Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) – 2023 Accomplishments
Hello Montgomery Township Community,
It’s my pleasure to provide an annual update on the activities and accomplishments of Montgomery Township’s EAC. The past year has been busy, to say the least, but our committee has been working hard to ensure we can all enjoy a healthier and happier community.
The Battery Recycling program has been a continual success, highlighting our Township’s efforts to reduce landfill waste. 2022 was the first full year of the program, and it’s still going strong. In 2023, we recycled a total of 929 lbs. of batteries and a grand total of 2,209 since the program was launched in late 2021. This is a terrific success and something we can all be proud of working on together. If you’d like more information, you may click here.
The focus for 2023 was reducing single-use plastics in our Township. We began the process with a survey to understand the community’s stance on such a change, and suggestions for best practices. Following our review, the EAC worked diligently to understand what those best practices may entail. This led us to communicate with other municipalities to learn about and incorporate strategies that others have found to be successful.
For the remainder of the year, the EAC researched existing ordinances for townships that had passed a Single-Use Plastic Reduction Plan. Once we made recommendations to our Board of Supervisors, members of the committee shared information and surveyed the members of our community to which the potential ordinance would impact the most. This list of community members included businesses such as retailers and restaurants. Throughout the summer, the Township solicitor drafted our potential ordinance, then at the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 26, 2023, Ordinance No. 23-337 unanimously passed. If you’d like to read the document, it’s available here. In addition to approval at the September meeting, a sculpture made of single-use plastics was crafted by myself and presented to fellow EAC member Don Hamp to congratulate him on his personal efforts made during this challenging process.
On Earth Day, we continued our Township’s annual E-recycling event. Our local environmental superhero, “Cap,” was on hand to assist the EAC and representatives from the Township in collecting and diverting 13,447 lbs. of electronics from landfills.
Toward the end of 2023, we began discussing ways that residents could convert their lawns to native gardens. This involves educating the public about possibilities through tips, blog posts, and presentation events. We plan to discuss this subject in more depth throughout 2024.
Be sure to follow our Township Newsletter for all upcoming events. You can also follow us on social media for helpful Tuesday Tips and supporting blog posts.
It’s been great serving on our Township’s EAC. I’m looking forward to another productive year with my fellow Committee members.
If there’s a topic you’d like to hear or learn more about or something you’d like the EAC to discuss at our monthly meetings, please send us an email: generalinfo@montgomerytwp.org
Best wishes,
Ryan Rex
Environmental Advisory Committee Chair
Montgomery Township