Environmental Consultants

Council Newsletter

President: Bonni L Dinneen, bonni.dinneen@gmail.com                           Vice-President: Marie Stella, kirinfarminc@aol.com

Treasurer: Pauline Moroney, gogo21@comcast.net                                    Secretary: Betty Tisevich, tisevichjohnandbetty@verizon.net

Environmental Study School: Judy Dorner, kayakflower@verizon.net      Newsletter: Nancy Woolford, nancywoolford@verizon.net

Calendar

October, 2011

6                  Deadline for ECC School Group Room Rates for Fri. and Sat. nights @ Nantasket Beach Resort and Conference Center

9                  Green Roofs Field Trip, Winchester MA

25               ECC School Registration deadline

November, 2011

1                  Reservation deadline for ECC Annual Meeting

12               Environmental Consultants Council Annual Meeting, The Red Parrot Restaurant, Hull MA

12-13         Environmental Studies School, Nantasket Beach Resort, 45 Hull Shore Drive, Hull MA

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From the President

Autumn Greetings Everyone! With the cool crisp weather now upon us we begin once again, to get organized—making our lists, planning our cleanups, sending articles, tips, book reviews into the ECC Newsletter, anticipating those swan song activities for those last golden days of summer, and getting back to a more structured lifestyle. Summer has been good. Mother Nature has sent some surprises but she has also blessed us with many glorious days. I personally consider the Fall as the educational months. Schools are back in session for 1/3 of the populace. And we are too!

We begin with a new Council Board, and our Environmental Study School completes its Series III, with a Course 4, on Water issues. We have been living green for decades, and now is the time for thinking and “living blue.” It is not enough to have environmental consciousness without seriously considering our humanity’s impact on our water resources. Yes, we as a group, do much to conserve water, but it is equally important to protect water.

Our NGC President, Shirley S. Nicholai has introduced as one of her main objectives to promote Protecting our Aquatic Ecosystems. (www.gardenclub.org).Judy is our Federation chair on this project and she will be introducing more on the subject. Environmental Schools and Councils are ideal spring boards to promote this objective. Collectively, we can effectively promote self and public awareness and to lobby our elected officials.

Whether you live on the coast or not, you can make a difference to the health of our oceans. You can start today, by using the sustainable seafood guide when you shop for fish, consuming less plastic, educating yourself, your friends and family about the FDA’s mercury advice and make a conscious decision to Live Blue.

Living Blue will become a permanent column in our Newsletter beginning with this edition. Since our course will be on water, this edition of the Newsletter will focus on this subject matter. Please consider sending articles of interest, tips and book reviews focused on Water issues. Print out or forward this newsletter to a friend, neighbor, your email acquaintances. Let’s spread the word to protect our aquatic ecosystems.

Since Water is the topic for our upcoming course, The Council will be promoting Protecting our Aquatic Ecosystems with an educational exhibit on the comparisons of our Polar Oceans. Adding to our lunch time sociability we will have a visual and audio symphony of ocean world. Did you know that you do not have to be a garden club member to attend the schools? Begin Protecting our Aquatic Ecosystems with education, invite someone to join you! At the end of this course, many student consultants conclude their study series and many will acquire Master Status.

The Council will hold its Annual Meeting at the Red Parrot Restaurant on the Nantasket Beach Boardwalk, just a few doors down from the hotel. (See the reservation form in the Newsletter) That evening, we will host and honor Judy for her excellent chairmanship of the Environmental school for the past 4 years and recognize our Consultants and Master Consultants. Please make plans to join us for an elegant dinner buffet and camaraderie. ALL ARE WELCOME, you do not need to be a council member.

Bonni L. Dinneen, ECC President

Silent Auction at ES School

Please bring any items you would like to donate to the ECC. You may self-price any article on exhibit, giving the donation to GCFMA/ECC. Your generosity will be appreciated.

ECC Fall Field Trip

Marie Stella

Spend an hour and a half on site in Winchester, MA learning about small, residential green roofs with Mark Winterer of Recover Green Roofs ‒ a design build firm. Have a first-hand, up close look at a vegetated roof and its plant material in a suburban location, and discuss the benefits to its owners. How we can combine environmental and human objectives? Investigate domestic green roofs (or is it roof gardens?), how they manage rainwater, conserve energy, provide habitat and hold the potential for food production. Lots of time for your questions.

Date: Sunday, October 9, 2011
Time: 10:30 AM‒Noon
Place: 36 Olive Street, Winchester MA 01890

Directions:

From Boston: 93 North, take Exit 33

Take 2nd exit off traffic circle onto South Border Road, go 2.4 miles. Turn right on Highland Ave, go 0.4 miles. Turn left on Park Ave., go 0.1 miles. Continue on Swanton St., go 0.2 miles. Turn right onto Florence St., go 446 ft. Take first left onto Olive St., go 472 ft. Destination is at the end of the cul-de-sac

For More Information

Call Marie on day of the fieldtrip: (cell) 917-535-2723 or Mark Winterer 617-285-2931. Also see www.recovergreenroofs.com.

Please RSVP

A Continental Tailgate Breakfast will be provided. Please call Marie Stella, (413) 625-2009 to confirm your place, or email me: kirinfarminc@aol.com. Looking forward to seeing you.

Suggested Reading

Nigel Dunnett, Small Green Roofs: Low-Tech Options for Greener Living. Portland, OR. Timber Press, 2011.

Environmental Studies School

Dates: November 12-13

Location: Nantasket Beach Resort, 45 Hull Shore Drive Hull MA

Topic: Water and Related Issues

Registrar: Judy Dorner, Kayakflower@verizon.net, 781-367-0626

Classes on Saturday:

Effective Citizenship, Marie Stella

Sustainability, Marc Fournier

Water in the Home Landscape, Marie Stella

Youth Programs in Environmental Education, Karen Kurkouski

Sea Level Rise Film, Anne Herbst

Field Trip –Effects on Beaches, Anne Herbst

Classes on Sunday:

Wetlands, Sara Grady

Ecology –Water, Samantha Woods

Aquatic Animals, Sara Grady

Aquatic Plants, Steve Ivas

There is a registration form at the end of this newsletter.

ECC Annual Meeting and Dinner

Our annual meeting and dinner will be on Saturday, November 12 at The Red Parrot Inn, Nantasket Beach, Hull Shore Drive, Hull MA. Cocktails at 6 PM, Dinner at 7 PM. A reservation form is at the end of the newsletter. $40.00 per person.

Menu

Hors d’Oeuvre: Six Layer Mascarpone Torte (served with Grilled Focaccia (pesto, gorgonzola-pine nut, and sun dried tomato-artichoke)

Buffet choices

• Salad of Wild and Baby Greens with Roasted Beets, Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese, Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Tarragon-Lemon Chicken (Pan Seared Chicken Cutlets in a Lemon-Tarragon Veloute Sauce)
• Seafood Canneloni (Fresh Handmade Pasta rolled around a Seafood Filling of Crabmeat, Shrimp and Scallops topped with Lobster Sauce and San Marzano Tomatoes)
• Pork Tenderloin with Handmade Butternut Squash Ravioli (Pork Tenderloin Medallions Tossed with Handmade Butternut Squash Ravioli with Prosciutto, Fresh Sage and Applejack Brandy Cream)
• Medley of Fresh Seasonal Vegetables Roasted with Olive Oil and Thyme
• Jasmine Rice with Vegetable Confetti
• Assorted Dinner Breads
• Herbed Olive Oil and Sweet Butter
• Dessert: Warm Apple Cinnamon Cobbler, Caramel Sauce and Vanilla ice Cream, Assorted Miniature Pastries
• Dark Roast Coffee, Decaffeinated and Tea

Living Blue

Bonni Dinneen

10 Things You Can Do to Save the Oceans advised by Ted Danson’s organization Oceana (www.oceana.org).

Oceana has compiled a list of suggestions for green – dare we say blue? – life style choices that can help preserve the oceans for future generations:

1. Vote responsibly. Contact your representative.

Electing the right public officials is essential to good ocean policy. Do your research and make an informed decision. Exercise your right to vote and stay involved after Election Day. If you have concerns or questions, contact your representative.

2. Eat sustainable seafood.

Global fisheries are on the verge of collapse. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), three quarters of the world’s fisheries are now over exploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted or recovering from overexploitation. Carry a sustainable seafood card and ask your seafood restaurant or fish market to buy from sustainable fisheries. Look for special terms like "line caught," "diver caught," "sustainably caught" or "sustainably harvested.”

3. Reduce energy use.

Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is making our oceans more acidic. One consequence could be the loss of corals on a global scale, as their calcium skeletons are weakened by the increasing acidity of the water. There are many simple ways you can reduce your energy use. Ride a bike, walk or use public transportation. Use high efficiency appliances in your home. Turn off appliances when they aren’t in use. Turn up your thermostat a few degrees in the summer and down a few degrees in the winter. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs in your house.

4. Use reusable plastic products.

Plastic debris in the ocean degrades marine habitats and contributes to the deaths of many marine animals. Because floating plastic often resembles food to many marine birds, sea turtles and marine mammals, they can choke or starve because their digestive systems get blocked when they eat it. Help prevent these unnecessary deaths—use cloth grocery bags and reusable water bottles.

5. Properly dispose of hazardous materials.

Motor oil and other hazardous materials often end up washing into coastal areas because they aren’t disposed of properly. This pollutes the water and hurts the overall health of our oceans. Be sure to dispose of hazardous waste in an environmentally safe way.

6. Use less fertilizer.

When fertilizers are used in gardening and agriculture, the excess eventually ends up in the ocean. One result is a “dead zone”—an area with very low levels of oxygen in the water—the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico during the spring and summer. Since all marine life requires oxygen to live, including fish and shrimp, they must flee the area or die. Many other coastal areas are at risk too. So, use fertilizer sparingly and remember more is usually not better.

7. Pick up garbage and litter near beaches.

Much of the plastic and debris found in the ocean has its beginnings in beach litter. As beach crowds increase, so does the amount of trash left behind. Don’t let your day at the beach contribute to the destruction of our oceans. Bring a trash bag with you for your garbage and volunteer for beach clean-ups.

8. Buy ocean-friendly products.

Avoid products produced through unsustainable or environmentally harmful methods. For example, avoid cosmetics containing shark squalene and jewelry made of coral or sea turtle shell. These products are directly linked to unsustainable fishing methods and the destruction of entire ecosystems.

9. Share with a friend.

Tell people what’s going on with the world’s oceans and what they can do to make a difference. Spread the word and join the conversation with [Oceana] on Facebook and Twitter.

10. Join Oceana

More than 500,000 members and e-activists in over 150 countries have already joined Oceana - the largest international organization focused 100 percent on ocean conservation.

And, I would like to add one more to Oceana’s list :

11. Be informed, Get Educated. Invite your friends and family to attend NGC Environmental Study School. The NGC Schools ARE NOT just for garden club members, they are open to the public. If you are planning to attend Course 4 on Water, in November (in Hull!) bring a friend, a family member, a loved one. Judy has produced a very noteworthy, educational course that no one should miss.

"I just want to say one word to you -- just one word -- 'PLASTICS.'" - Thank you, Mrs. Robinson! (snicker)

It is nearly 45 years ago that our generation chortled at the scene in "The Graduate" in which a smug Los Angeles businessman takes aside the baby-faced Dustin Hoffman and declares,

"I just want to say one word to you -- just one word -- 'PLASTICS.'"

The invention of plastic was phenomenal! It is nearly impossible, and not probable to live without it, but we can all help by reducing our plastic consumption.

The problems are many. We would be hard pressed to find anyone, even one as young as an elementary school student, that isn’t aware that plastics are unsustainable and environmentally harmful to our habitats.

Since it was first mass produced in the 1950s, plastic has found its way into our oceans. Today plastic pollution in our seas is a global threat that damages marine ecosystems, harms and kills millions of marine animals, and is poised to affect human health.

The very attributes that make plastic so useful to humans — its durability, light weight and lack of decomposition — are huge liabilities for oceans and ocean life: polymers persist for decades, perhaps even hundreds of years, and 30 percent of plastic is able to float. This combination contributes to an accumulation of plastic in our oceans that is staggering.

The North Pacific Gyre, an area of the Pacific Ocean also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, contains an estimated 150 million tons of plastic covering an area estimated to be twice the size of Texas.

In 1992 the EPA found that a majority of beaches around the world had some accumulation of plastic material, such as plastic pellets (from leaking shipping and train containers), plastic drums, polystyrene packaging, polyurethane foam pieces, fishing lines and nets, pens, lighters, tires, toothbrushes, and films (plastic bags).

In certain areas there is more plastic in the water by weight than zooplankton. This accounts for reports of a majority of all marine mammals and sea birds to have some amount of plastic in their digestive systems. According to the 2001 Marine Pollution Bulletin, there was six pounds of plastic floating in the North Pacific Gyre for every pound of naturally occurring zooplankton. These results were re-confirmed in 2002.

With its ability to absorb dangerous chemicals, plastic pollution may become a factor in human health. Plastic can absorb toxic non-water-soluble chemicals at extreme levels. Poisons such as POPs (persistent organic pollutants, like DDT and PCBs) and other oily pollutants are absorbed and concentrated by the plastic debris encircling our globe.

Once these fragments of plastic break down to such a size that some marine organisms mistake the debris as food, these toxins can be released into their living membranes. As such, these contaminants may be passed up the food web, potentially reaching our dinner plates.

It is no longer “possible” but, more probable, that in effect, our poisons and debris have come back to us.

How to Reduce Plastic Consumption

The average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags every year -- that's billions of tons each year. And what happens to them? Many end up in the ocean where they are often mistaken for food by hungry sea turtles.

Help reduce your mark on ocean pollution by limiting your plastic consumption. Taking smallsteps everyday, will result into sustainable, environmentally sound, habits that CAN make a huge difference.

1.    Use a reusable tote or other bag at the grocery store

2.    Drink water from glass or other non-plastic containers

3.    Recycle plastics whenever possible

4.    Never litter and always dispose of trash properly

5.    Encourage friends and family to reduce their plastics consumption

The Bookworm

Bonni Dinneen

What better way to start the ECC year and to end the summer, with a book to transport back in time to a place that reminds us of simpler interactions with our ocean. Reading a good book seaside is a given, as much as working on a good tan! Occasionally at least, we need to revisit the past in order to solidify our values as we act in the present. Reading helps us to stop and assess our day-to-day experience and reflect on how much change has occurred in our environment in just our lifetime.

Book Reviews offered by Ocean Project

The Rainbow Fish (Fiction, youth) by Marcus Pfister

A beautiful fish learns a lesson about sharing with others in the ocean. A Children's story with insights into how human culture can benefit from sharing its best resources.

Gaia Girls Way of Water(Fiction,Young Adults/Teens) by Lee Welles

What would you do if you could hear the Earth asking for help? In the Gaia Girls book series that is what happens to four girls, each from a different region of the world. They are approached by Gaia, the living organism of the Earth. Each is endowed with powers over one of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. They must learn to use their powers to help Gaia survive the effects of modern humanity. Gaia Girls Way of Water is an educational adventure story for juveniles/young adults. It’s engaging and a great way to introduce young adults to environmental threats through an energetic, emotional, and exciting story. Gaia Girls taps into the innocent love for nature that children possess, but also introduces the harsh realities and hardships the environment endures at the hands of humans.

Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis (Non-Fiction) by Alanna Mitchell

Sea sick might be an uncomfortable read for the sensitive reader at times as the author's writing style clearly and eloquently explains the specific dangers facing global marine ecosystems after years of abuse and neglect. Pointing out the dangers of shifting baselines — how a lack of perspective on what the oceans used to look like, leads us to stop short of making the effective change that will reverse the damage. Diving beneath the surface of the world's oceans to give readers a sense of how the watery realm can be managed and preserved, and with it life on earth.

The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Codby Henry Beston

The Outermost House presents us with a time, a place, and a man. The time and place, Cape Cod in the mid-1920s: a wild, windswept outpost of the land. Dominated by ocean and weather, this landscape has been long inhabited but never domesticated. Here, to a tiny house set alone on a dune above the sea, a man has come in solitude to watch, and listen, and bear witness. He watches on winter nights as fishing schooners, last vestiges of the age of sail, move slowly beyond the bar, or come to frozen grief upon it. He listens to the myriad voices of the surf, and attempts, in words, a faithful notation of the music he has heard. He bears witness to the comings and goings of constellations and tides, the nightly patrols of the coast guardsmen who walk the beach; he ponders the dark imperatives that lie behind the migrations of birds and fish, the mysterious "peoples of the sea." Into the vast bright days of autumn he goes, and we go with him, gathering driftwood against the winter nights; in spring we walk inland over the greening moorland, off to meet the alewife run; in summer we kindle our cooking fire on the beach, and sleep between sand-dunes as the constellations wheel above us.

Dirty Dozen and Clean 15

Judy Dorner, from foodnews.org

Dirty Dozen - Most Chemically Polluted

Buy organic! Apples, Celery, Strawberries, Peaches, Spinach, Nectarines, Grapes, Peppers, Potatoes, Blueberries, Lettuce, Kale/Collards

Clean 15 -Lowest in Chemicals

Onions, Corn, Pineapples, Avocado, Asparagus, Peas, Mangoes, Eggplant, Cantaloupe, Kiwi, Cabbage, Watermelon, Sweet Potatoes, Grapefruit, Mushrooms

Protecting Aquatic Ecosystems

Judy Dorner, Special Projects Chair

My focus will be to present Rain Gardens, environmentally friendly garden and lawn care, and Rainwater Collection Barrels as ways to protect Aquatic Ecosystems (Rivers, streams, lakes, aquifers, wetlands and estuaries).

By educating and involving Garden Clubs, the members can in turn educate and motivate fellow citizens in their communities as well as the town officials - perhaps impacting town projects.

Small steps such as using a Rain barrel greatly reduces the drain on aquifers during summer watering and helps keep water levels stable for fish, birds and aquatic plants and humans, too.

By reducing fertilizer runoff from lawns and gardens the nitrogen levels in bays, rivers, and estuaries is lowered, maintaining a healthier fish population. Rain Gardens are attractive while they filter runoff from paved surfaces. This cleans the water before returning it into our water systems. They also allow about 30% more water to be absorbed into our aquifers then the same area of lawn.

Day Lighting Initiative in Quincy

Anneli Johnson

For the past two years, Wollaston Garden Club of Quincy, MA has been working in collaboration with the Quincy Environmental Network on the Town Brook’s day lighting initiative. (EEA # 14725)

The Town Brook, which runs partially under the City and surfaces past the City Center and ends in Town River at Quincy Bay, the site of the Souther Tide Mill, now a historic site and a future Tide Mill in full operation once more.

Town Brook is a major spawning brook for the Rainbow Smelt. QEN and WGC’s initiative has been to day light the brook also in Quincy Center, to improve the smelt spawning habitat.

The hitch is that the developer for the downtown 1.3 billion proposals wants to move the brook from its original bed to run along the four lane high speed highway. This would reduce the length of the brook and increase the risk of flooding the neighborhood.

WGC and QEN are asking for the full comprehensive EIR (Environmental Impact review) be submitted by the applicant, the developer.

As of now, no flood control or temperature mitigation has been designed to address the loss the storage in a shortened Town Brook.

More “open channel” would be a benefit to flood control along the spawning habitat and temperature control. Allowed the observation opportunity of the fish as it swims up stream for spawning as it was in the 50s when the river was open, but paved over to accommodate parking.

QEN and WGC are also proposing to feature the River as centerpiece for the new downtown Quincy. This would enhance the development and the environment by day lighting the portion of the Brook that is now under a parking lot.

Day lighting brooks and rivers, previously either damned or buried, are now an environmental issue. Their health has been previously ignored and neglected. We envision healthy rivers flowing through vibrant, sustainable communities. Today, every river and stream is an asset to the community through which it flows, and should be featured as such.

For more information contact, AnneliJohnson1@verizon.net 617-479-1601

Bed Bugs

Dan Stout, an EPA biological scientist and urban entomologist. Submitted by Caroline Frey

Bed bugs are certainly a hot topic especially for today's travellers.

Bed bug bites do not cause diseases in people, but they can lead to inflammation and possible secondary infection from excessive itching. Although bed bugs don’t pose a threat to public health or property, EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a joint statement on integrated pest management approaches for controlling the pest. What’s the long-term fix for the bed bug dilemma? The National Pest Management Association says that specific solutions may take a decade of research, millions of dollars to accomplish, and could require a genetics-based approach to solve.

The best scenario for now may be to focus on prevention. “People might want to reconsider using second-hand furniture without a thorough, and if possible professional, cleaning first. And, minimize interior clutter to reduce bed bug hiding places.” Another tip: “examine travel suitcases thoroughly, and unpack the contents directly into the washing machine.” He closes with a useful list of do’s and don’ts:

Top 5 ways to find out if bed bugs are nearby

1. Check indoor cracks and crevices under low light conditions.
2. Look for small blood drops in your home (wet or dry) or brown spots (fecal matter) because after engorging, bed bugs may excrete part of their meal which leaves visible stains.
3. Sniff around. Musty, sweet, and the smell of raw beef-like odors may indicate infestation.
4. Launder linens regularly and dry your clothing at the highest temperature possible.
5. When lodging away from home, check bed crevices and folds, as well as furniture or fixtures near the bed. Keep your luggage off the floor. Use the rack in the room, the tub, or the dry-cleaning bag typically provided to inhibit infestation.

Top 5 actions to take if bed bugs are found

1. Don’t address the problem yourself. Contact building management or a licensed pest control professional with the tools and techniques to attack them where they live, without unnecessarily exposing occupants to pesticide residues.
2. Vacuum floors, baseboards, and other bed bug friendly locations often. Discard the vacuum bag (or contents) immediately after it is collected.
3. Periodically recheck the cracks, crevices, and other locations where bed bugs have previously been found to ensure that they have not returned.
4. If you suspect a bite, contact a physician for authoritative conformation that it resulted from a bed bug.
5. Limit visitors (or visits) until the problem is gone.

Visit EPA’s Bed Bug Website (www.epa.gov/bedbugs/) for more information.