Cape Fear's Going Green • Spring 2014

dependence on fossil fuels. I just wanted to eat fresh, healthful food while supporting North Carolina farmers and retailers.

But recent events in the Gulf force us to rethink the consequences of our actions. One large and unyielding consequence of our love affair with “things” is that in order to continue making and shipping them, we will have to look for oil in increasingly hostile environments, sometimes with disastrous results.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m a fan of capitalism. But capitalism doesn’t mean “just buy more stuff.” Capitalism means making decisions about what and when we buy in order to support and sustain our chosen way of life.

If I buy a pineapple at the grocery store, I’m telling the grocer, and the wholesaler, and the farmer, and the fertilizer company, and the ad company—pretty much everyone—that I want that pineapple, even if it comes from far away. That I want that pineapple despite the fuel needed to bring it here.

Now, signing up for the food challenge was easy; I could make up my own guidelines. So I pledged that all the food I purchased during the month, and particularly anything I took to a potluck event, had to come from this area.

At the grocery store last week I stood in front of the blueberry display—which of the two brands to choose? Normally I’d just look for the nicest berries at the best price. But because of my “eat local” pledge, I examined them more closely: one brand came all the way from Canada; the other from Rocky Point just a few miles north of me. Had I not paused a moment to read the label, I wouldn’t have known one choice would let me support a local farmer, and require less fuel to bring the food to me.

Reducing our dependence on foreign oil can be just that simple. The choices we make with our doIlars do make a difference. Granted, it’s not always easy to determine the best alternative—it might take less fuel to bring something by train from California than by truck from Florida, for instance. And it’s hard to find alternatives for some products that are not produced here—olive oil, for example. Sometimes the best choice can seem elusive. But if we read the label, we can almost always figure out the better choice.

— Valerie L. Robertson Editor

7 Neighborhood Gardens Building Community

8 Friends School Gets Their GOAT—Quaker Ideals Inspire Environmental Stewardship

10 Hiring a Landscape Architect

12 2010 Wilmington Tree Awards

13 Your Ecological House The Blot Heard Round the World

14 Global Climate Treaty Remains Elusive

14 Global Warming—A Look Inside Copenhagen

17 Education & Business News

21 Faith-Based Environmentalism

23 Stormwater 101—Did You Drop Something? Wilmington Adopts New Pet Waste Disposal Ordinance

“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”

— Aldo Leopold (A Sand County Almanac)

Cape Fear’s Going Green is a quarterly publication promoting eco-friendly resources and lifestyles in the Lower Cape Fear River Basin.

Publisher & Editor in Chief: Valerie Robertson

Sister City: Eugene, Oregon (Voted “Greenest City” 2006 by The Green Guide) Eugene Contributing Editor: Mary Robertson

Advisors & Editorial Contributors: Jennifer Butler, Nicole Carpenter, Vanessa Haugh, Leslie Hossfeld, Brinkley Hutchings, Daniel Kay, Alexei Kouminov, the Kuuskoski family, Jaimie Lang, Karen Linehan, Adeline Robertson, Steigerwald, Philip S. Wenz.

Cape Fear’s Going Green Going Green Publications

P. O. Box 3164

Wilmington, NC 28406 (910) 547-4390

www.goinggreenpublications.com

Cape Fear’s Going Green is available by subscription or on our Web site. Print copies are available at more than 140 area eco-friendly businesses and locations, including:

Angela’s Pepper-Pickled Foods, B + O Design Studio, Old Growth Riverwood, Pomegranate Books, Port City Java, Progressive Gardens, Sambuca, Sapona Green Building Center, Tidal Creek Co-op, UNCW, WHQR, and the Shelton Herb Farm booth at area farmers’ markets.

Editorial: If you have story ideas or calendar items to suggest, email us editor@goinggreenpublications.com, or call (910) 547-4390.

Advertising information: Email ads@goinggreenpublications.com.

Cape Fear’s Going Green is distributed for free through Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender counties. If you have a business and would like to receive multiple copies for the public to pick please contact us.

2www.goinggreenpublications.com

www.goinggreenpublications.com

Front Cover: Lettuce in a raised bed invites harvesting by those who walk by. See page 7 for story.

Cover photo by Mary Robertson

environmental resources

instruction with on-site, hands-on demonstrations. The principles and techniques taught during the trainings apply to both new and existing construction, but special focus will be placed on their application to existing homes. The curriculum is tailored to prepare trainees for certifications and jobs in the emerging home retrofit industry.

During the on-site training sessions, trainees will be able to apply the techniques they learn in the classroom to existing homes. These green retrofits are being performed through a collaboration with Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministries (WARM), a non-profit organization that performs repairs on the homes of economically disadvantaged individuals.

Additional grant partners are Building Performance Specialists (BPS) and Sapona Green Building Center. BPS will provide instruction, energy audits and project management for the retrofits. Sapona will act as purchasing agent and materials supplier.

General registration is now open. The complete list of workshop topics and dates is posted below:

May 12 – Building Science/ House Characterization

July 7 – Targeted Weatherization

July 21 – High Performance HVAC

Aug 4 –Indoor Air Quality

Aug 18 – Building Science/ House Characterization

Aug 25 – Sealing/Insulating the Envelope

Sept 8 – Targeted Weatherization

Sept 22 –Water Heating Options

For more information or to register, visit www.cfgba.org or contact Joy Allen, Cape Fear Green Building Alliance, at (910)470-5697 or joy.a@cfgba.org.

The Cape Fear Green Building Alliance is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation with the mission of promoting sustainable building practices. Formed in 2005, the CFGBA accomplishes its mission primarily through educational programs for both industry professionals and the general public. Monthly general meetings held the second Wednesday of each month feature informational presentations and are free and open to all.

SCOTT OGDEN, aia SCOTT OGDEN, SCOTT OGDEN, aia SCOTT OGDEN,

he W onder of Bir ds

D iscover the W onders of Birds

S a t . M a y 2 4 9 a m - 1 2 p m

H a l y b u r t o n P a r k , 4 0 9 9 S . 1 7 t h S t r e e t F R EE P R OG R AM

guided birdwalks, open to members and non-members. • Speakers available for your group www.capefearaudubon.org info@capefearaudubon.org

E v e r w o n d e r h o w b i r d s c a n fl y ? C o m e e x p l o r e

t h e l i f e o f b i r d s w i t h t h e C a p e F e a r A u d u b o n

S o c i e t y . A f r e e i n t e r a c t i v e a n d h a n d s o n l e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e f o r a d u l t s a n d c h i l d r e n

“It is now within the power of individual gardeners to do something that we all dream of doing: to “make a difference”... to the future of biodiversity, to the native plants and animals of North America and the ecosystems that sustain them.”

A c t i v i t i e s i n c l u d e l e a r n i n g c e n t e rs t h e b i r d s , b l u e b i r d b o x n e s t i n g , a n d m o r e

—Douglas Tallamy

T h e r e w i l l b e a s p e c i a l g u e s t a p p e a r a n c e f r o m

E v a t h e R e d - t a i l H a w k f r o m t h e S k y w a t c h B i r d

R e s c u e !

For more info

call 910.341.0075 or visit

halyburtonpark.com

B+O: design studio, PLLC architecture / landscape architecture

mail: 1319-CC Military Cutoff Rd., PMB 221 tel: 910.821.0084 www.b-and-o.net

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