Activism

Trashion Fashion with Skraptacular

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The lovely Dominique Drakeford and friends from Scraptacular at Earth Day, Union Square, NYC 2014
The lovely Dominique Drakeford and friends from Scraptacular at Earth Day, Union Square, NYC 2014

My friend Dominique Drakeford of Drake Natural has informed me of a fun and worthwhile organization that I want to share.

“Skraptacular is a grassroots, non-profit organization based in northern Manhattan. We inspire community and environmental awareness by teaching children how they can make the world cleaner and greener by transforming trash into art.” It educates about concepts of sustainability, waste reduction, and smart consumerism, while encouraging children’s creativity.

Founded by Michelle Del Guercio, Skraptacular recently celebrated its third anniversary and fundraiser “A Springing Affair,” and numerous activities for Earth Month. Coming up in May 2014 – two “Trashion” shows, one at the High Line on May 18th and one at the beautiful Brooklyn Grange on May 31st.

Skraptacular is always in need of craft items, funds, and volunteers. Visit their web site to get involved.

Canadian Tar Sands + Peace Poets Make for an Interesting Day

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Sr. Margie Swedish and the Peace Poets
Margie Swedish and the Peace Poets

This weekend’s event for Homecoming Farm in Amityville, NY (http://homecomingearth.org/), a CSA on the land of the Dominican sisters, focused on our inter-connectivity with nature and the debate of oil mining for our immediate needs versus awareness of its broader impacts. Speaker Margaret Swedish, author of “Living Beyond the End of the World: A Spirituality of Hope” and the blog http://www.ecologicalhope.org/category/blog/ showed profoundly moving photos and videos from her travels to Alberta Canada where boreal forests are being clear-cut for the mining of sand containing bentonite that can be converted into fuel oil. In her interviews of locals, she discovered that people are generally split on whether or not they support the mining since it has been a large boon to the economy but they, including some native tribes, also see beautiful areas of their homeland being destroyed and the work itself is dismal.

The mood was lifted to a more hopeful one by an incredible performance by the Peace Poets, a group of young Bronx men that “spits” positive messages about peace, caring for family, and personal responsibility, in an artistic form of rap. See https://www.facebook.com/ThePeacePoets.

Tapped: The Case Against Bottled Water

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I thought I knew what I needed to know about bottled water, but I found out some new things from the documentary “Tapped,” shown this week at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Shelter Rock. Bottled water is usually filtered municipal water that is sold back within state at a much higher price than tap water. The plastic bottle is made in a petrochemical plant and though PET plastic #1 is usually considered safe, this film pointed out that it can sometimes be contaminated with benzene, a carcinogen. Plastic manufacturing is an environmental justice issue, causing health issues in communities surrounding the factories. One thing I hadn’t thought of was that bottled water companies have tried to bad-mouth municipal water (this is documented in the film), and yet expect municipalities to pick up the tab for recycling their bottles, and have usually fought against the bottle return bills that have now passed in only 6 U.S. States. Since many U.S. communities do not have curbside recycling, the rate of bottle recycling is still only at 20%, so many bottles end up being landfilled, incinerated, or unfortunately, as litter in our oceans and beaches. For more info see http://www.tappedthemovie.com/, or watch it free here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/tapped/.

Slow Food Huntington Dazzles with Film and Local Food Event

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SlowFoodSlow Food Huntington pulled off an amazing sold-out night of film and food at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY last night, which I was so proud to be a part of.

After showing a film called “Growing Farmers,” about local farmers right here on Long Island and the Peconic Land Trust, we were treated to a brief presentation by Scott Chaskey, the farmer of many years of Quail Hill Farm in East Hampton.

Volunteers dished out 117 bowls of vegan miso vegetable chowder, followed by a film “Letting Salt Just Be Salt” on locally made sea-salt from Amagansett, with a serving of sea salt braised roasted vegetables. This was followed by a film on the truth about beef, “The Secret Life of Beef “ and a film on local pickles called “Divine Brine”, and a serving of veggie sliders with the pickles from the film.

The fourth course was a film on fresh pasta-making, called “A Pasta Story” followed by a dish of fresh locally made radiatore pasta described by a local pasta maker, and the final course was a film, “Greyston Bakery,” with desserts made by the Bronx bakery of the same name, whose mission it is to provide jobs for people who might otherwise have a hard time getting hired due to a checkered past.

It was a unique and fantastic night, combining education, film, and sustainable food. For more information on Slow Food Huntington and it’s upcoming activities, see slowfoodhuntington.org

I Love New York – for Going Green

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The Empire State Building is my favorite building in the world, and now I have even more reason to love it. During a recent visit, I learned that over the last few years, the owners partnered with the Clinton Climate Initiative, NYSERDA, Johnson Controls and The Rocky Mountain Institute to do some major green renovations.

They made numerous improvements to the building’s outer shell and interior lighting and equipment to become more energy efficient. They also updated the chiller plants, and installed new air handlers (fans) that only run when needed.

This alone will reduce CO2 emissions by 50,000 metrics tons over the next 15 years. This, matched with tenant education and energy management systems, is saving the building $6,000 per day.

To learn more, visit the educational display gallery on the bottom floor of the Empire State Building next time you’re in NYC, and see http://www.esbnyc.com/sustainability_energy_efficiency.asp

 

Water & Peace in the Middle East

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Gidon Bromberg of FOEME speaks to a packed house
Gidon Bromberg of FOEME speaks to a packed house

If you value Dead Sea salts, water, or are Christian, Jewish or Muslim, you will appreciate this post. New York had the honor of having the 3 co-directors of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FOEME) offer a presentation at a local place of worship, invited by a network of faith organizations.

I learned that the Jordan River, which runs between Palestine, Israel and Jordan, and which was where Jesus was baptized, is now suffering from heavy water pollution from sewage and has lost over 90% of its original water flow due to dams and diversions. It is the Dead Sea’s primary fresh water source, so as a result, the Dead Sea has lost 1/3 of its surface area.

FOEME works towards clean water solutions and education, and is unique in being the only organization known to enjoy cooperation among these 3 countries, so is a beacon of hope. They bring youth together on this shared water issue who are otherwise separated by the difficulties of the political situations going on in the region. FOEME doesn’t take funding from their governments so donations are welcome.