Members and the general public are needed to help address
pressing environmental issues facing us at this time. Support for the Expanded "Bottle Bill". At the June 16, 2009 meeting, the Saugus Board of Selectmen
voted to support the Expanded 'Bottle Bill'. An Updated Bottle Bill would expand our container deposit system to include
“new age” drinks such as non-carbonated beverages, water, iced tea, juice,
and sports drinks.
It would add approximately $15 million to state revenue via projected unclaimed deposits. It would decrease litter - and increase recycling.
MassRecycle.org has asked the Chief Elected Officials of all Massachusetts
municipalities to support the bill by signing a resolution at their next meeting.
Citizens can help by calling and/or writing their state Senator and Representative
to urge their support of this very important bill.
A Compilation of SAVE's Monthly Environmental Tips Bat Houses There are safer ways to deal with the mosquito population than
spraying with poisons. One very good way to eliminate mosquitoes
is to encourage bats to visit or even live in your yard by providing a
bat house or two on your property. Bats are extremely important.
Yet due to years of unwarranted human fear and persecution, bats
are in alarming decline. By putting up a bat house you are helping
by giving them a home.
You will also benefit from having fewer yard and garden pests, and will enjoy learning
about bats and sharing your knowledge with friends and family.As the primary
predators of night-flying insects, bats play a vital role in maintaining the balance of
nature. And, as consumers of vast numbers of pests, they rank among humanity's most
valuable allies. A single little brown bat can catch hundreds of mosquito-sized insects
an hour, and a typical colony of big brown bats can protect local farmers from the
costly attacks of 18 million root-worms each summer. Bats are not blind, and are actually very clean animals. They do not get caught in
peoples' hair or chew through the attic of your house. Bats will not interfere with
feeding backyard birds, and they will not be disrupted by pets or children. Read more about bat houses at: http://www.eparks.org/wildlife_protection/wildlife_facts/bats/bat_house.asp
To keep your trees healthy, be sure to avoid "Volcano Mulching" This refers to the shape of the pile of mulch built up around the base of your tree.
Piling mulch high up tight against the tree trunk is bad for the tree. It can cause
splits and cankers on the trunk and allow disease and pests to attack.
Consider using organic fertilizer on your lawn this season.
And try to encourage birds into your yard to help with insect control
by keeping a bird bath filled with water in your garden.
"Some mower facts: Set your blades high.
Don't be a victim of golf course syndrome".
Many Americans believe that a healthy lawn looks like a manicured golf course
butthe opposite is true. For most types of grass, the proper length is 2" to 3" high.
This encourages longer, healthier roots, and provides natural shade for the ground
around each plant - which enables it to retain moisture in the soil."
Don't trash it - reuse it! Be creative - look for new ways to reduce the amount or kinds of household waste.
Give cardboard tubes to pet hamsters or gerbils.
Plant seeds in an egg carton.
Make a flower pot out of a plastic ice cream tub.
By thinking creatively, you will often find new uses for common items and
new ways to recycle and reduce waste.
Why not try composting? According to the Citizens for a Better Environment, between
15-20% of the total municipal waste stream is organic material.
All of these materials are very bulky, quickly using up valuable
landfill space.
Composting is the process of turning organic material that you
would normally throw away - from grass clippings to apple cores -
into a rich fertilizer. The simplest way is to just pile leaves, grass
clippings, and weeds in a corner of your garden. (This isn't ideal
as composting goes, but the clippings will decompose, and won't
use landfill space.) Or you could purchase a composting bin
through Lorna Cerbone at the Inspectional Services Department
at Town Hall -- it's easy to set up and works great!
Hints for the Christmas Holiday Season ~Keep your house cool. In addition to saving on your heating bill
and reducing your energy use, some foods stored outside the fridge
(especially fats like butter and oil) will last longer. ~When using ribbon to decorate your gifts, purchase sturdy cloth ribbon
that can be reused year after year, as most ribbon cannot be recycled. ~Only preheat your oven for 10 minutes before you plan to bake your
holiday goodies. That’s all the time it needs to heat up. And then leave the door shut. You lose about 25 degrees of heat every time you
open that door to peek! ~Use LED Christmas lights on your tree…not only do these save
money and energy, they are built sturdier for withstanding the yearly
packing up, unpacking and restringing involved with decorating.
Congratulations to SAVE Vice-President Margery Hunter!
Margery’s original 3-D artwork of the “Fab Five”
(Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto) was on display to the public at the Grand Opening,
1st ever, D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center
near Disneyland from September 10th - 13th.
Margery, an avid Disney fan since 1991, the year of
her first visit to Florida and Disney World, completed
her “Summer Vacation Project” for submission to
The Walt Disney Archives and was advised in late
August that her artwork was selected for display. Once again, our congratulations to Margery!
A Big "Thank You" to the Parents of Shining Stars' Students The Shining Stars Learning Center (in the Evans School, Saugus)
has been teaching kids about environmental topics this summer -
ranging from composting to recycling. During the early weeks of August, they worked on "RE-USE".Nhung Brown showed
kids and faculty a few ways to convert old clothing, that would have otherwise been
thrown away, into fun new clothing and accessories. All the old clothing was donated by participating families.The work to convert the
clothing was done by Nhung, the Shining Stars staff, and the Shining Stars students. Shining Stars held a "Movie Night & Fashion Show" on Wednesday, August 12th on
the SSLC playground.The kids showed off their creations prior to auctioning them
off to the parents.In keeping with the theme, all proceeds were donated to SAVE.
The SAVE 2009 Annual Meeting and Dinner was held on
June 17th at the Hilltop Steakhouse and restaurant.
The SAVE Environmental Educational Scholarship was awarded to Michael Gray,
a 2009 graduate of Saugus High School.
The 2010 SAVE Officers were elected.
They are: Ann Devlin, President - Margery Hunter, Vice President
Chuck Bocchino, Treasurer - Pamela Goodwin, Secretary.
Guest Speaker, Curtis White the Lead Supervisory Park Ranger at Saugus Iron Works,
presented the gathering with a slide show and talk on the recent changes and renovations
at the Iron Works resulting from the Restoration Project that has been ongoing at the park.
