Volume LXXVIII, Number 6
Governors’ Mansions are Theme for Morven’s “Grand Homes” Series . . . . . . . .5 Princeton Author Jinwoo Chong Returns for Library Fundraiser . . . . 7 Closing of Hopewell Theater Marks End of An Era . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Westminster Community Orchestra Showcases Concerto Competition Winners . . . . . . . . . . 15 Snapping Two-Game Losing Streak, PU Men’s Hoops Defeats Brown . . . .24 Senior Baird Displaying Versatility, Leadership As PHS Boys’ Hockey Aims For MCT Title Repeat . . . . . . 27
Paul McCartney Marks a Big Anniversary with a New Book . . . . . . . . . 14 Art . . . . . . . . . . . .20, 21 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 32 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Performing Arts . . .16, 17 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 9 Real Estate. . . . . . . . . 33 Education and Recreation . . . . . . . . 2, 3 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6 Valentine's Day . . . .18, 19
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Nonprofit Share My Meals Reports Big Jump in Healthy Meals Recovered The year 2023 was one of exceptional growth for Share My Meals, the Princeton-based nonprofit that fights food insecurity and the environmental impact of food waste. Compared to 2022, the organization has reported, there was an 85 percent increase in the number of healthy meals recovered from corporations, hospitals, educational institutions, restaurants, farms, and hotels. These meals were delivered to 50 families and 15 senior citizens in Princeton. Clients of 23 nonprofits throughout New Brunswick, Summit, Morristown, Camden, Somerville, and Trenton also received these donations in 2023. In all, the organization, has reported, they recovered 72,000 meals while simultaneously preventing 294,539 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. The year was “transformative,” said Helene Lanctuit, CEO of the organization since last October. “Our expanded volunteer base, additional food donations, and partnerships have enabled us to make a significant difference in the lives of many.” Founded in 2020 by Isabelle Lambotte, who continues as president of the organization, Share My Meals operates out of Dorothea’s House on John Street and relies on volunteers to deliver meals and help with fundraising, communications, and more. Food insecurity and food waste are the targets of their efforts. “Surplus food that would otherwise go to waste — that is a big part of our mission,” Lanctuit said. “We’re trying to communicate that we are not just about delivering healthy meals. We are fighting waste and carbon emissions. That is one angle of our program that is not always understood.” Share My Meals’ corporate volunteer program, in collaboration with Novo Nordisk, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Campbell’s, has been key in increasing efficiency. As the volunteer team grows, the organization is able to recruit additional donors. “We have reached out to new meal donors in the area, including large corporations with cafeterias, eating clubs, and hospitals,” said Lanctuit. “We just started with Rider University.” Donor organizations want to know that Continued on Page 11
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Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Plastic Bag Ban Moves Ahead Despite Critics The New Jersey plastic bag ban, enacted in May 2022, is calculated to have resulted in almost nine million single-use plastic bags per year that are not polluting the Princeton environment, according to Environment New Jersey’s Waste Reduction Calculator. Laid side to side, those bags would stretch 1,561 miles, and eliminating those bags has saved 45,318 gallons of oil needed to produce them and has cut single-use plastic bag litter by at least 33 percent each year. New Jersey’s law, in effect now for almost two years, prevents stores from giving out single-use plastic bags to customers and also restricts most stores from providing single-use paper bags as well as polystyrene foam food takeout containers. Single-use plastic straws may be provided only at a customer’s request. “The public has seen a big reduction in plastic bags,” said Environment New Jersey Director Doug O’Malley. “Seeing is believing. In litter cleanups at the shore and in our communities, there are fewer plastic bags overall. That’s a win — a win for our environment, a win for our communities, a win for all of us.” He continued, “We were producing billions of plastic bags per year. Something that we use for 15 minutes can pollute our environment for generations, and that’s essentially what plastic bags became.” New Jersey Environmental Protection
Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette noted in May 2023, on the first anniversary of the ban, “New Jersey’s initiative to step up and say no to continued plastics pollution in our communities and waterways is worthy of celebration because we have quickly seen the positive effects of this law.” But the naysayers have not remained silent. Most conspicuously, early last month the market research group Freedonia Custom Research issued a report stating that the plastic bag ban might be
doing more harm than good, boosting the use of alternative thicker polypropylene bags. The report also cited an increase in the use of alternative plastic bags by grocery pickup and delivery services and significant profits for retailers selling alternative bags. Alternative bags are reusable, but, Freedonia claimed, on average each bag is reused only two or three times. O’Malley, along with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and others, acknowledged Continued on Page 9
PHS Researchers Will Represent New Jersey In National Samsung STEM Competition
A Princeton High School (PHS) team of about 15 student researchers under the direction of PHS science teacher Mark Eastburn has advanced to the finals of the 2024 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Competition, one of 50 state winners selected from 300 state finalist schools that submitted plans delineating how their project will use STEM to address an important community issue. The PHS team has been creating interactive robots that can speak various languages of the schools’ student population, including Spanish, Haitian Creole, and the Mayan language Mam. The goal is to help preserve Indigenous languages by using a robotic platform powered by artificial intelligence in the form of a stuffed
animal “friend” that will speak Mam. Eastburn stated that these robots can “encourage continued use of native languages, promote social interaction, and navigate computer-based platforms to enter data and gain skills in digital literacy.” He added, “For much of this work, we are using artificial intelligence and natural language processing, though we have come across significant challenges with Mam because no scaffold exists, and this language has extremely complex grammar.” There are several Mam speakers on the PHS research team, who come from a small Mam community in Princeton. There are larger Mam communities in Morristown in northern New Jersey, Continued on Page 10
WASSAILING THE APPLE TREES: Kingsessing Morris dancers were part of the annual celebration Saturday afternoon at Terhune Orchards on Cold Soil Road. The festival follows an ancient tradition of protecting the trees to ensure a good harvest in the coming year. Attendees share their favorite winter activities in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
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