Green Hudson January Newsletter
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| Plastic Reduction Initiative (PRI) update |
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| Green Hudson (GH) plans to present a bylaw at Hudson's May Town Meeting geared toward eliminating foam polystyrene (Styrofoam), black solid polystyrene, and non-recyclable plastic utensils—all forms of plastic that are not biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable in the Town of Hudson. If passed, this will affect Hudson businesses in the food industry. |
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| On Thursday January 9th, GH held a Forum on our proposal to reduce the amount of non-recyclable plastics given out, utilized, or sold in Hudson. |
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We invited members of the business community through the Chamber of Commerce and the Hudson Business Association. Members of the public and those involved in Town governance also attended, including a member of the Board of Health. In all, about sixty people attended the Forum. |
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GH provided background information on the proposal. Although restaurant representatives were not able to join, Good Earth, Flatbread, the Micro Creamery, the Evergreen Room and a few others have already voluntarily stopped using non-recyclable single-use plastic products. In the coming year, GH plans to give a shout-out to those
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| establishments by giving out Green Stickers so that you can identify, thank, and support them yourselves.
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| We then heard from Sustainable Sudbury who passed a ban on single-use plastic products in 2018, members of Green Maynard who did so in 2022, and Sustainable Stow who are planning to bring a bylaw to May Town Meeting. They each offered suggestions for reaching the public and offering businesses more resources.
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We finished with a panel of speakers, members of Green Hudson and the Recycling Committee who took questions from the audience members. Frequently asked questions |
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| were mostly about the next steps for PRI and plastic recycling. Attendees expressed enthusiastic appreciation for our efforts. |
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Unable to attend? You can find the HUD.TV recording of the event on our website www.greenhudson.org.
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Our next steps will focus on outreach and education:
➤ show a movie on the health effects of plastic at our Climate Café on Tuesday January 21st.
➤ finalize the language of the warrant article for the Board of Selectmen by the end of January. |
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| ➤ work with the Board of Health to reach out to businesses and offer zoom meetings to hear from them and help them understand what we are proposing.
➤ hold another educational session for residents on Tuesday April 22nd. |
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While still a work in progress until the end of January, check out the proposed bylaw, HERE!
For more information: |
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| Go to the Green Hudson website and select the Current Initiatives tab to find more information about the Non-recyclable Plastic Reduction Initiative. |
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| Questions? Please email HERE! If interested in joining the initiative, contact Elisa Pearmain at [email protected] or call (781) 640-9499. |
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| The new legislative session starts January 2025 and the new bills need to be filed by January 17. Advocacy organizations will be reviewing bills after they are filed and deciding on priorities for this session. Several bills including the Bottle Bill, Municipal Reforestation and Make Polluter’s Pay bill that were not included in the 2024 Climate Bill will be refiled. Committee chairs and co-chairs will be assigned in January and the committee chairs will begin to schedule bill hearings. |
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| Heat Pump Technology Has Come a Long Way, FAST! |
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| Newer pumps are even delivering warm air to homes north of the Arctic Circle. |
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| Brutal cold gripped Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the days before Christmas 2022,with wind chills as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit and many residents cranking up their natural gas heating systems. But Alex Tsatsoulis’ family kept warm using a highly efficient electric system called a heat pump, which can both heat and cool homes. |
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| “I don’t think it got above zero in outdoor temperature for a while,” Tsatsoulis said. “I’ll be honest, I was amazed that in that frigid temperature, it was finding heat to put into the house.” |
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Heat pumps pull warmth from the outside air with a compressor and pump it inside. Adoption of the technology in cold places like Minnesota is still relatively new, but it is growing rapidly as cold-climate heat pump technology |
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| improves, financial incentives ramp up, and homeowners choose to fight climate change in their own lives. Meanwhile, federal tax credits and pending rebates are making it cheaper than ever to get a heat pump. |
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| Read the complete and thorough science behind heat pumps as clearly presented in this 2023 article, originally published by Yale Climate Connections. |
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| January 28th Climate Cafe: Our Plastics Reduction Initiative |
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| Popcorn and Movie Night : “We Are All Plastic People Now” |
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Tuesday, January 28th at 7:00 p.m. Community Room at Avidia’s Financial Center 17 Pope St., Hudson |
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| Introduced by actor and environmentalist Ted Danson, the documentary film “We’re All Plastic People Now” investigates the hidden story of plastic and its effects on human health. And the intersection of plastic and health is what the Green Huson Plastics Reduction Initiative is all about. Come watch the movie and learn why controlling plastic is an imperative. There will be time for questions and answers. Light refreshments and juice will be served. |
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| New Book Posted at the Story Walk Trail |
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The Hudson Public Library has provided a new book which can be read while hiking the Story Walk trail at the Old North Road Conservation Area. For directions and information about the trail, go to hudsonlandtrust.org/storywalk. And, please visit greenhudson.org to see our ongoing efforts to ensure an environmentally healthy hike. |
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| Green Hudson's January Meeting |
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6:00 p.m. on January 19th at the Avidia Finncial Center's Community Room 17 Pope Street in Hudson. This meeting is open to members. |
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| Green Hudson will be conducting our annual planning at this meeting. If you have thoughts about what you'd like to see us doing to support GHG and plastic reduction, making Hudson a healthier place to live, please send us an email at [email protected] We welcome you to attend our meetings, each month, on the third Sunday, at 6 p.m. |
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| Recycling VolunteersNeeded |
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Have fun! Meet your neighbors and make new friends while helping the planet. Recycling volunteers needed Saturdays. |
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| The Assabet River flows through the town of Hudson providing a powerful reminder of why we want to protect the beauty the earth provides. Scientists are alarmed as we witness climate change happening. We need to do more to put a stop to the threat. Join Green Hudson now to learn more. |
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| You are invited Do you have suggestions for articles, resources of note, inspirations, relevant books to recommend, etc.? Send to [email protected] with the subject line "Green Hudson". Share Green Hudson’s Newsletter If you found something of value in this newsletter, please forward it to others who might be interested. And, if you’re reading someone else’s copy and would like to receive your own newsletter each month, please subscribe by emailing [email protected]. For more information on Green Hudson ... visit our website at www.greenhudson.org. |
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