Submitted by Kristin Battistoni.
What began as a small initiative by a few town employees has brought awareness to the need for Haddam to become a more environmentally friendly place. About a year and a half before COVID hit we were going strong.
The administration offered the staff more opportunities to become more sustainable in the Town Office Building itself. We started small and back to the basics. Each department was given a recycling container, we reached out to our hauler for clarification on types of material that should or should not be recycled. We put in a compost bin to reduce our bulky waste and began cancelling magazines and bulk mailings that no one read.
In the following months, residents took notice and began offering us some additional suggestions. Haddam formed a Sustainability Committee. A resident told us about a program through TREX that allows us to recycle soft plastic. We began collecting and recycling plastic by the ton and in return received three benches that are placed around town. We began to use Bay State Textiles to recycle textiles not suitable for donation. We started participating and hosting community forums and officially joined Sustainable CT. We were well on our way to making Haddam an example of a sustainable town.
Then COVID struck. Recycling and being sustainable took a back seat to safety. We were told to go out as little as possible and we did. We supported local restaurants with take out only. We wore masks, many disposable, as to not spread a virus we were unsure of. Hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and spray were bought by the case. All of these efforts were necessary but generated a lot single use waste product.
All is not lost! Â We still have a small core of volunteers who are delivering plastic for TREX. The Bay State Textile recycle initiative is going strong. We just received a check for electronic recycling from the Transfer Station. The swap shack at the Transfer Station is open again. We have been in contact with the Haddam Killingworth High School Environmental club to put together initiatives to benefit us all.
I putting out a call out to all members of the community who are interested in creating an environmentally friendly Haddam. Please consider joining the Sustainability Committee. This committee is going to take shape based on the needs and ideas of the committees and the community.
If you have a project/vision that you want to explore this is the place for you! If you belong to a group or own a business that wants to get involved in reducing waste, this is the place for you.  If you’re a teacher and want to get your students involved this is the place for you! Whether you have a lot of time to help or a little, if you’re interested in sustainability, this is the place for you! We can look at different ways of saving the planet starting in Haddam. No project is too small or too big.
The Town of Haddam does have a few events being planned currently. On May 8th we will be holding a Shred-It event near the community center from 9-12. If you have material you would like shredded join us for this event. A donation of $5 a box will raise money for Social Services. On June 25th we will have a booth at the Higganum Farmer’s Market for Eco-Awareness Day and again on July 23rd for Haddam Appreciation Day.
If you would like to get involved please contact Kristin Battistoni in the Tax Office at 860-345-8531 X 207 or email taxcollect@haddam.org.
