Fall E-
Newsletter
Greetings All,
Summer is fleeting by
and we are getting into our fall routines. We hope this means a
renewed commitment to environmental awareness and action.
The summer was very
"REACTive" for a number of our volunteers. Early in June we participated
in a Household Hazardous Waste Pickup Day that ended, for us,
in Selkirk. Thanks to Pat and Larry Corbin, Karl Daher, Joel Edwards
and Robyn Vande for going about town on a Saturday morning to gather up HHW and
deliver it to the Selkirk depot. Thanks to the many townsfolk who
contributed their HHW, and thanks to the Town of Stonewall for lending us their
trucks and assisting at the depot. Their work began when ours ended as they
sorted and properly disposed of our goodies. We hope that this event
will involve a larger number of residents next spring. Inform your
neighbours!
In July we began to
work towards formalizing our organization so that we can pursue funding for
future environmental projects. It seems to be slow-going over the summer
months but our core of volunteers has been enjoying the summer sun. We
hope to have a budget and a constitution in place this fall - just in time
to begin our "cloth shopping bag" project. For information on how to make
your own cloth bag or to learn more about the problem with plastic bags visit
www.reactinc.org .
In August, REACT
enjoyed sharing a display booth with a crew of Backyard Composting experts from
Resource Conservation Manitoba at the Quarry Days Celebration.
Thanks to Robert Potter
for providing us with recycled recycling bins as part of our environmental
education and action booth. Thanks to the volunteers who helped with
setting up and manning the booth: Olive Phillips, Ruby Roe, Wally Badger, Robyn
Vande, Joel Edwards, Lloyd Jensen, and especially Reanna Ferguson- our
youngest and newest volunteer.
Thanks to Sylvie
Hebert and company for bringing information about Backyard Composting.
Thanks to Lloyd Jensen for his technical assistance and for donating 90
litres of lovely compost for a free draw. Congratulations to KL Ferguson
(yes, that's Reanna's mom), the winner of the draw. You can
look at our booth on REACT's website.
Resources for our
Quarry Days display were kindly donated by Green Manitoba, Manitoba Eco-Network,
and Resource Conservation Manitoba. We also enjoyed the loan of the
Idle-Free Display created by Grade 5 students at Stonewall Centennial
School.
This September, work
will begin in the Tall Grass Prairie to the west of the hospital. Energetic
volunteers will assist the talented and knowledgeable John Morgan as he
cultivates, seeds, packs and weeds the portion of the TGP which was disturbed a
number of years ago. REACT hopes that the annoying dandelions will be
overcome by the native grasses that are our heritage and our legacy.
Thanks to George Willis and John Morgan for their help and thanks to the
volunteers who will be assisting with the work in weeks and months to
come. If you would like to be part of this "growing" project please
see the link on our website.
Karen Pratt
provided us with information on an asphalt plant that is operating in a quarry
located NE1/4 5-14-2 EPM. She indicates that this is the same plant that the Conservation Minister had issues with on HWY 6. If you would like your voice heard on this topic, please
contact your local councillor, attend the R.M. of Rockwood council meeting on September 12th at 3:30 p.m., or for more information, contact Karen at nobler@can.rogers.com or Merle Tomyk at mtomyk@mts.net
October and
Beyond: Resource Conservation Manitoba is now taking applications for a
Master Composter Course to be held in Stonewall on October 26, 27, and
28. The workshop will be limited to 10 participants so sign up
now! For more information, or to apply visit: http://www.resourceconservation.mb.ca/cap/master.html. Thanks to the Town of Stonewall for providing us
with and ideal location for our workshop.
We are branching out
to Teulon in the months to come as we invite students from TCI to participate in
an environmental action program in your community. We know you have great
ideas and hope to provide you with the leadership to help turn your visions into
realities. Stay tuned for information in your
school.
Where are our
Enviro-tips?? Enviro-tips have not been seen as regular installments in
our local newspaper over the summer, but with continued support and
future funding, we hope to become a regular contributor to
environmental news in our community. We would like to thank the readers
who have expressed their appreciation for what we do to communicate the issues
that affect us both locally and globally.
See our website for
links to some fabulous and respected environmental websites. The
statistics are often bleak, but when ordinary people work together to do
extraordinary things, positive change takes place. The first step is in
becoming aware of the challenges. The next step is up to
us.
REACT
welcomes your ideas and values your opinions. If you would like to be
part of a dynamic group of likeminded people, willing to work for the
preservation and sustainable growth of "
climate-friendly" communities, come out to our monthly meetings or contact
us through our website
REACT will be testing
our wings as we apply for charitable status and focus on projects which, we
hope, will make a difference in our community. We really want to hear from
you! If you have a project in mind, or if you have time and talents to
donate, please contact us through our website with you
ideas.
Come out to our next
regular meeting on Monday, September 10 - 7:30 pm at the Town Hall chambers on
Main Street, and find out what's new and what you can do to be a steward of the
environment with REACT.
Until then, have a
GREEN autumn.
Robyn Vande
(secretary)
REACT
