Hydrofracking Event at the Park Slope Food Coop

Sabrina Artel is bringing The Trailer Talk Show to the Park Slope Food Coop on October 30, 2010, from 11am-3pm. She will be joining PSFC members and friends in front of the Coop to raise awareness about the growing threat of toxic natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale and the NYC Watersheds.

Credit: Sabrina Artel - Trailer Talk

Trailer Talk has been described as "an unusual blend of theater, activism and broadcast journalism.” 

The public is invited to join in the conversations and bring questions. Learn how hydrofracking in our state will directly affect NYC food, water, and health. Action sheets, candidate information, and literature will also be provided.

Everyone is invited to participate!

Green Screens Films

Sunday, October 24, Green Screens films at Lincoln Center will be screening several new films.

2pm: Extinction: Panel Discussion: What can be done about the sixth major extinction in our planet’s history? We are bringing together an outstanding lineup of scientists and activists to discuss this crisis. Plus a screening of Flathead Wild (Trip Jennings, USA, 2009; 23m): At the headwaters of America’s most pristine river a mining project is proposed that would destroy an irreplaceable landscape, critical habitat for both rare and endangered species. Read more

5pm: Bidder 70: In 2008, Tim DeChristopher went to a government land auction intended for oil and gas and set off a chain of events that led to one of the most significant acts of civil disobedience on behalf of conservation. Read more

7:30pm: Bag It! Try going a day without plastic. What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic and its effect on our lives, bodies and waterways. Read more

Does it Make a Difference?

Someone recently asked me if it really makes a difference if she buys bottled water or uses plastic bags. Even if she were the only person on the planet it would make some difference, but being that there are so many of us—yes, each person's action makes a difference.

Not all plastic is recycled—some gets thrown in the trash. Plastic bags, in particular, tend to become airborne by a strong breeze and float away from an outdoo trash can. For many of us, it's out of sight, out of mind. But a group of people have been collectingd plastic debris from beaches and oceans and constructed a series of bird sculptures to call attention to one of the worst end results of plastic—choking and strangling birds, seals and other animals.

Read more about this project.

Green Tea Party

Come to NYLCV's Green Tea Party!

Join the New York League of Conservation Voters, members of the New York City Council and young professionals from around the city for a special evening of cocktails and conversation focusing on a greener, more sustainable New York.

Wednesday, October 20
6-8 p.m.
People Lounge, 163 Allen Street (Lower East Side), NYC

To RSVP, or contact Hilary Wilkes at (212) 361-6350 ext. 204, or hwilkes@nylcv.org for more information.

Suggested contribution is $20.

Seattle’s New Phone Book Law

I enjoy reading about great ideas from other cities or countries for a more sustainable lifestyle—ideas that would work well in New York City, too. For instance, Seattle just passed the nation's first phone book opt-out law. What does this mean? Individuals will not automatically get phone books—they can decide to opt-out of having them delivered.

The massive phone book delivered to homes each year is quickly becoming obsolete. Most personal or business contacts have cell phones and email addresses, which are not found in the phone book. Most businesses are listed online, where you can get more information that you would in the phone book anyway. Seattle's new law is the first step in alleviating the tremendous amount of paper and energy used to provide yearly phone books, and the amount of waste as tons of phone books become obsolete each year.
Read more about this at Earth 911.

Artwork of shredded phonebooks courtesy of John Michael Morehead

Blue Gold Water Wars

Film Screening of Blue Gold Water Wars
Park Slope Food Coop
782 Union St., Brooklyn, NY
Tuesday, October 12 at 7pm

This film is about communities that have battled against water privatization,i.e. corporations taking over their municipal water system. Water is as valuable as gold, if not more so, as it essential to our survival. NYS is blessed with free, high quality water, but for how long? The recent battles over hydraulic fracture drilling have shown us that our water is vulnerable to many threats. It's important that we learn from other communities and this film is an essential part of that.

Cleaner Greener Clothing Mills

Following up on our last post about how easy it can be to recycle your clothing and other textiles, here is a great article about recent efforts to make the clothing industry more sustainable. A great deal of fabric is produced in China, home to some 50,000 textile mills. Dyes and other chemicals are routinely released into the nearby waterways, in addition to fresh water and energy used by the production processes. NRDC has been spearheading efforts to get the mills to use more sustainable practices. Read more about this.

Textile Recycling

Did you know that the average New Yorker tosses 46 pounds of clothing and textiles in the trash each year?

Much of this is recyclable at your local greenmarket. Bring your old clothing, shoes, towels, sheets, scarves, hats, bags and belts to the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket on Saturdays from 8am to 4pm. For other locations as well as a printable textile recycling poster to post in your building or workplace click here.

Clothing that is in good condition can be donated to other places for reuse. But ripped or stained clothes or sheets, not suitable for reuse, can be brought to the greenmarket for recycling.