Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Loss of our Cypress Forests

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has released its Top Ten Most Endangered Places list. Included on that list are Georgia's rapidly-vanishing cypress forests. We strongly urge all citizens and government officials to forgo the use of cypress mulch and to use, instead, any of the many effective, environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient products on the market today.

"WHAT'S AT STAKE?

Georgia’s iconic wetland landscape includes trees over 1,000 years old; habitat for endangered species; ecosystem that naturally helps to prevent flooding


THE THREAT

Fueled by an increase in demand for cypress mulch, timber companies are chopping down Georgia’s iconic wetland forests faster than they can recover.
Cypress forests are icons of the southern wetland landscape and perform essential ecological functions, from capturing and storing floodwaters to providing habitat for endangered species. SELC has found that they are also suffering a decline, brought on in large part by an explosion in demand for cypress mulch. In an EPA-supported study of cypress forests in Georgia, we determined that harvested cypress stands often fail to regrow; once they are cut, the trees and the habitat they provide are lost forever.
SELC will soon release a report on the status of Georgia’s cypress forests and how they can be protected. High on our priority list is to educate consumers, retailers, and government officials on the need to ensure that cypress products are harvested in responsible and sustainable ways. Otherwise, we may lose one of the South’s most valuable ecological gems. " http://www.southernenvironment.org/about/top_10_2011/georgias_cypress_forests/

As many organizations work to save the nation's cypress, consumer demand drives the destruction onward. Please, before you purchase mulch, take a moment to learn more about the terrible costs to our environment. http://healthygulf.org/our-work/save-our-cypress/save-our-cypress-home

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Flag Dedication Ceremony



Jan. 15, 2020: Today we gathered at the EarthKeepers' Memory Garden to dedicate a new flag in honor of O.J. Lanham. Due to the generosity of the Kiwanis Club of St. Marys and the friends and family of O.J., the Memory Garden is now graced by the symbol of our nation. Our sincere thanks to those who participated in this very special event; with particular gratitude to Councilman Greg Bird, Loretta Hutchinson, Mayor DeLoughy and those who shared their lovely memories of O.J.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Jan. 13, 2010

Happy New Year to St. Marys! Here are a few "green" highlights from 2010:

- It's been almost four years since the curbside recycling program was initiated in St. Marys and we still enjoy a recycling compliance rate of almost twice that of the national average. On average, 30-35 tons of recyclable material is processed each month, thus extending the life of our landfill immeasurably. We continue our advertising campaign, urging all residents to reduce, re-use and recycle, and we extend our sincere thanks to the Tribune & Georgian for their assistance with this effort (www.tribune-georgian.com).

- The EarthKeepers continue to fight the proposed airport relocation to a site that includes over 225 acres of fragile wetlands.

- We partnered with the Camden County Girl Guides in a Book Drive to benefit the families and children of the True Freedom Learning Center (and our thanks to Once Upon a Bookseller and Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for their invaluable help). Over 1,800 books were collected for the Center's Children's Library. This same drive also garnered over 25 computers for a computer lab at the Center (both sparing our landfill and helping our children). www.truefreedomlearningcenter.com

- Our Board Chair, Alex Kearns, has been a guest speaker for a wide variety of groups including the Woodbine Women's Association and the Rotary Club.

- Due to the generosity of the Kiwanis Club and Mr Chuck Lanham, there is a new flagpole with solar lighting at the EarthKeepers' Memory Garden (next to Oak Grove Cemetery) in memory of O.J. Lanham.

- The battle against the plastic bags that decimate our environment goes on and we plan more re-useable cloth bag give-aways throughout the coming year.

- The EarthKeepers were involved in persuading the St. John's River Water Management District to consider alternate water-sources when we heard of their plan to remove over 30 million gallons per day from the St. Marys River. Instead of this devastating proposal they have chosen to explore conservation measures.

- Litter is still an appalling problem in our community and we will be holding more clean-ups and public awareness campaigns to address this on-going issue.

- We continue to support and celebrate such school groups as the Mary Lee Clark Elementary School Green Panthers as they build upon their recycling and gardening projects. The teachers of St. Marys go above and beyond the call of duty and are leading our children to a more sustainable future. Due to the extraordinary generosity of Advanced Disposal, all of our schools are now recycling!

These are but a few of our programs and efforts during the past year and we eagerly look forward to 2011. We hope that you will join us as we work towards a cleaner, greener world for us all.