The library was a busy place Saturday
If you fully participated, you left Saturday’s Earth Day celebration at the Highland Falls Library with two reusable shopping bags, some newly planted seeds, a packet of wildflower seeds, a pine cone bird feeder, information on lowering your electric bill and solar energy, a flyer advertising this year’s Farmers’ Market, a handful of trail mix and a cup of iced tea, and an idea of what the O’Neill High School Environmental Club is up to!
Plus, while visiting the event, you had a chance to talk with local elected leaders and Dirt Man and Dirt Woman, learn origami, you could purchase some Girl Scout cookies, and you could doodle a bit/sign your name on a large Happy Birthday Mother Earth banner than now hangs in the library.
Whew!
It was a four hour event organized by Highland Falls’ Olga Anderson with the assistance of several other local groups. Library Director Leslie Rose welcomed all to the event and introduced Senator James Skoufis, who stopped by to say hello and offer some ‘environmental news’ to the crowd.
“It’s great to be here and to see that this event has grown,” he said, calling that a testament to Anderson’s “commitment and passion” to the environment.
He noted that the Town of Highlands is “really exhibit ‘A’ of what we all need to work to preserve”.
“We’ve got mountains all around us, and when we talk about the beautiful Hudson Valley, this is it,” he said. “So what you are doing here today is essential.”
Skoufis followed up on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent announcement that the state has, effective March 2020, banned single use plastic shopping bags — that announcement drew applause — and said that beginning this summer his office will have reusable shopping bags to give out.
He also mentioned another “big piece of legislation” the state government is hoping to take up in the months ahead, the Climate & Community Protection Act, which “would put us on a path to 100 percent renewables by 2050, which I think is realistic and frankly necessary”.
County Legislator Laurie Tautel also spoke briefly, having just come from the community’s annual roadside cleanup that morning. “It’s always amazing to me how much trash we get off the side of the road each year,” she said.
She spoke about the county’s efforts to conserve energy by making the county’s buildings more environmentally friendly, as well as grants available to groups looking to do work that benefits the environment.
Anderson thanked all of the volunteers who helped her organize the event, as well as the many local businesses who donated prizes, the giveaways, and lent their support to her Earth Day efforts.
