One of the most impressive sustainability operations in all of NYC is EAST NY Farms: they have a farmer's market, backyard gardens, a farm, a fair, music programs, youth programs, its incredible. And note the below from their blog. mm
Bill Moyer's Journal (Nov 28) included a great conversation with Michael Pollan about food systems and the way we eat. It also featured the East New York Farmers Market, our new urban farm, Hands and Heart Garden, and market gardeners James and Jeanette Ware. The link is here, http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11282008/watch2.html. The segment about East New York Farms! starts in the second minute of Part II, and continues til about 8min30sec. Watch til the end for some footage of our team of youth leaders harvest for the market!
and check out
http://eastnewyorkfarms.vox.com/profile/
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
GREEN ACRE A HUB OF ECO-FRIENDLY ENTREPRENEURS GROWS IN BROOKLYN
This joint is right down the road from BC, On Atlantic near Flatbush. Could be a good spot to for BC student internships!
By DAN AVERY
DESK SET: Jennie Nevin founded the co-working co-op Green Spaces, one of several enterprises housed at 33 Flatbush Ave.
April 13, 2009, NY POST
With his long white beard, rotund frame and twinkling eyes, Al Attara could easily pass for a modern-day Santa Claus. But the lifelong New Yorker isn't giving out toys to youngsters -- he's bringing downtown Brooklyn a communal spirit colored in green as the owner of 33 Flatbush Ave., a seven-story building that's becoming an incubator for socially responsible and environmentally minded entrepreneurs.
Attara bought the property, the former Metropolitan Exchange Bank, back in 1978 with the idea of turning it into a professional arts complex. But he soon learned the city had marked the building for urban renewal and could reclaim it at any time -- not an ideal situation for potential tenants. So for decades, the building was mostly a warehouse for the inveterate junkhound's vast collection of salvaged furniture and curios.
continued at
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04132009/jobs/green_acre_164229.htm?page=0
By DAN AVERY
DESK SET: Jennie Nevin founded the co-working co-op Green Spaces, one of several enterprises housed at 33 Flatbush Ave.
April 13, 2009, NY POST
With his long white beard, rotund frame and twinkling eyes, Al Attara could easily pass for a modern-day Santa Claus. But the lifelong New Yorker isn't giving out toys to youngsters -- he's bringing downtown Brooklyn a communal spirit colored in green as the owner of 33 Flatbush Ave., a seven-story building that's becoming an incubator for socially responsible and environmentally minded entrepreneurs.
Attara bought the property, the former Metropolitan Exchange Bank, back in 1978 with the idea of turning it into a professional arts complex. But he soon learned the city had marked the building for urban renewal and could reclaim it at any time -- not an ideal situation for potential tenants. So for decades, the building was mostly a warehouse for the inveterate junkhound's vast collection of salvaged furniture and curios.
continued at
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04132009/jobs/green_acre_164229.htm?page=0
Thursday, April 16, 2009
BEYOND GREEN ARCHITECTURE: RESEARCH, INTERSPECIES DWELLING
BC should have a building like this, but for the parrots!
Beehive Building: An Innovative Eco Research Center
by Trey Farmer
University of Sheffield’s new £4.4 million Arthur Willis Environmental Centre will allow researchers to study future climate scenarios and their effects on local biology, including plants and social insects such as ants and bees. The energy-efficient greenhouse gave Bond Bryan Architects and builders William Birch & Sons Ltd an opportunity for some innovative work. The facility has been built to not only blend seamlessly into the surrounding woodlands and sit upon on WWII rubble infill, but also to allow bees to fly in and out!
With the bees traveling freely between the facility and the outdoors, scientists will be able to study their behavioral patterns as they travel to their nearby hives. The Centre is the new home of researchers studying the biology of plants and social insects in the hope of gaining new understanding of the effects of climate change and potentially improving crop production in developing regions. The greenhouse has 16 different control zones to simulate conditions in different climate zones and future climate scenarios.
Professor Lorraine Maltby, Head of the University´s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences stated: “As well as taking great strides to help solve some of the world´s most pressing environmental concerns, the Centre will also help improve the city´s biodiversity, with plants and beneficial insects being protected in the surrounding woodland.”
It is nice to see that the University is keeping its neighborhood in good shape while tackling problems across the channel and beyond.
Beehive Building: An Innovative Eco Research Center
by Trey Farmer
University of Sheffield’s new £4.4 million Arthur Willis Environmental Centre will allow researchers to study future climate scenarios and their effects on local biology, including plants and social insects such as ants and bees. The energy-efficient greenhouse gave Bond Bryan Architects and builders William Birch & Sons Ltd an opportunity for some innovative work. The facility has been built to not only blend seamlessly into the surrounding woodlands and sit upon on WWII rubble infill, but also to allow bees to fly in and out!
With the bees traveling freely between the facility and the outdoors, scientists will be able to study their behavioral patterns as they travel to their nearby hives. The Centre is the new home of researchers studying the biology of plants and social insects in the hope of gaining new understanding of the effects of climate change and potentially improving crop production in developing regions. The greenhouse has 16 different control zones to simulate conditions in different climate zones and future climate scenarios.
Professor Lorraine Maltby, Head of the University´s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences stated: “As well as taking great strides to help solve some of the world´s most pressing environmental concerns, the Centre will also help improve the city´s biodiversity, with plants and beneficial insects being protected in the surrounding woodland.”
It is nice to see that the University is keeping its neighborhood in good shape while tackling problems across the channel and beyond.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Consumption dwarfs population as main environmental threat
I seem to recall having this discussion in our seminar! (Not even a real debate.)
"A small portion of the world's people use up most of the earth's resources and produce most of its greenhouse gas emissions, writes Fred Pearce. From Yale Environment 360, part of Guardian Environment Network"
It's the great taboo, I hear many environmentalists say. Population growth is the driving force behind our wrecking of the planet, but we are afraid to discuss it.
It sounds like a no-brainer. More people must inevitably be bad for the environment, taking more resources and causing more pollution, driving the planet ever farther beyond its carrying capacity. But hold on. This is a terribly convenient argument — "over-consumers" in rich countries can blame "over-breeders" in distant lands for the state of the planet. But what are the facts?
The world's population quadrupled to six billion people during the 20th century. It is still rising and may reach 9 billion by 2050. Yet for at least the past century, rising per-capita incomes have outstripped the rising head count several times over. And while incomes don't translate precisely into increased resource use and pollution, the correlation is distressingly strong.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/15/consumption-versus-population-environmental-impact
"A small portion of the world's people use up most of the earth's resources and produce most of its greenhouse gas emissions, writes Fred Pearce. From Yale Environment 360, part of Guardian Environment Network"
It's the great taboo, I hear many environmentalists say. Population growth is the driving force behind our wrecking of the planet, but we are afraid to discuss it.
It sounds like a no-brainer. More people must inevitably be bad for the environment, taking more resources and causing more pollution, driving the planet ever farther beyond its carrying capacity. But hold on. This is a terribly convenient argument — "over-consumers" in rich countries can blame "over-breeders" in distant lands for the state of the planet. But what are the facts?
The world's population quadrupled to six billion people during the 20th century. It is still rising and may reach 9 billion by 2050. Yet for at least the past century, rising per-capita incomes have outstripped the rising head count several times over. And while incomes don't translate precisely into increased resource use and pollution, the correlation is distressingly strong.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/15/consumption-versus-population-environmental-impact
Monday, April 13, 2009
EDIBLE LANDSCAPE VS CANCER CAUSING FRUIT
This is just scary, these fruits absorb so many pesticides that washing them doesn't make them safe to eat. If we planted these fruit trees throughout the city--very doable for some--you wouldnt have to spray them with pesticides, rather humans would share them with others (insects, birds, squirrels, ...) eating what's left.
http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/04/12-fruits-with-the-most-pesticides.php
http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/04/12-fruits-with-the-most-pesticides.php
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