It's Our Environment

Recycling as Ritual – Part I

2012 November 27

By David Stone

We rode the rough back roads through the Sonoran Desert in silence with the truck’s bed full of empty, brown glass bottles. They had been easy to collect, thousands lay scattered under the creosote bushes and saguaros, more numerous than rocks at that “party site,” as he called it.

Richard guided the truck through a maze of washed out roads and sometimes along the flat natural washes. He suddenly gave a short laugh and shot me a sideways glance.

“What did you feel out there?”

I was new to the reservation at the time and still unfamiliar with the O’odham ways of thinking and speaking. The question did not make sense to me. We were simply collecting bottles as a source of glass for my recycling project. The bottles would be crushed into aggregate for building products. Before setting out collection bins in the towns we gathered them on our own from the desert. There were plenty out there and Richard knew where to find them.

Almost all are the same, quart-sized beer bottles known as “Qs”, the standard alcoholic drink on the reservation. Alcoholism is prevalent and that is the generator for our caches of glass. I pretended not to notice but pretense is obvious to him and attracts his attention.

“What kind of spirit did you feel there?” he said and looked at me again to see how it registered.

I told him that I did not know what he meant and asked him to tell me what he felt.

“It was a dark spirit. I felt it and it was dark. When I picked up a bottle I wondered about the person who had drunk from it. I wondered about their life, about the bad life path they were on, like I was once. I could feel the pain still in the bottle and I prayed for them.”

After that had sunk in, I asked if what we were doing was good. Should we be going out there? He said without hesitation that we should go, it was good, we were taking something dark and turning it into something strong.

“You see broken glass, David. I see broken dreams. You want to recycle the glass. I want to recycle the broken dreams.”

Bringing in money for jobs, so desperately needed on the rez, is hard for anyone to reject. Toward that goal I wrote grant applications and we were awarded one from the EPA’s Tribal program. Though a white outsider, I became the Tohono O’odham Community College’s official “ecoAmbassador.” My proposal was to recycle glass and mix it with steel dust and carbon dioxide to produce locally-made building products and structures, but this was not a simple task. [To be continued tomorrow…]

About the author: David Stone is an instructor and EPA’s Tribal ecoAmbassador at Tohono O’odham Community College in Sells, Arizona. He has a PhD in Environmental Science.

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

Winter Tips: An Uninviting Home

2012 November 26

By Lina Younes

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As the winter season is about to begin, many of us wish to create a warm and welcoming home environment for our family and friends. However, there are some little creatures we don’t want to roll out the welcome mat for, however they are attempting to seek refuge in our houses at this very moment. What creatures am I referring to? The unwanted ones! Common household pests like rodents, creepy crawling bugs and the like.

So how can we prevent these pests from settling in your home? What can you do to prevent an infestation?

Tip number one: Set up barriers so pests cannot get into your house or apartment.

As temperatures start to drop, pests are looking for warm places to survive the cold months. Close off places where they can enter and hide. Seal around the doors and install door sweeps to prevent them from coming in through the bottom of the door. Caulk cracks and crevices around cabinets or baseboards. Use steel wool to fill spaces around pipes. Cover any holes with wire mesh.

Tip number two: Remove clutter such as stacks of paper, newspapers, magazines and boxes.

Clutter is a very appealing refuge for unwanted pests. Cluttered items create a warm setting where these pests can camp out and multiply during the cold winter months.

Tip number three: Don’t give these pests any food or water.

While I highly doubt that we purposely want to serve these unwanted creatures a meal at our table, we might not be aware that the crumbs, spills, or dirty dishes that we leave overnight in the kitchen sink serve basically as pest magnets while we are in deep slumber!

Tip number four: Fix leaky plumbing. Don’t let water accumulate anywhere in your home.

Water from leaky plumbing, plant trays, and even pet dishes attracts pests like rodents, cockroaches and other bugs. Moisture coming from leaks can also produce mold which causes a whole different set of health issues.

Hope these simple tips help you to create an unwelcoming setting for pests. Frankly, if they find a more welcoming environment, they simply will go elsewhere for the winter or any time of year.

If in spite of all your best efforts, you still have a bug problem? Use pesticide products wisely and always, read the label first!

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and currently serves the Multilingual Outreach and Communications Liaison for EPA. She manages EPA’s social media efforts in Spanish. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

A Green Rest Area

2012 November 23

By Lina Younes

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This past weekend I was walking around Allen Pond Park in the City of Bowie enjoying the beautiful autumnal day. During my walk, I was admiring the migratory birds that had stopped along their yearly trek to warmer surroundings. There were many in the pond, flying, bathing, eating and the like. Luckily, around the Bowie area we have plenty of trees, waterways, and settings that are welcoming to birds and nature’s creatures.

While a visit to a park is a great way to connect with nature in an urban area, you can actually create an environment in your own garden that can be equally inviting to birds and pollinators all year round. You can achieve this objective through greenscaping techniques that integrate pest management practices and planting native shrubs and trees that will be inviting for birds and wildlife through the seasons.

Certain evergreen shrubs and trees will produce small fruits during the fall at a time when migratory birds in the Northern Hemisphere are starting their journey south. While other flowering plants and trees will produce needed food for birds, pollinators and other wildlife during the spring and summer months.

By planting a variety of native annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees, you will have plants that will provide food and shelter to birds and wildlife for their basic needs. I’m including a GreenScapes Seasonal Planner that may help you to incorporate greenscaping practices into your lawn and garden care. Basically, let nature do the work!

Have you seen any interesting birds in your area lately? As always, we love to hear from you. Feel free to share ideas. To share photos using Flickr you could participate in our photographic State of the Environment project. We would love to see them.

A Second Chance for Homely Peaches, Part II

2012 November 21

By Lena Kim

Last week, I blogged about the sad plight of the Jersey peach. Each year, an estimated one million peaches in the Garden state are dumped unceremoniously into landfills, simply due to superficial blemishes or size discrepancies that prevent their sale. And this is just a drop in the bushel of what goes on throughout our country, while 14 percent of American families are struggling to put food on the table.

However, I promised a happy ending to this juicy saga, so here it goes:

The Food Bank of South Jersey (FBSJ) brainstormed with local growers how those peaches could be salvaged. The answer? A salsa makeover! They approached Campbell Soup Company, who agreed to produce the aptly named Just Peachy Salsa with rescued peaches. Campbell suppliers agreed to donate ingredients and packaging, and Campbell’s employees donated their time, developing a recipe, canning, even labeling this unique product.

From there, the food bank sells the salsa for $2.99 per jar through the FBSJ website, local events, and starting this holiday season, area ShopRite and Wegman’s Supermarkets. Profits from the sales of Just Peachy Salsa go directly to the FBSJ, helping to feed local families struggling to put food on the table.

Let’s go over this winning trifecta again: 1) Local farmers save good products they spent time and energy to grow while also saving on waste disposal costs; 2) The amount of food waste in local landfills is reduced; 3) A local corporation is able to give back with revenues helping to feed hungry families.

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. In this case, life handed the FBSJ a bunch of homely peaches… and they made salsa. Is there a lesson to be learned for the rest of us, who might not necessarily work at a food bank, farm, or food corporation? Absolutely.

The next time we see food that on first glance might appear disposable, let’s all take a closer look. That food just might be like that homely Jersey peach: edible, even delicious, yet in need of a makeover, say, a creative recipe or a different preparation.

Let’s all start rescuing America’s bounty- our Thanksgiving leftovers, our bruised or misshapen fruit, our slightly wilted veggies – from those depressingly large, ever-expanding, methane-spewing landfills. In other words, think of EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge’s rallying call: Feed people, not landfills.

About the author: Lena Kim works with EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge team. She lives in Center City Philadelphia, and frequents New Jersey orchards with friends & family. Join her in placing your order for a jar- or two- of Just Peachy Salsa by clicking here.

The Red Tailed Hawk

2012 November 20

By Amy Miller

The lone hawk sat on our swing five feet from a gaggle of neighborhood children. “It’s a juvenile,” my-son-the-raptor-expert declared.

About 50 times the size of the hummingbird fluttering over the nearby hibiscus, it didn’t look like a juvenile to me.

“That’s why it’s so close and not afraid of us,” Benjamin informed me.

One week it’s stink bugs, the next it’s red-tailed hawks. Humbling the things your kids know (and you don’t).

When I asked Benjamin how he knew it was a red-tailed hawk, he looked at me like I had asked him the color of Grant’s white horse? Besides large red tails, these hawks have predominantly auburn bodies and a few dark feathers along the outer lines of the wings.

The next day the “definitely a red-tailed hawk” landed in a tree outside my window. Never before had a bird of prey been so near for so long to our family homestead. I stopped friends driving by, called neighborhood children from their dinners and took a number of pictures thinkable only in the digital age. The hawk posed for the pictures, presented its profile and for a week was almost a pet.

And so I took an interest and learned that hawks are territorial and will defend their hunting area; and that red tailed hawks belongs to the group of hawks know as buteos. I learned that buteos rely on eyesight and stealth. They grab prey – usually small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects- then drive talons in to ensure the prey is dead. Accipiters – the other type of hawk – are fast and built to fly quickly through the woods with shorter wings.

It is the talons, hook-shaped beaks and good eye-sight of raptors, like eagles, hawks, vultures, owls and falcons, which sets them apart from other animal-eating birds, like crows, robins and woodpeckers.

When our new pet decided to move on, it soared high, as hawks do, to save energy they otherwise would use to flap its wings.

These birds, native to North America, are particularly adaptable. They are found in deserts, forests and grasslands and they may migrate or they may stay put. The older birds with established territories sometimes choose to stay. After I hadn’t seen the hawk in awhile, I assumed it had joined the majority that migrate south.

Then, a week ago, the hawk reappeared, back on the giant maple with its leaves almost all fallen. I welcomed our pet back home.

About the author: Amy Miller is a writer who works in the public affairs office of EPA New England in Boston. She lives in Maine with her husband, two children, seven chickens, two parakeets, dog and a great community.

A Second Chance for Homely Peaches (Part I)

2012 November 19

By Lena Kim

A tale of how things went from wasteful to wonderful in the Garden State

Peach-lovers living in and around New Jersey have it good, as the state ranks fourth in the nation for peach growing. We take day trips to our local orchards, baskets in arms, family members in tow, eagerly reaching for those fragrant, fuzzy orbs hanging from branches weighted down by their peachy parcels.

The one blemish on this otherwise joyous experience? That stab of guilt we feel as we carefully step over the scores of fallen, slightly bruised peaches, littering the orchard floor, as we reach for that perfect specimen, still hanging from the branch.

Our minds might wander to the fate of those countless sad, fallen fruits -“Will they be thrown away?”- yet we brush these unpleasant thoughts aside as we reach for that perfect specimen, still hanging from the branch.

And we’re right to feel guilty, because as it turns out, those fallen peaches we avoid represent a mere drop in the bushel of what ultimately gets discarded. An estimated one million – one million! – Jersey peaches are thrown into landfills each year. Not because they’re inedible, or severely bruised, but because they don’t meet size specifications or they have small blemishes that keep them from reaching our supermarket shelves. A situation that was no one’s fault, but a supply and demand issue.

The sad fact of the matter, my fellow Americans- we don’t like ugly peaches, so stores don’t stock them.

And these discarded peaches are just a miniscule fraction of the approximately 33 million tons of food waste that is tossed in landfills nationwide. And this story goes from bad to worse. Food in landfills produces methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that pollutes our air, as outlined in link to FRC main page.

In this season of celebrating nature’s bounty, there exists an ironic twist of fate. While a significant portion of food dumped into landfills is healthy, edible food (think of those blemished, yet otherwise perfectly edible peaches), approximately 14 percent of American households are unsure as to where there next meal will come from.

All is not the pits, thanks to a unique partnership between the Food Bank of South Jersey, local growers and Campbell Soup Company. Unable to stomach these bruising statistics any longer, these organizations have cultivated an ingenious way to help families in need, while saving space in landfills with a deliciously homegrown product.

Stay tuned for Part II of Second Chance for Homely Peaches in an upcoming blog post, to discover the happy ending to this juicy saga of loss… and of rescue.

Growing up SepticSmart in New Jersey

2012 November 16

By Maureen Tooke

I grew up in New Jersey, which is the most densely-populated state in the U.S. Most urban and suburban areas—like much of New Jersey—rely on sewer systems to handle their wastewater. But I grew up in northwestern part of the state, which looks more like the rural countryside than the New Jersey most people immediately think of.

The house that I and my family of seven lived in was great, with one exception: it did not have a properly-functioning septic system. But working on EPA’s septic system program, I am not surprised. Our house was built for a family of four in the 1970s, before the rest of the surrounding housing development. When our house was built, the housing development’s sewer lines didn’t exist yet. Our septic system, including the drainfield, was located in the front yard, which is generally not where a septic system should be installed. Our yard was also lined with about a dozen pine trees, which also contributed to the less than ideal scenario for our septic system; tree roots can damage the drain lines and cause them to fail, leaving water with nowhere to go.

My father was an engineer, so he knew enough to know that our septic system was not properly functioning, and he would call the pumpers to service the system on occasion. When the time was approaching for our system to be pumped, we’d have to conserve water, as there would be little room left in the septic tank. (Ever taken a “Navy shower ?” Get in, get wet, turn the water off, shampoo, wash and water back on to rinse. In the winter, this process was a bit brutal.) We also didn’t run all our appliances that used water at the same time so as not to flood the system and avoided putting cooking oil or grease down the drain, per proper septic system maintenance practices.

I now know how important it is for homeowners to be educated consumers about their septic system, just as they are with anything else they own that requires periodic maintenance, like a vehicle. To promote proper septic system use and maintenance, EPA is launching SepticSmart, a national program to help educate homeowners about the need for periodic septic system maintenance and proper system use. For information on SepticSmart or tips on how to properly maintain your septic system, visit www.epa.gov/septicsmart.

About the author: Maureen Tooke is an Environmental Protection Specialist who works in the Office of Wastewater Management at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. She lives on Capitol Hill with her dog, near many friends and colleagues.” You can see other examples on the Greenversations page: http://blog.epa.gov/blog/.

Transforming Into a Recycler

2012 November 15

By Greg Gush

I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania where there wasn’t much talk about protecting or preserving the environment. I was born a few years before the EPA and really don’t remember much of a celebration on the EPA’s birth. Living in an old farm house in the middle of nowhere – with a father that did EVERYTHING himself – I didn’t even know there were professions like mechanics or general contractors. We did and fixed everything ourselves.

Oil changes consisted of the “Old Man” crawling out from under the car with a pan full of tar-black used oil, and instructing my brother and me to take it up our 500-foot dirt driveway and pour it on any weeds or plants struggling to grow in the nearly impervious soil. The near-by dirt road that led to our fishing pond was “oiled” twice a year by the town to keep the dust down. I’m not sure if this was oil specifically for this purpose or just used 10W-30, but it sure kept the dust down!

After a few years, I “escaped” small-town-USA to the US Air Force. Uncle Sam sent me to far-away lands like Ramstein Air Base in Germany and Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. I learned there were more than the two categories of household waste I was taught in my youth – things that got thrown in the compost and “everything else”…that “catch-all” category of things bagged up and burned for disposal. The Air Force practiced this strange ritual they referred to as recycling where certain items were collected and sent away and magically transformed into other goods that were then reused.

Fast forward to January, 1995. I’m out of the Air Force and looking to leave Hawaii after six glorious years. I had job applications across the eastern U.S. but decided to accept work as the “LAN Lord” for EPA New England Lab in Lexington, Mass. It was there I learned that an even wider variety of items could be recycled and reused.

Nowadays, my hometown of Hudson, NH, has a very strong recycling program and my family generally recycles more than twice what we throw away. I see the direct impact we, as one family, can make and am proud of the “transformation.” Looking back, I guess if ignorance is bliss, that old farmhouse must have been Xanadu, but now I’m glad to be part of the solution and not the problem!

About the author: Greg Gush is the IT Lead at the EPA laboratory in Chelmsford, Mass.

When The Journey Leads To Where You Started

2012 November 15

By Paula Flores

I never imagined myself leading binational programs – much less championing an effort to introduce a serious message…and yet, here I am.

My parents’ first job in the USA was migrant farm work. During my childhood, my parents traveled throughout the states picking different crops according to the seasons. Kids often joined their parents during the summer and even during the school year. For me, those were the best summers ever! Disney World could not compete with the opportunity to playing in the dirt all day, having a picnic with your entire family under the sweet-smelling citrus trees.

I don’t remember ever thinking about pesticide exposure risks in the fields.

Many years later, I was hired by EPA where the opportunities to learn are endless! I have worked on a variety of issues. Nonetheless, I’ve always gravitated towards community involvement.

So in 2005, a group of us launched an initiative called Beyond Translation. The purpose of this effort was to go beyond the mere translation of documents and truly expand the environmental conversation with the Latino community – especially with respect to those issues that most impact our communities. Other EPA offices, including Research Triangle Park, Headquarters, and Region 3, followed suit to have a meaningful impact within their multilingual communities.

The BT Initiative resulted in the creation of a theater production called “El Moscas” y Los Pesticidas. Through clever characters and dialogue, a family learns about pesticide risks in agricultural fields and at home, as well as tips to minimize exposure. The play has been performed in San Juan, El Paso, and San Elizario, Texas and even in Wanachee, Washington.

Just a few weeks ago, a group of migrant students from Laredo performed the play to one of the largest audiences yet. Over 800 individuals filled the seats of Laredo’s Convention Center to see “El Moscas”! It was evident that the pesticide awareness message hit a cord in light of the increasing demand for more performances.

Imagine how proud I felt, when I saw the many faces of migrant workers in the audience. It has been a pure joy to be able to give back to the community who prepared me to take on just about anything. And as I watched their reactions – I thought I spotted my dad…and he was smiling.

About the author: Paula Flores-Gregg’s passion is turning community challenges into opportunities for collaboration. In her 25 years of service, she has embraced every assignment with creativity and enthusiasm. Paula is currently part of the U.S.-Mexico Border 2020 Program, serving as coordinator for the Texas – Coahuila – Tamaulipas – Nuevo León region.

Celebrating America Recycles Day by Not Wasting Food!

2012 November 14

By Sarah Dominguez

Yesterday I opened up the produce drawer in my fridge to put away some apples. Lying inside were two wilted heads of lettuce and a rotting zucchini. Thankfully, we have curbside compost collection in the Bay Area, so I made a mental note to remind my roommate to put inedible food in the compost bin.

Later that day at work, preparing for America Recycles Day on November 15th, I realized that my conversation with my roommate shouldn’t be just about the correct bin to use, but also about preventing the food from being wasted in the first place. That lettuce and zucchini could have been a delicious salad. Before I came to the EPA, I had a vague idea that I shouldn’t waste food. But now every time I throw out food I don’t just see dollar signs- I see the wasted water, energy and methane produced by food waste.

This year for America Recycles Day, we’re focusing on wasted food and the many ways it can be avoided, especially through donation to those in need. We are not talking about wilting vegetables when we mention donation, but instead fresh, safe to eat food that is donated before it expires. There will be food donation focused events across the country:

In Wilmington, Delaware, the grocer ShopRite is meeting with their partners at the Delaware Food Bank to donate food they must take off their shelves, but that is edible and wholesome.
In Washington State, Joint Base Lewis-McChord is encouraging attendees of their 4th Annual Recycling Extravaganza to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Tacoma Rescue Mission.
The University of Texas, Arlington is celebrating America Recycles Day with a Campus Sustainability Food Drive. Their event is helping to spread awareness about wasted food and food insecurity.

For my roommate, it was too late to donate his vegetables (but not too late to feed the soil through composting). But if I share with him the implications of wasted food and strategies to reduce it (like meal planning, proper storage or recipe creativity), next time he can avoid tossing a head of lettuce and maybe make dinner for me at the same time.

About the author: Sarah Dominguez is a University of Southern California Masters Fellow in EPA’s San Francisco Office. She works on the Sustainable Materials Management Program’s Food Recovery Challenge. In her Urban Planning program at USC, she studies sustainable land use and environmental justice focusing on the built environment.