken away if handlers observe recyclables in their trash bins. The town and taxpayers pay more when the trash count is higher- tipping fees are charged per ton of trash. Most upsetting on this topic was to find that the public schools are still not recycling. For some political reason, they are under different contracts for trash and recycling than the town. As a former Roselle Park Public School Student, I remember in highschool trying to initiate a recycling program with the ecology club. We had to actually sort through trash bins at the end of the day and bring the recycling ourselves.

This is an abhorrent cycle. The skills, services, and routines we learn in lower through highschool will affect the relationships and views we hold for the rest of our lives. Why aren't Roselle Park's children learning to care about the environment, stewardship, and conservation?And because of some disagreement between a council person and the superintendent of schools, the council is afraid to even volunteer their help. This must change.

I was recently appointed to join the council, and am excited because I think I can start asking questions that others may be afraid to ask, or not know to ask. I think Roselle Park is in a prime state to revitalize its community, and the environmental committee can absolutely be a key part of making that happen.

If you are a former RP student reading this, please consider writing an email to the superintendent, requesting a stronger recycling program and environmental curriculum in our public schools. Towns richer and poorer than us are doing it, and the future of Roselle Park lies in our students who will soon be taking on the world. They deserve to be properly educated and equipped on these topics.

I will of course, continue to update my readers as I learn more in committee meetings.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Living Technologies

Ok, so of course coming fresh off the plane from the Living Future Conference in Seattle has really got me excited about the best and brightest in green building. I will be sharing lessons learned , case studies, and knowledge nuggets in several posts. And sorry for falling off the map for so long to all my readers- life happens, eh? So one of the most interesting innovations I learned about at the conference is the BIQ house in Hamburg, Germany. This is a multi-story apartment building that is completely powered by algae! Algae sits inbetween panes of glass, eats carbon dioxide and sunlight, and produces oily algae that are digested by the building to create power. Neat huh? This building is a pilot/prototype but just opened several weeks ago. This building brings up a lot of interest in algae for it's many uses. i've seen explorations in bioluminescent algae for street lighting, algae grown for biofuel for transportation, algae for wastewater treatment, and now to pow...
2 comments
Read more

It's a Silly Time to learn to swim when you start to Drown

It's a silly time to learn to swim on the way down Well why am I quoting this fabulous Tegan and Sarah song? It came on during my morning commute and it had me thinking- yeah! I bet a lot of society feels the same way about climate change. It is beyond me how people can deny that climate change exists- or say they 'don't believe in it'. It's not a religion, cult movement, theoretical ideal or ideas spun by your average street-corner crazy. It is a scientifically documented, million researcher strong, thousands of pages-per-volume fact. But- it would be so much easier to get by day to day if you didn't feel like the world around you was closing in and smothering you. We don't know how to swim through all this information- and with the policy makers in their later years, they have some trouble understanding what to do and think if they just ignore it, deny it, or drag their feet they can just tread water instead of swimming forward. I totally see how that gets...
1 comment
Read more

Some basic terms

So, the first thing you should know. Is technically I'm not a complete laywoman. As you learned from my previous post I have spent all of my undergraduate career studying the 'Green Design' Stuff. There are tons of certification processes and awards just within the United States, but one of the most widely accepted and used is the LEED Certification Process with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) . LEED stands for L eadership in E nergy and E nvironmental D esign. It is a point system, where you earn a credit for every determined area (for example" Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, and Material and Resources are categories of points). For more information and resources regarding the LEED process and USGBC's various projects, visit their site at: www.usgbc.org One of my responsibilities as Sustainability Intern will be to earn my LEED Accredited Professional certificate, because although I have had a bunch of experience with LEED projects througho...
Post a Comment
Read more