The Nutrition Transition

Consider this counter-intuitive statistic...something is wrong with our priorities:

Globally speaking, people consume more soft drinks and packaged foods as they grow more affluent; home-cooked meals of fresh ingredients are the mainstay of rural, less affluent people. This link between economic success and nutritional failure has become so wide-spread, it has a name: the nutrition transition. --Barbara Kingsolver, "Animal, Vegetable Miracle"

Oily Food

Excerpt from Barbara Kingsolver's: 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle'

Americans put almost as much fossil fuel into our refrigerators as our cars. We're consuming about 400 gallons of oil a year per citizen -- about 17% of our nation's energy use -- for agriculture, a close second to our vehicular use. Tractors, combines, harvesters, irrigation, sprayers, tillers, balers, and other equipment alluse petroleum. Even bigger gas guzzlers on the farm are not the machines, but so-called inputs. Synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides use oil and natural gas as their starting materials, and in their manufacturing. More than a quarter of all farming energy goes into synthetic fertilizers.

But getting the crop from seed to harvest takes only 1/5 of the total oil used for our food. The lion's share is consumed during the trip from the farm to your plate. Each food item in a typical U.S. meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles. In addition to direct ransport, other fuel-thirsty steps included processing (drying, milling, cutting, sorting, baking), packaging, warehousing, and refrieration. Energy calories consumed by prodution, packaging, and shipping far outweigh the energy calories we receive from the food.

A quick way to improve food-related fuel economy would be to buy a quart of motor oil and drink it (not recommended!). More palatable options are available. If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast.

Thanks to Barbara Kingsolver for articulating this issue. If you have not yet read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", it's certainly worth it. www.kingsolver.com

Green Shelf at the Manitowoc Public Library

This summer, starting in June, look for a green display at the Manitowoc Public Library. The Library has multiple publications, periodicals and books regarding green efforts.

Reasons to Recylce Toner & Ink Cartridges

~ Fast Facts ~

• It takes about a gallon of oil to make a new laser cartridge.
• About eight cartridges are thrown away per second in the United States.
• In North America alone, over 350 million cartridges per year are discarded in our landfills, and that number increase by 12% annually!
• A laswer cartridge thrown into landfill can take up to 450 years to decompose. Some components made of industrial grade plastics will take over a thousand years to decompose.
• Every remanufactured cartridge saves nearly 3 and 1/2 pounds of solid waste from being deposited in landfills.
• 70% of used printer cartridges throughout the world are currently being thrown out.
• In one year, if the world's discarded cartridges were stacked end-to-end, they would circle the earth over three times.
• The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that businesses use toner cartridge refill services or buy refilled toner cartridge products.

So do your part and Refill not Landfill.

Going Green Takes Root

It was recently noted that the INCR (Investor Netowrk on Climate Risk) asked the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) to require listed companies disclose climate change risk in their financial performance.

Paradigm Shift...

...Caring for social capital and natural capital as much as we have traditionally cared for finanical capital. --Ray Anderson

7 Generation Philosophy

Meeting our needs today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Legitimate Function of Government is to Protect & Serve the Common Good

Consider City Government as both customer and steward of our environment and resources ... logically must, therefore, incorporate the principles of sustainability to ensure the needs of tomorrow can be met.

Irish Take Action on Plastic Bags

--The Sacramento Bee, Feb. 2, 2008
In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them for their purchases must now pay 22 cents per bag at the register. Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94%. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable. "I used to get half a dozen with every shop. Now I'd never ever buy one," said Cahtal McKeown, 40, a civil servant carrying two large clack cloth bags. "If I forgot these, I'd just take the cart of groceries and put them loose in the boot of the car, rather than buy a bag." The tax is not so much, but it completely changed a very bad habit. The government collects the tax which is used to finance environmental enforcement and cleanup programs.

While paper bags, which degrade, are in some ways better for the envrionment, studies suggest that more greenhouse gases are released in their manufacture and transport than in the production of plastic bags.

On a similar note, according to the Associated Press, Japan will urge citizens to carry their own chopsticks instead of using disposable wooden ones.

Locavore

A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles. The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to produce their own food, with the argument that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Local grown food is an environmentally friendly means of obtaining food, since supermarkets that import their food use more fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.
"Locavore" was coined by Jessica Prentice from San Francisco Bay Area on the occasion of World Environment Day 2005 to describe and promote the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested from within an area most commonly bound by a 100 mile radius. "Localvore" is sometimes also used.
The New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore, a person who seeks out locally produced food, as its word of the year 2007. The local foods movement is gaining momentum as people discover that the best-tasting and most sustainable choices are foods that are fresh, seasonal, and grown close to home. Some locavores draw inspiration from the 100-Mile Diet or from advocates of local eating like Barbara Kingsolver whose book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle chronicles her family's attempts to eat locally. Others just follow their taste buds to farmers' markets, community supported agriculture programs, and community gardens.

For more information about Local Food: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food
Manitowoc's Farmers Market: http://www.manitowoc.org/comm_farm_home.html

16 Eco-Municipalities

There are now 16 eco-municipalities in the state of Wisconsin (Manitowoc was number 10) that have adopted the Natural Step framework (organized by scientists in 1989). This is the most number of eco-municipalities in a state in the nation...so Wisconsin is on the vanguard of going green!! Kudos to all.

An eco-municipality becomes the driving force for involving citizens and sectors of the community in the process of becoming a sustainable community. An eco-municipality collaborates with other communities regionally, nationally and internationally.

Sustainability is more about competence (precise, concrete priniciples and philosophies) than values.

Why The Natural Step (TNS)? We cannot arrive at sustainability without knowing what it is, and we will all go down the gurgler in unsustainability. TNS principles cover ALL scenarios and looks at the big picture. It is also continually refined. The TNS framework can help us sort through complexity and data by revealing patterns and relationships, so we can make sense of all the information. The TNS study circles provide a forum for creating a shared language and understanding of sustainability in our community. The result is a foundation for agreement.

Be relatively less a part of the problem. Everyone can contribute to sustainability regardless of others. Be proactive and innovative.

Sustainability - One Step at a Time

wmworld@wal-mart.com, April 2008 -- The key to saving energy - and to the bigger issue of sustainability -- is to take small steps. No matter how small they might seem, the steps we take today put us on the path toa more energy-efficient future. It doesn't take a huge effort to make a difference. Doing something small over and over again until it becomes a habit will make a big contribution.

Community projects often come from looking close to home. Consider what would make it easier for you and your family to lead a more sustainable life and then expand the idea to your neighborhood. With a little creativity, enthusiasm and group collaboration, there's no limit to what you can make happen. Take a good look around, ask youself what needs to change, and then follow your heart.

Safe Pharmaceutical Disposal Opportunities

Manitowoc County residents will have four opportunities in 2008 to dispose of their unwanted medications in a safe environmentally friendly manner. Unused medications present public health and safety concerns within the community. Unfortunately, wastewater treatment plants don’t remove one-hundred percent of the dissolved medications that come from local homes. Research has shown pharmaceutical chemicals are showing up in lakes and streams where they are beginning to harm fish populations.
This is largely due to the common practice of flushing them down the toilet. Throwing unwanted pharmaceuticals in the trash can be just as harmful. According to Jeff Beyer, Manitowoc County Director of Public Works, when garbage goes to the landfill, a “leachate” is formed; this liquid is collected and transported to the wastewater treatment plant.
Unused medications also present public health and safety concerns within the community. Oftentimes unused medications lay around the house for weeks or even years, according to Mark Anderson, Manitowoc County Metro Drug Unit Task Force Commander, this is often when medications are stolen from relatives and acquaintances. These stolen medications wind up on the illegal drug market where they are abused and have resulted in unintended poisonings as well as a number of overdoses in our community.
Do your part to help keep our community and environment free of unwanted drugs by participating in one of the Manitowoc County Drug Disposal Programs. Scheduled drug disposal collections are:
April 19, 2008 in conjunction with the Earth Day Event at the UW Manitowoc Campus, 705 Viebahn Street, Manitowoc from 9am-2pm
May 16, 2008 in conjunction with the Clean Sweep in Kiel at the Kiel City Garage, 705 Washington Street, Kiel from 3pm-6pm
August 7, 2008 in conjunction with Community Care Days in Two Rivers at the JE Hamilton Community House, times to be announced.
October 25, 2008 in conjunction with Crime Prevention Days at the Manitowoc County Expo Grounds, times to be announced.

Acceptable Items
□ Prescription medications
□ Over-the-counter drugs
□ Controlled substances
□ Illegal drugs

Guidelines
□ Needles and sharps will not be accepted.
□ Please keep items in their original containers.
□ Please do not mix medications in the same container.
□ No Businesses
□ You may block out personal information on the drug container, but please keep the drug name visible.

If you have any questions, please call the Manitowoc County Recycling Center at 683-4333..

Study Circle #8

Oh boy....we're on roll~!!
Study Circle #8 will be facilitated by Karen O'Leary at the Manitowoc Public Library on
Thursdays from 6:30-8pm:

• Sept. 4
• Sept. 11
• Sept. 18
• Sept. 25
• Oct. 2
• Oct. 9
• Oct. 16
• Oct. 23

To sign up, email tprigge@manitowoc.org or call 920-686-6980

Study Circle #7

Study Circle #7 will be facilitated by Laurie Gehrke and will take place
Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30pm:

• Sept. 17
• Sept. 24
• Oct. 1
• Oct. 8
• Oct. 15
• Oct. 22

Sign up now to take part by email tprigge@manitowoc.org or calling 920-686-680

Earth Day Saturday April 19th

Earth Day will be celebrated in Manitowoc at the UW-Manitowoc Campus on Saturday, April 19th from 9am-2pm. Several valuable disposal programs are being offered to help keep our environment safe and clean so you will have the opportunity to turn in any wanted:

• medications/prescriptions;


• printer cartridges; batteries;


• mercury thermometers;


• CFL's;


• old athletic shoes


• plastic bags

There will be a community rummage sale of donated items.

Exhibitors include:

• Woodland Dunes Nature Center


• Bay Lakes Ecowater Systems


• Lakeshore Natural Resources Partnership


• Manitowoc County Recycling Center


• League of Conservation Voters


• Leage of Women Voters


• Go Green Manitowoc


• Green Sky Energetics


• Orion Energy Systems


• WI Maritime Museum


• Cartridge World


• Discovery Farms


• Wal-Mart


• MPU

Look for Go Green Manitowoc located next to MPU to pick up a free CFL bulb.

Presentations to include:

• Woodland Dunes Nature Center: Backyard Landscaping - Attracting Wildlife with Native Plants;
• Green Sky Energetics: Buying a Solar System;
• Orion Energy Systems: Energy, the Environment and Your Wallet;
• Lakeshore Natural Resources Partnership: Engaging Community - Expanding Awareness and Action through Education and Partnerships;
• WI Maritime Museum: Aquatic Invasive Species
• League of Conservation Voters: Protecting the Great Lakes with the Strong Compact for a Strong Wisconsin.

Live music and good times.

Love your Mother :-)

Conservation

Simple: The LESS you use, the LESS you need to make.

Task Lighting

Illuminate only the area you are working in, not a whole room.

German Philosophy

"We do not want one German to die for a resource war."

Dr. Imad Mahawili

Dr. Imad Mahawili gave a great presentation at the recent Myths of Energy Summit II.
Points to consider and some to be alarmed about:

• be alarmed: 21,000,000 barrels of oil per day are consumed in the USA...60% of which is imported at approx. $95/barrel for a total cost of $1.2 billion/day for OIL exported to other countries.
• consider: Energy makes or breaks an Empire.
• be alarmed: In China, two 1.5 megawatt coal fired power plants are being built each week for the next ten years to sustain China's energy needs.
• consider: where the money goes, so go the jobs.
• consider: to keep money local: reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and increase renewable resource alternatives

EFFICIENCY DOES NOT EQUAL "Going Without". It means "Doing Smartly".