Where we live affects how much pollution we experience each day. It affects how long our commute is, how hot our neighborhood gets in the summer, whether we can afford winter heating bills, how much or how little open space we have around us, and whether we have access to healthy homes, nourishing food, and quality schools.
Millions of adults and children around the country and here in New England suffer from a lack of access to affordable, nutritious food. What’s more, so much perfectly edible food gets dumped in landfills every day. The good news is that we can alleviate both of these problems at the same time.
“Allowing this substation to be built ignores community voices and established law in Massachusetts,” said Staci Rubin, Vice President, Environmental Justice, CLF. “If the loud community opposition wasn’t enough to sink this project, the proposed site should be reserved for uses that must be on the water, not energy infrastructure that can be located elsewhere. It’s time for state officials to evaluate this project on its merits instead of rubber stamping Eversource’s requests.”
With help from the Legal Food Hub, Mainer secures conservation easement that will permanently protect her farmland from development.
“Unfortunately, New Hampshire has been on this treadmill of constantly expanding landfill capacity. There’s now a proposal by Casella to build a brand new landfill. And it’s an approach that threatens the health of our communities and natural resources like the Ammonoosuc River,” said CLF’s Tom Irwin.
Co-founders of Mei Mei Dumplings and Food Waste Feast, Mei and Irene are on a mission to pass along their professional knowledge for reducing food waste in the kitchen. Designing dishes that use up everything in the fridge and offering workshops on how to make your dollars go further by cooking smarter, the sister-duo is on the cutting edge of the food waste revolution.
“By getting Casella to remove a decade’s worth of contaminated sediments from a polluted channel flowing into the Ammonoosuc, this settlement directly addresses a legacy of landfill pollution,” explained Tom Irwin, Vice President and Director of CLF New Hampshire. “The problems addressed in this case are yet another reason why New Hampshire needs to focus on reducing waste rather than burying it in landfills.”
Manufacturers should not be allowed to reap profits while their toxic products and packaging harm our health and environment. Producer responsibility laws have the potential to drastically cut our waste generation and disposal, as well as their harms. And all while holding producers accountable.
During my recent stint on parental leave, I tried to disconnect from my Zero Waste work. But I quickly realized that there’s no off-switch for corporate greenwashing. So, I’d like to set the record straight. What does circular economy really mean? And why will single-use plastics and waste-burning technologies never have a place in it? Here are the answers.
CLF’s unique social investment funds flip that script. With our business, philanthropic, and community partners, we have created a national model for ensuring that change is led by the people already living in a neighborhood, united by a common vision for their future.
