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Looking for ways beyond changing lightbulbs and taking the train to help reduce your carbon footprint? Turns out we all could make a big difference in greenhouse gas emissions by not throwing out so much trash and composting our food waste.
That’s the message from “Stop Trashing the Climate,” a report prepared by The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Eco-Cycle, a non-profit recycler. The study finds that waste prevention and increased recycling and composting could reduce as many greenhouse gas emissions as are produced by 21 percent of the U.S.’s 417 coal-fired power plants.
By Jake Kulju •
May 21, 2008
A community artist and a South Providence neighborhood will help raise awareness about a health hazard in the community while designing a series of informational signs through a partnership between three state agencies.
Warwick, Rhode Island-based artist Holly Ewald has been commissioned by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts to create a series of informational signs warning residents of the South Providence neighborhood near Mashapaug Pond off Adelaide Ave. about the dangers of swimming and fishing in the pond. The pond has contained unsafe levels of dioxins and PCBs for years—the State Arts Council is working in collaboration with the Rhode Island Departments of Health and Environmental Management on this project to help educate community members and youth of the danger.
I have to ask—wouldn’t the money be better spent on cleaning up the pond? Community awareness about health hazards is definitely a positive step, and I am glad to see that a South Providence neighborhood is getting attention from state agencies and artists, but I think this needs to be taken a step further.
By Jake Kulju •
April 10, 2008
Providence, Rhode Island— The Ocean State might be the size of some counties in other parts of the country, but it’s big on going green. A local food co-op in Providence has been bringing fresh, local produce to its capital city dwellers for nigh on ten years now.
Urban greens is a food cooperative on Providence’s West Side with a mission to provide simple, direct access to affordable, local, natural products and to offer a community-based alternative to corporate supermarkets. The cooperative is guided by its values of equal access, local agriculture, local economy, co-operative principles, community partnerships and social entrepreneurship.
By Max Lindberg •
February 27, 2008
Last December, EPA administrator Stephen Johnson denied California’s request to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the Senate released documents putting Johnson squarely in opposition with the scientific and legal experts on his staff when he denied the request.The documents were requested by Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who said:
“These documents paint a picture of an Environmental Protection Agency in crisis. They show the dedicated professional staff of the EPA working hard to do what they are paid to do by the American people - protect our health and our environment. At the same time, we see more and more evidence of Administrator Johnson ignoring the science and the facts, and discarding the advice of his professional staff.”
“I believe this decision will be reversed by the next President or by the courts, but the Administrator can save the taxpayers time and money, and can get us started cleaning up our air if he would simply follow the law, the facts, and the advice of his agency professionals.”
