[0:01] You are watching Access La Porte County
[0:03] Channel 97. The next meeting is the
[0:07] Michigan City Sustainability Commission meeting on October 8th. You can
[0:10] find more information about this
[0:13] meeting by visiting
[0:14] www.accesslaportecounty.org. Get
[0:21] ahead. Okay, I'd like to open
[0:25] the
[0:27] Michigan City Sustainability Commission session on
[0:30] Thursday, October 8th at 4:31 PM. Larry,
[0:34] can I ask you to take attendance?
[0:37] Yes. Dale Betts.
[0:39] Here.
[0:40] Tristan Bogart.
[0:41] Excuse me.
[0:44] Daisy Lee.
[0:45] Present.
[0:46] Beverly Mac Martin.
[0:47] Present.
[0:49] Nancy Moldenhauer.
[0:50] Excused.
[0:53] Shane Moore. Okay, wait. It may
[0:56] appear.
[0:57] Yes.
[0:57] Abigail Neary.
[0:58] Here.
[0:59] Emre Singh.
[1:00] Here.
[1:02] Lauren Zimmer here. It seems we have a
[1:05] quorum.
[1:06] Brilliant. Thank you. I would like to propose
[1:10] the approval of the minutes of September
[1:12] 2026. Do you support me?
[1:16] I support it.
[1:17] Thanks, Emre. Everyone in favor of approving
[1:20] the minutes of September 2026,
[1:22] let's say I.
[1:24] Anyone against it?
[1:25] No.
[1:26] Approved unanimously. Let's move on to the
[1:29] priority teams. So, point A
[1:31] , explore the use of compressed natural gas
[1:33] by the city's fleet
[1:35] . I have been in contact with
[1:37] Councillor Press Balinski, who is
[1:39] working on this project. There are no
[1:41] updates since the last meeting.
[1:46] Point B, solar energy options
[1:48] for the municipal government. This is
[1:51] also still on hold, but the team is
[1:54] working to find companies to
[1:56] repair the solar panels at the
[1:58] police station and the senior citizens' center
[2:01] . Point C,
[2:06] municipal electric vehicle projects.
[2:11] This is a cooperative project
[2:13] between Drive Clean Indiana, the
[2:15] police department, and the
[2:17] sustainability commission, and we will continue to
[2:19] explore options for adding
[2:21] electric vehicles to the fleet with
[2:23] grants. Point D,
[2:28] ecological burials and burial sections.
[2:32] Larry reported at the last meeting
[2:33] that the cemetery's board of directors
[2:35] has officially approved the rules
[2:36] for eco-friendly burials.
[2:39] We will share them.
[2:40] Yesterday I have...Oh, I have something to
[2:43] report.
[2:44] Yes, great.
[2:46] My partner in this project is my husband,
[2:49] Ted Prusinski, and he prepared this
[2:52] brochure that was presented at the
[2:54] meeting this afternoon, but I don't know
[2:56] what the result of the
[2:59] vote was, but this... Well, this is
[3:01] a draft of what we are
[3:04] asking the cemetery to use to
[3:06] help promote
[3:08] green burials.
[3:11] Brilliant. Thank you. Okay,
[3:20] once they give the final go-ahead,
[3:22] fine, then maybe there's a way to
[3:25] publish it on...is there any way to
[3:27] publish it on the
[3:29] sustainability commission's website?
[3:32] Yes.
[3:32] Okay. Like a link or something.
[3:35] Yes.
[3:35] Okay. Well, someone can help me do it
[3:37] once we know what
[3:38] we can do with it.
[3:40] Brilliant.
[3:42] Well, basically it's just
[3:44] general observations and then a
[3:47] brief description of what
[3:49] green burial is, how you should
[3:52] collaborate with your funeral director,
[3:54] and then the regulations that
[3:57] Swan Lake created that everyone should follow
[4:00] to have a green burial. They're
[4:06] pretty basic, but hey, that's
[4:09] where we are. It's progressing.
[4:14] There is now a section of 22 graves in this
[4:17] area with room to expand.
[4:21] So, they're going to make a sign to
[4:24] designate the area. Yes. That's all.
[4:29] Brilliant.
[4:30] They thought I could...Congratulations.
[4:32] Yes, thanks. Then you could get
[4:34] the best one now, and it's available.
[4:36] Yes, if someone wanted to do it. Yes that's
[4:40] fine.
[4:42] I guess we'll have to... Well
[4:44] , you'll have to give us
[4:46] regular updates because I'm going to say we can't
[4:47] . It's almost done. The
[4:49] project is almost finished. But if
[4:51] .
[4:51] Yes of course. And uh, we had a "
[4:53] if we want to be eco-friendly now," as you
[4:54] know, with some of us, "if
[4:56] we want to..."
[4:56] Sure.
[4:56] Forward. Yes, make a short list.
[4:59] Yes. You should go and find out... We've been
[5:01] working with Patrick Reynolds
[5:04] at Everstock. He totally
[5:07] agrees with all of this, he's very helpful in
[5:09] pre-planning and makes good
[5:12] suggestions, so yes, I would say
[5:14] go talk to him and do your
[5:17] pre-planning. Don't wait. You should
[5:20] never know when you're going to go.
[5:23] Act now.
[5:23] okay? Do
[5:26] we get a good discount for being
[5:27] in the first 10? I don't know
[5:28] anything like that. But you do
[5:30] get a discount if you buy two.
[5:32] Oh, oh.
[5:33] Although I couldn't use a
[5:35] frequency card.
[5:38] How funny.
[5:39] So that's my report on that.
[5:41] Thank you.
[5:42] Congratulations.
[5:44] Waste reduction,
[5:45] smart recycling, do your part. Okay, M and
[5:49] Dale, I'll ask you if you have any
[5:51] news for us.
[5:53] Well, I still haven't heard
[5:55] from our pro bono designer. I know
[5:58] Nancy followed up, but I think
[6:00] we'll have to follow up
[6:01] once more and get it going before we
[6:03] lose momentum. So I'll get
[6:06] in touch with him again and
[6:08] see what's going on.
[6:09] Thank you. Is
[6:11] this part of the...? Well, I've
[6:15] contacted
[6:17] L's address twice since we met,
[6:19] but I haven't received a response. But I
[6:22] will continue. I think I can be a little
[6:24] more aggressive. So, if the
[6:26] members agree, I'll continue. I know they have
[6:28] many things in the works.
[6:29] They fill an arriving bus and have
[6:31] many things for the community. I went to
[6:33] Strack and the other day in Manchester,
[6:35] just out of curiosity, and I didn't see the
[6:36] 5 cent discount. Unless
[6:38] they are no longer doing so on the
[6:39] receipt. I just thought it was
[6:40] interesting. Yes, because I like that.
[6:43] And if you bring
[6:45] your own bag, yes. If you bring
[6:47] four bags, they still give you 5
[6:49] cents. They're 5 cents each,
[6:50] but yes, they'll give you a 5 cent
[6:51] discount.
[6:52] That's not a great motivator.
[6:55] Yes, actually it isn't. You know,
[6:56] but I thought it was great when they did it
[6:58] because it's like only
[6:59] someone else cared. As if you
[7:00] knew, they're as if you knew, when
[7:02] at least they try. Yes, but I know
[7:04] I learned more, I know that L has the
[7:05] reusable bag program and that they
[7:07] also do something with them, you know
[7:08] , so that's good too,
[7:10] which I didn't know. So I'm
[7:11] learning as I go, but I'll keep
[7:13] following them.
[7:14] Brilliant. We
[7:14] may have to send some
[7:16] heavyweights after their top executives
[7:18] if they don't. So. We'll name it
[7:20] Nancy.
[7:21] Yes, that's what I think.
[7:24] Gap does it too. If you bring your
[7:26] own bag, you get a discount of
[7:28] 5 or 10 cents.
[7:29] Really? Does Gap do that? It's interesting.
[7:33] And for H&M shoppers, if
[7:35] you bring in used clothes, you'll get a
[7:38] 10-15% discount coupon that day that
[7:40] you can use in the store.
[7:43] Okay.
[7:43] Yes. And you only need to bring one
[7:45] item. They don't care what
[7:47] condition it's in, you just
[7:50] tell them when you arrive and they print you a
[7:52] coupon.
[7:52] Interesting. Does it have to
[7:54] be from the H&M brand?
[7:55] Yes. Oh, no. No. Should
[7:57] I buy there?
[7:58] No.
[7:58] Oh.
[7:59] Anything.
[7:59] Oh. Yes. Yes. They
[8:02] don't look. It's simply...a
[8:04] clever ploy on their part
[8:05] to make people think, "Well, something
[8:07] 's worn out. Now I have to go
[8:09] buy something new." Okay, I'll go to H&M.
[8:12] TRUE? Yes, he's intelligent. They
[8:15] also have a full line of
[8:17] recycled materials that they create. Yes.
[8:21] There was a lawsuit about it, but they've
[8:22] now corrected what they were saying.
[8:25] Probably because
[8:26] brand names and things like that appeared.
[8:28] No, because they claimed to be...they were
[8:30] sued for greenwashing
[8:32] because they said, "Oh, this is called
[8:34] our line." They had a line
[8:37] for it. It was named after their
[8:38] sustainability line. But in reality, not
[8:40] everything there met
[8:42] the standards one might expect.
[8:44] So now it will put on the labels
[8:46] that it is made of 90%
[8:48] recycled cotton or acrylic. So now they've
[8:51] changed it. They still have a
[8:53] policy, but they need to be more
[8:54] transparent about it. That's
[8:56] ok.
[8:58] Can we go back one second? You said you did
[9:00] n't understand your report.
[9:04] Who did you work with?
[9:05] I think his name is Sam. He is the graphic designer that
[9:09] Nancy contacted. Nancy and I completed a
[9:13] sort of brand identity questionnaire for
[9:15] the project and the
[9:18] sustainability committee so that he could
[9:20] get an idea of ​​how to create a
[9:22] graphic and a set of
[9:24] promotional materials for
[9:28] Recycle Smart and the Strong
[9:31] Cutlery initiative. Well, I haven't heard from
[9:33] you since I sent it. Nancy followed up, and we have
[9:37] n't heard from you, so...
[9:39] Okay. I'll
[9:40] follow up.
[9:41] Okay. I also contacted
[9:46] someone in IT I work with and
[9:49] asked if they would be willing to
[9:52] help us create the promotional video
[9:55] .
[9:56] Oh, great.
[9:58] With Sasha, you know, she's kind of a
[10:00] tech genius, so she knows
[10:02] how to do all this, and if we could
[10:04] work out the format with Sasha and
[10:06] Chris from the solid waste department
[10:08] , I mean, the
[10:11] garbage department here. Yes.
[10:13] And it should last between 5 and 10 minutes and be
[10:15] very quick, like "This is what
[10:18] we take," and show examples of what
[10:20] is good and what is not. And then
[10:24] we could promote it in the city and
[10:26] on the website and let people
[10:28] who might be new to the area or whatever
[10:29] , if they don't understand what
[10:31] recyclable is, know this is what needs to be
[10:33] done. Just watch the video, you
[10:36] know, we can show you how to take the
[10:38] container out to the street, you know,
[10:39] making sure it's not next to
[10:41] the garbage and all that. Don't put it in
[10:43] bags.
[10:44] That's
[10:45] right, all that kind of stuff.
[10:47] Well, he would take care of making the
[10:49] video; Will he record the video too,
[10:51] or just the people? Okay, the filming.
[10:54] Then you could help us edit it and
[10:56] then publish it. You know, we can, and I
[10:58] think we could simply call it,
[11:00] smart recycling—do your part.
[11:01] Yes, definitely.
[11:02] York County. Well, yes, I don't know if
[11:07] there will be any graphics involved,
[11:10] maybe this guy Sam could work
[11:14] with us.
[11:16] Definitely.
[11:17] So it's kind of a
[11:19] unified look whether there's going to be print and
[11:21] video or whatever.
[11:22] Well, I think recycling
[11:24] intelligently, doing your part, is going to be a
[11:27] recurring theme, like we did with
[11:29] smart plants, doing your part
[11:31] when we planted native plants. So
[11:34] recycling intelligently,
[11:35] doing your part, is going to have the same
[11:37] kind of impact.
[11:37] Ah, okay. It's
[11:38] always like filling in the
[11:39] blank space and using it for different things.
[11:41] That's great.
[11:42] We do different projects.
[11:43] And that is memorable. Yes. Great. That's
[11:46] great.
[11:47] So I'll try to set a date
[11:49] to coordinate Sasha and Chris.
[11:52] Yes, maybe we should have a
[11:54] meeting and talk about it and meet
[11:55] with the guys I work with,
[11:57] David.
[12:00] And I can give you their
[12:01] contact information if we arrange a meeting
[12:03] with the six of us or something and
[12:05] work out a plan.
[12:06] Yes, that sounds good.
[12:07] Yes. Okay. Thanks, Em.
[12:09] If you'd like any children to appear in
[12:11] that video, I have some current and
[12:12] former students who are very energetic
[12:14] and would love to be in a video like that
[12:15] .
[12:15] Okay, great. OK. It's
[12:18] a great idea.
[12:19] It's a good angle.
[12:20] Well, I have one more thing about
[12:22] recycling. I found this great company
[12:26] on the Internet. His name is Ridwell. RI D W
[12:30] E L L dot com. What they do is take
[12:36] all the multi-layered plastic that
[12:39] nobody seems to know what to do with and
[12:41] print photos of everything they take. What they
[12:45] do is send you a bag that
[12:48] you can fill, seal, and mail back to them
[12:51] . It already has the
[12:53] postage paid label.
[12:55] Oh.
[12:56] That's great.
[12:56] So I'm going to try it for a
[12:58] while and see how it works. And they have it
[13:01] for everything. Basically, on their
[13:05] website they say they have
[13:09] clothing items, batteries, light bulbs, all kinds of
[13:12] plastics, all that kind of stuff that you ca
[13:17] n't normally fit in your bag
[13:19] . It's like you don't put in cans or glass or
[13:22] that kind of thing, but it's all those
[13:24] things that nobody seems to know
[13:26] what to do with.
[13:27] What's that called again?
[13:29] Ridwell, ridwell dot com. So,
[13:33] just take a look at their
[13:35] website. It's very... It's very comprehensive and very
[13:38] informative too.
[13:40] Well, it couldn't be easier than
[13:42] taking a bag, putting it in a bag, and
[13:44] then putting it in the mailbox. It could
[13:46] n't be easier. And what
[13:47] they do is provide photographs,
[13:49] so that, you know, instead of
[13:51] trying to verbally describe what
[13:53] kind of plastic it is, there are pictures,
[13:56] so you know clearly
[13:57] what to do with the plastic.
[13:58] Yes, yes, yes.
[13:59] Also the plastic ones from Amazon. I saw
[14:01] that photo there.
[14:02] Yes. Yes.
[14:03] Even bubble wrap.
[14:04] Have. Okay. Uh-huh. Yes.
[14:06] And those pillow things,
[14:10] bread wrappers, yes, FedEx bags. So.
[14:14] And you pay for that bag?
[14:15] Yes, you pay $20 and then they
[14:17] ship it to you, and that probably helps
[14:19] cover the shipping costs, I imagine
[14:21] . So,
[14:24] people donate to Goodwill. In
[14:27] fact, these are mine for now. If
[14:30] everyone goes and looks at the website,
[14:32] yes,
[14:33] you'll see all the information
[14:35] about my trash bag. It's called Trashy,
[14:38] t r a s h i e. And this will be the third one. That's
[14:42] how the bags are. They're huge, but, you
[14:44] know, like Goodwill and stuff, they
[14:46] just throw it away if something
[14:48] has a hole in it. They accept everything. They accept
[14:51] old rags, quilts, they want
[14:54] everything. And they are similar. The bag costs
[14:59] $20 and then they give you a coupon
[15:02] to use at various stores. I have
[15:05] n't used the coupon yet, but do
[15:07] you send that bag back later?
[15:09] Yes.
[15:09] Oh, it's the same idea. Trash?
[15:11] Yes, trash.
[15:16] Okay. dot com?
[15:18] I think it's point io.
[15:20] What does ".io" mean? Do
[15:22] n't know
[15:22] . I wondered about that too.
[15:25] Okay.
[15:26] Something international, perhaps? I've been seeing it more and more
[15:29] , so I don't know
[15:31] exactly what it means. Larry,
[15:34] would you like to share anything about the regatta,
[15:36] the recycling you did, or any
[15:38] lessons you learned from it?
[15:40] Yes, it's very difficult. That's what
[15:43] I learned. Because people just, you
[15:45] know, I put up a very
[15:47] transparent box with a sign, and then there was
[15:49] the trash can with the
[15:50] black bag inside. So for me it was
[15:53] very clear that this is trash, this is
[15:55] recycling. People seem to throw anything and everything away
[15:58] . There isn't... They just don't
[16:01] care, you know? Or they're in a big
[16:03] hurry, so they just run and
[16:05] throw it away anywhere. So
[16:08] I spent most of the day
[16:09] just monitoring like 10
[16:11] different ones, you know, each one had
[16:12] stations up and down the beach
[16:14] from a trash can and a box. And I
[16:17] just spent the day
[16:19] monitoring them and picking things up and
[16:21] moving them to where they belonged.
[16:24] But at the end of the day we had 10 or
[16:26] 12 boxes of recyclable materials,
[16:28] aluminum cans and
[16:30] plastic bottles and cardboard boxes from, you
[16:32] know, when people bring in six-packs of
[16:35] beer and things like that. And then
[16:38] also a bunch of
[16:40] plastic bags that I ended up taking to Meyer
[16:42] . So, um, yes. So, you know, it
[16:46] might work, but someone has to
[16:48] do it, you know? Do
[16:51] you want to? Oh, go ahead.
[16:53] But I discovered that the boxes were
[16:55] easier to handle than those shelves
[16:57] with the blue bags. And that way you don't end up
[17:00] with blue plastic bags.
[17:03] Because you...I had a friend with a
[17:06] truck. We loaded all the
[17:08] recyclable boxes into his truck. We went to the
[17:11] solid waste district. The
[17:13] container is there. You can throw away
[17:15] the whole box. You don't have...
[17:16] Or you put
[17:17] the whole box. Yes, because everything is
[17:18] recyclable cardboard. So, I
[17:21] just threw all 10 in the
[17:22] bin and filled it almost
[17:24] completely. So yes. And they don't have the
[17:31] resources to come and pick
[17:34] those things up for you. It will depend on
[17:38] whoever is organizing the
[17:41] particular event, they will have to coordinate
[17:44] volunteers and mobilize someone to
[17:47] transport things, say, from
[17:50] Washington Park to the
[17:53] La Porte County Fairgrounds.
[17:56] Oh, I do
[17:57] n't see any other way to do it.
[17:59] Would it be beneficial to create a single
[18:01] pager for the
[18:03] Sustainability Commission and share it with the
[18:05] groups that organize the events?
[18:08] Clear.
[18:08] As you know, we're doing a
[18:10] pilot test, right? It takes a
[18:13] lot of power from a man or woman and a lot of
[18:14] effort, and these are the steps to
[18:16] follow because I think it could be a
[18:18] good way to do it. You ca
[18:20] n't be everywhere.
[18:21] No, of course not.
[18:23] Doing that, but maybe it's one of
[18:25] those things that people don't even
[18:27] understand how to start, so it
[18:28] might be a good idea to write a
[18:30] one-page document with the steps to follow.
[18:32] And then, if we could
[18:35] somehow recruit volunteers to
[18:37] monitor the garbage stations. I'm not
[18:42] saying you have to be glued to
[18:44] them all day, but, you know,
[18:46] wander around and keep an eye out for a
[18:48] plastic bottle in the trash,
[18:50] take it out and recycle it. So that's what's
[18:54] needed.
[18:56] Because, who's handling all the
[18:58] recycling for Pride? Have you
[19:00] been doing it too, or Dave,
[19:01] has Dave been doing it?
[19:02] We have an eco-friendly team.
[19:03] Yes, okay. Well, regarding the
[19:05] Genius volunteering, it will be a
[19:06] green team and someone will
[19:08] volunteer.
[19:09] I like that idea. Even that
[19:12] feels like a page would be like
[19:13] recruiting a green team for your
[19:15] festival, and this could be part of
[19:16] it and could be supported through
[19:18] us, like if we needed to do
[19:20] a tour or training or whatever
[19:21] , since we've all been involved in
[19:23] it. I've also done it for
[19:25] Save the Dunes events. So, I feel that
[19:27] understanding. That's fine thanks.
[19:29] Regarding On the Pride Fest, is it a
[19:31] multi-day event?
[19:34] Just one day.
[19:34] that's fine. Alright.
[19:39] Anything else to share?
[19:41] Would you like to share anything about the
[19:43] plastics seminar you attended
[19:45] ?
[19:46] Um, it was going to take like nine small
[19:49] pages of notes. So, there are many
[19:53] web addresses there, many resources.
[19:56] Well, I was going to try to compile it into
[19:58] something coherent and then,
[20:00] maybe, we could publish it on
[20:03] our website so people
[20:05] could go and do their own
[20:07] research.
[20:08] Yes.
[20:09] But at the end of the day, I told Abby
[20:11] earlier that I attended a
[20:14] two-day webinar. It was at
[20:17] New York University. It was part of
[20:19] Climate Week, which you attended. But it was
[20:21] about microplastics
[20:23] and their impacts on
[20:25] human health. So, there were probably 55
[20:29] or 55 speakers over the two days, you
[20:32] know, individual speakers and then there were
[20:35] roundtables and everyone for two
[20:37] days talked about nothing but how
[20:40] we have to eliminate plastic from
[20:42] our environment and our bodies.
[20:48] And they had many practical solutions,
[20:50] such as simply not drinking
[20:51] plastic bottled water. Do not drink anything
[20:54] , do not eat anything made of plastic.
[20:57] Especially anything hot or
[21:00] warm or anything that contains
[21:02] fats or acids, because that breaks down
[21:05] the plastic, you know, and then it
[21:07] seeps into the food and then you eat it
[21:09] . So, that seemed to be the
[21:14] main idea, that people simply
[21:16] need to be, they don't need to be
[21:18] educated, they need to be well
[21:21] informed, and I think it can be
[21:26] productive for the general public to
[21:28] know about the dangers; Because right now
[21:31] , I think everyone takes it for
[21:33] granted that everything they consume is
[21:35] safe. And it's like tobacco smoke or
[21:38] asbestos; those were big problems
[21:41] that everyone thought weren't a big deal
[21:43] until, you know,
[21:45] scientists and doctors started
[21:48] sounding the alarm.
[21:49] Mhm.
[21:51] And then look what's happened now, you
[21:53] know, smoking is no longer allowed in
[21:54] public buildings and
[21:59] well, and plasticizers don't have
[22:01] to publish what they contain because it's
[22:03] considered intellectual property, so we
[22:05] really have no idea what they
[22:07] contain.
[22:09] Correct. Does the term "
[22:10] chemicals forever" mean "
[22:13] plastics" or are they...?
[22:14] Yes, because many cans are
[22:17] lined with these P, P, B, A.
[22:19] P, quick, yes.
[22:20] P, yes. So, yes.
[22:24] You know, the interesting thing is that
[22:25] medical schools
[22:26] should probably address this at some
[22:27] point with their medical students
[22:29] , you know?
[22:29] Oh, I'm sure they do.
[22:30] You know, they should. If I'm going to dedicate 40
[22:32] hours to nutrition, I think there are 40
[22:33] medical schools in this country
[22:34] that can finally dedicate
[22:36] that much time to nutrition. They are
[22:38] now doing a lot of research and have
[22:40] literally found nanoplastics and
[22:43] microplastics in every organ
[22:45] of the human body.
[22:47] Oh my God. They have
[22:49] even found plastics in newborns and in the
[22:51] placenta.
[22:54] So it's going to take a big,
[22:56] concerted effort and it will take years,
[22:58] but we have to start
[23:00] somewhere and I think that simply means educating the
[23:03] public about it. I think we'll move
[23:06] the needle a little.
[23:08] There's a documentary, I think it's on
[23:11] Netflix, about
[23:12] the fertility of six couples who had
[23:14] fertility problems,
[23:17] and this program is
[23:18] called Plastic Detox. I
[23:20] couldn't believe my
[23:21] jaw dropped at the end when half
[23:23] of them got pregnant
[23:25] after...
[23:25] they stopped using
[23:27] plastic? Yes. After they stopped
[23:28] using plastic, right? It's
[23:29] on Netflix if you want to watch it.
[23:31] Yes. That's what I just saw. I thought,
[23:33] "What was that called?" I
[23:34] told you the same thing. I mean, it blew my mind
[23:36] .
[23:38] Obviously, I believed it would have that
[23:40] impact, but when people feel there is no
[23:42] solution,
[23:43] suddenly this solution appears which is
[23:45] obvious. So
[23:48] here's one that I
[23:50] found really interesting. It's a
[23:53] website called Today, h o i {hyphen}
[23:57] return.com. And this is a
[24:01] global effort and it's all over the world, but
[24:04] especially in Europe, but in the US they have it
[24:08] in Hawaii, on the Big Island
[24:10] of Hawaii. And what you do is like
[24:12] having a group of businesses, say
[24:15] on a main street. Everyone agrees
[24:18] to serve their food and drinks
[24:23] only using containers
[24:24] made of stainless steel. For example
[24:28] , if you go to a coffee shop, they would give you
[24:30] a stainless steel cup, and then,
[24:33] at certain points in the city, there will be
[24:36] mailboxes where you will return that
[24:38] stainless steel container, and
[24:40] someone will come to collect them,
[24:42] disinfect them, and return them to the
[24:45] different shops and businesses. So it's
[24:49] like a closed loop of not
[24:52] using plastic and using reusable stainless steel
[24:55] .
[24:56] And this is great.
[24:56] So I thought it was fascinating. And
[25:00] there's a nice little video, if
[25:02] you look on the website hoi-return.com,
[25:04] there's a nice little video of these
[25:07] Hawaiian people on the Big Island. The
[25:10] guy walks into the store and says, "Give me
[25:12] this, you know, one of these
[25:15] lattes or whatever, in a
[25:17] coffee cup," and shows you what it looks like. It's a
[25:20] great idea. It is probably very
[25:24] difficult to scale up nationally,
[25:27] but in individual towns, which
[25:30] seems to be where it happens most often,
[25:33] small towns can do it, where it
[25:36] is manageable. And as I said, when
[25:40] you look, there's an interactive map that
[25:43] shows that the vast majority of these
[25:45] are in Europe. You know, they do it a lot in all
[25:48] these small towns and cities in
[25:50] Europe. So it's not
[25:53] something new. It's tried, it works, and it's been
[25:57] proven. So
[26:00] you can check it out. That
[26:01] 's
[26:02] great.
[26:02] Yes, great. Yes. Well, anyway
[26:06] , I'll make a list with all this
[26:08] information I've learned and we'll
[26:11] publish it as well.
[26:12] That would be great. Okay, Indiana is
[26:15] carbon neutral. This is on hold.
[26:18] Hopefully,
[26:20] student articles will resume soon. Point G
[26:23] , National Wildlife Federation
[26:25] . There has been a new
[26:27] registration this month.
[26:33] We currently have 60 certified habitats.
[26:37] We have all of our
[26:39] educational points, 40 of our 50
[26:41] community outreach points, and all of our
[26:43] administrative points. So we're on the
[26:47] right track. Adele, have you ever
[26:52] been to Farm and Forge? Would you like to
[26:54] tell us about it?
[26:55] Of course, Claire. Well, it was a
[26:57] significant moment. We interacted
[26:59] with about five or six serious people.
[27:02] I think it's likely that a couple
[27:03] will get certified. And it's
[27:04] really interesting because this
[27:06] gentleman from Oregon had just
[27:08] moved here not too long ago and he said, "
[27:10] What's with all this nonsense about everyone not having
[27:12] front yard gardens
[27:14] ? You know, everyone has
[27:16] lawns, you know? And the biggest thing
[27:17] is the reduction of lawns." Well,
[27:18] Leslie Chance knows a lot of things.
[27:20] I learned a lot from her. Anyway, this
[27:23] person from Oregon is very different.
[27:27] Everyone has their lawn well
[27:28] cared for and then we fertilize and
[27:30] mow it, and none of that is really
[27:32] habitat-friendly and
[27:34] most of it isn't. It's like
[27:36] worthless vegetation. You can see it well. Yes. And then they were
[27:41] n't really expecting us, but in the
[27:43] future, if I happen to be there next year
[27:45] , there's a way to register at
[27:47] Farm and Forge. They are very organized and we
[27:49] simply go to the site and
[27:53] ask for a date and then they have a
[27:55] space for our table ready for
[27:56] us. Yes, that's how he said they
[27:58] work. They are quite organized.
[28:00] Just contact the lady I
[28:01] met. She's really good. And
[28:03] then we gave away those
[28:06] milkweed seeds. Yes. Which, you know,
[28:08] as Leslie, the lady, was saying, but they
[28:10] might not be very viable
[28:11] depending on how old they are, and
[28:13] I suppose they could even go
[28:14] stale. So we were pretty
[28:16] liberal with them and I planted some
[28:18] in the house. I tried to see what was happening.
[28:22] A small harvest. So it was
[28:24] good. Significant. I would do it
[28:26] next year. I think it's worth going.
[28:28] I think Nancy came up and, you know, I think it's
[28:30] something I would definitely mind bringing up
[28:32] at least
[28:34] once a summer, twice a summer
[28:36] or something like that. Brilliant.
[28:39] And then, a gentleman, this is
[28:40] really, you know, another gentleman came up
[28:42] and said that, you know, I suppose he
[28:43] lost many trees on his
[28:44] estate due to storms and
[28:46] that he wanted to plant native plants
[28:47] on his estate. So I said to him, "
[28:49] Okay, I'll get in touch with you." I
[28:51] called him a couple of days ago, a
[28:52] couple of weeks ago. Yes, people
[28:55] are interested, you know? And I thought he
[28:57] was quite perceptive. And he, he, he
[28:59] , he, you know, some of these
[29:00] people know a lot, you know, and they're getting
[29:02] closer to see how much...
[29:03] Thank God Leslie was there.
[29:05] Yes I know. I feel that
[29:06] yes, she could collaborate with them,
[29:08] yes.
[29:08] Great. Looking
[29:10] ahead, for next year,
[29:12] I have submitted a proposal to Save
[29:13] the Dunes because I am
[29:15] there too. That's great, but if we opt for
[29:17] the sustainability commission,
[29:19] especially for the gardens, I'll
[29:21] bring you the Living in the Dunes guide from
[29:23] Save the Dunes. It is the guide to
[29:25] native pollinator gardens. That's what I used to
[29:26] plant at Save the Dunes and
[29:28] then we got certified. So it's
[29:30] good preparation if you're just
[29:33] starting out.
[29:35] Yes of course.
[29:36] And we'll keep a stack of those somewhere
[29:38] .
[29:38] And the little sign was...
[29:40] somehow, someone made a little
[29:41] sign, so we put it on the
[29:42] tablecloth, you know, it said
[29:44] Michigan City Sustainability, since...yeah, since it
[29:46] wasn't on this other side, I don't know. But
[29:47] Tristan has been very busy with his
[29:49] new job and everything. I think
[29:50] some of those things
[29:52] were probably in the motion, so Nancy
[29:54] somehow got this
[29:55] sign.
[29:56] Good. That's good to know. Okay. Soul
[30:03] Power. Point H. Let's see. Nancy will
[30:11] follow up with Kyla Ward, who is
[30:13] positive about the possibility of paying
[30:14] tuition for
[30:16] Michigan City residents who want to enroll
[30:18] in Soul Power courses to
[30:19] receive certification. The
[30:22] talks will continue in the fall. There
[30:25] are no updates from the NAACP, as they are
[30:27] heading to the Indiana State Convention
[30:29] . Solar United Neighbors Point I.
[30:35] The next
[30:38] coordinated activities include a workshop at the
[30:40] City Hall and a proclamation
[30:43] by Councillor Nancy Moldenhauer.
[30:46] See the announcement for the...I'm just going to
[30:49] announce the date of that. Oh,
[30:54] Solar Smart Do Your Part workshop on
[30:57] October 21st, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. m. here in
[31:01] the City Hall, in this same room, the
[31:03] EOC room. Are you
[31:05] announcing it now? Or is it already here? It's here. It's in the
[31:11] ads at the bottom.
[31:12] Oh, in the background.
[31:13] In the...Yes.
[31:14] Okay.
[31:15] Yes. And along those same lines, Aaron
[31:18] Sharpensteen, the new coordinator of
[31:20] NWI's cooperative project, gave a
[31:22] presentation at Worth of Indiana Green
[31:24] Drinks last week and was very
[31:26] informative about the
[31:28] cooperative's return to Michigan City,
[31:31] walking us through the process. It's now
[31:33] on our YouTube page.
[31:34] Oh, great. So you have a
[31:36] preview of what I'm sure
[31:38] the in-person presentation will cover.
[31:40] You can see it. Did
[31:42] many people see it? I mean, was it
[31:44] noticeable or did they have...?
[31:45] Well, in our Zoom meeting,
[31:47] we had 25 people and lots of questions. That's why I
[31:50] always feel it's a good
[31:52] representation of commitment if
[31:54] people ask how, why, and
[31:56] what it will affect. Many people
[31:59] ask about
[32:01] property taxes and whether they can be applied to the
[32:03] ground instead of the roof. Things like that.
[32:07] Nancy also shared a great
[32:09] testimony in which she explains what
[32:10] her personal experience was like when she
[32:12] participated during the first round.
[32:16] Brilliant.
[32:17] And it's also on our Facebook page,
[32:19] Save the Dunes. We had a couple
[32:21] hundred visits after the event,
[32:23] so. Brilliant.
[32:25] And joining that cooperative is
[32:28] free, so even if you're
[32:30] unsure or interested in learning more
[32:32] , I think it's worth
[32:33] getting involved and meeting someone who
[32:35] might be really ready to
[32:37] do it and seeing it through the whole process.
[32:40] Because I thought some people in
[32:42] the video weren't worried about the
[32:47] cost, I think, but if you see it, I think it's
[32:50] something feasible.
[32:56] Okay,
[32:58] Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission, no
[33:00] news. Indiana's Clean Community Program
[33:03] , Mayor Angie and Gianna
[33:06] Galante will attend the annual meeting
[33:08] on Wednesday, October 14.
[33:12] We will request that Gianna present a
[33:14] report at the November meeting or
[33:17] possibly in December. Continuing
[33:23] with the Soul Smart Silver designation
[33:25] with partner Indiana University
[33:27] Resilience Cohort. Currently
[33:31] updating the
[33:34] solar homepage on the MC government website
[33:37] . Yes. Well, let's see. Well, that's
[33:52] all. Northwest Indiana Clean Air Partners
[33:58] .
[34:01] Yes, the next meetings have already passed
[34:03] , but I missed that one.
[34:07] Secondly, every other Friday. So, the
[34:10] next one will be tomorrow. Is it tomorrow or
[34:14] is it
[34:14] tomorrow? Oh, yes.
[34:15] Yes. I'll join on Zoom or your
[34:21] Google Meets.
[34:25] And then I guess N, if you want to
[34:28] continue with N, I caught you being green
[34:30] .
[34:31] Yes, I tried to get in touch with
[34:33] Tom Donegan, whom we nominated for the
[34:35] Nora Schultz Sustainability Award
[34:38] , but I only had his postal address
[34:40] , so I went old school
[34:42] and wrote a short note, but I haven't had a
[34:44] reply. I gave him my
[34:48] phone number, email address
[34:50] and a postal address
[34:52] in case we were going to
[34:53] correspond, but I haven't heard back
[34:55] , so we'd like to
[34:57] present him with the award at
[35:00] next month's meeting. Andy has already
[35:04] contacted Nora Schultz's family
[35:07] to arrange for them to be there, so
[35:09] I hope we can get in
[35:12] touch with him as soon as possible and
[35:14] let him know he has been awarded the prize. You
[35:18] may have to cross the
[35:20] train station and knock on their door. After
[35:22] writing it, I realized I
[35:23] could see her house from my apartment
[35:25] , so I'm not
[35:26] resorting to the old-fashioned way.
[35:27] Yes, yes. Knock, knock, knock. Hello,
[35:33] someone has been leaving notes in your
[35:34] mailbox.
[35:35] Yes. Well, we'll get in touch
[35:37] with him and we'll do it at
[35:39] next month's meeting.
[35:40] Brilliant. Yes, great.
[35:43] Okay, let's move on to the discussion and
[35:46] voting. I propose adding a new
[35:50] project for evaluation called the
[35:53] direct air capture pilot. I
[35:58] met with a
[36:00] project developer who is looking for a community where he can
[36:02] test the installation of a
[36:04] direct air capture system without
[36:06] energy. It would be installed in one of the
[36:09] buildings in our city. What it
[36:11] does is extract carbon dioxide from the
[36:15] air. It also takes
[36:19] carbon dioxide and turns it into cement. And it
[36:23] also captures methane, ozone, and
[36:26] heavy particles. And the
[36:30] heavy particles that are extracted are used for
[36:33] the creation of asphalt. Thus, it has been
[36:37] shown that it will reduce
[36:40] electricity consumption and also the maintenance
[36:42] of our air conditioning systems.
[36:47] Therefore, I would like to propose that
[36:49] we add this as a project.
[36:51] They were willing to do it at no cost
[36:53] to the community.
[36:54] Oh.
[36:56] Yes, well, they just want to do it
[36:59] . Now, the other benefit that I didn't
[37:02] mention here, besides capturing,
[37:04] I mean, looking at the quality of
[37:07] our air pollution and all
[37:09] that, is that there is the possibility of
[37:11] selling carbon offsets from
[37:13] this. So, for everything
[37:16] the city captures, we can sell
[37:17] credits on the voluntary
[37:19] carbon market. That's what something in
[37:23] the future would be like. It could be... Well, the
[37:27] city could put them into operation,
[37:29] generating an additional source of
[37:31] revenue, but that part has not yet
[37:33] been validated by a
[37:35] carbon credit verifier. So it's a
[37:37] possibility. So, if we wanted to
[37:41] add it as a project, my
[37:42] next step would be to meet with
[37:44] Mayor Angie, talk to her about
[37:47] this, and then we'd want to meet with
[37:49] ... well, I'd bring the
[37:51] project developer in to meet with
[37:53] ... what would you call him? Whoever
[37:56] manages all our buildings to
[37:58] figure out which one would be the
[37:59] right building. Because Nancy said, "
[38:00] Let's put it in City Hall." I think they're
[38:02] looking for something a little higher up,
[38:04] perhaps, so maybe the courthouse or,
[38:07] well, some place that's
[38:09] within this area.
[38:11] Yes, I don't think the city has that
[38:12] type of person. Do
[38:14] n't we have a
[38:15] facilities manager?
[38:17] Not that I know of. Did you?
[38:18] We have maintenance,
[38:19] central maintenance.
[38:20] Yes, central maintenance. Yes, okay.
[38:22] Central maintenance would work
[38:23] because they would know where, I don't know.
[38:28] all those terms, but
[38:30] whatever the damage or megawatts or
[38:32] whatever these things consume, these
[38:34] guys will say that these are the kinds of
[38:36] details they're looking for.
[38:38] This is great.
[38:40] I believe that too.
[38:41] Mhm. I'd never heard of this.
[38:43] It's completely new. It has never been
[38:44] done. They've been testing it for two years and
[38:47] are ready to launch it on the market.
[38:51] And they've been talking to...The way
[38:53] I started talking to them is that they've been
[38:54] talking to
[38:55] data centers. So I made the joke. It
[38:58] wasn't really a joke. He said, "Well
[39:00] , we're talking to Microsoft." And I
[39:01] said to him, "And he said to me, 'Let's get
[39:02] ready to install them'." And I
[39:04] told him, "Well, install them in Michigan
[39:06] City, Indiana." We have a
[39:08] Microsoft data center here. Well, there's
[39:11] one from Microsoft. Is Google the only one here?
[39:14] Google.
[39:15] Okay. But I told him, "Well, you can
[39:19] push for him to be here." And he
[39:20] said to me, "Let me speak to my
[39:22] founder." And then the founder and I
[39:24] talked on the phone. He told me, "I
[39:25] really want to create a community
[39:27] because there are many community benefits here
[39:29] ." And he told me, "We would be
[39:31] willing to do it at no cost."
[39:33] That was music to my ears.
[39:36] Brilliant. However, it is a technology
[39:40] that exists. It has been used in other
[39:42] parts of the world. As in Iceland, where they have been
[39:44] doing it.
[39:46] This is different. These
[39:47] direct air captures inject
[39:49] carbon
[39:50] into the soil. These guys are
[39:52] collecting it.
[39:52] And using it.
[39:54] Okay. Yes.
[39:57] Well, the benefits are the same,
[39:59] but they can scale it because the
[40:02] gentleman who created this technology
[40:04] has years of experience in industrial engineering
[40:07] for air conditioning systems and
[40:09] built the technology so that
[40:11] they could capture it. They will have a
[40:15] containment system that will be
[40:17] built nearby that will absorb and
[40:19] separate the materials.
[40:23] What's the company's name? Or can you
[40:25] tell us that?
[40:26] Yes.
[40:27] What's there? Wait. I brought my notes.
[40:33] Well, uh, well, they have
[40:35] Ameritech and
[40:37] Gmail email addresses here. It's called...the people who
[40:40] introduced me to it call it, and it's a
[40:42] very strange name, World Trade Center
[40:44] Orlando.org. So at first,
[40:46] when they contacted me, I
[40:47] asked them, "Are you from the World Trade
[40:48] Center?" "How can I help you?"
[40:50] But he's actually working with
[40:52] this company. But I can send you the
[40:55] website because I have it.
[40:57] Okay. Yes, it would be great to see what they've
[41:05] done. Where did they do this? What does it
[41:08] look like? Show us something, you
[41:11] know, material that I think will help
[41:14] sell it to someone else too. As if you
[41:17] were going to put something on the roof of the
[41:19] town hall or wherever.
[41:21] Mhm.
[41:22] What would it look like?
[41:23] Yes. They could put it on the ground, but
[41:25] they said that to really get it, you
[41:27] know, especially where we are
[41:29] because of the winds, he said
[41:31] we'd prefer to have it up high because that way
[41:33] we could get more.
[41:34] Yes, yes.
[41:36] And I thought, God, Beverly, you talked about the
[41:38] air quality study that was
[41:41] done on the west side of the
[41:43] city and I thought, God, if we had
[41:45] something like that here, it would be a double benefit
[41:47] .
[41:48] Yes. Maybe at the top of that
[41:51] giant cooling tower. I already
[41:53] said it. They say they have things, but yes. It
[41:58] will require a lot of
[42:00] business cooperation from many people.
[42:02] Yes.
[42:04] I think the investment would be
[42:05] substantially greater than what they would make
[42:07] if we built a building for
[42:08] ourselves as well. That's how it is.
[42:11] I think it's interesting because that
[42:13] seminar this summer that was
[42:15] held in that park in Valpo that I can't
[42:17] remember, Somerset, or the gentleman who
[42:20] spoke there, said that these systems will
[42:22] become more economically
[42:24] viable than he meant in the
[42:26] near future. And that CO2 is likely to
[42:30] increase until this year, and
[42:32] that at this point it would become more
[42:33] ... So this is ultimately like an
[42:35] evolution of all this, right? More
[42:39] efficient.
[42:40] Correct.
[42:41] Economical, yes.
[42:42] You start small, you solve it, and
[42:44] then you expand it.
[42:45] Yes.
[42:47] Okay.
[42:50] Thank you for doing that, Abby. That's a
[42:52] great connection.
[42:53] Can we...? Can I propose that
[42:56] we add this as a project? Uh,
[43:00] our new project, Project O.
[43:04] What? Ah, I see.
[43:09] After N.
[43:10] Yes.
[43:10] Okay. Project O.
[43:14] Can I have a second? I support that.
[43:18] Okay. Everyone in favor, say I.
[43:21] Anyone against it? OK. Approved
[43:24] unanimously. So I'll try to
[43:26] put it on the manager's agenda as soon as
[43:28] possible. So I'll have you
[43:31] call it? The
[43:33] direct air capture pilot project?
[43:34] Yes, I think so. Unless you want to
[43:36] ... Do you think we should do something
[43:38] I like? I think the
[43:41] direct air capture pilot project describes very
[43:43] well what we are trying to do.
[43:45] Yes. Okay. Brilliant. Item B for
[43:51] voting is that we have received an
[43:52] email from the
[43:54] National Wildlife Federation
[43:56] inviting us to join them in
[43:58] supporting clean water and opposing
[44:00] the EPA's proposed cuts. It seems like we
[44:03] have to fight
[44:04] against something like this every month. And the
[44:08] complementary proposal continues a
[44:11] decades-long effort to weaken the
[44:13] protections of the Federal Clean Water Act
[44:15] . And what we are asking to be put to a vote is
[44:21] that we sign in favor of clean water and
[44:25] against the EPA cuts.
[44:31] I propose adding our name to this
[44:33] effort.
[44:36] I second that.
[44:39] Yes, I can give some context if
[44:41] ...
[44:41] Sure.
[44:42] Yes. So what they're doing
[44:46] is deregulating what is considered a
[44:48] protected waterway and including this
[44:51] text that states that every
[44:53] waterway protected by the
[44:55] federal government must be wetted every 30 days, and
[44:58] that's like an absolute mistake by
[45:00] definition of what wetlands can be
[45:03] . For example, the Rio
[45:06] Grande, which is a large body of
[45:08] water in the
[45:10] Southwest that is drinking water for those
[45:12] communities, is notoriously dry for months
[45:14] of the year. Exactly what it is. So, that's
[45:18] water protected by the
[45:19] federal government and it would be removed from the list
[45:21] just because it doesn't meet those
[45:23] criteria. And then, any wetland
[45:26] that is contiguous to another federally protected area
[45:28] , for us
[45:30] in Indiana, like wetlands that
[45:32] are within the boundaries of Indiana
[45:33] Dunes, will continue to be protected,
[45:35] but if they cross outside of those
[45:37] federally protected boundaries, they are
[45:39] immediately disregarded. Well,
[45:43] we talked to Save the Dunes and the
[45:45] National Park about what that means, and there
[45:47] are about 75 acres of wetlands
[45:49] that are outside the boundaries of the
[45:51] National Park and that are contiguous to
[45:53] them. So that was his big
[45:55] concern because he could
[45:57] just
[45:58] take this and have people
[46:00] build on it, or what would be the
[46:02] problem with that too?
[46:03] Development is one thing, but so is
[46:06] pollution and things like that. If an
[46:09] area were contaminated, it would be
[46:11] less protected or
[46:13] less necessary to clean up or hold
[46:15] polluters accountable
[46:17] because the water is no longer protected.
[46:21] Because now they are eliminating many
[46:23] of the regulations that have to do
[46:26] with air and water. Keep looking at the
[46:30] highway.
[46:33] Thank you. In favor, say yes. Any
[46:37] opposition? Approved unanimously and it
[46:40] 's also terrifying. Okay,
[46:44] public comments. Are there no
[46:46] public comments? Well,
[46:48] comments from the city council link
[46:50] .
[46:53] Nothing about this.
[46:54] Well, no comment.
[46:56] Additional comments from the committee. I
[46:58] went to that seminar on
[47:00] organic farming, I remember the seminar on
[47:03] organic farming that was held
[47:05] at Blue Chip.
[47:07] Okay, fine.
[47:07] Anyway, Nancy mentioned it, but it was
[47:09] really interesting. The thing is
[47:11] , apparently, he was very focused on
[47:13] agriculture. I was probably the
[47:15] only person who wasn't agricultural and
[47:17] wasn't involved in
[47:19] farming, but when
[47:20] farmers work in their fields
[47:22] they use a lot of lime and try to lower
[47:23] the pH, and that has always included
[47:25] calcium carbonate. So now
[47:28] they want to push other things like
[47:30] calcium salicylate, maybe
[47:31] salicylate, I can't pronounce it. But
[47:33] then the steel mills are involved
[47:35] in this in some way because they buy
[47:36] the slag. It was really interesting,
[47:39] and there's a lot of carbon that ends up in the
[47:41] soil that could be avoided by changing
[47:43] the processes. Yes, this company was
[47:45] there and said they would be happy to
[47:46] come and talk to us. I took his
[47:48] card, but I forgot it. But it was
[47:50] quite interesting, I would never have thought of it
[47:52] . And I know that
[47:54] agriculture contributes significantly to
[47:56] that problem with emissions.
[47:58] Yes. I
[47:59] never thought about the ground. Therefore,
[48:00] the less calcium carbonate
[48:02] used in the coating process, the
[48:03] better, the less the plants will take
[48:04] , blah, blah, blah, blah.
[48:07] There's a book that was written about the
[48:08] book called Project Drawdown, and it was
[48:10] like, how do you do it? And the first thing
[48:13] was that we had to get the
[48:15] farmers to use everything.
[48:16] I think you mentioned it in that book
[48:17] about carbon neutrality,
[48:18] right? Is that what having that
[48:20] emissions reduction project is all about?
[48:21] Probably, yes.
[48:22] Nancy gave me that copy, yes. I think so for sure
[48:23] .
[48:24] Yes. The
[48:25] first few pages, yes.
[48:26] Mhm. Okay.
[48:30] Um yes, and then I just wanted to
[48:31] remind everyone that the LaPorte
[48:33] County Master Recycling Program is
[48:35] starting up again. It was
[48:38] published in the newspaper today, but it
[48:40] has the old dates.
[48:42] Originally, it was going to start on the
[48:45] 15th. Now, it starts on the 22nd.
[48:47] Oh, okay.
[48:48] And it ends on the 19th. So, it's every
[48:51] Thursday afternoon starting on
[48:54] October 22nd, then the 29th, November 5th
[48:58] , November 12th, and
[49:00] November 19th. And they usually start at
[49:04] 1:00, but a couple of them start at
[49:06] 2:00. Go to the LaPorte
[49:12] County Solid Waste District website
[49:14] and look for the
[49:16] Teacher Recyclers Program. You'll see that all
[49:19] the information is still there.
[49:21] Do you know if there is a cost? It's
[49:24] free, but you have to attend at least
[49:26] five of the six sessions to
[49:27] get certified. And they're
[49:34] looking for people. Well, I did it a few
[49:37] years ago and it was great.
[49:39] Yes.
[49:39] I travel every week to all sorts of places
[49:41] , to different companies and
[49:43] recycling centers. It was great.
[49:44] Yes, that's what I want to see. I
[49:46] signed up.
[49:46] Yes, because I did it too. I
[49:48] wasn't sure if you had already done it
[49:49] . Yes, that's how I met
[49:51] Nancy.
[49:51] Oh, okay.
[49:53] Brilliant.
[49:54] Yes, it's very good, very educational.
[49:56] Yes, I want to see what the landfill is like.
[49:58] I want to see what the recycling trip is like
[50:00] with me next time. I will do that
[50:02] . Of course. Will you accompany her?
[50:04] Yes, absolutely. I would be delighted to
[50:06] go with you. Of course. Because they keep
[50:08] saying that only 20% of
[50:10] recyclable materials are recycled. And
[50:13] that's so...for me, you know?
[50:17] Why are we going to all this trouble if you're
[50:19] not going to recycle it?
[50:20] What happens to the rest? They
[50:22] throw it in the landfill.
[50:24] Not here in Port County.
[50:26] Hopefully.
[50:27] Yes, Sasha is aware of that. No, it is
[50:29] n't.
[50:30] Okay.
[50:30] But you...
[50:32] But I keep reading that and I still do
[50:34] n't want to believe it, but it keeps appearing in
[50:36] articles and even when I was at
[50:38] that weather week, they were saying, "Well,
[50:40] actually only about
[50:42] 20% of recyclable materials are recycled."
[50:45] Something you've always heard, right?
[50:46] Like tin cans, glass, and
[50:48] that quality cardboard.
[50:50] Because there is an end use for that
[50:51] product later in time, in the
[50:53] long term of the future.
[50:54] Yes. Yes.
[50:55] you've been hearing that for years.
[50:56] Okay. So. We'll see.
[51:00] Well, you can go and visit the
[51:01] recycling facilities.
[51:02] Out. Curious minds want to
[51:05] know.
[51:07] Yes, yes, we want it.
[51:08] Yes.
[51:10] Okay. Any further comments from the
[51:12] committee? I was
[51:12] wondering if anyone is going to attend
[51:13] that seminar on the state of Lake
[51:15] Michigan. That sounds really
[51:16] interesting. What
[51:17] day is this November? November 4th? I
[51:19] 'll be there.
[51:20] Ah, yes, and I'd be delighted to... I'm
[51:22] interested. I don't know if I want to
[51:23] shell out the 250, but that sounds
[51:24] really interesting.
[51:27] Or whatever it was.
[51:28] Believe.
[51:29] It has a cost, I think.
[51:30] Oh, is that it?
[51:31] We are addressing that by presenting
[51:32] a table for Save the Dunes.
[51:33] Good. Yes, that's great. There you
[51:36] have it. It's like a two- or three-
[51:37] day event, right? Yes. Yes.
[51:41] I'm going to quickly go over the announcements
[51:44] for those listening
[51:47] from afar. Uh, Northwest Indiana
[51:49] Partners for Clean Air, every other
[51:52] Friday is wrong on the schedule, but
[51:54] there will be one tomorrow, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
[51:57] m. in our Google Meet.
[51:59] Indiana Clean Community Program, October 14.
[52:02] Solar Action Team, Tuesday, October 27
[52:06] . Reading of the Proclamation of the
[52:09] Northwest Indiana Solar Cooperative
[52:10] , Tuesday, October 20.
[52:13] Soul Smart Do Your Part Workshop, Wednesday,
[52:16] October 21.
[52:19] Walker Street Community Garden Annual Fall Festival, Saturday,
[52:22] October 24. The State of
[52:25] Lake Michigan meeting will be at Blue Chip on
[52:28] November 4th. Crossroads
[52:32] Clean Tech Conference, November 17 and 18. And
[52:35] then we have the green drinks from
[52:37] Northwest Indiana; I didn't know what
[52:39] the topic was, if you want to ask. We
[52:43] 're still waiting; we're hoping it will
[52:45] be an indigenous theme of some
[52:47] kind, but we had some trouble
[52:50] finding presenters, so it has
[52:52] n't been determined yet.
[52:55] Brilliant. I propose that we adjourn the
[52:59] session. I support
[53:01] everyone who is in favor of the
[53:02] postponement. I, those who are
[53:04] against it, there is no official postponement at
[53:08] 5:23.