[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.

Michigan City Sustainability Commission October 8, 2026

Transcript