THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, January 27, 2023 Page 11 Karen with Friends of the Malden River shares her ‘Waste Diet’ E very step we take to reduce our impact on the environment helps to create a healthier environment and community for us and the next generations. There are many suggestions to help you decide what will work for you and your family. Suss out the Trash: It is yours, mine and ours! Take a look at what you throw away & think about how you might significantly reduce it. (e.g., reduce single use packaging; refuse single use plastics: bottles, utensils, etc.); bring your own takeout containers for leftovers; avoid purchasing with excess packaging). Assess your Waste. Can you avoid certain packaging or products? (For instance: Do you have to buy bagged vegetables or can you fill your own vegetable bag with loose products?) Refuse Styrofoam to the best of your ability. The trash doesn’t disappear; it reappears. How do you see what we throw away come back to haunt us? Research your Reality. How is your trash dumped? The reality: It is in landfills or in incinerators. How toxic is that landfill and have you thought about that community and ecosystem? How do they get rid of the toxic ash from the incinerators? Follow and speak up for legislation that will protect neighborhoods and the planet. Trash that is not properly contained eventually lands in our waterways. Go on “Waste Diet.” Small daily lifestyle changes make big timely differences! Use reusable mugs, cups, napkins, shopping bags, vegetable bags, water bottles. Eliminate Single Use Plastics to the best of your ability. Refuse Styrofoam! Use your imagination of how to reduce your waste; compost or use compost services. Share the love of reduction Flex your consumer and political power! Buy thoughtfully and thank those who truly act in favor of our planet. Let’s pass a Green Amendment in Massachusetts: “At this moment, constitutional green amendments that protect the rights of all people to a clean, safe, and healthy environment, are advancing in states across our nation. Among the states with active green amendment campaigns are Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Washington.” (There is a Massachusetts Legislative movement to reduce waste: Zero Waste Caucus.) Buy less; Save More! The first question before purchasing should be, “Do I really need this?” Give the Gifts of Experience: Outings, Museums, Meals. Make more! No Green Washing there! Do you need to buy processed food in single use packaging? It is proven that packaged processed food is not good for your gut or the earth. Buy local! Check how far your foods and goods are travelling before they reach your home. Embrace Discomfort and Inconvenience. Turn down the heat and put on a sweater, bring your own coffee cup, containers and shopping bags; choose reusable over disposable. Be grounded with strong roots! Have fun with your challenges…Bring it on! Live your environment. Simplify, simplify, simplify and model for the next generation. Thank You for making a step towards reducing! Every step makes a difference! Every Question is a good one – that means ~ Guest Commentary ~ Hat's Off to the Friends of Roosevelt Park! A s we enter into a new year, I want to give a HUGE thank you to the Friends of Roosevelt Park (FoRP!) Their continued advocacy against all odds, is truly admirable. It would be hard to find a more passionate, educated, mission driven group in Malden. I have done what I could to try and elevate their voices through the proper channels throughout the year and I will continue to do so. They are on the right side of history and the City of Malden needs to get on board. Being an advocate is not easy, it takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand up to City Leaders for what is right and just. The FoRP has spent years educating residents about the environmental and climate dangers (heat & flooding) associated with the city's plan to remove grass and replace it with 3 acres of plastic at Roosevelt Park. It is environmental Injustice as it is proposed in what is already a heat island in an underrepresented area which is used by the families at Salemwood School. Some of you may be wondering why they continue against the odds? It’s because that is precisely what advocates do - you are optimistic until it’s over. I am reminded of the quote “Hope Springs Eternal” from Alexander Pope’s poem. HOPE is what keeps the FoRP going. HOPE for our environment, HOPE for the kids at Salemwood School, HOPE for their neighborhood park and HOPE that the city and the mayor will listen. Hats off to the Friends of Roosevelt Park and may 2023 be the year your HOPE of a green park is realized! Just listen to The Lorax (who is the main character in the environmentally-friendly children’s book who speaks for the trees and has a “save our planet” mindset.)“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s NOT.” Karen Colón Hayes City Councillor-At-Large Events on the Malden River: Invitations and Details T omorrow, Jan. 28; 3:00 p.m.4:00 p.m.: Virtual UMA Film Screening (https://youthadvocatesshortfilms.eventbrite.com) – film screening featuring Learning about Invasive Species on the Malden River and other youth advocacy films. Malden Public Schools Superintendent Ligia Noriega-Murphy will be joining us. Saturday, Feb. 4; 10:30-noon: Nature Walk at River Green Park (Everett) (https://urbanmediaarts.org/event/focus-on-nature-walk-rivergreen-park) – please register to join us. We don’t have a rain/snow date and will contact people if we have to cancel. The views of the Malden River are stunning now without the vegetation, and there are fun surprises along the path. There are educational links that you can stream with your phone. Both events are free (donations are appreciated and used towards youth programming). someone else is wondering the same question. Ask!! One popular question: Firstly, plastic recycling is propaganda written by the plastic companies to push the responsibility of plastic disposals onto the consumers and the municipalities. It was incorporated to reduce our “guilt of consumption.” Secondly, remember that plastic is made from fossil fuel (petroleum) (https://www.npr. org/2020/09/11/897692090/ how-big-oil-misled-the-publicinto-believing-plastic-wouldbe-recycled). Do our efforts for recycling pay off? Yes, only if we put the effort into proper recycling. Contaminated recycling is worthless. We used to be able to ship off our worthless recycling to other countries – that enabled bad recycling behavior. Check out Malden’s Waste Wizard to answer most questions about recyclables in Malden’s waste stream: https:// www.cityofmalden.org/241/ Waste-Wizard. Not all recyclables are curbside recyclables! Here is a source and there are many more sources as to where to recycle non-curbside recyclables: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/how-where-to-recycle. I do want to emphasize this is not just a Malden River problem and that our work is reducing the amount of trash in our waterways – this is a global travesty of how our waters are polluted with stormwater runoff. We see the trash flow into the waters, but what we don’t see are the pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, automobile fluids, soaps, microplastics, PFAS (a pervasive group of chemicals used in many products), etc. that are washed into the waterways from our yards and parking lots. Editor’s Note: Karen Buck is a local resident. Often working alone or with her children, Karen began removing the trash that collects along the banks of the Malden River. Now, years later, Karen takes hundreds of volunteers out onto the river, and the community has begun to adopt the Malden River as their own. You can watch more of her stories at https:// www.turnaround-films.com/12-karenbuck. PUBLIC AUCTION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH AT 1:00 PM MORTGAGEE’S SALE OF REAL ESTATE • MELROSE • 10 ROOM / 4 BEDROOM 2-STORY THREE FAMILY STYLE HOME “CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ALL AMENTIES” 71-73 Grove Street MELROSE, MA TO BE SOLD ON THE PREMISES FEATURES: • 2½ Story Three Family Style Home • ±5,808 S/F Of Land • • Total Of (10) Rooms w/ (4) Bedrooms & (3) Baths • • ±2,479 S/F Of Gross Living Area Above Grade • Oil Heat • • Full Basement • Open Porch • Aluminum Siding • Public Water & Sewer • • Zoned: BA1 • (6) Car Driveway • Assessor’s Parcel # 0C6-0000079 • SALE PER ORDER OF MORTGAGEE Attorney Oscar L Suarez Of The Firm Of Halloran & Sage, LLP, 225 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT Attorney for Mortgagee TERMS OF SALE: $10,000.00 Aaron Posnik AUCTIONEERS • APPRAISERS Deposit Cash Or Certified Funds 5% Buyer’s Premium Applies Other Terms To Be Announced At Time Of Sale West Springfield, MA • Philadelphia, PA 413-733-5238 • 610-853-6655 TOLL FREE 1-877-POSNIK1 • (767-6451) MA Auc Lic #161 • PA Auc Lic #AY000241L Web: www.posnik.com • Email: info@posnik.com PUBLIC AUCTION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH AT 2:00 PM MORTGAGEE’S SALE OF REAL ESTATE • MELROSE • 8 ROOM / 4 BEDROOM 2-STORY COLONIAL STYLE HOME ±1/3 ACRE ON 662 Franklin Street FEATURES: MELROSE, MA TO BE SOLD ON THE PREMISES • 2 Story Colonial Style Home • ±13,052 S/F Of Land • • Total Of (8) Rooms w/ (4) Bedrooms & (2 ½) Baths • • ±3,932 S/F of Gross Living Area Above Grade • Oil Hot Water Baseboard Heat • • Full Basement • Fireplace • Open Porch • Public Water & Sewer • • Clapboard Siding • Zoned: URA • Assessor’s Parcel # B12-0000068 • % ONE CAR BUILT-IN GARAGE % SALE PER ORDER OF MORTGAGEE Attorney Oscar L Suarez Of The Firm Of Halloran & Sage, LLP, 225 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT Attorney for Mortgagee TERMS OF SALE: $20,000.00 Aaron Posnik AUCTIONEERS • APPRAISERS Deposit Cash Or Certified Funds 5% Buyer’s Premium Applies Other Terms To Be Announced At Time Of Sale West Springfield, MA • Philadelphia, PA 413-733-5238 • 610-853-6655 TOLL FREE 1-877-POSNIK1 • (767-6451) MA Auc Lic #161 • PA Auc Lic #AY000241L Web: www.posnik.com • Email: info@posnik.com
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