Author Archives: Web Administrator

Traffic Cameras Survey

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traffic camera

Please let us know your thoughts about the use of “automated traffic enforcement safety devices” (i.e. cameras) to reduce deaths and serious injuries of pedestrians and bicyclists. (Read the article “How To Reduce Speeding” posted earlier on our website.)  If you support such use, please add your name, street address, and town to a petition to the governing body of your town of residence (especially Middletown and Portland) requesting the adoption of a local ordinance that would permit the use of these devices in limited, prescribed locations.

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“Save As Your Throw”: A Concept Whose Time Has Come

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by Krishna Winston

Currently president of the Jonah Center Board and chair of Middletown’s Resource Recycling Advisory Commission, Krishna Winston has been committed to environmental conservation since long before recycling became mandatory in the State of Connecticut in 1991. She served on the task force that designed Middletown’s first recycling program. In October of this year she spent sixteen hours going door to door on Middletown’s north side to inform residents about the new co-collection program beginning in November.

The Context

 Connecticut’s waste crisis became impossible to ignore once the MIRA trash-to-energy plant shut down in the summer of 2022, leaving 49 towns—representing about a third of the state’s trash—in the lurch. But the crisis has been in the making far longer. For decades the state DEP (now DEEP) has been setting targets for reducing waste, and time and again those targets have been missed. With more and more disposable and single-use items, along with packaging, much of it difficult or impossible to recycle, many residents’ trash carts are filled to overflowing. Because of contamination, single-stream recycling, originally intended to simplify and promote more recycling, has actually lowered the value of the material collected. To separate mixed recyclables into marketable commodities, material-recovery facilities (MRFs), like the one recently inaugurated by Murphy Road Recycling in Berlin’s industrial park, must be equipped with sophisticated and costly equipment imported from other countries. Whereas recycling once brought in some revenue, in recent years municipalities and hauling companies have been paying for recycling, and the cost keeps going up. Continue reading →

Join our campaign to reduce solid waste

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Connecticut has a problem: What are we going to do with all our municipal solid waste?

Send us a message with the words “waste reduction campaign” by clicking here. We will get you the information you need to send testimony to the state legislature.

Here is the background:

The Hartford trash-to-energy plant (MIRA) has closed. The main reasons for that closure were: the huge financial investment that would have been required to keep the plant operating; and the harmful air-quality impacts that came from the plant. Governor Lamont and DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes agree that we need to find another solution – one that reduces the volume of trash, maximizes recycling, and does not burden low-income communities that have suffered the serious health effects of living near incinerators and landfills. Continue reading →

Rising Electricity Rates

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As you probably know, electricity rates in Connecticut have risen sharply, due in large part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The conflict is putting pressure on the price of natural gas.  The “standard offer” through Eversource for the generation portion of your bill has gone from 12.2 to 24.17 cents per kWh. Here’s what you can do. Continue reading →

Progress In Saving Plum Island, NY

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Back in 2008, the Jonah Center advocated for the preservation of Plum Island, New York, as a U.S. Wildlife Refuge. The island is located east of Long Island and was used as the site of an animal disease research center. The federal government was planning to sell the island to private developers to build a luxury resort. We arranged for local conservation advocates to take a full-day boat trip and tour of the island from Old Saybrook. A recent article in the Hartford Courant revealed that the recent omnibus funding bill passed the U.S. Congress in December included funds that bring us closer to saving the island and its precious wildlife habitat.

Here is an article in the CT Mirror about Plum Island and the federal budget.

“Bugsgiving” at Wesleyan, 11/20

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Fun, educational, and delicious – learn about why edible insects are the future of food from one of the world’s foremost leaders in the industry. Come join us to learn about the many benefits of entomophagy (eating insects) and to taste some delicious insect-based dishes prepared by chef Joseph Yoon! There will be activities, tastings, and more! Please bring a chair/blanket and your friends and family for our Bugsgiving picnic, and RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bugsgiving-tickets-19186267542.
 
Chef Joseph Yoon founded Brooklyn Bugs in 2017 with the mission to normalize edible insects, and has worked closely with museums, universities, and institutions to fundamentally change the way we can reimagine them as a sustainable, nutrient dense, and delicious sources of protein. His work has been featured on PBS Nova, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, BBC, Popular Science, Live with Kelly and Ryan and much more.

Screen-Free Saturdays: Outdoors in Middletown

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This May, celebrate Screen-Free Saturdays! The Middletown Department of Recreation has coordinated with organizations in Middletown to provide many fun outdoor activities including:

5/22: A fox walking meditation exercise and skill training at McCutcheon Park (9:30am)
5/22: Followed by Bingo at McCutcheon Park (10am)
5/29: 10am: A multi-generational book discussion of The Hidden Life of Trees (and two younger reader versions) at McCutcheon Park hosted by Russell Library and Everyone Outside
5/29: Followed by a Tree Walk hosted by Everyone Outside

Click here for the full event information including times and how to sign up!

Notice to Subscribers of Our Website

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Dear Friends of the Jonah Center:

Due to a large volume of spam registrations on our website leading to potential security breaches, we have been forced to purge the bulk of our user database and implement a new more secure registration procedure.  If you had previously registered for the web site, your username and login information may have been deleted.  If this is the case and you are unable to login in to the site, please re-register by sending a request through our contact page with your name and email address:

Contact

This does not affect our email distribution list, which remains intact and secure.  Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

Web Administrator