NEWSLETTER: May 2007
Allen Brewster, Deputy Dean of Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, will be our speaker this month. He will talk about his experiences in China working with manufacturers to promote cleaner production and with municipal officials towards being more sustainable. In addition, he will facilitate a discussion to address and explore probable possibilities that are applicable to Milford that will help us move towards becoming a more sustainable community. We invite all to participate and encourage a lively discussion.
We had a fair turnout for our Earth Day Celebration. There were over 300 Scouts and parents and young children. However, not many of those folks made it up to the Fowler building to see all the exhibits. We also had several exhibitors by the Fowler pavilion. The demonstration by George Benedetti on how the sun can produce boiling water through its solar panels in just a few seconds, was really remarkable to see.
The pavilion, at this time of year, is risky for those of us who have many handouts which could be blowing around in the wind, so we thought it best to have many of them inside. Next year, we will see that they are more visible. However, the Scouts did a fabulous job in their clean up. We hope the city will respect the newly cleaned parks and beaches and will keep it that way.
Special thanks go to all those who volunteered, Susan and Paul Slattery, Diane Lentakis and Paul Brunner attended our ECC table for two hours each; Kathy and Steve Kraffmiller, Edna Luysterborghs, Diane Vasseur, Abigail Wilcox, Lee Calzadilla and John Borgatti gave a great deal of time and effort at the food table and other chores. We managed to raise $210 from the bake sale for the Veterans. Let’s not forget to thank all of you who contributed to the bake sale. It was an outstanding selection of delicious sweets. Amazing that we got any at all, as people do not bake anymore, most would give a laugh when I made my pitch to get donations, so my reply was if you can’t bake, then please come and buy. This will be the last request ever for having a bake sale, so heave a sigh of relief.
We are looking to have an Earth Day planning meeting so we can improve our publicity, location and to fix our time and reservations for next year. We will welcome any of you to join us with suggestions to improve and hopefully to expand our message for the Earth next year.
Interesting that the Register had for their front page headline “Milford turning new page on porn”on the same day, on the back page, there was the second interim report on the Environment,“Scientists lay out plan to stabilize harmful gases.” It essentially said that the hundreds of scientists and government officials met in Bangkok to work on practical steps to combat global warming. “The time is now,” Chartree Chueyprasit, a
deputy secretary in Thailand’s ministry of natural resources and environment, told delegates. “Global warming has increasingly become a hot (issue) which requires harmonized cooperating beween all nations.”
It calls for reduction of emissions, shift away from fossil fuels such as coal and investment in energy efficiency and agricultual reforms.
However, “the major polluters, the US, China and Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, are expected to seek to water down the report.” The official time line to make corrections is eight years, while the watered version is saying fifteen years. This is the bad news. This makes it that much more difficult to effect the right changes to stabalize global warming. And, it isn’t just the government we need to worry about; public attitudes can also prevent us from moving forward and being more proactve.
On this very day, Diane Vasseur heard on the radio that there were many angry call-ins claiming there is no such thing as climate change or global warming. Also, a similar discussion with the same passion was overheard in the line at one of our local markets.
What do you suppose is happening? Not only no support from the Federal Government for corporate profit reasons, and then how to account for all of these people who are not acknowledging global warming? It can’t be that they are not informed with all the information that is coming at us via papers, magazines, radio, TV, “An Inconvient Truth”, etc.? Could it be that the fear level is beginning to sink in?
What is the first reaction to such crushing news, that of possible death of our way of life, possible extinctions of many animals and organisms? I can relate with personal experience, that with the news of the death of a loved one, the first reaction is denial. DENIAL, ANGER ALL THE BEGINNINGS OF FACING DEATH AND LOSS. It is a process and the sooner we grasp this we will be able to move forward. We will be reminded of changes as per the following reports: In Greensburg, Kansas, the winds reached the maximum ever recorded 205 mph that carved a track 1.7 miles wide and 22 miles long, which completely destroyed the town. The last storm that strong was in Oklahoma City in 1999 which killed 36 people. The area had 20 minutes warning which saved hundreds of lives.
And then the news sent by Chris Wrinn:“The First Refugees of Global Warming”
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/050207EA.shtml
“Bangladesh, which has 140 million people packed into an area a little smaller than Illinois, is one of the most vulnerable places as climate changes. As the sea level slowly rises, this nation, which is little more than a series of low-lying delta islands amid some of Asia's mightiest rivers, is seeing saltwater creep into its coastal soils and drinking water. Scientists say that in many ways it represents climate change's "perfect storm" of challenges because the country is extremely poor, extremely populated and extremely susceptible.”
Sorry if I keep harping about this, but for the sake of our survival, we need to be preparing our young people and ourselves for whatever may happen with our uncertain and faster than normal, changing world that we live in.
Helpful Hint: Are you having trouble with carpenter bees? Try hanging a small rotten log or board or several stocks of bamboo tied together from a tree in your yard. To invite more immediate habitation for the carpenter bees, drill small holes into the log or board, this way they will have instant housing and won’t take the time to stop and drill holes into your house. (from Diane Vasseur) No more definitive news about the honey bees.
For information from DEP and Judy Prill’s newsletter on several issues such as: organic gardening, energy saving ideas, what to do with old medicines (don’t flush them down the toilet, remove your name and put it in the garbage and recycling). Click below.
http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/p2/newsletter/p2viewspring07.pdf
I would like to thank all of you that responded to our request to call our legislators about the pesticide bill. I understand there was a good response. You need to know that this response makes such a tremendous difference for its support. Dick Roy is staying on the bill and we are counting on him to get it to a vote.
Here is the latest update on what is happening with the bills. As it happens there are two bills on the calendar: HB 5234, which we thought, was in great jeopardy of being tabled and destroyed with amendments. It is written as of this date-- a ban on pesticides K-8 grade, with an amendment, which states that the high schools will be monitored by the DEP rather than by the Education department, by using IPM until, I believe 2009. This doesn’t mean that we cannot in the future, go for extending the pesticide ban to all high schools. But if this bill passes the House and the Senate this year, we will wait another year or so, as everyone already will have had it for the time being. It will also give us time to work with the high schools to help them adjust to the IPM land care and the transition won’t be so great, when and if they go full time organic.
There is another Bill #7096 for pesticides K-12 plus all cleaning agents for all schools must be organic as promoted by the Governor. This will probably not be passed with the twelve on it, however, if the legislators prefer to use this bill by changing the K-8 that may very well be the bill that goes through. Both are on the calendar. There is agreement with the supporters of both bills to get one or the other voted on.
Laurel Lobovits wants us to know that there will be some upgrading to our website to make it more user friendly. She will be working with someone who will be helping upgrade. We will be preparing a column with suggestions from our Recycling Committee to help with savings for energy and to help upgrade our city’s waste management -- that is their goal.
An exciting event took place on the Stratford side of the Sikorsky Bridge this past Saturday. It was the official opening of the bridge and specifically the walking and bicycling path that joins Stratford and Milford. Even if you don’t bicycle, it makes for a great walk and opportunity to look up the Housatonic River and look as far as the eye can see. The distance from one end to the other is approximately one mile or a two-mile return. One can park his car at the commuter parking lot on Wolf Harbor Road. From there one needs to walk back to Wheelers Farm Road, go under the thruway, go left at the light. The entrance will be just ahead on your left after passing under the exit bridge.
I had the privilege of joining George Benedetti, science teacher at Foran High, two students from the Energy Club and Tom Ivers from Community Development for a talk with representatives from Wal*Mart. The students arranged the meeting to discuss their grant and their partnership with Wal*Mart. They are promoting at a lower price, the low efficient light bulbs and the students will be sponsoring events and will have a kiosk in their store to help promote and sell the bulbs. I was able, on behalf of our Recycling Committee, to address the issue of recycling the bulbs and asked if they would have their store participate in the recycling process. I was assured that they were addressing this issue as we spoke. And, Tom Ivers also asked if our clean energy program could be part of the promotional program.
Their business promoter Brian West told us about Wal*Mart’s efforts to be more environmental, that their goal was to accomplish zero-waste. They have been asking all their providers to redesign their packaging to be as minimal as possible. They have redesigned their lighting to be energy efficient and using natural lighting in their new building where possible, and the latest efficiency in air-conditioning and heating. All sounding good and hope this proves true. Jim Fuoco, the Milford Wal*Mart manager, is looking forward to working with the students, their grant and the sale of efficiency light bulbs.
The annual Land Trust meeting will be May 24 at 7:30 pm at St. Peter’s Parish Hall, 71 River Street.
Diesel Pollution demonstration for a retrofit on school buses was held in Hartford on May 8 at the Capitol.
Regards,
Ann Berman, Chair of ECC
www.milfordecc.com
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