Earth Week Musings

The 40th Anniversary of Earth Week was cause for celebration and activism across the United States this past week. I had the opportunity to view photos from "How Green Is My Town?" Facebook fans across the country, who had participated in our Earth Week Challenge. Thank you to Asheville Green Works for sending photos of their Go Local campaign. HGIMT encourages local governments to work with their local business community, to ensure that residents have access to locally produced food and products.

Here in New York, I had the pleasure of attending many Earth Day celebrations, meeting with environmental non-profit leaders as well as some exciting, new green entrepreneurs. Congratulations to Earth Day New York for their great "i am e" campaign. Their Earth Day exhibition at Grand Central Station in Manhattan this weekend was well attended by local residents. I was glad to see Dr. Ben and his Bio Bus in attendance - for anyone associated with a school or school district, Dr. Ben's model for bringing environmental education to students at various locations is a great example for a potential non-profit and school district partnership that could work anywhere in the country.

At left and below are pictures of New York Restoration Project's "NYC Grows" exhibit in Union Square. The exhibit included a great new gardening technology, the Wolly Pocket, a new product using recycled materials to create breathable planters that "can grow just about anywhere." The company's Wolly School Garden program helps schools develop funds for an an outdoor classroom and "a chance for students in K-12 to grow while learning about gardening and nutrition." The vertical gardening devices, pictured below, can be easily implemented in classrooms and outdoor spaces throughout an entire school district, an easy way to integrate environmental curriculum into all grades.

While I was pleased to see many new, important environmental organizations at this week's Earth Day celebrations, I had to stop and think about the true strides we've made since the first Earth Day in 1970. With oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico while the White House strategizes their climate change agenda, I had to think about what the word "green" has meant to the environmental movement over the past forty years. I agree with the following quote but documentarian Robert Stone, director of the film "Earth Days": "Every Earth Day is a reflection of where we are as a culture. If it has become commoditized, about green consumerism instead of systematic change, then it is a reflection of our society."

I highly recommend viewing "Earth Days" online - the film captures the essence of the modern day environmental movement. The film includes some great footage of Rachel Carson, and explains how Earth Day was founded to insert environmentalism into the body politic. The first Earth Day was a true grassroots movement, with "environmental teach-ins" and protests planned all over the country. It was interesting to hear the film's interviewees describe former federal environmental legislation as "peripheral" and not "getting to the heart of the issues." While I remain hopeful that our federal leaders will finally step up to the challenge that they have shirked for the past thirty years (since Carter left office), I'm reminded about the important work of "How Green Is My Town?" - local change sparked by citizens and town leaders unwilling to continue waiting for federal solutions.

May every day be Earth Day and may we all continue to learn more about what our local communities can do to drive rapid environmental change.

- Michael Crowley
Program Director, "How Green Is My Town?"
Visit HGIMT on Facebook

Your Methodology Please

Been wondering how we went about developing our rating criteria and assessing the towns we've already evaluated? Be sure to read our recent editorial in Westchester's Journal News.

The editorial grew from a Journal News Editorial Spotlight with Patti and Doug Wood, founders of Grassroots Environmental Education. Take a look at this highlight video from the conversation.

Be sure to check out our new "Issues and Solutions" page, detailing how towns can use their recent HGIMT ratings and our website to take action on environmental solutions that may be new to their respective communities.

Green Star Award Winners

On March 24th, Grassroots Environmental Education honored the recipients of the first annual Westchester County Green Star Awards, honoring local governments and school systems who have taken substantial action on the issues of climate change, sustainability and environmental health.

Please visit our Westchester Results page to view results from all of our participating towns and school districts. Also, be sure to learn more about our methodology by reading our Westchester Report including countywide environmental findings, as well as recommendations for the municipalities in the county. The 2010 Green Star Award winners are: Bronxville, Chappaqua, Katonah, Larchmont, White Plains and Yorktown.

We were pleased to honor representatives from the winning local governments and school systems, as well as the staff, students and faculty from Pace University who helped Grassroots in our countywide assessment.

HGIMT Program Director Michael Crowley

Pace Professor Greg Julian, Pace students and award recipients.

Grassroots Associate Director and HGIMT Creator Doug Wood.

Bronxville Superintendent of Public Works Rocco Circosta, Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies Director Michelle Land, Grassroots Executive Director Patti Wood and Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin.

Michelle Land, White Plains Deputy Commissioner of Public Work Bryan Murphy, Patti Wood and White Plains Commissioner of Public Works Joseph (Bud) Nicoletti.

Larchmont Trustee Anne McAndrews, Michelle Land, Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld, Patti Wood, Larchmont Trustee Marlene Kolbert and Chair of Larchmont Commitee on the Environment Carol Casazza Herman.

Yorktown Supervisor Susan Siegel and Councilman Vishnu Patel.

Click here for more pictures from our awards ceremony.

In his recent State of the Union Address, President Obama urged Congress to pass a clean energy bill that will ensure reform, adding that such action will create jobs, cut oil imports and reduce emissions of the heat-trapping gases that contribute to global warming. Said Obama, "I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy; and I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change. But even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future - because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy. And America must be that nation."

Photo courtesy of Climate Progress

President Obama's recent 2011 budget proposal includes a 92% increase in clean energy investment, as well as cutting $36.5 billion in coal and oil subsidies. Will YOUR town be ready to tap into federal funds for renewable energy implementation? While some environmental critics are wary of the budget's loan guarantees for nuclear power, Americans can rest assured that the US government will certainly be increasing investments in renewable energy.

We'd like to hear stories about how your town or city plans to prepare for investments in renewable energy over the next two years, as federal funds become available for various municipal energy initiatives. As always, please keep us informed by dropping us a line at hgimt@grassrootsinfo.org.

- Michael Crowley
"How Green is My Town?"

Hello...May I Have a Few Minutes of Your Time?

Ever wonder how to make a phone call to discuss environmental policies with a local official? Check out the new HGIMT Rating Evaluation Interview Training Video, which prepares our student participants for their HGIMT interviews with local government, school system and business leaders.

If you're a college student interested in making calls to local officials in your area using the HGIMT rating criteria or a professor interested in using the HGIMT project in a course, please contact hgimt@grassrootsinfo.org.

Lessons from an Avatar: Turning Blue into Green

It was "Avatar" all over again: I was in an unfamiliar world, trying to glean the trust of a people I'd never known, doing my best to allay suspicions that I was a human plugged into the 3D IMAX body of a — telemarketer.

It can feel like that, anyway — working as a student intern for the "How Green Is My Town?" Project. I've been calling mayors, school superintendents, and chamber of commerce presidents throughout Westchester County asking them to participate in a program that will highlight their commitments to the environment and human health. I ask them about the criteria on our survey, and from their responses we calculate their "green" score. From their perspective, I must look like some telemarketing environmental watchdog. They're probably worried that I'm about to wave their potentially sub-par score in front of the media.

But there's no such thing as a sub-par score here. "How Green Is My Town?" is a positive assessment, which means we give points for the great strides citizens and local leaders are taking already. When there are advancements that towns haven't looked into yet, they can check out our website and see how towns across the country are taking some really innovative next steps. (One of my favorites is right here in the business community of Pocantico Hills, where one restaurant designs its menu around and serves locally-grown food.)

Scheduling the interviews with busy officials always takes some work, but showing people we're doing something really new and different is a challenge unto its own. So here are some James Cameron directing tips to dispel some of the preconceptions and ease the transition into the new ideas of HGIMT:

1. Make sure you communicate the primary message from the get-go: we're here to recognize the environmental strides towns have already made.
2. Our science-driven criteria were developed by Grassroots Environmental Education in accord with the EPA, the Dept. of Energy and others, but HGIMT is NOT a science experiment. We have no hypothesis; we just want to see towns succeed.
3. We're not pointing fingers. We want towns to score as high as possible, and we want people to see how much their towns are doing. HGIMT is a positive assessment.
4. We also want people to get excited about the points their towns haven't gotten to yet. Seeing where there's room for progress will help citizens set their sights on new and higher goals.
5. Yes, the results of our surveys will be made public. No, it's not so the media can play the blame game. It's so residents will have a way to take a stake in their towns' environmental progress.
6. In the end, the survey is just the first step of the HGIMT program. It is one part of a larger educational process. It is a stepping stone to show individuals where they can go next, as well as bring whole towns into conversation with neighboring areas to share ideas and help each other grow.

In short, we're doing four things: recognizing success, fostering education, building pride, and getting people fired up about environmental change. On the surface, what we're doing can seem like the blame game to people who are used to being subject to that. But we're all friends on this planet, and we're out to honor not just the greenest towns, but every town.

It is only the beginning of an ecological success story with a promise more real than 3D IMAX could ever deliver.

Rob Bellon
HGIMT Intern, Grassroots Environmental Education
Student, SUNY Binghamton


Read our Wall

Sí se puede!

Last night, I avoided the cold weather here in the Northeast by ducking into a film at Galapagos Arts Space, an innovative LEED-certified cultural venue in Brooklyn. The movie was "The Garden", a 2009 Oscar-nominated documentary by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. The film is a testament to the power of public policy and community action when it comes to the issue of environmental justice.

In this case, the story revolves around a 14-acre urban community garden that was started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992. Since that time, the South Central Farmers have worked together to cultivate food in one of the country's most blighted neighborhoods. As one commentator in the film noted "People. Land. Food. Happiness." It's a simple equation...until the farmers (372 families in total) receive an eviction notice.

"The Garden" is an unflinching look at the struggle between these urban farmers, the City of Los Angeles and a powerful developer who wants to evict the farmers and build warehouses where food has grown for over ten years. Local politicians and celebrities visited the garden, adding their voices to the farmers' fight. (The film includes some great footage of visits from Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich and actress Daryl Hannah.) By engaging local musicians, the farmers held a fundraiser to attempt to buy back their land from the developer. The film provides some great replicable examples of community members rallying together to spread the word about environmental and social inequity.

"The Garden" left me thinking about what rights we have for the land we cultivate. If land is gifted to a community, at what point can it be taken back? What value is placed on the produce grown on the land? Is there no value to the human connections and well-being gained by the presence of a communal activity that puts food on the table? Community gardens are an integral part of our towns and cities - future generations must learn to respect and tend the land upon which we're able to grow healthy, organic food.

I hope you'll take a look at "The Garden" and start noticing the people who tend the land at your local community garden. If you've never stopped in to say hello, give it a try. Gardens are a great place to (re)connect to nature and make new connections with fellow environmentally-minded neighbors and friends. Perhaps it's time to develop your own community garden..."Sí se puede!"

Michael Crowley
Program Director, "How Green is My Town?"