Peter Hofman chairs of the Town of Lee Greener Gateways Committee, and has been an active member since he and his wife, Phyllis, moved to the Berkshires in late 2013.
The Lee Greener Gateways Committee – until December 2016 called the Lee Recycling Committee – leads efforts to help the town to become more environmentally-friendly, sustainable, and attractive for residents, visitors, and future generations.
Last year the Committee helped draft and pass new bylaws, which went into effect on May 12th, regulating the use of plastic shopping bags and polystyrene containers in Lee. The Committee and other Town partners developed resources and activities to inform the community about the bylaws and their implications and to help residents and businesses make any needed changes.
In recent years the Committee has expanded its zero-waste efforts at several large events, including Lee’s annual Founders Weekend, where about two-thirds of all waste is recycled or composted. At the Taste of Lee event, committee members and more than 20 volunteers staffed five recycling-composting-trash stations.
In 2016 the Committee launched an annual town-wide cleanup, started a table-to-farm initiative to keep wasted food from being thrown away, and supported recycling and composting activities at local and regional events. In recognition of this work, the Lee Chamber of Commerce named the Committee its “Volunteer of the Year.”
