Woman's Club of Danbury/New Fairfield (WCDNF) Supports Environment

On Tuesday, March 18, the Environmental Committee of the Woman's Club of Danbury/New Fairfield organized and held a symposium focusing on the environmental issues of the day. Approximately 50 members of the WCDNF attended the symposium held at Hatter's Park in Danbury.

One of the speakers, Mitch Wagerer, a professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences at WSCU, spoke about the negative impact that wildfires, natural disasters, destructive insect infestations, warming temperatures, dry lightning and droughts have on our climate. He stressed that climate change is permanent and that constructive actions must be taken now at the individual and community levels to address the destructive challenges of climate change.

A second speaker, Jennifer Heaton-Jones, is the Executive Director of the Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority (HRRA). It is a regional governmental solid waste management authority serving 14 municipalities in western Connecticut. In her presentation, Jennifer indicated that in the state of Connecticut, residents produce over 3.5 million tons of trash every year. Jennifer spoke about how 90% of this trash could be recycled, composted or reused to reduce the tons of municipal sold waste.

Kristin Shevis, a spokesperson for a non-profit agency that is working to end plastic pollution, informed members about the Plastic Crisis in our world. She noted that plastics are everywhere and are becoming one of the most serious pollution problems in the world. Microplastics have even been found in snowflakes.

The Environmental Committee's program was well received and appreciated by WCDNF members for the quality presentations given by expert spokespersons and the timely importance and critical nature of the information presented.