Greetings, UESiders!

As you may recall, we have till August 24th to submit our letters detailing what we see as the environmental consequences of building that garbage transfer station to the Army Corps of Engineers.

To further underscore local opposition and insistence that the Corps conduct a new, thorough and fair evaluation of the impact of this proposed facility on the river and all that lives in it, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney’s organizing a rally this coming Saturday, August 20th on the NW corner of 92nd and York at 10:30am.  Flyers attached to the email.  And need we say, be there!

IN THE MEANTIME:

Those (few) of you who haven’t yet taken pen in hand, PLEASE, do so!

Once again, attached to the email, you’ll find a sample letter from which to abstract or take as it is.

OR

Write your own letter, drawing from the sources noted in our August 5th newsletter (just scroll down to it) and/or Congresswoman Maloney’s talking points also attached to the email.   

THEN

Mail your letter to:

Ms. Naomi Handell, Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, New York District,  26 Federal Plaza, Room 1937,  New York, New York 10278

OR…

There’ll be letters to sign at the Saturday rally!

SO…

Why will you not be able to sign letters at the UGS table at 82nd or 92nd Street this week?

Because yours truly will be relaxing at various sites along the scenic Maine Coast till September 3rd!

BUT…

Fear not!

Coming up the next 2 weeks:

Right now:  9/11 Daffodil Bulb Request!

On Your Computer

You have till August 25th to apply!

Saturday, August 20th:  East River Garbage Station Protest

NW corner of 92nd and York, 10:30am

Any and all signs you’d like to make will be welcome!   (And do read Congresswoman Maloney’s letter to Marine Fisheries re the MTS which – along with the rally flyer – attached to the email).

Saturday, August 20th:  Summer Streets!

Lafayette Street/4th Avenue/Park Avenue from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street, 7am – 1pm

The final Saturday of this wonderful, annual event!  Miles of streets to walk, cycle and recreate in a myriad ways without fear of cars!  Get out there!!   For full details.

Saturday, August 20th:  Fly NY Kite Day

Pier 1 at 70th Street , Riverside Park South, 11am – 3pm

Bring your own kite,r participate in a Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum kite-making workshop and/or learn paper folding techniques from professional origami artists!  And there’ll be live entertainment, too!  Cross fingers for a breezy day!  FREE!

Saturdays, August 20th and August 27th:  82nd Street Greenmarket

St. Stephen of Hungary Churchyard, 82^nd Street between First and York, 9 am – 3 pm 

With us will be American Seafood,  Bread Alone,  Raghoo,  Samascott, Rabbits’ Run, Rising Sun Beef, Cherry Lane and Ant Hill Farm.

PLUS Master Knife Sharpener Extraordinaire Barbara Hess will be back at her table and ready to tend to those poor, dull blades of yours on August 20th!

You may have noticed how early Ant Hill left the market this past Saturday…  Reason being not only had they sold out BUT, in anticipation of the benefit of the heavy rain predicted, they wanted/needed to be get back to the farm to be ready to plant new crops!

Oh!  Hold on to those bottles, folks…  Duncan Dairy will be returning to us in September! 

As for this week’s music:  The Opera Collective will be raising their fabulous voices in the churchyard  this coming Saturday, the 20th!

And the fantastic ladies of Mariachi Floride Toloache will be returning on August 27th!! 

Turning to the subject of our weekly recycling and keeping in mind that your neighbors are handling the items you bring: 

PLEASE, folks, your #5 plastic should be both squeeky clean and dry and sharing the bag you drop off with nothing else (like empty envelopes, used straws, napkins, etc.) ! 

Last week’s totals:  25 pounds #5, Britta filters, jewel cases, cords, cartridges, CD/DVDs, cellphones and corks; 30 pounds batteries. 

YTD (from 3/26):   338 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 825 lbs batteries.  (Getting way up there!)

Saturday, August 20th:  West Harlem Electronics Recycling Collection

Grant Houses Family Day Block Party. La Salle Street,  between Broadway and Amsterdam (La Salle is between West 123rd and West 125th),  , 10:30am-3:30pm

For those who can’t wait for Recycle-O-Rama on September 10th,  go west with those old computers, TVs, monitors, keyboards, mice and other peripherals, printers, fax machines and scanners, VCRs, DVD players, DVRs, portable digital music players, digital converter boxes, cable or satellite receivers, and video game consoles.  For more info: 212-666-6157.

Sunday, August 21th and Sunday, August 28th:  92nd Street Greenmarket

92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am–4pm

At their tables will be Nature’s Way Honey, the Stannart, Gonzalez , Norwich and Phillips Farms, Meredith’s Bakery, American Seafood and the truly Stellar cooks who – with great regret – were totally rained out last Sunday.

Last week’s totals:  10 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 25 lbs batteries 

YTD (from 6/19):   54 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 187 lbs batteries.  (Yes!)

Monday, August 22nd:  NYC Solar Decathalon Team Exhibition

The Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, 6-8pm

See the amazingly green and innovative home dreamed up by some of NYC’s most ambitious and creative students and soon to move to the Mall in Washington D.C. where it’ll complete  against the designs of  a host of other college teams.  Free to members.  $10 for the rest of us.

And just around the corner:

Saturday, September 10th:  Recycle-O-Rama – Fall Edition

Third Avenue Fair, Between 83rd and 84th, 10am – 4pm

What do WeRecyle (electronics), ProShred (paper shredding), Wearable Collections (clothes),  Friends of the Esplanade, Solar One, BEAM and UGS (and likely more) add up to?  The Third Avenue Fair’s first Green Block, that’s what!  Could even be the first Green Block at any street fair!

And thanks to the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce for their  invitation.

As always, we’ll also be accepting batteries, #5 plastic, cords, DC/DVDs, eye glasses, corks and Britta filters.

Remember, we define electronics as:

•    Computers (laptops & desktops, servers, mainframes)
•    Monitors
•    Printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers
•    Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.)
•    Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc.)
•    Components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.)
•    TVs, VCRs, & DVD Players
•    Audio-visual equipment
•    Cell phones, pagers, PDAs
•    Telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.)

And NO appliances, please!  

Sunday, September 11th:  Tribute in Light

Many vantage points around the City

The remarkable and moving evocation of the once Twin Towers created by 7,000-watt blue xenon light bulbs and reaching 4,000 feet into the sky.   We all owe the Municipal Arts Society a debt of gratitude.  For more details and to donate.       

Miscellany…  Miscellany…

Just to prove how miscellaneous we can be – yet again – how about a debate on the worthiness of granite for kitchen counters?!

Or 6 of the world’s most remote vacation spots?

Oh, let’s get serious…

After we note that Brooklyn actually is the site of an Ice Cream Club! 

Seriously…  And we mean it this time:

If you’d like to support the efforts of the great Story Corps to record and preserve memories of those we lost on 9/11 , proceed to…

And then…

Why are we not surprised – given our great Greenmarkets and necessity of walking places – that New Yorkers live longer than most Americans?

Not that the Minnesota courts aren’t doing their part keeping us all organic and healthy by deciding that pesticides borne on the wind equate to tresspassing!

New York Schools get a pat on the back, too, for their program that’s cut energy consumption 11% since 2008!

And congrats to the NBC Experience Store for their gorgeous green wall!

Totally agree that purchasing just the right light bulb is a challenge these days, but The Times has an approach to suggest.

You likely recall the two young people from that new City initiative Change By Us who tabled at 82nd a month ago, soliciting suggestions from all of us on how to improve and make greener our collective quality of life…  Well, now the groups’s website is up and a place where you can not only go public with your own great ideas but read those of other New Yorkers…  Check it out!  (But  will any of these ideas be acted upon?)

The recent North River Water Treatment Plant debacle didn’t help, but for all the progress made in cleansing the Hudson these last few years, it’s still no place to be swimming for considerable stretches.   To wit.

Which makes it good but also kind of odd to hear the City’s now planning on a $100 million upgrade for the 4 water  treatment plants that discharge into Jamaica Bay.  For more…

While we’re on the subject of infrastructure, check out these striking pix chronicling the construction of the Hoover Dam Bridge.

Last we heard the program was to debut this fall, but now it seems NYC’s Bike Share adventure is scheduled for 2012.

We’ve been hearing rumors about a new, blue tomato for the last couple of years…   A tomato that’s not only blue in color but reputedly with the antioxidant power of blueberries.  Well,  guess, what?  There actually is such a thing, recently developed by Oregon State University and available – in plant form – from Amazon!

Calling all aspiring food photographers!   Food & Wine Magazine runs frequent food photo contests…  The current being a “Beautiful Party Dessert” contest with the winner receiving a Panasonic Lumix camera.  For more…

On the subject of animals…  None all that cute:

Chicken-inspired art, anyone?

Who would have though the words Asian Carp and ironic would ever wind up in the same sentence…  But it’s absolutely  ironic  that we’re now exporting tons of these invading, giant, predatory fish back to the lands from whence they came!

Be well these next two weeks!

Yours in greenness,

UGS

Greetings, UESiders!

A week has passed and many letters regarding the environmental impact of the garbage station have been written, signed and mailed to the Army Corps of Engineers!

Still and to quote Dana Adams of  Congresswoman Maloney’s NY office, “The more letters the ACE receives the more likely they are to both do a review and a more thorough review.

Therefore, as last week, PLEASE, write your own letter (scrolling down to last week’s newsletter for the requisite environmental reference materials).

OR

Feel free to borrow from or use as whole cloth the sample letter  attached to this email and address it to:

Ms. Naomi Handell, Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, New York District,  26 Federal Plaza, Room 1937,  New York, New York 10278

OR

There’ll be printed-out letters you can sign at both this weekend’s Greenmarkets.

AND ONCE YOU’VE TAKEN CARE OF THAT…

On Monday, August 15th, you’ll be able to request however many 9/11 Memorial daffodil bulbs you wish for neighborhood planting from the great people at New Yorkers for Parks!

THEN

Take the NY Parks Litter Survey!

THEN

Send some good thoughts in Oregon’s direction for its being the third state to pass a ban on the atrocious practice of shark finning.

Still more good thoughts for the Smithsonian and our National Zoo for – given the white nose disease presently decimating our bat population – establishing the first captive population of the endangered Virginia big-eared bat. 

THEN

Contemplate that cancer is now the leading cause of death in industrialized China.

As for the coming week:

On Continuous View:  9/11  National Tribute Quilt

American Folk Art Museum, 2 Lincoln Square

There’ll be many incredible and touching comemorations  worthy of note and this is surely one…   An 8 foot high by 30 foot wide masterpiece quilt devised by the Steel Quilters of United States Steel Corporation.  For hours of exhibition and more.

Saturday, August 13th:  82nd Street Greenmarket

St. Stephen of Hungary Churchyard, 82^nd Street between First and York, 9 am – 3 pm 

Look for American Seafood,  Bread Alone,  Raghoo, Duncan Dairy, Rabbits’ Run, Rising Sun Beef, Cherry Lane and Ant Hill Farm.

(Tried Raghoo’s ground chicken last week and it was fantastic!)

(Did you see Mark Bittman’s collection of heirloom tomato recipes in the Sunday Times?)

(And for a deeper appreciation for what Warren’s days are like as he works to bring us his fabulous seafood, read this!)

AND our own marvelous UESider Lily Gerontis will be singing  this week.

PLUS , after a 10-month absence, green energy choice Community Energy has returned and will be tabling from now on.

BUT NO KNIFE SHARPENING THIS SATURDAY!

Last week’s totals:  25 pounds #5, Britta filters, jewel cases, cords, cartridges, CD/DVDs, cellphones and corks; 30 pounds batteries. 

YTD (from 3/26):   338 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 825 lbs batteries.  (Getting way up there!)

Saturday, August 13th, Sunday, August 14th:  Subterranean Homesick Stream Walk

Meet at the NW corner of 106th and the FDR Drive, 3pm both days

Walk along what was once the course of one of the Upper East Side’s (AKA Mannahatta’s)  many streams under the guidance of NPR’s Edward Mooney.  $20.  For more details.

Sunday, August 14th:  92nd Street Greenmarket

92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am–4pm

At their tables will be Nature’s Way Honey, the Stannart, Gonzalez , Norwich and Phillips Farms, Meredith’s Bakery, American Seafood and the truly Stellar cooks who produced a great apple salad last week!

And how about Margaret’s fish tacos!!

You won’t forget to stop by the UGS table to sign letters to the Corps of Engineers, will you?

Last week’s totals:  10 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 25 lbs batteries 

YTD (from 6/19):   54 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 187 lbs batteries.  (Yes!)

On the horizon but approaching fast:

Wednesday, August 30th:  35th Anniversary Celebration of the Union Square Market

Union Square (natch!) Pavillion, north end Union Square Park (of course!), 6-8pm

Thirty-five years, 53 markets, more 230 participating family farms accounting for more 30,000 acres of regional farmland that’s kept in production, and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers with access to fresh, locally grown foods later,  join GrowNYC for a narrated slide show of photos of the flag ship Union Square Market through the years AND slices of carrot cake for all!

(But let us not forget that the very first of all those 53 markets happened evewn before the Union Square Market and on our very own UES turf…  At a then parking lot on the west side of Second Avenue between 58th and 59th on July 17. 1976…  And as The Times told it, it too was an immediate hit!) 

Saturday, September 10th:  Recycle-O-Rama – Fall Edition

Third Avenue Fair, 10am – 4pm

An event we’ve been graciously invited to incorporate in this year’s Fair as part of an environmental block…  A block that’ll also include Friends of the Esplanade, Solar One and BEAM!

Although we don’t yet know our exact location yet, we’ll  be accepting electronics, shredding paper and collecting clothes…  Along with our usual batteries, #5 plastic, cords, DC/DVDs, eye glasses, corks and Britta filters.

Refreshing all our memories, we define electronics as:

 •    Computers (laptops & desktops, servers, mainframes)
•    Monitors
•    Printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers
•    Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.)
•    Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc.)
•    Components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.)
•    TVs, VCRs, & DVD Players
•    Audio-visual equipment
•    Cell phones, pagers, PDAs
•    Telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.)

But no appliances, please!  

On to miscellany which could hardly be more miscellaneous this week:

There truly seems to be no end to the good Bill and Melinda Gates would like to do…  Most lately research into adding nutritional value to the crops the world’s most impoverished and hungry grow. 

On a lesser but still inspiring note, Office Depot will soon be offering to deliver orders in paper bags rather than cardboard boxes…  An option the company believes that 90% customers will choose and which save as many as 20,00 trees a year!  For more…

On  the other hand,  there’s Ford and its desire to resume dumping toxic waste in New Jersey’s Ringwood Park!  Should you object, then here’s where you can comment.

Could also provide you the inspiration to build your own solar-powered vehicle!

And wouldn’t it be nice for Time Warner to adopt a program like Comcast’s which now offers $10 broadband access and discounted computer vouchers to low-income families within its service areas. This Internet Essentials program is available to families who have at least one child enrolled in the National School Lunch Program and free internet training is also available.

Meanwhile, there’s a home sewing renaissance budding out in Brooklyn…

Who knew there was such a profession  as “beer archeologist“? 

Or that artists were once deployed in an attempt to trademark fruit and vegetable strains?

For an account of that Rails-to-Trails Pennsylvania bicycle sojourn we encouraged you to take (and which might incent you to try the next one)…

And for those who used to scoff at the humble ketchup, refrain in future or so the newspaper of record tells us.

Okay, they’ve been pushing back-to-school since the day it let out, but a 2-story tall, inflatable Halloween cat in August? 

For those who missed the recent Times treatise on biscuit making…  You shouldn’t.   Not that any of those fine concoctions compares with the ultimate…  My Texas family’s  biscuit recipe:

The James W. Phillips Biscuit Recipe

Sift:    1 cup flour,   1/2 tsp salt,  2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda

Add and work in with fingers:  2 T shortening  (don’t even think about substituting olive or canola oil!)

Add and stir in with a fork:   1/2 cup buttermilk

Knead for 3 minutes.  Roll out 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into circle shapes with a 2 inch in diamter biscuit cutter or juice glass.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 till golden brown (8-10 minutes).

Heaven especially with eggs or gravy.

Are we ready for some animals?

Like the recent discovery here in America of 2 brand new species of bees!

Well, not precisely animals but, for sure, some of the best animal accessories ever! 

And in 2011,  there’re great eco pet toys, too!  Think Eco-Fetcher and Eco-Pouncer.)

Imagine, you’re a singer and you accompany yourself on the piano.  You have a small dog who is your constant companion and watches as you sing and play. Now, imagine that you leave for a few hours, and you leave the dog  alone at home.  This is what happens while you’re away.

Think that was good?!   Better prepare yourself for Static Dog!

We sign off with the Rosie,  New York State’s first courtroom dog…

Evergreen,

UGS 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear UESiders,

The City Council may have voted, but the fight against the 91st Street garbage station is hardly at an end!

Case and point:  At the request of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, the Army Corps of Engineers – the federal entity which will pass judgment on the city’s permit to build the station –  has agreed to solicit comment from the community on the environmental effects of  building this facility. 

To inform yourself further, do read the ACE’s request, Congresswoman Maloney’s press release/statement and DNAinfo’s coverage of the issue.  And the East River Crew’s Estuary Guide (attached to the email) is a great reference.

Needless to say, it’s utterly vital that each and every one take a few minutes to compose such a letter – emphasizing the detrimental environmental effects – and forward it to:

Ms. Naomi Handell, Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, New York District,  26 Federal Plaza, Room 1937,  New York, New York 10278

OR

Feel free to deploy the sample letter we’ve attached to the email.

OR

For your convenience we’ll be having printed-out letters you’ll be able to sign at both this weekend’s Greenmarkets.

Okay.  Time for some excellent news:

A new and much greener US Building Code has just been finalized.  Requiring that homes and buildings to achieve energy savings 30% higher than the 2006 code and given that  homes and buildings produce fully half of US greenhouse gases and use over 75% of the electricity generated from power plants, this upgraded code is expected to save American homes and businesses $40 billion annually in energy costs by 2030, says the Alliance to Save Energy. The code will also eliminate the need for about 47 coal plants.

And:

Scholastic’s rethought its partnership with the American Coal Foundation (that’s right!) and won’t be distributing the industry’s nicely packaged messages in America’s classrooms.

On an infinitely more frivilous but still uplifting note:

Want to go to the Andrea Bocelli concert on September 13th, but didn’t get your hands on any of those free tickets?   Well, you can still attend if you volunteer to lend the hand with recycling at the event.  For more, hunt me down at either market or email uppergreenside@gmail.com.

And then there’s this:

From July 25 to September 9, 2011, participants in NYPL’s Read Down Your Fines program can erase all their library fines just by logging their books and reading time on SummerReading.org

AND:

Somehow I wound up in possession of a number of brand new ink cartridges which will be gladly given to whomever shows up first…  The cartridges being HP95 (1, tri-color) and LD-CLI8(many, assorted colors).

Also on hand are 3 packs of Canon glossy photo paper.

Come and get ’em, folks!

As for the week ahead:

Friday, August 5th – Sunday, August 7th:  Rural Route Film Festival 2011

Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria; Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm, 37-18 Northern Blvd, Long Island City; Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Boulevard at Broadway, Astoria;  various times 

Created by a couple of Iowa natives, the festival’s aim is to document the life of rural people and places.  Films include such treats as “Summer Pasture” and “Greenhorns”.  Tickets – $10;  Seniors and students – $7.50; Children – $5.  For full details.

Friday, August 5th:  NY Skies Astonomy Seminar

McBirney House, 125 W 14 Street between Sixth and Seventh, 6:30 – 9pm

Think “Vesta Fiesta” as in Vesta asteroid which, as of July and after a 4 year journey, was finally reached by Dawn spacecraft which is now orbiting the hunk of rock and beaming back incredible photographs! 

Saturday, August 6th:  82nd Street Greenmarket

St. Stephen of Hungary Churchyard, 82^nd Street between First and York, 9 am – 3 pm 

With us will be American Seafood,  Bread Alone,  Raghoo, Duncan Dairy, Rabbits’ Run, Rising Sun Beef, Cherry Lane and Ant Hill Farm.

And, yes, answering your cutlery prayers, master knife sharener Barbara Hess will at her table as well!

AND Jenny Paul’s beautiful voice  will be providing our music this week.

Meanwhile, those adorable orange Turkish eggplants of Cherry Lane’s  NY Magazine had a simple but great recipe featuring the little deliciousnesses  in this week’s issue.

Last week’s totals:  ?  (As I was away last week, I’ll be weighing things up on Saturday.) 

YTD (from 3/26):   313 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 795 lbs batteries.  (Amen!)

Saturday, August 6th:  Summer Streets!

Lafayette Street/4th Avenue/Park Avenue from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street, 7am – 1pm

Yet another year that the Department of Transportation’ s giving us the marvelous gift of a vast, temporarily carless stretch of Manhattan streetscape for walking, biking, building sand castles, climbing a rock wall and more.  For full details. 

Sunday, August 7th:  92nd Street Greenmarket

92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am–4pm

With us will be Nature’s Way Honey, the Stannart, Gonzalez , Norwich and Phillips Farms, Meredith’s Bakery, American Seafood and the wonderful Stellar cooks.

PLUS

Northern Manhattan Market Manager and incredible chef Margaret Hoffman will be whipping up something great from American Seafood!

And you’ll be smart to opt for Margaret’s approach to preparing corn on the cob…  In the microwave (!) .   Margaret says:

“This idea came originally from the recipe booklet that came with the first microwave I ever had.  Soak corn in its husk in water for a few minutes. Microwave, 1 ear at a time, for 3 minutes on high. Be very careful removing it from the microwave and let it stand for a few minutes before husking. It will be VERY hot. The result is really delicious and nutritious. By cooking the corn in the husk you have trapped all flavor and nutrients inside instead of washing them away in the cooking water!”

Last week’s totals:  ?  (I’ll be weighing up last week’s accumulation on Sunday.)  (And thanks so much for minding the store, Michelle!)

YTD (from 6/19):   44 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 162 lbs batteries.  (Great!)

Wednesday, August 10th:  Word for Word Non-Fiction Civil War Lecture Series

Bryant Park Reading Room, NY Public Library, 42nd Street side of Bryant Park between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 7pm

Randall Fuller discusses From Battlefields Rising, his new book examining the profound impact of the war on 19th Century writers including Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Frederick Douglass.  

Voulez-vous de miscellany?

Ever hear there was once a sawmill located on a stream spilling into the East River around 74th Street?

Manhattan isn’t presently on the agenda, but the City is doing some West Nile mosquito spraying in other boroughs.  For locations and dates.

And now for the latest Riverkeeper Hudson River water quality report…

Of course, our neck of the woods isn’t included in this report, but Riverkeeper Boat and Water Quality expert Robert Friedman informs us that during the recent water treatment plant fire the UES wasn’t spared, with 2 pipes – likely giant ones – running raw sewage into the East River!

Meanwhile, there are upwards of 400 such pipes throughout the city which, given a mere 1/2-inch of rain, then dispell untreated sewage into NYC waterways. 

No question what a colossal, antiquated  wreck our system of handling of waste water is.

But let us return to the miscellany path:

Just in case you haven’t been in the loop re: the tainted ground turkey outbreak…

Or the Parks Department’s new policy on foraging for edible greens...

Or if you haven’t heard about proposed new agricultural policy and would like to speak up for the family farm…

Or that Europe’s facing some of the same fracking quandries as we are…

Or that further research is indicating that gas from shale (i.e. produced by fracking) is just as polluting as coal…  (Why is one not surprised?)

On the other extreme, Nissan will be offering tech that’ll send power from its Leaf car back to the grid from the car owner’s home!

How about a convenient “glossary” detailing  the wonders of  America’s 60 top, must-see national parks? 

Or America’s 20 most impressive science fair projects?

Or this incredibly beautiful green roof project in Japan?

We’re talking odd-couple animals this week:

As in a very sweet dog and guinea pig…

A saintly mother cat and a baby wolf…

Best friends lizard and kitty…

But let us end with the surprising compassion among – yes! – squirrels…

Yours in eternal greenness,

UGS