Boston GreenFest 2009

GreenFest: August 20-22, City Hall Plaza

"Free, three-day sustainability and cultural extravaganza presented by the Foundation for a Green Future. Learn about sustainability through art, music, discussions and interactive exhibits about eating and growing organic food, improving nutrition and health care, greening our city, building healthy communities, creating green jobs, and engaging in a sustainable, green economy." from Boston.com

more information here

Make the Right (Energy) Choice

National Grid, the power company that proivdes for much of our area, offers an "Energy Choice" program which allows consumers to choose where their energy is coming from. Several of the options are condensed into the "GreenUp" program- a program devoted to renewable sources of energy. Your families can choose from a selection of local providers (with energy coming from a variety of sources including hydro, wind, biomass, and solar) and for a reasonable price can opt to get any portion of your monthly supply from these providers. It is a big commitment, but one that will make a huge impact. Talk to your families, and check out National Grid's website for details.

Energy from Algae!

Exxon Mobil recently partnered with Synthetic Genomics, Inc. They are developing ways to harvest energy from algae as a fuel source for cars. Algae consumes high amounts of CO2, which would help reduce the amounts of greenhouse gases. Algae reproduce quicker and be more efficient to grow than crops like corn or soybeans.

Some algae biofuel facts:

• Bio-oil produced by photosynthetic algae and the resultant biofuel will have molecular structures that are similar to the petroleum and refined products we use today.
• If successful, bio-oils from photosynthetic algae could be used to manufacture a full range of fuels including gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel that meet the same specifications as today’s products
  

“We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel,” said Emil Jacobs, ExxonMobil’s vice president of research and development.


Exxon and Synthetic Genomics are planning to continue their research and testing for the next 10 to 15 year and expecting to spend over $1 billion.

For more on algae biofuel.

Its a Wrap!

Recently, I've been looking a lot at the Sierra Club's Green Tip Library. This one is my favorite tip. I have even gotten my family to follow this advice.

"Gift-giving is not an especially green activity – fancy paper and shiny bows get thrown out by the bagful, and some papers can’t be recycled. Instead:

• Reuse colorful materials from around the house, such as maps and magazines.
• If you use wrapping paper – or are given it on a gift by someone else – salvage the paper for future gifts and collect the intact bows. You’ll be saving dollars, trees, and landfill space."

Meatless Mondays

Ghent, Belgium is now the first city in the world to encourage vegetarianism... at least one day a week, that is. Their Meat-free Thursday program requires local restaurants to offer at least one vegetarian option every Thursday, and schools and hospitals are on the way to adopting the practice as well. I think its an idea that should and will eventually catch on in the US- already 29 public health schools in the country are orchestrating meatless Mondays, and many other communities and groups are making green action plans that include initiatives for local and organic vegetables.
The evils of a meat-dependent world are endless: livestock farming produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all of the world's transportation combined (18% of the total vs. 14%); each kilogram of beef produced on Earth required 714 bathtubs of water; people who eat meat regularly are more likely to contract a variety of diseases, not the least of which is obesity; and I haven't even talked about cruelty to animals.
I'd like to suggest the implementation of Meat-free Mondays at Pingree- it will cut food costs for the school, make us a just a little more planet-conscious, and make everyone a bit healthier. Do you agree?

Outside of The Prudential Center on Boylston Street, Bostonians have been amazed by the larger than life daisies. Sponsored by Prius, the flowers are solar powered and allow walkers to sit, charge their cellphone or computer, and wirelessly surf the web right in the middle of Boston! In addition to these solar powered daisies, every Thursday there is a Farmer's Market right outside the Prudential Center. People are going green in the most unexpected places!

"Transition" for our future

I recently read about a sweet new environmental movement that has just taken off in the US after successful cultivation (no pun intended) in the UK. It is called the Transition movement, and it was started by a guy named Tom Hopkins, author of The Transition Handbook. The idea behind Transition is a break from the all too common scare and guilt tactics used by environmental warriors, instead emphasizing a climate (no pun intended) of optimism and togetherness. Community by community, Transition is trying to switch our oil dependence to a sustainable and resilient (a key word in Transition culture) alternative. Tom describes it best here:


Check out the Transition website to learn more about Tom, Totnes (the first and largest transition town), and the movement in general.

Roofs Reduce!

Obama's Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, found a simple solution to global warning: Paint your roofs white. Not only would these reflect light rays but heat rays too, reducing the need of air conditioning in the summertime.

"if you take all the buildings and make their roofs white and if you make the pavement more of a concrete type of color rather than a black type of colour, and you do this uniformly . . . it’s the equivalent of reducing the carbon emissions due to all the cars on the road for 11 years.” -Chu

full article

Going Green in Boston!

Check out this website for great ways that Boston is going green. "Going Green" is a part of the WCVB-TV website and is full of informative tips and illuminating articles that cater to life in and around Boston. Another great thing about the "Going Green" website is that it also informs the reader on ways that he or she can save money! In this economy, we need to save as much green as possible!

Potato Famine Strikes Back

Bummed because of this bizarre summer rain? New England farmers are too. According to these farmers and scientists, our local tomato and potato crops have been infected with the same bacteria, late blight, that caused the the Irish Potato Famine. Because of the low temperatures and constant rain, the bacteria is spreading rapidly. The bacteria only affects tomatoes and potatoes, so other crops are safe. It is not harmful for people and animals. Non-organic farmers are battling the fungus with fungicide, while organic farmers are trying to find other methods to fight it.


"It's just beginning to snowball, I expect by next week most farms will have late blight. Pathologists think tomatoes won't survive the season [if the constant rain continues]." - Jude Boucher, University of Connecticut educator

Article On Fugus in New England
Strategies to Fight Fungus

Yay Bundanoon!

The rural Australian town of Bundanoon, near Sydney, banned the sale of plastic water bottles. The vote was almost unanimous at their town meeting yesterday. They are planning to sell reusable bottles for the same price, to replace the plastic ones.

"We're hoping it will act as a catalyst to people's memories to remember the days when we did not have bottled water...What is 'Evian' spelled backwards? 'Naive.'" -Jon Dee


To join the US's campaign, "Think Outside the Bottle", click here.