sustainableflatbush.org

This speech by then-Lieutenant Governor David Paterson is from last year’s Step It Up rally. Love how he refers to global warming deniers as “fossils”!!

Do you live in Flatbush or Midwood? Let your voice be heard on global warming!

CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s New York City News Service has asked us to find out how you feel about global warming.

In addition to being posted on their web-based wire service, survey results may be picked up by local print-based publications. Please respond in the comments, with whatever degree of anonymity you prefer; all replies will be forwarded.

Sustainable Flatbush has just endorsed a new report on NYC energy policy and climate change response from Sierra Club NYC Group. The report praises PlaNYC while declaring that we need to go much further in order to address the increasing pace of climate change along with energy volatility:

Government sustainability initiatives may have greater success when framed as responses to energy volatility than to climate change. In the short term, expanding capacity margins through energy conservation will make the City more resilient to volatility, while expediting PlaNYC initiatives. In the long term, we need to push discussion far past PlaNYC’s current goals, and start building a post-petroleum economy now.

The good news is that a national project to make clean energy cheap can restore domestic manufacturing, create millions of jobs that can’t be outsourced, and stimulate the economy, while improving our quality of life and mitigating climate change. New York City’s leadership can help make such policy actions a reality, while ensuring a better future for our citizens. What’s the next step for New York City?

Here’s a link to the summary version (the whole report is 50 pages long!).

In case anyone had any doubts, I present this news from the Earth Policy Institute:

2007 SECOND WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD
Northern Hemisphere Temperature Highest Ever

Frances C. Moore

With the record for 2007 now complete, it is clear that temperatures around the world are continuing their upward climb. The global average in 2007 was 14.73 degrees Celsius (58.5 degrees Fahrenheit) — the second warmest year on record, only 0.03 degrees Celsius behind the 2005 maximum. January 2007 was the hottest January ever measured, a full 0.23 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous record. August was also a record for that month, and September was the second warmest September recorded.

Looking at the northern hemisphere alone, 2007 temperatures averaged 15.04 degrees Celsius (59.1 degrees Fahrenheit) — easily the hottest year in the northern half of the globe since the record began in 1880, and more than a degree warmer than the 1951–80 average…

(Entire text available here. Data available here. Index of Earth Policy Institute resources related to Temperature and Climate here.)

The way this month has gone, including last night’s failed Nor’Easter (see Brooklyn Junction’s proposed temporary — we hope! — ban on the term), 2008 may prove to be the new hottest January. While it is difficult to imagine how this trend can be reversed and what we as individuals can do, the aforementioned Earth Policy Institute offers direction based on their vision of a sustainable economy. What’s the weather got to do with the economy? “Eco-Economy Indicators are the twelve trends the Earth Policy Institute tracks to measure progress in building an eco-economy. Taking the earth’s temperature tells us about the relative health of the planet.” (Well, yes!) The EPI website has videos, podcasts, and a library of articles with the appropriate mix of urgency, guarded optimism, and concrete suggestions:

The Earth’s capacity to support the economy continues to deteriorate. The gap between what we need to do to arrest the deterioration of the Earth and what we are doing continues to widen… Somehow we have to turn the tide. The purpose of the Earth Policy Institute is to provide a vision of what an environmentally sustainable economy will look like and a plan for how to get from here to there.

Highly recommended.

(Imagine Flatbush logo by Imani Aegedoy)

Last night was the first meeting of Imagine Flatbush 2030, a “community visioning project” sponsored by the Municipal Arts Society and Flatbush Development Corporation. The project’s purpose is to engage neighborhood stakeholders (to my delight, I was asked to be on the Advisory Committee… guess that makes me a stakeholder!) in a sustainability discussion and planning process at the local level:

As part of Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York, MAS will work with the residents, business owners, and civic leaders of Flatbush, Brooklyn, with the partnership of the Flatbush Development Corporation, to assist in creating neighborhood sustainability goals and tools to measure progress toward consensus-based goals. Flatbush is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the city, growing at a rate of eight percent annually, and mirroring the needs and attributes of a growing population within a district that is both architecturally and historically distinct. Yet the lack of affordable housing undermines the ability of the neighborhood to stay diverse, the resident to open space ratio is among the highest in the city, and heavy vehicular traffic compromises the quality of life.

In other words, what do we want our neighborhood to look like in the future, both immediate and distant? How can we accommodate population growth while maintaining the things about our neighborhood’s character that we love? What are the unique assets and challenges we have to work with in this process?

Before breaking into small discussion groups we heard from environmental justice activist and Executive Director of UPROSE (United Puerto Rican Association of Sunset Park) Elizabeth Yeampierre on the need for New York City to urgently address climate change by rethinking ALL of the choices we make in our lives. She is a great speaker who has received many awards and accolades for her leadership in organizing intergenerational groups in disenfranchised communities to unite against social, economic, and environmental injustice. I was really struck by her description of how UPROSE evolved from fighting against things in their community to planning for things, and the sense of empowerment that came with that evolution. Here in Flatbush we are fortunate to not be fighting against highway expansions and power plant sitings and irresponsible brownfield development, and also to have many motivated and talented people to work for the positive changes we want to see. We are rich in social and creative capital, and Imagine Flatbush 2030 is an opportunity to utilize those human resources.

Upon reconvening from the group discussions, we learned that there was mostly consensus on what we love about Flatbush and want to preserve and build on — diversity of population (ethnic, cultural, religious, economic), variety of housing stock, locally-owned businesses, good public transportation, good schools — and what we feel is lacking — affordable housing, public green space, places to gather for social interaction, retail selection (too many pharmacies, not enough grocery stores), opportunities for youth, arts and cultural amenities.

Some issues that were touched upon and that I hope to discuss in more depth include energy efficiency retrofits for apartment buildings and houses (which would help keep housing affordable for current residents and owners); improving and expanding public transportation, especially “crosstown” bus service; better pedestrian and bicycle amenities; and — the big one — promoting a sustainable approach to urban living that prepares us for future environmental challenges. Elizabeth Yeampierre put it out there: “We all love our SUVs, but I might have to think about sitting my bodacious hips down on a bike“. Like she said…

The next meeting of Imagine Flatbush will be on December 12th at Brooklyn College. If you’ve read this far chances are you’re a stakeholder too… and you are invited! I’ll post the details here when they become available.

Based on the idea that “40% of Urban Travel is 2 Miles or Less”, the folks at Clif Bar are challenging us all to “Ride Your Bike to Fight Global Warming”. Type in your address to find out what’s within a 2-mile radius, from grocery stores to bars to parks to banks, and add your own suggestions if you feel inspired; then, challenge yourself to “ride some/most/all of your trips under 2 miles”. I put in a few Flatbush-friendly destinations, who’s got more?

Science Barge - Powered By Nature!, originally uploaded by Sustainable Flatbush.

Finally visited the Science Barge during GreenHome NYC’s Green Buildings Open House.

The Science Barge is a sustainable urban farm. It demonstrates renewable energy supporting sustainable food production in New York City. The Science Barge grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce with zero net carbon emissions, zero chemical pesticides, and zero runoff. Operating from May to October in 2007 and 2008, the Barge tours waterfront parks in Manhattan, hosting thousands of visitors and public school students.

For more photos of this event, check out the Sustainable Flatbush Flickr gallery.

Some of you may have participated in the Step It Up rallies held back in April of this year, when people all over the country gathered in iconic locations, calling on Congress to “Cut Carbon 80% by 2050″. Next weekend will be the next phase of events, and Brooklyn is hosting a big one:

On November 3rd the Green Guide for Kids will join with thousands of others across the country in calling on our politicians and candidates to take steps to meet the goal set on April 14th. We will gather at Grand Army Plaza and work together to create a banner that will ask politicians and candidates: Who Is A Leader? A photograph taken of all participants with the banner will be sent to Congress and candidates running for president one year to the date before the federal elections.

Thanks to Deirdre Gill of the Green Guide for Kids for this tip. Check out her blog, “an online resource for kids [and adults!] to find ideas, information, and inspiration to go green”!

One big source of trash for those of us who shop online and mail order is excessive packing materials. Some companies are worse offenders than others, and hopefully this instance cited on Organic Picks is not the norm:

photo: Organic Picks

Yes, the small Pyrex bowl on the left is the purchased item!

As the post points out, we concerned consumers can have an impact on the companies we shop with by praising those with eco-conscious packaging and objecting to practices like the above. This in turn raises the issue of excessive packaging, period. How many times have you been tempted to use a hacksaw to open one of those ridiculous plastic clamshell bubbles in order to free the small item (usually electronics) contained within? Ever wondered why so many food products are packaged in both a plastic bag AND a box (most cereal, for example)? Even those who conscientiously harvest and recycle all the cardboard from these conveyances will be faced with a pile of plastic that can only go in the trash — where it will remain for generations.

Though you wouldn’t know it from a typical shopping experience today, sustainable packaging design is being explored and embraced by many companies. It is currently a work-in-progress with much “greenwashing” in evidence (a “compostable” plastic container that gets thrown in the trash is arguably no different from any other plastic container, as it will not break down in a landfill… only if it is actually composted). But many companies have already voluntarily reduced their packaging and seen dramatic reductions in their shipping and storage costs. Fast Company’s recent article, 50 Ways to Green Your Business cites some dramatic examples:

1 At $100 a ton, feeding a landfill is pricey. But in the past two years, General Mills (NYSE:GIS) has turned its solid waste into profits. Take its oat hulls, a Cheerios by-product. The company used to pay to have them hauled off, but realized they could be burned as fuel. Now customers compete to buy the stuff. In 2006, General Mills recycled 86% of its solid waste, earning more from that than it spent on disposal.

8 Hamburger Helper helps your hamburger … save the planet? This year, General Mills redesigned the packaging of Mom’s old standby, shaving off 20% of the paperboard box without shrinking its tasty contents. The astounding result: 500 fewer distribution trucks on the road each year.

10 Taking the packaging revolution a step further, the liquid-laundry-detergent industry, goaded by Wal-Mart, has cut the size of its bottles by 50% or more by concentrating the liquid to two and sometimes three degrees of magnitude. Unilever’s triple-concentrated All Small & Mighty detergent has saved 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel, 10 million pounds of plastic resin, and 80 million square feet of cardboard since 2005. This fall, Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) is converting its entire collection of liquids to double concentration.

(The rest of their list is pretty interesting too.)

As consumers, the more we educate ourselves about the consequences of excessive packaging and use our wallets to vote for alternatives, the more manufacturers will be compelled to respond with real solutions. And if the solutions also benefit those companies, well, isn’t that how things should be?

BLOGGERS TO UNITE ON BLOG ACTION DAY

All Blogs Invited to Take Part in Joining Voices to Help Environment

“For just one day, we’d like to unite as many of the millions of bloggers around the world and speak about one issue - the environment,” said Collis Ta’eed, an Australian blogger from FreelanceSwitch.com, and a cofounder of Blog Action Day. “We want to display the potential and the power of the blogging community, which is a disparate community but one with an amazing size, breadth and diversity. By bringing everyone together for one day, we can see just how much can be achieved, and how much we can be heard.”

Of course, here at Sustainable Flatbush, we speak about the environment EVERY day, but today we have lots more company than usual!