Testimony for Hearing on Overpackaging 6/30/11

Testimony before the NYC City Council Sanitation and Waste Management Committee, 6/30/11

*I wrote the initial draft of this testimony. Ruth Acker and Lauren Clark edited and provided additional supporting statistics.

Hello. My name is Arden Down, and I am the Chair of the Environment & Infrastructure Committee of the Women’s City Club of New York, a nonpartisan nonprofit founded in 1915.  Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify on the issue of over-packaging.

One of the interests of the Women’s City Club is to preserve the environment and protect public health from environmental threats.  We are concerned about the volume of waste created in the United States, particularly that which is generated in New York City.  Waste disposal poses many problems for sustainability. 

Letter to NYS Environmental Conservation Committee RE. hydrofracking

Dear Environmental Conservation Committee Members:

The Women’s City Club of New York strongly urges you to pass legislation to proscribe and regulate the hydraulic fracturing process and the natural gas industry.  We have actively supported the passage of such regulation for over a year and are disappointed by the inaction we observe on important bills such as S2697, S4251, S4220, and the recently-defeated S425.

Motion from E&I to WCC Board for approval of FoodWorks position

MOTION

Resolved that the WCC supports the healthful and sustainable production, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of all food and food-related products used by New York City.

Recycling Legislation Passed – Thank you – Aug. 2010

Dear Speaker Quinn,

The Women’s City Club of New York would like to thank you for the City Council’s recent passage of comprehensive recycling legislation.  We are excited by this landmark advance in environmental policy and happy to have been a part of the advocacy process leading up to it.

Recycling Legislation Support Letter – May 2010

Dear ________,

I am writing on behalf of the Women’s City Club of New York to express our strong support for the pending recycling legislation.  We are particularly concerned that all eleven provisions remain intact, including the four currently under contest: Int. Numbers 0147, related to education of the populace, 0156 on recycling in City agencies, 0157 on leaf and yard waste, and 0171 on composting.  These four provisions are of critical importance because they go beyond the bare basics of recycling to provide for a truly robust and sustainable Citywide recycling program.

Position Statement on banning styrofoam in NYC – Jan. 2011

Styrofoam, or polystyrene foam, has long been in common use, but it has also long been known to be a harmful and non-biodegradable material.  Despite its drawbacks, Styrofoam can still be found all over New York City, particularly in the form of take-out containers, packaging for meat products, and even school lunch trays.  The Women’s City Club of New York is actively campaigning for New York to join nearly two dozen other cities in banning the use of Styrofoam for containers that hold food items.

Thank You to Paterson for passing moratorium on hydrofracking

Dear Governor Paterson,

The Women’s City Club of New York thanks you for placing a moratorium on hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale until July.  This moratorium is a clear step in the right direction for the environment and public health.

Letter of Support for Anti-fracking Groups – Dec. 2010

Dear ______,

The Women’s City Club of New York is a longstanding advocacy organization with a deep commitment to a healthy environment and sustainable development, among other policy priorities.  Greatly concerned about the risks associated with new natural gas drilling processes, the WCC strongly supports the efforts of the Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS), the Delaware RiverKeeper Network (DRN), and the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to protect the public and the environment from unsafe drilling.

Letter to Speaker Silver in support of moratorium on hydrofracking

Dear Speaker Silver,

The Women’s City Club of New York, a longstanding advocacy organization with a deep commitment to sustainable development and other policy priorities, strongly urges you to support Bill 10490 for a moratorium on hydrofracking in New York.  The Senate has already endorsed this moratorium, which is set to hold through May of 2011, in recognition of the dangers associated with hydrofracking and the still inconclusive science on this method of natural gas drilling.