Rhode Island Feeds

The Providence Plan is awarded a $3.7 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, allowing the organization's Building Futures Initiative to launch an Energy Training Partnership.

The Rhode Island Society of Professional Land Surveyors will be hosting a GPS presentation at their regular bi-monthly meeting. Please print out and mail or email the following registration card to attend. See http://www.rispls.org/ftptransfer/NewsLetter/January%20News.pdf for more information.
Thursday, February 18, 2010****Radisson Hotel, Post Road, Warwick, RI****
2pm-5pm Jim Bosworth, Maine Technical Source “New Advantages to a GPS Network”3.5 CEU’s (No Break)5pm-6pm Cocktail hour, 50/50 Raffle & Door Prizes6pm-8pm Dinner & RISPLS General Membership Meeting-RISPLS UpdatesMembers: $75.______ Non-Members: $100. ______**Late Fee of $10.00, if POSTMARKED after February 11, 2010.
Name:________________________________________________________Address:______________________________________________________Phone:________________________________________________________
***Make reservations early to eliminate late fee, reserve seating and to pick up your attendance certificate at the meeting.All Reservations are non refundable and non-transferable. Please make checks payable to RISPLS and mail with reservationcertificate to:RISPLS, PO Box 544, East Greenwich, RI, 02818 Or E mail to RISPLS@hotmail.com

GPS Real-Time Networks
Real-time GPS Networks are becoming more abundant throughout the US and it will not be long before the entire country has access to a local real time base station. These networks can make data collection, stakeout, and control access extremely efficient for the surveying and construction professional. The seminar will discuss how these networks are put together, monitored, and accessed for use by the surveyor. What types of data and results should be expected, and how to ensure good data will be discussed.
MAINE TECHNICAL SOURCE, INC.
Jim Bosworth
110 Winn Street
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 800-322-5003
Fax: 781-932-0450
Email: jbosworth@mainetechnical.com
Web: www.mainetechnicalsource.com
Maine Technical Source takes pride in supplying engineers, architects, surveyors, contractors, and other types of customers with the world's finest technical and measurement tools, supplies, training, and service. MTS sells more than 8,000 different products from over 35 manufacturers. From field to finish, MTS can meet every technical need. Gus MacDonald, President of MTS, started the company over 25 years ago and more than half of his employees have been with the company for more than ten years. Every Maine Technical Source employee is focused on customer service. Close teamwork within the company is aimed at guaranteeing satisfied customers.

California’s global warming law could be challenged by a ballot initiative, writes the L.A. Times, which also has an editorial arguing that Washington is losing heart on fighting climate change.

The Hawaii Senate has saved $1.2 million by cutting back on printing (NY Times).

A leading scientist tells the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council that there is consensus on climate change (Providence Journal), but a poll in the UK found that skepticism has increased just in the last 3 months (BBC, with commentary here).  Meanwhile, the Penn State scientist at the center of “Climategate” has been largely cleared of scientific misconduct (NY Times).

Whalers and activists again collide off of Antarctica (MSNBC), while environmental advocates want to know what ingredients are in household cleaners (MSNBC).

Massachusetts is on track to meet emissions reduction targets (Boston Globe), while the state’s utilities are seeking green energy (Boston Globe).

The Postal Service wants to make deliveries greener (LA Times).

More than 100-million cell phones go to U.S. landfills each year. Recycle yours instead.

In classic fashion, I'm once again late with the poll update. That said, January's poll results were fantastic -- thank you to everyone who took the time to lend their voice.

We asked: What should the top sustainable community agenda items be in 2010?

Education & Engagement topped this list, followed closely by Renewable Energy Investment and Agriculture & Food. In the middle of the pack was Local Economic Development. Rounding out the list with only a few votes were Land Preservation, Transportation Alternatives and Zoning & Related Planning.

While I try to plan some sort of face-to-face gathering in the Tiverton/Little Compton area, you may be interested in checking out one a these local "education & engagement" resources:

• UMASS Dartmouth's Sustainability Office has an amazing spring line up of events. From films to speakers to workshops, there is a lot of great work going on over there. (Thanks to Nate over at biodieselnow.com for the heads-up.)
  
  
• The Green Drinks series continues in Newport and Providence. These monthly gatherings bring good food, good drink, and great conversation together in a nice neat package.

Now, on to February's poll.

This month, we're asking about steps you are taking to save energy (and money) at home. With the thick of winter upon us, furnaces firing, and the electric meter spinning, there is never a better time to take some simple steps to make your home more energy efficient.

INGLES (espanol abajo)

CARE Alliance Wednesday, February 10th at 6pm

Knight Memorial Library

(275 Elmwood Ave.)

Join us for a discussion with Manuel Cordero from the RI Department of Education and the CARE Alliance’s very own Bob Vanderslice from the Department of Health to learn about how the air INSIDE our homes and schools affects our health and the ways we can work to make it better.  Learn about efforts to improve indoor air quality in RI schools through the “Tools for Schools” program and how you can make changes in your own home that reduce asthma and make your home healthier.

Refreshments provided, as usual.

The EJ League’s CARE Alliance is:

**A forum to learn about environmental problems and ideas for solutions from your neighbors and experts**

**An action group that will educate and involve more community members based on their interests and concerns**

**A partnership to identify and implement changes in the city that will reduce environmental and health problems for all of Providence** See more info at http://ejlri.wordpress.com/our-work/care-alliance/ ESPANOL La Alianza CARE Miercoles, 10 de febrero a las 6 por la tarde

La Biblioteca Knight Memorial

(275 Avenida Elmwood)

Reuna con nosotros para una conversacion con Manuel Cordero del Departamento de Educacion y nuestro propio participante de CARE, Bob Vanderslice del Departamento de Salud, para aprender como afecta a nuestra salud el aire ADENTRO DE nuestras casas y escuelas y las maneras en que podemos mejorarlo.  Aprenda sobre esfuerzos para mejorar la calidad del aire adentro de la escuelas de RI mediante el programa “Herramientos para Escuelas” y como Ud. puede hacer cambios en su propia casa que reducen el asma y se hacen mas saludable su casa.

Refrescos seran servidos, como siempre.

La Alianza CARE de la Liga es:

**Un foro para aprender de sus vecinos y de expertos acerca de problemas medioambientales y de salud, y sobre ideas para soluciones**

**Un grupo de accion que va a educar e involucrar mas miembros de la comunidad segun sus intereses y preocupaciones**

**Una colaboracion entre diferentes personas y grupos para identificar y llevar a cabo cambios en la ciudad que van a reducir problemas medioambientales y de salud para todos en Providence** Lea mas informacion al http://ejlri.wordpress.com/our-work/care-alliance/

Over at The Oil Drum, they just posted an article on a presentation Petrobras CEO Jose’ Sergio Gabrielli gave in December 2009. Read for yourself, and decide if the world can come up with a Saudi Arabia’s worth of capacity every two years to supply world oil demand and offset declines in existing fields. Thanks to Luis de Sousa at The Oil Drum for translating the slides from Portuguese to English. Important reading, and evidence for why many–even conservative–analysts predict supply crunches in the next few years.

The state is offering cash incentives for Rhode Islanders who trade their old appliances in for new, energy efficient machines.

Did you know that the federal government spends about $1.3 billion a year on printing?  That right there represents about one tenth of one percent of the deficit, and it’s an area where there’s room for improvement.  Last year Lexmark put out a report claiming that the government could save about $440 million annually on printing costs just by being more careful about what it prints.  The problem is that printing is easy and often done with little thought.  There’s especially little thought given to its cost.  But when you’re at home, you think more about the exorbitant cost of cartridges, and so you’re more careful.

And as Lexmark argues, just being more careful can make a big difference.  When you do need to print, try printing on both sides; that’s a 50 percent savings right there.  If you have PowerPoint handouts, try putting 2 or even 3 slides on each side of a page.  This way, a 60 slide presentation could use as few as 10 sheets of paper.

This is also another example of how you’ll do more of something when you don’t shoulder its full cost.  Say what you will about cap-and-trade or a carbon tax, but the fact is that greenhouse gases are a classic negative externality.  Without financial penalties, factories and other polluters don’t have incentives to rein in their emissions because the cost of those emissions is borne by others.

Printing has a much lower profile than emissions, but a $440 million savings just in the federal government is not insignificant.  Savings opportunities probably exist in offices all over, and are a great way to consume fewer resources.  With all the paper saved, maybe they can print enough money to get us out of all this debt.

RIRRC: Sign up! URI's Mallon Outreach Center offers programs to RI citizens on issues relating to sustainability: www.uri.edu/cels/ceoc/index.html

Most of the public has heard the mantra by now that cows’ “emissions” hurt the environment by releasing methane into the atmosphere. But there are greater fixes we can make in terms of what and how we eat that will help the environment more.

Michael Pollan’s bestseller, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” delves deep into the food chain, examining what goes into making: a fast-food meal, a meal from Whole Foods, a meal grown from a local farm, and a meal hunted and gathered by himself. The results are fascinating, but the nuggets of information on the environmental effect of our eating habits and our food industry are not to be overlooked.

In the fast-food meal, Pollan traces the food back to a specific cow, raised in tight quarters in a feedlot with a diet composed of corn. He then follows the government-subsidized corn’s journey to the feedlot where the cow eats it, then he follows the cow through its development until it ends up as a hamburger.

“Follow the corn from this bunk back to where it grows and I’d find myself back in the middle of the 125,00-mile-square monoculture under a steady rain of pesticide and fertilizer. Keep going, and I could follow the nitrogen runoff from that fertilizer all the way down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico, adding its poison to an eight-thousand-square-mile zone so starved of oxygen nothing but algae can live in it. And then go farther still, follow the fertilizer (and the diesel fuel and the petrochemical pesticides) needed to grow the corn all the way to the oil fields of the Persian Gulf.”

Pollan then estimates that the cow he follows will have consumed in his lifetime the equivalent of 35 gallons of oil (nearly a barrel). His research then discovers that most of the Whole Foods meal goes through a variation of this, but there are small doors available for one cow at a time to spend 2 minutes outside, allowing them to be termed “free range” or the feedlots serve up pesticide-filled grass instead of corn.

In finding a locally grown meal, he goes to a grass farm and sees how the farmer uses all-natural products and allows his cows to be fed off grass roaming free in a pasture (this is how they used to eat, before corn.) Since the farm itself provides a natural ecosystem, there is no need for fertilizer or pesticides. Since it’s grown locally, there is no need to transport it halfway across the world; it is eaten by local consumers. It allows Pollan to create a stunning hypothesis:

“If the sixteen million acres now being used to grow corn to feed cows in the United States became well-managed pasture, that would remove 14 billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere each year, the equivalent of taking 4 million cars off the road.”

This type of overhaul seems unlikely, but the goal is to simply become more aware. I know, eating locally is costly (because corn is government-subsidized, it lowers the true cost of food), but it’s more virtuous and tastes better. And don’t forget it’s better for the environment - even if the cows sometimes “emit” their own gases.

The power of 2,000
Lights Out, Green In is thrilled to announce the donation of 2,000 light bulbs to be distributed by the
R.I. Food Bank to low-income residents. The donation of the bulbs this week will help struggling
citizens save money on their household electricity bills in addition to helping them cut back on their
greenhouse gas emissions. The 2,000 CFLs will save their users a total of $14,600 each year, and
$80,000 over the life of the bulbs. Over the life of the bulbs, 900,000 pounds of carbon will be saved.
It’s the equivalent of taking 456 cars off the road. Do you want to figure out what changing your
household to CFLs could save you on your energy bill? It’s all here!
Great thanks goes to all of our donors who helped make this possible - annual donors, public donors
and those who attended and planned our three fundraisers in 2009. Lights Out, Green In also owes
thanks to its partners in this venture: the R.I. Food Bank, National Grid and Energy Federation Inc.
Get caught in our Web
Coming off a December in which Lightsoutgreenin.org registered its most hits in history - just shy of
10,000 - January saw the Web site record its second-highest amount of visits in its history. The site
is updated with environmental news and analysis every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as well as
with a weekly environmental tip for “green” living. Become a regular visitor and you’ll be up to date with
all the news in the environmental spectrum.
Exhibiting conservation
Lights Out, Green In will host a display booth on Feb. 11 at R.I. Interfaith Power & Light’s conference.
In addition to appearing at this event, Lights Out, Green In will be popping up from time to time at
FarmFresh RI’s Wintertime Farmers Market in Pawtucket, which is held every Saturday at the Hope
Artiste Village in Pawtucket. Come check us out!

RIRRC: Visiting the Winter Farmers' Market? Stop by the URI Master Composter table & learn to compost at home! You can get bins at RIRRC for $40!

RIRRC: THIS SATURDAY 2/6: RIRRC hosts FREE Eco-Depot for Household Hazardous Waste (RI residents only). Call for an appointment: 942-1430 x 256

New image data are now available from the RIGIS data clearinghouse website. Look for the new listings under the Imagery and Base Maps data section at http://www.edc.uri.edu/rigis.

These datasets consist of:

1) Spring 2002 true color, 1-foot resolution orthophotography of northeastern Rhode Island, courtesy of USGS. Previously only available from RIGIS via CD-ROM, these are now online. At this time, only MrSID-formatted versions are available from RIGIS.

2) Summer 2006, true color, 0.5-meter resolution orthophotography of Narragansett Bay and Block Island, courtesy of the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NBNERR), Save The Bay, and the URI Environmental Data Center. Available in both MrSID and GeoTIFF formats.

3) Spring 2008 statewide, panchromatic aerial photographs, courtesy of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM). Although these are neither georeferenced nor orthorectified, these are the most recent aerial photos currently available from RIGIS.

These three datasets are introduce a *new* method for downloading tiled data from RIGIS! Please don't hesitate to let me know if you experience any problems using the new Google Maps-based download page or the download manager-friendly pages. If this new method of downloading tiled data is well-received by the community, more image and LiDAR data will be posted in the coming months using this format.

Finally, information has also been posted regarding the various methods by which RIGIS users may view a collection of Spring 2008, true color, 4-inch resolution aerial photographs licensed by Pictometry International and the Rhode Island Enhanced 911 Uniform Emergency Telephone System (RI E911). Although these data are not available for downloading via RIGIS due to licensing terms, beta testers have been satisfied with the various options provided by an ESRI ArcGIS Server online map service hosted by the URI Environmental Data Center.

Again, please look for these new listings under the Imagery and Base Maps data section at http://www.edc.uri.edu/rigis. Enjoy!

Another conversation from Peak Moment

China is emerging as the leader in clean energy, writes the New York Times, while this column in the Washington Post wonders if the U.S. will be left behind.

The fight over mountaintop mining rages on in West Virginia, notes the Washington Post, which also reports that invasive species are forcing tough choices in many places.

Melting glaciers on Mt. Rainier are causing problems, writes the L.A. Times.

A federal building in Portland tries a new way of going green (NY Times).  Meanwhile, Massachusetts announced ambitious new energy standards (NY Times).

President Obama wants the federal government to lead by example by cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent in the next decade (MSNBC).  And as mentioned in the State of the Union, nuclear power may play a bigger role in the future (MSNBC).

Nations vow to fulfill the emissions reduction targets set at Copenhagen, unambitious though they may be (BBC).  The BBC also notes that better flight management can make a big impact on airplane emissions, and the UK’s chief scientist says climate research is sound.  Meanwhile, the Washington Post has a panel of opinions on this very subject.

A Providence wastewater facility received FAA approval for 3 wind turbines and hopes to have them up and running by late 2011 (Providence Journal).

Programmable thermostats are more efficient and don’t have mercury like old manual ones.

Well, it’s coming: Pay As You Throw (PAYT).

With the Tiverton Town Council voting to implement PAYT as a tactic for extending the life of our landfill, boosting municipal recycling rates, and putting away funds for the eventual capping, folks from across town are undoubtedly going to get themselves in a tizzy over it.

According to the Sakonnet Times article last week, we won't see the program start for months while all the details are worked out. That should give everyone plenty of time to get ready. To help, I have taken the liberty to throw together an unofficial list of things you can do to prepare. Good luck!

Number One: Get Educated

Municipalities across the country (including several in RI) have been implementing PATY programs with success. The U.S. EPA has a great website with all the ins and outs.   Or read this great article covering all the pros and cons along with lots of impressive stats.

Number Two: Buy Less
The less you have, the less you have to figure out how to throw away. Take PAYT as that opportunity to start doing more with less, differentiating between ‘need’ and ‘want’, and reducing all that clutter in your life. Need some motivation? Watch the Story of Stuff.

Number Three: Get on the Freecycle Bandwagon

For all that stuff that is still in good shape and could use a second life with someone else, there is freecycling. We are signed up with the Yahoo! Group Freecycle Newport. With thousands of area people using it, you’re bound to find someone who wants your stuff.

Number Four: Pre-Cycle
When you shop, look for packaging that can be recycled. Glass, aluminum, Number 1 and 2 plastics, and paper-based materials can land in your blue and green bins instead of your trash barrel. And remember that buying in bulk can also cut down on the amount of packaging you consume.

Number Five: Start a Compost Pile
Around twenty-five percent of household waste is organic material (e.g., vegetable and non-meat food scraps, lawn and garden clippings, etc.) and can be composted. The whole brown-and-green-layering thing couldn’t be easier and the end result (compost) is the absolute best thing you could ever put in your garden. Check out this great composting resource from URI to learn more.

Number Six: Seize the Teachable Moment with Your Kids
If you haven’t already given your kids the Recycling 101 class, now is the time. Our experience is that the sooner you show kids how to separate recyclables from trash, and tell them why we do it, the sooner they will be helping you without your asking. Make a game out it. Fun stuff rocks.

Number Seven: Get to Know Your Neighbors
Not so long ago, we actually talked with our neighbors. That led to all sorts of great things: From borrowing a cup of sugar to lending a hand with the kids to keeping an eye on each other’s house when you weren’t around. Neighbors use to let each other borrow things big and small. History could repeat itself here. Remember the magic equation: Borrow More = Buy Less = Throw Less Out.

Have some old paint or cleaners laying around the house? What about spent batteries or CFL bulbs? Or maybe even that old radiator fluid you flushed out last summer?

Eco-Depot, the household waste disposal service from the R.I. Resource Recovery Corporation, has published their 2010 schedule. Monthly drop-offs happen at their facility in Johnston (at the Central Landfill) with mobile units hitting various cities and towns throughout the year. Roadshows closest to us:

• April 17 // Second Beach in Middletown (e-waste included at this event)
• June 5 // Portsmouth High School
• July 17 // Department of Public Works in Tiverton

To drop off items, you have to make an appointment in advance. See the RIRRC website for details.

Image Source: RIRRC website