Delaware County has created a form to collect feedback on the county’s sustainability goals. It takes a while to fill out because its a pretty lengthy form. It provides a good deal of information summarizing the plan, which is worth a read even if you don’t have the time to comment. Much of the plan looks inadequate. Its partially a reflection of the limited role the county can take on sustainability issues as they do not have direct control over most environmental issues. Like every other level of government, there is little acknowledgement of the magnitude of the crisis approaching.

The county has already hired a company to develop a zero waste plan for the county. Zero Waste Associates will deliver a final report in August of 2022, likely meaning little progress until the Solid Waste Management Plan is due from the county in 2023 (and likely after a new contract is signed with Covanta). The article states they will conduct 20 listening sessions of various kinds, including three public meetings in person and three on zoom.

The township should also be examining its waste practices (the county study should help as it will collect municipal-level information on waste). For a while, its been kicked around that a township committee could be formed, like the one for Summit School a few years ago, to work out the issues around waste disposal here as the current system makes the township’s zero waste goals difficult to pursue.

While governments continue to flounder on environmental issues, Ars Technica had a recent long article on what you can do. In other local/global sustainability news, you can read updates from Swarthmore College’s delegation to COP 26 in Scotland.