Plastics – the Battle Continues

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In this entertaining Tedx Talk Ann Cummins shares how she and her husband Marcus Eriksen co-founded the 5 Gyres Institute to explore plastic on a global level, and leverage their science to drive solutions.  Recent 5 Gyres findings are driving national solutions to a previously unknown source of pollution lurking in products in many of our bathrooms, microbeads.  Learn more and take action at http://www.5gyres.org/takeaction/.   Take the microbeads pledge.  

Ewing Launches Green Business Recognition Program

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Has your business implemented changes that embrace greener, more sustainable policies and practices?  Have you:

  •  Installed a high efficiency energy star rated heating and cooling system?
  • Installed energy efficient windows?   OR
  • Taken additional steps to reduce energy usage or conserve water?
  • Do you attempt to minimalize waste by reusing and recycling?
  • Do you buy locally?

If you answered YES to most of these questions, you may qualify for Ewing Township’s new Green Business Recognition Program.

Local businesses are invited to join the Ewing Green Business Recognition Program, a new Township project run in conjunction with the Ewing Green Team that will recognize businesses located in Ewing committed to environmental stewardship and sustainable business practices.

This new program gives us an opportunity to both promote the work our outstanding local businesses already do towards keeping Ewing sustainable, as well as encourage future environmentally friendly practices.

For local businesspeople interested, participation in the Ewing Green Business Recognition Program is easy.  Contact Ewing Green Business Recognition Program Coordinator Evan Crumiller at evancrumiller@gmail.com or (609) 468-0462 to receive information on the program as well as the Ewing Green Business Checklist, which can be used to mark off actions taken to green a business.

The checklist has actions that add up to 68 points in various areas of sustainability; including waste prevention, purchasing, energy conservation, water conservation, storm water management, landscaping and transportation/air quality. A business must have at least half to qualify as a green business.

A Ewing Green Team member will come by to pick up the completed checklist, and if you have completed the pre-determined number of actions, you will be officially named a Ewing Green Business and added to the list of Green Businesses on the Ewing Green Team website and given a sticker to proudly display in your store.

 “The business leaders of our community deserve recognition for the work they do, and this effort will not only provide that recognition, but also incentives for local businesses to turn towards sustainable practices for the benefit of future generations of customers,” said Ewing Green Business Coordinator Evan Crumiller.

If you have thought about making energy saving upgrades to your business but put it off because you thought it might be too expensive, we urge you to reconsider.  With the NJ Clean Energy program’s Direct Install program, small business are able to recoup 70% (Yes! You read it right. 70%) of approved upgrades to your building.  Check out our Direct Install page for more information and contact a member of our Energy Committee today to learn more.

If you have any questions or comments about our Green Business Recognition Program, please call Evan Crumiller, Ewing Green Team at (609) 468-0462.  Or you may email the Ewing Green Team directly at ewinggreenteam@gmail.com.

Dispose of Your Unused Medications Safely on National Take Back Day

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If your 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, April 30, 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.

Guidelines for Drug Disposal

If you are unable to participate on the day the FDA’s guidelines for proper drug disposal follow:

  • Follow any specific disposal instructions on the drug label or patient information that accompanies the medication. Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet unless this information specifically instructs you to do so.
  • If no instructions are given on the drug label and no take-back program is available in your area, take them out of their original containers and mix them with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter — to make the medication less appealing and unrecognizable — then put them in a sealable bag, empty can, or other container to prevent the medication from leaking or breaking out of a garbage bag.

You should also remove any identifying information on the label to protect your identity and privacy.

Despite the safety reasons for flushing drugs, some people are questioning the practice because of concerns about trace levels of drug residues found in surface water, such as rivers and lakes, and in some community drinking water supplies. However, the main way drug residues enter water systems is by people taking medications and then naturally passing them through their bodies.  That said, the FDA does not want to add drug residues into water systems unnecessarily. The agency reviewed its drug labels to identify products with disposal directions recommending flushing or disposal down the sink. This continuously revised listing can be found at FDA’s Web page on Disposal of Unused Medicines.

National Take Back Day Information

Date: April 30, 2016
Time: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Location: Ewing Police Department, 2 Jake Garzio Drive