Columbia University Food Sustainability Project

Composting Instructings - Bins are up and running at the garden!

- PLEASE READ

What to compost	What not to compost
· Plant based food scraps (including grains) or trimmings · Cleaned and crushed up egg shells · Coffee grounds and tea bags · Leaves, twigs, hay · Animal bedding	· Meat · Dairy products · Grease, fats or oils · Plastic, glass, metal · Paper · Thick Cores/Skins (corn cobs,watermelon husks, etc)

After adding compostable materials, if possible, add some “browns” or dry plant material such as leaves and twigs near the bins. Also, be sure to mix in your compost with the rest of the bins contents. If the bins are full, DO NOT leave food scraps on the ground near the bins, please save in your freezer.

Please and thank you,

Columbia Food Sustainability Project

this is a cool company!

click the link if interested in the mix of "historical farming techniques with innovative new materials and ecological science to create high-yielding farm ecosystems." =D

UPCOMING EVENTS THAT COULD PROTECT US FROM HYDROFRACKING!

Protect your drinking water, Protect the DRBC

WHAT IS THE DRBC? The DRBC (Delaware River Basin Commission) was funded by Congress to "protect and manage" the waters of the Delaware River. This watershed provides drinking water to 15.6 million people -- including NYC, Philadelphia, most of South Jersey and almost all of Delaware State. It reaches from upstate New York all the way to Chesapeake Bay. And yet, the DRBC is considering allowing fracking within this singular, pristine, watershed. The Delaware was named the country's most endangered river in 2010 because of this threat.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE SPECTRA PIPELINE? Drillers contracted to supply gas to NYC via the Spectra pipeline would very much like to frack the Delaware River basin. NYC would end up receiving fracked, radioactive gas from areas where drilling will cause irreversible damage to our water supply, and air pollution from these nearby drill sites will be carried to the metro area.

WHEN WILL THEY DECIDE? The DRBC will vote whether or not to allow fracking within the basin next Monday, Nov. 21st. Composed of governor-appointed commissioners from NY, NJ, PA and DE, plus the Army Corps of Engineers as the federal representative, this body needs 3 votes to pass a resolution. NJ and PA will vote pro-fracking. NY and DE very likely will vote against it. That makes the federal government (The Army Corps of Engineers) the deciding factor.

HOW CAN YOU KEEP THE DRBC SAFE? The Army Corps is tallying the number of calls for and against drilling in the Delaware River Basin. If the regulations are passed, fracking can begin in the Delaware River Basin. We must ensure this disaster does not happen. Please call by Friday:

Office of US Army Corps of Engineers
Colonel Christopher Larsen, Commander of the North Atlantic Division, USACE
Phone: 347-370-4501
Email: nad-exec@usace.army.mil

Also please call or write President Obama:
White House Comment Line, until Friday, 9-5 eastern time: 202-456-1111
White House by Email

Be there for the vote: Monday, Nov. 21st in Trenton, N.J. 8 am
Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive Trenton, N.J.

The public is not allowed to comment on the final regulations, but a 2000-seat hall is available to witness the DRBC vote on them. WE ALL NEED TO BE AT THIS MEETING.

Bus and carpool locations can be found by zip code here.

Rally at the meeting: Two training sessions in lawful, peaceful, first amendment activity will be offered Sunday evening, Nov. 20, in Trenton (6:30-9:15 PM) and in NYC (5-7:00 PM). The NYC training will be held at the Rose Auditorium at Cooper Union, 41 Cooper Square (3rd ave between E. 6th St and E. 7th Streets, just southeast of Astor Place). To sign up: Save The Delaware

Other Upcoming Events

Thursday, Nov. 17, 7-8:30pm, free
Cathedral of Saint John, 1047 Amsterdam Ave. at 112th street
A conversation with Maude Barlow, founder of the Blue Planet Project,
and Wenonah Hauter, Director of Food and Water Watch

Friday, Nov. 18th, 6:30pm, free
New York City Friends of Clearwater
Monthly meeting, songfest and potluck dinner
This month, the meeting will include elections for NYCFC officers, then, starting at 8pm, a workshop run by Edie Kantrowitz on how to write letters to the NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation commenting on their fracking SGEIS. We have only until Dec. 12th to send comments to the DEC.

Weds., Nov. 30, Two sessions: 1-4 and 6-9pm
Save the Date: NYC DEC Hearings on fracking
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, just east of the West Side Highway

Like the FERC process of "reviewing" pipelines, the NY State system for deciding whether or not to frack is a stacked and biased process. Regulations will not protect us from fracking; as with the DRBC, dithering over the distance of setbacks is simply negotiating the circumstances of our own poisoning. The process must be made illegal.

As we did with such great success at the Jersey City and Manhattan Spectra hearings, we must turn out in mass numbers for this DEC (Department of Conservation) hearing. This is the final hearing on the draft SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement) and the only downstate hearing. Please come to testify against the dangers of fracking and to protest the biased regulatory process itself. This is an opportunity to highlight the connection between fracking and pipelines, to reiterate the dangers of radon and toxins to NYC should fracking or new pipelines be allowed.

[courtesy of the Sane Energy Project)

This Saturday - Day of Action against Fracking - Moving Planet NYC Rally

CDOG /un-naturalgas.org invites you to join the
DAY OF ACTION SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

We are not upstate / downstate. We are not city / country. We are all watersheds, all people, all ecosystems.

We are UNITED against drilling.

On September 24, 2011, throughout the day, communities across NYS and beyond will demonstrate, each in their own unique way and with their own local focus, their opposition to the intensively industrializing process of extracting ‘natural’ gas that threatens the environmental and economic well-being of all residents.

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About The Event

Moving Planet is a worldwide rally to move beyond fossil fuels. All over the world, people will take to the streets on bicycles, roller skates, skateboards, on foot and on any other sustainable form of transit they can dream up. We will demonstrate to our governments that a global consensus has formed: we are ready for a world after fossil fuels.

In New York City, we're organizing dozens of community marches and bike rides all over the five boroughs. You can find a march or ride in your neighborhood or create a new one!

These marches begin from noon on and will converge on a 2PM rally at the United Nations' Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on 47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues in Manhattan.

We'll be joined by top climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, a delegation of indigenous leaders from around the world, local climate leaders like Colin Beavan ("No Impact Man"), and special guests.

The UN General Assembly will be in session at that time debating important resolutions just 2 months before the UN climate summit in Durban and in the critical run-up to Rio +20. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the strength of our movement to both US and world leaders, and to demand real climate solutions!

NYC Moves!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter and remember to RSVP for the Facebook event!

White Roof Project - event this Sunday

Dear Blog Friends,

White Roof Project has an exciting event this Sunday. I hope that you might be interested in posting it - or something about our work or the concept - on your blog. Learn more about us HERE.

This Sunday, September 25th, White Roof Project, Fourth Arts Block, Cooper Square Mutual Housing Associate, Local 94 and other partners will put the second layer of 90% solar reflective white coating down on over 35,000 square feet of roof space at East 3rd and 4th Streets at Bowery as part of the creation of an environmental model block project to make the Lower East Side smarter and more sustainable. The "model block" includes over twenty nonprofit, cooperatively owned low-income housing buildings and art spaces. This project will lower energy bills for low-income residents and could potentially reduce the ambient air temperature on the entire block. It is part of White Roof Project's effort to reduce stress on our power grid and combat the Urban Heat Island effect, which is a function of climate change as well as our urban lifestyle. This is the first model block of its kind in New York City.

On Monday, August 22nd, we put the first layer of solar-reflective white coating down on the model block. Check out our pictures and a time series slide show. Read some of the great press we received HERE, HERE and HERE.

Heather B. James
Executive Director | White Roof Project
610 864 1194 | @roofproject