Green Hudson November Newsletter

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Massachusetts Passes Climate Bill!

Massachusetts Lawmakers Heard Your Message: Climate Can't Wait. On November 14th, the Massachusetts Legislature responded to our call for climate action by passing two pieces of legislation: an expansive omnibus climate bill and substantial climatetech investments in the Economic Development Bill. After a disappointing end to the formal legislative session in July, they met the urgency of the moment and found common ground.

With federal climate action unlikely in the coming years, the country and the world are looking to Massachusetts for climate leadership. See additional information under Legislative Update below.

Comments Due by November 22 on Hudson Solid Waste Transfer Station and Recycling Facility. MEPA Needs to Hear From You!

The Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the proposed Hudson Solid Waste Transfer Station and Recycling Facility has been posted on the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) website.

The following paragraph was taken from a citizen's comment recorded in the public record in response to the FEIR on the proposed Hudson facility's expansion. The citizen, James Carvalho, consented to our printing it here.

"I believe that most of the citizens of Hudson are unaware that the proposed new Transfer Station off Cox is not a modernization of the current transfer station certified for a capacity of 350 tons per day (tpd) but in fact a massive expansion in which B-P trucking is requesting certification for handling 850 tons of solid waste per day, a massive expansion. MEPA deserves additional views of the impact of this project from the perspective of citizens of Hudson to inform the MassDEP decision to approve, disapprove or approve with reasonable limitations and conditions. Public awareness of this project has been limited to date. But, now is the time for the citizens of Hudson to provide their view of the project."

By increasing the daily tonnage of material to be handled from 350tpd to 850tpd, B-P will make this a Super Transfer Station—one of the largest in the state. This kind of tonnage adds an additional 400+ trucks traversing Hudson roads EVERY DAY. B-P can only dictate the approved routes in the proposal to their trucks—all others (the majority, no doubt) are free to use whatever access roads they wish. That number of additional trucks will contribute significantly to air pollution (specifically, increased green house gas generated by the diesel trucks and the very serious health concern about PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter) and noise pollution that will impact not only the nearby Mulready Elementary School but all of Hudson! And then there's the safety of our pedestrians and the financial impact on the maintenance of Hudson roadways. Our town and its citizens do not deserve this. These are the environmental concerns that MEPA needs to heed.

By the way, to understand the severity of this expansion, it is estimated that the transfer station currently handles only 50-60tpd from Hudson—that's all! According to resources Mr. Carvalho cites in his public comment to the MEPA, Hudson's terms in the lease of the land to B-P included that the transfer station “will not...constitute a nuisance, public or private” and “B-P to construct

and operate a Solid Waste Transfer Station for the purposes of managing the municipal solid waste generated within the Town of Hudson”. However, the lease agreement, signed on behalf of the citizens of Hudson, authorized by a November 2020 Town Meeting vote to enter into "any contract" by the Hudson Board of Selectmen in 2021 included no limitation on the capacity of the new solid waste transfer station.

The FEIR report can be accessed HERE. Hudson citizens can provide comments on the proposal by clicking HERE, but it's even easier to email your comment to the MEPA Environmental Analyst on the project: Nick Moreno [email protected]. Please include this copy in your email: "The attached is a comment on the “Hudson Solid Waste Station Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR)" submitted to MEPA by Epsilon Associates on behalf of B-P Trucking under MEPA EEA #16586. Please include this as a Public Comment for the Project."

After MEPA considers this project, it will also have to come before the Hudson Planning Board, the Conservation Commission, the Health Department, the Building Commissioner and perhaps the Hudson Zoning Board of Appeals.

Committee Reports

Climate & Energy Committee

Our team is continuing to look for EV charging stations sites near downtown. Also, we will begin planning activities for Earth Day '25. If you are interested, please reach out to Brian White at [email protected].

Education & Outreach Committee
In the Education and Outreach committee’s recent Climate Cafe, we heard from two HHS students in a UNESCO program. Adrian Jacobson and Clara Pereira described their goals, some of the work they’ve done at the high school, and their plans for traveling to Portugal in January to present their project at the UNESCO international forum. Watch their video HERE.

Since the upcoming holidays fall in the same week as our Climate Cafes, we decided to hold one Climate Cafe on Wednesday December 4th. We hope this adds a little sanity into everyone’s holidays!

The December 4th speaker will be Kathy Macchiarola, a Hudson resident with a certificate in Carbon Literacy. Kathy will give us a sense of what carbon literacy includes, and will offer a deeper dive into the carbon footprint of food. We won’t insist you give up hamburgers, but there is lots of interesting information to share and learn more about.

The education and outreach committee is putting together next the year's Climate Cafe program. If you have any suggestions for topics and/or speakers, please contact Jeanette at [email protected].

Plastics Reduction Committee
At the November 18th Town Meeting, Green Hudson will request that our Polystyrene Reduction Article be passed over. We plan to bring it up again with some modifications for the May Town Meeting. Thank you to those who signed our petition.

On January 9th, Green Hudson in conjunction with the local Chamber of Commerce will host a Plastic Reduction Forum at the Avidia Community Room, at 7:00 pm. We hope to have restaurant owners present who have voluntarily shifted to non-plastic take out materials, restaurant owners and managers who wish to learn more, and members of local community groups that have already passed plastic reduction measures in their towns. We hope you will attend.

Janice Habermehl, our artistic director, has designed a stunning new logo for our Plastic Reduction Initiative. She has also designed a sticker which we plan to give to restaurants who meet the criterion for Green standards. Look for them in the coming year!

Our committee has grown to 8 people, and exciting projects are underway. We welcome your support, creativity and talents to our team! Contact Elisa Pearmain, [email protected]

Good News! Amazon has stopped shipping boxes with plastic pillows in them and is now shipping with recycled paper. The company said that it had been shipping about 15 billion of those plastic pillows annually. This transition should be complete by the end of 2024. Now we need to pressure them to get rid of the plastic padded mailers (which the USPO also sells).

Legislative Update

Thursday, November 14th, the Massachusetts Legislature responded to our call for climate action by passing two pieces of legislation: an expansive omnibus climate bill and substantial climatetech investments in the Economic Development Bill. After a disappointing end to the formal legislative session in July, they met the urgency of the moment and found common ground.

The final omnibus climate bill (S.2967, An Act promoting a clean energy grid, advancing equity and protecting ratepayers) prioritizes clean energy and works to decarbonize our most polluting sectors. This includes:

Accelerating the electrification of our homes, businesses, and transportation while prioritizing community engagement and benefits
Scaling our clean energy storage
Increasing access to reliable electric vehicle charging
Moving away from natural gas and toward electric heating alternatives

Plant-based diets can help reduce your risk of heart disease and help with the climate—but they're not all created equal

Using data from the Nurses’ Health Study II, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers analyzed the food intakes of more than 65,000 qualifying participants and examined their diets’ associations with health outcomes (including relative risks of cardiovascular disease) and with environmental impacts. To differentiate plant-based dietary patterns, the researchers

characterized participants’ diets using various dietaryindices, including the healthy and unhealthy plant-based diet metrics. Higher scores on the unhealthy plant-based diet index indicated higher consumption of refined grains, sugary drinks, fruit juice, potatoes, and sweets/desserts; while higher scores on the healthy plant-based diet index indicated higher consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, vegetable oils, and tea/coffee.

Participants who consumed healthy plant-based diets had lower cardiovascular disease risk, and theirose diets had lower greenhouse gas emissions and use of crop land, irrigation water, and nitrogenous fertilizer than diets that were higher in unhealthy plant-based and animal-based foods. Participants who ate unhealthy plant-based diets experienced a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and their diets required more crop land and fertilizer than diets that were higher in healthy plant-based and animal foods. The findings also reinforced earlier studies showing that diets higher in animal-based foods, especially red and processed meat, have greater adverse environmental impacts than plant-based diets.

Human health ultimately depends upon planetary health. U.S. dietary guidelines should include nuanced consideration of environmental sustainability and recognize that not all plant-based diets confer the same health and environmental benefits.

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH grants U01 CA176726, UM1 CA186107, HL35464, and 2T32CA057711). Learn more about healthy and unhealthy plant-based diets HERE.

Green Hudson’s Next Climate Cafe will be on Wednesday, December 4th

Katherine Macchiarola will present "Food for thought: the carbon footprint of feeding America". The impact of our food supply on the green house gases that contribute to climate change are both significant and to some extent preventable. The U.S.wastes a third of our food supply. Nearly a quarter of what ends up in municipal solid waste is food. We’ll explore sources of food-related greenhouse gases, and how we as individuals can consider doing to mitigate that which we can control.

Kathy is a resident of Hudson, a recently retired marketing director with engineering degrees and a love of all things science related. She is certified Carbon Literate (Carbon Literacy Project) and was a member of the Green Champions at work, helping her employer work toward its net zero emission goals for 2030.

Climate Cafes are held at Avidia's Financial Center's Community Room at 17 Pope Street in Hudson, at 7:00 p.m. Please note the change of day to Wednesday for this event.

Does your Local Cemetery Allow Green Burial?

The Green Burial Massachusetts cemetery database now lists 61 cemeteries in 41 Massachusetts municipalities that allow green burial. Click HERE for chart. Volunteers are key to adding new information to the list. Don't see your city or town on the list? Help us expand the number of cemeteries listed by reaching out to a cemetery commission or private cemetery board and collecting information.

Green Hudson's Next Meeting

will be at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 17th,

at the Avidia Bank’s Community Room, 17 Pope St.

(rear parking lot, side of building near the drive thru)

or via zoom.

Agenda and zoom invites are sent out one week before meetings.

Recycling Volunteers Needed!

Have fun! Meet your neighbors and

make new friends while helping the planet.

Recycling volunteers needed Saturdays.

For more information:

contact [email protected]

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.

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".

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