In a word, yes!

Greenhouse gases - which warm our atmosphere, make glaciers melt and contribute to extreme weather conditions - are reduced when we cut down on garbage by practicing the 3 R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

How so? Take soda cans for instance: to produce aluminum, bauxite ore has to be extracted, transported and processed, requiring large amounts of energy - the equivalent of 1740 gallons of gasoline for every ton of aluminum. This releases carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. In contrast, making one ton of aluminum from recycled material uses only the equivalent of about 90 gallons of gasoline. Now there's an obvious score for the climate!

But wait - there are more reasons! Landfills and incinerators themselves actually generate even more greenhouse gases through their waste decomposition and combustion.

And when it comes to paper and cardboard, the more we recycle and the more recycled paper products we purchase, the fewer trees need to be cut down, allowing trees to continue to do what all plants do: absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turn it into oxygen -- a natural "climate cooling" process.

Being a good steward to the environment and practicing the 3R's is more important now than ever…and literally "COOL!"

TAP vs. BOTTLED.....AND THE WINNER IS!.......

Glug, glug, glug--that's the sound a ginormous number of us make as we sip bottled water in our cars, at the gym, behind our desks, etc.

The sound you DON'T hear is the thwack of 60 million bottles a day being tossed into U.S. landfills and incinerators.

If that's not enough to turn your conscience a brighter shade of green, add this: Producing those bottles burns through 1.5 million barrels of crude oil annually--enough fuel to keep 100,000 cars running for a year. Recycling helps, but reusing is even better. Invest in a couple of portable, dishwasher-safe, stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteens that won't leach nasty chemicals into your water. (Don't get into the habit of refilling the water bottle you just emptied; the polyethylene terephthalate it's made of breaks down with multiple usings.)

4 MORE REASONS TO TURN ON THE TAP:

1. Tap Water is Tested Daily

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, water suppliers are required to provide an annual report on the quality of your local water and to test it daily. The FDA examines bottled water only weekly, and  results are not available to consumers. You can easily get the lowdown on your state's drinking water quality at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html

2. Tap Water Is a Bargain

Bottled water costs about 500 times more than tap. If you're into really fancy labels, up to 1,000 times more.

3. Tap Water is a Tooth Saver

Most municipal water has more fluoride than bottled water, which helps prevent tooth decay.

4. Tap Water is Often Tastier

Some places (New York City, for one) have delicious water, but if you don't love the flavor of yours, the solution is simple: Run your tap water through a Brita or Pur filter to remove most tastes and odors. The average home filter goes for $8.99 and produces the equivalent of 300 large (16.9 ounce) bottles of water. That's about $0.03 cents a bottle, versus the $1.25 or so you'd pay in a market.

Bottoms up!

Article by JG

Why don't some people Recycle???

Survey answers & matching tips.

#1 Reason: Too difficult or inconvenient at home.

#2: I don't have enough to recycle.

#3: Too difficult or inconvenient at the Transfer Station.

****************

#1: Set up a plan. Try recycling container next to kitchen trash can Transfer to garage or outside when full.

Sort (paper, glass) at home or at Transfer Station.

It's really not difficult when you just give it a try, and it will become habit after awhile.

#2: One cardboard box is enough, and we're betting you have a lot more than "not enough."

#3: Ask questions, read signs or go to ChathamRecycles.org for information.

The answers are available, you just need to look for them.

Presented at the April 11, 2023 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting.

Community Housing Survey Results

Survey results will be presented, and feedback solicited, at the meeting of the Affordable Housing Trust, April 11, 2023, after the Select Board Meeting

At the April 11th meeting of the Affordable Housing Trust, consultants from Barrett Planning Group and Dodson & Flinker Landscape Architects, will present an analysis of the results of the Community Housing Survey, as well as a review of the findings and feedback of the February 15th Community Housing Engagement Forum. The consultants will also provide information regarding project feasibility and financing for various development scenarios for Town-owned properties at Main Street, West Chatham and Meetinghouse Road, South Chatham.

The online Community Housing Survey, which closed on March 12, received an impressive 878 responses. This survey allowed residents and others with a connection to Chatham to provide comments and feedback on the development design concepts for the Main Street and Meetinghouse Road properties that were presented at the February forum, as well as a series of images of various housing types and densities of development.

The February forum PowerPoint presentation can be found on the right hand column of this Housing webpage, and the forum itself can be viewed here.

The Affordable Housing Trust will have the opportunity to provide comments and feedback to the consultants regarding preferred development parameters, including density, housing type, site layout, for each site, taking into consideration feedback from the community engagement forums, the results of the community housing survey, and information provided by the consultants regarding project feasibility. There will be an opportunity for public comment.

This feedback will inform landscape architects Dodson & Flinker, who will then draw up the preferred design concept plans, in keeping with a grounded, feasible community vision for each site. These updated and refined plans will be shared with the community during the third and final community meeting of this engagement process in May, date to be announced.

Community Housing Survey

Open February 22 through March 12

The Town of Chatham would like to hear from you!

Please take the 5-8 minute survey about affordable and attainable housing development scenarios at two Town-owned properties:  Main Street, West Chatham and Meetinghouse Road, South Chatham

The survey follows two community outreach forums in December and February, where several design concepts were presented to illustrate the development potential of each site. The concepts, which are included in the survey and available on the Town’s Housing webpage, do not represent official plans for either property, but rather are for discussion purposes to allow the community to respond to a range of options for housing types and overall site configuration. You can access the survey by a link on the right column of the Housing webpage or at www.surveymonkey.com/r/ChathamHousingSurvey

The survey provides the opportunity for the Chatham community to provide feedback directly to questions on each concept design, as well as more nuanced visual preference questions relating to architecture, landscaping, building form and type, and site layout. This will allow our consultants to refine preferred concepts based upon community feedback received from the February meeting as well as the online survey.

View the executive summary from January, 2019.

View the latest on the changeover to unleaded Avgas...

The Town will host several opportunities for the public to learn about the Center for Active Living Project to expand and renovate the existing CFAL, 193 Stony Hill Road,  over the coming months. 

Additional funding of $200,000 for the Project is proposed in Article 15 of the 2026 Annual Town Meeting warrant.

Information Session

Wed., April 15th, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Community Center, 702 Main Street

• See the plans, elevations, and material samples. Ask questions in an informal setting.

Q&A with the CFAL Building Working Group

Wed., April 22, 5 p.m., Town Office Annex, 261 George Ryder Road

• Get the answers to your questions about the final plans for the project directly from the decision makers.

Center for Active Living Tours

Mon., May 4th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., Center for Active Living, 193 Stony Hill Road

Thurs. May 7th, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Center for Active Living, 193 Stony Hill Road

• Tour the Center for Active Living to see first-hand the challenges posed by the current configuration and the possibilities and increased space the new design will provide to our older community members.

The name of our e-newsletter, selected from submissions by our community, reflects Chatham’s maritime history, is reminiscent of the front page of a newspaper, and it is a fun play on Main Street, where you go to be part of all that is happening in Town!

View Current Job Postings

Chatham Town Manager Jill Goldsmith welcomes the public to the new website and introduces town departments and services.