April 2020
Sustainable Warwick Minutes
Wednesday April 15, 2020
In Attendance: Bill Greene (chair), Michael Helme, Payton Swenson, Julia Calderon, Mary Makofske, Bill Makofske, Geoff Howard, Cara Peddle, Chad Pilieri, Henry McKenna, Alice McMechen, Arnold Vila, Ehren Sawyer, Sean Downes, Gail Buckland
Earth Week events (Mary Makofske) SW will have several events held in association with the library.
Movie on Tuesday @ 7PM -- Discussion of "Disruption" at watchdisruption.com.
Story of Stuff presentation (Teresa Vela-Hayes) Watch in advance: storyofstuff.org, then join presentation about Story of Stuff with discussion on Wednesday, 4/22 @ 6:30 PM.
Jen Metzger talk on Friday, 4/24 -- 7 PM sign up on the library website.
To participate in any of these events, you have to register with the library. You can do that here.
SW encourages its members to participate in the WVCC Modified Operation Clean Sweep and do road-side litter pickup during Earth week (and every week!). (See announcement below.) Please use common sense and follow all CDC safety guidelines while doing this. Please send pictures of what you are collecting to SustainableWarwick5@gmail.com.
Earth Day EcoChallenge update (Michael Helme) The Sustainable Warwick EcoChallenge team is a little bit challenged this year. But new members can still join the team.
Home Performance with Energy Star (Bill Makofske): You can apply now, but have to wait for the program to get started again.
Refrigerants Update (Michael Helme)
Check out this webinar on refrigerants that was hosted by New Yorkers for Clean Power
New Yorkers for Cool Refrigerant Management is flourishing
Coolest Recycling Drive has been postponed -- but the concept is helping others
Community Gardening news (Geoff Howard)
Group had two meetings in mid-March, then WV Community Center closed them down, because their funders and insurers were not comfortable with any activities on Community Center grounds; they are trying to negotiate a partial waiver for individuals to work there, but no progress yet.
New online Zoom garden meetings, starting on Monday, April 20, at 7:30 PM. Because of worries about food supply, lots of people are starting their own gardens (like Victory Gardens!). Q&A session will be the first part of all meetings, to give newbies a chance to ask all of their questions. A presentation by an experienced gardener will be the second part. This is open to all SW members. Send an email to SustainableWarwick5@gmail.com to sign up.
High School Environmental Club (Cara Peddle) -- most events cancelled, but they will be participating in the Jen Metzger Earth Day.
Book Club update. The club just read Mama's Last Hug; the book for May is Climate Justice, by Mary Robinson. If you can't get a copy of the book to read, check out this YouTube video. Email SustainableWarwick5@gmail.com to join the book club.
Vegetarians & Friends met via Zoom on the second Monday of the month. Want help learning plant-based cooking? Send an email to: swvandf@gmail.com
SW Fundraising for local food pantries (Bill Greene)
Members were asked for good ways for SW and its members to help out in time of pandemic
Alice M: support local undocumented immigrants, who need much more than just food.
Make masks for non-medical personnel who don't have them.
Become a volunteer to help shop for seniors.
Buy gift certificates now to help keep restaurants in business throughout the pandemic.
SW will give matching donations (up to $1,000 total) for members who contribute to local food pantries or to help the local immigrant community. (Some details of this are still being worked out and will be communicated when finalized.)
Green Screen Committee (Bill Greene)
School board and other elections delayed, so all Green Screen Committee activities have been delayed.
The Committee is open to questions to be asked of candidates.
New members are welcome to help compile questions and conduct interviews.
Webinar on Community Solar, Wednesday, April 29, 7 PM (Michael Helme)
This webinar is also being held in conjunction with Albert Wisner Public Library
Citizens of the 21st century all need to understand community solar, so please participate.
All referral bonuses SW earns throughout this year will go to food pantries, so please invite all of your neighbors and friends to join the webinar.
SW's new Zoom Outreach summary (Michael Helme)
We have a lot of events coming up to help our sustainability community become even more resilient:
Monday evenings - Garden Club
Tuesday evenings (alternating weeks) - Documentary discussions
Wednesday evenings -- SW meetings, the Story of Stuff discussion, and the Community Solar webinar
Please let us know of other
TIAA webinar (Mary Makofske) They have a divest group that is trying to get TIAA to divest from fossil fuels, including its 35% investment in Cricket Valley and other investments that support deforestation of the Amazon. A petition will be going around that is especially for TIAA investors, but everybody can sign it.
DAttolico Organic Farm (Sean Downes) Sean told us about an organic farmer in Warwick who has organic leafy greens to sell that he is unable to sell in NYC. Please check out the farm's Facebook page to learn how to buy their produce.
Are there other farmers around Warwick with extra crops that we could be buying? Dairy farmers? How can SW help local farmers? If you have ideas or suggestions about how can do this, please let us know.