If you live in or near Raleigh, you may be interested in checking out Whole Foods Market's (3540 Wade Avenue, Raleigh, 919-828-5805) rain barrel silent auction today from 6pm until 8pm. From the website:

"We have gathered some of our most creative and renowned Artist’s in the area to paint rain barrels that will be auctioned to raise money for drought relief. Join us for this silent auction and party with live music, food and drink. If you are the highest bidder you could be the first on your block to own a one–of–a–kind rain barrel while doing your part to conserve water, and helping raise money for those in our community affected the most by our current drought."

And now that we actually appear to be getting some rain, a rain barrel just might make [dollars and] sense (cents?).

While many North Carolinians are starting to bathe daily again as the state is coming out of a months-long drought, we want to remind folks of that not-so-distant past of mandatory conservation.

And, while our rivers and streams are flowing again, our groundwater isn't. You just need to take a look at this map of North Carolina's ground water network and then look at the data for each spot - most of the groundwater levels are below normal.  Even Brunswick County, in the eastern part of the state (where the drought wasn't as severe) is below the 'mean' water level.

This is all to say that we still need to protect and conserve our water resources in North Carolina. And, with this in mind, the NC Conservation Network is working with the NC Watershed Alliance (a coalition of twenty watershed protection and state-wide organizations working on the top water issues in our state) to host the 8th annual Clean Water Lobby Day on June 4 in Raleigh. Please consider joining us. We all need to remind legislators of the not-so-distant past and the continued need for state-wide water conservation.

Join us and make your voice heard.

Our friends at Netcorps have posted an excellent article regarding maintaining environmentally responsible technology systems at your home and workplace. The article hits on many different aspects of this issue, including conserving energy, reusing and recycling, making smart purchases, and finding out about the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT)--which helps consumers and companies compare the environmental attributes of different products.

The article also includes some helpful tips for the average at-home user:

• Shut down your computer on weekends, overnight, and for extended periods of time to save a lot of energy;

• Donate old computers that can still be used;

• Keep printers, scanners, copiers and other peripherals turned off unless you're using them; and
  

• Consider using an web and/or email host that uses renewable energy.

The Nature Conservancy has recently launched a cool, new interactive community for the conservation community! Below is a short press release – I encourage folks to go check it out and let us know what they think! For more details and frequently asked questions, check out their Help section.

Press Release

"At www.ConserveOnline.org, The Nature Conservancy has launched a complete overhaul of the free online tools supporting knowledge-flow and coordination between environment and conservation efforts around the world.

The new ConserveOnline provides a global system for conservationists to effectively identify and build on lessons-learned from similar approaches, helping them innovate and scale smartly to keep pace with the escalating rate of ecological challenges such as greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss worldwide.

The Nature Conservancy built the new ConserveOnline with Oracle's investment partnership, and more than a year's work with original developers of Plone, an open source content management system that dates back to 2001. The global community of open source web developers is encouraged to contribute and enhance this new platform.

The new ConserveOnline allows conservationists anywhere easily manage their local knowledge flow, via free and fast coordination and document management tools; identify other individuals and organizations who are doing similar work; grow the existing global library of conservation tools, techniques, and experiences; discuss how and where to channel resources for the greatest conservation impact; and share successes and failures to ensure that proven strategies – not failed approaches – are repeated and strengthened."

Over the past few years, American consumers have seen an explosion of "green" products and environmentally friendly products hit the shelves of their grocery stores and even the lots of many car dealerships. As the threat of global warming becomes more and more real, many people feel like they need to take action and do something about it. In order to help people achieve this, companies are releasing environmentally friendly products. However, many of these products are not much "greener" than their standard counterparts; so one is left with the question of whether or not the product will actually play a role in helping the environment, or if companies are using "green" simply as a label so they can jack up prices on products that are no different than the standard products.

One example of this is the new 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. The Hybrid Tahoe claims 50% better gas mileage than the non-hybrid version but the Hybrid still only gets about 20 miles per gallon; less than half of what a Toyota Prius gets. Chevrolet’s own website gives EPA estimates for gas mileage on their vehicles and it gets no where near 50% better gas mileage. The standard Tahoe with a V8 engine and 4 wheel drive gets 14 and 19 mpg city and highway, respectively, while the Hybrid Tahoe also with a V8 engine, 4 wheel drive, and an added electric component to the engine, gets 20 and 20 mpg city and highway, respectively. Chevy has released a Hybrid vehicle that, on the highway, will get 1 mpg better gas mileage than the standard Tahoe. Wow! As Chevy would say "that’s one hardworking hybrid."

Another perfect example is Nestle Water’s new "Eco-Shape" water bottles. The bottles are made with 30% less plastic than other plastic bottles of the same capacity and the bottles are made entirely of 100% recyclable materials. That’s great but how many of these bottles are actually going to be recycled? Most people are going to finish a bottle and throw it in a trash can so it can make its way to a landfill and become no different than any other plastic bottle that gets thrown away. Interestingly, when 18-wheelers transport products they have to meet a certain weight and since the new bottles are lighter, Nestle can ship more at one time bringing in tons of extra money to the company. Is Nestle actually trying to make a significant contribution to helping the environment or is their new "Eco-Shape" water bottle just a way for them to make a lot more money with a little less plastic?

On June 4, citizens from across the state will storm the NC General Assembly and ask our legislators to protect and conserve our water resources. We are hoping to talk to every legislator about the need for strong water protections, and we need your help to do so.

We hope that you'll make plans to join us and other concerned citizens from around the state for the 8th Annual Clean Water Lobby Day* on Wednesday, June 4 in Raleigh! 

With your help, every legislator in NC will hear from a constituent in his/her district about the top water issues in 2008:
1) Ensuring strong protections for coastal waters,
2) Limiting negative impacts from development in the mountains, and
3) Conserving our limited water resources.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if on Clean Water Lobby Day every legislator was visited by a constituent concerned about our water resources? Please help us make sure this happens and click here to sign up to visit your representatives. And, make sure to tell us who represents you!

Let's send a message to our state legislators that the citizens of NC demand strong water protections!

*Clean Water Lobby Day is an event that the NC Watershed Alliance (a coalition of 20 organizations focused on water issues) hosts annually. Clean Water Lobby Day provides individuals from across North Carolina the chance to talk to their legislators about protecting and conserving our water resources.

May 12-16 is bike to work week in the Triangle. This year’s Bike to Work Week is part of the SmartCommute Challenge, a non-profit campaign that works towards cleaner air in the Triangle area. Anyone can participate in Bike to Work Week and there are no fees for any of the events going on around the Triangle.

On Friday, May 16th, the Capitol Ride is at 9 AM. Anyone can register for the event, which begins across from the Legislative Building in downtown Raleigh. Riders will ride 1.15 miles around the Capitol Building and down Fayetteville St. The ride will last about 15 minutes and the roads will be open to traffic during the ride. After the ride, riders can meet for Bike to Work Week Breakfast at the ride meet location.

We can all benefit from cleaner air!

Creek Stone Farms Premium Beef, a Kansas based company, won a case in a lower court granting them the right to test all of their slaughtered cows for mad cow disease. Now the Bush Administration has appealed the case to a federal court in the hopes of reversing the ruling and taking away the company’s right to test all of their cows.

Currently, the USDA only requires 1% of all slaughtered cows to be tested but it places no limit on what percentage can be tested. To meet demands from foreign countries, Creek Stone Farms wanted to test 100% of their cows. Larger beef manufacturing companies opposed this, fearing it would prompt consumers to demand that all of their cows be tested as well, which in turn would raise the production cost of their beef by a few cents a pound; a small price to pay for safer beef.

The USDA says that testing all cows would not necessarily lead to safer beef but would instead lead to a large consumer scare. The government also [apparently] believes that the consumer is not entitled to that sort of information.

Why the Bush Administration would try to limit voluntary testing that goes beyond the USDA’s requirements and ensures that only the safe, healthy beef is sold is open to interpretation.

Below is the second installment of a monthly blog series on Food and the Environment, courtesy of our friend Billie with Toxic Free North Carolina (see the first installment here). Stay tuned in future months for more on this series. If you have suggestions for future blog series topics or for blog ideas about Food and the Environment, please contact blog [at] ncconservationnetwork.org.

Headlines about the global crisis of increasing food prices are pretty staggering. Here in the US, food prices up as much as 20 or 25% for some staples have added insult to the injuries of record-breaking prices at the gas pump and the housing slump. Local food banks are reporting unprecedented jumps in their populations served over the past couple months. Meanwhile, in poorer nations overseas, where people spend a much larger portion of their incomes on food, and prices for some staple crops like rice have doubled or even tripled in price over the past several months, there have been riots and other evidence that the situation is becoming increasingly critical.

In the midst of this devastating silent tsunami, I ask you to consider some of the causes, many of which are environmental:

1. Climate change. Droughts, floods, and other unusual weather patterns across the globe have disrupted farming over the past few years and hurt local food supplies in many parts of the world. This has made people more dependent on imported food and driven up the price.
2. Gas prices. Food that is trucked, shipped and flown around the country or the globe is costing more to transport these days, with gas hitting new record prices all the time. This is hurting import-dependent developing countries most.
3. Increased meat consumption. It takes about seven or eight hundred calories of grain to make one hundred calories of meat. Consider the impacts on global grain prices of increasing meat consumption in populous countries like China and India, while American appetites for cheap and plentiful meat remains high as ever.
4. Fuel made from food. There has been a great push in the US and several other countries to put more ethanol in people's gas tanks to reduce tailpipe emissions. 20% of the American corn crop was used for biofuel in 2006, a number that has come up from the single digits in just a few years. This has driven up prices for corn, and prompted farmers to divert land from other food crops to corn (driving up prices on those crops), or from "conservation" (un-farmed land near water ways and other sensitive areas). Increasing corn production in turn is contributing to water pollution problems (think of the growing "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, and the fact that an herbicide commonly used on corn has been shown to cause hermaphrodism in frogs).

So, what can we do? A few ideas —

• Eat local. May and June are some of the lushest, most productive months on farms and NC. Take advantage by hitting your local farmers market or local foods grocer—you'll find prices on locally produced foods relatively stable, and you'll be helping to ease the pressure on the global commodity market and stabilize food prices for people who don't have other options. Better yet: grow your own. Can't beat free! Also, please keep an eye out for opportunities to get local foods in more places in your community: Local food purchasing policies for cafeterias in your favorite school, childcare center, or workplace? Farm-to-school, office, or church programs? We're here to help!

• Eat less meat. Consider a quality-over-quantity approach to eating meat and other animal products like eggs and dairy. Try eating less of them, and when you do eat them, focus on local and sustainable options, which are often more nutritious and tastier! It'll be better for you, better for our environment, and better for our global food economy.

• Share. There are lots of organizations working to fight hunger, both domestically and overseas, which you might consider supporting this year. One tip - the national "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive is coming up this Saturday, May 10th. The National Association of Letter Carriers has teamed up with food banks across the country to pick up your food donations from your mailbox this coming Saturday. Please consider making a gift - in our area, your gifts will be handled by the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, which distributes food to many smaller providers across our region.

In the long term, more of us need to recognize that our economic decisions, as individuals and as nations, are having a serious impact on the global environment and on the welfare of our neighbors on this planet. Our global food economy is seriously broken, and we need to fix it. We as a society, and the governments who are working for us, must heed the lesson of this crisis by making long-term investments in *real* energy efficiency, and agricultural practices that are truly sustainable in the environmental, social and economic senses of the word.

So, my dear readers, please keep on eating local, voting your heart, and speaking your mind!

This past weekend, I was all set to go on a camping adventure in Blowing Rock, NC. I had my bags packed full of granola bars, water, bread, peanut butter...you know, all the good trail stuff. I even had bought a brand new bright green sleeping bag that I was so excited to roll out (excuse the pun). But, alas, I came down with something and ended up calling quits to the camping—and opted for staying in a "real bed" instead.

However, in a surge of the Advil-induced feel-goods on the following day, I decided to go check out Grandfather Mountain—a place I had never been to. At first, I was dismayed by the $14 per person entrance fee, but after actually entering the park, I was very pleasantly surprised at not only the beauty of the area, but the multitude of things to do once inside the park.

There is of course the famous mile-high bridge with a fabulous view of the surrounding mountains; many well-kept hiking trails; picnic areas; a restaurant; and a small museum where I learned about Grandfather Mountain's history, the endangered and rare plant and animal species that live there, and the gems that are formed within the rock itself. Perhaps most surprisingly, the park even featured several different "environmental habitats" for otters, deer, bald and golden eagles (which, frankly, scare the crud out of me), cougars, and even bears that did tricks for food! From the Grandfather Mountain website:

Environmental habitats are large enclosures that allow visitors to see animals in natural settings. Unlike the exhibits found in city zoos which bring in plants and boulders to recreate an appropriate setting, these enclosures were built around the animals' actual native habitat.

Best of all, I spent a lovely day (despite the funk my body was fighting off) enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of a beautiful wildlife sanctuary and nature preserve. Plus, it's nice to know that my money went toward the support of such a breath-taking, natural wonder, instead of to some gi-normous movie production company....

From MetaFilter, one of my favorite blogs, comes this list of 50 ways to help the planet.  Not only are there some great 'new' ideas, but the icons are fantastic, too.

And, you can get all of the logos together on an American Apparel tee-shirt.  Check out a close up at left.  Looks like a great gift for the green friend in your life.