CT Green Scene

But Baby, its Cold Outside

by Jessica Levinson

We may finally be seeing hints of winter! I saw my first snow flurry last week and although it melted pretty much before it hit the ground, I think we may be in for some more flakes real soon. The first thing I utter is, “Oh, how beautiful!” followed quickly by, “Wow its cold!”

As winter approaches, heating your house can be costly and an environmental headache for conservationists. There are several ways in which one can make their house green and warmer. In fact, the two seem to go hand-in-hand when done properly.

A fairly new concept in house design combines a third incentive, a healthy home. Passivhaus, Passive House in English, creates a better living environment and can cut energy consumption up to 80%! In Europe, mainly Germany, Austria and Switzerland, they have been using Passive House to build supermarkets, schools, offices and residential areas. This idea has been slowly moving across the pond to the U.S. with businesses and individuals wanting the great benefits that Passive House provides.

The concept of Passive House was first developed as a result of a conversation between two university professors in May, 1988. Professor Bo Adamson of Sweden’s Lund University and Dr. Wolfgang Feist of Germany’s The Institute for Housing and the Environment are the creators who worked to make green homes with healthy air environments.

In 1990 they designed and built the first Passive House row homes in Darmstadt, Germany. Founding the ‘Passivhaus Institut’ in 1996, they have continued to study and design dwellings that are on the cutting edge of environmental friendliness and wellbeing. Their original hope was to design homes with engineers and architects alike that would use ultra low energy for heating and cooling.

How Safe is Your Well Water?

by Jessica Levinson

Jessica Levinson is an environmental engineer from Nyack, New York. She has her undergraduate degree in biology and her master’s degree in environmental engineering. Jess is the past recording secretary for the Long Island Water Environmental Association and past Co-Chair of the Rockland Chapter of Clearwater. She has experience working on wastewater projects and has done research with the Department of Energy.

Did you know that approximately 15% of Connecticut is on private well water? According to the web site for the Connecticut Department of Public Heath, those 400,000 wells serve over half a million residents in this state. This may not seem like a lot. But for this suburban girl, it was more than I imagined.

I knew nothing of well water, applicable regulations, and the tedious work required to keep those wells free of bacteria.  That all changed when my husband and I started looking at real estate that had wells instead of municipal water supply. While I was busy looking at the “cute” (i.e. small) kitchen with a bathroom the sickening shade of Pepto Bismol, I overlooked the listing sheet with the small words “private well” where I should have seen “municipal”. I realized I had better get educated on private wells. 

As a matter of fact, most of the houses we looked at had existing wells. However, those that have wells on their property are not immune to the construction of a new well. The aquifer, fresh ground water deep below the surface, is not necessarily an unending reserve of water. Depending on the amount of water held in the aquifer and how many homes are dependent on that aquifer, it can dry up and another well will need to be drilled. If a well is not in place, a licensed contractor can be very helpful with planning out where to install one, along with the Connecticut Department of Public Heath. 

Since wells and their formation are not regulated by any federal agency but are instead governed by local laws and permits, it is important to check with your local town or city agency before undertaking the creation or maintenance of a well. In addition, each homeowner is responsible for having their wells tested against contamination. This is unlike municipal water systems where the town or city performs laboratory tests on the drinking water on a routine basis. Each state maintains different standards depending on contamination sources for that area. For instance, the Connecticut Department of Public Heath has set forth ‘Action Levels’ of certain contaminants (manganese, radon, uranium, naturally occurring arsenic, etc.) and bacteria that are native to that environment and can reach the aquifer. 

Counting Carbon

by Eileen Weber


Thinking of building a new house or renovating your old one? Got a new office building that’s going up soon? Wondering how all this will affect the environment? Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has developed an online carbon calculator called Green Footstep to help homeowners and businesses determine their carbon footprint.

It’s certainly nothing new. There are a number of online carbon calculators. Even Microsoft got into the act earlier this year by launching their Environmental Sustainability Dashboard, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package. Its goal is to help companies track their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, something that most ERP systems don’t do.

"ERP systems are really good at giving you the financial numbers, but where they fall short is with the environment or social issues," said Jennifer Pollard, a senior Microsoft product manager, as quoted in a February 9th article in The Seattle Times.

But what makes RMI’s system special is that it not only calculates the construction footprint of the project but the operational footprint of the building’s lifetime once that project is finished.

The Dandelion: Unlikely Gastronomy from the Suburban Jungle

by: James Simpkins

As a former chef I suspect I have fielded the question “What’s your favorite food?” more than most people, and by and large the answer is always peanut butter. It really is my favorite food and has been since I can remember. This past week I re-discovered an item that may have never been the answer to that question for anyone: dandelion greens. This much-eschewed weed and its flower (Taraxacum officinale) that you, o’ dauntless suburbanite yard-tender, have spent uncountable hours trying to get rid of, is an edible and nutritious-not to mention plentiful- food source. I can personally attest to its abundance after taking a tour of my yard this past weekend--the things are everywhere. I can also tell you that even I, o' dedicated food-guy, did not think of them as food. That is until now--but with a disclaimer that I will share later. Part of the chicory family, the soft, soothing murmur of its name is even overlooked; in old French, it was le dent-de-lion, or “the tooth of the lion”. With such a great name, something must have been lost in translation: How did this ancient yellow flower become a New World nuisance?  

Looking into the history of this lawn-loitering green I kept finding Old World style recipes: Chopped, boiled, then sautéed in olive oil; blanched, then chopped and mixed with olive oil; chopped then mixed with other greens for a salad with olive oil dressing. See a pattern? However, it turns out all the chopping and olive oil is not without merit.

One Man’s Trash ...

I saw this in today's New York Times and couldn't resist posting it. This is a perfect example of green building: Recycling materials from excess waste and repurposing it to make something different, interesting, and in this case, off-beat. I especially liked the picture frames on the ceiling (see below).

September 3, 2009
By KATE MURPHY
HUNTSVILLE, Tex.

Among the traditional brick and clapboard structures that line the streets of this sleepy East Texas town, 70 miles north of Houston, a few houses stand out: their roofs are made of license plates, and their windows of crystal platters.

They are the creations of Dan Phillips, 64, who has had an astonishingly varied life, working as an intelligence officer in the Army, a college dance instructor, an antiques dealer and a syndicated cryptogram puzzle maker. About 12 years ago, Mr. Phillips began his latest career: building low-income housing out of trash.

In 1997 Mr. Phillips mortgaged his house to start his construction company, Phoenix Commotion. “Look at kids playing with blocks,” he said. “I think it’s in everyone’s DNA to want to be a builder.” Moreover, he said, he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing.

To him, almost anything discarded and durable is potential building material. Standing in one of his houses and pointing to a colorful, zigzag-patterned ceiling he made out of thousands of picture frame corners, Mr. Phillips said, “A frame shop was getting rid of old samples, and I was there waiting.”

Ready or NOT!

by Heather Burns-DeMelo

I'll be the first to admit that I'm extreme when it comes to what I feed my kids. Whole food, organic, local, vegetarian, no sugar, non-GMO...the whole nine yards. Grandparents and friends have long since given up trying to convince me that I work too hard at keeping my 5 and 4 year old children in a "bubble," but in less than a week, I'll be forced to let them venture off to (gulp) public school and POP, the bubble will go.

Thanks to the film, Two Angry Moms, its group site and the example of other moms who have forged ahead to become advocates of healthy school food, I know I'm in good company. But the truth is, I'm scared.

While I know nothing will improve unless a squeaky wheel garners attention, creates a plan and rolls up her sleeves to encourage action, I'm not shy to admit that I want someone else to do it. After all, why would any mother in her right mind want to be the fall guy or risk having her child labeled as the kid with the vegetarian, tree hugging mom who complains all the time?

Love.

So here I go, jumping head first into school food advocacy, with the same "can't turn back now" attitude I summon when cliff diving.

Organic Lawn Care

by Eileen Weber

Spring is in the air and homeowners everywhere are watching their lawns turn from muddy brown to lush green. Every year, garden centers are overrun with a rush of consumers picking up grass seed, fertilizer and weed killers. But for many, grabbing the first pesticide off the shelf is not their idea of a healthy lawn.

For Jay Feldman, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Beyond Pesticides, and Chip Osborne, President of Osborne Organics, organic lawn care is the best method to obtain the sometimes elusive American dream: A velvet carpet of green grass.

Last night, the two men spoke at a free lecture open to the public at Southport Congregational Church. The lecture, “Going Green In Your Own Backyard”, was sponsored by the Fairfield and Sasqua Garden clubs. It focused on how to manage your lawn or garden organically and the impact pesticide use has on our environment.

Feldman spoke vehemently against the use of pesticides. He showed a 1950s advertisement with the tag line “DDT Is Good For Me.” He even quoted the notable biologist Rachel Carson when she said, “Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life?”

“You can’t go anywhere without people talking about being green,” he said. “But how do we incorporate that into our lives? It is time to shatter the myth that we need to use pesticides.”

Reduce, Reuse, Renovate

by Eileen Weber

Less than a year ago, Fairfield residents Kraig and Suzanne Schulz finished renovating their home. They built it using insulated concrete forms (ICFs). They chose environmentally friendly products and energy-saving appliances. They installed compact fluorescent lightbulbs and energy-efficient windows. But all of that came with a pretty steep price tag and not without a few problems along the way.

According to a New York Times article dated March 5th, Petz Scholtus, a Belgian woman living in Spain, renovated her 18th century apartment to be “environmentally responsible on a shoestring.” However, being green on a budget is sometimes easier said than done.

Scholtus wrote a blog about her adventures trying to be eco-conscious while not squeezing her piggy bank at the same time. She reused plastic jugs as the outer shell for floor lamps. Her living room is decorated with beanbag chairs made from automotive textiles, magazine racks fashioned from antique drawers fitted with castors, and low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint on her walls. She also transported her belongings from the old apartment to the new one by bicycle. (Don’t try this at home, kids.)

Scholtus is not alone. In this country, blogs abound with nightmare renovations as well as stories of happily-ever-after eco-friendliness.

Moving The Green Way

by Eileen Weber

I hate moving. No, wait. I loathe moving. I haven’t done it often and there is good reason for that. De-cluttering my life to pack up for a new place is as joyless as getting audited by the IRS. Perhaps if I had fewer possessions, I could put the contents of my life in one box gleefully heading off into the sunset on a Vespa singing a melisma rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough." But Vespa or no Vespa, the day everything I own fits into one box is the day I become a voluptuous blonde. But I digress…

For many who lead a green life to begin with, moving can pose its problems. How can you move in an environmentally friendly way? The average move consists of approximately 20 small boxes, 20 medium boxes, and 5 large boxes. That doesn’t include kitchen items or your wardrobe. And what happens to all those boxes? Whether you like it or not, they can sometimes end up in a landfill instead of the recycling center.

Home Green Home

by Eileen Weber

It’s cool to be green. I admit that’s probably stating the obvious. But for people who want to be green with their own homes, it sometimes gets a little tricky to find the right products.

That’s where The Center for Green Building comes in. Located on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, the storefront sells everything from cotton insulation to no-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint to all natural, toxin-free floor varnishes and cleaning supplies.

Run by Erin Buckley and Jonathan Tuminski, the couple started the organization out of their carpentry business. After they had their son, Buckley said, “I started doing research on all the toxins in the materials my husband was using.” The ingredients were pretty scary. That was the catalyst for promoting all natural, organic products.

But it wasn’t that easy to start off. “There wasn’t anything in Connecticut,” said Buckley. “Most of the stuff available was out West.” She also said, now that the store has been established, they have a number of contractors who come from New York, the Hartford area and Rhode Island. “We’re one of the only places in the area. There’s nothing out there.”