Category: Environment

Want to Volunteer to Make a Rain Garden?

Leave a comment

by Save the Sound

Rain gardens divert water from manmade surfaces into gardens planted with native shrubs, grasses, flowers, layered soil, and sand, which together work to filter out harmful stormwater pollutants. This year, we are installing residential rain gardens throughout New Haven and Hamden in October and are looking for volunteers to assist us in this important work. For more details and to volunteer, go to www.savethesound.org/rain-garden-installations.

Confronting the Plastic Pollution Crisis 

Leave a comment

by Faye Park, President, ConnPIRG

Support bans on the worst form of single-use plastic! One in three Americans now live in a state with a ban on at least one form of single-use plastic — including here in Connecticut.

Hold plastic producers accountable for the waste their products become by supporting producer responsibility legislation at the national and state levels. PIRG helped lead the charge to win groundbreaking producer responsibility laws for packaging in Colorado, California and Oregon — and Connecticut could be next.

One of the most impactful things we can do to protect our planet and our health is stem the tide of plastic pollution.

As the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon produces a ton of plastic trash in the form of packaging. The company has said it’s committed to reducing its plastic waste – but the amount of plastic packaging it uses in America is actually growing, not shrinking.

New research shows that Amazon produced 208 million pounds of plastic packaging trash in the U.S. in 2022, a 10% increase over the prior year.

We need Amazon to get its plastic production under control and turn to more sustainable packaging alternatives. To keep our work going strong, we need everyone who believes in a zero-waste future to come together.

Northeast Electric Vehicle Symposium (NEEVS)

On Sunday, Sept. 15, noon to 4 p.m., and Monday, Sept. 16, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Hotel Marcel, 500 Sargent Drive, get charged up at NEEVS, the ultimate gathering for EV enthusiasts, policymakers, and those seeking trusted guidance on driving electric. Sunday is dedicated to educating and informing consumers as they meet and talk with a variety of EV owners showcasing their cars and as they participate in a ride and drive event to experience EVs on a 1.5-mile route. The NEEVS symposium is a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of electric vehicles and network with industry experts. Discover the latest incentives, policies and advances in zero-emission vehicles and pathways to decarbonizing the built environment. Register at https://tinyurl.com/4uvn7hva.

HazWaste Central Is Open at 90 Sargent Drive

HazWaste Central is co-sponsored by the Regional Water Authority and the South Central Regional Council of Governments. Visiting HazWaste Central is convenient and easy because visitors never have to leave their cars, and all hazwaste is off-loaded by professionals. HazWaste Central helps residents in member towns protect local waterways and natural environments by providing a location for the appropriate and safe disposal of household hazardous waste. HazWaste Central is provided at no cost to residents whose towns are active members of the HazWaste Central Municipal Planning Committee only.

Register

Please pre-register for the collection event you would like to attend. Attendance to multiple collection events throughout the Hazwaste season will require registration for each visit.

Registration Form:

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/a69c2c00e2674223a7438dbff47679c2.

What to Bring

Check here for a list of all acceptable items:

https://www.rwater.com/media/ip0pr1de/acceptable-list-2023-03-a.pdf

Future Collections at 90 Sargent Dr.: June 1, 8, 15, 22; July 6, 13, 20, 27, August 3, 10, 17, 24. Hours: 9 a.m.-noon.

CT Green Energy News May 17, 2024

News and events for advocates of clean energy, energy efficiency and climate action at the state and local levels, focusing on Connecticut. Brought to you by People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE), www.pacecleanenergy.org.

Some Connecticut Towns Are Banning Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers. Will More Join In?
New Haven Register. “Connecticut has seen a handful of communities taking action against the noisy and often environmentally-unfriendly equipment. In January, Greenwich adopted a new ordinance to ban the use of internal-combustion leaf blowers during the summer months…Norwalk will require landscapers to shelve gas-powered leaf blowers eight months of the year…The California Air Resources Board estimates that running a gas-powered leaf blower for an hour produces pollution equal to a car that is driven from Los Angeles to Denver, which at just over 1,000 miles is the rough equivalent of the distance from Hartford to Jacksonville, Fla.”

OP-ED | Environmental Justice
CT News Junkie. “Power plants, highways, and other pollution sources in Connecticut disproportionately impact the health of Black and brown communities and low-income communities in our state. Here in Hart-ford, polluting energy facilities and two highways are key drivers of air pollution that make people sick. … This truth makes it all the more important that the State of Connecticut seize an unmissable opportunity to rectify the historic harm caused by one of our city’s highest polluting sources, the Capitol Area System. … For the Hartford community, exposure to pollution from the Capitol Area System and other fossil fuel combustion, has been a long-term environmental injustice that must be healed. … Hartford residents deserve a 100% clean and renewable Capitol Area System and job opportunities in the green economy, and we’re counting on Governor Lamont to ensure that it happens.”

Rain Barrels Support A Clean Environment

by Frank Panzarella, NH Bioregional Group

Much of city land is covered with asphalt, concrete, and buildings. Rain water from these surfaces can carry oil, chemicals, and a variety of trash that can create serious pollution problems and sewer overflows, especially with heavy rains.

New Haven and other cities have introduced bioswales, rain gardens, and permeable surfaces to help reduce these issues and to separate storm water from sewers. Rain barrels are another part of this effort that can save money and tap water for homeowners, keep more rain water out of sewers, and provide gardens and flowers with water during dry periods.

In the last several years the Rain Barrel Project, together with the NH Bioregional Group in cooperation with the GNH Water Pollution Control Authority, has provided free rain barrels, training, and kits in the GNH area to gardeners and homeowners. In 2021 this project received an Environmental Stewardship award from the GNHWPCA. We hope to continue the project this spring and are applying for a grant to help cover the costs of barrels and kits. If you are interested in obtaining a rain barrel for this spring season, send an email to [email protected]. Also look for our table at Earth Day in Hamden and North Haven. As soon as we are able to get a new batch of barrels and kits, we will schedule a training and giveaway day.

CT Environmental Rights Amendment Featured at Climate March in Hartford Feb. 2

by Kimberly Stoner, Director of Advocacy, CT NOFA

On Friday, Feb. 2, about 200 people from over 20 organizations marched in Hartford to demand immediate action on climate change by the state legislature, the Lamont administration, and utility and insurance companies in the state. The theme of the march was “Keep CT’s Climate Promise.”

There’s a lot to do. In the Global Warming Solutions Act, Connecticut promised by 2050 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below levels in 2001. We would have to make some dramatic reductions in the next 26 years to meet that goal — and given the rate of climate change, that goal may not be enough. Indeed, one of the demands of the march was to set a more difficult target of reaching net zero greenhouse gases by 2050.

Kimberly Stoner photo

The CT Environmental Rights Amendment was one of the key demands. This amendment to the state constitution would include a safe and stable climate among the human rights of the people of Connecticut, along with clean and healthy air, water, soil, ecosystems, and environment, and would safeguard those rights for present and future generations. Right now, we are calling on the co-chairs of a key committee of the state legislature to bring this amendment forward in the coming legislative session. You can sign a petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/we-want-our-right-to-a-healthy-environment-in-the-ct-constitution.

A great opportunity is coming up to learn more about the CT Environmental Rights Amendment, and to hear about how similar provisions in state constitutions in other states have asserted the human right to a livable environment! Maya van Rossum, the national leader of the movement to put environmental rights into state constitutions, will be the keynote speaker at the winter conference of CT NOFA coming up in March.

There was a broad range of other demands to the CT General Assembly in addition to the CT Environmental Rights Amendment:

  • Setting a target of net zero greenhouse gases by 2050, along with subtargets for electricity generation, transportation, and other uses,
  • Increasing funding for energy efficiency,
  • Rapidly increasing solar energy, battery storage, and clean heat through heat pumps, and
  • Rapidly reducing greenhouse gases from transportation by adopting advanced standards for clean cars and trucks.

When we arrived at the Capitol, state legislators, including State Rep. Joe Gresko from Stratford, co-chair of the Environment Committee, pledged to include many of these demands in a bill they are developing, to be numbered House Bill 5004. It has not yet been introduced, but when it is, all of our organizations will be watching closely to see if the state legislators are ready to meet the urgency of the moment.

Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride Supports Twenty Local Environmental Projects April 27

by Chris Schweitzer, New Haven Climate Movement

Rock to Rock is moving ahead for this spring, working with over 20 partner organizations to take real action in response to the climate emergency, and raise critical support for local environmental organizations.

2024 bicycle rides include 5, 12, 20, 40, 60-mile, and two Family Rides in East Rock Park, plus hikes in East Rock Park and West Rock Park.

Join the fun Saturday, April 27. All rides start and end at East Rock Park, with a Green Fair, live music and food trucks.

Register at rocktorock.org.

CT NOFA Winter Conference on Gardening, Farming, Land Care, and Advocacy

by Kimberly Stoner, Director of Advocacy, CT NOFA

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA) is proud to present our 42nd Winter Conference, featuring a series of virtual workshops on March 20–21 in the lead-up to our full day, in-person gathering and celebration on March 23, 2024, at Eastern Connecticut State University, in partnership with their Institute of Sustainability.

Among the workshops in the virtual schedule on March 20:

  • New Haven’s own Lori Martin of Haven’s Harvest will present a workshop on a “new model for food systems” to get food to the people and not into the waste stream,
  • Ana Legrand on “Insect Pest Management When Transitioning to Organic Production,”
  • Anne Hulick of Clean Water Action on “PFAS Contamination in CT and What Can Be Done.”
    And among the workshops virtually on March 21:
  • “A Beginner’s Guide to Funding Opportunities with the CT Dept. of Agriculture, UConn Extension, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Farm Services Agency,”
  • Yonghao Li of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven will present “Biological and Organic Control of Plant Diseases,”
  • Kip Kolesinskas on “Creating a Climate Adaptation Plan for Your Farm or Garden.”

On the big day, in person on March 23, the keynote speaker will be Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeeper and national leader of the movement to get Green Amendments into the constitution of every state and eventually into the US Constitution. And there will be an abundance of workshops all day, including starting a community farm, sustainable cannabis and hemp production, making quality compost with New Haven’s Domingo Medina, and bridging community and diversity with experiential farming programs with New Haven’s Nadine Nelson.

One ticket will get you into all three days of workshops, plus lunch on Saturday, and a great opportunity to gather with people from across the state who love the Earth.

Registration is open! Get your tickets at this website: https://ctnofa.org/winter-conference/2024-winter-conference.

Stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline—You Can Help Right a Wrong

by Melinda Tuhus, local environmental activist

The time is long past to be building more methane gas pipelines. The clean energy future is here. But thanks to Bank of America, construction continues on the Mountain Valley fracked gas pipeline (MVP), which stretches 303 miles through West Virginia and Virginia and would carry 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day if completed. Last spring Congress, at the insistence of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, included a section in the debt ceiling bill requiring that the MVP be completed, overriding many judicial and regulatory decisions that had left it almost dead. Local people along the route have been fighting it for 8 years, and the terrain itself has presented so far insurmountable obstacles.

Bob Congdon photo

It is poised to cross the Appalachian Trail, the iconic 2,193-mile Georgia to Maine hiking trail that is a national park. It is a danger to residents due to destruction of land, contamination of air and water, and, if completed, due to leaks and potential explosions – and to everyone due to its climate emissions.

Bank of America is one of the biggest funders of the MVP, to the tune of $1.5 billion. Please contact CEO Brian Moynihan at Twitter: @BankofAmerica, Instagram: @BankofAmerica, and [email protected] to call on BofA to stop funding the pipeline. If you’re a customer, consider closing your account and going to a local or regional bank or a credit union like Connex.

Another thing you can do — sign a petition to make MVP stop polluting the waters where it’s building the pipeline: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/old-folks-demand-virginia-ag-hold-mvp-accountable?source=direct_ link&

On Jan. 31, two dozen people protested in front of the Bank of America branch at 157 Church Street, and demanded that it stop funding the MVP. We were joined by Maury Johnson, a retired West Virginia educator and an organic farmer, whose land was ruined when MVP, LLC took it by eminent domain to run the pipeline across it. Maury is a fierce pipeline fighter and gave an update on the fight.

And we were appalled to learn right after our rally that Bank of America has reversed its pledge to no longer fund coal projects or projects in the Arctic, which is melting four times faster than the earth as a whole. We urge Bank of America to come over to the right side of history.

For more info: [email protected], 203-623-2186.

1 2 3 … 23