PAPER 4 PEOPLE PROJECT HELPS BUSINESSES AND FOOD PANTRY
3-05-09
Some environmentally-conscious high school students in Ladysmith are working to increase the efficiency of paper recycling in our community. Health Care Academy and National Honor Society students in the Ladysmith-Hawkins High School are working with Indianhead Community Action Agency, Rusk County Clothing Center and Food Pantry, and CelluTissue (formerly City Forest) of Ladysmith to develop a paper recycling business, called Paper 4 People.
This not-for-profit business is encouraging local businesses to "Go Green." All net income from the business will go to the county-wide Food Pantry, which is serving over 300 families per month. CelluTissue currently pays 6 cents per pound, and recycles the paper into a product that is used to manufacture such items as paper towels and toilet paper.
The enterprise consists of having an Indianhead Agency van make monthly pickups of paper from participating businesses throughout the City of Ladysmith. The paper is taken immediately to CelluTissue of Ladysmith, which puts it on a conveyor belt and into a hopper for processing. The entire journey of the paper from the pickup at the business to the processing hopper is monitored, thereby securing the confidentiality of the participating businesses.
To date the following local businesses and organizations have signed up and are recycling their waste paper: Toycen Motors, WITC, Thompson Excavating, Community Bank, WLDY-WJBC, Indianhead Community Action Agency, Ladysmith-Hawkins High School, and Our Lady of Sorrows (OLS) School. These businesses and organizations are to be commended for their participation in the Paper 4 People program, and others should be urged to participate as well. If you know a business that would benefit from participating, contact Donna Wishowski at the Indianhead Agency (715 532-7542).
This student-led paper recycling program contains many of the desirable characteristics of a sustainable system. It offers a needed service to local businesses, since Wisconsin law requires all businesses to recycle paper wastes. It strengthen the local recycling business of CelluTissue by helping it meet its need for raw material. It reduces the amount of material going into landfills. It provides some money in these difficult economic times for the increasingly essential Food Pantry. And it raises the awareness of citizens (students, business people, customers, and the general public) of the economic and environmental common sense of recycling.
Rusk County Comprehensive Planning Survey: A Great Opportunity To Express Opinions and Ideas.
2-25-09
Recently each household in Rusk County received a Comprehensive Planning Survey in the mail. The survey is from the Rusk County Comprehensive Committee, which has been charged with developing an overall comprehensive plan for our county.
This survey is an excellent opportunity for citizens to express their opinions on such matters as housing, transportation, utilities, economic development, and land use. All of these topics are related to the challenges we face of trying to establish and maintain a desirable quality of life here in Rusk without destroying our environment and its precious natural resources. How we meet these challenges will determine the quality of life not only for ourselves, but for future generations as well. The survey results will be used to create discussion of the issues and needs expressed by the people. If you are at all concerned about the need to plan how to live in a more sustainable way, to not rely so much on fossil fuels, to promote local farmers and businesses, and to have access to good public parks and schools and hunting and fishing, then we urge you to respond to the survey. Surveys are to be returned by March 20, 2009. If you did not get one, or want more than one for your household, a copy may be obtained at the County Clerk’s office in the Courthouse (715 532-2100), or on the Rusk County website, www.ruskcounty.org
Local Organic Farmers to Grow Food for Their Community and Distribute Using the CSA model.
1-08-09
What is a CSA farm? The initials CSA represent Community Supported Agriculture. In this model of farm, vegetables, herbs and often eggs and meat are distributed from the farmer directly to the consumer in the form of a subscription. One payment at the beginning of the season will entitle the consumer to a weekly share of seasonal produce. There are many benefits to receiving produce through this model. The produce is normally extremely fresh, in most cases harvested on the same day as delivery. The weekly share is in rhythm with the seasons. For example, one might receive fresh asparagus and spinach in the spring and winter squash in the fall. The food travels a comparably short distance to get to the consumer lessening the energy inputs. Also, to make a direct connection with the farmer responsible for growing the food is a valuable experience. Leah and Alan Fuse will be accepting 2009 members to Heaven on Earth, LLC CSA, three miles south of Ladysmith, through March 15th, 2009. As a member, workshops on seed saving and herbal medicine as well as an herb walk on the farm are included. They can be reached at 715-532-4612 for more information.
Sustainable Rusk meetings to be held on 1st and 3rd Wednesdays
1-06-09
Sustainable Rusk will be holding meetings open to the public on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. Meeting time is 5:00 pm at the Ladysmith City Community Center just west of the Ladysmith Post Office. Issues of local sustainability are addressed along with the studying of the book, The Natural Step for Communities, written by Sarah James and Torbjorn Lahti. More than 20 communities in the state of Wisconsin have adopted the framework set forth in The Natural Step for Communities. Many more study circles are in progress. A common term for a community that has adopted a resolution related to the framework is an eco-municipality.
Some of the eco-municipalities currently in Wisconsin are:
Wisconsin Eco-Municipalities
City of Ashland
City of Baraboo
City of Bayfield
City of Beloit
City of La Crosse
City of Madison
City of Manitowoc
City of Marshfield
City of Menasha
City of Neenah
City of Sheboygan
City of Stevens Point
City of Washburn
Douglas County
Dunn County
La Crosse County
Town of Bayfield
Town of Cottage Grove
Village of Johnson Creek
Green Bay Area
Town of Stockton