Inspirational Activist: Marion Stoddart and the Nashua River Watershed

Tonight I saw a screening of Susan Edwards' The Work of 1000, a film about the mother, homemaker and environmental activist, Marion Stoddart.  After the film Susan and Marion spoke with us about Marion's work and the choices she made during her life. 

Nashua River in the 1960s dyed
red from the paper mill
Photo from workof1000.org

In the 1960's Marion was a young mother in Groton, MA raising three young children when she became passionate about cleaning up the Nashua River.  This river ran three quarters of a mile behind her home and was not only unsafe for swimming or boating, it was dangerous to fall into it.  Not only was raw sewage was being dumped into the river - they didn't have water treatment plants back then, but also industrial waste from a paper factory which was turning the river a different bright color, e.g., red, depending on the color dyes being used each day.  Marion turned her house into her office and turned her life into a mission to clean up the Nashua river.  She struggled with the balance of giving her children the attention they deserved and driving forward her campaign to clean up the river.  She said that she was motivated by the desire to have the Nashua River a place where her children and other children could use and enjoy it.  She decided that she was going to make it her life's work to clean up the river.   She was happily surprised that within 15 years of beginning her campaign laws were passed - both state and federal, practices were changed, money was raised and the river began to come back to life and was safe again for recreational uses.

As a mother of young children myself, and in some some senses, an environmental activist, her story was very moving for me and really hit home.  I work on energy and environmental issues with everything I do.  It's in this blog, my part-time job, my volunteer work with the church, my interactions with the PTO at my children's school and my volunteer work with the entire school system.  My environmentalism even comes into play in every aspect of my social life.  I find that everyone from my closest friends to my newest casual acquaintances ask me practical questions about environmental issues.  I love it.  I'm passionate about the topic and I'm always happy to discuss cloth diapers, composting, gardening, CFLs, insulation, energy assessments, high efficiency condensing boilers, the importance of routine maintenance on HVAC systems and the relative merits of solar PV systems versus solar thermal systems.  Sometimes it becomes difficult to balance my passion with the time I spend with my children and taking care of my home.  It's a good thing that there are many opportunities to combine all three.

Marion's children have said that they understand the wonderful work their mother has done, and while it was hard on them as children to not have a mom that baked cookies like the other mothers, her children feel that they lived a charmed and inspired life and they are very proud of the work their mother has done.  I hope that when my children are grown they are influenced by what I have done, appreciate the time I have spent doing it and still feel that being good to the environment is important and that they make good environmental choices.

Marion helped me understand that it is OK to make choices and to sometimes choose to work on my environmental projects instead of making cookies for the children - or in my case - instead of folding their laundry before they wear it.   There isn't time for everything and sometimes the example of seeing their parents work at something that is important to them and that they are passionate about is just as important as the day to day parenting that you do.

Marion's work is important, and continues to this day.  She continues to work with the Nashua River Watershed Association and local governments to create greenways and access to the river.  She reminds me of why it is so important to appreciate and preserve the beautiful nature around us, because if we are not careful,  it might not always be there.   The Nashua River is an example of a river that almost wasn't.

Marion's DVD is available for private purchase and it is possible to arrange for public screenings. Please see their site for details. Marion believes strongly that any individual who chooses to can change the world.  She has written a leadership handbook that you can find on their site called Commit! A Leadership Handbook.  Check it out and let me know what you think. 

You and I can change the world too.

Happy Greening!
Alicia

Going for Solar: Flipping the Switch To Green Energy (Step 11)

One VERY Happy Jon!

We finally got the go ahead from the electric company to turn on our solar awning on November 19, 2010. It was a bright, sunny day and I took a quick break from work to run home and flip the switch. Usually your solar contractor gives you basic training on how your system works,  then together, you turn on the system.  Ben from SunBug Solar knew I was too excited to wait for a sunny day where we were both free, so he gave me the go-ahead to do it myself. 

Jon turning the Inverter On

We read the Solectria Inverter Manual and then I got to flip and turn the switches.  For a grid-tied residential solar connection, you will have at least two switches you need to flip: one going into the home AC power (circuit panel or utility line-side tap) and one from the solar panels to the inverter.  Here are the videos of me flipping and turning the switches.

Turning on the AC Disconnect for our Solar PV Awning

Turning on the Inverter for our Solar PV Awning

The First Watts generated on our Solar PV Awning


We  have now achieved one of my life long dreams to have solar on my home! I am excited to share this project and the joy it has brought me!

Happy Greening!
Jon & Alicia

Going for Solar Series

Check out the other steps in Green Lifestyle Consulting's Going for Solar Series including photos throughout the construction.

Greening Your Children - Composting Video

We have found that teaching our kids environmentally friendly practices while they are young has lifelong positive repercussions.  Things that you do when you are young become part of your habits and your way of living, while changing behaviors as an adult can be difficult and challenging.  By having them do green things when they are young, these things become a natural way of life for them.  By educating them about what's good for the environment, we find that making green choices comes naturally to them and is not a burden.

For example, when we go for walks in the woods, we come out with a bag full of trash and recycling that our older kids pick up.  It even goes as far as being scolded by our six year old twins to turn out the lights when we leave a room on the rare occasion we forget.  One green task we got our kids involved in doing early on is composting.

In 2009 we participated in a year long competition to reduce your households environmental impact, the  Energy Smackdown competition.   We made the following short video with the children about composting for the competition.   It won the Energy Smackdown video competition. 

Enjoy!



Here are couple of our popular blog posts on composting:

• Reducing the Ick Factor in Composting with a countertop compost bin
• Composting Coffee Grounds and Tea Bag

Happy Greening!
Jon & Alicia

Earth Hour 2011 Coming Up Fast!

This Saturday, March 26th from 8:30 to 9:30 PM is Earth Hour. Join us in turning off your lights.

Individuals, business, organizations and municipalities are turning off their lights around the world to show support for environmentally sustainable action.

Landmarks around the world will be turning off their lights this year, including:

• The world’s tallest building – Burj Khalifa, Dubai
• The Empire State Building, New York
• Times Square, New York
• Christ the Redeemer statue, Brazil
• National Monument, Indonesia
• London Eye
• Eiffel Tower, Paris
• India Gate, Delhi
• The Alhambra, Spain
• National Mausoleum, Pakistan
• Boudhanath Stupa, Nepal
• Table Mountain, South Africa
• Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
• The Obelisk, Argentina
• Milad Tower, Tehran

Lights are turned off at 8:30 PM local time, so the event rolls around the world the same way New Years Eve does.


Earth Hour is the world’s largest global climate change initiative. In 2010, over 50 million people in 128 countries and territories around the world participated. This year a record 131 countries and territories are registered to participate.

Last year we tried to shut off everything we could, and even unplugged our laptops to see how low we could get our electric usage during that hour. This year we have reached out to our church and our city to encourage participation and raise awareness among people that might not otherwise be aware of Earth Hour.

Buildings and municipalities are asked to show support by turning of interior lights and any exterior, decorative or architectural lights.

Join us in turning off your lights and sign up with the Earth Hour website to show your support for sustainable action: http://www.earthhour.org/

What will you do for Earth Hour? Leave a comment below with your action!

Happy Greening
Alicia

Here's what we did last year - Reflections on Earth Hour [2010]

Greening your Camping - Reusable Utensils

Camping is one of those times when you commune with nature, so why would you be less environmentally conscious when camping than at home?  Unfortunately, a number of people use disposable plasticware while camping and then throw it away or worse, burn it in the fire.  People argue about the health implications of using plastic utensils, but in terms of being green, it is clear that using something that doesn't decompose one time and then throwing it away is NOT green.  Instead of using one-time use plastic utensils, get a couple sets of reusable camping silverware and wash them.

Odds are you are washing pots and pans already when out camping.  In the scheme of things, adding some silverware to the clean-up process is negligible.  

Acetal Reusable
Camping Utensils

You have a lot of options for camping utensils so it shouldn't be too hard to find something to suit your preferences. We have Acetal silverware because it is light, relatively heat resistant, dishwasher safe (for after the camping trip) and inexpensive.  You can pick up a set for under $3.  Also popular are Lexan and metal utensils.  I remember using those nested metal fork, spoon, knife sets in the Boy Scouts as a kid.  If weight is less of an issue, such as when you are car camping, reusing an old set of metal silverware works well.

Spork

In researching this article, I also found that Sporks are becoming popular for camping gear where one end is a spoon and the other a fork.  Just don't try to twirl your spaghetti in this spoon!

Search Amazon.com for camping utensils



One tip for picking out utensils is to get a color other than neutral or white.  When we first took reusable utensils camping not all of the people we were camping with realized that we were NOT using plastic silverware and threw some of the pieces away!   Now pretty much everyone we camp with has their own set, so the main problem is sorting out whose is whose at the end of the trip. Another good reason to have a unique color.

If you do take plastic silverware with you, don't think of it as one-time-use items.  Wash and reuse them and treat them as reusable items.

Happy Green Camping!
Jon

Other articles in our Greening Your Camping Series:
Greening your Camping - Mosquito Bite Relief
Greening your Camping - Cloth Diapers

New Garden: Starting Seedlings Indoors or in the Garden?

I was recently talking to someone who is thinking about starting plants from seeds for the first time.  Some of her questions included whether it's too late to start seedlings for this year and if she is going to do indoor seedlings,  how should she get started?   Since these are some of the questions I had when i was new to gardening, I thought it would be good to share some of my experiences here.

A few points: I'm not a professional farmer,  I grow a backyard garden in the suburbs.  My knowledge comes from experience, web research and consulting with others who grow gardens. 

A lot of facts about timing depend on what region and USDA plant hardiness zone you are in.   There are very different answers for people growing gardens in the southern US versus in New England vs another country.  All of my experience is from New England zone 6b to be exact (although the Veggie Gardener  points out that if you use 3 different hardiness zone maps they will probably put you in 3 different regions - especially on the East Coast). 

So you want to start from seeds... I've been trying variations on this in recent years to try and save a few dollars.  There are different answers depending on what you're planting:

Plant seeds in the ground in the early spring
Some plants can go in the ground in the early spring (now if you're reading this when I'm publishing it) as seeds.  For these plants the rule of thumb is "when you can work the ground to put the seeds in."  These include plants like snow peas, snap peas, lettuce, spinach and broccoli. 

Plant seeds in the ground in the late spring
There are other vegetables that I've had success with as seeds straight into the ground a little later in the season.  These include carrots (should soak seeds in water overnight), squash, green beans, corn & cilantro

Planting seeds with children

Even a toddler can help plant seeds

I'm a big fan of putting seeds straight into the ground because this is a very rewarding activity for children to do.  Even the youngest children can drop the seeds on the ground and it's easy for them to help with the watering.  When you plant straight outdoors, you don't mind as much if they spill half the can on the way to the garden!   Another nice side-effect when children plant seeds outdoors is that they have to go outside to check on their plants.  I find that when children have plants inside they check on them several times a day and get quickly frustrated that the plant isn't growing fast enough to keep their interest.   If the plants are outside they don't check the plants as often and their attention lasts longer through the sprouting time.  The outdoor plants are also more forgiving to the amount of water children give them.

Plants to grow from seedlings
There are some vegetables that I've really only had success with if I start with seedlings.  These include cucumbers, tomatoes,  basil and any berries including strawberries.  Your mileage may vary on these,  but I have had very little success starting these plants from seeds directly in the garden in my region.


Growing your own seedlings
If you are going to grow your own seedlings, consider whether you have a sunny, southern location indoors that you can use to grow them.  If this is your first time growing seedlings, I recommend going to a garden store and getting a kit.  Once you've done it a few times you'll know what pieces you need and you can buy just the individual parts.  We no longer have space inside to grow seedlings, so I either get them from friends or buy them.

Your seedling-growing space should be secure from pets and small children.  Some of the problems we've run into include cats eating and knocking over the plants, children dumping out the dirt and putting them in such a secure area that they don't get watered often enough.

Plants that plant themselves
For what it's worth, we've planted several things that come back year after year.  This isn't surprising for the strawberries & blackberries, they're supposed to take several years to establish and production tends to increase over the first few years.  The following items are either perennials and come back reliably, or are annuals that tend to re-seed themselves each year: Chives, cilantro, sage, mint, tomatoes & squash.  I now usually leave one or two "rogue" squash plants in my garden each year and let myself be surprised by what kind of squash I get. 

A few interesting points on our returning plants:

• Mint is VERY aggressive and hardy.  Once you plant it it's hard to get rid of it.  
• We were able to harvest sage all winter long - as long as we could get through the snow to it!
• No matter how hard you try, dandelions are very hard to get rid of permanently.  Consider giving in and trying dandelion soup or salad!

Happy Gardening!

Alicia

Take AIM at Climate Change

"Take AIM at Climate Change" music video

I saw the "Take AIM at Climate Change" music video last night at an event I helped organize about environmental stewardship and felt the need to share it.  In the video, a group of young artists sing about and explain the basics of climate change and inspire people to get started addressing the problems.  The message of start with one thing, then do another is a message we have tried to get across through our blog.



Edited to embed YouTube version of video. You can also download the video if you want to use it in a presentation or event from polar-palooza. Click on Downloads link at bottom of their page.

As the video tells us, we have to:

ADAPT
INNOVATE
MITIGATE

So get out there and do one thing and then another and make science a priority.

Share this with your friends and communities.  Here are the various sites referenced in the video:

• takeaimatclimatechange.org
• polar-palooza.com
• www.nasa.gov/ipy
• www.ipy.gov

Happy Greening!
Jon

Learning Wrong Lessons from Nuclear Disaster in Japan

Smoke rises from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex
in this still image from video footage March 14, 2011.
Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters

I fear that as a world, and particularly in this country, we are taking away the wrong lessons from the nuclear disasters happening in Japan as a result of the 5th worst earthquake in history and a tsunami.

Do not get me wrong, the devastation in Japan is real and horrible, but saying that because of the nuclear problems happening right now we should stop all development of nuclear energy in this country is short sighted and will lead to more dirty fossil fuel power plants.

Nuclear reactors have come a long way since 1979 when the ones in Japan were built and around when the last ones in the US were constructed. Since then, many passive and active safety systems have been integrated into their design that would not require the grid power or backup generators to function and still ensure that the fuel rods are cooled and radiation contained. I am not a nuclear engineer, so I will not try to explain the details of such safety systems, but I have had them explained by nuclear engineers and respect what I heard.

Think about the modern automobile and the safety systems that have been invented and implemented since 1979. Seat belts with shoulder straps are standard. Car seats are required for kids. I remember riding around in the back of our station wagon as a kid, even taking naps on long trips without a seatbelt. Think about air bags, they didn't exist 30 years ago, let alone be standard and available to protect back seat passengers as well. Traction control and anti-lock brakes are two more and the list goes on and on of safety improvements from the last three decades of innovation.

Also, let us consider what might have happen had those been conventional power plants. If those had been coal plants, think of the resulting pollution from the toxic coal ash that would have been spread out by the tsunami. How about a ruptured natural gas pipelines that would be spewing methane into the atmosphere. Methane as a green house gas that is 20x more potent than CO2.

The BBC has a good Q&A about the Nuclear disaster in Japan.  The Register also has some great non-sensationalized analysis of the events surrounding the Fukushima Reactors.

What I think we should learn from the 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake only 231 miles from Tokyo is that proper building codes can make all the difference in the world between life and death.  Just consider that the much smaller 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake in Haiti leveled much of the country, where as cities remained intact through the quake in Japan. 


Most of the destruction was caused by the tsunami, not the earthquake.

I think we should use the success of the strict building codes minimizing the destruction from this major catastrophe to support strict energy efficiency in building codes going forward to minimize the devastation from the oncoming catastrophe of climate change.  Opponents will site higher initial building costs, but just think of the true costs, both financial and in human lives, had Japan opted for the cheaper building codes.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan as they recover from this catastrophe and our hopes are that we learn the right lessons from this trial and come out better for it in the long run.

Happy Greening!
Jon

We welcome comments, debate and discussion below and on our Green Lifestyle Consulting facebook page.

Treading Lightly for Lent

Tread Lightly in Lent 2011
Presbyterian Church Environmental Ministries

Instead of giving something up for Lent, I have decided to take on the actions of the "Tread Lightly for Lent 2011" put together by the Presbyterian Church USA Environmental Ministries.  Basically, this is a calendar for the 40 days of Lent on which each day has an environmentally motivated action, reflection or idea.  Even though I'm an Episcopalian, I got my Episcopal Church to adopt the Presbyterian calendar because it was the best one I have found.  Regardless of whether you are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic or unsure I encourage you to look at the actions on the calendar as they are all about living greener.

One of the reasons I really like this calendar over the others out there is that the actions apply to regardless of whether you are just starting or are wicked green.  Two great examples are,

March17th
Replace one incandescent light bulb with a CFL. CFLs use 75% less energy than incandescent light bulbs.3 If you already have replaced all of your bulbs, offer one to a family member or friend.

March 24th
Walk, bike, or take public transportation as much as possible. If you drive, pledge to be idle free. Idling for over 10 seconds uses more gas than turning off the engine and restarting it.

I love the alternative options provided.  For me, biking to work in March and needing to pickup kids after school makes it not feasible, but I can certainly pledge to be idle free.  The other thing I really appreciate about this calendar is that it provides references for all the facts in mentions.  Citing your sources is critical for so many reasons.

So, what I started this post to share was experience from the action and reflection from Saturday, March 12th. -

March 12th
Collect your personal trash and recyclables throughout the day. At the end of the day, survey your waste and think of ways to reduce. On average, Americans create 4.6 pounds of waste a day.

To do this, I emptied the trash, recycling and compost in the morning before everyone else was up and then measured what we had collected by the end of the day.  I am happy to report that for a family of 5 who also had two friends join us for dinner, we did not come close to the American average. 

One Day's Worth of Recycling, Compost &
Trash from our Family of Five

Our family of five in one day generated:

• 2.5 pounds of compost
• 3 pounds of recycling
• less than 1 pound of trash (14.5 oz)

Per person that is less than 3 ounces of trash.  Of course it doesn't include the industrial waste and other things that end up in the landfill on our behalf.  If everyone could reduce the amount of trash they generate by recycling and composting, it would make a big difference.

So whether you are looking for some positive actions for the Season of Lent or you just want some great suggestions on how to live greener, check out the Tread Lightly calendar and act upon what you find.

Share your favorite actions here or on our Green Lifestyle Consulting facebook page.

Happy Greening!
Jon

Why Use Cloth Diapers? Change 3 Things Campaign

I use cloth diapers because they are good for the environment.  I want to limit the amount of waste that I send to landfills and incinerators and I want to limit the amount of natural resources that are consumed for products that I just throw away.

Some people use cloth diapers because of the health benefits of them. There is a huge debate about the chemicals that go into making diapers, particularly the leading brands of Pampers and Huggies.  Diapers like Pampers and Huggies absorb well - because they have chemicals in the diapers that have chemical reactions with the urine to turn it into a gel-like substance and hold it there next to your baby until you change the diaper.  Have you ever had a Pampers explode all the gel out while still on your child?  I've had it happen during a car trip and I found a gel-like mess all over the carseat in addition to a wet, miserable baby. 

Our son loves his cloth diapers!

A year ago I talked about why I started cloth diapering and how to get started with cloth diapers.  Since then I've been constantly surprised and pleased by how many of my friends and neighbors use cloth diapers and how many resources there are for people who want to get started with cloth diapers.  Here in the Boston area the Diaper Lab is a wonderful resource, in St Louis, MO and Vancouver, WA Cotton Babies has retail stores.  If you're not in these areas and you're looking for a place to purchase cloth diapers online, Kelly's Closet/diapershops.com has great deals, specials and giveaways, as well as advice through their blog the Cloth Diaper Whisperer [note, our links to Kelly's Closet are affiliate links, they have great programs for bloggers too.]

Today's post was inspired by a new campaign to raise awareness about the environmental and ECONOMICAL benefits of cloth diapers: Change 3 Things: 3 cloth diapers. One planet. Big impact. One thing I don't talk about much is the economical benefits of cloth diapers.  It's hard to look at $15-$25 price tags for a single diaper and think about economical benefits, but when you do calculations, it adds up.  Have you thought about how much your diapers cost?  When I buy disposables (and I do sometimes) I try not to think about it.  This campaign is estimating about $0.25 per diaper, which is about what we have found buying in big boxes.

Change 3 Things is encouraging people to make at least 3 of their diapers a day cloth diapers.  Depending whether you're using prefolds or the diapers I use, the amount you would spend for those 3 will vary,  I would pay about $45  for the three cloth diapers.  They estimate:

Every cloth diaper change saves about $0.25 (depending on what brand of disposables you buy). If you save $0.75 a day, it may not seem like much, but those three diapers can save you approximately $260 over the upcoming year times 2-3 years before potty training is complet. In addition to the savings per diaper, you can save yourself time, money and gas for those emergency trips to the store when you run out of diapers.

View into our diaper pail

Of course, the real savings come in if you are using predominantly cloth diapers,  I wash my diapers once every 2-3 days because a full load feels more efficient (and it is). 

Jennifer Labit, the founder of Cotton Babies designed several of the leading brands of cloth diapers, including one I use every day: BumGenius.   She is always asked by news outlets and reporters "how many people use cloth diapers?"  Unfortunately, there's no good way to know.  One of her goals with this campaign is for people who use cloth to stand up and be counted.  There have been many strides recently to have the mainstream media realize that cloth diapering is not a niche activity by the rapid environmentalists, but something that every day people are doing every day.  This is one more step in that direction.  For this reason, I urge you to "like" the Facebook page for this campaign so you can be counted too. 
From their Facebook page:

Our goals:
- 100,000 parents committed to change 3 cloth diapers per day.*
- 30-50 million pounds of prevented landfill waste*
- 100 million disposable diapers not purchased.*
- $24 million of combined savings for participating families**

Let me leave you with this parting thought: It can take up to 500 years for one disposable diaper to decompose, and even if it is a "compostable" diaper, it has to be disposed of under the proper conditions for it to decompose.  In a standard landfill, not even a piece of fruit will decompose.

Happy Greening and join us in changing some cloth diapers!

Alicia

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Happy Greening!
Alicia