We provide a PLATFORM to promote and amplify the incredible work of individuals, groups and organizations; a RESOURCE for those wanting to know how to achieve their sustainable goals; and a NETWORK to connect it all together into a LOCAL FORCE FOR GREATER GOOD.

From the local cafe who serves locally grown produce to the Fortune 500 company who installed solar panels on their headquarters to the high school student collecting signatures for clean energy sign ups, Connecticut GreenScene aims to reflect our local, green community.

We accomplish our mission through a comprehensive ONLINE PORTAL to showcase unique aspects of the local green community, and GreenScene LIVE EVENTS that bring people from all sectors and backgrounds together to collaborate, exchange ideas, brainstorm solutions and have fun. 

Above all, we are a network made up of people like you! If you'd like to post events, contribute articles, collaborate on events, or get involved in any way, drop us a line, pick up the phone, send a message in a bottle, perform a singing telegram...however you prefer to reach out and connect.

OUR FOUNDER

HEATHER BURNS-DEMELO is an environmental activist, journalist and sustainability strategist whose mission is to educate, inspire, and help individuals, government, and businesses to take steps--however small--toward smarter living.

Her interest in "green" began while working in Thailand as a SCUBA Dive Master in 1999, where she spearheaded a community outreach program called Save the Reef to educate local fishermen about the negative environmental impact caused by over fishing. But an "ah-ha" moment while commuting to work in Connecticut with her two small children in the car--when she realized the indoor air was as toxic as the plume of smoke coming from trucks on the highway--cemented the deal that she would spend the rest of her days on the planet working to revive it.

OUR ADVISORY BOARD

ANNELI CLAUDIA OLILA is a Boston-based communications specialist and strong advocate of responsible corporate citizenship and environmentally sound practices. She is instrumental in the operation of CT GreenScene as its Webmaster and IT guru. As Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Boston GreenScene, Anneli strives to provide the Greater Boston Area with a comprehensive portal to exploring how we can successfully incorporate sustainability into how we live and conduct business.

Anneli's personal commitment to sustainability is complemented by a professional background that provides her insight into the challenges faced by large and small companies alike. She enjoyed a lengthy tenure at one of Boston's leading general contractors, Suffolk Construction Co., Inc., where she most recently served as one of two instructional designers for their award winning and nationally recognized internal university. At Suffolk, she also worked with some of the finest strategic planning consultants available to the construction industry and developed several courses on LEED and sustainability.

As entrepreneur, Anneli founded Olila Documents & Communication Strategies, an extension of her nearly 20-year history of providing writing, editing, and communications consulting services to individuals and organizations worldwide.

Anneli's educational background includes a degree in Social Pedagogy (Rotterdam Social Academy, The Netherlands), augmented by studies in Historiography (Erasmus University, The Netherlands) Sociology (University of Minnesota), and Technical Communications (Northeastern University, Boston, MA).

On a personal level, Anneli is a vegetarian, lover of animals, and avid yoga practitioner. She believes that transparency, communication, healthy living, scientific and technological advancement, and socially and environmentally responsible business practices will set the tone for a positive and rewarding collective future.

CHRISTINA DEFRANCO is an Emmy award-winning journalist whose career spans nearly 20 years in broadcast news.  Most recently, she produced Aston’s Army: A Swim Team Legacy, the inspiring story of High School Swim Coach Ed Aston.  She also produced the critically acclaimed Darkest Hours: The Crisis in Children’s Mental Health Care, an in-depth documentary that explores society’s most vulnerable medical patients – children with mental illness. She is an environmental correspondent on the new Connecticut Public Television Show All Things Connecticut, and is the creator, producer, and host of a new environmental series Shades of Green: New England currently in development.

DeFranco served as reporter at WTNH-TV, ABC (New Haven, CT) from 1996-2001, where she reported live for the nightly news.  Prior to that, she was a reporter and anchor for WTIC-TV, Fox (Hartford, CT) from 1993-1996.  There she produced, wrote and reported on the 30-minute documentary, Saving Connecticut Schools: A Private Lesson.

From 1990 – 1993, she worked in a variety of capacities from researcher, bureau coordinator, reporter and producer, to anchor and news director in television markets in the northeastern United States, covering everything from the prospect of the Patriots moving to Hartford to the existence of a brain cancer cluster at Pratt and Whitney (a national story she broke in 2001.)

DeFranco won a New York Festival Award, two New England Emmy Awards, an Accolade, a Telly, as well as Associated Press Honors.  She’s also received multiple citations from Connecticut’s Society for Professional Journalists for her reporting.  She holds a BA from Duke University.  She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two sons. 

OUR EDITOR

EILEEN WEBER has been a freelance writer for the last few years. She has a master's degree in journalism and a professional background in publishing. She has written numerous articles for magazines, newspapers, newsletters and web sites. She lives in Fairfield with her husband, three daughters, two dogs and whole lot of chaos.

When time allows, she writes her own blog about food and, occasionally, a little wine (which she wouldn't mind having a glass of right now). If she’s lucky, Eileen lands a gig here and there doing voice-overs for commercials.

Eileen also spends a good deal of time volunteering. For the last two years, she has run an antique appraisal fundraiser and planned other events, all for charity. Last year, she was the President of the Welcome Club of Fairfield and Easton and is still a current member on the executive board. Very recently, she was part of a group of people from three local churches who helped raise money for an impoverished school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Apparently, Eileen lacks the self-awareness to realize how green she is. Writing for this web site has definitely opened her eyes. Not surprisingly, Eileen is also a late bloomer.

The Weber crew loves to travel, especially to Europe to visit family. Eileen loves to cook and entertain. So the next time you find yourself in Fairfield, hungry and a tad lonely, stop by.

OUR WRITERS

KRISTA RICHARDS MANN lives with two children and two rabbits in Westport, Connecticut.  Raised in California, she studied creative writing at Harvard and has made her home on the East Coast, since.  

Krista's focus on living Green is on simplicity.  Life is best lived naturally.  She likes the sea, the mountains and the woodlands just as they are now, and would like to protect them for those who will cherish them in the future.  Krista's fondness of nature inspires her stories, articles and the paintings she creates.

JAMES SIMPKINS is currently living in Collinsville, CT and has recently emigrated from Boston, by way of Chicago, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, France, New York City, Colorado—and suburban Columbus, Ohio where he grew up and earned a B.A. in Comparative Religious Studies from The Ohio State University.

A dedicated culinary professional, Simpkins has spent the last 14 years in kitchens all over the United States and France learning savory foods, pastry and bread making alike. But finding himself more than a little unwilling to submit to the arduous tutelage of the world’s best chefs, he began teaching for Le Cordon Bleu instead. There, James found his raison d’etre, bringing his fervor for food, cooking, history and cuisine into the classroom. But he wanted something else entirely.

A two year search culminated in entering a PhD program in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Connecticut where Simpkins currently studies the impacts of food culture in modern and contemporary literature. Most fascinating in his studies thus far is finding out that everything excellent (and creepy) about the restaurant world originated with Parisian restaurants in the late 18th century. Somehow this makes him feel better about it.

A lover of the world, Simpkins reads a lot, plays the piano (and decent golf), speaks respectable French, and loves SCUBA, fly fishing, skiing and snowboarding with his adoring wife Sheli…and doing absolutely nothing in between.

KATE L. HARRISON is the author of The Green Bride Guide (Sourcebooks 2008) and runs two green event planning websites (www.thegreenbrideguide.com and www.greenmitzvot.com). She graduated in 2002 from Vassar College with a major in Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development. After school, she moved to Berkeley, CA, where she worked in environmental education and outreach. She holds a J.D. from Pace Law School and is currently finishing her Master's degree in Environmental Policy, Law and Economics from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She lives with her husband Barry, two cats and a high-strung border collie in New Haven, CT.

ANALIESE PAIK is Founder of Fairfield Food Guide and holds a Master of Business Administration degree. She worked in marketing management positions in various sectors of the financial services industry before starting her career as an independent marketing consultant. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign languages and has lived in Madrid, Spain and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Analiese is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She studied wine at the International Wine Center in New York City and holds a certificate in wine from the UK’s Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Analiese is an avid organic gardener and home cook and delights in teaching these skills to her two sons. Recognizing an opportunity to marry her love of food, wine and gardening with her marketing expertise, Analiese launched the Fairfield Green Food Guide in 2009. Analiese is dedicated and passionate about keeping Fairfield County consumers in-the-know about local and sustainable food choices through her web site fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com.