Green Has Gone Mainstream -- Is that so bad?

Besides the Irish (which I am in part), this week I am asking myself, what is really green? Green has become such a buzz word, everyone's using it (including me.) I know people who are critical of the overuse of the word. My own feathers get ruffled when a 'green' builder calls their homes green but leaves out basics such as building homes south facing and designing in such a way which uses passive solar energy to help naturally heat/cool the house. But, details on green building is for a later post.

Today I'm really thinking about the spectrum of 'green' which exists. Personally, I'm thrilled after 20 years of working in the environmental field and my first hand-washed re-used plastic bag 15 yrs ago - that green has gone mainstream. To think that recycling is now a regular household word and practice, that more people know about the benefits of CFL lightbulbs, and more and more people are waking up to their personal impact on the earth, I'd say we are making progress.

I think about this as I work on two concurrent writing projects along the lines of sustainability. One about a local "green" business, and the other on how Corporations are advancing their sustainability initiatives and their bottom line. A year ago I felt very conflicted about local vs. corporate. Today, I look around and when I hear that Baxter Healthcare, my first employer out of undergrad school, is the leading pharmaceutical industry on sustainability, I can't help but chuckle about the coincidence.

I am in no way a doomsdayer. I don't think we are at the "no-turning back" point yet. But I do think the BP Oil Spill and other events in the world are forcing us, especially Americans, to reassess our "Business as Usual" attitude. Besides freelance writing I also teach on-line environmental studies courses. Embedded somewhere in a comment I read recently about the Obama Administration's Energy Agenda, I read the words 'Net Zero Energy Buildings'. NOW that's GREEN! I could only hope some day that New York State (or say, Saratoga Springs City Council) would require all new buildings be built as Net Zero Energy buildings.

Friends who work in the building industry say they would love to do it, but the materials cost to do it are cost-prohibitive. And I believe them. That's why this demand and buzz around Going Green is really necessary. Because to get to Net Zero Building requirements, it's going to take customers asking for it, citizens requesting it from politicians, politicians providing tax incentives to do it, and business responding. And believe it or not, the smart forward thinking businesses, especially large corporations, know they need to move in that direction.

So, I say, Keep going green. In the meantime, I'm going to keep gardening and try to get on my bike more because when it comes right down to it, though I love my internationally-made clothes and computers, I know the most sustainable living is local living........

Learn How You Can Support a Local Sustainable Economy

The past few years I've spent a lot of time thinking and writing about sustainability, and particularly the importance of supporting local business. I've also spent time thinking about the role of corporations and sustainability. My thoughts about corporate world and sustainability have changed, particularly as I look around at my life and others and realize, in our current paradigm, almost all of our goods and services are provided by national and international corporations. And, I feel they do and will continue to have a major role in our economy - particularly in the technology and energy sectors. However, I also believe it's equally important to advocate for and support our local economy and businesses. Especially if we experience any kind of catastrophic event, it will be our local businesses, entrepreneurs and resources which we rely upon to survive. It also just makes smart business sense to look to local resources as they require less energy to transport and ship.

The next Sustainable Saratoga monthly meeting offers a unique opportunity to learn from local experts on how YOU can make a difference in supporting our local economy. Join us Tuesday, June 22nd from 7-9pm at Skidmore College's Gannett Auditorium to learn more about local economies and resilience. See below for more background and info.

Sustainable Saratoga's Local Economy Subcommittee invites you to a community discussion on the local economy of Saratoga Springs, centered around an expert panel.

When: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 7pm
Where: Skidmore College, Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall
Panelists: Jim Kunstler, David Hess, Todd Fabozzi, Melanie Beam

Localist Movements, Relocalization, Local Living Economies, and New Urbanism will all be topics of discussion this Tuesday night, from 7 to 9pm, in the Gannett Auditorium on the campus of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.

Local iconoclast/author Jim Kunstler, RPI Professor David Hess, Planner/Poet Todd Fabozzi, and Melanie Beam of Capital District Local First will present their views on the Local Economy of the Saratoga area.

The moderator, Robert Millis, will ask the panelists a selection of questions submitted by you and your fellow community members. Questions for the panelists may be submitted in advance at economy@sustainablesaratoga.com, or at Sustainable Saratoga, PO Box 131, Saratoga Springs, 12866. For more information, see our website: www.sustainablesaratoga.com.

You are invited to make a choice today. Come help us define Saratoga Springs' local economy.

Gardening by the moon & groundhogs

As I sit here in my office trying to get my head wrapped around interview questions I'm preparing on Corporate Sustainability, my mind drifts to the lunar planting calendar I've been following. I heard about planting according to the moon cycle from my permaculture friends up in Maine. This year I found an excellent Lunar Planting Calendar on the Farmer's Almanac site. So, a few weeks back when I was getting ready to plant my garden I printed out the calendar and circled the best days to plant root crops, greens and other above ground veggies, tomatoes, beans, etc.

Ironically, just as I was getting the feeling I had to get my seeds in, the lunar calendar showed I was at peak time to plant. Don't ask me how lunar planting works. It definitely doesn't mean planting in moonlight (though I think the last few of my seeds did go in under moonlight.) It means following the cycles of the moon to plant. Since the moon effects the tides, intuitively it feels to me it might effect plant growth. I don't know the exact science behind it. I welcome anyone who wants to research it. All I know is that it provides some kind of guide. And now that we're past peak seed planting time but I still have more potatotes to plant and some later root crops I want to get in, the lunar planting calendar sounds as good as any.

My garden is beginning to look like a garden. The potatoes I planted early are now over a foot tall. The seeds I planted a few weeks ago have all come up. I've had to thin out the radishes, spinach, swiss chard and beets. The tomatoes I bought from the Farmer's Market (New Minglewood Farm, known for their heirloom tomatoes, and Balet Farms a multi-generation locally owned nursery) are doing great. The eggplant and basil are coming along.

My resident groundhog got my cucumber starters and has foraged into the radishes. So now I'm on a mission to finish putting up fencing so that he doesn't get anymore. I've thought about "relocating" mr. groundhog, but I figure he is really part of the landscape so I ought to find ways to adapt. Besides, based on last year's forage, I know there are certain crops they have no interest in, such as potatoes, tomatoes, squash. And certain ones they prefer, like beans, radishes, lettuce and now, cucumbers. Oh yeah - they love sunflowers.

Actually, groundhogs are vegetarians and prefer flower heads. I was really hooked on keeping him around after one day last spring when I saw him so gracefully and cutely eat the head of a dandelion. They are really quite tame at times. So, I may do what I've heard others do, which is leave one area of garden (often the front) open to allow them to forage, and then they won't bother with digging under fencing to get the rest of the garden. For now, I feel lucky I live adjacent to the Spa State Park where there's lots of other habitat around for him. But, I'm still planning to buy more fencing and get it up before he finds my other beans and radishes.

And, before I signed off, I had to do a quick search on lunar garden planting, here's what I found: On her Web site Gardening by the Moon, Caren Catterall writes, "Plants respond to the same gravitational pull of tides that affect the oceans, which alternately stimulates root and leaf growth. Seeds sprout more quickly, plants grow vigorously and at an optimum rate, harvests are larger and they don't go to seed as fast."

To learn more check out the full National Geographic article on lunar gardening - just so that you know it's not all "lunacy".

New Community Garden - Plots Available to Public

Sustainable Saratoga and the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority have joined together to launch a new community garden project at the Stonequist Apartments, located on the south end of town on 1 South Federal St (off of W. Circular St.)

Over the past week, 18 NEW garden plots were created, thanks to student volunteers from Saratoga Springs High School and volunteers from Sustainable Saratoga and the Housing Authority. Priority for planting was given to residents of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority, which includes Stonequist Apartment, Jefferson Terrace, and Allen Drive.

However, Garden Plots are STILL available to any resident of Saratoga Springs. It's not too late to get in the last of the starters or plan for a late summer/early fall harvest. Anyone interested in a garden plot please contact Casey Holzworth, Sustainable Saratoga Open Space & Farming Subcommittee Chair by email at: sscommunitygardens@gmail.com.

Thanks and happy planting!