Riverfront Clean Up
It was great to get back into the ‘clean up and recycle’ state of mind since we had an in person 4th of July fireworks celebration. As in the past East Peoria Green and some of our friends turned out 10 or more volunteers on the 5th of July. We worked for about 3 hours sorting recyclables from trash and put them in the correct containers. The photos show two groups of green volunteers who helped with the HOT messy task. I apologize to the helpers that were there that I missed with the camera. We want to thank the City of East Peoria for arranging their pick up of the trash and recyclables at the riverfront around our schedule.
I must say that the area was in better shape this year, so if you were there, Thank You.
Remember that the Recycling toters are the ones with the single round hole on top. Many of these toters have blue lids, but some do not. We had two members, who suggested we spray paint many tops of the recycle toters a nice blue. Then they would match the blue topped toters we use all around the city. We hope to do that in the cooler fall when the baseball season ends.
Be Patriotic all year! Help someone you don’t know that needs help.
Sustainable Switch
Here is a suggestion on something basic you can work on from our just past Earth Day to Earth Day 2023. Start considering your use of Toilet Paper. Did you know that the average person uses 130 rolls of TP a year? Hard to believe isn’t it. That’s about one roll every 3 days. To make all that toilet paper about 27,000 trees a day are cut down. Since trees, both hardwoods and pine only grow about 3 feet a year it takes 20 years to grow a tree to harvest for toilet paper production. Some of these trees are cut from tree farms, but many are cut from old growth virgin forest in Northern Canada and the rainforests of Brazil. This practice devastates the habitat for many creatures and plants that only live in those locations. It also significantly reduces the number of trees available to hold carbon from our burning of fossil fuels. The solution is to take the long strong fibers needed to bind toilet paper together and make it feel soft from bamboo. As you know bamboo grows very fast, as much as 3 feet per day. So a great supply of bamboo is out there in Asia. Some local Asian farmers already plant a few rows of bamboo around their small farmland plots. The bamboo needs no tending, watering, or fertilizing. The sale of this readily available product would help the family farmers in Asia.
Bamboo toilet paper is very strong and soft, just like the premium brands of tree made toilet paper. Bamboo toilet paper doesn’t cause any problems in septic systems or waste plants. It biodegrades easily and there is no need for harsh chlorine chemicals in the production of bamboo toilet paper, like there is in the production of some brands of tree made TP.
Give it a try and make the switch. I have, and it does its job as well as any toilet paper. You can google bamboo toilet paper and see the brands that are out in the market already. I have purchased a large quantity locally from Costco and UFS.
Energy Efficiency Day Proclamation
East Peoria Mayor John Kahl presented a proclamation in recognition of Energy Efficiency Day on October 6th. Recieving the proclamation are Bob Jorgensen of HOI Sierra Club and Connie Cantabury of East Peoria Green. All citizens need to Remember that energy that is not needed because buildings are emery efficient is the first step in slowing climate change.
Seed Collection
For over 5 years, the East Peoria Community High School HOPE Club has been working with the Army Core of Engineers to harvest and distribute native wildflower seeds near Farmdale Dam in East Peoria. HOPE Club (an acronym for Healing Our Planet’s Environment) is an environmental club that was founded 25 years ago by EPCHS science teacher Martin Hobbs. Some of those wildflowers are milkweed, an important plant that attracts many pollinators including monarch butterflies. Due to widespread herbicide use, milkweed, the only plant monarch larvae will eat, is becoming much more scarce. As a result, monarch populations have decreased by over 80% over the last 2 decades. HOPE Club and EP Green have distributed thousands of these milkweed seeds to interested community members. If you are interested in acquiring some of these milkweed seeds, please contact Bob Jorgensen at jestpr@aol.com or Martin Hobbs at mhobbs@ep309.org.
