CT Green Scene

Does overfishing really it's mean not sustainable?

Before you fire up that grill this Memorial Day weekend, consider what you cook. While many of us will hungrily devour burgers and dogs, there will be plenty of us who grill a nice piece of fish instead. In yesterday's New York Times, Ray and Ulrike Hilborn collaborated on an Op-Ed about the sustainability of overfished species. (Ray is a professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington while his wife, Ulrike, is an organic vegetable and dairy farmer.)

Just because some fish have been red listed--as in the case of Whole Foods removing some of the red listed fish from their stores--doesn't mean the stock of fish can't be rebuilt. That's where appropriate seafood labelling comes in. There's a difference between overfishing and the sustainability of the species that are naturally being replenished.

The point? Be an informed consumer. We should be paying close attention to those fisheries that are actively trying to replace what they fish. That way, the cycle of life continues as does the species itself. 

Know your food. What are you putting in your mouth? Where did it come from? What kind of an impact is it making on the environment and are you partially contributing to the environmental decline by purchasing it?

See the excerpt below.

Cinnamon: An Ancient Healing Spice

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

Cinnamon bark, originating from Sri Lanka, has been used since ancient times. It was a gift to kings because of its value in cooking and healing. It was used in the embalming of mummies, in religious ceremonies and in perfumes. It was even mentioned in the bible.

The modern world uses cinnamon almost completely as a spice--especially in sweet dishes and drinks. Its ancient uses as an aphrodisiac, a digestive and a cold and flu treatment has not been appreciated again until recently.

The main areas that cinnamon is applied to in alternative medicine is where the most research has been done on it--in diabetes mellitus, or Type 2 diabetes. One study has dramatically shown that it not only reduces blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, but has beneficial effects on these patients’ lipid levels as well. 

Honey Tasting at Red Bee

Slow Food Metro North (SFMN) presents:

The Ark of Taste ~ Honey Tasting at Red Bee Apiary

at the Red Bee Apiary in Weston, CT

June 23, 2012

1:00-3:00 pm

 

Beekeeper, author and founder of Red Bee Honey, Marina Marchese, will present a tour of her Red Bee apiary with an artisanal honey tasting of The Ark of Taste five US honeys in danger of extinction.

 

The tasting of the Ark’s endangered honeys is the first event of its kind in the US. SFMN members and guests will be treated to an educational afternoon learning about how honey bees make honey and how honey is harvested all while tasting these coveted honeys and gaining a finer understanding of our traditional foods. Marchese will also discuss the vital importance of the role honey bees play in our food chain.

 

The Ark of Taste is an international catalog of foods that are threatened by industrial standardization, the regulations of large-scale distribution and environmental damage. In an effort to cultivate consumer demand—key to agricultural conservation—only the best tasting endangered foods make it onto the Ark. Not surprising is the reality that all five honeys named by the Ark are all harvested in the US, a sobering fact that reminds the public that we must do more to preserve these honey plants, our biological diversity and our culinary heritage.

 

Marchese is the president of the Back Yard Beekeepers Association in CT. She studied the sensory analysis of honey tasting in Montalcino, Italy and has presented her signature Honey Tasting Laboratory Workshops at top shelf NYC venues like Murray’s Cheese Shop, Artisanal Premium Cheese Center and Eataly. Slow Food Metro North will be honoring Ms. Marchese with a Snail of Approval award at this event.

 

WHEN: Saturday, June 23, 1-3 pm, 2012

RAIN DATE: Saturday, June 30, 1-3 pm, 2012

Tickets: $35 per person. 25 guest limit. 

 

To learn more visit www.redbee.com

 

To learn about Slow Food Metro Norht, visit: www.slowfoodmetronorth.org

Wholesome Wave presents The Whole Hog

On May 24th, from 6:30-10:00 PM, Wholesome Wave is celebrating its New England roots and love of local food with some of Connecticut's most celebrated culinary artists at Clark's culinary showroom in South Norwalk at this year's Whole Hog! 

The Whole Hog fundraising event will bring together Wholesome Wave's co-founder and President, internationally renowned chef, author and owner of The Dressing Room Michel Nischan, along with fellow chefs Tim LaBant of the Schoolhouse at Cannondale restaurant in Wilton, John Barricelli of SoNo Baking Company in South Norwalk, Bun Lai of Miya's Sushi in New Haven and Joe Wolfson, the new executive chef of Terrain Garden Café in Westport.

Working with nontraditional cuts of local free-range pork, each chef will surprise guests with their unique interpretations featuring locally grown ingredients. 

Tickets for The Whole Hog are available for purchase online.

Eco-Kid Bash in Bridgeport

Saturday, May 19^th
1pm-4pm.

Gumdrop Swap and Pryceless Consulting are very excited to host the 2nd Annual Eco-Kid Bash! The first Eco-Kid Bash was held last year in honor of Earth Day. This year, this fun, educational event has been moved to May when spring will be in full swing. That way, families can enjoy the other Earth Day events without having to miss this one. Let's face it, there is never a bad time to learn how to be kinder to our planet! 

Their unique venue, the Arcade Mall, was one of the nation's first indoor shopping malls. It is truly a hidden gem!

There will be lots to do and see. Children and families can learn about nature, programs in our community, do activities, arts & crafts, and plant a seed to take home. Please dress young children in clothing that you won't mind if they get dirty. Some activities will be messy. 

When over 200 people showed up to this event in the pouring rain last year, the co-hosts knew that we had to make this an annual event. What makes these companies so interested in being green? Gumdrop Swap is a consignment shop for new and gently-used maternity and children's clothing. Pryceless Consulting is a marketing and social media company that focuses on sustainability and eco-consciousness for small businesses.

This event is a free and open to the public with the intent to entertain and promote eco-friendly practices that families can easily adopt. The purpose of this event is to create awareness on local green initiatives and to engage the community on sustainable behavior by providing engaging activities and useful information.

To find out more, visit them online at www.ecokidbash.com.

Students break ground on bird garden in Stamford's Cove Island Park

May 12th

1:00-4:00 pm 

Each spring, billions of birds return to the U.S. on their annual migration from South and Central America to nesting grounds all over North America. To make this trip possible, birds need to find high quality habitat in which to feed and rest at points all along their migration pathway, much like rest areas along a highway. Historically, it was less challenging to find quality stop-over sites but today, as land is steadily urbanized by sprawl and development, birds are finding it harder to find good places to stop and refresh along the way.

 

To increase awareness about migration and help enhance stopover habitat, Audubon Connecticut and the Cove Island Park Conservancy are working with local school students to create a special songbird demonstration garden for the popular playground area in Cove Island Park. The garden, funded by the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, is the first in a series of “Urban Oases” sites being established throughout Connecticut. It is also part of a larger effort by the Cove Island Park Conservancy and Audubon to enhance habitats throughout Cove Island Park, a National Audubon Society designated "Important Bird Area" that is known for its value as a critical stop-over area for birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway.

 

On Saturday, May 12, the two organizations will host a groundbreaking ceremony and an International Migratory Bird Day celebration from 1:00-4:00pm in the park. Free and open to the public, the event will feature live falcons and owls on display, a flying bird show, exhibits, games and statements by Stamford students, elected officials, and the corporate partners who have made the Urban Oases initiative possible.

 

People interested in creating Urban Oases in their yard or other open space area are invited to contact Audubon Connecticut for native plant lists and site specific advice. Visit www.audubonCT.org to learn more or call 203-869-5272 x239.

Children's Planting Event This Saturday in New Hartford

Learn how to make dirt, pot and plant be happy and grow…..

When: Saturday, April 28^th at 10:30 a.m.

RAIN DATE, Sunday, April 29^th at 10:30 a.m.

Where: Brodie Park, New Hartford

What: We will be PLANTING decorated pots. Please dress appropriately (there will be dirt). If you have small garden tools that the kids can use please bring them. Program participants will be able to take a planted pot home (Mother’s day gift!) with them as well as help plant pots to be donated to support our Non profit’s Plant Sale on Saturday, May 12^th. Play time will follow the planting program.

There is NO charge, and you do NOT have to be a New Hartford Garden Club member to enjoy the “SPROUTS” program with your children/grandchildren. Open to all ages!

Please join us … RSVP by email; NewHartfordGardenClub@gmail.com

Learn more at http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Hartford-Garden-Club/111117642303026

When Overcoming War Preceeds Pursuing Sustainability

By Heather Burns

Living in the United States, there are many things we take for granted - fresh water, healthcare, clean air, organic produce - and peace. We enjoy free speech, the priviledge to worship in whatever way suits us, and most Americans live without fear of violence or war. It is only in the absense of violence that sustainability can take root.

Karuna Center for Peacebuilding assists communities and societies around the world, working in every stage of a conflict – analyzing and addressing the root causes of tension, leading interventions to prevent further violent escalation, and encouraging reconciliation. Such important - and inspiring work...

By Olivia Drier, Karuna Center for Peace

In late February, I returned to Sri Lanka for our third set of inter-faith workshops with our group of 80 Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian religious leaders. As previously described, this work is taking place in the Northeast of the country, an area deeply affected by 30 years of civil war. Working with religious leaders provides a politically acceptable way of addressing deep residues of inter-ethnic tension left in the wake of the of the 2009 military victory over the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). While the government proclaims that economic development will solve all problems, the citizens of this area know that much more will be needed to rebuild trust after a war that killed and displaced thousands and left communal relations in tatters.

Our focus this time was on the use of dialogue as a tool for reconciliation. Given the language barriers, it is no wonder there has been so much social distance and the space for all kinds of prejudices and tensions. Like other inhabitants of the region, only a handful of our religious leaders speak both Tamil and Sinhalese or are able to use English as a lingua franca. Thanks to the presence of translators, the leaders had the opportunity to fully listen, as each group shared deeply about their suffering during war and their concerns for the future. In this region all groups suffered, including the Buddhists (who are all Sinhalese and the dominant group in the country) as they were victims of frequent LTTE attacks. The participants said it was the first time they had openly shared painful experiences with members of other groups. It is not the cultural norm and the political climate discourages it. The subsequent relief and warmth between participants was palpable. At tea break, monks, priests, imams, and pastors strolled arm and arm, even if they had little language in common.

After each group had the opportunity to openly share their own experiences and concerns for the future as the larger group listened, the relief was palpable. It has taken five months of careful work to build the necessary trust for this to happen.

The leaders are now fully engaged in implementing over 40 inter-faith community projects. Projects range from enlisting youth in the joint repair of cemeteries for each faith group, to a mushroom growing project for women, to computer classes for mixed youth, to Tamil and Sinhalese language classes. Together with our Sri Lankan partner, Sarvodaya, the leaders have also produced and distributed 4,000 inter-faith calendars with holidays and traditions from all four faith groups. They are planning radio and television discussions on reconciliation, a children’s book of peace stories from their respective traditions, exchanges with religious leaders from other parts of the country, and a national conference on inter-faith peacebuilding.

Green Bride Guide Offers the Top 10 Trends for a Perfect Spring Wedding

By Kate L. Harrison 

Flowers are blooming, the weather is heating up, and couples are readying themselves to walk down the aisle. This spring, couples have more options than ever before to add gorgeous green elements to their special day. 

GreenBrideGuide, the nation’s No. 1 resource for green wedding ideas, products and services, which has relationships with 1,300+ vendors across the country, offers the following top 10 tips to plan a unique and trendy eco-conscious wedding this spring.

1. Late Night Bites

If 2011 was the year of breakfast weddings, then 2012 is the year of midnight munchies! After your guests have danced the night away, serve bite-sized snacks to rejuvenate them for the remainder of the evening. For a winter wedding, try small shot glasses of hot chocolate and mini doughnuts. Planning a spring wedding? Serve a single tortilla crisp adorned with organic mango salsa, a petite pita pocket filled with fresh vegetables and hummus; or a mini cherry pie for a sweet pick-me-up.

2. Do It For The Kids!

Create a kid friendly atmosphere for your younger wedding guests. Your green wedding is the time to teach others how to live sustainably and who better to start with than the kids? Make special place settings for all the children at your wedding. Give them a small potted plant and a crossword puzzle filled with green buzz words. You can even set up a small kids corner where they can play while the adults chat and dine.

3. DIY Aisle Style

DIY aisle runners are easy to do! With the right materials any green bride can create an aisle runner in no time. You can go the traditional route and use recycled paper with your insignia painted onto the runner with your wedding date and any other pretty flourishes you want to include. You can also opt for a more unique alternative and use a slate runner with special phrases and designs written in chalk. Another option for the ultra-crafty bride is a crocheted aisle runner in bright and bold colors.

Earth Week Events at Fairfield University

The Leaders for Environmental Action at Fairfield (LEAF) will be hosting a series of events the week of April 16-April 23 to commemorate Earth Day. Several are open to the public and these are listed below.
 

Tuesday, April 17: 

• Petitioning in BCC: Add your name to a clean energy petition to your representatives! Barone Campus Center Info Desk, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Film Screening: Climate of Change, an inspiring documentary about individuals who think globally and act locally to protect the environment; Barone Campus Center Mezzanine, 8:00 pm

Wednesday, April 18: 

• Campus Cleanup! Come to the Barone Campus Center Info Desk for supplies, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.

Thursday, April 19: 

• Campus Cleanup, Day II! Stop by the BCC Info Desk for supplies, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Petitioning: BCC Info Desk, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Friday, April 20: 

• LEAF tree planting & dedication: Meet at library steps, 12:30 p.m.
• Petitioning: BCC Info Desk, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Saturday, April 21: 

• Beach cleanup: Meet at the Barone Campus Center Info Desk at 12 p.m., where we'll take a bus to the beach

Sunday, April 22 (EARTH DAY!):

• Earth Day Fair: Come for good food, great music, giveaways, and to learn about the new Progressive Students Alliance! Oak Room Patio, 3-6 p.m.

Monday, April 23:

• Quick Center Event: "The Future of Our Oceans." Dr. Stephen M. Coan, president & CEO, Sea Research Foundation, and Dr. Robert Ballard (via video), founder and president, Institute for Exploration, will discuss the critical need to protect our ocean planet. Open-Visions Event, 8 pm Quick Center.

For more information, visit their web site at www.fairfield.edu.

Image courtesy of EarthDay.org.

Environmentalism v. Fuel consumption: Who will win?

If you go to the pump with any regularity, you've probably noticed the high price of gassing up. But with the recession, there was not only a decrease in gas and oil usage but a rush to find an alternative so as not to rely on foreign sources. Thanks to horizontal drilling and "fracking," North American sources have been tapped into that can make the future look bright--for gas and oil companies, that is.

In a post by The New York Times today, the idea of having plentiful supplies of domestic oil and gas could far outweigh the environmental costs. (Think gas and oil leaking into water supplies à la the documentary Gasland.) As with the economic downturn, there was a sudden push to reserve energy, ride bikes, or even change lightbulbs to CFLs to save some cash. But when jobs start to return as does spending, going green goes right out the door.  

See an excerpt below.

Fuel to Burn: Now What?
By JAD MOUAWAD
Published: April 10, 2012

Cheaper fuel produced domestically could reduce the cost of shipping and manufacturing, trim heating and cooling bills, improve the auto market and provide tens of thousands of new jobs.

It might also pose new environmental challenges, both predictable and unforeseen, by damping enthusiasm for clean forms of energy and derailing efforts to wean the nation from its wasteful energy habits.

But for Americans battered by rising gasoline prices, frustrated by the dependence on foreign oil, skeptical of the benefits or practicality of renewable fuels and afraid of nuclear power, the appeal of plentiful domestic oil and gas could far outweigh the costs.

Just a few years ago, the dominant theme in discussions about energy was of declining production and the fear of running out of oil. Even today, political tensions in the Middle East, particularly in the Persian Gulf, have fanned fears of supply disruptions that are keeping prices high.

But a new boom in energy production in recent years has upended these expectations in record time. High energy prices led to a wave of successful oil and gas exploration in North America, including in fields that were deemed uneconomical only a few years ago. Using techniques like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, oil companies are tapping into deeply buried reserves in shale rocks and in the ocean’s depths. 

To read more, click here. 

Image courtesy of NYTimes.com. 

Flower Remedies: Another Gift From Nature

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

Flower Remedies are an amazing form of alternative medicine. The first flower remedies were created by Dr. Edward Bach in England in the 1930s to help treat the mental side of physical illness.  

Flower Remedies are a form of homeopathy from only flower sources. Homeopathy uses very diluted amounts of substances (such as flower extracts) to help the body heal. The amount of substance left in the medicine is so diluted that it isn’t even traceable, but science has shown for hundreds of years how effective homeopathy is. You can go to the National Center of Homeopathy to learn more about homeopathy and its origins.

Dr. Bach was able to determine that homeopathic forms of certain flowers helped his patients emotionally.  Many alternative doctors feel there is a direct link between mental and physical well-being, thus treating the mental aspect should be a fundamental part of any therapy. That is why Dr. Bach started research in this area.

The modern research supporting flower essences is abundant. One study found significant decreases in stress levels after participants ingested Bach Flower Remedies, another summarized the findings from other studies showing they are effective in treating depression. Further, this study found that people in pain were able to have better mindsets, and therefore were more able to deal with the discomfort. And yet another study found that taking the remedies decreased physical stress from environmental factors such as electromagnetic fields (EMF) and fluorescent lighting.

There are many different forms of flower essences today besides those by Dr. Bach--homeopathy for the mental aspect of health. There are remedies from all over the world-Australia, South Africa and the Himalayas, for example. And another great way to use them, in my opinion, is for your pets. If they have anxiety in general or going in the car, for instance, always keep the emergency remedy, Rescue Remedy, on hand!

More Eggs Than You Can Shake a Stick At

Here's the thing about raising chickens in your backyard: You'll have more eggs than you know what to do with. Do they taste better? Yes. Are they more wholesome for you? Of course. Will you have enough at peak laying season to sink a ship? Surely.

(In fact, we discussed this issue back in 2009 with a previous article on this site.) 

See an excerpt from today's New York Times about raising hens and how the trend has grown, particularly as a result of the economic downturn. The organic food movement hasn't hurt the trend, either. Here's what some people have been doing with the excess.

Straight From the Home Coop
By JULIA MOSKIN
Published: April 3, 2012


FOR newly hatched chicken enthusiasts, the first egg from your own hens is a small miracle. “You want to dip it in gold,” said the writer Susan Orlean, who keeps nine hens at her home in Columbia County, N.Y.

Then comes the second egg: enough for a triumphant breakfast.

But when the whole coop starts laying, she said, the supply of eggs quickly turns into an “I Love Lucy”-style conveyor belt scene, bringing absurd, unmanageable excess. Ms. Orlean scrambles them into a pile for brunch or dinner, sprinkled with Indian spices, slivered almonds and unsweetened coconut. “People will eat three and four eggs at a time that way, without blinking,” she said.

It’s not unusual for food lovers to toy with the notion of adding chickens to a thriving garden or building a rooftop coop. Now the novelty has become reality: despite coyotes, foxes and the occasional cage-break, many urbanites and suburbanites are raising their own eggs.

And many small farmers who supply restaurants with produce have been expanding into poultry, making farm eggs ubiquitous on restaurant menus. The eggs that were once scrubbed from the standard American breakfast over concerns about cholesterol have made a triumphant return as high-end appetizers, served atop anything and everything.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of MotherEarthNews.com. 

Pesticides may be behind Colony Collapse Disorder

Since 2006, scientists have been baffled as to why we have had a massive decrease--in some cases as much as 90 percent--in our bee colonies. Called colony collapse disorder, a drop in bee production is nothing new. It has been chronicled for decades. But this recent affliction is much worse than previous ones, which is why so many in the bee industry have become alarmed.

Try this on for size: according to the journal Science, pesticides with a key ingredient of neonicotinoid may be directly responsible for the collapse. A study was done to show how bees reacted to the kind of pesticides found in the wild. A significant difference in the production as well as the number of queens was found in the pesticide group versus the hives that were not exposed.

Read an excerpt below from Mongabay.com that reported on it March 29th.

Smoking gun for bee collapse? popular pesticides
Jeremy Hace
mongabay.com
March 29, 2012

Commonly used pesticides may be a primary driver of the collapsing bee populations, finds two new studies inScience. The studies, one focused on honeybees and the other on bumblebees, found that even small doses of these pesticides, which target insect's central nervous system, impact bee behavior and, ultimately, their survival. The studies may have far-reaching repercussions for the regulation of agricultural chemicals, known as neonicotinoid insecticides, that have been in use since the 1990s.

Scientists first started recording alarming declines in bees in North America in 2006, including some bee producers losing up to 90 percent of their colonies. Similar declines occurred throughout Europe, and have also been recorded in Taiwan. Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, bee hives are found missing nearly all of their adult bees. While colony collapses have been recorded since the 19th Century, the current crisis has proven much worst than past ones.

A number of theories for the collapse have been posited, including disease, parasitic mites, habitat loss, and, of course, pesticides. Some researchers have suggested a combination of these factors. While pesticides has been an important target of studies for years, researchers have had proving that pesticides, which aren't immediately lethal, might still be harming bee colonies—until now.

Read more:http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0329-hance_beecollapse_pesticides.html#ixzz1qcwxGRGN

Image courtesy of Greensmiths.com. 

A Decade of Saving Connecticut Farmland: Connecticut Farmland Trust Looks Back and to the Future

By Chris Watts

A lot's happened over the past ten years. Republicans and Democrats swapped control in Washington and in Hartford. Wars started and ended. Housing and land prices went up and then crashed back down. The stock market went for a ride up and down and is now back up. It seems things are always changing. But for the last decade, one constant has been the efforts by the Connecticut Farmland Trust to save the dwindling number of farmland acres in the State of Connecticut.

The core of what would become the Connecticut Farmland Trust (CFT) had its beginnings in 2001 when a group of concerned citizens got together, with the help of the Hartford Food System, to urge legislators to support the state’s fledgling farm preservation program. Through this effort the group discovered that while the State’s program worked well – some farms were not qualifying.

“What we found was that the state was able to preserving large tracts of land and larger farms, but smaller family farms were not qualifying under the formula,” says Gordon Gibson, an original board member of CFT and its first president. “These smaller farms are just as important and often were one of the few remaining working farms in a particular town, but there was no way to find funds to save them. Then some of us got the idea that maybe it was time for us to start our own land trust to help target these smaller parcels.”

That idea led to the incorporation of the Connecticut Farmland Trust on March 1, 2002. With just a board of directors and no permanent staff or office space, the group started to create the state’s only statewide land trust with the specific goal of saving the smaller working farms that would fall under the state’s radar.

3rd Annual Connecticut Food for Thought Expo

On Saturday, March 31st from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Fairfield Warde High School will again be the site for the third annual Food for Thought Expo. Sponsored by the Fairfield PTA's Fuel for Learning Partnership, a non-profit organization that promotes healthy food and nutrition for school lunches, the event will feature cooking demonstrations, workshops, and a number of local vendors offering fresh produce, meats, groceries, and ready-made foods.

There will be children's activities and movies to keep the wee ones occupied. Want to learn how to garden? No problem! This is the place for you. You can also find out how to join a local CSA and talk to nutrition experts. There's something for everyone!

Michelle McCabe, Fuel for Learning Partnership's Chairperson, said that eating healthy foods has become a top priority in this country. Americans have an increased level of weight gain with sedentary lifestyles. Over the last several years, we have also seen an increase in tainted food.

“Today, healthy food and good eating habits are more important than ever,” says Michelle McCabe, Chairperson of the Fuel for Learning Partnership. “Just look at our nation’s epidemic of child obesity – with the related health risks – and the scandals around tainted food!  Along with Michelle Obama, everyone is thinking about how they eat.  Making sure that our families eat healthier has become a priority in Fairfield, in Connecticut and across the country.”

The FFLP encourages the greater community to reach a common goal of serving safe, high quality, nutritional meals to the students of Fairfield. FFLP encourages positive change in how we eat by implementing healthy and sustainable eating practices.

The event is free and open to the public. Fairfield Warde High School is located at 755 Melville Avenue. For more information, call 203-362-7169. 

 

The Seeds of Spring!

By Elizabeth Conrad

An unusually warm winter has turned into an early spring, and lately I find myself day-dreaming about warm sunny days, deck parties with friends, and swimming in cool Maine waters. At our house, my husband is the gardener AND the cook, and over the past year, his interest has piqued regarding heirloom varieties. Our commitment to preserving food diversity and security drove us to seek out as many resources as we could. In fact, we found so many great on-line and print catalog sources for organic and heritage seeds and plants - complete with instructions - we thought it nice to share with our readers. 

One of our best discoveries this year was purely accidental. Last weekend a Sunday drive led us to Old Weathersfield, Connecticut - an amazing place that has been producing seeds for New England gardeners since 1811.  Comstock, Ferre & Co. offers 250 varieties of open pollinated non-GMO seeds. The floors were old wide plank with rows and rows of paper seed packets.  I think there must have been 50 different varieties of tomato seed alone - and we came home with enough seeds to keep us in vegetables for ten years!

In addition to Comstock Ferre & Co. , we have a surprising number of great resources are right here in New England including the High Mowing Seeds located in Wolcott, Vermont  and Fedco Seeds  of Waterville, Maine.   Another Maine based seed company, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, has a large selection of heirloom and organic seeds available. 

igI am sure that I have missed many other worthy enterprises here in our region, so look around and see what might be available right in your community! 

Check www.permacultureactivist.net/seeds/SeedResrcs.htm for an excellent list of heritage and open pollinated seed companies. In addition, the Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the preservation of our seed heritage. Happy planting!

 

Elizaebth Conrad is co-founder of Common Good Market, a New England (Virtual) Town Square Market for the 21st Century offering an outstanding selection of high quality sustainable and eco-friendly products for the home made by New England artisans and crafts-people. Common Good Market believes that buying locally made products helps build more resilient local economies, leads to improved environmental outcomes for our region, and a better future for our children. Visit Elizabeth's blog to read more. 

Connecticut's Burgeoning Social Enterprise Movement

by Heather Burns

What is Social Enterprise? Good question. Let's begin with what it's NOT. Social enterprise goes beyond the traditional non profit structure, while maintaining a core commitment to positive social impact. It also differs from a non profit structure by allowing entrepreneurs who start up SEBs to earn a return on their investment by selling the company for a profit.

ReSet (Social Enterprise Trust) is a Connecticut-based organization born out of CEO, Kate Emery's journey to transform her own for-profit business, The Walker Group, into a social enterprise. ReSet is a memberhip organization that strives to educate, inform and inspire a culture of social enterprise in and around Connecticut.

When remembering her own business transformation, Kate says, "There were many changes that needed to be made - some very easy, but others very difficult – like dismantling our traditional sales commission structure and replacing it with a salaried approach. Some changes were straightforward and bold – like determining that all distributed profits would be split equally between the community, employees and the investors, and some were more subtle and difficult to pin down - like implementing policies around transparency and participative governance."

So what makes a Social Enterprise Business (SEB) different from another type of business?
According to a new bill HB 5466, "An Act Concerning Social Enterprise Business," currently under review in Hartford, the SEB designation means a company:

• must be mission-based, and this mission must be for social benefit, and be spelled out in the by-law;
• needs to plow at least 20% of any distributed profits back to the mission;
• needs to disclose the compensation of the highest earners;
• can not return to a traditional for-profit status, and if it is to be sold then the assets will go to another SEB or a nonprofit with a similar mission.

For more information about how you can get involved in the Social Enterprise movement in and around Connecticut, contact Kate Emery, KEmery@socialenterprisetrust.org or call 860.674.9023.

Post Office to use junk mail for profit

This has got to rank up there as one of the dumber business plans: use junk mail to boost your profit margin. That's what the U.S. Postal Service, struggling financially with a reported $5 billion loss in September, thinks will pull them out of their own recession. 

The downside? Direct mail only brings in business about two percent of the time. (See a previous article from this site on junk mail.) Most people just throw it out. We're simply making more garbage. As if our landfills don't have enough crap, we now have the Post Office adding to the fray. Brilliant.

See an excerpt below from CNNMoney that was posted earlier today.

Postal Service: Junk mail could be new cash cow
By Jennifer Liberto | CNNMoney.com 

The U.S. Postal Service wants small businesses to send more direct mail, a.k.a. junk mail, to help the beleaguered agency expand its revenue stream by hundreds of millions of dollars.

In a campaign called "Every Door Direct Mail," the Postal Service is touting a year-old online tool to help small businesses micro-target direct mail. The Web tool allows firms to tap customers by neighborhood or zip code without names or addresses.

The Postal Service has made headlines recently with cost-cutting moves to get out of the red over the next few years. The agency is working to close more than 200 postal plants that may cost 32,000 jobs, to cut Saturday service,and to delay delivery of some first-class mail .Separately, officials may also consider a hike in the price of a first-class stamp by a nickel to 50 cents.

No closures will happen until a self-imposed deadline of May 15, when a moratorium on postal service facility closures expires. Postal advocates for are pushing Democrats and Republicans to come up with a bipartisan plan to prevent the closures, but so far little progress has been made.

In the meantime, the Postal Service is looking to expand other revenue streams, including this direct mail program.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of MyZeroWaste.com. 

Fairfield University explores impact of electric cars

Electric vehicles (EVs) are already being successfully produced by major automobile manufacturers, and even more companies are catching up in the race to make them.

Fairfield University’s School of Engineering will present a free, public talk exploring their importance, entitled, “Charging Infrastructure and Impact of Electric Vehicles,” on Tuesday, March 20 at 5:30 p.m., in the Kelley Center.

Fairfield alumni Michael Scala, president of Shelton-based LEX Products, and Tyrone Mellon, the company’s lead electrical engineer, will deliver a talk and answer questions. Their presentation will compare vehicle operation differences between EVs and internal combustion engines, the environmental impact of EVs, and the charging technologies.

In 2006, Scala joined LEX, an industry leader in both commercial and military power distribution markets due in large part to continuous innovation, award-winning customer service, and world-class manufacturing techniques. He earned his MBA from the Dolan School of Business. Mellon is lead electrical engineer at LEX Products and is responsible for the development of new technologies and products, including EVs as well as the compliance of products to safety standards. He received his M.S. in Electric and Computer Engineering from Fairfield.

Space is limited. Please confirm your attendance by sending your name, organization and number of attendees to ASME.Fairfield.University@gmail.com.

The event will also present an opportunity for attendees to network.

Sponsors include the ASME student chapter of Fairfield University, Engineering Student Society (ESS) of Fairfield University, ASMEFairfield, ASME New Haven, ASME Hartford, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Inventors Association of CT (IACT) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE.

For further information, please contact christian.ford@student.fairfield.edu,  neil.rodrigues@student.fairfield.edu, or Dr. Shahrokh Etemad, at setemad@fairfield.edu.

Image courtesy of RidingLust.com.

Rising Sea Levels Increase Risk of Flooding

Global warming melts the polar ice caps which in turn raises sea levels. This creates an environment prone to flooding in low-lying areas. Well, duh...

This information, while originally scoffed at as crazy environmental hooey, has become a reality. With a rising tide comes floods affecting homeowners along the entire coastline of the U.S. States particularly prone are Florida, Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, and also parts of New York and New Jersey in our tri-state area.

This article from yesterday's New York Times indicates the sea level will continue to rise and global warming persists. See the excerpt below.

Rising Sea Levels Seen as Threat to Coastal U.S.
By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: March 13, 2012 

About 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades because of the sea level rise caused by global warming, according to new research.

If the pace of the rise accelerates as much as expected, researchers found, coastal flooding at levels that were once exceedingly rare could become an every-few-years occurrence by the middle of this century.

By far the most vulnerable state is Florida, the new analysis found, with roughly half of the nation’s at-risk population living near the coast on the porous, low-lying limestone shelf that constitutes much of that state. But Louisiana, California, New York and New Jersey are also particularly vulnerable, researchers found, and virtually the entire American coastline is at some degree of risk.

“Sea level rise is like an invisible tsunami, building force while we do almost nothing,” said Benjamin H. Strauss, an author, with other scientists, of two new papers outlining the research. “We have a closing window of time to prevent the worst by preparing for higher seas.”

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of The New York Times.

Innovative Conference Explores the Growing Market of Social Enterprise - March 16-17

 

We're excited to announce that on March 16-17, 2012, Social Venture Partners Rhode Island (SVPRI), Brown’s Social Innovation Initiative, and Entrepreneurship Program at Brown University will host the Social Enterprise Ecosystem and Economic Development (SEEED) Summit at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

 
CT and Boston GreenScene plan to be there - Register here and join us!

SEEED will convene a national audience of social entrepreneurs, innovators, civic leaders, legislators, academics and students to explore the role of social enterprise in economic development. SEEED creates a needed platform to share models and explore the increasingly important role of social enterprise in our local, national and global economy.

“When visionary Americans apply their entrepreneurial spirit to today’s most pressing issues, they challenge us to rethink how business and government can work together and grow the economy in Rhode Island and around the globe,” said Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Honorary Chair of the Event. “I applaud SVPRI and Brown for convening some of our nation’s leading innovators—including many talented Rhode Islanders—and look forward to participating in this conversation.”

SEEED features national thought leaders as speakers, panelists and as well as interdisciplinary workshops aimed at sharing best practices and developing future public policy suggestions on the state and federal level. Speakers include Tracy Palandjian, CEO of Social Finance, Inc. John Maeda, President of RISD, Martin Keen, Principal & Owner Keen Design Studio, Bill Strathmann, CEO of Network For Good, and Michael Brown, CEO and Co-founder of City Year. Topics to be discussed at SEEED, include: Impact Investing, Research, Ecosystem Models, Workforce Development, and New Innovations among many others.

“One exciting aspect of SEEED is the fact that this is the first convening of the growing number of organizations from across the nation which are working to support social enterprise. Our goal is to create a network of these ecosystem builders that can work together to better understand the national impact of social enterprise and advance the agenda,” said Kelly Ramirez, CEO of SVPRI.

JUST PLAIN SMART CLEAN ENERGY TOUR & SEMINAR

 

Voluntown, Connecticut will be the site of a comprehensive solar house tour and seminar on Saturday, April 14th. A tour and seminar of the winning 2011 Connecticut Zero Energy Challenge house will be held at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. The owners, as well as green recycling, insulation, geothermal and solar experts, will speak about clean energy, smart energy, and provide relevant literature.

The 2800-square foot passive solar cape has superior insulation; a geothermal heating and cooling system; a leased 10.8 kW photovoltaic solar electric system; and a heat recovery ventilation system. A Jotul wood stove backed up by a ventless propane gas log; irrigation provided by an old well, rain gutters and a spring; Energy Star rated windows, appliances and lighting and water-conserving fixtures make this a very “smart” house.

The house was built economically using reclaimed wood, and the beautiful site is on preserved agricultural land. There are opportunities to hike in nearby Patchaug State Forest headquarters, with its old cedars and huge rhododendrons. The Voluntown Peace Trust house is also on the tour.

The tour/seminar is sponsored by People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) in conjunction with the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA), the CT Chapter of the Sierra Club and the North Stonington Citizens Land Alliance.

Reservations will be accepted in order of receipt for the April 14th tour, which will be held rain or shine. The non-refundable tickets are $20.00 per person. To order tickets, go online to www.pacecleanenergy.org and click on Events, indicating the choice of time for the tour/seminar. Tickets may also be ordered by sending $20.00 per person to PACE c/o Donna Grant, 128 Melrose Road, Broad Brook, CT 06016. Information should include the ticketholder’s phone number, address and email address. For ticket information, call 860-623-5487. For tour information, call 860-693-4813.

 

CT GMO Labeling Bill Informational Meeting and Q&A

On Saturday, March 10th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Pequot Library in Southport, the Connecticut GMO labeling bill will be discussed by some of the state's heaviest hitters when it comes to the environment and how it affects the food we eat. The lecture entitled What Are GMOs and What Does the Bill Mean for Consumers? is free and open to the public.

This initiative will also be discussed tomorrow night at The Shack restaurant on Post Road in Fairfield at the Green Drinks event that is hosted there every Tuesday night. One of the key speakers at The Shack as well as at the Pequot will be Analiese Paik, founder of Fairfield Green Food Guide and a past contributor to this site.

At the March 10th event, Representative Tony Hwang, a member of the Environment Committee, will discuss HB 5117, An Act Concerning Genetically-Engineered Foods, and the state legislative process. Analiese Paik from the Fairfield Green Food Guide will share testimony she delivered to the Environment Committee, which was reported in the Wall Street Journal, and discuss ways to support the bill. Tara Cook-Littmann, a holistic health counselor, will discuss GMOs, how prevalent they are in everyday foods, and how the labeling bill supports our right to make informed choices.  According to national polls, over 90% of consumers want GMOs labeled. Connecticut is one of several states currently considering mandatory labeling of foods containing GMOs. Bring your questions and concerns so we can address them. 

Photo above, from left to right: Rep. T.R. Rowe of Trumbull, Analiese Paik of the Fairfield Green Food Guide, Rep. Fred Camillo of Greenwich, (back) Glen Colello of Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe, Rep. Tony Hwang of Fairfield, Tara Cook-Littman JD, and Connecticut State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Feb. 22. Paik, Colello and Cook-Littman testified in support of HB 5117 at the Environment Committee’s public hearing that day.

Shiitake Mushrooms and Your Health

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

Shiitake mushrooms have been used for thousands of years in Asia for both cooking and medicine. And when it comes to cooking, they are the second most popular mushroom in the world. They are also becoming more prominent in the alternative health care market. There has been some research done on them to see how they can be best put to use.

Nutritionally, shiitake mushrooms are a good source of B vitamins, iron and other minerals, protein, vitamin D and fiber. They are also low in calories and are very tasty either lightly sauteed or even dehydrated.

Their most known health use is in the treatment of cancer. Lentinan, a polysaccharide found in shiitake mushrooms, has been shown to be both anti-cancer and to improve  the quality of life with several types of cancers. The most common way to take it is in pill form, but most of the research is on when it is given intravenously.

CT Bill seeks GMO labels on products

An Associated Press report cited on the Wall Street Journal noted that a Connecticut bill seeks to add appropriate GMO labeling on foods. While there has been much debate over whether or not GMOs are actually harmful to one's health--the FDA says yea; anyone with a brain says nay--the point is to have the opportunity to choose or not choose foods with GMOs in it.

Fairfield Green Food Guide's Analiese Paik, a past contributor on this site, testified in favor of the labeling saying, "The burden of proof is on the FDA to prove that it's safe."

See the excerpt below from yesterday's posting.

Conn. bill looks to add labels to engineered food
FEBRUARY 22, 2012, 6:35 P.M. ET
Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. — Consumers at Connecticut grocery stores would be able to know if genetically engineered foods are in the merchandise mix under a bill state lawmakers are considering to require the labeling of such foods.

Neither the federal government nor any state currently has a labeling requirement that applies to all genetically modified foods. Connecticut is among nearly 20 states considering a labeling mandate amid health concerns that supporters of the legislation have raised about such foods.

Connecticut's legislation would require clear labeling on any food sold in the state that is completely or partially produced with genetic engineering.

Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, said he introduced the legislation due to public concern over the issue. Roy co-chairs the state Environment Committee, which heard from supporters and opponents of the bill at a hearing Wednesday.

Roy said his bill has gained bipartisan support, and he expects the committee to pass it, although its fate after is unclear.

"We're not taking a stance on whether GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are good or bad," said Roy. "What we're saying is that we have a right to know what we're putting in our bodies."

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of ActivistPost.com. 

Connecticut Unique Passive Solar House Tour - Feb 25th

A passive solar, super-insulated house will be open for tours at 1:00 and 2:00 pm on Saturday, February 25 in North Franklin, CT.

Currently under construction, the house has unique low U value French Bieber windows; a four-inch thick polished concrete floor; curved beams supporting two roofs that will be covered with vegetation; and a geothermal heating and cooling system.

Tickets: $15. Ticket information: 860-623-5487. Tour information: 860-693-4813. Sponsored by People’s Action for Clean Energy.

Happy Friday: Seafood Choices You Can Be Happy About

By Kate McLaughlin, Blue Ocean Institute

Kate McLaughlin has studied fish all over the country—from herring in Massachusetts’s rivers to Steelhead Trout in northern California.  She is currently Blue Ocean Institute’s Seafood Program Director.

Eight conservation groups in the U.S. & Canada teamed up to get the word out about ocean-friendly seafood.  The message?  Look for ocean-friendly seafood choices that you can be happy about.

Why should people Be Happy about their seafood choices?

Seafood can be a great addition to any family’s menu.  Who doesn’t want a low-fat, high omega-3 addition to their dinner plate? 

And just as you’re thoughtful about other environmentally-responsible choices you make (like recycling, or buying farmers market vegetables), you can be thoughtful about your seafood choices and be happy with the results. 

People can go to www.facebook.com/BeHappyFish to learn more about ocean-friendly seafood, find family- (and ocean!) friendly recipes, , and show support for the ocean by signing a pledge to support ocean-friendly seafood or posting a pic of your best fish face. 

What are some ocean-friendly choices that people can be happy about?

Farmed mussels are a great choice.  Mussels can filter 10-15 gallons of water a day, eating microscopic plankton they strain out of the water.  Since mussels filter their food from their surroundings, we don’t have to catch wild fish to feed to them (as is the case with some farm-raised seafood, like Atlantic salmon).

Other great choices are U.S. farmed catfish, farmed Arctic char, wild Alaskan salmon, and Pacific cod.  You can find recipes for all of these fish on the Be Happy Facebook page.

In the above list of ocean-friendly choices, there’s a mix of farmed and wild fish.  Should people be asking where their fish comes from and whether it’s farmed or wild?

Asking where your seafood comes from is a great first step in getting to know the fish you’re eating.  Next time you’re at the store, look for signs in the seafood case that note whether it’s farmed or wild, and you’ll see there’s more farmed seafood out there than you might have guessed. 

(Did you know that half of the seafood produced globally comes from fish farms?)

Why is Blue Ocean involved with the Be Happy outreach effort?

Blue Ocean works with seafood lovers, scientists, and chefs to communicate the science of seafood.  And now we’ve teamed up with seven other organizations in the U.S. & Canada to help more people from coast-to-coast find seafood choices they can be happy about.

CT Farm Fresh Celebrates Four Years and Counting

By Eileen Weber


What if you could get farm fresh food delivered to your door exactly as you ordered it? If you’re Deb Marsden, you think that’s a great idea, too. In fact, that very idea is what inspired her to start her own business four years ago. Marsden’s CT Farm Fresh Express (CTFFE) is a delivery service that brings the farm into your home. This Saturday will mark their fourth anniversary.

In 2008, Marsden kick-started the idea in her home. Today, it functions on her property’s barn in East Haddam with a full 12-foot by 14-foot walk-in cooler to keep all those products and artisanal items super fresh and crisp. (The cooler was purchased along with a modern office space in the barn through grant funds allotted by the Department of Agriculture.)

Reclaimed Water: Toilet-to-Tap

With global warming a true reality and draught common in many states, particularly in the West and Southwest regions of the U.S., reusing water is not a new concept. But using filtered wastewater as drinking water is relatively recent.

The idea has been toyed with and dropped because of the "ick" factor. But other regions like Singapore have been using reused water, or "NEWater," for drinking water as well as irrigation and manufacturing for some time now.

(We have also discussed the concept of properly filtering water for reuse on this site. Check out this article from October, 2008 about Dean Kamen's water filter and how it could help third world countries have potable water.) 

The "ick" factor is completely understandable here. But, isn't it about time that we've gotten beyond our internal gag reflex and looked at the possibilities of what new technology can offer in terms of filtering out impurities? When the levels of our rivers and streams, lakes, and wells are dwindling rapidly, now is the time to create our own "Waterworld."

See an excerpt below from yesterday's New York Times below.

As ‘Yuck Factor’ Subsides, Treated Wastewater Flows From Taps
By FELICITY BARRINGER
Published: February 9, 2012

SAN DIEGO — Almost hidden in the northern hills, the pilot water treatment plant here does not seem a harbinger of revolution. It cost $13 million, uses long-established technologies and produces a million gallons a day.

But the plant’s very existence is a triumph over one of the most stubborn problems facing the nation’s water managers: if they make clean drinking water from wastewater, will the yuck factor keep people from accepting it?

With climate change threatening to diminish water supplies in the fast-growing Southwest, more cities are considering the potential of reclaimed water. A new report from the National Academy of Sciences said that if coastal communities used advanced treatment procedures on the effluent that is now sent out to sea, it could increase the amount of municipal water available by as much as 27 percent.

To read more, click here.

Kid Kanteen: What a Great Idea!

By Eileen Weber

Have you seen Klean Kanteen’s baby bottle? Man, I wish they had these things when my kids were babies. I hadn’t seen it until the other day when I got an ad for it in my in-box. It’s brilliant! No BPA, no phthalates, no toxins, environmentally friendly, and reusable.

My girls are 11, 9, and 7 years old, now. I think back to the bottles I used for them. While I breastfed a majority of the time, we supplemented with formula so my husband could feed the girls and I could get a break. It makes me wonder what materials were in those plastic bottles.

My Favorite Green & Health-Promoting Apps

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

I don’t know what I would do without my iPhone. It helps me to stay organized and easily allows me to stay up to date with all my interests. But one of my favorite ways to use the phone is by using the amazing apps that make being environmentally friendly and healthier that much easier. I am not in any way an app expert, but as someone trying to make the world a better place, these are my favorites of the ones I’ve found.
 

1. The Greenpeace app isn’t a tool for better green living per se, but it is adorable and they have a news feed. And every download supports Greenpeace, which works for me!
2. The Dirty Dozen app from the Environmental Working Group is fantastic. The EWG did research on which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues on them and which have the least. The “Dirty Dozen” are the produce they recommend buying organically whereas the “Clean 15” are the ones you can buy conventionally.
3. The Seafood Watch app helps you identify which are the most eco-friendly sources of fish to eat. You can search by location, ie the Northeastern U.S., then look up which fish are the most environmentally friendly, which are good alternatives and the types of fish that should be avoided. They also have a sushi guide within the app and important news about ocean conservation.
4. The GoodGuide is another tool not to live without. It allows you to scan or search products to see how healthy and environmentally friendly the company and its product is.
5. Green Smoothies are one of my favorite meals--and Victoria Boutenko’s app is based on her many years of teaching and research on the benefits of eating them. This app has good recipes and gives information about each ingredient she recommends.
6. As I avoid Food Additives whenever I shop, I don’t really need a list telling me which to avoid, but it does come in handy to help identify something I can’t figure out. It also tells you when an additive is banned in other countries, which I find interesting.
7. Animal Free lets you scan and search items letting you know if the products have ingredients that are derived from animals.  
8. The TreeHugger app is great for keeping you on top of environmental news. It also helps you to find local places to recycle.

I also just read about an app that is becoming available in March called EcoSpeed. It helps by telling you the best speed based on your car and driving habits to conserve the most fuel. I will look forward to trying that one out.
 

Using smart phones to be healthier and more environmentally responsible is an extraordinary use of technology and I for one am grateful for it!

Image courtesy of Wired.com. 

The Good News about Walnuts and Your Prostate

You just can't make this stuff up: walnuts shrink tumors. I know, right? Sounds incredible but it's true. Apparently, at least according to research at UC Davis on tumor-toting mice, their walnut-eating consumption actually reduced their tumor size significantly.

What makes it interesting for this site is how it falls into the category of how our environment affects our health. What we put into our bodies is part of that environment. Like climate change, it's a problem we can have some control over. 

See the excerpt below from Environmental News Network that was originally reported in the British Journal of Nutrition.

The Amazing Tumor-Fighting Walnut
David A Gabel, ENN 
Published January 25, 2012 09:38 AM

Recently, scientists from the University of California (UC) in Davis found out that, at least in mice, eating walnuts can actually slow down the growth of tumors. In fact, after 18 weeks of being on a walnut-rich diet, the mice had tumors half the size as mice on a similar diet. Further research will be upcoming to explore more beneficial effects of walnuts. Some believe that walnuts can be even used to prevent tumors from ever forming.

The unlucky subject mice in the experiment were genetically programmed to develop prostate cancer. UC Davis researchers assessed the size of their tumors at 9,18 and 24 weeks. Some mice were on the walnut diet, consuming the human equivalent of 2.4 ounces of walnut per day. The other subject group ate a soybean oil diet which was formulated to match the walnut diet in terms of nutrients, fat levels, and fatty acid profiles.

Amazingly, at 18 weeks, the tumors were half the size in the walnut group than the other group. Overall, the rate of tumor growth was 28 percent less for the walnut group.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of Phys.org. 

Finally, a good school lunch

We've talked about school lunch before on this site. We feel strongly about what our kids eat, what we eat, and the quality of sustainable foods and farming. This site also reported on the topic a couple of months ago when lawmakers considered pizza a vegetable serving because of its two tablespoons of tomato paste per serving. 

Reuters reported today that the USDA has done a small overhaul of school nutrition to include more fruits and vegetables and skim milk. They have also mandated a child-size portion and lower sodium, among other things.

About time, isn't it? See the excerpt below.

More fruits, veggies in school lunch rules
By Ian Simpson and Lisa Baertlein | Reuters – 59 mins ago

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. school children, accustomed to a steady diet of pizza and French fries, will find more fruits, vegetables and whole grains on their trays under new government rules announced on Wednesday.

The new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules aim to boost the nutritional quality of the federally funded meals consumed by roughly 32 million U.S. school children.

The rules represent the first major revision of school meal standards in more than 15 years and are intended to combat the nation's childhood obesity crisis -- nearly one in three children in America is overweight or obese.

The revamp comes just months after U.S. lawmakers protected pizza's status as a vegetable and killed proposed limits on weekly servings of starchy vegetables like potatoes.

Storms, Trees and You

Winter in the Northeast usually has at least one or two storms that pack a wicked punch. Maybe it's you, or maybe it's your neighbor. But one of you will end up with limbs hanging and trees down. Find out from this lecture what you can do about it.

Storms, Trees and You
Featuring Dr. Jeffrey S. Ward, Chief Scientist
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Monday, January 23rd at 7:00 p.m.
Fairfield Public Library Memorial Room 

• How proper tree selection, placement and maintenance can help reduce power outages and damage to our properties.
• Maximize the benefits of trees such as providing shade, cooling, and beautifying our yards and streetscapes.
• Tips for planting new trees and shrubs, general tree care, and how to spot potential problems on your property.

Sponsored by the Fairfield Forestry Committee. Free and open to the public.

Ch-ch-ch-Chia!

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

Everybody has probably heard about chia from the little plant “pets” that became popular in the 80s.  What is not as widely known is what a great addition to the diet the chia seed can be.

The history of chia, or Salvia hispanica, can be traced back to over 5,000 years ago in Mexico.  Chia was one of the staple foods of both the Aztec and Mayan cultures.  It was also used as a form of currency and was said to help messengers sustain energy over long distances.  

Chia is at the top of the charts in four important areas: levels of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber.  In fact, it has the highest plant source of omega-3 fatty acids, even more than flax seeds.  Omega-3 fatty acids play a large role in cardiovascular health and are anti-inflammatory.  Its levels of antioxidants, from flavonoids, are also anti-inflammatory and allow it to have a good ORAC value.  It also is free of cholesterol.

Lecture on Climate Change at Audubon Greenwich

Averting the Climate Crisis: How urban/suburban lifestyle changes can help our environment
Presented by Peter Libre, MD
Saturday, January 7, 2012
4:00-5:30 pm
$5/adult. Youth are free. RSVP requested. Simply leave a message for Jeff Cordulack at 203-869-5272 x239.  (Snow date: Jan. 14.) 


Ring in 2012 with a Saturday afternoon presentation about our carbon footprint, climate issues, and the relationship of health and lifestyle to both. Learn new ways to transform your way of living and by doing so, improve your personal, planetary and fiscal well-being. Dr. Peter Libre is a Columbia University eye surgeon who performs 350 eye surgeries a year while living a low carbon lifestyle. He bikes 2,500 miles a year, keeps chickens, and grows vegetables. With solar hot water and electricity, good insulation, and a woodstove, his family’s utility bills are $25 a month. 

The northward and inland movement of North American birds, confirmed by thousands of citizen-observations, provides new and powerful evidence that global warming is having a serious impact on natural systems, according to new analyses by Audubon scientists. The findings signal the need for dramatic policy changes to combat pervasive ecological disruption.

Is Solar Thermal the next big thing?

How does the concept of molten salt strike you? It is a major component of solar thermal power, which uses the sun's heat to boil water. The water is then used to bring salt to extremely high heat, which stores energy when the sun goes down. While the technology itself is rather simple, it is debatable whether it's the most economical route.

See an excerpt below from an article posted earlier this week in The New York Times. 

Storehouses for Solar Energy Can Step In When the Sun Goes Down
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: January 2, 2012 

If solar energy is eventually going to matter — that is, generate a significant portion of the nation’s electricity — the industry must overcome a major stumbling block, experts say: finding a way to store it for use when the sun isn’t shining.

That challenge seems to be creating an opening for a different form of power, solar thermal, which makes electricity by using the sun’s heat to boil water. The water can be used to heat salt that stores the energy until later, when the sun dips and households power up their appliances and air-conditioning at peak demand hours in the summer.

Traditional Farming better for Biodiversity. Well, duh...

The Science and Development Network, a non-profit organization based in England and Wales, reported that research has shown traditional farming is crucial for keeping certain species alive. The research was conducted in developing countries as well as Europe.

It seems biodiversity is important to maintain the health and vitality of the land, the plants, birds and insects, as well as a host of other animals that feed off the land and call it their home. Industrial farming apparently harms the ecological bubble and depletes the natural habitats. Huh, go figure...

See the excerpt below.

Traditional farming 'can save threatened species'
Jan Piotrowski
22 December 2011 | EN

Traditional farming methods are crucial for protecting a number of threatened bird species in the developing world, including bustards, cranes, ibises and vultures, a study has found.

Livestock grazing and features associated with arable farming — such as hedgerows — create environmental conditions that certain birds currently depend on for food, shelter and breeding, the authors report.  

But as industrial farming methods eliminate these habitats, these species are threatened with extinction, said Hugh Wright, a researcher in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, and lead author of the study, published in Conservation Letters earlier this month (5 December).

No More Frankincense? What's a Wise Man to do?

According to a recent study documented by Dicovery News on December 22nd, frankincense--the resin best known as a gift from the Magi--has gradually been decreased to a point where it is in serious danger of disappearing. But unlike what overfishing has done to the fish industry, its depletion has been attributed mainly to fires, beetle destruction, and cattle grazing.

Estimates show that in 50 years the supply of frankincense may be as much as 90% less than what it is now. Rick K, who made his comments online, stated his case: "People have been using unsustainable harvest methods on MANY different wild populations for millenia to the degradation and often decimation of the very population of organisms that supported their commerce whether for subsistence or for profit."

Too true. Whether animals and fire or people, we need to protect our resources. See the excerpt below.

Frankincense May Be Doomed
Analysis by Emily Sohn
Thu Dec 22, 2011 03:32 PM ET

Frankincense has a long history as an ingredient in incense and perfumes, with references dating back to ancient Egypt. In the Bible, the Magi brought the fragrant resin as a gift to the baby Jesus, along with gold and myrrh -- and it remains part of the classic Christmas story.

But frankincense, whose smell is sometimes described as sweet or spicy with a mix of lemon and pine, will soon become only a relic of the past if nothing is done to protect the trees that produce it, according to a new study.

Those trees, which belong to a species called Boswellia, grow in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. To extract frankincense, people tap adult trees by cutting into their bark, allowing the resin to ooze out and harden so it can be collected.

Previous studies have shown that tapping Boswellia trees can sap out carbohydrates, stunt growth, and reduce the viability of seeds. To assess the long-term effects of those injuries, scientists from the Netherlands and Ethiopia studied more than 6,500 trees and seedlings for two years in a remote region of northwestern Ethiopia.

When the researchers compared data from tapped trees with data from untapped trees, they came up with some discouraging projections. Given the tree’s current rate of decline, they reported in the Journal of Applied Ecology, numbers of frankincense-producing Boswellia could drop in half over the next 15 years. Fifty years from now, there will be 90 percent fewer trees.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of DiscoveryNews.com.

Last Minute Socially and Environmentally Conscious Gift Ideas

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

Every year, so much money is wasted on gifts that are excessive and unnecessary. Instead, why not donate money to a great cause in someone’s name? Or "adopt" a wild animal whose existence is threatened for a child? And since these gifts don’t need shipping, you can print out the gift certificate and put it in a nice recycled card instead.

Check out these great organizations that benefit people, animals, or the environment!

For those of us that love animals, there are many ways to help. The American Humane Society has a fund set up called The Second Chance Fund. This fund helps to financially assist rescue agencies that treat and place abused and neglected animals into loving homes. Donate in an animal lovers’ name to make them happy.

Coke and pepsi duke it out over water bottles

Coke and Pepsi are at it again. Like siblings vying for Mom's attention, they want buyers to know how green they are. Both companies plan to bottle their respective beverages in wholly plant-based bottles instead of plastic or partial plastic. Great! When? Nobody knows.

The other issue is what plant materials to use, how to source them, and how cost effective the whole process may--or may not--be. See the excerpt below that The New York Times posted yesterday.

The Race to Greener Bottles Could Be Long
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
Published: December 15, 2011

The beverage rivals are racing to become the first to produce a plastic soda bottle made entirely from plants.

But despite dueling announcements claiming technological breakthroughs, consumers should not expect to see many all-plant bottles on store shelves any time soon. Neither company is confident enough in the technology to say when, or even if, they will be able to deliver on their environmental ambitions.

Coke delivered the latest volley on Thursday, saying it plans to work with three companies that are developing competing technologies to make plastic from plants, with bottles rolling out to consumers in perhaps a few years.

Local Eats Fundraiser at Gilbertie's in Westport

Jay Leno's Garage hosts Connecticut's EV Expert, Jim Motavalli!

by Heather Burns

Connecticut resident and former Editor for E the Environmental Magazine, Jim Motavalli, has been a long-time proponent and expert of EV's. Check out Jim's new book, High Voltage: The Fast Track to Plug in the Auto Indusry.

Jim predicts that by 2020, 10 percent of all new vehicles will be either electric or plug ins. Jay goes on to say that the Chevy Volt is "the perfect car because it's electricy when you want it and gas when you need it."

 

See more in this engaging video in Jay's garage.

2010 Had Biggest One Year Jump in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

If ever there was a plea to curb our dependence on fossil fuel, it's this one from Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. Based on a New York Times article dated December 4, 2011, emissions rose just shy of 6% between 2009 and 2010. That's a HUGE increase for one year. (Keep in mind, there was a near 1.5% percent decrease in 2009 during the worst part of the recession.) The news prompted McKibben to quip in an article posted the following day on CommonDreams.org that "we've all but lost the battle to reduce the damage from global warming."

See an excerpt below from McKibben's article.

The Most Important News Story of the Day/Millennium
Published on Monday, December 5, 2011 by CommonDreams.org
by Bill McKibben

"The most important piece of news yesterday, this week, this month, and this year was a new set of statistics released yesterday by the Global Carbon Project. It showed that carbon emissions from our planet had increased 5.9 percent between 2009 and 2010. In fact, it was arguably among the most important pieces of data in the last, oh, three centuries, since according to The New York Times it represented 'almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution.'

Operation Trashdown: Green Makes a Great Gift

by Ilene Moyher

Green does make a great gift, but not the kind of green that has dollar signs! You can give a meaningful ‘green’ gift to everyone, especially the next generation--the gift of a cleaner planet. A big part of this is keeping the less trash/less waste mindset when shopping. Everyone can make choices that will help. Unsure about this? Click here to read or watch about where trash ends up.

Whether shopping online, at chain stores, or at local shops, think about what impact the product has on the environment, and make purchases based on what feels right to you:

Want a Wine Cellar? Make it Green!

2011 GREEN HOMES & GREEN BUILDING SERIES
FINAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
 
Greener Wine Room Design with Fred Tregaskis of New England Wine Cellars

Thursday, December 8, 2011
6:00 pm: Holiday Festivities & Wine Reception
7:00 pm: Main Presentation
Hosted at Audubon Greenwich

 
Come learn how to create safe and sound storage for your favorite vintages. The evening will start with festivities in the main hall and will be followed by the presentation starting at 7:00 pm. This program will be suitable for profession al builders and home owners who want to learn more about wine cellars and learn how they can be high effective without electricity, if designer properly. Please note: RSVPs are requested for this event.

A primer on the considerations, techniques and details for successful design and construction of a beautiful, functional and energy efficient wine storage room. Aesthetics, environmental conditions necessary for successful wine storage, materials of construction and mechanical systems will all be considered.

Learning Objectives:

• Able to identify and explain the optimum temperature, humidity, ventilation and air quality conditions for successful wine aging, prevention of material decay and minimization of wine loss.
• Able to determine and design the wine storage space layout and racking system based on the individual collector's bottle inventory and functional needs.
• Able to determine and design the wine storage room enclosure based on room location within the structure and it's bordering environments.
• Able to determine and design the wine storage room finish materials and mechanical equipment for optimum air quality, temperature, humidity, wine aging, and energy efficiency.

Fred Tregaskis began his career in wine during college in the vineyards of New York’s Hudson Valley.  After a three year tenure as a wine taster for a national magazine, he founded his own wine room design and construction company, starting with the 28,000 bottle wine cellar for the Lespinasse Restaurant at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City.  Since that start he has completed hundreds of beautiful and functional residential and commercial wine cellars throughout New England, across the country and around the world. Additionally, Fred writes for Country and Abroad magazine and hosts WHDD/ Robin Hood Radio on National Public Radio.

Presented by Fred Tregaskis, President, New England Wine Cellars & Generously Sponsored by Coastal Point Construction, LLC.

Admission is $20 per person. Space is limited and RSVPs are required. To RSVP, email Jeff Cordulack, jcordulack@audubon.org or leave a message at (203) 869-5272 x239.

Understanding Avocados

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

Avocados are a very poorly understood fruit. They got a bad rap due to their high fat content, both in terms of cholesterol and weight control. The only place you might find them would be your nearest bowl of guacamole. Until recently, it wasn't understood that the type of fat found in avocados is acutally “good” fat.

Avocados originated in Mexico as early as 7,000 BC. Later, it was determined they could be found in South America as well. It seems, however, that when they started cultivating them in California in the late 1800s, that they became more accessible.  

Because of the high fat content, avocados have a lot of calories. But, there is some good news. Not only are the highest levels of fat found monosaturated, but with all the other vitamins, nutrients, phytochemicals and fiber, eating avocados is actually GOOD for your health.

Upcoming Green Events

Environmental Policy and Eco-feminism in China and India
Wednesday, November 30th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Fairfield University, Multimedia Room, DiMenna-Nyselius Library, Fairfield. 
Please join Fairfield University’s Program on the Environment for a panel discussion of global environmental issues among women in China and India. Dr. Danke Li will discuss her interviews with Liao Xiaoyi, winner of the Sophie Prize in 2000, awarded to her by President Bill Clinton for her efforts in building sustainable housing in China. Dr. Gita Rajan will discuss environmentally conscious companies among women in India, who are entering the global economy in a time of environmental crisis. The talk is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be served. Please contact Professor Elizabeth Petrino at (203) 254-4000 x3014 or epetrino@fairfield.edu for further information.
 
Hear Commissioner James Redeker, Connecticut Department of Transportation 
Thursday, December 1st, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., 45 Church Street, New Haven. Commissioner James Redeker of the Department of Transportation will be speaking to the public on his agency's visions for creating a sustainable development model supported by smart land-use decisions that integrate rational mass transit, economic development, and smart-energy practices. Join 1000 Friends of Connecticut and learn more about the rare opportunities our regions face in curbing the sprawling development that has turned our highways into parking lots every morning and every evening during rush hour.  Register for free at http://www.1000friends-ct.org/2011-speaker-series-registration-redeker-conndot.html.

Congress and School Lunch: Are You Kidding Me?

by Eileen Weber

OK, this is where I get cranky. I can't keep my mouth shut when it comes to school lunches. I have three girls of my own in elementary school, so this means a lot to me. To call school lunches crap is being charitable. For way too long we have been feeding our kids the food equivalent of a pig with lipstick. And frankly, a little pork would go a long way. But instead of pork, we give them "pork product" and call it food. It is laden with high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and food dyes. Then, we sit back and wonder why our kids are clinically obese and have diabetes. Huh, go figure.

When I saw this segment on Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight, I had to post it. It says everything that needs to be said: Congress considers pizza--hello???? pizza!--a vegetable because of the two tablespoons of tomato paste per slice. This is beyond idiocy. This is agribusiness greasing the palms of every Congressman with nothing better to do with their time. Let's go to the videotape!

 

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