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03/24/2023 07:28 AMWith the warmer temperatures of April bringing more opportunities to be outdoors and active, the Chester Sustainability Team is gauging interest from the community on how to best celebrate those days with its Chester Earth Month Events survey.
The Sustainability Team is planning events during the Earth Month of April that will culminate with the town’s inaugural Earth Day celebrations event in Chester Village on Sunday, April 22. Events that the team is looking to hold will include a special exhibit at the Chester Historical Society in recognition of the holiday, the Chester Land Trust’s annual town-wide cleanup, and a free e-cycling drive-thru with a location to be announced. The team will also ask residents of all ages to create chalks drawings on Main Street with the theme of, “Be Kind to the Earth.”
As those events are planned, Cindy Lingar of the Sustainability Team said the main purpose of the survey is to “engage our community to find out what presentation and activities they would like besides what we’re thinking about.”
“We’ve thought of important questions to encourage them to think about what they want,” Lingar said.
Respondents are asked to check bubbles of either “yes” or “no” to a total of 16 ideas that the Sustainability Team has considered as themes for potential presentations and activities. These include its first theme of “How Earth Day Began,” as well as “Water Security in Our Area,” and “Equity, Peace, and Environmental Justice.”
Several options revolve around the themes of sustainability, including the second idea on the survey of “3 Easy Things You Can Do to Live More Sustainably.” This is one of the ideas that will be turned into an event in April after having received 100-percent “yes” responses as of March 17, according to Lingar.
“That’s something that we’re going to include based on their response to the survey,” said Lingar.
Another sustainability-related event that will be a part of the Earth Month lineup is a presentation on the topic of “Eating and Growing Your Own Food,” which Lingar said will be given by a local farmer on “how they grow, and how you can grow at your own home.”
Lingar said the topic of “Waste Management: What is the Difference Between Trash, Composting and Recycling,” is a presentation idea supported by over 98% of respondents in which participants will learn about more eco-friendly practices of waste disposal and distribution.
Several of the themes are connected through awareness of the effects of climate change and empowering environmental friendlessness, including “How Climate Change Impacts Plants & Animals in Our Area, and How to Help Conserve Them,” “Climate Youth Activism from a Youth Perspective,” and “Climate Change Communications in Our Community.”
Lingar said of the latter, “[It] still needs to be developed, as to how we can go in a lot of directions, but it would be interesting to have updates and, perhaps, utilizing information from DEEP [Department of Energy and Environmental Protection].”
Lingar cited information on the health effects of climate change on local communities available through the Connecticut River Area Health District as an example of what local communications on the issue could look like.
Respondents are also free to suggest their own ideas for interactive activities or presentations in which they would like to participate, along with how they would prefer to receive information on community events during the month.
The effects of climate change on water supplies and livelihood are other major topics of possible discussion, including “Water Security in Our Area” and “How to Prepare for Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters.”
“What we could do with that is contact our emergency preparedness personnel in town and work with them on that,” said Lingar.
Lingar said the results of the survey, its ensuing events, and the Earth Day celebration on April 22 should establish a template going forward after 2023.
“As we go through this first-time April Earth Month and April Earth Day-coordinated event for the Town of Chester, we’ll evaluate how this all goes this year and add to it and take suggestions for presentation and activities and apply it going forward,” Lingar said.
The survey is available on the town’s website and at the link, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FNDY63P until Wednesday, March 29. Paper copies are available for pickup and return at the Chester Public Library on the same date.