On Nov. 13 at the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Sustainable Fairfield will receive the highest award given by Sustainable CT.
The honor caps a 20-year effort by the organization to support clean energy, which was led by its current chair, Bob Wall. At the time, only New Haven had made such a commitment, and Fairfield was the first to do so in Fairfield County.
Sustainable CT, launched in 2018, was designed to create thriving communities, Wall said.
“Energy is one part of it,” said Wall. “It also covers transportation, the natural environment, housing and the arts. We morphed from the Clean Energy Task Force [created in 2004] into Sustainable Fairfield, going beyond solely energy to include recycling and locally grown food. That year, the group got a silver award.”
Wall calls the current achievement of the gold award “a town accomplishment involving town staff and citizens.” He said equity is “a huge part of this. Thanks to the Sustainable CT program, our committee became more cognizant of equity matters,” including the town’s economic, nationality and disability diversity.
For the second time, this year the town was designated a climate leader. The biggest motivation toward that goal? “Do our part to address climate change,” said Wall. “Provide education and live a little more lightly.”
Looking back, Wall provided some of the “greatest hits,” including several “solarize campaigns” designed to encourage people to adopt solar for their homes as well as a Green Wheels Expo to showcase electric vehicles and introduce them to townspeople.
Looking forward, he said the group is trying to encourage the town to adopt more progressive recycling practices and has developed a glass recycling pilot. That involves collecting glass separately from plastic and other waste, taking the bottles and jars to the transfer station, where it gets hauled to a company in Beacon Falls that grinds them into a more sustainable concrete form.
Fairfield First Selectman Bill Gerber calls Wall and Mary Hogue, chair of the town’s Forestry Committee, an “amazing force.” He said Wall was instrumental in pushing the town to be more proactive. “One of the things that they’re pushing us on is recycling, separating out food waste. Just having them as our conscience on this has been helpful.”
He assigned Hogue to charter revision to ensure that sustainability is part of the charter going forward. An attempt to do so two years ago failed. Gerber said the town will break out the charter questions so the electorate can choose what they want.
Led by the schools, Fairfield is tackling food waste. Emma Webber, co-chair of the equity committee for Sustainable Fairfield and co-vice president of sustainability for the Fairfield PTA Council, points to composting in the cafeterias that began a few years ago and now involves all 11 elementary schools.
“We just added the sixth graders as they moved to the middle school,” she said, “and the plan is to continue that as they grow into seventh and eighth grades.”
School children find it fun to compete among the schools, vying to have the most plastic trucks, film, bags, and packing material recycled in a program called Next Trex. Last year, the town recycled 1,282 pounds of plastic film and composted 18.11 tons of pumpkins.
On any school day, students can put uneaten, wrapped food in a “share fridge” for their peers to enjoy. Many of Fairfield’s schools donate uneaten food to Food Rescue, collect and recycle cans and bottles through Eye Recycle, a Waterbury-based company, and have planted native or pollinator gardens. Most schools collect/recycle textiles through Bay Street Textiles.
And with Halloween coming up, each school will have a box for recycling those ubiquitous candy wrappers.
Wall pointed to the town’s logistical (not binding) goals for 2030, based on a sustainability plan begun in 2018. It has 18 modules or subjects, including renewable energy, open space, flood and erosion, among others.
“Each module gives an overview, a topic, accomplishments, benefits, and challenges,” he said.
The year 2030, he noted, is really only five years away.
From FCN partner Easton Courier.
