🌱 Responsible ramp harvesting 🌱
It’s that time of year where ramps (an indigenous species of wild onions) pop up in deciduous hardwood forests across the eastern United States and Canada. They appear in early spring along with ferns and ephemeral wildflowers, which are called ephemeral for a reason: Their season is very short. Ramps have a limited time to form blooms, attract pollinators, set seed, and disperse that seed before becoming summer-dormant.
🧅 Their popularity is a problem: Their commercial collection for sale is leading to a decline in populations already under pressure from habitat loss due to development. Large-scale harvesting of ramps also affects their botanical neighbors—other native plants sharing their sensitive habitat. Additionally, because new bulbils develop from root-like stolons that connect the clumps beneath the soil, removing an entire clump of ramps with roots attached destroys their method of regeneration.
👍The solution: The ideal way to pick ramps is to cut one leaf from a plant (leaving the other leaf to keep feeding the bulb).
A long-term, sustainable way to enjoy ramps is to grow them at home. Plant purchased ramps with roots after soaking them overnight in water. They require composted soil rich in organic matter (to mimic their woodland habitat), with spring sunlight and summer shade. They need is ample moisture, especially if grown in southern or western exposure, but good drainage.
After planting, their leaves may turn yellow quickly, but their roots should take. If you grow ramps from seed, sow them in late summer or fall. And be patient.
🧑🌾 At the farmer’s market: Ask vendors where their ramps grow and how they harvest. Encourage vendors to sell #rampleavesonly. If you see piles of skinny ramps at supermarket, ask questions. If you’re eating out, confer with your server. Shop mindfully, collect kindly, sell smartly, plant optimistically, eat sensibly, and consider the big ecological picture.
#marbletown #ramps #rampharvest #growingramps #wildonion #responsibleharvesting #wildforaging #foragingforfood #foraging
Recycle your plastic film at the Marbletown Community Center!
We’re collecting clean pliable plastic for a project called BAGS TO BENCHES. This program, in partnership with @trexcompany , will turn 500 lbs of plastic into park benches which will be used in our town!
Examples:
- Bread bag
- Ziploc bag
- Grocery bag
- Bubble wrap/Air pillow (shipping box plastic)
- Cereal box liner
- Ice/produce bag
- Plastic around a case of water
**Plastic must be clean, dry and free of labels**
You may drop off at the Marbletown Community Center: 3564 Main Street, Stone Ridge. Any questions please call 687-7500 (ex 163), or email [email protected]
Honey, I Shrunk the Lawn! (And grew a meadow!)
Join us Wednesday, August 25 at 6.30pm to learn why shrinking your lawn (a.k.a less mowing) is climate smart, supports biodiversity, and can help reverse the crash in pollinator and bird populations.
At this free online event, Laura Wyeth, horticulturist and biology instructor at @sunynewpaltz , will share ideas about growing native plants, shrubs, and trees—and how to turn unmown grasses, on any scale, from lawn to meadow, from field to farm.
RSVP at the link in bio!
#meadow #reduceyourcarbonfootprint #pollinatorgarden #pollinators #pollinatorfriendly #nativeplants #nativeshrubs #gardenmeadow #environmentallyfriendly #biodiversity
How to Compost: Did you know you can take your food scraps to the Marbletown Transfer station?
There are two @communitycompostco bins available—placed next to the cardboard drop-off. Simply collect your food scraps at home (we like to keep ours in our freezer to avoid odor or a large bucket) and drop off Tuesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Transfer station permits are available for purchase at the transfer station (no cash or credit card, check only). Have a question about compost? Ask us anything in the comments! 👇
✨Step 10: Learning and Sharing✨
While it is the final step, learning and sharing is the important follow-through to the first 9 steps. By sharing what you have learned through your own process and research, others will be more informed and better equipped to make the switch themselves.
🌏How to take action🌍
- Start learning about the options outlined in steps 1 - 9 so you are prepared when ready to switch.
- Share what you have learned with neighbors, friends, or others in the community.
Help #marbletown transition to 100 percent #renewableenergy by 2030 and sign the pledge at the link in bio!
✨Step 9: Yard and Home✨
Although not as high of an emitter as other steps, reducing your yard and home energy use and emissions remains an important step towards reaching 100% clean renewable energy.
🌏How to take action🌍
- Choose electric for small tools and power equipment such as lawn mowers, snow blowers, generators, chainsaws, and more.
📘Learn More📕
THE PROBLEM: Gasoline-powered equipment emits airborne pollutants. For example: one hour of gas-powered lawn mowing generates the same pollution as driving a car for 300 miles, meanwhile one hour of gas snow-blowing generates the same amount of emissions as driving just 70 miles. Gas powered yard equipment contributes the lion's share of nonroad-related air pollution generated nationwide.
THE ALTERNATIVE: Plug-in or battery-powered machines create fewer emissions—especially if your home’s electricity comes from renewable energy—and they tend to be lighter, quieter, and easier to maintain than their gas-guzzling counterparts. Electric engines have come a long way in recent years, and many electric snow blowers and lawn movers are just as powerful as gas models.
✨Step 8: Appliances: Laundry and Cooking✨
Your home has many energy consuming appliances for laundry and cooking. Making sure that these products are energy efficient is the easiest way to reduce your consumption.
🌍How to take action🌏
- Use ENERGY STAR® rated appliances, and use the eco setting.
- Hang clothes to dry when possible
- Replace your gas or electric stove with an induction cooktop
- Replace your conventional dryer with a heat pump dryer
📕Learn More📘
WHAT IS AN INDUCTION STOVE: Research shows that induction cooktops are more energy efficient: gas cooktops are about 40 percent efficient; electric-coil and standard smooth-top electric cooktops are about 74 percent efficient; and induction cooktops are 84 percent efficient.
It’s also faster to heat food or liquids on an induction stove versus a gas stove (5.8 seconds vs 8.3 seconds to boil water in one experiment). And, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that while burning natural gas is marginally better than burning coal (to power an electric stovetop) in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, induction beats both hands-down (propane gas is the worst offender).
In the water boiling experiment just mentioned, natural gas released 1.16 pounds of CO2, compared to just 0.29 pounds with the induction stove (powered by the electricity grid). And, if you generate your own solar power, induction cooking becomes, in essence, emissions-free.
WHAT IS A HEAT PUMP DRYER: Rather than releasing warm, humid air through a dryer vent to the exterior of the home as a conventional dryer does, a heat pump dryer sends air through an evaporator to remove the moisture without losing too much heat. Making use of a refrigerant as part of this process means less electricity is used to generate heat. They reduce energy use by nearly 30% and are gentler on clothes.
✨Step 7: Hot Water✨
Hot water consumption can be responsible for almost 1/5 of the home's energy use. Because they are often powered by natural gas, this can also be a large source of carbon emissions
🌏How to take action🌍
- Replace your end-of-life water heater with a heat pump water heater, electric on-demand water heater, solar water heater, electric tank water heater, or auxiliary heater run off a high-efficiency wood or wood pellet furnace.
📕Learn More📘
Heat pump water heaters, which use electricity to move heat from one place to another rather than generating their own heat like a traditional electric water heater, uses up to 63% *less* energy. This can save a household of four people around $330 a year on the electric bill. Plus, Central Hudson is currently offering a $1000 rebate for heat pump hot water heaters.
✨Step 6: Heating and Cooling✨
Heating and cooling can be the largest consumption of energy and carbon within the home. Making sure these systems are efficient and clean is important to making our homes carbon free.
🌏How to take action🌎
- If replacing an end-of-life boiler, furnace, or AC unit, instal a cold climate-rated air-source heat pump. (Also called a mini-split.) Current New York State rebates can take up to $9,000 off installation costs.
- If you use a gas fireplace, a wood burning fireplace, or a wood stove that is more than 10 years old, replace with an EPA-certified wood stove or wood pellet stove.
📕Learn more📘
A mini-split system (which provides both heating and cooling through a single device – an air source heat pump) is energy efficient and can save you as much as 30 percent on your energy bill.
Likewise, EPA-certified wood stoves are up to 50% more energy efficient, use 1/3 less wood fuel for the same heat, reduce creosote build-up and the risk of chimney fires, and reduce wood smoke pollution both inside and outside, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and black carbon (particle pollution).
✨Step 5: Transportation✨
Transportation is responsible for about 30 percent of nationwide emissions. Driving less, biking, or using public transportations are easy, and cheap ways to reduce the fossil fuel output from transportation. In a rural community like Marbletown, where driving is often inescapable, replacing your gas-powered car at its end-of-life with an electric vehicle (EV) will produce fewer emissions that contribute to climate change and save you money on fuel.
🌏How to take action🌎
- Be EV ready. The next time you have electrical work done at the home, ask the electrician to install an EV charger or a charger ready circuit.
- Browse the 40+ new & used models to make your next car electric. Research New York State rebates available, which can take up to $7,000 off your purchase.
If you have any questions about EVs, or if you need help choosing your next EV, reach out to the ECC at [email protected]
✨Step 4: Lighting✨
Lighting is considered a "low hanging fruit". This means that replacing the bulbs in your home is not only low cost, it can contribute greatly to your home's energy efficiency—meaning, you save money!
🌏How to take action🌎
- Purchase CFL or LED lightbulbs—that’s it! If you haven’t already, replace all lightbulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL) or Light Emitting Diobe bulbs (LED). Roughly, one LED or CFL bulb will minimize greenhouse gas emissions by almost half a ton and are about four times more efficient than the equivalent wattage of incandescent bulbs.
✨Step 3 in the 10 Steps to Renewable Energy!✨Your home energy efficiency can be one of the easiest things to identify and improve.
Where accessible, you can insulate and air-seal the critical areas of your home, like the rim joist around the basement or crawl space and attic.
When you replace your roof or siding, you can add continuous insulation under the new roof or siding unless the attic or walls are already well insulated.
Whenever any work is done on an exterior wall of your building, you can take the opportunity to reduce air leakage and add insulation. (Electrical outlets and other penetrations of exterior walls like window frames deserve extra attention.)
🌏How to take action🌎
- Many contractors offer low cost, or even free, energy audits. This is a great way to evaluate your home for any areas that can and should be upgraded.
- Or, email these two local energy assessors! They will evaluate your home with you and help you make a plan:
👉Judith A Karpova / Energy Navigator and certified (BPI) Home Energy Efficiency Assessor / [email protected]
👉Hazel Robin / Energy Navigator Volunteer Coordinator for CCEDC / [email protected]
