June 2024
Sustainable Warwick Minutes
June 19, 2024
Meeting chair: Michael Helme
We met at Wickham Woodlands, by the lake.
Juneteenth: Our meeting was held on Juneteenth and we began by recollecting the need for enhancing equity in our society.
Transformation Trails: Geoff Howard updated us on the progress for this project – 34 trees planted and labeled, and more to come this fall, plus a months-long occultation process has started to prepare for a pollinator meadow. Later STEAM projects will be added. SW has been a substantial player in helping the new Transformation Trails organization get up and running.
Committee Updates
The Pollinator Pathway Committee: The committee is now doing one work session each month at Mountain Lakes Park and one at Transformation Trails. Oriental bittersweet is a big challenge there and everywhere, and we encounter many other invasive species. Volunteers are welcome to join us on Tuesday, June 25th, when we’ll be back at Mountain Lake Park starting at 9 AM.
The Pollinator Welcome signs are selling briskly. They are now available at Corwins or from Sally “Hotcakes” Greco. pollinators@sustainablewarwick.org
Electric vehicles: SW members include many EV enthusiasts, who are in the process of compiling a new web page and planning a test drive event.
Memorial Park updates: The Village of Warwick is making great progress for upgrading Memorial Park. Funding for the skate park is in place, the dog run is funded, a heroes garden is in development, and a pump track is being organized. There may be a Take It or Leave It Shed that could operate as a year-round arm of Too Good To Toss.
Sustainable World Book Club: Our June book was a novel, Light Pirate, about a character who survived progressively greater climate challenges in Florida. Our next book, The Heat Will Kill You First, is available in the library. If you are looking for something cool to do one of these summer afternoons, why not visit the front desk at Albert Wisner Public Library, borrow a copy and find a seat for a compelling read?
The Compost Committee: Volunteers are always needed to help collect food scraps on Sundays at the Farmers Market, but people enjoy the experience and keep volunteering. Maureen has now joined the leadership of that committee. We’ve been calculating the greenhouse gases avoided by composting, and after the meeting discovered an error in one of our assumptions. Rather than a single pound of food waste in a landfill creating 3.8 pounds of methane, it takes 100 pounds of food waste to create 3.8 pounds of methane. So our initial calculations were off by a factor of 100, ouch! Even so, we can say our composting efforts have avoided emissions equal to 16 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, similar to the emissions caused by four average gas-powered passenger vehicles driven for a year. This is a very helpful accomplishment, especially since it involved so many volunteers having so many valuable community interactions. We still have openings in the August volunteer schedule! If you'd like to join the fun, please reach out to Christy at garden@sustainablewarwick.org.
Community Garden and Zoom Garden Plot: Both of these groups continue their usual activities. ZGP will meet this Monday (June 24th) at 7:30 PM. Email garden@sustainablewarwick.org if you aren’t already getting the Zoom links.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, June 29th at 4pm: Knapp's View, Chester NY
Join Orange County Audubon and the Chester Conservation Advisory Council for an evening walk up the trail at Knapp’s View. Bobolinks and other grassland birds are among the most vulnerable in New York State and this park is a crucial habitat. Those who wish may join us after at nearby Ocean Vineyards for dinner or libations.
Do you know of any Green Events happening? We are keeping the Sustainable Warwick and Hello Warwick Valley! online events calendars up to date. Submit event infoto Christy and she will get it posted there and possibly also on SW's Facebook page.
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 17th, via Zoom.
Until then, please stay cool and keep in touch.