EVENTS COMING UP

Wednesday, November 8 @ 11:00am - Vegan Cooking Class @ 40 Twombly Dr.

Marzia Venturin will lead this vegan cooking class, and attendees get to enjoy it for lunch! The class is FREE, but space is limited, so please write us to RSVP. Learn just how impactful your diet is on the environment and the choices you can make.

Wednesday, November 8 @ 9:30am - Water Quality Report @ Summit Public Library

The Great Swamp Watershed Association presents a report card on the water quality of our streams, focusing on the Passaic River. Please register here, cost is $10 for non-GSWA members.

Friday, December 8 @ 8:00pm - Movie night "An Inconvenient Sequel" @ Mondo Summit

Hosted by the Film Society of Summit, join us for a viewing of the documentary sequel to "An Inconvenient Truth". Former Vice President Al Gore invites us along on an inspirational journey across the globe that delivers the tools to heal our planet. 

Below infographic courtesy of CulinarySchools.org - other impacts of animal proteins include land degradation, higher greenhouse gas emissions, health and animal welfare concerns.

GETTING GREEN

Leave your leaves! Decomposing leaves provide an excellent source of nutrients to "mulch" your lawn over the winter and build a healthy soil and yard for the spring.

IN THE NEWS

SUMMIT AREA 

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7! Don't forget there is an important ballot question regarding environmental protection.

In other news, Summit was awarded several grants recently, including a "greening" grant for $7,800 which was used to plant 80 trees. This is a great stride in countering the loss of trees due to storms, and diseases which are affecting Ash trees.

NEW JERSEY

Two known carcinogens which can be found in drinking water, PFOA and PFNA, will now be subject to stricter limits in New Jersey. In several New Jersey communities, the level of contamination has been double the new cap for years.

NATIONAL

Thirteen federal agencies have released the Climate Science Special Report, which, among other things concludes that it is "extremely likely that human activities... are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century" and that there "is no convincing alternative explanation". The report examines in detail not only warming, but also sea levels, precipitation, and extreme weather.

GLOBAL

More than 40 countries have plastic bag bans or taxes which result in a dramatic (in some cases 80%) reduction in the use of plastic bags. Some countries, like Kenya and Rwanda, have heavy fines and jail time for plastic bag use, because the impact of their widespread use damages marine life, causes flooding, and has been hurting livestock.

Meanwhile, in the United States, only California has banned plastic bags as a state. Hawaii has a "de facto" ban, which was passed by all its counties but not as a state. And 7 states have actually pre-emptively banned bans of plastic bags. Taxing or banning plastic bags in the United States has primarily only been successful on the local level. 

New Jersey has pending legislation for the phase-out and eventual ban on non-compostable plastic bags. Check here for the status of US plastic bag laws.

GREEN READS

Miranda Paul & Elizabeth Zunon, "One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of Gambia" (2015). This is a children's book, and is available at the Summit Free Public Library.