learn more spend less… Home Energy Upgrades for Homeowners

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Mon, Mar 21 | 6:30 pm | Hollowbrook Community Ctr. | Free and Open to the Public

The Sustainable Ewing Green Team has teamed up with Ewing Park–Brae Burn Civic Association to offer a session on affordable energy efficiency auditing and upgrades as well as reasonable cost basic home repairs for all interested homeowners.   The following organizations will present:

  • A Habitat for Humanity representative will speak on their Brush with Kindness and Critical Home Repair programs for seniors and lower income families as well as energy star housing to be built in Ewing.
  • A representative from the Puerto Rican Action Board (PRAB), a Ewing-based services organization on Prospect St, will speak  on their home energy audit and upgrade services .
  • A rep from CMC Energy Services  is expected to speak on their home weatherization program.
  • The Ewing Green Team will outline an upcoming promotion of the Home Performance with Energy Star program open to any homeowner.

Here is a chance to hear from and ask questions of caring experts, receive literature and learn if you qualify and how to apply for one or more of these programs. Invite your neighbors!  For further information, call Pete at 609-313-5021.

10th Annual Living Local Expo

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Sat, Mar 19 | 11 am – 4 pm | Rider University Gymnasium | Free and Open to the Public

It’s Expo time again!  Bring the whole family to find out how Mercer County area residents and businesses are building sustainable communities at the 10th annual Living Local Expo: Being Green Pays Off on March 19, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Rider University gymnasium. Admission to the expo is free. The event will feature sustainable local businesses, community groups, local farms, demonstration, speakers and projects for children throughout the day. All of these activities encourage us to take steps towards sustainability as individuals and as a community.

More than 70 eco-friendly local businesses will be offering incentives to use in the future to help you go green and save money.  In addition to meeting these vendors at the expo, visitors can learn about a variety of sustainability issues and exciting community projects such as bike paths, food waste recycling, energy efficiency, electric cars, health, and wellness.

Our Expo is great for the kids too!  Be sure that you are on hand at 1 p.m. when Eyes of the Wild brings its Wallaby Tales Traveling Zoo to the Expo as our featured entertainment.  This fun and educational program will introduce children of all ages to a selection of exotic and touchable animals. Ewing-based Art Has No Boundaries will also run crafts for the kids where they will build their own birdhouses out of recycled materials.

Take action: Save Energy Costs

See a variety of electric vehicles owned by local residents.  Hear from Lawrenceville Home Improvement, Princeton Air and  Tindall & Ransom on energy conservation.  Learn about going solar from Advanced Solar Products, Direct Energy Solar, NRG Home Solar

Take action: Recycle More

Living Local Expo is a zero waste event. Learn how we do it.  Mercer County Improvement Authority | Princeton & Lawrence food waste recycling programs

Take Action: Get Healthy

Capital Health | Greater Mercer Public Health Partnership | Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association

Take action: Protect the Environment

Cooper Pest Services | USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services

Take action: Grow Your Own

Master Gardeners of Mercer County | Antheil Elementary School Fifth Grade Garden Club

Take action: Protect Our Water

New Jersey Highlands Coalition | Food and Water Watch | SPLASH Floating Classroom | Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association

Take action: Eat Local

A farmers market will feature Cherry Grove Farm, Frank’s Pickled Peppers, Terhune Orchards, Wildflour Bakery Café. A lunch celebrating locally sourced and seasonal ingredients will be available for purchase.

Take Action: Good Works

Girls Scouts | Princeton Learning Cooperative | Seeds to Sew | WomanSpace

Speakers Schedule

  • 11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Katherine and Kate Dresden  “Monarchs, Migration, and Milkweed”
  • 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. – Michael Barry, Global Connections Initiative “Why the Local Movement is Crucial to Global Sustainability”
  • 12:30 – 1:00 p.m. – Rodney Richards, Hamilton Environmental Commission “Home Energy Costs & Savings: Process & Recommendations”
  • 1:00 – 1:30 – Brittany Musolino, Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association  “Being River Friendly”
  • 1:30 – 2:00  –  Ellyn Ito, Seeds to Sew “Conscious Buying”
  • 2:00 – 2:30 – Callie Hancock, Citizens Climate Lobby “Carbon Fee & Dividend Program”
  • 2:30 – 3:00 – Carol Nicholas, Greater Mercer Public Health Partnership “Mercer County Health Assessment”
Don’t leave the Expo without Taking our Challenge to do just one more thing to help the environment!

Find out more at the Living Local Expo website.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

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Thurs, Mar 17th | 7 – 9 pm | ESCC, Community Room

Block parties, clean ups, neighborhood watches and  yard sales are just a few examples of things that can happen when you join together and speak with one voice.  These are just the tip of the iceberg of what a Neighborhood Association can do for you.

In the community visioning meetings held in 2014 by the Green Team, Ewing was described as a community of neighborhoods. People proudly shared information about what was unique in each of their neighborhoods. As people learned about the various activities and issues going on around them it became evident that the community of Ewing would benefit from a more organized way to share this sort of information. As the result of these meetings,  helping to grow, maintain, and create neighborhood organizations has become one of the initiatives of the Green Team.

We have scheduled a meeting to discuss and plan how to do this. Your input is crucial. Come join us and learn about how your neighborhood could benefit from having it’s own association.  In the immortal words of Mr. Rogers, we ask “Please won’t you be my neighbor?”

Save the Date for February Environmental Insights Program

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What It Means To Be an Environmentalist (or Everything You Wanted to Know About Sustainability But Were Afraid to Ask)

The Ewing Green Team announces the latest entry in its Environmental Insights Series, environmental presentations designed to engage area residents in a public conversation about critical environmental issues and to spark new ideas concerning sustainability.   Join us on Wednesday, February 24th at 6:30 pm for our program, What it means to be an Environmentalist (or Everything You Wanted to Know about Sustainability but Were Afraid to Ask) with a presentation and discussion led by Joseph-Mark Mirabella, Ewing Green Team and Ewing Environmental Commission member, former Environmental Science teacher and NJDEP enforcement supervisor.

Have you ever wondered what environmental protection and sustainability really means? Is there a difference between the two? Come explore and discuss these fascinating issues starting with a history of environmental activism going back to Teddy Roosevelt, the first Earth Day, to the present, and where we are going tomorrow.

So what does it mean to be an environmentalist? The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines an environmentalist as a person who works to protect the natural world from pollution and other threats.  If you recycle religiously, are you an environmentalist?  If you compost regularly, are you an environmentalist?  What if you have installed solar panels on your home but put your grass clippings out at the curb, are you an environmentalist? Do you consider yourself to be an environmentalist?  Come tell us what you think it means and what is important to you. We want to know.

About Mr. Mirabella

joemirabellaJoseph-Mark Mirabella is currently the Central Regional Supervisor for the NJDEP Hazardous Waste Enforcement program. He is a former Environmental Science Teacher and has taught and lectured on environmental issues at NJ Colleges and Universities for the last 35 years. Currently, he is a Commissioner on the Ewing Township Redevelopment Agency and is a member of Ewing’s Environmental Commission & Sustainable Green Team.

Date: Wednesday, February 24
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Ewing Senior and Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing
Cost: Free and Open to the Public