Last month we learned about the importance of our food choices which can be so impacted by national and international organizations and government choices.
However we can also have an impact on our local environments right here where we live. In fact there are many local opportunities to care for the environment and make a difference for climate justice.
Local villages and towns may have environmental advisory committees – Skaneateles’ environmental advisory committee minutes can be found under
“Resources” at villageofskaneateles.com.
This committee (Kim Persee, Carol Stokes-Cawley, Tara Lynn, Ed Marx, Dave Middleton, Patrick McDonald, Jessica Millman, and Kip Coerper) meets once a
month to talk about ways we can positively impact our environment. We are learning that there is substantial grant money available from NYSERDA’s (NY State Energy Research and Development Committee) Clean Energy Program to give to local communities in support of green initiatives that will “create a healthy and sustainable environment by investing in future-focused clean energy solutions.”
Our committee is reviewing the adaptations and changes the Village of Skaneateles can make, such as more LED street lights and electric vehicle charging stations, to “green” our village. After careful research we then make recommendations to the village board to consider on behalf of making our community “more green” – ie. less waste, more alternative energy, cleaner lake, better recycling. If you would like to comment or make a suggestion for us to pursue, go to villageofskaneateles.com/contact and your comment will be forwarded to our committee.
CNY Compost ( CNYcompost.org ) is another local business encouraging composting which aims to reduce methane gas which would otherwise be released when our food scraps go to landfills. And you then will have access to quality compost for your garden.
If you are from another local village or town, perhaps you could initiate a village environmental committee to help encourage village leaders to pay attention to
climate issues and our environmental impacts and care for climate justice issues.
More and more people of all ages are realizing that we can no longer do business like we used to when we care about the future of God’s green earth.
Native Americans have always know this to be true – The Haudenosaunee people, on who’s land we reside, live by the philosophy that “the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future.”
Submitted by By Kip Coerper
