Joan Birnie began the meeting at 7:07 p.m. by thanking everyone for participating in the Farm and Home Show. Early reports are that there has been no increase in the number of reusable shopping bags used at the local Bow Food Pride despite giving away all of the resusable shopping bags. The recycling receptacles were used by a number of people. Exact numbers of plastic and aluminum containers collected are unknown at this time…
Joan Birnie began the meeting asking about a report for the preparations for the Farm and Home Show which will be Wednesday, February 10th. Joe Shea and Dave Birnie noted Bow Food Pride has committed to several hundred reusable shopping bags to be given out. The Grocery Kart will also provide reusable shopping bags, as will Pamida and possibly some other merchants…
This week Doug Staab from Broken Bow Municipal Utilities was kind enough to come out to our house and conduct an energy audit for us. This is a free service available to all Broken Bow residents…
Joan Birnie announced that the agreement with Custer County Foundation has been signed and the initial $40.00 investment and $50.00 Custer County Foundation management fee had been kindly donated by Dave and Joan Birnie and Nate and Lisa Bell respectively.
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Joan Birnie. The first order of business discussed was regarding establishing a relationship with the Custer County Foundation. The consensus vote was yes. Discussion then moved to financing the Custer County Foundation dues which were determined to be $40/year…
Nate Bell, Lisa Bell, and Norm McCaslin introduced themselves and outlined the possibility of a “passthrough” system where people could donate to the Custer County Foundation and specify that the money be set aside for the Green Coalition. It would be a separate equity account and contributions would be tax deductible…
Kelly Flynn gave a report about the recent recycling events and distributed literature enumerating what could be made with the recycled materials, specifically the tire recycling. Two semi-trailers worth of tires were recycled within the first hour. An estimated 90 tons of tires were collected at the Broken Bow pickup alone. There were no figures available for the Lexington Landfill hazardous waste recycling effort, but reports indicated that the collection…
The recycling bins at the free barbeque for the Custer County Parade were deemed a success. It was recommended that additional signage be considered next year to increase yield. Joan Birnie mentioned the Used Tire Collection dates and times upcoming for the month of September for all residents in Blaine, Custer, Garfield, Greeley, Howard, Loup, Sherman, Valley, and Wheeler counties. The date for Broken Bow is 9/9/09 between 9:30 am and 12:00 pm at the Custer Country Highway Department…
Kelly Flynn stated Tire recycling/collection scheduled for Wedneday September 9th. This year tire collection has been expanded to unlimited amounts and not confined to only Custer County. Computer recycling/collection occurs at all times for a specific fee. There is a possibility of a free collection program in the works. Paper shredding is currently not done at the recycling center, but there is consideration of a grant to obtain a shredder. WasteCap NE is considering setting up a compact fluorescent recycling center in Custer County. Under the proposed program residential CFL’s would be free to recycle and commercial fluorescents would be recycled for a small fee. Kelly Flynn also mentioned that cell phone and rechargeable batteries can be recycled at the recycling center as well…
Due to scheduling conflicts and the upcoming July 4th holiday the Broken Bow Green Coalition meeting originally scheduled for 6/29/09 has been canceled. The July meeting is scheduled for 7/27/09. You can visit the calendar at http://www.greenbrokenbow.org/calendar for the schedule of meetings and events…
It is that time of year in Broken Bow when our lovely farmer’s market is up and running. Today we will highlight a few of the many reasons we should try to eat locally as much as possible…
| Material | Tonnage | |
|---|---|---|
| Cardboard | - | 434 |
| Newspaper | - | 264 |
| Mixed Paper | - | 27 |
| Platic | - | 25 |
| Tin Cans | - | 21 |
| Glass | - | 48 |
| Used Oil | - | 8 |
| Aluminum Cans | - | 2 |
| Total | - | 829 |
Kelly Flynn was nice enough to send along some statistics regarding the 2008 recycling program in Broken Bow. With the proposed implementation of the business recycling program increased paper tonnage could be saved. No word yet on whether the program is on track to exceed these numbers in 2009 but when the numbers are available we will compare and contrast the 2009 effort with the 2008 effort…
Minutes from the previous meeting and recycling subcommittee meeting were reviewed.
The weatherization program subcommittee also met to discuss issues pertaining to the CNCS weatherization program for households that meet income requirements. It was suggested that area churches and realtors could also disseminate information about the program in addition to local media and the greenbrokenbow.org website…
The Central Nebraska Community Services Weatherization Program is a great opportunity for families on a budget to save additional money by weatherizing their homes for free. Certain income criteria must be met but the evaluation and installation is free to the homeowner…
Members Present:
Kelly Flynn discussed the recyclable items accepted at the Custer County Recycling Center. He stressed that copier toner cartridges and lead-acid batteries were accepted, along with rechargeable batteries. These need to be taken to the transfer station…
Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act many existing Tax Credits and Grants for improving energy efficiency or using renewable energy have been improved. Herein, we will review a few of these that apply to commercial and residential properties…
The first step to avoiding unnecessary environmental damage is to understand what impact our actions are having on our environment. PBS has recently published an enlightening documentary about water pollution called Poisoned Waters which they are making available for free and without commercials…
Minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed.
Quick Items:
Cheryl Taylor then talked briefly about organizing recycling among the businesses of Broken Bow to promote recycling of office waste…
Chemically maintained lawns have a variety of detrimental environmental impacts: The fertilizers and pesticides you put on your lawn end up running off into our water supplies which in turn damage ecosystems and may impact human health as well. Most of us also manicure our lawns with a gas powered mower which is a frivolous use of a scarce natural commodity. This year when you are planning your spring planting, consider edible landscaping as an alternative way to beautify your space…
Previously the calendar at http:://greenbrokenbow.org/calendar indicated that the next meeting of the Broken Bow Green Coalition would take place at the Municipal Building. We regret the error.
The meeting will actually take place at the Broken Bow Public Library. The time and date for the meeting are correct April 27th, 2009 at 7 P.M. Please adjust your calendars accordingly, and again, sorry for the misinformation.
Custer County Recycling has published their list of Recyclable Items for 2009. The best way to maintain a good recycling program is to be organized and consistent. How you organize and collect your household recyclables doesn’t particularly matter, but you should make it your system that you will use.
The following items are accepted at Custer County Recycling...
Occaisionally greenbrokenbow.org will be looking at current best practices for reducing energy consumption and environmental impact by business and individuals in the community. Today we are spotlighting the work that Broken Bow Municipal Utilities does to conserve energy…
The Broken Bow Green Coalition, hereafter referred to as BBGC, is a grassroots community organization whose purpose is to reduce the detrimental environmental impact of the community of Broken Bow, NE.
The ultimate goal of this coalition is to improve the community of Broken Bow and the surrounding area for current and future generations through programs and projects designed around three basic tenets…
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