July 2022
Sustainable Warwick Minutes
Wednesday July 27, 2022
Meeting chair: Bill Greene
You Are Invited!
The annual SW picnic will be at 6:30 on Wed., Aug. 17 at the Warwick Town Park (Union Corners Rd. across from soccer fields). No waste picnic—bring a dish to share and your own cups/glasses, utensils, cloth napkins, and plates. No business meeting, just socializing! All welcome.
Presentation
Warwick Greenbelt Preservation Society - Christina outlined the origins of this group, created to protect the Greenbelt around Warwick that makes it so appealing to residents and visitors alike. It is a 501(c)(4). She also presented a flyer outlining PDR, purchase development rights, as this is the best way to protect the green belt. The Society is working to expand the number of farms and land that takes advantage of this. Food security is one of the prime factors in PDR, as the recent Covid pandemic and events in Ukraine have demonstrated, so soil quality is a key factor here. See a map of the PDR progress from 2000 to 2020.
Committee Updates
Pollinator Pathway: The pollinator garden map is on the SW website. People can go there to learn about the effort and sign up to participate.
Zoom Garden Plot: This online gardening group meets via Zoom at 8 PM on the second Monday of every month for a hyperlocal discussion of gardening. All welcome. To view past Zoom meetings go to Zoom Garden Plot page.
Sustainable Hudson Valley Climate Solutions - Sept. 19-25: SW will feature the Zoom Garden Plot at 7:30 on Sept. 19th. We have also been asked to help publicize the other events that week. hvclimatesolutionsweek.org
Book Club: Christina reported that the group enjoyed Bewilderment by Ron Powers. The unfolding of the characters and their relationships was interesting. The book was more about the father than the son which some felt was a wasted opportunity. For one member one big takeaway was the application of biofeedback training/entraining. The next Book ClubZoom gathering is on August 9th, discussing The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin.
More on Climate
Drawdown has 6 short videos on Climate Solutions 101 in Oct.-Nov. Michael suggested that we might contact the library to see if they would like to sponsor this as an in-person event with discussion afterward. Videos can been seen at drawdown.org/climate-solutions-101
New Yorkers for Clean Power is planning a presentation about CLCPA. They offer a number of programs at nyforcleanpower.org/calendar
Are you Social Media Savvy?
Help! We need to step up our SW Facebook page and make it work better for us. It would involve posting upcoming SW events and action items on pressing sustainability issues, etc. We can provide you with updates and information, but we need someone to post the items and maintain the page. Please let us know if you are interested! Contact steeringcommittee@sustainablewarwick.org
New Project Possibilities
Composting Project: Roger is investigating the possibility of gathering food scraps from the Warwick Farmers’ Market and taking them to a compost pile on a local farm that is allowing several people to garden on it. Volunteers are needed to sign up for a turn at collecting the bins and delivering them. Please contact Roger.
Too Good To Go (not to be confused with Too Good To Toss): Roger reported that he is investigating this program, which offers day old food from restaurants, bakeries, etc. for reduced sale via an online platform. He will approach the Chamber of Commerce and others who might be interested after he finds more detailed information. Reach out to Roger if you want to know more.
Minutes by Mary Makofske