New York

My Visit to the First Ever “Living Building”

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The highlight of my recent trip to Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY was their LEED platinum Omega Center for Sustainable Living. The first, and one of only 3 in the nation, to achieve Living Building status, it exceeds USGBC’s highest green building standards. The building has a geothermal heating/cooling system, produces all of its own electricity using a 48 kw solar system, some of which is ground-mounted. It also houses the “Eco- Machine” which converts the 52,000 gallons of sewage and graywater from the campus into clean water using an indoor lagoon, and native plants such as cattails in a constructed wetland that absorbs chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

  • The building was made from reclaimed wood (it even incorporated wood from President Obama’s inaugural platform.)
  • Since there is no waste in nature, 99% of construction “waste” was put to reuse.
  • Part of the roof is covered with a “green roof” of succulent plants, and rainwater is captured for use in toilets.
  • Omega purchased 90 acres in the Hudson Valley to be kept forever wild as an offset for any impacts of the building.
  • No toxins on the Living Building Institute’s “Red List” were used.

The coolest feature of the building’s maintenance is the Lotus Pro, made by Tersano. It is a machine that electrifies tap water, giving it extra ions, making it suitable to be used as a cleaner and disinfectant that kills germs even faster than bleach! The whole place is a model that many come from long distances to see. For info see http://eomega.org/omega-in-action/key-initiatives/omega-center-for-sustainable-living.

water ionizer/cleaner
Sustainability Manager Jeff Reel in constructed wetland

Conference Promotes Offshore Wind for Long Island

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(L-R) Carol Murphy, Alliance for Clean Energy NY; Peter Grannis, NYS Comptroller's office; Adrienne Esposito, Citizen's Campaign for the Environment; Gordian Raacke, Renewable Energy Long Island; Frank Murray, NYSERDA; Kevin Law, Long Island Association; & Catherine Bowes, National Wildlife Federation

Wind is a free, clean source of energy. Right now, the U.S. produces about 50,000MW (enough for 12.8 million homes) from on-land wind turbines (See AWEA.org), but the number of offshore wind farms stands at zero. A conference held 7/31/12 at the Long Island Association, Melville, NY aims to change that. Sponsored by Renewable Energy Long Island, Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment, Alliance for Clean Energy NY, National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club, the conference invited key leaders: Peter Grannis, First Deputy Comptroller,  NY State Comptroller’s office, and Kevin Law, Long Island Association, talked about jobs and economic benefits that offshore wind could bring; Karsten Moeller from Siemens Energy discussed the numerous successful projects in Europe, stating that wind turbines are now big enough to produce 6mw each and can be placed further offshore to minimize view impacts. (Most people I’ve met who’ve seen wind turbines think they’re beautiful, BTW…)

Bill Moore, Deepwater Wind, discussed a proposed wind farm between Rhode Island and Long Island. Representatives from NYSERDA, the NY Department of State, and the utility companies LIPA and NYPA contributed status updates on an existing proposal off the Rockaways, for which NYPA has submitted a lease application to the federal government. LIPA has found the area off the south shore of Long Island to be highly suitable for wind power production, and NY State is doing “competitive use” studies right now to determine which areas are best, given shipping lanes, fishing uses, etc.

The main point of the conference was to point out that while no energy source is perfect, offshore wind holds the potential to be a clean energy source with very few negative effects, especially when compared to the use of fossil fuel-burning power plants, so it would be a welcome addition to New York’s energy mix.

T.H.R.E.A.D.S. Eco-Fashion show

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T.H.R.E.A.D.S. – an impressive eco-fashion show coordinated by Bianca and Michael Alexander of Conscious Living TV, Chicago, was held at the Green Festival for Earth Day in NYC. The show highlighted 5 local designers and was attended by over 100 eager attendees of a “green” ilk.

Eco-textile pioneer Marci Zaroff (l), organizers Michael & Bianca Alexander (center), and Marci's Partner after show

First designer up was Artists and Revolutionaries, a sporty, fun line that uses repurposed leather, cashmere, and organic cottons. (artistsandrevolutionaries.com).

Artists & Revolutionaries

Second was Heart- a beautiful line that incorporate the use of original artistic photography imprinted onto gorgeous girly dresses. (Heartisart.com)

Heart

 

 

Third designer was Vaute Couture a vegan fashion line featuring a lot of unique, edgy denim pieces, with its first store now open in Brooklyn. (Vautecouture.com)

Vaute Couture

 

 

Fourth in line, was A.D.O., which uses GOTS (global organic trade standard) certified fabric in a rich orange hue created by chemical-free herbal dyes. (adoclothing)

A.D.O.

 

 

Last but not least was and very impressive with its sleekly feminine, sophisticated style was Allison Parris New York, who truly keeps it local by making pieces of recycled fabrics in factories right here in Manhattan. (AllisonParris.com)

Allison Parris New York

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footwear for the show was provided Cri De Coeur (cri-de-coeur.com), an ethically produced vegan shoe company.

Green Festival was a terrific showcase for eco-fashion, featuring about a dozen vendors of sustainable, clothing made of organic cotton, hemp, and recycled materials. Several lectures were offered by experts in the field: sustainable fashion and fragrance classes being offered by professors at the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) in Manhattan, a lecture on the importance of fair trade clothing focused on decent working conditions, and also a lecture on hemp fashion which included a small fashion show of designers making beautiful and stylish creations from hemp and hemp/silk fabric blends.

Green Festival Comes to NYC for the First Time!

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4/22/12 The national Green Festival, celebrated in major U.S. cities finally came to New York for Earth Day 2012!  25,000 people came to the Javits Center to learn about the latest environmental issues, hear dynamic expert speakers, see an ecofashion show, and network with like-minded entrepreneurs —see www.greenfestivals.org/nyc/updates/.

Here are a few of the coolest things I saw:

1)     My favorite: pot planters that are made from rice, wheat, and/or bamboo fibers so are fully biodegradable when buried in soil. The same small pots serve as soy candle holders, and the “wax” can be used as a skin moisturizer. So one product serves as a candle, lotion, then a planter, and finally biodegrades. Brilliant! See myfirstecopot.com

Biodegradable Candle/Pot

2)     T-shirts by Playback made out of the plastic originally used to make X-rays! The tag says “Transforming images of broken legs into clothing made better by recycling.” The company assures that it is radiation- free : ) They also make tees out of recycled plastic bottles. See playbackclothing.com.

T-shirt made of Xrays

3)     Why must birthday parties create waste? I love the idea behind Susty Party — bamboo party plates and tableware in pastel colors, that can say “Happy Birthday”, and colorful paper straws, all of which are biodegradable. If you need green party supplies, see www.sustyparty.com.

Susty party supplies!

4)     A green Monopoly-type game called Green Business Owner (GBO) Hawaii. (See http://greenbusinessowner.com/about/gbo-hawaii/). The creator told me he visited a Green Festival 2 years ago in DC feeling cynical about the world, but was so inspired that he created his product and now he is an exhibitor!

GBO Hawaii Eco-Game

Another cool thing I learned: Ford is using soy, corn, and even sweet potato to make plastics in their interior car parts. See my post about this at GreenLivingGuy.com.

Plant-based Ford car components

But my favorite part—the Ecofashion—see my next post about that!

LI Small Farm Summit Inspires Gardeners & Foodies

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      The 2012 Small Farm Summit on 4/14/12 was the culmination of months of dedicated work by the North Shore Land Alliance, and numerous Long Island gardening, local food, and healthy school lunch advocates. Hundreds came to Hofstra University to hear football-player-turned-farmer Will Allen of “Growing Power” from Wisconsin, and Renegade Lunch Lady and Author, Chef Ann Cooper (See ChefAnn.com). Will Allen started the day with many success stories of projects he’s started, teaching kids how to grow their own food in urban areas. (See www.growingpower.org). I also got to hear about innovative rooftop farms like Brooklyn Grange, a 40,000 sq ft farm growing on warehouse roof in Long Island City, Queens. (See http://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com). On a scary note, Professor Birgit Woelker, Nassau Community College, reminded us of the many reasons to be concerned about genetically modified crops being grown around the globe, the need for labeling here in the U.S. (See http://tinyurl.com/GMO-NO). I also learned how to make a vertical green wall from teacher Steve Ritz of  Green Bronx
Machine (greenbronxmachine.weebly.com/index.html).

With numerous exhibits and workshops happening at once, the Farm Summit was a smorgasbord of positive learning and sharing. Glad I got to be a volunteer and a sponsor as Green Inside and Out Consulting, to help make this day a wonderful success. See http://www.smallfarmsummit.com/.

Beth Fiteni & Will Allen, Growing Power
Professor Birgit Woelker says no to GMOs
Steve Ritz, Green Bronx Machine, displays a vertical green wall made by his students

Greenfaith Hosts “Ground for Hope” in Westchester

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One of the main inspirations for the formation of the LI Interfaith Environment Network (LIIEN.org) was Greenfaith, a NJ-based nonprofit that helps faith institutions to embrace sustainability values and to take action as role models in their communities. Run by the charismatic Reverend Fletcher Harper, Greenfaith provides numerous programs to engage the faith community in environmental stewardship, including hosting forums entitled “Ground for Faith.”  On March 11, 2012 a forum was held at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY in collaboration with multiple local partners. Topics included food and faith, sacred texts and the earth, and green facility management. The day also featured multi-faith prayers from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist traditions, centered on the shared wish to bring about a spirit of awareness and stewardship. A very inspiring day indeed, which we hope to re-create on Long Island in 2013, so stay tuned…. For more info see Greenfaith.org.