CT Green Scene

OK, This Isn't Funny Anymore

Even as active as I've become, part of me wants to keep believing that this isn't really happening...that it's as simple as getting everyone to change their light bulbs, buy organic produce and stop idling their cars.

In fact, there's nothing we can do to reverse it, our only course of action is to stop the bleeding and prepare our children for the changes that are ahead.
Article from Yahoo!

                        Humans have altered Earth so much that scientists say a new epoch in the planet's geologic history has begun.

Say goodbye to the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch and hello to the Anthropocene.

Among the major changes heralding this two-century-old man-made epoch:

• Vastly altered sediment erosion and deposition patterns.
• Major disturbances to the carbon cycle and global temperature.
• Wholesale changes in biology, from altered flowering times to new migration patterns.
• Acidification of the ocean, which threatens tiny marine life that forms the bottom of the food chain.

It's days like this that I pick up the phone and call the people in my life who get it. The ones who  understand the complexity of it all. The ones among us who have innovative ways to solve our problems. The ones who are fighting for the rest of us. Many say they're a bit eccentric, odd or even strange. Sure they are shaking the boat, but isn't that what we need right now?

The Case for LEDs--Are They Ready?

The Holland Tunnel plans to retrofit their lamps with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which use 90 percent LESS electricity than CFLs, but DO THEY WORK?

Let's hope so.

"December 13, 2007 -- AP -- The Holland Tunnel has gone green. Crews overnight replaced fluorescent lights with light-emitting diode units. The LEDs distribute light more efficiently, require less energy and last 15 years, compared to 1.4 years for fluorescent. More than 1,700 LED fixtures replaced some 4,000 fluorescent ones in the tunnel. Port Authority officials say they'll save $340,000 each year in energy and maintenance costs. The George Washington Bridge's "necklace" of 156 mercury vapor fixtures are to be replaced with LEDs in January."

Some argue that they technology exists, but it is not yet available in Connecticut due to those with financial interests in keeping our current energy supply in tact keeping the lid screwed down tight on the technology.

Others claim that LEDs are in fact available, but they don't work.

The point here is that no matter how the cookie crumbles, we need LED technology if we're going to satisfy our energy needs with clean and renewable sources like solar, wind and small hydro. If not, we risk the nuclear power industry using carbon emissions from fossil fuels as an excuse to open up lots of plants that threaten our survival on Earth.

Good Tea, Very Good Tea

In this month's issue of Natural Awakenings, there is a simple, direct article reminding us why we should pass on the skinny caramel latte double foam and go straight for tea-- especially green tea.

You have never had to convince me about the virtues of a leafy warm beverage-- for some reason, even though my Mom was always a Folgers drinker, I followed my Dad's preference of hot Liptons in the evening. It wasn't the health qualities tea brings with it after steeping, but the mere warm-y goodness of it.  Drinking tea, even at my desk on a busy afternoon, opens for me whole moments of pause, time to just sip and commune with my thoughts.

Tea, in some way, has a direct line from my lips to the slower part of my brain, it seems. No matter how much I love to indulge in cup of sweetened-cream Dunkin D's coffee (a poor substitute for Tim Hortons I might add), I still consider myself, truly a tea drinker.

If you are wondering what I buy in the tea aisle, it has recently come down to two brands: Numi and Yogi. Recently I decided to fully commit to organic teas, and I go back and forth between Yogi and Numi. Yogi Tea, made in Eugene, Ore., has a mad variety, but they are not entirely organic. Still I am charmed by their recent re-branding, especially the thoughtful teabag-tag and yoga-on-the-box advice.

Numi, out of Oakland, Calif., is a bit more serious, intense and rich, slightly more expensive (not by much) with a wilder undercurrent. When I hold a box of Numi in my hand, it feels like a commitment-- a very good one.

So, if you happen by the Wild Harvest aisle of Shaw's and spot of woman standing, gazing lovingly at the shelves of tea, say hi. I'm often there, visiting the boxes, seeing what is new, trying to resist.

Westport's Whole Foods Banning Plastic Bags

Post from Westportnow.com

Check out this link for a great discussion of comments about whether or not this action is worthy of positive media/public attention.

 

Whole Foods Market, which includes a Westport branch on Post Road West (formerly Wild Oats), has banned plastic bags. The Austin, Texas, natural-foods chain said Tuesday that it will eliminate all single-use plastic bags from stores nationwide by Earth Day, April 22. Stores nationwide gave away 55,000 reusable plastic bags on Tuesday, officials said. The reusable bags are now on sale for 99 cents, and, as the sign outside the Westport store indicates, customers will get 10 cents back for every reusable bag used. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

40 Million "Green" Boomers in U.S.

What's a boomer to spend their golden goose egg on? Green products, of course!

Article from Environmentalleader.com

Forty million boomers use their purchasing power to buy environmentally safe brands, according to a survey from AARP Services and Focalyst.

This large, green boomer segment is often more demanding of quality in the products and services they buy, more attuned to advertising and exhibit higher brand loyalty than other boomers.

The tendency to buy environmentally safe brands correlates directly with age, with mature consumers even more likely to be “green.” According to Heather Stern, Director of Marketing for Focalyst, “As consumers get older, they become more aware of their legacy and leaving a positive mark on the world, and this is particularly true of boomers. We anticipate that as time goes on, more and more boomer shoppers will simply expect brands to be eco-friendly and rather than this being a point of brand differentiation, it will be a price of entry.”

Get your fresh, local produce and support local commerce!

   

Over FOUR HUNDRED people showed up for this season's first farmers'
market! Don't miss out on getting those fresh fruits and veggies, while
mingling with the people who tend to the earth everyday to bring
them from the farm to your table!

The New York Times Covers Fairfield County GreenDrinks

An important omission has been made from this article in The New York Times--Remy Chevalier, whose name is not mentioned, has been instrumental in the creation and growth of Fairfield County GreenDrinks, particularly concerning the funky and fun event last month at Pirate.

The omission was unintentional, and not performed by the writer and photographer who covered the story.

Environmentalists

Hi. Buy You a Drink? Save the Planet?

By WENDY CARLSON
Published: January 20, 2008

NY TIMES - CT SECTION

Norwalk

IT was a typical pub scene at the Pirate Night Club and Restaurant in Norwalk on a recent evening, except that the banter around the bar was about bamboo, not baseball, and the drinks were green in the organic sense.

“The environment is on a lot of people’s minds,” said Heather Burns-DeMelo, 37, the founder of Fairfield County Green Drinks, a social networking group of eco-minded professionals, which held its fourth monthly meeting here on a recent Wednesday evening.

On this occasion, the mixer drew about 100 people, uniting a wide range of environmentalists, including business executives, members of the Green Party, carpenters, chefs, makeup artists, architects, fashion designers and schoolteachers.

Ms. Burns-DeMelo, the editor of the Hartford-based AllGreen Magazine and the Web site CTGreenScene.typepad.com, said she learned about Green Drinks International when she was working as a freelance writer covering environmental issues.

Wake Up. Work. Go to GreenDrinks.

Thanks to everyone for a GREAT January GreenDrinks at Pirate! We'll see you all next month at the Westport Arts Center. Renowned chef and author Michel Nischan will speak about sustainability in Connecticut. Enjoy tasty treats by The Mindful Chef. Admission: $15. Space is limited; please RSVP.

Companies and organizations represented at Fairfield County GreenDrinks:

AKF Engineers
AllGreen Magazine
Catch a Healthy Habit
CBIA
Center for Green Building
Connecticut Fund for the Environment
CT Coalition for Environmental Justice
CT Friends School
CT GreenScene
E Magazine
EarthPlace
Eco-chick
Energy Independence Now
Environmental Innovations Group
Fairfield Winter Market
Great Green Race
Green Home Solutions
Greenburbs
iPark
JRT Design
Kathleen Richards Makeup Artist
Letters from a Small State
Maritime Aquarium
Mercury Solar
Morgan Stanley
National R/E Sources
NaturalAwakenings
Natural Neighborhood
Organic Vintages
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
Pirate
RD Weis
Reforest the Tropics
Shape Construction and Design
Smith Barney
Solar Wrights
Sterling Planet
Steven Winters and Associates
The Daily Green
The Dressing Room
The Mindful Chef
The New York Times
Topline Marketing
Voltaic Systems
Walders Business Interiors
Wendy Carlson Photography
Westport Magazine
WSHU

The Devil Wears Lip Balm

by Heather Burns-DeMelo

Who am I to scorn Treehugger for selling out to Discovery or look down my nose at Bear Naked and Kashi giving in to Kellogg? After all, I'm only a hard working mother of two whose hard earned money helped fatten their sacrificial lamb.

Sure I was bummed that I could no longer purchase my favorite cereal or Toms of Maine feeling good about voting for a greener economy with my dollars, but Clorox purchasing Burts Bees for $913 million in November has officially tipped my needle from mild disappointment to despair.

And just to add insult to injury, this article in the New York Times reports that Clorox plans to turn Burt’s Bees into a mainstream American brand that's sold in big-box stores like Wal-Mart.

Who's next?


 

Linen and Towels - The Perfect Green Solution

Or... Use What You've Got

by Elizabeth Howard

In offering green tips, I work generally on the principle that other people, like me, are imperfect and not immune to temptation.

As for me, I have a problem with the lure of lush bath towels and crisp new sheets.

By way of confession, at right I have posted a photo of my linen closet. Note that it is perfectly well stocked (though not perfectly folded) with towels, hand towels and face cloths. The sheets--indicating various stages of taste, husband's bachelorhood, duvet shades and mattress sizes-- are nonetheless, intact and well-stocked.

So, what's the tip? For most of us, by now it should be obvious, though I will be the first to admit, actually living this tip isn't easy.

It's worth repeating though, and I will because REUSE is my favorite R: Use what you've got!

Die, Old Habit!

Stopping ourselves from making purchases, for the sake adorning or updating our homes (or ourselves, not to mention those bothersome children and pets, OY!) isn't easy. I mean to tell you, it is downright a pain in the donkey.

So here's something to puzzle yourself with when you are, like me, wandering around Crackville (aka Target), goggling at the pretty-pretty, matchy-matchy blue margarita glasses and serving platters.

"How many towels does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent light bulb?"

Existential? Sure. But then, it's all a personal matter of how you face the crisis: just push your Target trolley through it.