August 2011

Something to Consider: The Philosophy behind Walkable Communities

by Daphne Dixon on August 31, 2011

in GreenTowns Categories, Lifestyle, Transportation

Photo courtesy: http://www.pedbikeimages.org/pubdetail.cfm?picid=774, Dan Burden

Walkable communities are at the heart of sustainability and not only offer eco-friendly transportation options and safe walkways, but also foster a sense of community and provide residents with an improved quality of life.

Creating Livable Communities.  Learn how building towns around people, creates communities where people live, play, work and grow older, in place, by watching this video of Dan Burden. Dan makes the case at TEDx Manhattan Beach in February 2011 for creating communities that are centered on people and not just cars. He identifies the benefits to the community in terms of both vitality and economic well-being.

Check out Walkable Communities ‘12 Step Checklist“.

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Here’s what you can do RIGHT NOW!

  • Share a local water initiative with your community.
  • Join your town page and connect with others who care about local sustainability efforts.

 

EarthTalk®: What is “Nonpoint Source Pollution?”

by Daphne Dixon on August 30, 2011

in GreenTowns Categories, Land & Conservation, Water

Runoff of fertilizer-laced soil from a farm. Photo courtesy, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Dear EarthTalk: What is “nonpoint source pollution?” How much of a problem is it and how can it be controlled?

- Devon Corey, New York, NY

Unlike pollution that comes from specific industrial factories, sewage treatment plants and other easily discernible ‘points’, nonpoint source pollution comes from many diffuse sources, but in the aggregate creates a formidable challenge for municipal, state and federal environmental and water control authorities.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), nonpoint source pollution is “caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground [where it...] picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters.” Some of the most common pollutants in nonpoint source pollution include excess fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides from agricultural lands and residential areas and oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production. Sediment from construction, mining and agricultural sites as well as salts, acids, bacteria and atmospheric deposition from myriad sources also play a role.

While its effects vary region to region, nonpoint source pollution is likely the largest threat to our water quality. The U.S. has made “tremendous advances in the past 25 years to clean up the aquatic environment by controlling pollution from industries and sewage treatment plants,” says the EPA. “Unfortunately, we did not do enough to control pollution from diffuse, or nonpoint, sources.” The EPA also calls nonpoint source pollution the U.S.’s “largest source of water quality problems” and the main reason 40 percent of our rivers, lakes, and estuaries “are not clean enough to meet basic uses such as fishing or swimming.”

Because it comes from so many sources, regulating nonpoint source pollution is almost impossible, so it really comes down to individuals taking steps to minimize the pollution generated by their actions. The EPA reports that we can all do our part by: keeping litter, pet waste, leaves and debris out of street gutters and storm drains, which usually drain right into nearby water bodies; applying lawn and garden chemicals sparingly; disposing of used oil, antifreeze, paints and other household chemicals properly, that is, at your nearest hazardous household waste drop-off, not in storm drains; cleaning up spilled brake fluid, oil, grease and antifreeze, not hosing them into the street where they will eventually reach local waterways; and controlling soil erosion on your property by planting ground cover and stabilizing erosion-prone areas.

Beyond what we can do individually, local, regional and state governments can also help reduce nonpoint source pollution by enacting and enforcing building codes and other rules that can reduce outflows. The voluntary reduction in phosphates in dishwashing detergents in the U.S. last year, for example, was a big step in reducing the nutrient load into our streams and lakes. Some municipalities have gone so far as to mandate erosion and sediment control ordinances requiring the construction of natural buffers in building and landscaping projects to filter out pollutants before they reach local watersheds. If your community doesn’t have similar rules in place, encourage your local officials to enact them.

CONTACT: EPA’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Page, www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E – The Environmental Magazine ( www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

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What you can do RIGHT NOW!

  • Do you have a question about water quality in your town? Ask the GreenTowns Water Advisors.
  • Share a local water initiative with your community.
  • Join your town page and connect with others who care about local sustainability efforts.
Thank you for all that you do to support sustainability in your community.
 
Daphne
Director, GreenTowns

 

 

Initiative of the Week: EV Charging Stations

by Daphne Dixon on August 29, 2011

in Energy, GreenTowns Categories, Initiative of the Week, Transportation

Jeff Butler, President and CEO, CT Light & Power, Gordon Joseloff, Westport First Selectman, Leo Cirino, Electric Car Club

For electric vehicles to have real success in our country, we need to create an infrastructure that supports EV refueling. Although the range of these cars is increasing, for electrical cars to be truly viable, charging stations need to be available throughout our towns and cities. Currently, there are hundreds of charging stations, and the list is growing.

On August 22, 2011, the town of Westport, CT, officially unveiled its first electric vehicle (EV) charging station and became the first in the nation to offer drivers a pay-by-phone option. Westport is the first municipality to install a charging station as part of Connecticut Light & Power’s (CL&P) EV research project, the most comprehensive study of plug-in car recharging in New England. 
“We’ve worked hard to make Connecticut an early market for EVs,” said Jeff Butler, CL&P’s president and chief operating officer. “We’re excited to see towns like Westport take advantage of the opportunity to become a leader in clean technology.”

After downloading a mobile phone application, Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff plugged the Volt into the charging station and secured a place in technology history as the unit began to beep and the car’s dashboard lit up. 
“Westport has always been a leader in promoting green and protecting the environment,” said Joseloff.  “We are pleased to join CL&P in pioneering this latest effort to encourage Americans to make a lifestyle change to help preserve our planet.”

By year-end, a network of more than 30 charging stations is expected to generate detailed meter data in Connecticut, western Massachusetts and New Hampshire for CL&P’s parent company, Northeast Utilities (NU). NU has installed charging stations at company offices in Berlin and Hartford, Connecticut; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Manchester, New Hampshire. Additionally, NU’s Western Massachusetts Electric Company has one customer site installed and another planned.

What you can do RIGHT NOW!

Check out the EV Charging Station Initiative on GreenTowns.

Add your town’s EV charging station location to your town page by clicking HERE

Join your Town page, post your profile and support sustainability efforts in yuor community.

EarthTalk® Answers: What is a “Dead Zone” in an Ocean?

by Daphne Dixon on August 21, 2011

in GreenTowns Categories, Water

Perhaps the most infamous U.S. dead zone is an 8,500 square mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico, not far from where the nutrient-laden Mississippi River, which drains farms up and down the Midwest, lets out. Photo courtesy: Robert Simmon, NASA

EarthTalk®
E – The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What is a “dead zone” in an ocean or other body of water?

– Victor Paine, Tallahassee, FL

So-called dead zones are areas of large bodies of water—typically in the ocean but also occasionally in lakes and even rivers—that do not have enough oxygen to support marine life. The cause of such “hypoxic” (lacking oxygen) conditions is usually eutrophication, an increase in chemical nutrients in the water, leading to excessive blooms of algae that deplete underwater oxygen levels. Nitrogen and phosphorous from agricultural runoff are the primary culprits, but sewage, vehicular and industrial emissions and even natural factors also play a role in the development of dead zones.

Dead zones occur around the world, but primarily near areas where heavy agricultural and industrial activity spill nutrients into the water and compromise its quality accordingly. Some dead zones do occur naturally, but the prevalence of them since the 1970s—when dead zones were detected in Chesapeake Bay off Maryland as well as in Scandinavia’s Kattegat Strait, the mouth of the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the northern Adriatic—hints at mankind’s impact. A 2008 study found more than 400 dead zones worldwide, including in South America, China, Japan, southeast Australia and elsewhere.

Perhaps the most infamous U.S. dead zone is an 8,500 square mile swath (about the size of New Jersey) of the Gulf of Mexico, not far from where the nutrient-laden Mississippi River, which drains farms up and down the Midwest, lets out. Besides decimating the region’s once teeming shrimp industry, low oxygen levels in the water there have led to reproductive problems for fish, leading to lack of spawning and low egg counts. Other notable U.S. dead zones today occur off the coasts of Oregon and Virginia.

Fortunately, dead zones are reversible if their causes are reduced or eliminated. For example, a huge dead zone in the Black Sea largely disappeared in the 1990s following the fall of the Soviet Union, after which there was a huge spike in the cost of chemical fertilizers throughout the region. And while this situation was largely unintentional, the lessons learned have not been lost on scientists, policymakers and the United Nations, which has been pushing to reduce industrial emissions in other areas around the globe where dead zones are a problem. To wit, efforts by countries along the Rhine River to reduce sewage and industrial emissions have reduced nitrogen levels in the North Sea’s dead zone by upwards of 35 percent.

In the U.S., dead zones have also been reduced in the Hudson River and San Francisco Bay following clean-up efforts. Hypoxic conditions continue to plague the Gulf of Mexico, however, with matters made worse by pollution unleashed by Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill, as well as by a federal push to increase Midwest corn production, which effectively loads even more algae-inducing nutrients into the already overloaded system. The Mississippi Basin/Gulf of Mexico Water Nutrient Task Force, a coalition of federal, state and tribal agencies, has been busy monitoring the dead zone and recommending ways to reduce it since its formation in 1997. But with industrial and agricultural activity throughout Gulf and Midwestern states only increasing—and Mother Nature not making the job any easier—the task force has an uphill battle on its hands to say the least.

CONTACT: Mississippi Basin/Gulf of Mexico Water Nutrient Task Force, www.epa.gov/owow_keep/msbasin.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E – The Environmental Magazine ( www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.


Initiative of the Week-Community Gardens

by Daphne Dixon on August 16, 2011

in Food, GreenTowns Categories, Initiative of the Week, Land & Conservation

Community gardens are taking off across the country. There here are literally thousands of them, with plans for many more to come. Community gardens are popular for a variety of reasons. People who do not have a garden of their own, are flocking to community gardens and growing their own fruits and vegetables instead of buying produce that often travels hundreds of miles before it reaches the grocery store. Concerns over food safety and an increased interest in organic gardening have also added to the popularity of these gardens. Many towns and cities are providing plots to city dwellers, at practically no cost, creating thousands of urban farmers, ranging from the young, to the young at heart. People grow fruits and vegetables for different reasons. Some plant for themselves and others grow produce and give to those who are not able to afford to buy fresh vegetables. Added features of the community gardens are that they not only provide a wonderful place to grow delicious, hand-pick veggies, the gardens also create and support a local food infrastructure and foster a sense of community. There are many organizations and grassroots efforts that are happy to provide information about how to start and support a community garden.

Local Example: The Generous Garden Project  

Odessa Street, Sterling, Greenville, SC

As with most things, the true beginning began through dialogue, relationships, and trust. The owner of the property had shown up to a Summit announcing the kick off of a Healthy Community Initiative through a local hospital named Bon Secours St. Francis in Greenville, SC. The initiative launched in her old neighborhood, Sterling, just outside downtown. Her name is Peggy Baxter and 3 years ago, she knew nothing about gardens and was more interested in advocating for senior citizens. After a year or so of working with the hospital, many other partners, and the seniors themselves to revitalize senior programming to be more empowerment based, she attended a meeting last February of 2010 and as the hospital system was describing other opportunities to build sustainability in the community, she had a realization: she owns land in the community. She then realized she could have a garden built upon it. And so we began early last summer to build a garden on land she grew up on. It has since received a lot of attention for its organic practices and grassroots management. People far and wide have come to see the garden and offer their support. A group of architects are currently designing a new shed system for the garden this summer! However, much is needed in terms of landscaping, tools, and support. It’s important to keep the effort “owned” by the community so that it is protected indefinitely, but support from the outside is always welcomed.

 

 

Featured Initiative of the Week: Meatless Mondays

by Daphne Dixon on August 8, 2011

in Food, Initiative of the Week, Lifestyle

Fairfield Green Food Guide readers are officially invited to take the pledge to go meatless one day a week by joining Meatless Monday, a growing national movement to eat meat-free meals one day a week. Each week we’ll post a seasonal recipe to support you in your efforts to eat a little greener (and healthier too!). We pledge not to compromise on flavor and to inspire you with new and exciting flavors. Area chefs are invited to submit favorite recipes to share with our readers and to join Meatless Mondays.

Local Initiative in Action:

Location: Fairfield County, CT
Contact: Analiese Paik
Fairfield Green Food Guide has already signed up chefs Sue Cadwell of Health in a Hurry (organic, vegetarian food to go)and Linda Soper-Kolton of GreenGourmettoGo (organic, vegetarian catering)to contribute recipes using local-in-season ingredients that will encourage our readers to go meatless on Mondays

GreenTowns Transportation Advisor, Stephen Marlin Talks About EV Rivalries

by Daphne Dixon on August 2, 2011

in GreenTowns Categories, Transportation

Stephen Marlin, GreenTowns Transportation Advisor

Living in Connecticut has me sitting smack dab in the center of one of the most heated sports rivalries in the nation.  In professional athletics there is no love loss between the great cities of Boston and New York. The history between the Yankees and the Red Sox is storied to say the least.  When the summer heat begins to wane, attentions turn to the Jets and the Patriots (or is it the Giants and the Patriots?). Having grown up in the Midwest, my loyalties lay elsewhere, so to my neighbor’s dismay I have not joined in on either side of this civil war.

I have however become an active participant in another battle that is brewing between these two cities. I am in fact an arms dealer of sorts. Though in the end, I only see winners as the combatants look to one up each other.

I am of course, talking about the battle to electrify transportation. As vehicle manufacturers, such as my employer GM with the Chevrolet Volt, and Nissan with the Leaf, continue to role out and ramp up production of electric vehicles, communities are stepping up to see what they can do get the infrastructure in place in time for their arrival.

Like any epic rivalry, it is hard to put a point on where it really started. So I would begin in early spring when New York invited me to participate on a panel representing the automotive sector at a meeting with the city’s parking lot owners.  The meeting was a culmination of months of hard work by Ari Kahn from the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Sustainability as they sought to make the city more EV friendly.

Not to be outdone, a few weeks later I found myself in Boston at a similar meeting. Rachel Szakmary from the Boston Transportation Department organized the meeting in Boston. I cannot say for sure, but a number of my partners from the charging side of the business commented that Boston seemed to one up New York by moving the venue from a city office to an upscale hotel.

New York was of course happy to respond. On July 13, I was lucky to be in attendance as Mayor Bloomberg announced the purchase of 70 electric vehicles to be used by the city’s various fleets.  Seeing this collection of electric vehicles, which included manufacturers GM, Ford, and Navistar, dressed up in the markings of the NYPD, NYFD, New York Department of Sanitation, and the New York Parks Department was incredibly exciting.  The investment is a clear sign of New York’s commitment to vehicle electrification.

Boston and the State of Massachusetts are equally committed to making electric vehicles a reality.  On July 22nd I was in Lexington, MA for another EV announcement. The site for this announcement was the Lexington Battle Green in the shadow of the Minuteman statue.  The shade was appreciated as morning temperatures crept into the 90’s.  I might also note the Bostonians seem to make a point of location for their announcements.  New Yorkers were happy with a city garage, but in Boston we were at the historic site where the first shot of the American Revolution was fired.   On that day, Boston announced plans, working with Coulomb Technologies, to install 142 public charging stations across Massachusetts.

Rolling out EV’s and charging stations is not always accompanied by such fanfare. No sports rivalry would be complete without those fan favorites, the guys in the trenches or the lunch pailers. Some of my visits to New York and Boston include meeting with the IBEW to talk to the men and women who will be charged (pun intended) with installing EV charging stations.  Talking with the IBEW is always energizing, as this group really sees the benefit of electrification, from clean energy, to energy independence, to job creation.

As automotive manufacturers continue to announce more and more EV’s I look forward to this rivalry intensifying.  The best part is, the season never ends.