Green Hudson September Newsletter

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We Did It Before and We Can Do It Again!

In the fall of 2020, Hudson enacted a bylaw that bans all plastic bag use within the town limits. Green Hudson had stepped up locally when the Commonwealth failed to pass a statewide ban by collecting the necessary signatures and getting the proposed by-law on the Town Warrant. The people of Hudson passed the proposed by-law in a sweeping vote with 73 in favor and 7 opposed.

Once again, the state legislature has failed to act on plastic reduction measures in their last session; and once again, Green Hudson has moved ahead on a local initiative.

Here is the report from our Plastics Reduction Committee Chairman, Elisa Pearmain, detailing the new effort.

Great news folks! In less than two weeks, we gathered 181 signatures for our polystyrene reduction petitions. Not only can you can read the full petition language on our website (click here), but our October 22nd Climate Cafe at 7:00 p.m. in the Avidia Community room will be dedicated to this article on the Town Warrant. In addition to Green Hudson members, the panel will include speakers from other local towns that have already passed bans and some Hudson restaurant owners who have made the switch to compostable takeout containers and utensils.

Briefly, the proposed by-law states:

Starting in June 2025, restaurants and retail stores can no longer:

▪ Put takeout food into Styrofoam or black plastic containers.

▪ Sell foods in Styrofoam containers.

▪ Give out single use plastic utensils, including straws, stirrers, spill stoppers and chopsticks.

▪ Sell Styrofoam packing materials, including peanuts.

▪ Sell single use plastic utensils without also selling compostable alternatives.

Our goal is to ban any single use plastic product that has no chance of being recycled. Sadly, research shows that even those products that technically can be recycled only have a 6% record of being made into something else.

Why are we doing this, knowing that it will cause challenges for our local businesses?

▪ The threat to human, animal and planetary health is too great.

▪ Microplastics have been found in every human organ, blood, placentas, and breast milk.

▪ They are now linked to lower fertility rates, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.

▪ There is too much unnecessary plastic being created every day.

▪ Plastics are created from fossil fuels and other harmful chemicals.

▪ Alternatives exist and several of our stores and restaurants are already using them.

▪ When countries demand alternatives, the producers make them.

We are not alone–did you know:

▪ 66 other towns in MA have polystyrene reduction bans

▪ Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Washington, and Vermont have already passed polystyrene bans and Delaware, and Rhode Island’s bans will go into effect in 2025.

▪ Many cities across the country have banned polystyrene, including most of Hawaii, D.C., Chicago and San Francisco.

▪ Countries that have banned polystyrene include, The European Union and United Kingdom, India, and Morocco, to name just a few.

▪ Canada has banned all Styrofoam and black plastic.

If they can do it, we can too.

Save the date! Come to Hudson's Town Meeting on Monday November 18th at 7:30 p.m., being held at the Hudson High School to support the passage of this initiative. For more information or to volunteer in our educational efforts, please contact Elisa Pearmain: call 781-640-9499 or email [email protected].

Recommended Film: We’re All Plastic People Now is an Emmy Winning documentary introduced by Ted Danson and featured at the 2024 Santa Fe Film Festival.

It’s in the air. It’s in the water. In an era of throw-away ease, plastic has cost us our well-being. It’s been found inside our bodies, our colons, our brains, in breast milk and developing wombs.

Now, it’s even in our hearts.

Recycling and Composting Interest Spreads in Hudson

Recognizing past efforts of Green Hudson educating people about trash at events such as Hudson Fest, the Rotary Club invited Green Hudson to do just that at this year's Beer Fest.

Seven Green Hudson volunteers (Tina, Ande, Jackie, Janice, Stu, Tom and Sean) set up and staffed three recycling stations at the Rotary Club's Brewfest on August 10th.

It was an opportunity to debut our new recycling signs, directing the hundreds of attendees on how to separate the recyclables, the compostables and the trash.

With some help from our volunteers we kept a huge amount of recyclables and compostables out of the trash stream—a vital step if we're to have an impact on climate change. Scout Troop #77 will be returning the recyclable cans to help their organization. We took the remaining recyclables to the transfer station, and Black Earth Compost picked up 5 bags.

It was a great effort by the Rotary Club, Scout Troop #77 and Green Hudson: raising funds, helping the environment and providing a great afternoon for hundreds of guests!

Committee Reports

Climate and Energy Committee contact Brian White [email protected]

Education and Outreach Committee

Our September 24th Climate Cafes features our State Senator Jamie Eldridge. He will provide an update on climate change action in the Massachusetts state legislature including how it happened that the bottle bill was once again not updated. During a Q and A session, ask about assistance you may be able to get in the fight against climate change.

Then, on October 22nd, the Climate Cafe will focus on the Plastic Reduction Article that Green Hudson successfully placed on the Special Town Meeting warrant to be voted on Monday, November 18th. Come learn about our efforts to reduce plastic use in town, including styrofoam takeout containers, food packaging, and restaurants' takeout utensils.

We are also trying to reach out to the public and to potential buyers at the Toll Brothers' development called Lakemont on Old County Road. The heating systems are all powered with **propane gas,** cheaper for the developer but much more carbon producing and not as inexpensive as electricity in Hudson. We are asking the developers to offer an "all-electric option," to allow new homeowners to be up-to-date with carbon emissions reduction. These homes will be required to upgrade to electric heat production due to climate change legislation, in the near future. If you have ideas on how to do this outreach, please reach out to the committee chair, Jeanette Millard, at [email protected].

Plastics Reduction Committee in lieu of a report, please see our feature article We Did It Before and We Can Do It Again!

Climate Resilient Schools Coalition

Green Hudson’s Climate Resilient Schools Coalition will be having information tables at the public schools Back to Schools Nights as follows:

Elementary schools on September 12

Quinn Middle on September 12

High School on September 19

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Recently, Green Hudson's Jeanette Millard asked Alexi Dart-Padover a question about her gardens. Some of you will remember Alexi from his presentation at our last October's Climate Cafe.

Q: Hello Alexi, your Climate Cafe on Native Plants last fall was so great! Now I have a question after planting 3 gardens: Should I wait a few years before deciding whether to plant more to fill it out? And, do I need to WEED it?!

A: You can add more plants to your garden at any time (although the best times for planting are spring and fall). If you have some open gaps, there is no need to wait a few years. But some plants will take some time to mature and fill out, and it is very easy to overcrowd plants when they are small and then wind up with an overly dense garden. I often tend to overplant my beds, which creates more of a wild prairie look. With the increased competition between plants, individuals may not get as big. The upside to a dense garden is less space for weeds to emerge.

Weeding is important, especially with new garden beds. If you keep up with it, over time your garden will require less and less weeding. Any time the soil is disturbed, weeds will appear from dormant seed and threaten to take over. Often, these are annuals like foxtail, crabgrass, chickweed, or speedwell. As long as you keep them from going to seed, they will eventually be outcompeted by your maturing natives. Biennial or perennial weeds like garlic mustard, dame's rocket, and mugwort require more persistence to get rid of. Mulching will help keep weed seeds from germinating. You can also scatter seed of native annuals in the interstitial spaces of your garden beds, and they will fill the space and make it harder for weeds to thrive. My favorites are partridge pea, spotted bee balm, and black eyed susan.

But gardens are always changing and you should embrace the change. Some plants, like black-eyed susan, are short-lived and will fade away as others spread out. You should feel free to move plants around, transplant offshoots, or thin out plants that get too aggressive. You can collect seed and sow it into new areas or bare patches. Some plants don't respond well to transplanting (like baptisia or lupine), but most do not mind at all—just make sure anything dug up is well watered.

Climate Cafes

are Back!

Mark Your

Calendar Now

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.

All Are Welcome!

Green Hudson's Next Meeting

will be at 6:00 p.m.

on Sunday, September 22nd,

at the Avidia Bank’s Community Room,

located at 17 Pope St., Hudson

(rear parking lot, side of building

near the drive thru)

or via zoom.

Agenda and zoom invites are usually 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]

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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