Climate Smart Community Pledge

In May 2009, the City of Beacon adopted the Climate Smart Community Pledge. The City of Beacon agreed to the following in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate:

1. Pledge to Combat Climate Change by Becoming a Climate Smart Community
2. Set Goals, Inventory Emissions, Move to Action
3. Decrease Energy Demand for Local Government Operations
4. Encourage Renewable Energy for Local Government Operations
5. Realize Benefits of Recycling and Other Climate Smart Solid Waste Management Practices
6. Promote Climate Protection through Community Land Use Planning
7. Plan for Adaptation to Unavoidable Climate Change
8. Support a Green Innovation Economy
9. Inform and Inspire the Public
10. Commit to an Evolving Process

Contact the office of Mayor Steve Gold for more information.

Composting 101

Sat., Nov.13, 10 a.m.  COMPOSTING 101 PROGRAM.  Demonstration on how to create valuable, high-quality compost by using your yard and food waste. Learn methods of containment, processing, and best practices. Enroll in the waste reduction project to receive a free composter and training for measuring your composted waste. Forsyth Nature Center in Kingston, Contact: (845) 481-7336 or visitwww.forsythnaturecenter.org

How do I compost?

Compost is a dark, crumbly, and earthy-smelling form of decomposing organic matter. Backyard compost can be collected in piles, bins, tumblers, or homemade structures. Composting is a cheap and efficient way of handling kitchen scraps and yard waste. "Finished" compost makes a great addition to gardens, flower beds and trees. It will add essential nutrients to the soil.

What to compost
Nitrogen-rich, green materials: fruit scraps, vegetable scraps, plant trimmings, coffee grounds, rice, pasta, egg shells, tea bags, flowers, hedge clippings and small amounts of grass.

Carbon-rich, brown materials: coffee filters, stale bread, paper napkins and towels, dryer lint, hair, leaves, straw or hay, small twigs/chips, dried grass and weeds.

What not to compost
Meat, fish or bones; dairy products, oils or fats, sauces, ashes, pet waste, diseased plants, mature weeds with seeds.

A Home Composting Handbook is available on the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency website, uccra.org.

Beacon Composts: Zero Waste Garden Tour

Did you miss this year's Compost Garden Tour? Would you like to participate next year? Please contact jeanbrennan@mac.com.