In the 2/21/24 article, Noise is the New Smoking, authors Paula Donovan and John Wilner hit the nail on the head when it comes to stress-producing noise in our neighborhood, the main sources of which are Leaf Blowers that spew, not only noise, but air pollution as well and car speakers spewing deafening sound.
We live in South Elmwood, quite close to Roger Williams Park.
Recently, we were excited to discover a giant nest in a tree there and we’ve spotted 2 bald eagles coming and going.
Then, a few weeks ago, a car parked practically under this tree and turned on hideously loud noise (so loud it couldn’t be called music). We haven’t seen the eagles since; this could be a coincidence of course, but we fear they’ve been driven off.
Fast forward to a few nights ago, the same level of noise in the same spot erupted after dark. Many neighbors called the police, and to everyone’s great relief, they showed up in multiple cars and shut it down.
I have followed the good advice of authors Wilner and Donovan in their article on Noise. I’ve filled out the Community Noise Survey, written city councillors, and sent written testimony of support to the RI General Assembly for a pilot electric leaf blower rebate and education program, House bill 7495 and Senate bill 2277.
I appreciate the attention that is now being paid to the noise that drives us all nuts and feel empowered to do something about it! Thank you, Providence Eye!
Bobbie Hunger
Hello,
My name is Emma and I’m a junior attending Barrington HS here in Barrington. Along with my friend Bella, a Junior attending The MET HS, we’ve created a campaigning project related to a major climate action issue in the state. Our central landfill is set to be at capacity by 2043, and food waste is contributing to 24% of the landfill’s total waste. Of that large percentage, a staggering 5,000,000 pounds of food waste is coming from our K-12 schools annually. Realizing this large issue, legislators began to act. Introduced in 2021 in the Senate Environment & Agriculture Committee, SB104 was formed as a potential solution to food waste in RI. The bill states that all qualifying schools in RI are required to start lunchroom composting and food donation as a part of their waste diversion systems as of September 2021. Unfortunately, 2 years after the introduction of this mandate, there has been little success. According to data collected through our analytical survey for schools, we’ve found that out of the 85 schools represented, less than a third are currently composting in their lunchrooms.
Being actively involved in the environmental work of our local communities, we have seen these setbacks first-hand and would like to see better enforcement of this mandate overall. That is why at the beginning of this school year, Emma and I (Bella and I) banded together to create the Youth Composting Campaign Initiative, or Y.C.C.I. Through this initiative, we are working directly with school communities, uplifting student voices, and collaborating with environmental organizations such as the Rhode Island School Recycling Project, and the Advocacy Project, all of which we’ve done with a larger goal of reaching Superintendents and government agencies such as RIDE and DEM to implement cafeteria composting programs in more RI schools. One large component of said efforts has been our online petition to represent RI citizens’ support for these efforts.
We are hoping to reach at least 2,000 signatures with this petition in order to create meaningful change through the mentioned state agencies. To support these efforts we’d greatly appreciate it if you could sign and share our online petition! If you’d like to further support our efforts please contact us via our emails listed below!
All the best,
Bella Quiroa & Emma Pautz
The Youth Composting Campaign Initiative
Reach us at:
Bella – bella.quiroa@metmail.org
Emma – pautze25@barringtonschools.org
To the Editor,
The RIPTA board has made a good choice in appointing Chief Financial Officer Chris Durand as interim CEO while a search is underway for a permanent replacement for Scott Avedisian, whose resignation was accepted by the board at a special meeting today.
The next CEO needs to maintain service and continue to make progress on the initiatives to improve and expand operations that are currently underway. The next CEO should be free from political interference and allowed the independence to work effectively.
We ask the board to include a transit advocate as a public member on the CEO search committee.
One of the best steps the governor and legislators can take to attract and retain a skilled leader for RIPTA is to make sure adequate funding is in place. We urge elected officials to support the legislation now under consideration that would substantially increase the agency’s funding so that the new administrator can begin to take the agency forward from Day 1, following the guidelines laid out in the state-approved Transit Master Plan.
Amy Glidden and Patricia Raub, Co-Chairs, RI Transit Riders
