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A Note from our Chapter Chair

Susan Eastwood

June 2025

Greetings!

 

It looks like a beautiful month ahead for the end of school and other early summer activities. I wish you all many happy days wandering the forests, parks, and shores of our state.

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Photo of a forest trail in summer time | Image by Pexels from Pixabay

There are many hikes and outings planned by our dedicated Outings leaders, check them out on our website, along with many other events we have planned for you!

 

The CT General Assembly ended its 2025 legislative session on June 4 at midnight. What seemed like a surplus of time back in January rapidly accelerated and we ended the session with some successes and some disappointments. Learn how it all turned out for our priority bills – climate, resilience, wildlife protections from pesticides and poisons, and waste reductions.

 

Everyone is invited to join our Legislative Wrap-Up webinar on June 17 and our Post-Legislative Session Celebration at Hammonasset State Park in Madison on June 26.

 

Sierra Club Connecticut is a founding member of the CT Zero Waste Coalition (CT ZWC), which is led by the CT Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice (CCEEJ). Along with allied groups, we work to reduce municipal waste in positive ways, which can save towns and families money while protecting their air, water, and health. Education is key, and provides residents with ideas on how to be more responsible with their consumption and disposal habits. We support municipalities who are trying new programs to encourage less waste.

 

Managing waste responsibly can also cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and help to fight climate change. We fight proposals for polluting new incineration facilities, like one currently proposed in Plainfield, a distressed community already burdened with a wood-burning plant and a nearby trash incinerator. 

 

The Zero Waste Hierarchy instructs us to apply a series of steps before disposing of trash to a landfill or incinerator. It starts with being thoughtful about consumption. When you are shopping, ask yourself “Do I need it?”;  “Could I borrow it, or purchase one second hand?”; and “Do I have something I can reuse instead?” “Reduce, reuse, recycle” are the three top methods for responsibly handling waste.

 

Food waste is estimated to make up around 25% of our municipal waste stream.  This is something individuals can control. You can plan ahead before grocery shopping to buy just what you need, and avoid buying more than needed. You can make it a priority to use up your food as completely as possible. You can donate good food to an organization that will redistribute it. The remainder can be composted in your yard, or, if you’re lucky, in a municipal facility. Municipal compost, or food waste from large producers, like groceries, schools, hospitals, and such, can be collected and sent to an aerobic composting facility or an anaerobic digester, to produce usable compost or power.

 

Connecticut is taking steps towards managing our food waste by funding municipal pilot projects to collect food waste and/or introduce Pay As You Throw programs (which SAVE as you throw). Our Sierra Club legislative committee has been working hard to strengthen mandates in statewide law requiring food waste collection and donation of good food to those in need. We are also supporting the reduction of single-use plastic waste, another large chunk of our municipal waste stream. This year we worked to pass bills on food waste, food donations (HB 6917), and reductions of single-use plastics (HB 6229). The two bills were approved by the Environment Committee. They were amended and combined into HB 6917, which passed the House, but did not get a vote in the Senate. Find out more about this and other environmental priorities this session at our Legislative Wrap-Up webinar on June 17.

 

The Quinnehtukqut will be taking a break in July—the summer edition will come out on August 2. In the meantime, I hope to see you at our Celebration on June 26 or other summer events.

 

Have a wonderful summer outside!

 

Susan

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Susan Eastwood is Chapter Chair of Sierra Club Connecticut.

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