Category: Green Page

• 1,400 – Calories a day wasted by American eaters • 50 – Percent increase in the amount of food wasted by Americans since 1974 • $1,300 – The estimated minimum value of the food that an American family of four throws out in a year

Garbage. Trash. Waste. Whatever you call it, we produce a lot of it. We’ve become, to steal from Tyler Durden, a single-serving society. Disposable cameras, diapers, contact lenses.

The idea for a “No Trash Challenge” hadn’t yet finished percolating in my brain when I brought it up at our brainstorm session for the 5th annual Sustainability Issue. What did come to fruition rather quickly, nevertheless, was that I was the lucky employee who would attempt the “No Trash Challenge” and share my findings with our readers.

South of Jacksonport on Highway 57 passersby can see the remnants of Bright Eye Farm, Door County’s first venture into organic gardening. Those of a certain age and with a history on the peninsula might remember once viewing rows of vegetables and pulling over at the roadside stand to purchase them.

Sustain Door and the Door County Library will collaborate on a free public study of the Transition Initiative, a movement taking place in hundreds of communities around the world in response to the dual challenges of Peak Oil and climate change, and the resulting economic strains.

“We need the energy. We need the jobs that come with energy. We need the electricity.”

1 billion: Tons of coal consumed annually in the United States

For many years, there has been widespread confusion about what is and what is not organic in the personal care aisle. Unlike organic foods, many health and beauty products are falsely labeled as “organic.”

“This is about the tendency in the food industry…to believe that transparency and knowledge are the enemy of a functioning food system. People must not know how animals are slaughtered and processed.”

$74 billion: The annual cost of coal in public health expenditures in Appalachian communities

The Pulse is asking readers to step back onto the local chuck wagon in preparation for our 5th annual Sustainability Issue. We are calling out for submissions of “locavore” recipes so that we can share the culinary delights, as well as the benefits of a local diet, with Pulse readers.

“Railroads have major cost and environmental advantages over trucking, their main competitor. Our country gains because of reduced greenhouse emissions and a much smaller need for imported oil.”

18: Percent of the nation’s energy that is used by commercial buildings

The Pulse is asking readers to step back onto the local chuck wagon in preparation for our 5th annual Sustainability Issue. We are calling out for submissions of “locavore” recipes so that we can share the culinary delights, as well as the benefits of a local diet, with Pulse readers.

“The public roads no longer belong to automobiles alone. They must be reimagined to be redistributed in a fairer manner between all forms of transportation.

The Door County Master Gardeners Association will present two informational sessions in their Continuing Education Program in the next few weeks. Both programs are free and open to the public.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced recently that the state will cease spending of Knowles-Nelson Stewardship funds for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Greens N Grains will be screening Josh Fox’s film GasLand, a 2011 Oscar-nominated documentary, on Feb. 24 at 7 pm. In the film, Fox sets out to examine the harmful effects of natural gas drilling.

The Sturgeon Bay Chapter of Green Drinks International will meet Feb. 23 from 4:30 – 6 pm at Glas, the green coffeehouse in Sturgeon Bay. Green Drinks Sturgeon Bay is organized by Sustain Door and part of an international network of local salons open to anyone interested in conversing about sustainabilty-related issues.

The public is invited to a workshop that will present information on raising chickens in their backyards. Topics to be addressed include: where to buy chicks and feed; raising chicks to chickens; producing eggs, meat or pets; chicken health and care; predators; how to build coops; and local ordinances.