November 2022
Wednesday November 16, 2022
Meeting chair: Bill Greene
Holiday Gathering: We welcome all members and their guests to join us on Wednesday, December 21st at 6 pm. We’ll gather at the Mexican restaurant "La Hidalguense," located at 30 N Main Street in Florida, NY. Email SteeringCommittee@sustainablewarwick.org to sign up.
Book Club: The Worth of Water by Matt Damon and Gary White was enjoyed by all. It took us along with the authors on their learning curve about the cost and importance of providing water throughout the world. At our December 13th meeting we’ll discuss Eat Like a Fish, by Bren Smith. For more information go to the Book Club page on our site or email BookClub@sustainablewarwick.org.
Library Events: The Project Drawdown event at Albert Wisner Public Library was canceled due to bad weather. It has been rescheduled for January 17th. Register online for this event. We’ll also work with Wisner Library and other local libraries to host a webinar on the Recycle Coach App. The event will be held Thursday, February 2, 2023, from 6 to 7 PM and will feature Ermin Siljkovic, Orange County Recycling Coordinator, and Lauren Webb of Recycle Coach.
Coolest Recycling Drive: The plan for spring 2023 is to hold a recycling drive for appliances that have refrigerants. These will be taken to a team in Red Hook who will capture the refrigerants and process the empty appliances for scrap metal. Usually residents of Orange County have to schlep their appliance to a County Transfer Station and pay $15 for this service. We’ll help by picking them up if need be, and no payment is required (but donations will be gladly accepted). Old working refrigerators can best be recycled by contacting O&R, who will pay $25 to help get old refrigerators and freezers off the electricity grid. To help with the Coolest Recycling Drive, contact the Steering Committee (SteeringCommittee@sustainablewarwick.org).
Food Scraps-to-Compost: SW has been collecting compost at the Warwick Farmers Market, and it’s proving very popular. The food scraps are taken to a farm near Warwick Town Park, and there are many possibilities for the future of this project, such as:
Working with more farmers markets
Starting a drop-off site that is open daily
Working with the Village DPW to have the growing volumes of scraps hauled away
Roger Moss launched this initiative, but he will be leaving Warwick soon. We are seeking volunteers to help with all levels of this popular project. Email SteeringCommittee@sustainablewarwick.org to learn about getting involved.
Community Choice Aggregation: There was a recent presentation on CCA by Peggy Kurtz to the Warwick Village Trustees, and they are now considering CCA. The Town has also invited Peggy to make a presentation to the Town Board in December
O&R Pilot Program: O&R is teaming up with SunRun Solar on a pilot program related to their “Utility of the Future” work. SunRun will install solar panels on your roof and give you free back-up batteries; in return O&R will be able to tap into the solar battery in peak demand times to ease pressure on the grid. This offer is only open to homes served by the Wisner Substation, which is many but not all of the homes in Warwick. We’ll have a presentation on this topic by O&R at our January meeting (January 18, 2023)
Social media: Sabrina Avila has volunteered to work with Christy on keeping Sustainable Warwick’s Facebook page up to date. Please check out (and like or share!) their posts.
Heat Pumps: Bill Makofske spoke about his new heat pump water heater. It draws heat from the basement and has both a cooling and a dehumidifying effect on the local space. Heat pump water heaters run on electricity, not fossil fuels, and they use electricity 3 to 4 times more efficiently than electric water heaters that use resistance. From January 1 there will be federal tax incentives for heat pump water heaters, in addition to a $1,000 rebate from O&R. Anyone considering replacing their water heater should opt for a heat pump water heater.
Shade Tree Commission: SW is looking for ways to support the work of the Town’s Shade Tree Commission. If you know of any tree huggers who want to participate, ask them to contact the Steering Committee (SteeringCommittee@sustainablewarwick.org).
The next SW meeting will be on January 18, 2023.