Earth Day 2024 Mini Episode

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Michael Pierry: Hello, and welcome to the Hamden Library Podcast. I'm your host, Michael Pierry. Earth Day is on April 22nd, and in this special mini episode, Joe DeRisi Recycling Coordinator for the Town of Hamden returns to the podcast to talk about the town's Earth Day programs. And of course, the library is also celebrating Earth Day with a variety of special programs.

On Wednesday, April 17th at 6. 30pm, the Brundage Community Branch has Rain Barrels and Rain Gardens in your own backyard. Learn about the uses and benefits of rain barrels. and how to set up your own rain garden. We will also be raffling off one rain barrel kit. On April 19th, at 1030 AM, join Miss Jenny in the Friends Room to celebrate Earth Day with books, songs, and rhymes that focus on animals, plants, and more.

Next, on April 25th, at 3 PM, there's a special STEAM for Teens Earth Day program. The theme for Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs. Plastics. Join us to learn about the harm plastics cause As we learn about single use plastics and how they are changing our lives and planet, we will create fish art using stencils, paint, and up cycled plastic and other single use items.

Last but not least, on April 30th at 6. 30pm in the Thornton Wilder Hall, professional landscape artists will be presenting their work. Designer Christine Darnell presents Garden Design in a Time of Climate Change. Find out how to create gardens that will last and thrive, even in extremes. Gain new ideas, learn about successful approaches and creative combinations for your garden.

Christine will address the ecological processes that sustain your garden. Sustain and help to regulate the changing environment. She will discuss making appropriate choices in planting design with regard to water, soil, and migrating pollinators and wildlife. This program is funded by the Friends of the Hamden Library.

Now let's listen to Joe DeRisi and Ryan Keeler. 

Ryan Keeler: Joining us today is Joe DeRisi. Joe is the. Recycling and Solid Waste Coordinator here in Hamden. Hey, Joe, how's it going? 

Joe DeRisi: Hi, good morning. Okay. 

Ryan Keeler: Good. We are here, of course, to talk about Hamden's Earth Day celebration. 

So, um, the official Earth Day is, um, on April 22nd, which is a Monday.

Joe DeRisi: Our Earth Day celebration is on Saturday the 27th. However, we have, um, what I'm calling off site events, and those have already begun. We've had a couple of fundraisers, uh, fundraisers at Best Video, and we have, um, other events that are starting on the 21st and going all the way until the 27th. very much.

So, um, first, I'll talk about the events, uh, before the actual Earth Day. Um, we have, um, on the Sunday, the 21st, And that's from noon to one. I will be speaking at the Unitarian Society of New Haven in Hamden. Um, and the topics will be, um, single stream recycling. And, uh, the other topic will be how to become a commissioner.

One of the things that, um, Hamden could use more of are volunteers for commissions. Um, we have, uh, related to my job, we have the Solid Waste and Recycling Commission, and we have the Clean and Green Commission. Those are both, um, you know, relevant to recycling and cleanup of the town. So that will be the 21st, and on the 22nd, Uh, which is a Monday.

In the evening on 4/22 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, uh, right here at, um, uh, Miller Memorial Library in Thornton Wilder Hall, we have food justice, sustainable food in the urban landscape with storytelling and nutrition. And then on from 5 to 7 on 4/23, we have an upcycled art workshop at Thornton Wilder Hall. Uh, printmaking from nature and upcycled art workshop using newspaper leaves and printing ink and lots of other.

details all located on the Hamden Town website Earth Day page. Then on 4/24, we have Cheryl Baldwin from Connecticut DEEP talking about food waste solutions and also at Thornton Wilder Hall. And then on 4/25, we have another upcycled art workshop. The workshop there will just be items made out of reclaimed materials.

And that will be from 5 to 7, and then at 7 o'clock, we will have a film presented by Best Video, um, called Scrap. So, we're going to have objects made out of Scrap, and then see a film about Scrap. And then on 4/26, uh, which is Arbor Day, uh, we are going to have tree planting around town, and we will be announcing those locations as we get closer to Earth Day.

And then We have on 4/26, uh, that Friday from 2:00 to 4:30, we have a "Waste or Resource: a Walking Tour of the Future of Food Waste". This requires a sign up and we will be walking from the Hamden transfer station starting there, going to Common Ground High School, uh, to look at their composting operation. Then we'll be going to Southern Connecticut State University School of Business Uh, where we will talk about the community garden and, um, food security in a net zero building.

That's, um, Friday the 26th from 2:00 to 4:30. Sign up in advance. That all leads up to 4/27, which is actual Earth Day. And I think, uh, Ryan, you're going to talk about the electric car show, which will be here at the library. And then in, um, Town Center Park, which is adjacent to the library, we will have about 50 exhibitors.

And we have a whole list of events, um, from music to, uh, the mayor speaking, food trucks. We have the fire department, police department, Quinnipiac Valley alpacas. We also have at 10:30 in Thornton Wilder Hall, the birds of prey, and we will have all of the reclaimed items from Thursday night still in Thornton Wilder Hall so people can come through and look at things made out of reclaimed materials.

And all the details of what we have going on, uh, that I just mentioned and a lot that I didn't mention are on the town website. 

Ryan Keeler: Yeah, there's going to be a lot going on that day. This is a busy time of year for you. And, uh, like you mentioned, the electric car show. So, we will have some electric cars in the library parking lot, towards the, uh, town center park.

That you can see there will be Toyota, Tesla, Chevy, Hyundai, a good variety of electric cars. And the owners will be able to talk about their experiences using them. Uh, we'll have information on, uh, how leasing and purchasing electric cars works both federally and at the state level. Um, and it should be a lot of fun.

The other thing I wanted to touch on, you mentioned the commissioners. And the town does need commissioners in a lot of different forms, including the Energy Use and Climate Change Commission, and there will be members of several commissions at the electric car show, and we can connect people who are interested in, uh, Volunteering with those commissioners as well.

But, um, it's, it's going to be a good day. It's going to be fun. There's a lot going on all the way from the park to the parking lot to Thornton Wilder, and hopefully people will also stop in the library and say hi as well. 

Joe DeRisi: Yeah, I like the idea of, um, having Earth Day outside at Town Center Park, and it also is adjacent to the library, so we sort of have this whole big area, um, in between the library and Town Center Park.

We have the community garden there, and, uh, the historic barn, which one of the, uh, exhibits will be someone from the Historic Commission will be talking about the barn and its history. Uh, here's just a couple of other things. Uh, Eli. The Eli Whitney Museum will have, uh, an interactive, uh, set up for kids, uh, all day at Earth Day.

A Hamden Middle School is doing a clothing drive, and the drop off is from 10 to 1. So if you have, um, any kind of textiles that you want to recycle, uh, if you can save it till the 27th. You can help out the school because, uh, they, they get some funds, uh, for, for their school by doing that. Uh, the, the Blue Moon Raptors, as I mentioned, are from 1030 to 1130 at, um, the library at Thornton Wilder Hall.

Um, and we have the clergy band at one o'clock. We have another organization called iRecycle and they will be collecting single stream recycling containers during the Earth Day event. And we will have, as I also mentioned, the alpacas will be here all day and we will have a number of food trucks.

Ryan Keeler: Excellent. This is, uh, great information. I'm hoping that people will give this a listen, prepare, Um, and be aware of what is going to be at the event, so they can hopefully visit everything. And we hope to see a lot of people out there. We hope for good weather as well. 

Joe DeRisi: Yeah, I, I, I, I try to do that, uh, make sure there's good weather, but, I don't know, it's not really in my hands.

Um, but there, uh, there's still, uh, if, if you want to be an exhibitor, the, at the last minute here, we could still accommodate a few more people. Um, and, um, anyone who wants to sponsor, uh, all of that information's on the website. Uh, at Hamden. com, uh, if you need any more details, you certainly can call or email me at the town hall.

Ryan Keeler: They can also reach out to the library here and we can connect them with the right resources as well. But, uh, Joe, thanks so much for being here. This has been great and, uh, I look forward to seeing you on the 27th. 

Joe DeRisi: Okay. Take care. 

Michael Pierry: That's all we have for you this month on the podcast. We'll see you next time.