Making a differenceFestival shows ways to help heal planet Sunday, April 20, 2008
Melissa Haneline Jacob Pogue, 2, and brother Michael Shane Pogue, 3, play in part of a Charleston Water Systems exhibit at the 9th annual Earth Day Festival on Saturday at Park Circle in North Charleston. 
Melissa Haneline Ebony Clemmons, 15, and brother Henry Clemmons, 12, inspect part of the Charleston Water System’s exhibit. EARTH DAY: APRIL 22 No green thumb? Maybe it's just pale, or perhaps it's a drab yellowish-green color? That's OK. There's hope. Thousands of children and adults attending Saturday's Earth Day Festival learned that while innumerable ways exist to help heal the planet, each person could have a positive impact in his or her own way. "Every little bit that you do makes a difference," Sharon Moody of Wando said. National Earth Day 2008 is Tuesday, but Moody, like several other festival participants, said even the smallest environmentally-conscious gesture can make every day an Earth Day. "I'm for cleaning up the environment," Moody said. "I do my share of picking up in the neighborhood. As I do my walk, I pick up the trash that's along the route. I'm planning on living a while, so I want it clean for me and those after me." Charleston County hosted the ninth annual event at Park Circle in North Charleston to celebrate countywide efforts to boost environmental awareness. Residents saw how they could help preserve the Lowcountry through litter control, recycling, and energy and water conservation. There were more than 60 educational exhibits on alternative energy, local and organic agriculture and nutrition, fossils, fluorescent bulb disposal, and more. While compost from the Bees Ferry landfill was given away for free, College of Charleston graduate student Megan Penrod urged festival participants to try an alternative way to compost waste at home with worms. The 26-year-old environmental studies major talked about how red wiggler worms can compost organic household materials, such as apples, banana peels, egg shells, onion peels and even pizza crust, into rich soil. Worm composting can be done indoors and outdoors. "You can order the worms," Penrod said. "They come in the mail. It's really cool." Penrod convinced Andrew Hiott, 18, of Health Nuts Organic Foods and Sports Nutrition in North Charleston to experiment with worm compost. "I'm totally going to get some soon," he said. Last year, more than 5,000 people attended the festival. Cathleen Foisy of Hanahan moved to the area in October and decided she'd try out the festival for the first time this year. Recycling is almost second nature to her, but she said she understands why some people feel overwhelmed in trying to live green. "It is a lot, but starting small, it'll make you feel good," Foisy said. Her apartment complex doesn't collect recyclable materials, so she said she regularly drives to North Charleston City Hall to unload her blue recycling bins. North Charleston resident Kanita Coleman said her family does their part to be environmentally friendly mostly by carpooling and recycling. "My girls are good on aluminum, and that's really about it," she said. Coleman, her two daughters and her little sister stopped by Go Green Charleston's booth to play the hands-on "Is It Recyclable?" game. Several household items were spread across the table, and players were to pick which ones could be recycled. "That. That. Not that," Coleman's 9-year-old sister, Raven, said as she scanned the items. An empty Pedialyte plastic bottle proved tricky for young Raven. She thought it could be recycled. "It's not," Chad Norman, founder of Go Green Charleston, told the youngster. "It's a plastic No. 5." "Oh!" Raven exclaimed, disappointed that she was wrong. Norman said it can be hard keeping straight which household items are recyclable. Certain plastics are recyclable, while others aren't. "A lot of people don't know to look at the number," he said. "They see the recycling symbol and they think it's recyclable. It's really about the number inside of the symbol." Sure, recycling is good. But judging from the many cars and sport utility vehicles parked all over Park Circle, perhaps the majority of festival participants could learn a thing or two from Tony Dursse of North Charleston. He rode his bike there. You can make a difference 
The Post and Courier 1. Change your bulbs. Pick several lights that are on most of the time, and swap the regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs use about 75 percent less power and last 8-10 times as long as conventional bulbs, saving energy and money. 2. Maintain your vehicle. Save about 10 cents a gallon by keeping a vehicle's tires properly inflated, and the tires will last longer, too. Replace dirty air filters and improve gas mileage by up to 10 percent. 3. Kill the energy vampires. Many electronic devices, from coffee pots to cell phone chargers, consume electricity as long as they are plugged in. Unplug them when they aren't in use, or connect them to a power strip that can be switched off. 4. Plant something. Trees soak up climate-changing carbon dioxide while beautifying their surroundings. Replacing part of a lawn with native plants and shrubs will reduce the need for watering, mowing, and lawn chemicals. - David Slade Local action After years of federal inaction on climate change, cities and states across the nation have set out to create their own plans. In South Carolina, climate change concerns seemed to hit a tipping point last year, and both the state and the city of Charleston formed committees to develop policy recommendations. Charleston's action followed up on Mayor Joe Riley's 2005 pledge to make deep cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. The city has undertaken energy-saving measures, and last fall the city's Green Committee met for the first time. In Columbia, a committee formed by Gov. Mark Sanford has been working on recommendations that could lead to legislation in 2009. "Remedies based on market principles, private property rights and conservative ideology ..." are the goal. In November, 108 S.C. mayors signed an open letter to the 2008 presidential candidates, urging them to make climate change solutions a priority. - David Slade Recycling on the rise Charleston County residents appear to be recycling more these days. The county's Solid Waste and Recycling Department processed 21,014 tons of recycling materials last year, which was up about 115 tons from the previous year. And the upward trend in recycling is continuing so far this year. The most recycled item is newspaper, followed by cardboard and green glass. The waste and recycling department is working with neighborhoods to organize days when residents can drop off their household hazardous waste at a nearby designated location. Seven neighborhoods have signed up so far this year. Charleston County officials unveiled earlier this year a program for residents interested in recycling their compact fluorescent light bulbs. Residents can now take them to eight centers in the county, which then works with Cleanlites Recycling of Spartanburg to recycle them. - Tenisha Waldo Retail goes green Retailers are rushing to embrace the green movement, which is no longer confined to the local organic food shop. It was even the central theme of the National Retail Federation's big January convention in New York, where experts discussed topics like "Protecting the Environment and Your Bottom Line." Industry kingpin Wal-Mart helped nudge the trend toward the mainstream with last year's initiative to sell 100 million energy-efficient light bulbs. Others are looking to tap into this market while burnishing their public image. Home Depot sells environmentally certified lumber tree, Levi Strauss makes organic cotton jeans and Clorox has introduced natural cleaning products. "They understand there's an opportunity because consumers are asking for it," said retail consultant Lynn Switanowski of Creative Business Consulting Group. Some green products, like compact fluorescent light bulbs, save consumers money, but others cost more that conventional products. Convincing buyers to fork over more for Earth-friendly products remains a challenge, said Britt Beemer, chairman of Charleston-based America's Research Group. Beemer's pollsters found that, of shoppers interested in eco-friendly items, 93 percent said they'd go green only if it didn't cost more. - John McDermott Green house More local real estate professionals these days are seeing green, realizing that environmentally friendly development techniques are not only ecologically sound, but also in demand by consumers who will sometimes pay more for energy-efficient buildings of sustainable materials. Major home builders, for example, sometimes offer upgrades that either save energy or incorporate recycled products, such as carpet created from used plastic bottles. And some local home inspectors are now offering tests that measure a structure's energy efficiency. Some developers are planning entire neighborhoods around green concepts. The Magnolia Development in the Charleston Neck Area, for example, is participating in a pilot program created by the U.S. Green Building Council. The program would "certify" the neighborhood because developers plan to rehabilitate polluted land. - Katy Stech Bright ideas It's easier than ever to put a green tint on the lights, laundry and everything else in life that requires electricity. Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, has been selling energy from renewable sources since 2001, but the other South Carolina power companies fell in line late last year. South Carolina Electric and Gas, Duke Energy Corp. and Progress Energy Inc. have agreed to pump a 100 kilowatt-hour block of green energy onto the grid for every extra $4 their customers pay. The money will be routed to Palmetto Clean Energy, a nonprofit consortium created to develop renewable power sources. Santee Cooper has gone a step further. In the next month, it will mail a voucher for a dozen ultra-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs to each of the 135,000 homes hooked to its plants. They plan to spend $2.7 million on the initiative. In October, the state's 20 electric cooperatives pledged to spend $10 million a year, roughly 1 percent of their revenue, on green initiatives such as buying 7 million CFLs over the next decade, among other things. And it's easier than ever to cross state lines in order to help save the planet. More than a dozen companies around the country sell green power "tags," which subsidize the development of clean energy, for between $5 and $75 a megawatt-hour. - Kyle Stock Clean sweep Maybe the simplest thing you can do for your planet is to pick up after yourself. And others. Litter is the ubiquitous pollution. Paper, plastic, cigarette butts and other materials are not only unsightly but wash into the drainage system and into the water supply in rivers and lakes, then into the ocean. The waste and the contaminants it carries can threaten wildlife and marine life. Clean Cities Sweep, a volunteer operation coordinated among Keep South Carolina Beautiful, Keep Charleston Beautiful, Keep North Charleston Beautiful and a number of other organizations, begins today and runs through April 27. For more information, call 579-7501. Every little bit helps. More than 31,378 volunteers in organized efforts across the state last year picked up a combined 1,682,606 pounds of trash and recycled 4,518,115 pounds more, according to Sarah Robinson of Keep South Carolina Beautiful. "A lot of the litter we find is recyclable, glass bottles, plastic bottles," said Karen Hauck, director of Keep Charleston Beautiful. "People sometimes find Earth Day too big a thing to deal with. Cleaning up a neighborhood or a community is an easy task for someone to do and still feel they are giving back and protecting the environment." - Bo Petersen Making waves Boaters enjoy the best of the Lowcountry coastal environment. They also have some of the hardest impact on it. Boat wakes erode banks and kill oyster reefs. Island excursions intrude on threatened species of nesting seabirds seeking isolation and foraging shorebirds trying to feed for migrations of thousands of miles. Paper or plastic litter can be mistaken for food by turtles and other marine life. That's along with carbon fuels and oils that bleed into the water, the noise and the threat of striking turtles, manatees and other marine life. A host of marine biologists, regulators and law enforcement officers are occupied constantly handling or mitigating the problems. Keep the motor clean and operating efficiently. Don't operate a boat recklessly. "We're blessed with these abundant, gorgeous marshes and estuaries. We're out there so often we risk loving them to death," said Nancy Vinson of the environmental advocate group Coastal Conservation League. She offers three more tips: Know where you can and can't go as far as bird rookery closures; restrain pets from chasing shore life at other locations. Throttle back near shorlines and through smaller tidal creeks as well as respect other no wake zones. Pick up litter. - Bo Petersen The green Web Find tips on energy savings, state and federal tax incentives, climate change lessons for children, and more at these sites: www.energystar.gov - Learn about energy-saving projects and products, take the "change a light" pledge, and read about federal tax incentives. The Energy Star kids page offers fun ways for children to learn how they can help. www.fueleconomy.gov - The U.S. Department of Energy's guide to improving automobile fuel economy. www.epa.gov/climatechange - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's web site on climate change. Also a link to EPA's kid-friendly site. www.energy.sc.gov - The South Carolina Energy Office offers information on state tax incentives, renewable energy, and more state-specific facts. www.charlestongreen.us - The Charleston Green Committee, formed by the city to create a local climate change action plan. - David Slade Earth Day events Earthfare's Earth Day Celebration: All day. Earth Fare, 74 Folly Road, Charleston. The S.C. Aquarium's Outreach Team will teach about the environment and the impact of everyday actions. Animals and hands-on activities. Call 577-FISH or visit www.scaquarium.org. Earth Day Crafts: 4 p.m. Johns Island Library, 3531 Maybank Highway. Free. Ages 11 and younger. Make art out of recycled materials and learn about how to save the planet. Call 559-1945. Earth Day Celebration: 4:30-5:30 p.m. Mount Pleasant Regional Library, 1133 Mathis Ferry Road. Free. Grades 6-12. Make a craft out of recycled materials and celebrate National Earth Day 2008. Snacks will be provided. Call 849-6161. Energy Conservation Workshop: 6-8 p.m. The GreenHouse, 1441 E. Montague Ave., North Charleston. Free. Learn simple ways to reduce energy consumption and cost. Presented by the Sustainability Institute. Call 529-3421 to register. |
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Comments
This article has 22 comment(s)
Posted by cpa599 on April 20, 2008 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Fueling the Enviro Death of America
Our nation’s energy policies, bullied as they’ve been by enviro-radicals, are rapidly leading our nation and our way of life to an early and untimely death. If continued, these policies will mean a dark hard future for our children and grandchildren.
I love clean water & fresh air. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t. In that sense we are all environmentalists but the radical environmentalists are forcing a false dilemma upon us. According to them we must choose between a clean environment and plentiful energy when the truth is we can have both. With today’s modern, clean drilling techniques we could successfully & cleanly recover the 10.5 billion barrels in ANWAR and the 115 billion barrels off the Florida coast. But the radical environmentalists in and out of our government have stymied the recovery of this oil forcing soaring fuel prices and extreme economic hardship on us all.
The continuation of these suicidal policies will lead to the death of our way of life and sentence our grandchildren to a life of unending hardship.
Posted by zmysticman on April 20, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess you must have stock in Exxon or some other environmentally friendly clean oil company or coal company, or mabe you live on this planet in a special place where you have access to the clean water and fresh air thats so abundant. The last time I looked we are not leaving much of a planet for our kids to enjoy as we\you have. I guess the scientist, environmentalist, people of the earth are all wacked enviro-radicals that want to destroy the earth.
Posted by zoomru on April 20, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No wonder newspaper readership is going down!!! All fluff and no solutions or public official accountability.
http://greenvilleonline.com/apps
/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/
20080419/NEWS01/804190332
/1004#pluckcomments
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008
/apr/17/
carta_proposes_higher_bus_fares37601/
Come on Tenisha...David were is the cattle-prod... everyone takes out there trash and throwing away ..MONEY!!! I AM NO TREEHUGGER by any means; but when nutty people want to raise taxes for INSANE reasons. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that BEES FERRY will (if not already) contaminate ground water!! Just ask any engineer at SM&E environmental! They don't put in ground water sampling wells around those sites for nothing!!
Posted by tripsa on April 20, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
you are right cpa599, the propaganda keeps on coming, I am keeping my kid at home on earth day, what a bunch of crap. People are starving due to the shift in bio-fuels.
zmysticman - you are just another useful idiot that has not a clue to how tough this planet is and how much bad science you are believing. if you want to save the earth, unplug your computer, cut your electricity, and move into a cave.
and yes the scientist, environmentalist, people of the earth are all wacked enviro-radicals that want to destroy the earth. they have an agenda. CONTROL.
here is a shocker for the brilliant scientists; http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,3517...
Posted by zoomru on April 20, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/
pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U
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plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plck
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Posted by zoomru on April 20, 2008 at 1:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tenisha...... get in CLYBURNS face!!!
http://www.thestate.com/local/story
/380332.html
Is earth day on his radar?
Posted by blah_blah_blah on April 20, 2008 at 7:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
everyone is entitled to their opinion and allowed to voice it, that is the great thing about this country. but, oil is not in plentiful supply, ANY resource that has an end amount is not in plentiful supply, we've built an empire on a limited resource, an end will come if we don't change. and any reference that starts out www.fox.com in not valid and "fair and balanced."
Posted by TP on April 20, 2008 at 10:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What's the point of your Fox New article tripsa? That there are 42 fewer species of coral and the coconuts are radioactive and unsafe to eat? Seriously though, I'm not sure i see how that article supports your position in any way whatsoever.
I think more people might have shared your views several years ago, but now you're in the fringe minority, you're just as extreme as greenpeace, etc, except you're on the other end of the spectrum.
Please, don't get me wrong. Reasonable, rational people need wackos like you, and greenpeace, as examples of how not to be. Thanks, tripsa!
Posted by icbmman on April 21, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
TP, I see you toe the line of the typical liberal absurdity that has bought the Goracle's hoax. Tripsa is hardly a fringe minority, well, unless you want to call free-thinking people who embrace freedom than tyranny masked as a global cause a minority.
You've become one of the lemmings who follow BS (such hypocrisy when referring to chain restaurants) and blindly follow people who are from a POLITICAL group, not a purely scientific group.
Food riots are occurring because douchebags decided to subsidy FOOD for energy, rather than feeding people!! Despicable. Unethical. And ethanol actually takes more energy to make than it provides!
For Earth Day, I will burn some styrofoam cups, drive my SUV, and burn my incandescent bulbs throughout the day!
Posted by TP on April 21, 2008 at 9:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok, thanks for the 'heads up'
Posted by TP on April 21, 2008 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All bickering and crying and name calling aside, please tell me how that Fox New article supports tripsa's position.
Posted by icbmman on April 21, 2008 at 9:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It shows that the Lord made the earth far more resilient than many of these scientists and researchers could ever imagine. It also shows that while humans can affect the environment locally, we are not in control of it, nor do we dominate it.
Posted by TP on April 21, 2008 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Some corals are back, but the diversity is way down which is generally not a good thing.
Again, all bickering aside- what is your philosophy about your relationship with your local environment, and how do you define 'local environment'?
Posted by icbmman on April 21, 2008 at 10:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
True, the diversity of coral is down, but that will probably change as well.
Local environment would be considered the initial surroundings of where humans exist and the location where those humans impact it. For example, if I live near a lake, I can affect it if I dump trash or chemicals into it. I'm affecting the environment, locally. If man is pumping raw sewage into an ocean or river, that section of ocean or river is being affected locally.
My philosophy is to minimize my impact on the local environment by throwing away my trash, recycling (even though it takes more energy to do), and properly disposing things like used oil and other chemicals. Just doing common sense things that respect others and their land.
Posted by TP on April 21, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm a little confused i guess. You seem to care about your local environment and you seem concerned about environmental quality. To me, that's environmentalism.
I am not sure i understand what specifically you are angry about. I'm guessing from others that share similar beliefs that is has something to do with the whole climate change or global warming debate?
I think a big problem is that some people are so used to science providing clear, indisputable answers to questions that when, in the case of climate change, it cannot, different theories get hijacked and politicized. By both sides.
Posted by icbmman on April 21, 2008 at 11:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
TP, my anger really comes from literally being exhausted by the constant idiotic propaganda that is being spewed as fact from the man-made climate change greenies. I believe in being good stewarts of this earth, but to blindly believe a theory that we humans are capable of changing the complete globe and its weather wreaks of self-centered vanity.
Regressive policies, products, and ideas are now being promoted and celebrated for the glory of "Mother Earth", and I think that they will severely negatively affect many people throughout this nation and the world.
Posted by theronce on April 21, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This, making fuel from food, supports a theory that we are really unintelligent life.
Posted by ImplantedYankee on April 21, 2008 at 12:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I've said before that I support environmentalism as it relates to its conservationist roots, but I cannot and will not support the neo-green nonsense that rallies under such junk-science, politically-motivated, and agenda-ridden banner causes such as global warming and ozone depletion.
People who hear me rail against the green-blooded usual suspects find it odd that I am a compulsive recycler (throwing recyclables away in my house is a cardinal sin), I've gone to considerable effort to make my home more efficient, and have been known to stop car car in the middle of traffic to carry a wayward turtle to the other side of the road. The truth of the matter is, however, the issues to which I've made effort are ones that make sense. First of all, many of the things I have done are, first and foremost, done to save ME money. Carpooling (when gas prices are very high), car maintenance and reducing my electric bill are self-serving interests, but if there's any chance they have some benefit -- all the better. I believe in clean air, clean water, species preservation, and efficient use of resources. I think these are causes that could gain a following among all sensible people. The movement is going to continue to lose respect among thinking people, however, if it continues to be the pawn of people with a red, rather than green, agenda.
Here's a link with a little more relevance than the Bikini-atoll one: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...
Since most of the global warming nonsense is based on these hokey, purpose-driven, canned-data, models (which can't possibly hope to accurately represent the infinitely complex and chaotic systems which drive this planet's climate), the report that empirical data does not support their predictions really cuts the heart out of the matter. I'm surprised to see it printed in "Science Daily", since it has so often been a purveyor of alarmist rubbish.
Posted by TP on April 21, 2008 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From the same website: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...
Maybe that's why you prefaced the other link with the rubbish comment?
I have access to ScienceDirect, which serves up full-text journal articles. I'm going to try to find the article referenced in the story above. It was recently published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Let me know if you would like a copy (not sarc). Wait, let me guess, there's a reason this particular journal is hokey or bogus?
Science doesn't have all of the answers. Some studies suggest man made climate change, some suggest climate change is natural, or not occurring. You two tend choose to identify stubbornly and matter of factly with the latter group. It's ok, that's your choice.
In research, phrases like "this proves that" or "this causes that" are almost never used. When you start seeing that type of language in something packaged as 'science', proceed with caution.
Posted by ImplantedYankee on April 21, 2008 at 4:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
>>In research, phrases like "this proves that" or "this causes that" are almost never used. When you start seeing that type of language in something packaged as 'science', proceed with caution.<<
Hence my skepticism of the entire issue. Perhaps someone should remind "the debate is over" Al Gore of this. In the 1970's the same crowd was ringing the alarm over "global cooling" and insisting that human activity was ushering in the next ice age. A few bad winters had a bunch of people really buying it and the research dollars rolled in. When it became clear that glaciers weren't once again invading the continent, the tune quickly changed. Even recently, the IPCC conveniently removed language from their statements regarding human induced climate-instability after the general public became increasingly aware of the fact that the earth's climate has NEVER been stable. In an attempt to maintain relevance, they changed their tune again. As the public becomes aware of the natural oscillations between warm and cold that have existed for hundreds of millions of years (perhaps even more), and the fact that warming is expected during this interglacial, again the wording changes. Now it's "Climate Change" instead of "Global Warming". Despite constant pressure to prevent honest discourse on the issue, word gets out, and the chicken littles have to find a new war cry to keep attracting their research dollars and news crews. Glenn Beck did a special last year where he named a number of prominent scientists and climatologists had lost funding or position because they had bucked the trend of the current alarmism. I read another study that I believe was from the Royal Academy of Sweden where the researchers were able to demonstrate the ability of variations in cloud cover to influence temperature to a much greater degree and back it up with real (not modeled) empirical data done the old fashioned way -- with experiments. They were unable to get it published and it languished on the web. Also unreported was a recent petition signed by 17,000 scientists protesting the current handling of so-called "climate change" by the scientific community.
Posted by ImplantedYankee on April 21, 2008 at 4:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You suggest that I am one-sided. I have to be. Only one side is being presented in the media and only one side is getting research money. If people like me do not provide a counter-point, there simply won't be one. I don't deny that the earth is warmer or that CO2 is a greenhouse gas. I simply don't believe in any anthropological correlation between the two, especially given the past variability in climate that existed long before there was a ever a single human being, let alone a tailpipe. It is simply mind-boggling that people would be so willing to surrender to an ill-supported hunch -- one where models designed to arrive at a specific result and where different subsets of the exact same data can demonstrate exactly opposite conclusions. Rather than waste our resources spinning our wheels trying to prevent the inevitable, we should be concentrating on adapting to a planet that is changing, has always been changing, and will always continue to change.
Posted by TP on April 21, 2008 at 5:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You had me right up until the Glenn Beck reference... :)
I see where you're coming from. I think you and i could go round and round on this issue, and by the end of the discussion we'd be finding a way to argue over things we actually agree on. Good discussion today.