Old Business
1. Approval of September Minutes (no meeting in October)
2. Status updates on goals from leads
a. Plastic bags (Julie)
b. Status of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiatives (municipal and residential) (Tinku)
c. Working with LCA and US Water Alliance on water equity (Tinku)
d. Bird Town -- Allentown Public Library Children’s education (Tinku)
e. Letter of Support to Master Gardeners (Maria)
3. Muhlenberg internship (Tinku)
4. Air Monitor Project (Maria)
5. Report on environmental notice letters (Jennifer)
1. Approval of September Minutes (no meeting in October)
The minutes were approved unanimously.
2. Status updates on goals from leads
a. Plastic bags (Julie)
After great deliberation among community members and firsthand experience
at the recent Real Recognize Real cleanup event downtown, it has been decided
that the contribution of plastic bags to the litter problem downtown is minimal.
Many stores are removing bags on their own, and the EAC should not prioritize a
plastic bag ordinance; however, the issue of litter in general is still a considerable
problem. In an effort to appeal to the communities we cleanup and give
neighborhoods a sense of agency, a new community based cleanup model is
proposed.
This new model, based off the EAC’s success at the recent trout creek cleanup,
involved door to door communication and tabling in the neighborhoods where
cleanups occur. The goal is to get the individuals involved and invested in keeping
the community clean to prevent a return to normal when the cleanup is over.
Potential issues such as language barriers need to be addressed. There were talks
of this model already, and considerable progress was made with local non-profit
Promise Neighborhoods, but due to a variety of undeclared reasons, the
PromisCorps initiative is on hold. Despite this, their organization may still be able
to assist with volunteers as well as Muhlenberg College’s enACT club. This model
should be prioritized in the 2024 EAC goals.
b. Status of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiatives (municipal and
residential) (Tinku)
Tinku and Allentown community member Jon Zeller attended a PA
sustainability conference last week. The individuals they spoke to from PA DEP
indicated that Allentown is likely to get a shared energy manager, we will be
notified in the coming weeks. Hopefully after we have them, we can address a few
of the initiatives we have already cooked up. Tinku has confirmed that that city is
proceeding with their application for the energy efficiency block grant valued at
170k. It’s already been allocated to the city, but they need to formally apply
declaring how the funds will be used.
c. Working with LCA and US Water Alliance on water equity (Tinku)
The focus of this is similar to last years energy equity project, except this time
with water bills. This is complex issue so far due to the variety of stakeholders