For some Veronans, Earth Day is more than a one-day event (which, oh by the way, is today). Every day, they work at recycling a little more and wasting a little less. They are people like the Breitenbachs, who put in solar panels to take advantage of the most renewable energy there is: the sun. They are people like Gloria Machnowski, who pushed beyond recycling batteries to find ways to avoid them altogether. They are people like Maria Hoogterp, who supports local organic farms or Davis Dure, who’s working to make train travel once again a better alternative to car travel (we haven’t written about him yet, but we will!).
You may know some of these folks, they’re your neighbors in Verona. But for Earth Day 2011, we’d like to tell you about two people who haven’t lived in Verona for a while who also make Earth Day happen every day. Jessica Polledri uses skills she learned on an organic farm in Hawaii to help poor school children grow their own healthful food. Oluseyi “Seyi” Fayanju works at the Environmental Defense Fund on restoring the Gulf Coast. Click on their names to read their stories.
By the way, the Verona Environmental Commission will celebrate Earth Day at the Verona Recycling Center on April 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring your recyclable items and learn how to reuse and recycle your plastic shopping bags instead of throwing them in the trash. The VEC will be distributing both blue and green recycling containers if you need one.
