CT Green Scene

350: The Magic Number

Loop Year: 365 Days on the Trail

What do you do if you're an amateur adventurer and environmentalist who dreams of hiking the Appalachian Trail or saving the rainforest, but you can't quit your day job or abandon personal commitments?

John Sheirer created his own project: From May 17, 2005 to May 16, 2006, he hiked the same trail at the McCann Family Farm in Somers, Connecticut, once a day, every day. He chronicled the year in Loop Year: 365 Days on the Trail, a book composed of 365-word accounts of his hiking project.

Along the way, Sheirer discovered that an obsession with hiking and caring for the same New England trail every day can be surprisingly adventurous--ranging from blistering heat, flooding rain, whiteout snowstorms, early mornings, dark nights, and everything in between. (Plus there's an unexpected love story and a really cute dog.)

On Sunday, June 22, 2008 from 3pm and 4 pm at McCann Family Farm in Somers, CT (Route 190, approximately one mile east of the intersection of routes 190 and 83), the author will read from the book and it will be for sale for the first time.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Northern Connecticut Land Trust. For more information, visit www.johnsheirer.com.

Ice Shelf the Size of Connecticut Set to Break Off Next

On March 25, Tuesday of this week, the British Antartic Survey issued a press release stating: "A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is now supported only by a thin strip of ice hanging between two islands. It is another identifiable impact of climate change on the Antarctic environment."

On the night of the 25th a chunk of it — 7 times the size of Manhattan — 160 square miles — suddenly collapsed. According to the Associated Press this puts the rest of the shelf— which is the size of Connecticut— at risk of breaking off next. 

The next day a lead-in story on Yahoo, issued by the Associated Press, ran for about 45 minutes and then dropped off. The voice over states that ONE scientist attributed the situation to global warming. It ends with stating in reassuring tones "there is no risk of rising sea levels."

Your weekend picnic plans are safe!

(Our opinion: we need journalism with more backbone.)

Environmentally Minded Peruse, Schmooze at iPark

By Kerry Wills
Special Correspondent
Stamford Advocate

Published March 14 2008

NORWALK - In October, a writer named Heather Burns-DeMelo organized Fairfield County GreenDrinks, a mixer where folks with environmental concerns can swap ideas and phone numbers.

Sixty-five people showed up at the meeting place: a bar.

Even more people - about 150 - showed up Wednesday evening to check out the city's new i.park corporate complex, a green office park. They included builders, architects and students.

"The room is full of people who couldn't be more different, but one thing they share is an interest in the environment," Burns-DeMelo said. "People are waking up to it."

Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia showed up, as did three boys from Cider Mill School in Wilton who enrolled people in Connecticut Light & Power's CTCleanEnergyOptions. The program allows customers to get their power from renewable sources, such as wind.

Fourth-graders Alex Scaperotta, 9, and Jordan Reichgut, 10, are the founders of Little People, Big Changes, a club for children who care about the environment. Last year, they pushed for a ban on idling cars in the school parking lot.

"If every person in the United States stopped idling for five minutes each day, it would save 32 million tons of carbon dioxide, approximately," Jordan said. "Not pounds. Tons."

The boys, with Jordan's 8-year-old brother, Ethan Reichgut, a second-grader at Cider Mill, said they have signed up more than 100 Wilton residents for clean energy, enough to earn the town free solar panels on a municipal building.

Moccia urged Norwalk residents to enroll in the program. The Norwalk Common Council this week passed a resolution to support using 20 percent clean energy by 2010.

Since the October launch, Fairfield County GreenDrinks events have showcased green products, businesses and initiatives, Burns-DeMelo said.

"It's a place where people can exchange creative ideas, brainstorm solutions, inspire each other, and maybe even start projects," she said.

Jim Motavalli to Talk About his Book: Naked in the Woods

Author Jim Motavalli, editor of the Norwalk-based E/The Environmental Magazine, will speak about his book Naked in the Woods: Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery (DaCapo) at the Barnes and Noble store in Westport, 1076 Post Road East on Wednesday, March 12 at 7 p.m.

On August 4, 1913, self-taught artist Joseph Knowles went into the woods of Maine—alone and basically naked—with the intent to survive for two months using only his wits and materials he found in the forest. As a publicity stunt for the Boston Post, he wanted to prove a modern man could “live off the land” as his ancestors had done. He proclaimed it would be a period of total solitude and silence, with no human contact. He sent dispatches back to the world written in charcoal on birch bark, which the Post published in the Sunday paper, detailing his daily activities and illustrated with his own vivid sketches of the animals around him.

He was successful in his two-month endeavor—and the Post was successful in their publicity efforts—so much so that when Knowles emerged on October 4, he was met by 200,000 cheering fans in Boston. But a rival newspaper, the Hearst-owned Boston American, soon accused Knowles of being a fake, claiming there were bullet holes in his bearskin and a comfortable cabin where he’d stayed in the woods. Knowles defended himself vigorously and within months the Hearst papers offered him the chance to do it again—this time on the Oregon-California border for the San Francisco Examiner. Throughout, the newspaper competition was fierce, with editors playing up Knowles’ exploits in the woods with fervor comparable to today’s reality TV shows.

Contact: Jim Motavalli (203) 854-5559, X107

 

The Graying Of The Greens

ERIN WALRATH and her fiancée, Peter Mariano, chat during Fairfield County Green Drinks, a cocktail party at the Westport Arts Center for people interested in environmental issues. (MICHAEL KODAS / February 13, 2008)

With Aging Memberships, Environmental Groups Reach Out To Younger Members

by STEVE GRANT |  The Hartford Courant

Something's happened to Connecticut's venerable environmental groups. They're aging, often dominated by members and leaders well into their 50s and beyond. Greens gone gray.

It has them worried. "The environmental community must make room for younger, more creative and less bureaucratic individuals who will stick their neck out on important issues and who will have the energy and expertise to galvanize the public into action," said Allan Williams of West Hartford, a longtime environmental activist and member of the Sierra Club.

Fearful of a loss of relevance, concerned they might lose influence in shaping state policy, long-established groups like the Connecticut Audubon, the Connecticut chapter of the Sierra Club and the Connecticut Forest & Park Association are now reaching out to attract younger members, employees and board members.

"We certainly do want to attract younger people," said Adam R. Moore, executive director of the forest and park group. "We've been working on that, just like every environmental group has been."