Green Hartford is upon us!

 

First things first: John Norquist, the former Milwaukee mayor who led the charge to demolish one mile of elevated highway slicing through that downtown will speak at the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Streert, Tuesday, April 15 at 6 pm.

 

Second, biking - CCBA annual dinner Wednesday night at 6:30 pm at Adam's Mill in Manchester. Bike part II Thursday night at Hartford Public Library to give input on Capital Region Council of Government's bike/ped plan.

 

Next, acquire compact flourescent bumbs and energy saving lamps cheaply at a taxpayer-subsidized sale at City Hall Thursday, April 24, 2008 from 11 am to 6 pm.

 

Finally, a Keney Park Clean-up Saturday, April 26, starting at 9 am. Here's more from a City of Hartford’s Department of Health and Human Services news release:

 

"Earth Day Clean-Up Needs Your Help"

 

Various community organizations, groups and individuals will be joining the Department of Public Works this year in the 'Keep America Beautiful' Campaign on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

More on gloves and trash bags and why they're needed...

 

First time in a long time that I made first chair this morning at Mt. Ellen aka Sugarbush North.

 

We got rained off the mountain Saturday. The mountain website, which uses euphemisms like "non-crystallized precipitation" for such rain, on Sunday told would-be skiers to sleep in because the wind knocked down trees and the cold left a thick blanket of ice across the terrain.

 

So this morning, I knew I wanted to be there. On time. Here are a few more photos of cold and some greenwashing, too.

Link...

 

Sunday evening, I needed a bicycle ride after spending a beautiful spring day inside working on law school homework. So I pedaled straight west on Farmington, then buzzed UConn Law School and pointed to the burbs on Fern Street.

 

The goal was to see how far I could get in 30 minutes. Once I crossed Prospect, I noticed it was trash day, and after about 10 minutes, I spotted an oriental rug that looked worth salvaging. I bolted home and grabbed my camera and messenger bag.

 

The trash we discard tells much about our society, and gives us an idea of what small actions we can take to reduce the waste that enters into our trash streams, all of which ends up either back in our air, as electricity or as ash on Mount Trashmore in Hartford's North Meadows.

 

So, in honor of Earth Day, here is a short photo essay on what we throw away.

Link...

 

"This is a call to action for Connecticut Citizens," the flyer breathlessly read. "Our goal will be to 'Enact immediate cuts in carbon emissions, and pledge an 80% reduction by 2050.'"

 

Saturday afternoon, about 200 hardy souls dedicated to that goal of planetary preservation gathered at the northeast corner of Bushnell Park for a Step It Up rally, one of almost a dozen across Connecticut and one of 1,400 across the country.

 

Considering that there were Step It Up events in Enfield, New Hartford, and Portland, the turnout for Hartford was good. Participants could learn about biodiesel, clean energy, or buy compact flourescent lightbulbs for $1 apiece.

 

As I watched the woman sell the lightbulbs seemingly by the case, I pondered the theory of diffusion of innovation, which posits that social movements occur in five phases: innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early majority (34%), late majority (34%) and laggards (16%).

 

And I wondered, with regards to clean energy and global warming, where are we on the chart?

Link...

 

Riding my bicycle through Hartford, I sometimes spy litterbugs in action. If I can, I confront the perpetrator with the potato chip bag (or worse). This crusade may result in my untimely demise, but I hate litter.

Recently, I spotted a hand tossing a cigarette butt out a red pick-up truck stopped at the intersection of Main and Buckingham. I pedaled up to the culprit at the wheel, a hard-hat worker. Our interaction went something like this:

Link...

 

W ay back, last fall, when Thornton for Governor ruled my existence, a crew of Green campaigners joined a team of Trinity College students for the Connecticut River Watershed Council's 10th annual Source to Sea cleanup at the Park River over by New Britain Avenue in West Hartford.

I wrote a column about it way back when, but never really followed up and described what we ended up doing.

In my mailbox today, I saw the CRWC's newsletter detailing the trash hauled from the mighty Connecticut by 1,685 volunteers at 68 locations from northern Vermont to southern Connecticut.

Yikes is all you can really say when you read the list.

Link...