Earth Day is Monday, April 22 and WKYC, Channel 3 wants to help you learn more about how you can and should be more environmentally friendly. We’re calling it Planet CLE and here are the stories we are working to bring you.
Did you know that since 2014, Rust Belt Riders has been collecting food waste and turning it into compost? Some 40% of all food is wasted and ends up in landfills. Rust Belt Riders believes we need to feed people, not landfills and by recycling food waste into a nutrient rich soil, we can then grow new foods and that’s a win-win for the environment.
Businesses can also do their part to be more environmentally friendly. The Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, headquartered in Elyria, is moving closer to its goal of Zero Landfill. It has diverted 96 percent of material waste from landfills. That equates to over 25 million pounds. The company has also saved almost $700,00 in electricity, thanks to energy efficiency projects.
One of the problems all of us face in the summertime, is our beaches sometimes are closed due to high levels of bacteria from sewage and storm runoff getting into Lake Erie. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is working on that problem. They are in the process of constructing seven underground tunnels to capture sewer overflow and keep it out of our streams and Lake Erie. We will take you 200 feet down into one of those tunnels to show you what Project Clean Lake is all about.
Are you one of those people who search through a bin of apples to find the perfect ones? Most stores and restaurants are like that too. They want the best for their customers. So, while the crooked cucumber or odd shaped eggplant may not look the best, there is nothing wrong with it. Imperfectly Perfect in Cleveland takes those fruit and veggie rejects and packages them up and sends them directly to your door. You get healthy food options without leaving home.
Most of us know about plastic pollution in our oceans but it is also a problem in the Great Lakes. We’ll take a boat ride to show you the plastic and debris littering Lake Erie. We have partnered with the Alliance for the Great Lakes to also help clean-up Edgewater Beach as a station project on April 27. Beach clean-ups are held all the time and you can get information on that https://greatlakes.org/
Watch Channel 3 news all next week at 6 for these stories and learn what’s being done and what you can do to keep Planet CLE a vital and vibrant community for generations to come.
Also, our entire We the People show at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 26, will highlight numerous ways our viewers can “go green.” Host Tiffany Tarpley will interview guests who will explain how to recycle efficiently, reduce plastic use and get involved with efforts to clean up trash across Northeast Ohio.
