CT Green Scene

Don't Forget There's Someone In There

The exposure of pregnant women to air pollution can increase their risk of having low-birth-weight infants, according to a Yale study.

Researchers at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) and School of Medicine found that the higher the level of exposure to nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), the greater the risk of having lower-weight infants.

The researchers investigated the exposure of pregnant women for 358,504 births from 1999 to 2002 in 15 Connecticut and Massachusetts counties.

Read on if you like, but before you get too depressed...do OneThing and feel good about taking a step toward a solution.

Measure Your Footprint

According to the Connecticut Climate Change website, "Your carbon footprint is a representation of the effect you, or your organization, have on the climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases you produce (measured in units of carbon dioxide). Many of your actions generate carbon emissions, which contribute to accelerating global warming and climate change. By measuring your carbon footprint through such tools as the Safe Climate Carbon Calculator, you can get a better sense of what your individual impact is and which parts of your lifestyle deserve the greatest attention. Armed with such information you can more readily take effective action to shrink your carbon footprint, thereby minimizing your personal impact on the climate."

B-Greener Tips for the BIRDS!

I love listening to and watching the birds that come and visit my yard. If you want to attract more birds, as well as do your part to conserve dwindling wild bird populations, read these tips offered by Partners in Flight.

And if you don't get past this intro, at least stop using chemical pesticides on your lawn--each year, 4 million tons of pesticides are applied in the U.S. exposing 672 million birds to the harmful effects of these chemicals. One-tenth of those exposed, or 67 million birds, are estimated to die as an immediate result!

Climate Change in Connecticut

Visit the CT Climate Action Change Steering Commitee's website whose mission is to deal with climate change in Connecticut by decreasing statewide carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2010 and going 10 percent lower than that by 2020. You can also read the state's 2005 Climate Action Plan that outlines 55 actions to fight global warming.

BioDiesel in Connecticut

Lots of people have been inquiring about buying biodiesel in Connecticut, and boy am I glad I'm not the only one looking for it! The Connecticut Waste Oil List, formerly the Connecticut Biodiesel Co-op, offers information for the adventurous Do-It-Yourselfer who wants to make their own.

For those willing and able to pay more for convenience, Greenleaf Biofuels in Guilford, Connecticut, will deliver 55 gallon drums for $3.49 per gallon. Greenleaf also sells personal filling stations priced between $275 (manual) - $675 (complete with an electric pump). For more options, visit the National Biodiesel Board, which lists the contact information for over a dozen biodiesel distributors around the state; and please share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences making, purchasing or using biodiesel.

Sewage Discharges from Boats Banned

While I'm not sure how anyone will monitor such actions, it's great to hear that all of Connecticut's waters in Long Island Sound are now part of a "No Discharge Area," making it illegal for boaters to discharge sewage from their vessels anywhere in the state's portion of the Sound.

A "No Discharge Area" is a designated body of water in which the discharge of treated as well as untreated boat sewage is prohibited. Boaters in "No Discharge Areas" are required to use pumpout facilities or pumpout boats to dispose of any waste.

Connecticut's first "No Discharge Area" was approved by EPA and designated in the Stonington area in 2003, followed by the Mystic/Groton area in 2004 and the Groton to Guilford area in 2006. The final portion is the Branford to Greenwich stretch of Long Island Sound announced today. DEP requested the No Discharge designation for this area in May 2006.

B-Greener @ Home Tip

These B-Greener @ home tips come from “POWER TO THE PEOPLE: How to fight global warming, lower your utility bills, and take a stand for a more sustainable future,” compiled by The Audubon Society and the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Seal Air Leaks for better heating and cooling. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that air leakage accounts for up to 10 percent of a homeowner’s energy bill. You first priorities are to seal your attic and basement. Then seal windows, doors, vents, electrical sockets, and anywhere else air is escaping. If you’re having trouble finding leaks, you can hire a professional to find them with a blower door test or infrared technology. CL&P and the Energy Star program offer this service. Cost: $100 (Do-It-Yourself) - $600 (professional). Annual Savings: $60 - $70. Payback: 1.4 – 10 years.

Cheat Your Water Heater. Water heating can account for roughly 19 percent of a home energy bill and some estimates say that CO2 emissions from running that heater are double your car emissions! The majority of U.S. houses have gas water heaters, but almost 40 percent use doubly expensive electric systems. Make your water heater work more efficiently: wrap it with an insulating jacket; insulate hot water pipes; turn the heater off when you're on vacation; install timer controls that switch off heater when your at work or sleeping; add anti convection valves and loops; and turn the temperature down to 120 degrees F or less. Cost: $80 - $100. Annual savings: $57 - $123. Payback: 0.7 - 1.9 years.

Slay Vampires. An energy vampire is an electronic device--a TV, phone, fax, computer, or cell phone charger--that draws energy even when it's in "standby mode." These vampires can suck up to seven watts of energy per hour. How do you conquer them? Buy energy efficient appliances that use one less watt per hour in standby mode, plug computers into smart strips that sense when you shut down power to certain receptacles. Ordinary power strips can also be easily switched off when electronics are not in use. Cost: $0. Annual savings: $5 - $34. Payback: Immediate.

Read all 21 useful tips.

Balancing Your School's CO2 Emissions

By Dr. Herster Barres

Reforest The Tropics, Inc. (RTT) is a CT-based non-profit organization that works with schools to teach students about climate change.  The approach to learning involves teaching students the somewhat grim realities of climate change, but offers practical steps that students can take to feel a part of the solution.

There are four basic ways to deal with global warming: energy efficiency, energy conservation, new sources of clean energy, and sequestration of CO2--which is accomplished by trees that hold units of CO2 until they are cut down or die.  Working in the area of sequestration, Reforest the Tropics has developed a working model of the long-term sequestration of US CO2 emissions in sustainable tree-farm forests located in Costa Rica, where year-round temperatures are best for growing healthy trees.

As a part of the program, all participating schools receive science or math instruction with RTT staff or a local environmental group to achieve the following:

1)  Learn how to calculate the CO2 emissions of your school and home in order to track our success in reducing these emissions.  Student can do an in-class exercise each year to up-date their school's inventory.

2)  Sponsor a forest on a farm in Costa Rica, a forest dedicated to offsetting 25 or more tonnes of CO2 each year in a long-term contract with the farmer.  You can track the growth and sequestration in this forest through data and pictures taken by the RTT forester in Costa Rica and sent to your school's
e-mail address.

For more information, visit reforestthetropics.org or contact hbarres@aol.com in Mystic, CT.

Large Scale Bio-diesel Production in CT

I recently stopped by to fill my car up at Global off of exit 8 on 84W and thought I'd see what would happen if I asked the cashier when we could expect bio-diesel. She looked at me like I had three heads, and then a guy behind me said, "I don't think we have any of that stuff here in Connecticut."

Maybe I'll stop by the White House next week and ask when we can expect World Peace.

From the Hartford Courant July 20, 2007

By Lynn Doan

SUFFIELD - A bio-diesel company is looking to build the state's first large-scale bio-diesel production facility on an 18-acre plot at the end of Firestone Drive.

Representatives from CT Biodiesel, a Hartford-based renewable fuel company, came before the board of selectmen Wednesday with plans for a 25,000-square-foot building, in which soybean and canola oil would be transformed into 50 million gallons of bio-diesel a year. Bio-diesel is currently produced in Connecticut on a much smaller scale, with UConn's Biofuels Consortium producing 50 gallons a week out of restaurant waste oil for the university's vehicles.

Love That New Car Smell?

So we all know about the pollutants that spew from our exhaust pipes, but what about the adhesives, plastics, rubbers, and other materials that make up our vehicle interior and off-gass into the air we breathe? And if you're like me and hit the recycle button on the highway to avoid diesel fumes--eek!

Off-gassing is the release of volatile or hazardous chemicals from a material or product into the air. The process can take place over months or even years, and given that the interior of a car is a small and enclosed, toxic interiors are of particular concern. Some of the chemicals that are present in our cars are lead, bromine, and PVC and Phthalates, which are endocrine inhibitors. These same materials are used for infant, toddler and booster seats.

The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, MI has a useful website, www.healthycar.org, that rates most recent models of cars and car seats according to their level of toxicity.