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Sustainable Belmont Meeting*
Wednesday, March 4th at 7 PM
Chenery Middle School
The Belmont PTO/A Green Team Alliance, Sustainable Belmont and the Belmont Food Collaborative will be sponsoring a discussion and showing of the recent documentary film, Fed Up. "FED UP is the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see. From Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar winning producer of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) and director Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP will change the way you eat forever." With many communities focused on how to bring fresh foods to the table, both in and out of schools, this film presents the health consequences of the high volume sugar content in our food supply. Fresh foods, local foods, diverse foods, all contribute to a sustainable food supply.
Following the screening there will be a Q&A with a team of panelists including a local pediatrician and a farm-to-table expert. During this evening event you'll learn about: how and what we’re feeding our kids and ourselves; learn from each other and from community experts; and share ways to prepare foods and inform each other about local resources. The film and discussion are open to all, and middle and high school students are strongly encouraged to attend. Younger children are also welcome to attend; common Sense Media suggests FedUp is appropriate for ages 10 and up.
The Film's partners include the National Farm to School Network, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Farmers Market Coalition, the Small Planet Institute, among several others.
*The film showing will be held in place of our regular Sustainable Belmont meeting.
Saturday, March 7th from 2–4 PM
Belmont Public Library, Assembly Room
Join us for a free organic yard care and gardening fair. You will have the opportunity to visit several tables full of information and staffed by local, experienced and seasoned gardeners from area organizations and our annual garden tour – all using safe, organic gardening practices. And, meet other gardeners, both new and seasoned – a great way to swap ideas and learn something new! All experience levels and ages are welcome.
Presentations include:
- Starting Seeds Indoors, Kathy Martin (Belmont Victory Gardens Coordinator)
- Small Fruit Horticulture, Stephen Pinkerton (Belmont Food Collaborative's Pomona Project)
- Front Yard Gardening, Martha Cohen (Green Belmont Garden Tour)
- Companion Planting, Emma Thurston (Damnation Alley Distillery)
- Dirt for Kids!, Kate Bowen (Sustainable Belmont);
- Late Blight Resistant Tomato Varieties, Amelia Fannin (Belmont Victory Gardens)
- Straw Bale Gardens, Sarah Keniston (Belmont Victory Gardens)
- Aquaponics, Jason Iler Keniston (Middle School Student!)
- Compost, Lucia Gates (Green Belmont Garden Tour)
- Sandra Curro (Underwood Greenhouses)
- Meadowscaping, Barbara Passero and Jean Devine (Meadowscaping for Biodiversity)
Sponsored by The Belmont Food Collaborative – the parent organization of The Belmont Farmer’s Market, Sustainable Belmont and the Belmont Victory Gardens.
Thank you!
Thank you to Monte Allen for presenting at our February meeting and to all those who came out despite the weather to participate in the evening meeting, as well as our try out our cherry ink at Sustainable Valentines.
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Updates
The Green Cup Energy Challenge
We await the final tabulations from the organizers of the Green Cup Energy Challenge to find out how Belmont did compared to other Schools nationwide. From the information we kept, all of the Belmont Public Elementary Schools reduced their electricity use and therefore, their carbon footprint during the 4-week Green Cup Energy Challenge! The Wellington School had the greatest reduction--with an average of 18% over the four weeks, followed by the Winn-Brook School with a 10% reduction and then Burbank and Butler Schools each had a nearly 2% reduction in their schools' electricity use.
With all of the snow New England received during the period of the Challenge, these numbers are a little "tricky" to read. There were snow days when schools were closed and very, very cold, dark days where heat and lights were going strong. So it is hard to attribute all of our Systems' savings to behavior modification. Did we lower our electricity because we unplugged unused devices? Or did we lower electricity because heating fans were off in a closed school building? Whatever the reason, we did lower our electricity rates in all Belmont Public Elementary Schools and students learned important 'real world' connections within the current curriculum – and that's good for the environment!
Congratulations and thanks to the teachers who unplugged devices; the students who read meters; the Green Team parent volunteers who spearheaded the initiative; and the janitors who thoughtfully kept an eye on our school buildings. Thanks to Belmont Light for ensuring the accuracy of our meter readings and for the educational resources they freely provided to teachers and students. Finally, the simple lessons of the Green Cup Energy Challenge can continue to be applied for the remainder of the School year--unplug devices that are not in use; turn off lights when leaving a room; and shut doors and windows when heating and cooling systems are operational.
– Amanda Mujica, Chair Belmont PTA/O Green Team Alliance
Belmont Safe Routes to Schools Community Working Group
This group will meet in late March to discuss issues of safety and a Bike Rodeo for next year in cooperation with the Belmont Police Department. We are actively seeking a Middle School Representative - is it you or someone you know?! We meet about 4-6 times per year for 1 hour; volunteers coordinate with others at their home school to help support the program and needs of the school.
A reminder, for enforcement or questions about sidewalk clearing, call 617-993-2664. For public sand mixture barrels, find your nearest one at http://www.belmont-ma.gov/dpw-highway-division/pages/sand-barrel-locations.
Distributed Generation, a.k.a. Solar Tariff
Solar hosts await the implementation of the new policy, which is due to begin in April. For more information on this issue a new, unique site has been created by Belmont resident, Mark Robbins: http://belmontcleanenergy.com/
An Electric Utility Policy presentation led by Phil Thayer will be recorded in Studio A at the Belmont Media Center this Tuesday, March 3rd at 6 PM. Interested attendees can contact Phil with questions: pkt@theworld.com
Safer Personal Care Products
Sustainable Belmont will again talk about Safe Personal Care Products at the Belmont High School on April 16th. As part of the BHS Hallway Health program, a group of volunteers will present information on the most common chemicals of concern in these products and provide information on safer alternatives. Silent Spring Institute, among other groups, has helfpul guidance for consumers.
Thanks go out to Nancy Forbes for spearheading this important contribution and to Marzina Bockler, Lucia Gates, Marha Cohen, and Jeri Weiss for their work on this event!
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