CT Green Scene

Natural Pesticides that Work

EarthTalkTM
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What green-friendly lawn and garden pesticides are available today? I’m particularly interested in options that won’t harm my cats.     -- Nancy Blanchard, via e-mail

Pesticides have greatly boosted agricultural yields over the last half century, so it is no wonder, given the commercial availability of many of these synthetic chemicals, that American homeowners apply 100 million pounds of the stuff each year to make their own gardens grow bigger and faster, too.

But the downside of using such chemicals is that they can poison people and pets as well as backyard wildlife: “Common insecticide ingredients such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), atrazine and dicamba have been shown to harm mouse embryos at times equivalent to the first week after conception in humans,” says Erica Glasener of The Green Guide. Due to such revelations, home gardeners are fast discovering the benefits of avoiding chemicals in favor of natural, less toxic alternatives.

But before thinking about applying pesticides, gardeners can design (or re-design) their gardens to make the most of native plants that have evolved over eons to thrive in local conditions without synthetic aid or lots of water. Choosing native plants appropriate to your elevation, soil type, drainage and sun exposure will naturally repel many common pests and also reduce the propagation of invasive exotic species.

Similarly, embedding your plants in healthy soil replete with beneficial insects and worms can also help reduce the need for pesticides. Laura Moran of Mainstreet.com suggests that home gardeners compost their vegetable food waste—which is chock full of nutrients that plants love—and mix it into existing soil to give the garden a healthy boost. “Aside from stimulating healthy root development,” she writes, “the addition of rich compost also improves soil texture, aeration and water retention.” It also provides a nice home, she says, for the beneficial bugs that are destroyed along with the bad ones by chemical pesticides.

If pesticides are necessary, there are a handful of organic varieties available. Bacillus thuringiensis (“Bt”) is a naturally occurring bacterium that is lethal to most leaf-eating caterpillars on trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables. According to gardening writer Jeff Ball, it is harmless to all other insects, animals and humans. It comes in a powder form for use as a dust, or, when diluted with water, as a spray. Organic chemists have formulated varieties of Bt to kill mosquitoes or potato beetles as well.

83 Trees Cut Down to Make Better View for Billboard

Via The Green Vibration

Action is needed to protect trees in our very own state! We need to stop companies like LAMAR not only littering our landscapes but destroying our trees to achieve their goals. Send letters of support to Blumenthal and please visit www.scenic.org to send a letter to Jodi Rell stating your support of her bill to ban new billboard contracts in CT, including digital billboards.

Article Written By
BY ROBYN ADAMS REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERBURY-- Nancy Voghel grew up on a "little piece of heaven," but she said Friday that the land near her childhood home has been destroyed.

Last year, Lamar Advertising of Hartford got a permit from the state Department of Transportation to trim and remove undesirable growth on state land off Sidney Street to increase the visibility of one of its billboards.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a lawsuit against the billboard company and Long Hill Tree and Lawn Care Services of East Hartford for cutting down 83 trees that included birch, maple, oak and white pine that were between 85 and 200 years old. Long Hill Tree was hired by Lamar to do the work.

Hal Kilshaw, vice president of governmental relations for Lamar, headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., said the attorney general got it wrong.

"We got permission from the landowner and a permit from the state. We hired Long Hill and met with the state's landscape person, who was on site and agreed to everything that was cut," Kilshaw said in a telephone interview.

Many of the trees that were planted on the land in question were planted by Margaret Casey's grandfather.

"In less than one day, less than an hour, Lamar Advertising came in and changed our lifestyle," said Casey, of 56 Sidney St. "The noise -- we cannot open the windows anymore. We cannot hear the television because of the noise. It is unbearable."

The trees provided a buffer to highway traffic and noise, and soaked up water that spilled down the hilly terrain.

"Last year, I had five feet of water in my basement," said Jerod Voghel, 30, who is Karen Voghel's son. He bought the house that his mother grew up in four years ago; she now lives in Wolcott.

With the open swath of land in the background, Blumenthal and Rep. Selim Noujaim, R-75th District, talked to residents about the lawsuit.

Blumenthal said Lamar "clearly and disgracefully broke the law" by cutting 83 trees that provided a buffer to I-84. The state is suing for unspecified monetary damages to replace the trees.

Mercy Center at Madison: Connecticut’s Green Conference Facility

You’ve worked really hard this past year and now you need to get your staff psyched to launch a new product line. Or maybe your nonprofit organization is serving more people with fewer resources and you need to come up with a new fundraising plan. Setting aside a day once a year for a staff retreat to reconsider your mission and vision can yield big results.

Even better: schedule a staff retreat day to put your company’s sustainability plan and environmental policies on paper while enjoying and learning from an unusual organization that has made the commitment to sustainability themselves.

Mercy by the Sea, a 33 acre facility with 1100 feet of private beach offers nonprofit, government and business groups a “unique setting where learning, planning, exploring and innovating can flourish”, as described on their website, www.mercybythesea.org.

Two years ago they made a strong commitment to greening their operations and added an Ecology Department and Director, Sherill Baldwin, to their organization.

Friends United for Sustainable Energy (FUSE USA)

The aging Indian Point Nuclear Power point and its radioactive isotopes are far from a clean, green energy option. Previous arguements against closing the plant included not having enough power to replace the plant's output. This is no longer the case.

FUSEUSA (Friends United for Sustainable Energy) is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization, that advocates for the development and use of  sustainable energy, in an effort to protect public health and safety and to preserve the integrity of the environment. Their current campaign is to STOP the issuance of relicensing of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants, (located just outside New York City) that have a peak injury radius which includes Fairfield and Litchfield counties. They have already filed Contentions and Rulemaking Petitions with the NRC, and are currently preparing Intervener Petitions and other legal actions.

FUSEUSA is a member of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC) which is a coalition of over 70 community groups dedicated to the closure of Indian Point.  Visit their website or read more about their recent legal action in the NY Times.

Chemical Clean Up in Milford

(Boston, Mass. – September 24, 2007) – A recent agreement cleared the way for cleanup work to begin at a contaminated drainage swale at 80 Wampus Lane in Milford, Conn. The work is being conducted jointly by EPA and FCI USA Inc. to remove contaminants from the site, including metals (beryllium and lead), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and oils.

The current cleanup, estimated to cost approximately $360,000, will address contaminated surface soils in a 210 foot-long, man-made earthen drainage swale on the property. The swale reportedly received treated plating wastewater, which still contained harmful liquids, between 1965 and 1991.

The 24 acre site likely was contaminated from years of industrial activity on the property, where the manufacturing of electrical components and accessories took place from 1956 to 1999. Operations at the facility included rubber and plastic molding, screw machining, de-greasing and plating as well as waste water treatment. The Conn. Dept. of Environmental Protection (CT DEP) has previously overseen the remediation of two contaminated waste lagoons and a landfill on site. Read the full story here.

Green-E Profile of a CT Riverman

What is the name of your organization and what is its mission? The Farmington River Watershed Association was established as a 501©3 non-profit conservation organization in 1953 with a mission of protecting the Farmington River and its watershed forever through implementing research, education, and advocacy programs.

What is your day-to-day role in the organization? Every day I am involved with directing programs, making public presentations, responding to questions about the watershed, developing ideas for new programs on emerging environmental issues, serving as a liaison with our Board of Directors, working with other local and statewide groups trying to make a difference, and raising funds to support our activities.

What prompted you to become eco-conscious? I grew up in Pittsfield, MA near the Housatonic River.  As a kid, I went to the Pleasant Valley (Audubon) Wildlife Sanctuary day camp in Lenox and learned about pond, river, and meadow ecology.  In High School, I started hearing and learning about PCB’s and other environmental contaminants that were added to the River by a local business, and my AP Biology teacher inspired me to think about a career in science.  After graduating from the University of Michigan with a History degree, I went to work for Congressman Silvio O. Conte in Washington, DC serving as his legislative aide handling elderly, environmental, health, and women’s issues.  With Conte, environmental issues quickly became my favorite and I worked with a team of people to write legislation that created the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge along the Connecticut River.  When Conte passed away in 1991, I went to work for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, then got a Master’s degree in environmental science at U.C. Berkeley, and I haven’t looked back since.  I have been FRWA’s Executive Director since January, 2003.

What do you see as the most pressing environmental issue in Connecticut? Why?

Many environmental issues are connected but I would say that one of the prime drivers of environmental problems is sprawl (a.k.a. unwise land use).  This leads to a bevy of problems:  an increase in impervious/paved surfaces which leads to more stormwater run-off pollution and flooding as well as less groundwater/aquifer recharge; an increase in commute times which are connected to increased consumption of fossil fuels and a worsening of global warming and air pollution; and the loss of key habitats and species due to fragmentation by roads and poorly planned developments.

Connecticut Birding Blog

For all of you bird watching and naturalists out there, you must check out the lively posts and OUTSTANDING PHOTOS on The Brownstone Birding Blog, written by a Connecticut native with an interest in birding who shares his adventures in the great Connecticut outdoors.

Coastal Cleanup

The Ocean Conservancy’s 22^nd annual International Coastal Cleanup will involve hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the globe on Saturday, September 15, 2007.
Locally, volunteers of the Norwalk River Watershed Association [NRWA], Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, other groups, and members of the public are encouraged to participate in “pollution prevention” by teaming up to remove trash from our region of the Long Island Sound’s shoreline.  Trash removed from the shore saves marine animals’ lives and can improve water quality, and so Ed Holowinko of NRWA will be at Norwalk’s Veteran’s Park at 9 AM to organize local volunteers who want to take part in this global effort.  Please call Ed at 203.852.7187 to register your interest.  Volunteers working for three hours will satisfy the hands-on component required to earn the Norwalk River Watershed Patch.  Visit www.norwalkriver.org for details.

For people who wish to work in other geographic locations, online registration may be done at the Ocean Conservancy’s website; visit www.oceanconservancy.org, and click on the International Coastal Cleanup “Register Now” box. Boaters who can clean up coastal islands and boat ramp areas are especially appreciated!

Storms Bring Sprawl Pollution to Rivers

By Eric Hammerling

The pejorative term “sprawl" conjures up an image of cookie-cutter subdivisions marching inexorably over gentle hills that were once farms or forests. Many of us bemoan the changes that sprawl has wrought on our neighborhoods and towns — more paved areas, more traffic, more look-alike strip malls. We rarely speak of what may be the most harmful aspect of sprawl, and that is how it affects our water supply.

What is happening isn’t hard to explain. Sprawling development is accompanied by an explosion of paved areas, which scientists call “impervious surfaces.” When rain falls or snow melts, the water runs off these impervious surfaces into storm drains and is conveyed directly into the nearest river, stream, or lake. Stormwater, as this runoff is known, carries along whatever is in its path. That too often includes pet wastes; road sand and salt; oil, gas, heavy metals and other car-related pollutants; pesticides; and fertilizers and sediment from poorly controlled construction sites. These pollutants, especially when combined with low water and warm temperatures, can spell serious trouble for the river or lake and the fish and the wildlife who depend upon it.

A Green Wedding Gift

Many young couples are concerned about climate change.  Davie and Tiffany Foley, a newly wedded couple received an unusual wedding gift from their relatives--this forest in Costa Rica designed to balance their carbon emissions for the next 25 years.

CO2 is responsible for climate change and global warming. The average annual per capita CO2 emission of each U.S. citizen was 23.5 metric tonnes in 2004, up 18% since 1990.  A couple who does not take measures to reduce their emissions is thus responsible for 47 tonnes each year.

In addition to buying hybrid cars, installing solar panels, switching over to clean energy, and reducing our use of electricity, another option for managing CO2 emissions is to sponsor a carbon-offset forest.  Working with farmers to reforest pastures in 25-year contracts, programs like Reforest the Tropics manage new forests to produce wood for farmer income and to sequester CO2 on behalf of U.S. emitters.