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SUSTAINABLE NEWTON
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Arbor Day: Look Back & Pay It Forward

2/20/2020

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By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President
Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
-- Greek Proverb
Tomorrow through next weekend, communities across Newton County will host Arbor Day celebrations to plant trees and pay homage to their benefits.  Especially in this age of climate change and forests lost to development, agriculture, drought, and fires, the replanting of trees has never been a more necessary act.

But, there's something deeper, more essential, and even perhaps spiritual about giving life to a tree that will likely outlive its planters to shade, shelter, and serve generations yet unborn today.

As the Greek proverb says:  "Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in."  The awareness that actions we take (or don't take) today have consequences for generations to come is at the heart of why Sustainable Newton exists.  As our motto says:  "There 's no time like the present to give our children a better future."
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We Support EtO Legislation for Georgia

2/19/2020

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By the Sustainable Newton Board of Directors
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We added a new word to our vocabulary in 2019 -- more accurately, an acronym.  That acronym was "EtO," short for ethylene oxide. 

This was an unfamiliar term for nearly everyone in Newton County, but news coverage of releases of this known carcinogen from the Becton Dickinson (BD) facility in Covington soon had everyone talking and local governments pressed to act.  In October, we commended the Covington Mayor and City Council for their response to the situation.

Much has happened since, with BD eventually resuming operations at their Industrial Boulevard facility with new air quality testing in place.  However, in late December, BD was again cited by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) for not reporting the existence and release of EtO at a warehouse in Covington's Lochridge Business Park.


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Getting a Charge from Expectations Met

2/11/2020

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By Julius J. ("JJ") Hayden, Sustainable Newton Treasurer
It is great when projects turn out like you intended and do what you expected.

We participated in the Solarize program in 2019 and upgraded our existing small, grid-tied solar system to a bigger and more capable system. The goal was to supply about 50% of our monthly electric power consumption and to have batteries to supply power at night. Not only at night, but also on that rare-for-us occasion the grid power goes out.

Our solar panels and batteries have been living up to our power generation expectations.  And, then came this month's flooding and eight hours of no power coming from the grid. I was working here at the computer when our power went out the first time, and I didn’t even notice it was out, except that the lights went dark in the other rooms. The next morning, I heard the gas furnace and blower come on, and I thought “Great – that’s just what I expected.”  I then checked on our refrigerators, and they were operating just fine.

It's just so great when a plan comes together and works as expected
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So Far, So Good on Those Resolutions

2/10/2020

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By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President
PictureVegan Black Bean & Kale Soup with Meatless Chorizo Sausage (7 Weight Watchers Points)
With January safely in the rear-view mirror, perhaps it's not too risky to mention how those New Year's resolutions are going.  I'm referring to the sustainability actions I committed to at the end of last year, along with my fellow Sustainable Newton board members.

For me, the focus was reducing my carbon footprint by driving more fuel-efficiently and adopting a plant-based diet one day a week.  Overall, I'm happy with results so far, but neither resolution has been without challenges.  (As it should be for any changes worth making.)

Today is my fifth "Meatless Monday."  I was traveling in early January, so I elected to start my new regimen on Monday, January 13.  But, since then, I've opened every week with a vegetarian (but not always vegan) diet.  I'm allowing myself eggs and dairy products, but no beef, poultry, seafood, or other meats.


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