People with civic purpose are what bring the democratic potential of
neighborhood online groups to life.
Whether you are on a local Facebook Group, a gated virtual community like
NextDoor, or the rare non-profit farmers market style online group with
E-Democracy, the potential to go beyond talk to community problem solving
exists.
Here is a great example of ongoing use of the Standish Ericsson forum
http://e-democracy.org/se to both motivate volunteer lake clean-up but also
tie local laws, businesses, and more.
Cheers,
Steve
neighborhood online groups to life.
Whether you are on a local Facebook Group, a gated virtual community like
NextDoor, or the rare non-profit farmers market style online group with
E-Democracy, the potential to go beyond talk to community problem solving
exists.
Here is a great example of ongoing use of the Standish Ericsson forum
http://e-democracy.org/se to both motivate volunteer lake clean-up but also
tie local laws, businesses, and more.
Cheers,
Steve
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Sean and Melissa R Connaughty" <<email obscured>>
Date: Mar 13, 2016 12:06 PM
Subject: [Mpls-StanEric] Lake Hiawatha trash survey item counts from 2015
To: <<email obscured>>
Cc:
Hi neighbors, spring is apparently here and I've been at the Lake picking
up garbage again, and it feels and looks as though nothing has changed. Its
as though 100 plus bags of trash were not removed from the Lake last season.
With the help of my colleagues over the winter we have compiled the final
counts for the trash collection from the 2015 season.
Top six most numerous trash items collected in 2015 at Lake Hiawatha- from
103 bags at 20lbs. each total weight 2,060 lbs.
1. polystyrene 30,299 pieces
2. plastic bottles and bottle caps 11,896 pieces
3. snack wrappers 10,795 pieces
4. plastic straws 7,395 pieces
5. cigarette butts and plastic cigarillo tips 6,154 pieces
6. auto wreckage 2,159 pieces
Interesting to see that polystyrene (styrofoam) is the most numerous item
found in the Lake. It is also interesting to note that despite the
polystyrene ban in Minneapolis, there are a couple of businesses in our
neighborhood - (Lake Hiawatha's subwatershed) still selling products in
polystyrene. One is the Super America station store at Minnehaha Creek
Parkway and Cedar ave. The other is The Holiday Station Store at 36th and
Cedar ave. They still sell coffee in polystyrene cups. Frustrating for a
couple of reasons:
1. Their cups are regularly found in the Lake, arriving via storm sewer.
2. Small businesses have respected the ban and are now using paper or
compostable cups.
3. These big companies have the resources to afford the changeover.
4. The quantity of consumption is much greater than other businesses. The
street gutters around their stores and surrounding community drain to the
Lake.
The final item counts are achieved by taking the numbers from the sample
collection of six bags of trash and multiplying them by 17 to estimate the
number of trash items that was removed in the total 103 bags. The full list
of materials and their counts are itemized in the full survey data I have
compiled.
I think these numbers are useful in showing what kind of trash materials
are arriving at the Lake, and could even serve as part of a model for
formulating methodologies for creating trash TMDLs. (Total Maximum Daily
Load) Trash is not measured as a pollutant by any agencies in the state.
The numbers also clearly demonstrate the necessity for mitigation of this
major storm sewer system.
Sign our petition asking for storm sewer mitigation at Lake Hiawatha to
finally put an end to the degradation of Lake Hiawatha:
https://www.change.org/p/city-of-minneapolis-keep-the-trash-out-of-lake-hiawatha?recruiter=495571150&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
Things you can do to help: help keep trash out of the street gutters and
pick up trash on your block, look for any toxic spills like discarded oil
filters or spilled oil or gasoline (call 311 to report). Stop using lawn
chemicals, which will drain to the Lake. Use rain barrels and rain gardens
to capture excess storm water. Also, anyone can pick up trash at Lake
Hiawatha, just use common sense and be safe as well as gentle on the new
plants etc.
You can also join Friends of Lake Hiawatha on Thursday March 24th at 6pm at
SENA offices at 42nd and Cedar ave.
Thanks
Sean
Sean and Melissa R Connaughty
Stan Ericson, Minneapolis
About/contact Sean and Melissa R Connaughty:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/seanandmelissaconnaughtyrudnick
** Thanks to the month's forum sponsor **
Be the next sponsor! <email obscured>
------------------------
Reply: Reply-All or visit
http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/3Frwzr82QvJo2nDDWa61LT
New Topic: <email obscured>
Digest: Subject: digest on
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From: "Sean and Melissa R Connaughty" <<email obscured>>
Date: Mar 13, 2016 12:06 PM
Subject: [Mpls-StanEric] Lake Hiawatha trash survey item counts from 2015
To: <<email obscured>>
Cc:
Hi neighbors, spring is apparently here and I've been at the Lake picking
up garbage again, and it feels and looks as though nothing has changed. Its
as though 100 plus bags of trash were not removed from the Lake last season.
With the help of my colleagues over the winter we have compiled the final
counts for the trash collection from the 2015 season.
Top six most numerous trash items collected in 2015 at Lake Hiawatha- from
103 bags at 20lbs. each total weight 2,060 lbs.
1. polystyrene 30,299 pieces
2. plastic bottles and bottle caps 11,896 pieces
3. snack wrappers 10,795 pieces
4. plastic straws 7,395 pieces
5. cigarette butts and plastic cigarillo tips 6,154 pieces
6. auto wreckage 2,159 pieces
Interesting to see that polystyrene (styrofoam) is the most numerous item
found in the Lake. It is also interesting to note that despite the
polystyrene ban in Minneapolis, there are a couple of businesses in our
neighborhood - (Lake Hiawatha's subwatershed) still selling products in
polystyrene. One is the Super America station store at Minnehaha Creek
Parkway and Cedar ave. The other is The Holiday Station Store at 36th and
Cedar ave. They still sell coffee in polystyrene cups. Frustrating for a
couple of reasons:
1. Their cups are regularly found in the Lake, arriving via storm sewer.
2. Small businesses have respected the ban and are now using paper or
compostable cups.
3. These big companies have the resources to afford the changeover.
4. The quantity of consumption is much greater than other businesses. The
street gutters around their stores and surrounding community drain to the
Lake.
The final item counts are achieved by taking the numbers from the sample
collection of six bags of trash and multiplying them by 17 to estimate the
number of trash items that was removed in the total 103 bags. The full list
of materials and their counts are itemized in the full survey data I have
compiled.
I think these numbers are useful in showing what kind of trash materials
are arriving at the Lake, and could even serve as part of a model for
formulating methodologies for creating trash TMDLs. (Total Maximum Daily
Load) Trash is not measured as a pollutant by any agencies in the state.
The numbers also clearly demonstrate the necessity for mitigation of this
major storm sewer system.
Sign our petition asking for storm sewer mitigation at Lake Hiawatha to
finally put an end to the degradation of Lake Hiawatha:
https://www.change.org/p/city-of-minneapolis-keep-the-trash-out-of-lake-hiawatha?recruiter=495571150&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
Things you can do to help: help keep trash out of the street gutters and
pick up trash on your block, look for any toxic spills like discarded oil
filters or spilled oil or gasoline (call 311 to report). Stop using lawn
chemicals, which will drain to the Lake. Use rain barrels and rain gardens
to capture excess storm water. Also, anyone can pick up trash at Lake
Hiawatha, just use common sense and be safe as well as gentle on the new
plants etc.
You can also join Friends of Lake Hiawatha on Thursday March 24th at 6pm at
SENA offices at 42nd and Cedar ave.
Thanks
Sean
Sean and Melissa R Connaughty
Stan Ericson, Minneapolis
About/contact Sean and Melissa R Connaughty:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/seanandmelissaconnaughtyrudnick
** Thanks to the month's forum sponsor **
Be the next sponsor! <email obscured>
------------------------
Reply: Reply-All or visit
http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/3Frwzr82QvJo2nDDWa61LT
New Topic: <email obscured>
Digest: Subject: digest on
Leave: Subject: unsubscribe
Forum Home: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/mpls-staneric
*** Pledge Drive - Help finish it! ***
Join 298 members who have donated over $11,700!
We only need 90 new donations to make the $15K US we need to keep your
forums running through 2016.
Donate today: http://e-democracy.org/donate
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Help? http://e-democracy.org/support Hosting: http://OnlineGroups.Net