PEAT Peaks Environmental Action Team

CLEAN PEAKS!
PEAT is sponsoring an island-wide cleanup in conjunction with the celebration of Earth Day 2009. 

Please join us
Saturday, April 25th at 9:00 a.m.
(Rain or Shine!)

to canvass the island and clean up the trash and debris that has accumulated over the winter months.

On the morning of April 25th, CLEAN PEAKS will kick off in front of Hannigan’s Store.

  PEAT members will make trash bags and maps available to volunteers.

And if you can’t participate on the 25th, we encourage you to pick a day and time that is convenient for you!

What do I do with all of the stuff?  Please place non-recyclable debris in regular trash bags, and place any recyclable materials (tin cans, aerosol containers, glass jars and bottles, aluminum cans, foil, and all plastic bottles and tubs) in clear bags so that we can recycle the materials appropriately.  The filled bags can be left along the roadside, where they will be picked up by the folks from Portland Public Works on Monday the 27th.  If you’re collecting in an area of the island where trash is not routinely collected, please take the materials to the transfer station.

For larger items, such as lobster traps, tires, etc., they can be placed along the roadside and will be collected separately.

What do I wear to the cleanup?  Depending on the weather, volunteers should wear long shirts and pants, a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and closed toe shoes.  Be extra careful if you’re collecting trash among the slippery rocks of the shoreline and get help to move items that are particularly bulky or heavy.

Make every day a CLEAN PEAKS day!  Here are some suggestions to help reduce island debris:
• Pack your lunch in reusable containers;
• Buy items made from recycled materials with little or no packaging;
• Recycle, recycle, recycle - many items picked up during cleanup efforts are recyclable;
• Use your own cup - avoid foam and plastic cups which pose a serious hazard to marine life;
• Substitute paper, cloth, and other recyclable materials for plastic bags (wrap sandwiches in waxed paper);
• Compost, compost, compost; and,
• Don't buy drinks packaged with six-pack rings - if you must, be sure to cut or recycle six-pack rings.

ISLAND CLEANUP!    JOIN US APRIL 25th   ISLAND CLEANUP!
 

Saturday April 25

All Day Saturday
Go down front to get trash bags and instructions for the annual Island Clean Up

9:00 a.m. to noon
Look for Cynthia Cole In front of the library,  where she'll be sharing her years of experience in the Environmental Movement as well as a collection of her many gleanings from its literature

 
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in front of Hannigans

Sign up for your own plot in the new Community Garden

Go to the Gem Gallery and admire the new recycling bins, decorated by island artists

Come and browse at our Garden Book Sale. The selections are from   Longfellow Books in Portland and a percentage of what you spend will go to purchase gardening books for the Fay Garman House and The Peaks Island Library

Order a compost bin or rain barrel for delivery in May

Bring your favorite picture for the Second Annual Clothesline Photo Contest or learn how and where to submit one later in time for our show during Peaks Fest Learn about weatherization from a pro.

6:00 to 8:15 p.m. in the community room

See a double feature & have some refreshments
 Dr Seuss’ Lorax and Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie

8:30 p.m. in the community room
Go for the Late Show and see a PBS documentary, Silence of the Bees

The Second Annual Clothesline Photo Contest will begin on April 25th and end on June 6th. Send us pictures of your favorite clotheslines and clothes hanger-uppers on Peaks Island and elsewhere so that we can display them during Peaksfest. The purpose of this contest is to show  that anyone can reap the pleasures and benefits of air drying and to demonstrate that a considerable number of islanders are already doing so. By highlighting their efforts we can, with your help,  attract more and more folks to this age-old,  cost-saving, planet-saving custom. Note cards made from last year’s photos will be for sale down front on Earth Day.
To submit a photo for this year, choose any size and format that you like and get it to us by the June 6th deadline.
Send or deliver pictures to Vinnie Demos at 25 Crescent Avenue.
Email files to vinnie100@earthlink.net

We will assume, unless informed to the contrary,  that any submissions are ours to reprint for publicity or fund-raisng efforts in the future.
 

Starting at 6:00 p.m. in the community room, our first film will be The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, which lasts just under half an hour.  A brief intermission and refreshments will follow. The feature film will be Jerry Seinfield's Bee Movie.

For the intrepid, there's a late late show: Silence of the Bees, an award winning film from PBS. This will be be at 8:30 p.m.

To read more about The Lorax, go to http://chokingplanet.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/dr-seuss-had-it-right/

For a review of Bee Movie, go to http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/movies/02bee.html?pagewanted=print

To learn about bees in Maine, go to  "Understanding Native Bees, the Great Pollinators: Enhancing Their Habitats in Maine" at http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/7153.htm

PEAT is once again offering islanders a chance to purchase compost bins and rain barrels at a significant discount. Print out and return the attached order form to Albert & Jenny by May 2nd. Delivery to Peaks will be on or before May 23rd.

Some of us are just making the switch from winter to summer laundry practices, but a few folks persist throughout the year, reaping fresh air and lower utility bills!

To learn more about the benefits of clotheslines and about Right to Dry legislation in Maine and other states, go to http://laundrylist.org/