To the Editor,
Oswego is known as a county that works together and is proud of its environmental stewardship. With the diversity of land and water, it is only natural that we protect these natural resources.
It is with enthusiasm that the Oswego Green Team asks that recognizing Earth Day 2021, and its surrounding weeks, individuals, schools, organizations and groups participate in a litter and debris cleanup in your community. Whether it’s a town park, road, an empty lot or river bank, you can help. Whether a group or individual, we ask your participation in a cleanup that protects our resources. According to the study by “Keep America Beautiful,” litter costs in resources over $11.5 billion every year. Plastic litter has continually increased since 1969. Litter is a contributor to polluting our soils and contaminating our water.
There are cooperative projects that help sustain and protect our environment. For example, planting trees improves ground cover and remove pollutants from the air. Rain gardens prevent erosion and protect our rivers and streams.
Let’s keep Oswego County Green and Clean!
Respectfully,
Bob Green, Coordinator
Oswego County Green Team
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I took a walk on the portion of County Route 6 between Emery Road and Maple Avenue and the shoulders are covered with more trash than plants or soil. Last week, people have dumped couches and chairs on Emery Road. Unfortunately, the $185 per year or the $10 per ton tipping fees are more than the people who live in poverty can afford. I wish there was a foundation to help them and I wish the “Please Do Not Litter” campaigns of the past, were revived. Thankfully, NY has the 5¢ bottle bill, co-sponsored by Democrats Hoylman, Jackson, and Metzger (make it 10¢) and Governor Cuomo put the plastic bag ban into effect. Governor Cuomo is also trying to make ALL bottles subject to the 5¢ deposit.
I picked up all the trash on Town Line Road in Volney, in Voorhees park in Fulton and on Saturday I will do the same at the Lake Ontario shoreline at the Sterling Nature Center in Sterling. I have a strong back. Once, while driving behind a vehicle with the bumper sticker “MY KID IS AN HONOR STUDENT AT XXX MIDDLE SCHOOL”, I saw an adult’s arm extend from the driver’s side window and deposit a candy wrapper into air. That kid has a tough learner to teach to.
Yesterday, I picked up three sketchy containers of VOC’s that someboday dumped on Maple Ave in Volney. I had to drive home with all my windows down because the stench was disgusting. The DEC asked me to take them to the HHW at Bristol Hill when it opens on May 1st.
Please don’t buy water. The stuff that comes out of your tap is the same stuff in your PLASTIC bottles. Plastics are ubiquitous, but they’re not practical. Less than 10% are recycled, and the other approximately 8 billion tons are creating a pollution crisis.
If your vehicle gets less than 30 mpg’s could you please upgrade to someting more environmentally friendly? Gasoline needs to be $5 per gallon to pay for the overdue infrastructure overhaul.
Please eat fewer mammals, especially cows. The cost to the environment is enormous.
Please don’t apply any chemicals to your lawn. The cost to the environment is enormous. Please lobby your town and city representatives to get less salt applied to your roads and more sand instead. The salt places an enormous cost on the environment, especially the aquifers.
Please stop the dredging of Lake Neahtawanta. Dr. Makerewitz’s study clearly points out that the delineis due to excessive nitrogen that the dewatering bags are promptly re-depositing into the lake!!!