January 2024
Wednesday, January 17, 2023
Meeting chair: Michael Helme
After introductions and greetings, we thanked Greg and Dixie for hosting the annual holiday party.
Melissa Shaw-Smith - of Wickham Works
Melissa would like to work with Sustainable Warwick and other groups around town to cross-promote the events we’ll be having in the spring of 2024, at least from Operation Clean Sweep and Treecycle in the middle of April through Too Good to Toss the first weekend in June.
Events currently planned include:
Treecycle (April 20)
Repair Cafe
Too Good to Toss (June 1&2)
EarthDay and Operation Clean Sweep
Coolest Recycling Drive (TBD)
Monarch Butterfly Parade
Library events, such as:
Greg Gallucio’s presentation on energy efficient lighting (with a report on Albert Wisner Public Library’s recent lighting upgrade) (April 24)
Screening of “Beauty on the Wing” with documentary maker Kim Smith (Date TBD)
Christy Erfer and Melissa will be working together on a calendar/information sheet about these events. Please let other groups around the community know we would be happy to add their events to this calendar.
Community Choice Aggregation
The Warwick Village Board is taking initial steps to adopt Community Choice Aggregation, a process that will take several months to complete. We’ll be hearing more about this important opportunity in the near future. If you want to get ahead of the curve on understanding CCA, check out SW’s web page.
Project Updates
Food Scraps Collection: Kate advised that the winter program has moved to Price Chopper until the Farmers Market starts up again in the Spring. For the first 5 weeks, Wednesdays were selected as the day for food scrap collection, but from January 7th they have been holding collection days on Sundays (the busiest day at Price Chopper). They collect food scraps from 10 AM to noon. Sign up for notifications from the composting hotline for updates of cancellations in case of bad weather.
Helpsy: In an earlier meeting, Kate did a presentation to SW about this non-profit company that does an excellent job of recycling clothes. Julia will speak to the Town Supervisor about how many bins might be placed around Warwick. Helpsy pays $50 for every bin full of clothing, and everything is either reused or recycled, nothing goes to landfill. To volunteer for this project, please contact Julia.
Transformation Trails at Wickham Woodlands: Greg updated SW on the progress in this project, which involves developing a piece of land between tall fences at Wickham Woodlands. It was originally planned as a Pollinator Meadow, but the area is too big and too many challenges are involved - for example invasive species are already there, so the revised plan is to divide the area into smaller patches of native plants. This will be more manageable and allow a variety of native plantings, including some permaculture guilds. A good group of experts is working on this, and one of the goals of the Transformation Trails is for it to become an educational installation (for children of all ages). Sustainable Warwick continues to collect donations to support this work, and we are grateful to everyone who has already contributed.
Warwick Valley Plant Natives Alliance: Sally updated SW on this new initiative among groups who support native plants in Warwick, including: the Warwick Valley Gardeners, Albert Wisner and Florida libraries, Orange County Audubon Society, The Monarch Butterfly Village, Grow Local Greenwood Lake, and others.
Some participants from the Alliance enjoyed a very popular hike at the Stony Creek Sanctuary, an Audubon Society site on Spanktown Road. Sona Mason pointed out native plants and, unfortunately, a large number of invasive species.
Pollinator Pathway: Sally and Michael are checking with Cornell Cooperative Extension about scheduling webinars related to reducing lawn and installing native plants. Besides promoting events focused on native plants through the Alliance (including more hikes, webinars and planting projects when warmer weather arrives), this group will encourage more people to sign up for our Pollinator Pathway map. — Follow up note: The Pollinator Pathway Committee met on Saturday, 1/20, and currently has about 15 active members, but can always use more. Interested? Email garden@sustainablewarwick.org
Sustainable World Book Club: Christina told us that the last book, The Parrot and the Igloo, was very popular, if a bit long! Our next book is Where Do We Go From Here by Dr. Martin Luther King. Copies of the book are available in Albert Wisner Public Library and everyone is welcome to join Book Club discussions. Contact BookClub@sustainablewarwick.org for more information.
Gibraltar Rock: The drive to protect Gibraltar Rock by having it acquired by Orange County Land Trust as a community forest was discussed; SW wrote a letter of support for this.
SW Calendar: Christy reminds everyone to let her know if there is an event or a meeting that should be posted on the SW calendar. Go to the Events Calendar and click on the button that says "Add Your Event".
Next Meeting: The February meeting of Sustainable Warwick will be held on February 21st via Zoom. Please plan to join us at the meeting.
One Last Thing
Thursday, Feb. 8th from 7 to 9 PM Grow Local Greenwood Lake is screening Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution. This film gives voice to a growing number of people building a more beautiful world. Featuring grassroots activists from every continent alongside internationally known figures like Noam Chomsky, Gabor Maté, Naomi Klein,and Jane Goodall. For more information about this FREE event go to Grow Local Greenwood Lake's website.