Recycling
and Renewable Energy Committee
Minutes
from 7 May 08,
Attending:
Amy Germain, Mike Leger, Lee Bartell, Connie Black, Ghee Patrick
Preceding
Minutes: Amy moved to accept the minutes as written, Mike seconded,
4/0.
New
Member: Mike moved that we accept Connie Black as our new member, Lee seconded it, 4/0.
Cape
Cod Rainwater System: Winslow Grullemans, from S. Wellfleet, gave us a
presentation of this concept. It's to capture, filter, store, and
distribute rainfall, or rainwater harvesting, something that's been done since
the Romans. It's expensive to process water, as communities know.
This system, once paid for, is basically free. It's NOT drinking water,
though that capability is available (still further filtering, and its "at
your own risk"), but it's perfect for all outdoor uses in a garden or
yard, and can be used in a washing machine, using cold water, can wash your
car, fill your pool, etc. 70% of all water in a home is for non-potable
purposes. A 1500 gallon tank would be 6'x11'x9', and would
ideally be situated underground. Its cost would be $6-8K, and it may be
possible to have one tank cover a few condos or houses. Installing a
system into a brand new house would be perfect. We recommended that he
contact David Guertin for starters, then possibly the Water & Sewer Board.
Visit
to Jeff Rogers' House: We agreed that we were truly impressed with all
that he's done there, and that it was a totally worthwhile tour. Lee will check with Catherine from Promised Land TV, to see when it
will be screened, and to see it she'll film us at Race Point Light wind
turbine, or talking about recyclables.
Earth
Day: A stunning success; the day was sunny, warm and gorgeous, crowds
galore, Tom Wineman set up solar panels and talked to folks; we gave out a lot
of printed materials, sold a few recycling bins, and Lee had her veggie oil car
there, too. The one thing that we forgot was to get any press
covering it. We won't forget next year.
Board
of Health: Mike attended their meeting, and was surprised that they were
unaware of a town regulation that states that if you sell food for immediate
consumption, you need to have both a trash can and a recycling can within 5
feet of the entrance. They're going to look into this. Thanks Mike
for bringing this to their attention.
Licensing
Board: Mike met with them, and will get onto their agenda soon to talk
about the requirements that a special event promoter must sign, including one
that requires recycling bins at their venues. He has 6 or so leftover
cardboard "cans" for 1-2 day events. He had gotten them from
Coca Cola on the
MASS
DEP bins: Mike showed us pictures of the bins we'll be getting, 3 sturdy
double-ones with tops, and 6 open top mesh ones for the beach.
Maushope:
Turns out that Maushope is a non-profit, so, the town is supposed to be picking
up their trash and recyclables. It's all a work in progress; one
possible outcome is that the dumpster remains for trash, and the town will pick
up the recyclables.
Paperless
in Town Hall: It ain't going to happen. But less paper is still the
goal. Amy picked paper out of the trash can and put it into the recycling
can, right in our meeting room. Clearly, education is still
needed.
Website
re-design: Lee said that after all the
town elections are over, Doug Johnstone said that he may be able to
help us get started, then Bear Jackett would help, too. Connie said that
she's created simple websites and would be willing to help.
Integrated
Paper: A suggestion was made for them to make a presentation to us about
paper, and exactly what's acceptable, etc. Mike will ask them.
At
our next meeting: David Gardner wants to discuss "viewsheds",
as the town has shown that it wants wind power. Also, Connie wants to
discuss plastic bags.
Adjourned:
Mike moved to adjourn, Amy seconded, 5/0.
Next
Meeting: 4 June 08,
Minutes
by Lee
Lee Bartell
9
508-487-8838
capewoman@cape.com
"...let
us promise to make peace not just a priority, but a passion.
Let us pledge to do more, wherever we are in whatever way we can,
to make every day a day of peace." Ban Ki Moon, UN
Secretary-General