Seeing Green is moving to a new home

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Sarah Chain

York’s Seeing Green is packing up its bags and heading over to www.yorkblog.com/smart, the online face of Smart magazine. We’ll be housed under the “Home and garden” tab — when that menu drops down, click on “Green living.” We’ll continue to cover all the topics you’re used to seeing here, including environmental news, trends and local events.

What’s more, we’ve added a few things on our new site for our readers: Under the “Green living” tab, you’ll find a page of local resources where you can find out how to get involved in York County’s green movement. And if you’d like to learn more, we have a page for that too, with links to national organizations that can help you straighten out the facts.

While you’re exploring the new Smart site, check out our two posts already there: A reason to turn down the AC and a preview of Spoutwood Farm’s Mother Earth Hands On Harvest Fair being held tomorrow, Oct. 1.

If you have suggestions or comments, send me an email at schain@ydr.com.

Can’t wait to see you over at Smart!

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Toilet savings

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Teresa Cook

When I moved into an old home with five bathrooms, a friend joked she was going to buy me a toilet brush for a housewarming gift. Don’t laugh — it would have made sense.

What I have finally accomplished, after 23 years in the old house, is the replacement of all of those five ancient toilets. The last big water-guzzler is gone.

Now we flush with just 1.6 gallons each time as compared with 5-plus gallons. Oh, the water we’ll save!

What took us so long? Well, that old toilet worked. We suspected it might work better than the new types for complete flushing action. But that’s just a guess.

So, after years of thinking about it, we finally called the plumber. I’m going to look at my next water bill and rejoice in the savings.

Posted in Consumer choice, Do-It-Yourself | 1 Comment

A food revolution in ‘Fresh’ — and in York

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Sarah Chain

Image courtesy of lockstockb via stock.xchng

“Americans fear only one thing: Inconvenience.”

And so begins “Fresh,” a food documentary shown last night at York College coordinated by the sustainability and environmental studies minor. The quote is from a farmer’s foreign friend, who had summarized our lifestyle so succinctly.

I want a burger, but it’s inconvenient to seek out a humanely-raised, grass-fed cow — not to mention whole grain buns, farm-fresh tomatoes, pesticide-free lettuce and ketchup made without high-fructose corn syrup. Not to mention cooking the thing! It is much more convenient to stop at the drive-thru and grab a Quarter Pounder.

But what “Fresh” argues is that it’s better for your health and the environment if you take the road less traveled. It’s a similar message to “The Future of Farming,” and it relies heavily on interviews with Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” “In Defense of Food” and “Food Rules.”

Continue reading →

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PennEnvironment releases new air quality reponse

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Sarah Chain

Listen up, Pennsylvanians: Your air quality is suffering.

PennEnvironment, a statewide environmental group with offices in Philly and Pittsburgh, released a study Wednesday that says air quality may be worse than previously thought.

According to the report, “Among mid-sized metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania, Lancaster was 10th worst in 2010, Allentown-Bethlehem 13th, and Reading 20th.”

California cities still lay claim to the worst air in the nation, but PennEnvironment also said the Philadelphia/New Jersey metropolitan area ranked fifth worst in the nation in 2010, with 29 smog days and three red-alert days. What’s more, those numbers would be higher, but the 2008 federal air quality standards were set too low, according to the group.

Read the full article from the Associated Press here.

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Buying into ‘all natural’ products

Posted on September 21, 2011 by April Trotter

I have to admit, I am a sucker for the grocery store within a grocery store at Giant.

Last year around this time Ben & Jerry's nixed the use of 'all natural' on their labels. What, Phish Food isn't a naturally occurring ingredient?

The place became a second home during the two years I spent as a vegetarian, with a selection of vegan, vegetarian and organic products that made me feel like I could be in a Whole Foods Market.

Truth: The Giant was far from a Whole Foods, or even a Trader Joe’s, but it was a heck of a lot less expensive than other local “all-natural” chains.

But apparently it was all a lie.

The Wall Street Journal published a story yesterday about a lawsuit that is targeting companies that claim their products are “all natural.”

In the article, the author pointed out that it is tricky to define what people are getting in these products that are so prominently labeled as being earth and health friendly:

The most meaningful guidance provided by the FDA is a vague “informal policy” written by the agency more than 20 years ago defining “natural” to mean “nothing artificial or synthetic… is included in, or has been added to, the product that would not normally be expected to be there.”

Now I feel kind of dumb. I mean did I ever stop to think what exactly I was buying in my more-than-$1-a-bottle Honest Tea? I knew it didn’t have sugar. And I liked the thoughtful messages under the cap. But maybe I would’ve gotten more for my money if I had just bought cheap, unsweetened, not all-natural (unnatural?) tea. And now I question whether or not it’s worth it to keep paying the extra money for something I know that might not have any added benefits. And, believe me, Honest Tea was far from the only company to have suckered me in.

How about you? Did you also buy into the “all-natural” movement? What products do you find yourself purchasing because of the earth-friendly label? Will you still put all-natural products in your shopping cart while the FDA sorts this all out? Leave a note in the comments section.

And, for a different perspective on food, don’t forget York College is showing “Fresh,” a documentary on the food revolution, at 7 p.m. Thursday.

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Vocal Trash to perform at Saturday in the Park

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Sarah Chain

Vocal Trash's Kelsey Rae uses garbage lids as cymbals at the York Fair Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.

Just a few minutes ago, I slurped the last of my ice tea from a Panera cup. I turned around in my desk chair and chucked it  into the trash. And then I went back to work.

Of course, if you were a member of Vocal Trash, you’d probably turn it into an instrument instead. Maybe you’d pull out the straw as a drumstick and use it as the percussion as you sang along to “Footloose.”

The Texas-based group has been performing with other people’s trash for more than a decade. Vocal Trash made an appearance in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 York Fair and for Springettsbury Township’s Fourth of July celebration in 2010. This weekend, the group returns to Springettsbury Township  for a show at Saturday in the Park.

Continue reading →

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‘No Impact Experiment’ begins today

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Sarah Chain

We’ve written a bit before about the No Impact Project on York’s Seeing Green (here and here). In summary, Colin Beavan decided in 2007 to take inventory of his impact on the environment, with an end goal of a zero net impact — any negative impact he had on the Earth would have to be offset by positive impact. His yearlong project resulted in a book and a documentary. His website explains it in more detail, if you’re interested.

Today begins a weeklong “No Impact Experiment,” which runs Sunday to Sunday. Participants look at different aspects of their everyday lives from consumption to transportation to water, all with the mindset of reducing their negative impact on the environment.

Continue reading →

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Films cover natural gas, fresh foods

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Sarah Chain

For a budget-conscious yet eager-to-learn person like myself, local colleges are just about the greatest places I’ve ever found. I wrote a few weeks ago about York College’s screening of “Out to Pasture: The Future of Farming,” which focused on sustainable practices for produce and meat farmers.

This week, Harrisburg Area Community College’s York campus will host a free showing of “Gasland,” an Oscar-nominated documentary on the extraction of natural gas from shale known as “fracking,” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The event will be held behind the Goodling Building, weather permitting or, in the case of rain, in Cytec Building auditorium. What’s more, filmmaker Josh Fox will give a short talk and answer questions starting at 8:45 p.m.

Continue reading →

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9/11 air quality, health issues still linger

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Sarah Chain

I caught an episode of “The Daily Show” last week in which Jon Stewart interviewed Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Dr. Gupta was speaking on a CNN documentary he’d worked on called “Terror in the Dust,” which debuted Sept. 7 and replayed this weekend to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The special focuses on firefighters, police officers and other first responders — three in particular — who spent weeks and often months searching for survivors (and eventually bodies) in “the pile,” the remnants of the World Trade Center that were left after the buildings collapsed.

The clip played on “The Daily Show” to introduce Dr. Gupta is what originally caught my attention. On a periodic table,  the documentary highlighted the different chemicals that the World Trade Center remains housed in great abundance: Chemicals from computers, from fluorescent light bulbs, from paint on the walls, from abestos — the list went on.

Continue reading →

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Greenways and Trails summit in York

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Teresa Cook

UPDATE: The Greenways Conference has been CANCELED and rescheduled to October 23-25.

The York County Convention & Visitors Bureau, PA Recreation and Park Society and PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will hold the 2011 Pennsylvania Greenways and Trails Summit Sept. 11 to 13 at the Yorktowne Hotel in York.

The Summit Includes:
–Mobile Workshops including hiking, biking, paddling, and downtown York
–Keynote speakers of national significance
–Educational tracks on health; marketing/trail towns; partnerships; construction/maintenance/management
–Networking with peers, consultants, local, state, & federal government officials

Who Should Attend?
–Elected officials at any level.
–Local, state, or federal government employees charged with planning, implementing, or maintaining greenways and trails.
–Greenway and trail managers, advocates and volunteers.
–Professional planners, landscape architects, engineers and consultants.
–Health professionals, health and wellness organizations, insurance providers, community healthcare coalitions, county STEPS organizations, school officials, physical education teachers, parent organizations
For details, http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/conservation/greenways/greenwaysummit/index.htm

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