Recycling Double Header This Saturday, Oct 22nd

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Join the EGT for a recycling double-header this Saturday, October 22nd! Two recycling events are scheduled for the day which will help you to green your lifestyles thru recycling, the final 2016 Shred Day, and the biannual Rx Take Back Day.

You may dispose of your sensitive documents safely and securely at Ewing’s final Shred Day of the year from 9 – 1 at the municipal building. Document shredding will be done on site. This service is for Ewing residents only and proof of residency is required.

Members of the Ewing Green Team will be on hand to assist.

Date: Saturday, October 22nd
Time: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: Municipal Building, 2 Jake Garzio Drive

drugsIf your medicine cabinet is filled with expired drugs or medications that you no longer use, and you are concerned about detrimental environmental effects from improper disposal, here is the information that you need to properly dispose of them.

The Ewing Police Department will be participating in the DEA’s twice yearly National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day which will take place on Saturday, October 22, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity for those who missed the previous events, or who have subsequently accumulated unwanted, unused prescription drugs, to safely dispose of those medications.  Just go to the Ewing Police Department at 2 Jake Garzio Drive.  Enter the main door and make a left to go down the hallway to the Police Department.  Ewing Police will have an officer between 10 and 2 to take the items.

All medications are accepted, prescription and over-the-counter, as well as liquids.  Hypodermic needles are not accepted.  The disposal is handled completely securely; all accepted medications with any labels that you leave on the containers are placed in a large cardboard box, lined with plastic.  At the end of the day the contents are taken to the prosecutor’s office.  The DEA will pick up and incinerate.

National Take Back Day Information

Date: Saturday, October 22nd
Time: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Location: Ewing Police Department, 2 Jake Garzio Drive

The Ecological Benefits of the Not So Perfect Yard

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by Joanne Mullowney

The annual autumn cleanup is almost upon us and we would like to suggest that you channel your inner Environmental Steward by leaf cycling. Hoarding your autumn leaf drop provides numerous benefits for your landscape. It provides raw materials for the compost pile and an insulating winter cover in the garden. It helps with soil building and moisture retention. And, not inconsequentially, it helps save taxpayer dollars by reducing the amount of resources local governments put out for fall cleanup.  While you might think that this leaves the yard looking a little less than perfect, less labor may be required as we strive to become Leaf Litter Bugs.

The somewhat messy yard contributes yet another important benefit – habitat for the wild creatures that share our landscapes. Did you know that despite its not so perfect look, leaf litter provides an important foraging space for a wide variety of birds, small mammals and insects? The untrimmed winter garden invites insects to reside in native grasses or settle in hollow plant stems; while birds feed from dried seed heads.

So how do you balance a desire to have a not-so-messy yard (and not irritate the neighbors) with the needs of the interconnected web of creatures that provide biodiversity in your garden? Well, you don’t have to let your whole garden go wild; you can start out small. Just leave a section or two untrimmed or start in the backyard. Or settle some leaves under the branches of your shrubs.

You might try a combination of methods. Rake out some of the leaves from the beds that are simply too overwhelming onto the lawn. Then take your mulching mower and chop them up into small pieces. (Yes, using gas mowers is considered an unsustainable gardening practice, but consider the greater good.) Rake up the chopped leaves and place them back in the garden around shrubs and plants. Not surprisingly, they are greatly reduced in volume and contribute to a more manicured look. Do this as needed until the end of the season and the leaves will break down over the winter providing your soil with valuable nutrients all the while enhancing habitat.

Set yourself a goal of gardening more sustainably while trying to reach a balance between aesthetics and respecting the natural processes occurring in the landscape. After all, Mother Nature doesn’t have anyone carting out leaves to the curb. Our world desperately needs more environmental stewards, eco-gardeners working in harmony with nature and conserving natural resources. We ask you to become a litter bug; a Leaf Litter Bug, that is.

First Members of the Ewing Green Business Recognition Program Announced

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The Ewing Green Team, in conjunction with the Ewing Municipal Government, honored the first six members of the newly-established Ewing Green Business Recognition Program at the September 13th  Council meeting.  These businesses, representatives of whom were presented with a proclamation and an “Official Ewing Green Business” display decal, are: Money Management Associates, Red Star Pizza, Robbins Pharmacy, Paul’s Liquor, Ewing Independent Living and the local Elk’s Lodge #105.

These businesses have demonstrated an admirable commitment to sustainability,” Councilwoman Sarah Steward said, “and the Mayor and Council, along with the Green Team, are proud to recognize them as environmental leaders and the first official Ewing Green Businesses.”

“With the new Ewing Green Business Recognition Program we hope to promote the outstanding work our local businesses are already doing to keep our town environmentally-friendly, as well as encourage those who have not yet embraced sustainability to recognize the cost-savings and positive recognition that result from taking an active role in the future of Ewing,” said Program Coordinator Evan Crumiller.

Each member of the first Green Business class has adapted sustainability guidelines to the unique circumstances of their business.

  • The Elks undertook a top-to-bottom retrofitting of their lodge and maintained undeveloped open space.
  • Ewing Independent Living incorporated all manner of state-of-the-art sustainable technology, such as solar panels and rain gardens, when building their new facility.
  • Money Management Associates encourages its customers to think sustainably by offering  its clients a Business Shred Day, where all manner of private and confidential documents were collected to be safely shredded and recycled.
  • Paul’s Liquor takes clear pride in implementing green business practices in a locally-owned, family-operated business environment.
  • Red Star Pizza has long recognized that environmentalism and the food-service industry go hand-in-hand, and their special practices include a strong recycling ethos, a switch to LED lighting and more.
  • Robbins Pharmacy displayed its commitment to the environment during its building renovations by installing 220 solar panels on the roof to help power the building.

The Green Team is already looking for members of the second class of the Ewing Green Business Recognition Program, and interested businesses are welcome to reach out to Program Coordinator Evan Crumiller at (609) 468-0462 or evancrumiller@gmail.com

Environmental Insights Program on Our Open Space Dilemma on Oct 26th

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Land Preservation in a Built Out Community

Thanks to the foresight and vision of leaders like Teddy Roosevelt, John Muir and many others, 2016 marked the National Park Service’s 100th birthday.  It’s a perfect time to reflect upon and appreciate the many parks throughout the country that we are able to enjoy. It is also a great time to learn what we can do to preserve and expand upon the parks and open spaces in our town.  Join us for a presentation entitled Our Open Space Dilemma: Land Preservation Challenges in a Built-Out Community.   John S. Watson, Jr., Vice President of the D&R Greenway Land Trust, will speak to us about the work that the D&R Greenway does and lead a discussion about identifying and preserving the best of what is left in Ewing for recreation / conservation purposes and how the Greenway Land Trust might support this preservation work.

As the most developed state in the nation, New Jersey faces difficult land preservation challenges. Ewing Township is almost completely built out, having lost most of its agricultural heritage after WWII, and embodies some of the difficult choices that many suburban NJ communities face regarding open space. It is predominantly covered by residential, commercial, and institutional development.  The nonresidential properties serve to decrease the population density as a whole, but they are unavailable to the public as preserved and accessible open space.  The open space that is available consists of about 361 acres of wooded stream corridors, parks, and golf courses interspaced among those developments.  Approximately half of our open space is regional and half local.  We also have a tree canopy of 27.4%, below the state goal of 40%.

During our community visioning process conducted in 2014, citizens identified the preservation and conservation of our open spaces as an important component of community sustainability. Through its annual bike rides the EGT has been actively promoting our parks and open spaces to increase interest in expanding and protecting them.

We Americans have come to prize our national parks and to regard their preservation as a sacred trust. Preserving the natural areas in our town not only adds to the beauty of our community, but also serves as a legacy to future generation.  Please join us.

Date: Wednesday, Oct 26th
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Ewing Senior and Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road, in the Community Room

About Mr. Watson

jaywatson“Jay” is the Vice President of D&R Greenway Land Trust, a Princeton, NJ nonprofit land conservancy working to preserve and restore New Jersey’s landscape. Prior to coming to the D&R Greenway Land Trust, Jay spent nearly 30 years in various roles in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).   He has extensive experience protecting our natural resources from working in the Green Acres Program, working on waterfront reclamation and redevelopment, working on the Delaware River Basin Commission, chairing the Invasive Species Council, serving on the Lawrence Hopewell Trail Corporation and much more.

Save the Date – What Can Be Done To Make Ewing a Better Home for the Arts?

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This past August the EGT collaborated with the Arts Council to hold a very successful public meeting where we advanced a two-fold agenda, discussing how to advance a dynamic arts community in Ewing and soliciting input to help us complete our survey defining Ewing’s art assets.

We invite all interested artists and art lovers to attend our follow up meeting as we continue our discussion on “What can be done to make Ewing a Better Home for the Arts?”

Date: Thursday, October 13th
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Ewing Senior and Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing in the Community Room

We hope to see you there