Buy Local -
Several opportunities to 'buy local' this weekend.
First, as reported in today's Saratogian (in a nice article by Mareesa Nicosia), the Saratoga Farmer's Market moves to it's outdoor location tomorrow, Saturday, May 1st, at the High Rock Pavillion in Saratoga Springs. Market hours are 9-1pm. All market vendors come from within 40 miles of Saratoga, so shopping at the market is a great way to support local farmers & craftspersons and the local economy. Check out their website http://www.saratogafarmersmarket.org/. From the website you can join their email list to get weekly updates by Suzanne Carreker-Voigt, Market Coordinator.
Second, check out the Capital District Local First's 'Spring Buy Local Bash', to be held Sunday May 2, 2010 from 10-1:30pm at Proctor's Theater in Schenectady. According to their website, the event provides a great opportunity to showcase & support the region's locally owned independent businesses to the public.
The event is coordinated with the farmers' market in Schenectady. Sounds like a fun event.
http://capitaldistrictlocalfirst.org/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=16944
(I am still figuring out how to insert links properly here.)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
For the Love of Compost
I love compost. I love the idea of composting, I love chopping up vegetables and putting all the veggie scraps into my compost bucket under the sink, I love watching my compost pile grow and, this year, I really loved sifting through my year-old compost, shoveling two wheel barrow’s full and spreading it on my garden beds (picture above.) I generate very little garbage waste because I compost almost all of my food scraps except for meat.
To me, composting is the most simple, basic step you can take to become more sustainable. It requires a small bit of yard space, a bucket to keep under your sink to add food scraps to, a shovel, and some dirt. Lawn clippings are good to add too. It's amazing to watch the food scraps turn into nutrient-rich compost, and it's even more exciting when after a year you get to recycle all that wonderful compost back into your garden. I live on the south side of Saratoga near the State Park, so my soils are all sand. This means in order for me to grow anything besides moss I need to add compost. It was a great feeling last week to be able to spread the compost I'd been "creating" since I moved into my house over a year ago. In addition to food scraps and lawn clippings, I also add the ashes from my wood stove. I heat my house in-part with wood so the compost is a great way to "recycle" the ashes while helping to "close the loop" on my resource useage.
There is something incredibly satisfying and logical to me about composting. I lived in apartments for four years in Saratoga during which time I didn't have the space to compost nor would my landlord allow it. I always felt it such a waste when I would throw out food scraps.
Some day it would be wonderful if Saratoga Springs or the County could implement a city-wide kitchen composting program. The idea was raised at last night's Sustainable Saratoga task force meeting, and is a great one. However, implementing such a program presents many challenges. As folks mentioned last night, there are cities such as Seattle, WA and Halifax who have such programs. Someday we may be at the point of implementing a program like this. In the meantime, starting your own compost pile in your backyard, or creating a shared neighborhood compost is an excellent alternative. As with most things, education is key to implementing anything new.
Below are some links to composting sites (thanks to my Sustainable Saratoga friends Celeste and Joanne for this info)
http://earth911.com/news/2010/04/26/the-next-wave-in-composting/
http://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship/compost/yardcomp/yard3.htm
or search “Backyard Composting” on the web for all the details on starting your own.
There are lots of other resources around on composting, which I hope others will share, and, some folks living in the community who are real experts in composting (Master Composters - similar to the Master Gardener's program.) The more info the better.
(And, here's a link to an article I wrote for the Saratoga Scene on composting
http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/07/08/entertainment/scene/doc4a54ce900456e659458051.txt)
I hope some folks will get inspired.
To me, composting is the most simple, basic step you can take to become more sustainable. It requires a small bit of yard space, a bucket to keep under your sink to add food scraps to, a shovel, and some dirt. Lawn clippings are good to add too. It's amazing to watch the food scraps turn into nutrient-rich compost, and it's even more exciting when after a year you get to recycle all that wonderful compost back into your garden. I live on the south side of Saratoga near the State Park, so my soils are all sand. This means in order for me to grow anything besides moss I need to add compost. It was a great feeling last week to be able to spread the compost I'd been "creating" since I moved into my house over a year ago. In addition to food scraps and lawn clippings, I also add the ashes from my wood stove. I heat my house in-part with wood so the compost is a great way to "recycle" the ashes while helping to "close the loop" on my resource useage.
There is something incredibly satisfying and logical to me about composting. I lived in apartments for four years in Saratoga during which time I didn't have the space to compost nor would my landlord allow it. I always felt it such a waste when I would throw out food scraps.
Some day it would be wonderful if Saratoga Springs or the County could implement a city-wide kitchen composting program. The idea was raised at last night's Sustainable Saratoga task force meeting, and is a great one. However, implementing such a program presents many challenges. As folks mentioned last night, there are cities such as Seattle, WA and Halifax who have such programs. Someday we may be at the point of implementing a program like this. In the meantime, starting your own compost pile in your backyard, or creating a shared neighborhood compost is an excellent alternative. As with most things, education is key to implementing anything new.
Below are some links to composting sites (thanks to my Sustainable Saratoga friends Celeste and Joanne for this info)
http://earth911.com/news/2010/04/26/the-next-wave-in-composting/
http://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship/compost/yardcomp/yard3.htm
or search “Backyard Composting” on the web for all the details on starting your own.
There are lots of other resources around on composting, which I hope others will share, and, some folks living in the community who are real experts in composting (Master Composters - similar to the Master Gardener's program.) The more info the better.
(And, here's a link to an article I wrote for the Saratoga Scene on composting
http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/07/08/entertainment/scene/doc4a54ce900456e659458051.txt)
I hope some folks will get inspired.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
electronics recycling - there is a fee
Electronics Recycling - Bring some $$ with you. Just found out it's .25 cents/lb for printers, computers, and .35 cents for TV's, etc. Part of proceeds to benefit Caroline St School Garden. Still worth it, apologies for any frustration for that missing detail.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Electronics Recycling Day in Saratoga - Saturday 4/24
If you've been holding onto your outdated/broken electronics equipment, here's the opportunity we've all been waiting for to recycle it!
April 24th - 9-1 pm Saratoga Springs
Electronics recycling day Saratoga Springs
Caroline Street School
More info at www.ersiRecycling.com
April 24th - 9-1 pm Saratoga Springs
Electronics recycling day Saratoga Springs
Caroline Street School
More info at www.ersiRecycling.com
Celebrate Earth Day at Fun Saratoga PLAN Event on Saturday
Clifton Park Garden Party (aka Wild Lupine planting party).
Type:Trips - Group Trip
Date:Saturday, April 24, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Just off exit 10 at Ushers Rd. call for direction 587-5554 x 3
Description
On Saturday, April 24th from 10am- 3pm, Saratoga P.L.A.N. (Preserving Land and Nature) will host a “Lupine Planting Party” at their Karner Blue Butterfly Restoration site in Clifton Park. This child-friendly event is free to the public, but volunteers are asked to call for directions. Volunteers will learn how to plant seeds, about the ecological history of the area and more.
Anyone wanting to come to the event should contact P.L.A.N. at 587-5554 x 3. Please wear good boots.
The restoration site, occurring in Clifton Park just off of Ushers Rd., was made possible by a long history of collaboration between Saratoga P.L.A.N., Assemblyman Robert Reilly, The Town of Clifton Park, The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and several local volunteer groups.
In December 2008, members of Clifton Park highway department braved the snow, wind, and even ice storms to help out. They operated an excavator (donated by Caterpillar Corporation) and cleared vegetation to open over an acre of butterfly habitat at the 3-acre site managed by Saratoga P.L.A.N. Their work made it possible for volunteers (in Spring 2009) to plant Wild Blue Lupine (The Karner Blue’s larvaes’ only host plant) on its preferred habitat of sandy soil with full sunlight. The site now includes thousands of mature lupine plants, with another 2 pounds of lupine seeds to be planted at this “Planting Party”.
Anyone wanting to come to the event should contact P.L.A.N. at 587-5554 x 3.
Type:Trips - Group Trip
Date:Saturday, April 24, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Just off exit 10 at Ushers Rd. call for direction 587-5554 x 3
Description
On Saturday, April 24th from 10am- 3pm, Saratoga P.L.A.N. (Preserving Land and Nature) will host a “Lupine Planting Party” at their Karner Blue Butterfly Restoration site in Clifton Park. This child-friendly event is free to the public, but volunteers are asked to call for directions. Volunteers will learn how to plant seeds, about the ecological history of the area and more.
Anyone wanting to come to the event should contact P.L.A.N. at 587-5554 x 3. Please wear good boots.
The restoration site, occurring in Clifton Park just off of Ushers Rd., was made possible by a long history of collaboration between Saratoga P.L.A.N., Assemblyman Robert Reilly, The Town of Clifton Park, The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and several local volunteer groups.
In December 2008, members of Clifton Park highway department braved the snow, wind, and even ice storms to help out. They operated an excavator (donated by Caterpillar Corporation) and cleared vegetation to open over an acre of butterfly habitat at the 3-acre site managed by Saratoga P.L.A.N. Their work made it possible for volunteers (in Spring 2009) to plant Wild Blue Lupine (The Karner Blue’s larvaes’ only host plant) on its preferred habitat of sandy soil with full sunlight. The site now includes thousands of mature lupine plants, with another 2 pounds of lupine seeds to be planted at this “Planting Party”.
Anyone wanting to come to the event should contact P.L.A.N. at 587-5554 x 3.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Every Day Should Be Earth Day
The other day someone asked me what I was doing for Earth Day. My first response was, ’launching this blog.’ (which btw - was enough for one earth day.) Then she said, ‘Oh, I’m sure you’ll be doing something special outdoors.’ That’s when I thought, huh, I often don’t do anything particular on Earth Day. Perhaps I should not admit this in my first blog post, but I suppose it’s because to me, every day should be Earth Day. Later that evening while cooking dinner I thought more about why this is. I suppose having worked in the Environmental field for close to 20 years now, having spent many hours of volunteer time on environmental projects, written local stories on environmental issues and “going green”, and teaching part-time in Environmental studies the past five years, every day for me is like Earth Day. Every day I try to be conscious of the resources I am using - how much I drive, whether I am eating local, etc etc. However, I am far from living a sustainable life. But I want to be. That's why I am starting this blog. For me in part it’s to push myself to really live more sustainably, by doing such things as converting my lawn to garden, making a much bigger commitment to bicycling regularly, and overall reducing my waste, energy and resource useage.
So this Earth Day - the 40th at that - I’m recommitting myself. I’m going to put up the clothesline I bought last year and hang my clothes outside to dry. I’m going to buy a clothes rack for drying inside (wood stove’s generate great heat for that.) I’m going to once again start turning off my hot water heater during part of the day, along with the garden and biking more. Now that I work more on the west side of town, it’s a longer ride than to Broadway, but I will do it. And, I’m going to start riding the bus when I can.
So this Earth Day - the 40th at that - I’m recommitting myself. I’m going to put up the clothesline I bought last year and hang my clothes outside to dry. I’m going to buy a clothes rack for drying inside (wood stove’s generate great heat for that.) I’m going to once again start turning off my hot water heater during part of the day, along with the garden and biking more. Now that I work more on the west side of town, it’s a longer ride than to Broadway, but I will do it. And, I’m going to start riding the bus when I can.
So is there something you can do to take that extra step, go that extra mile for Earth Day?
I hope to create here a fun forum to share ideas, resources, and things other people are doing. There are plenty of people in Saratoga “going green” and living more sustainably. I hope others will share what they know too so we can build a community of people and resources interested in sharing and supporting one another.
And, let me know what special thing(s) you did this week to Celebrate Earth Day.
(I rode my bike into town, had a pleasant walk in the state park, and prepped for our 'green' bike riders - some of us from Sustainable Saratoga will be riding in the Artis Parade on Saturday at the Mardi Gras celebration on Beekman St.)
By the way - as one of the co-founders of the Sustainable Saratoga Task Force, I encourage anyone interested in getting involved to attend our next task force meeting. We have lots of great projects happening this year. So, come hear Joe Miranda, Saratoga County Recycling Coordinator, speak about recycling in the county on Tues, April 27 from 7-9pm at the Saratoga Springs City Hall, 3rd floor music hall.
Happy 40th Earth Day!
Amy Stock
Sustainable Living One Day at a Time
I hope to create here a fun forum to share ideas, resources, and things other people are doing. There are plenty of people in Saratoga “going green” and living more sustainably. I hope others will share what they know too so we can build a community of people and resources interested in sharing and supporting one another.
And, let me know what special thing(s) you did this week to Celebrate Earth Day.
(I rode my bike into town, had a pleasant walk in the state park, and prepped for our 'green' bike riders - some of us from Sustainable Saratoga will be riding in the Artis Parade on Saturday at the Mardi Gras celebration on Beekman St.)
By the way - as one of the co-founders of the Sustainable Saratoga Task Force, I encourage anyone interested in getting involved to attend our next task force meeting. We have lots of great projects happening this year. So, come hear Joe Miranda, Saratoga County Recycling Coordinator, speak about recycling in the county on Tues, April 27 from 7-9pm at the Saratoga Springs City Hall, 3rd floor music hall.
Happy 40th Earth Day!
Amy Stock
Sustainable Living One Day at a Time
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