CT Green Scene

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Red, White, and A Little Green

by Eileen Weber

A sunny Fourth of July. Barbecue with friends, a little beach time, and some fireworks tonight. What could be better? How about putting a little green in your Red, White, and Blue?

There are a number of web sites that promote some fun ideas to keep your life a little greener on this explosive holiday.

According to one site, Greenzer.com, grilling your food on a gas grill instead of a smoky charcoal one helps. Some other tips include not using plastic utensils and plates. You can use biodegradable supplies, like the party kit offered from Inhabitat.com that serves 50. Or, you can go even more sustainable with bamboo like the disposable ones from Eco-Wise.com.

Packing local, organic foods for your next picnic is also a must. Just a quick trip to your farmers’ market and you’ve got a number of tasty treats to choose from. Locally made breads and cheeses, fresh fruits, a few greens and that’s a succulent meal.

One interesting point to note that has been highlighted recently is the pollutant effects of fireworks. There are some pyrotechnical experts looking for a more environmentally friendly option. According to PhysOrg.com, a site that focuses on science and technology, states “Researchers…have developed new pyrotechnic formulas that replace perchlorate with nitrogen-rich materials or nitrocellulose that burn cleaner and produce less smoke.”

It’s a great idea. But until federal regulation comes into play, it may be a while before we see a little “green” in the sky.

Happy Fourth of July! Be safe and be well.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Green in Any Color

by James Simpkins

James Simpkins will be a contributor on this site every Wednesday. A former chef and Le Cordon Bleu culinary instructor, he is a PhD student at UCONN putting his culinary know-how to work studying American food culture. He will be writing about anything and everything related to food in the Farmington River Valley. Having grown up in Ohio, he has been living for the past two years in the Canton area.

I thought I should start my first article by defining “green”. The official definition is a: relating to or being an environmentalist political movement b: concerned with or supporting environmentalism c: tending to preserve environmental quality (as by being recyclable, biodegradable, or nonpolluting.

Pretty much what I thought, but I was excited to learn that there was a more than a touch of grey to the whole concept (note “c” above). In other words, there’s not just one definition of what’s “green” or not. This is what really gets me excited about food and food culture--especially here in the Farmington River Valley--is that there are so many variations of it. So it’s this many-flavored point of view that I bring to this blog and my own take on what’s “green” in my neck of the Connecticut woods.

Consider what I know of off the top of my head: There are no fewer than five fantastic farms (some to be discussed in future posts) within 10 miles from my place, not to mention a ferocious Farmers’ Market culture from Norfolk to Southbury that has just kicked off the summer season. Add in countless community events, restaurants, and my neighbors’ gardens…well, suffice it to say there is no shortage of gustatory glam to share with you. Weirdly enough, however, I found my first inspiration of the season in my P.O. Box: A bright pink postcard announcing the 58th Annual Strawberry Festival at the North Canton Community United Methodist Church. Since I love strawberries (eating some right now, as a matter of fact) and they mentioned homemade biscuits, I decided to check it out.

Citizen Green Diplomacy

by Krista Richards Mann

As part of the jUNe day celebration in Westport, the jUNe day committee has committed to reduce waste.  Each of the 300-400 visitors from the United Nations will be given a reusable water bottle.  “Last year we went through cases of water!”  Said, Michaela MacColl, jUNe day chairperson. 

June 27, 2009, United Nations staff and diplomats were welcomed in Westport to participate in an informal day of recreation and celebration in honor of the signing of the UN charter on June 26th, 1945.
Each year on the fourth Saturday of June between 300 and 350 visitors from the UN enjoy the best that Connecticut has to offer: a casual setting, the beautiful Long Island Sound, sports and camaraderie. 
The promotion of World Peace and international understanding is reinforced through friendship, both for the visitors and their hosts.  Families representing countries from across the globe will have the opportunity to interact with local citizens and we are given the opportunity to represent Americans in an informal and friendly atmosphere.

“It was important that we emphasize Westport’s commitment to ecologically sound practice,” the committee writes in a statement.  “Stewardship of our resources is a commitment not only to our community, but to the world.”  

A welcome breakfast and brief opening ceremony commenced the morning and then the guests dispersed to play golf, tennis, soccer, baseball, explored Earthplace or had a walking tour of Westport led by the Westport Historical Society and a reception hosted by Bank of New York Mellon Wealth Management.  They are also sponsored a Taiko Drum troupe who performed on the bridge. 

Fish Food

by Eileen Weber

The next time you fire up the grill for some Cajun catfish, consider where that fish came from. Is it really safe?

Much of the seafood we eat comes directly from fish farms, also known as aquaculture. More specifically, the majority of those fish farms are in China and some in Vietnam. With shrimp, eel, catfish, basa, and dace among them, the Chinese alone farm more than 50 million tons of fish. Compare that to about 5 million tons produced in the U.S., a mere fraction of the Chinese market.

According to some statistics listed on the Food & Water Watch web site, Americans eat more than 16 pounds of seafood per person per year. That’s almost 30 percent more seafood than 25 years ago. The amount we consume is about two billion pounds, which is the weight of approximately 270,000 Hummer SUVs.

Part of the problem with the Asian fish farms is that many of them are contaminated by sewage, agricultural runoff, and industrial chemicals dumped into the waterways. They keep the fish in near-shore pens, nets, and enclosures that become breeding grounds for disease. To counteract this, Asian fish farmers turn to illegal veterinary drugs to ward off bacteria and parasitic infections. When that seafood is contaminated with illegal veterinary drugs and other environmental contaminants, what’s on our plates doesn’t seem all that appetizing after all.

The drug residue on Chinese farmed fish was the reason for a block on imports in 2007. According to a New York Times article dated December 28, 2007, the drugs are effective in fighting disease and increasing the survival rates of the fish, which directly affects their profitability.

“The dirtier the water and the more pollution there is, the more drugs are used, there’s no question about that,” said Lai Zini as quoted in the article. Zini is a researcher at the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute in southern Guangdong Province

Chemical Cocktail

by Heather Burns-DeMelo

The cleaning products we use in our homes contain pesticides, neurotoxins and other poisons that are giving us cancer, respiratory illness, ADHD and more. Pets and children are particularly sensitive, as their systems are still developing. And after they're finished wreaking havoc on us in our homes, they make their way to our water supply. Did you know that you can't just throw away your laundry detergent because it's considered HAZARDOUS WASTE?!

This news segment had my mouth gaping open.

Hungry for Change

by Analiese Paik, Founder, Fairfield Green Food Guide

After six long years of work, award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner has released his film “Food, Inc”., an expose of the ugly underbelly of our nation's food system. Prepare to be shocked, disgusted, and jolted into reality. The film’s ads promise that “You’ll never look at dinner the same way.”

Food policy advocate and movie co-producer Eric Schlosser (remember “Fast Food Nation”?) along with food advocate and author Michael Pollan, best known for his books including “The Omnivore's Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”, are the movie's stars alongside the entrepreneurs and farmers that make up our food system.

Robert Kenner and Michael Pollan were interviewed on NPR and the short but information-packed interview summarizes the movies main points including the dangers of factory farming, the hidden costs of cheap food and how the two relate to our national health care crisis. I was shocked to hear Michael Pollan say that 90 percent of Americans want food labeling to include genetically modified ingredients, yet Monsanto has successfully lobbied Congress and the government against it. Ninety percent of us! How can we make  informed purchases if we don’t know what’s in our food? The movie insists they don’t want us to know.

Green Soil

by Eileen Weber

Composting. It’s a great idea. Lots of people do it. But these days, students eager to spread their environmental wings are taking the process of composting seriously.

Take these Staples High School students from Westport, for example. Casey Richardson, along with her friends Molly Pieper, Sasha Bern and Venetia Stanley, became environmental entrepreneurs founding the Soil Yourself Composting company. Richardson, the mastermind behind the project, focused her junior year research paper on the subject, which sparked the idea for their business.

“Even though what we are doing is on a very small, local scale, I know what we are doing is really making a difference,” said Pieper. “It's great knowing that I am doing my part to protect my earth.”

With a little financial help from their parents and an investment of $600, they bought composting tumblers to deposit food scraps and other organic waste. They turn the material over a few times a day to keep it aerated. Scraps like eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds and corn cobs supply a nice ratio between carbon and nitrogen-rich elements to the soil.

While these young women have gotten phenomenal responses from the community in support of their project, they haven’t seen the fruit of their labors yet. “Our first food scrap pick-up was June 22,” said Pieper, “so about two months from then will be our first compost delivery.”

Lettuce and Bok Choy and Arugula. Oh My!

by Eileen Weber

Sarah Puerini joined her local CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, for the summer. So far, she has picked up two deliveries in Southport with enough fresh produce to sink a ship. She even has a Facebook page devoted to the recipes she makes with the deliveries.

“Holy cow! Can you say salad?!?” Puerini said on Facebook. “We’ll be eating tons of [it] this week as we got two huge heads of lettuce in our farm share and lots of other greens.”

Typically, consumers who are interested in a farm share program will pay up front for their “membership” or subscription to the group. That particular farm will drop off a certain portion of their produce once a week for members to pick up at a designated drop off point. Each crate is labeled with how much a member is allowed to take. Members can bring a reusable bag or another type container and fill ‘er up!

Puerini said that right now it does feel a little overwhelming with so many greens. “I really like doing this,” she said. “But there are only so many salads you can eat.” As a result, she has managed to try some unusual recipes with some of the produce. “I never tried arugula pesto before. But I was surprised. It was wicked good.”

Reality Check

by Heather Burns-DeMelo

I started this blog two years ago when I was gripped by fear--the paralyzing sort that came as a result of being shaken awake by numbers spiking off charts in Al Gore's documentary.

It was as if a bucket of ice cold water was splashed in my face, and I felt in my bones that every day I was selling my children a lie.  A lie that our society can be run on fossil fuel indefinitely and without negative impact. A lie that they will always have clean water to drink and enough to spray on their children on hot summer days. A lie that the mattress and pillow they sleep on at night is safe to breathe. A lie that the food on the super market shelves is healthy and safe to eat.

All lies.

So, I've kept my nose so close to the grind stone that many days I'm afraid to look up. For when I do, what I see around me threatens the sense of hope I've worked so hard to instill and foster and grow in myself and those around me. Why hope? Because hope fuels courage and fights despair. It creates a space for creativity, innovation and compassion to blossom. And those, we need in spades.

In Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming, Barbara Kingsolver writes, "We abolished slavery, we granted universal suffrage. We have done hard things before. Each time it took a terrible fight between people who could not imagine changing the rules.  If we run out of hope at the end of the day, we'll rise in the morning and put it on again with our shoes. Hope is the only reason we won't burn what's left of the ship and go down with it. If somebody says, "Your money or your life," you can say, "Life." And mean it."

Now that's perspective.

Next Move Is Rell's On Bill To Block Ash Dump

The Hartford Courant
By ALAINE GRIFFIN
June 18, 2009

FRANKLIN--Opponents of a plan to create an ash dump in Franklin are closely watching Gov. M. Jodi Rell's office this week, hoping she will sign legislation that blocks the project.

The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority says its plan to dump ash from its trash incinerators at the Franklin site is safe. But a group of residents have fought the project, taking their battle to the Capitol. Both the House and the Senate this session passed legislation barring the CRRA from buying land in either Windham or Franklin for an ash dump.

Rell spokesman Adam Liegeot said Wednesday that the governor has until Tuesday to act on the measure.

In a letter to Rell this week, Sen. Edith G. Prague, D-Columbia, said a veto by the governor "would show complete disregard for the well-being of those it would harm the most." An ash dump in Franklin would destroy "pristine" land there and pollute residents' drinking water, the letter states. Also signing the letter were Reps. Kevin Ryan, D- Montville, and Susan Johnson, D-Windham.

The letter follows recent allegations by environmentalists that the CRRA is using "last-minute scare tactics" to push for a veto, telling municipalities the legislation would mean the state would lose its ability to site landfills, forcing towns and cities to pay more to ship ash outside Connecticut.

No More Waste. Period.

by Eileen Weber

A friend of mine sent me a link for a product that was reviewed on IdealBite.com. It was a menstrual cup, a device meant to be 100% leak-proof during a woman’s period. While admittedly I felt a little squeamish, I was also intrigued.

With a list of reusable menstrual cups like DivaCup, MoonCup, MiaCup, Lunette, and The Keeper, there are plenty of options on the market. Using one of these cups stops the waste of tampons, pads, and liners from ending up in landfills. Many of the products we have grown up using don’t break down, especially those products that include a plastic backing.

For quite some time, tampons have been associated with toxic chemicals. Tampons have also been directly linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome, an illness caused by a bacterial infection from the use of hyper-absorbent tampons for an extended period of time. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, a sunburn-like rash, fever, dizziness and possible fainting from a drop in blood pressure.  

According to some estimates, the average woman in her lifetime can use enough feminine hygiene products to fill a dump truck. And that’s just one woman. Think of the millions of other women who are doing the same thing every month. Millions of non-biodegradable feminine products are thrown out in the garbage or flushed down the toilet causing residual plumbing problems. Suddenly a silly concept becomes an important environmental statement.

Based on the comments Ideal Bite received, there’s not a single woman who has used the product that gives it a negative review. Some have said it takes a few times to get used to it. But once you get the hang of it, it’s simple, easy, and leak-proof. What more could you want?

Events At The Center For Green Building

Center for Green Building Presents: Sustainable Design and Sam’s Summer Solstice:

Speaking of Green Lecture Series: Sustainable Design
June 18, 6-8pm
Presented by Elizabeth DiSalvo

Elizabeth, who owns Trillium Architects LLC, has eighteen years of experience with Architectural Design and Construction. She will talk about what sustainable building entails. She will explain about her company’s projects as well as green building codes and LEED certification.

Sam’s Summer Solstice:
June 20, 12-4pm

Come join us to meet industry professionals from across the state who will have interactive displays set up. There will be free music, food, and drink at this 2nd annual event. Come enjoy a Saturday afternoon filled with entertainment and information on how to be more sustainable in your lifestyle.

Please call or check out the events page on their website for updates or call 203.382.0774. They are located at 3380 Fairfield Avenue in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport.

 
 

Farm owners cry foul over CitySeed deal

The New Haven Register
Monday, June 15, 2009
By Pamela McLoughlin, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Owners of a farm in South Glastonbury claim they were treated like dirt by CitySeed, a local organization that runs farmers markets in New Haven.

Chris Bassette and her husband, Kevin, with their partner, Henry Killam, own Killam & Bassette Farmstead, LLC. She said after two years at the profitable Wooster Square Market, they were told at the last minute, in May, after the crops had been planted, help hired and 100 more chickens purchased for eggs, that they were being replaced.

They were told during the winter that CitySeed was looking for a large organic farm and it might replace them, but when they got their application in the mail in April, they figured they were set and went into motion.

“Obviously, we did something” to make them angry, Chris Bassette said of CitySeed. “We’re not being treated with honesty and respect. ... don’t feel I’m getting the full story.”

You Gonna Eat That?

by Eileen Weber

Ever feel like there are just too many tomatoes and not enough time? Come August, there will be plenty of backyard gardeners who would agree with that statement. And that’s where food trading comes in. Home growers are sharing their produce in a free trade system online and in communities across the country. 

According to an article in The New York Times on June 10th, there are a growing number of participants in food trading. The concept is based on the fact that “it’s a shame to let fruit go to waste” and “neighborhood fruit tastes best when it’s free.” Well, really, doesn’t everything taste better when it’s free?

Among others, the article listed web sites like VeggieTrader.com and NeighborhoodFruit.com as a place for traders to post what they have in exchange for what they want.

If you, like the founders of Veggie Trader, had excess lemons from your lemon tree, wouldn’t it be nice to see someone else make use of them? You could trade those lemons for, say, herbs or zucchini. You get to give what you have more of and take what you have less of. It’s a win-win.

In the New England area, Brian Alcorn, Founder of the Vermont Garden Exchange, wrote that many times a gardener has too much to use himself and doesn’t have the time to preserve the excess.

“The idea is to open it up so that you can trade anything,” said Alcorn, who founded the site with his wife. “You could even trade a cord of wood if that’s what you had. I just don’t want it to become an online grocery store. That’s not what it’s about.”

Lynn Seigel-Boettner, Founder and Organizer of the Santa Barbara Food Not Lawns chapters, agrees. “It’s more than just sharing food. It’s about bringing a community together and connecting people. We’ve forgotten how to do that.”

Book Swap

by Eileen Weber

 If you’re like me, you have enough books on your bookshelf to choke a horse. Occasionally, I’ll sift through them and take some of them to the library. But for the most part, I stock my bookcases with the books I buy. They just sit there, staring at me like lonely children waiting to play a game.

But there is hope for the pack rat that lurks in all of us. With web sites like Biblio.com, BetterWorldBooks.com, and PaperBackSwap.com, your used books won’t go to waste. They recycle old textbooks, paperbacks, and in some cases, CDs and DVDs. You got it? They want it.

Biblio.com, a company based in Asheville, North Carolina, purchases used, rare, and out-of-print books to sell online. They have been in business since 2003 and recently launched their U.K. version earlier this year. With a range of topics, you can get art and architecture to poetry to science to religion to health and fitness, and everything in between.

It’s a great site to go to if you belong to a bookgroup or, even better, if you’re a student living on a shoestring budget. Just a cursory look for a classic like Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter gave a long list of copies available for only $1. For a starving college kid living off Mac and Cheese and Ramen noodles, that leaves enough cash in your pocket for beer.

Climate Change: In The News

by Eileen Weber

There has been great debate over the effects of global warming, how carbon emissions play a role, and even if it really exists at all.

According to this article in today’s Washington Post, the East Coast may see rising sea levels as a result of melting polar ice caps. Climate change experts say “rising seas are one of the most tangible consequences of a changing climate.”

The U.S. and China have been dancing around each other in a global warming game of chicken. According to this article published in The New York Times on June 7, 2009, the “clock is ticking” between the two countries to resolve issues before the summit in Copenhagen later this year.

In this article dated May 29, 2009 from the Los Angeles Times, global warming doesn’t affect everyone the same. There are more oil refineries and power plants in low-income neighborhoods. How cities and towns handle carbon emissions may effect the people who live in those areas.

But there are still some who are disbelievers. Take this article from the Memphis Flyer dated June 2, 2009 in which two signs from Burger King chains between Mississippi and Tennessee claim “Global Warming Is Baloney”. Keep in mind that the signs also indicate the Drive-thru is 24 hours and they accept Visa. Just in case you were wondering.

Photo courtesy of Vanity Fair via Treehugger.com

A Green FROG In Connecticut

by Eileen Weber

The Watkinson School in Hartford, the city’s only independent school founded in 1881, had a ground-breaking for their net-zero science facility on May 27th. San Francisco-based Project FROG designed the school’s Center for Science and Global Citizenship. This school building will be the first of its kind in New England. The construction date is scheduled for next week.

“The building [will be] as smart as the students and teachers in it,” said John Bracker, Watkinson’s Head of School. Some of the key elements in the design are a geothermal heating and cooling system as well as solar panels. Large glass windows will be incorporated into the design to trap in heat in the winter and block it out in the summer. The windows will also provide lots of natural light to cut down on electricity costs.

Bracker said that the school looked into updating its science building about five years ago. But conventional methods were too expensive. When the concept of going green for less money came up, the Board of Trustees gave the go-ahead.

“This will not only augment the way we teach but change the way we teach. The building will be as much a part of the curriculum as any other teaching tools,” said Bracker. In other words, in order for the school to teach about sustainability they have to be sustainable.

Climate Change: Picturing The Science

by Eileen Weber

Kudzu. Native to Japan and southeast China, it’s the “plant that ate the south” in the lower half of the United States. But what if you saw a picture of that very same kudzu flourishing, say, somewhere on Long Island? Then that’s a product of global warming.

Last night at the Westport Public Library, David Downie, Professor of Environmental Studies at Fairfield University, hosted a lecture featuring Gavin Schmidt and Joshua Wolfe, co-authors of Climate Change: Picturing the Science. Schmidt is a climatologist for the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Wolfe is a freelance photojournalist.

Together, they portrayed the visible effects of environmental damage specifically as a result of greenhouse gases. Drought. Fires. Severe storms. Shrinking glaciers and a rising water table. A dried up Lake Chad and a drying out Colorado River. Scary scenes of what has already taken place and what we already cannot change.

“The science debate should be over,” said Downie of whether or not to believe that there is global warming. “This is now down to political will. This is about policy change.”

Both Downie and Schmidt made the point that we can’t stop global warming. It’s too late. We now have to think in terms of damage control.

“The choices we have are: How much warming do you want? Luke warm? Or toasty hot?” said Schmidt.

Care about Solar? Pick up the Phone ASAP!!

Thank you to our Friends at Connecticut Fund for the Environment, who say that YOU...the readers and supporters of CT GreenScene are making a difference!

"On behalf of Connecticut Fund for the Environment, thank you for your testimony and calls of support throughout the legislative session! Your enthusiasm has been a tremendous help.

Now we need one last big push to get these key bills through the Senate. Please call your senators immediately to make sure these bills make it to the floor before the end of session tomorrow."

             Growing Solar Power

Our allies have been working hard on this bill, and it’s paid off! HB 6635, An Act Concerning Solar Power, passed the House unanimously yesterday. Let’s get it through the Senate and get started—the bill will create at least 30 megawatts worth of new residential solar, encourage large-scale commercial solar projects, and create a new financing model for renewable energy credits.

Read it here: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/FC/2009HB-06635-R000491-FC.htm

Water Foul?

by Rip Empson  
New Canaan Advertiser
Thursday, May 28, 2009

Feeding resident ducks and geese has long been an activity shared by parents and their children on afternoon walks, but many residents may be surprised to learn that feeding local waterfowl can be harmful — and is now prohibited.

Last week, Town Council approved an ordinance designed to discourage this behavior,  declaring it unlawful to feed waterfowl on public land.

Ordinance 6-10, which was passed by one vote last week, will be enforced by police and animal control officers, and any resident found in violation of the ordinance may be fined $90.

At the coucil’s meeting, the vote on the proposed ordinance ended in a draw, but First Selectman Jeb Walker stepped in to break the tie in favor of approval.

“With this vote, we are not trying to take away a great childhood joy,” said Town Council member Richard White, who voted in favor of the ordinance. “We are trying to address a broader issue and outline an overall bird management program — which we have to undertake.”

The new ordinance is part of a town-wide effort to address the growing number of waterfowl living on public land in New Canaan — specifically Canada Geese, which have been labeled as the primary offenders.