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Earth Work Continues…

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earth-awarenessThe 4-H program at Cornell Co-operative Extension held its annual “Earth Awareness Day” at Kingston Point Park today. Over 300 area students went through several stations where they learned about soil erosion, the impact of toxins on wildlife and why planting a small veggie garden can be good for the Earth, among many other topics.

Julie Noble, of Forsyth Nature Center and who serves on the board of the Kingston Land Trust, was there to leverage her skills as an environmental educator. I was lucky enough to make the small garden presentation on behalf of the Kingston Land Trust. All of which is fitting, given that the Kingston Daily Freeman wrote an editorial today in support of the City Hall Victory Garden, which is being led by Rebecca Martin, director at the land trust and chair of the garden committee. Read the editorial here. Kudos to Rebecca for her hard work, and the volunteer corps that supports the effort.

The Freeman also urged residents to pick up a rake, a paintbrush, and get busy sprucing up the city. Great idea! We can all pitch in together to make Kingston shine.

And speaking of sprucing things up, many thanks are due to Charlotte Adamis for coordinating a rose pruning session with a couple of enthusiastic 5th graders from Chambers at the Senate House. To see pics of the kids at work, see this article.

If anyone is interested in volunteer work, let us know. There’s much to be done in Kingston.

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz

Out to Trash

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moneytrashAn often-cited study by the University of Arizona reveals that the average person in the U.S. tosses out about $600 worth of food each year. That’s about $12 each week.

How much is that? Well, with $12 you could buy four pounds of organic, dried chick peas and three pounds of organic, brown, long-grain rice at the Kingston Natural Foods Buying Club. Cooked, this would be enough food to serve two adults one meal each day for one week. Just add salt and pepper to taste.

One way to insure you’re not wasting food is to make a shopping list (with more accurate portion sizes) and stick to it. Buying smaller quantities of local foods when available is also more efficient. You could also invite friends over once a week for a meal to help “empty the fridge.”

Better yet, since you likely haven’t noticed that $12 each week, how about work to not waste food while also giving $12 a week to a local food pantry?

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz

Time to Help Out

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helping_handsAs this Kingston Daily Freeman article says, the recession is taking a big toll on the arts community — many of whom work as non-profits.

At issue is a double whammy on the revenue-generating ability of non-profits: consumers are tapped out and not spending as much on the arts while the larger foundations — stressed by a steep erosion in the stock market — have less money to give.

At a recent bring-your-own lunch meeting with several non-profits in the environmental conservation sector, the topic of fundraising is a sensitive topic. There’s simply less of it. And by some forecasts, the percentage of non-profits in the U.S. that are expected to fail in the next two years is 20 percent. This includes non-profits that serve in the environmental conservation, arts, health services and social service sectors.

What can you do? Whatever you can. A little bit can go a long way. And it doesn’t have to be giving money. Give your time. Lend a hand.

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz

Local Wisdom

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Kudos too Ulster County Legislature Majority Leader Brian Cahill for proposing a “use what we make” initiative that would require area businesses to be notified when Ulster County government seeks services or goods.

According to the Kingston Daily Freeman, Cahill “drafted a resolution requesting the county Purchasing Department [to] create a database of Ulster County-based businesses by category and notify those business when the county is seeking bids for goods or services the businesses offer.”

From the perspective of local businesses and a responsible government, such as policy makes good business sense.

The move comes as our neighbors in Orange County urges local businesses there to bid on products, goods and services. Read that story, here.

Area businesses have much to offer, and taxes used for operating costs should go back into the local business pool. What do you think?

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz

Reminder: Groundbreaking at City Hall

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Just a quick reminder of the Victory Garden groundbreaking at City Hall this Wednesday at 9 a.m. If you’re free, stop by to see the installation of a “Three Sisters” garden. Meanwhile, the seeds that are being grown at the Kingston Land Trust are growing fast. For more on this, see the story here.

Make a Difference This Week

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The Parks and Recreation Department announced its annual “spring cleanup” of city parks and is encouraging folks to volunteer on April 25 in the effort as part of Global Youth Services Day. See the Freeman story, here.

Noteworthy is that Ward 1 resident Alina Denarie is organizing the Kinderland Playgound cleanup that day. Interested in helping? Contact her at de******@***oo.com.

If unable to  pitch in on the public projects, residents are urged to clean up their neighborhoods. Thanks to Steve and Julie Noble and other community leaders who are spearheading this campaign. Well done!

Under the constraints of current budget conditions, this year is more important than ever in regard to pitching in to help the parks and recreation department and our city. Moreover, cleaning up our neighborhoods is not only a great way to beautify the area, but also to meet your neighbors.

Would you consider organizing a neighborhood clean up? If yes, just do it. Invite your neighbors over for a planning meeting this week. Pool together resources such as brooms and bags. See if someone can serve as a recycling volunteer. Make a difference in your neighborhood this week.

Landing Lands, But What is Mixed Use?

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AVR’s Hudson Landing project cleared its final environmental review hurdle last night. The Kingston Freeman reports that the Kingston planning board “unanimously adopted a findings statement, a document that outlines what developer AVR Acquisition Corp. of Yonkers needs to do to mitigate potential environmental impacts from the proposed 1,750-unit project.” Read the story here.

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Wellness Events in Kingston

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There’s much happening on the wellness front. On Thursday, April 16 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Benedictine Hospital’s Administrative Services Building Auditorium will be a free afternoon lecture with Warren Kramer, a macrobiotic educator and health counselor. He will dicuss “Macrobiotics: A Lifestyle for Health and Healing.” The program is being presented by The Miso Happy Cooking Club in conjunction with the Oncology Support Program. To register, call the OSP at 339-2071, ext. 100.

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Trash Fee for Non-profits? What Do You Think?

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As the City of Kingston contemplates a trash fee for non-profits, see story in today’s Freeman here, it’s important to discuss this issue as a community. The Freeman story notes that residents and commercial property owners carry the financial burden left over from non-profits who don’t pay for trash pick-up. The story also notes that putting in place a fee would also force non-profits to recycle more of their waste.

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