Cape Fear's Going Green • Winter/Spring 2010

Letter from the Editor

I’ve been thinking about my high school. Named after naturalist John Burroughs, it was a fertile ground for budding ecologists. We got a taste of the environmental movement to come: speakers came for the first Earth Day, and I remember typing my papers on the backsides of already-used paper. In class we read John H. Storer, whose 1953 book The Web Of Life fascinated me with his conviction that we, and the earth and the birds and the rivers and insects and dirt, are all connected. And that we must look for these connections daily.

I envy my younger brother—by the time he came along the school had created a living classroom from 44 acres of Ozarks woodland. Every student attended Ecology class. For his required “environmental” project, Alan designed and planted an organic garden behind the playing fields. He understood the connection, and took his love of the earth to Alaska, where he fishes and plays, paddles a canoe and watches the stars, secure in his spot in the universe.

In last month’s alumni newsletter, an interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley caught my eye. When asked what book had most influenced her career, she mentioned first The Web of Life—the very book I consider seminal in my environmental awareness, and to my publishing Going Green.

It startled me to realize that another student had found this assigned book—for both of us, our first reading about ecology— so important to her pursuits, too. How many more of us in that St. Louis classroom were touched by Storer’s ideas of connection and harmony?

As I watch today’s schools work to introduce environmental concepts, trying to get the kids out, to let them experience nature, build a compost heap, count the birds, play in the mud, to draw the connections, I see we are connected, too: not in time perhaps—I first studied this 40 years ago—but in space.

I’ve been calling this the birding issue (to distinguish it from the “green building issue,” or the “ocean issue,”) but it’s not really about birds. It’s about rebuilding the ecology of the places we live. It’s about learning to notice nature—birds and plants and habitats—and to understand how we all fit together. And to rethink our role as users of earth’s resources—even the name “resources” implies taking from the environment. Perhaps we could learn to be stewards of the earth, to truly practice ecology, or “the study of one’s dwelling place.”

In high school I was taught that everything is connected. But I am just now coming to believe it is so. Perhaps our web lines run though time as well as space. The seeds planted forty years ago at Burroughs School have landed in California with Smiley and in North Carolina with me. Read on, and you will see where they have come to land, here, now.

Valerie L. Robertson Editor

Contents

3 Saving the World, a Yard at a Time—Cape Fear Audubon

Introduces Bird-Friendly Habitat Award Program

5 Winter Birding

6 Who’s in Your Backyard?

7 Supporting Our Songbirds

8 Attracting Caterpillars to your Garden

9 2010 Striper Tournament Encourages Youth

11 Green Roof Planted on Betty H. Cameron

Women’s & Children’s Hospital

12 Wilmington Environmentalist Volunteers at Solar Decathlon

14 By the Time I Get to Phoenix

15 Greening your Business: Going Green Can Keep You Out of the Red

16 Southeast Youth Food Activist Summit

17 First “Feast on the Southeast” Farmer-Chef Dinner

19 Your Ecological House™—Glocalization

20 Business News

22 IMBA Crew Visits, Teaches Trailbuilding Techniques

24 Bradley Creek Elementary Expands Recycling Program

Front Cover: Caterpillars are very specific in their nutritional needs. If you find a caterpillar on your fennel or parsley, your guest is likely a Black Swallowtail like the one on our cover. Photograph of caterpillars bronze fennel was taken in Jane Tierney’s butterfly garden, by Valerie Robertson.

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: Raven Bruno, Jennifer Butler, Erol Caglarcan, Nicole Carpenter, Dustin Chambers, Austin Fenwick, Alistair Glen, Bob Hagle, the Kuuskoski family, Rachel Lawrence, Jill Peleuses, Christie Perry, Adeline Robertson, Kim Shovlin, Mary Tavares, Philip S. Wenz, Ron Wilson, Charley Winterbauer and Andy Wood.

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 one hundred thirty area eco-friendly businesses and locations, including:

Angela’s Pepper-Picked Foods, B + O Design Studio, Coastal Glass Tinting, The Napping Cat, Old Growth Riverwood, Old Books on Front Street, Pomegranate Books, 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 at editor@goinggreenpublications.com, or call (910) 547-4390.

Advertising information: Email ads@goinggreenpublications.com.

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

photo by Bob Hagle

Saving the World, a Yard at a Time

Cape Fear Audubon Introduces

Bird-Friendly Habitat Award Program

by Charley Winterbauer

If you enjoy watching birds, you’ll be interested in Cape Fear Audubon Society’s new Bird-Friendly Habitat Award Program. This tool can help you create a plan for a more bird-friendly yard, no matter what your starting point. Along the way, it might also help lower your utility bill, reduce your yard work time, and help balance our local ecosystem.

Each year thousands of birds come through the Cape Fear area, either to nest, or to rest and eat on their way to their final nesting areas. This includes painted buntings, the warblers, and many of the most colorful birds we enjoy in spring and summer. Surveys show we are losing migratory birds at a rate of 1% a year. Why is this? Scientists agree loss of natural habitat—usually caused by increased human population growth and land development—is largely to blame.

In a typical pattern of residential land development, the land is cleared, then roads built and utilities installed. After the houses are completed, lawns and plantings complete the parcel. This planting may seem like a good idea: who wouldn’t want green and lush foundation shrubbery? But by planting water-thirsty lawns and exotic plants, native habitats—the ones favored by birds and other wildlife—are being pushed out.

This trend toward “insect-free” plants is welcomed by the homeowner, because the native insects are less likely to be able to use the nonnative plants and therefore won’t damage their looks. The imported plants live up to their billing as pest-resistant, but those “pests” include beneficial

Cape Fear Audubon Society is a local chapter of the National Audubon Society. Meetings are held the second Monday of each month, alternating between Southport and Wilmington, and guests are welcome. The group supports the region’s diverse habitat through meetings, field trips, bird walks and other educational activities. Learn more at: www.capefearaudubon.org

insects, ones that help the ecosystem thrive and who are an important food source for our birds. With no native plants to nest in or feed on, the life cycle of birds is severely disrupted. “Many suburban landowners are unaware of the implications their stewardship has on local wildlife,” says Matt Collogan, Environmental Education Program Manager at Airlie Gardens. “Landowners intending to do the right thing can end up causing more harm than good.”

Most agree that maintaining natural habitats, or reestablishing them, can go a long way to helping balance our natural environment and support our wildlife. But sometimes it can be hard to know where to begin.

Fortunately, Wilmington’s Cape Fear Audubon Society club has established the “Bird-Friendly Habitat Award.” Modeled on the LEED certification program (the benchmark for environmentally-conscious building and remodeling), the free awards are given to properties that provide a sufficiently bird-friendly habitat. “Turning a backyard into a bird-friendly habitat is not complicated or expensive, and it will make a difference,” says Club President Cary Paynter. Society evaluators look at several areas to determine whether a home meets the guidelines for an award, including:

1. Significant percentage of native plants

2. Plant buffers around property

3. Buffers that include a variety of types of plants

4. Reduced lawn and commercial mulch

5. Significant tree canopy

6. Butterfly garden (planting specific native plants to attract butterflies)

7. Control of invasive plants

8. Presence of natural nesting places, nest boxes and water sources

9. Absence of outdoor cats

10. Use of natural means instead of pesticides and chemical fertilizers

11. Rainwater use, composting.

photo by Charley Winterbauer

Qualifying backyards will receive a clay plaque similar to this one, hand-made for Audubon by Wilmington artist Sandra Siemering. Plaques will be 7-8 inches in diameter, and will vary in design. The award shown here depicts a Painted Bunting, and its gold border signifies a gold-level award winner.

There are three levels of awards: Bronze, Silver and Gold. At their web site, the Cape Fear Audubon Society gives more detail on each of these areas, including the specific percentages and requirements as well as steps you can take to improve your score in each area. The evaluation form and application are available on-line at www.capefearaudubon.org, under the “Conservation” tab. Once you’ve applied, an inspector will visit your site at no charge to determine your final score.

The evaluation sheet itself is a helpful tool in evaluating your property for bird-friendliness. “The brilliance of the bird-friendly habitat program is that it asks some very basic but critical questions of the applicants,“ says Collogan.

Print one out and walk around your yard. There are probably many steps you can take right now, at no cost, to help make your yard more bird-friendly. These include: making fresh water available year round, providing nesting areas, allowing leaves to remain where they fall or shredding for use as mulch, composting, and hand-watering instead of using sprinklers.

Saving the World, a Yard at a Time

continued from page 3

Controlling invasive species (listed on the evaluation form) and keeping your cat indoors, moving bird feeders to better spots and allowing your shrubs to grow in a more natural form all help attract birds to your yard.

Other measures, such as installing rain barrels, planting a butterfly garden, reducing area devoted to lawn, and planting buffer strips, can be introduced as time and money allow.

For many yards, the largest upfront cost is for the plants. But native species have evolved using only available water (rain) and local soil conditions, so once established they should thrive with little care. And using native plants is the most important component of creating a birdfriendly yard. Native plants, insects and birds have co-evolved in a complicated web of relationships. See the article by

Recommended Reading

Many area plant and bird enthusiasts recommend reading Bring Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Douglas W. Tallamy. The book calls for the backyard gardener to make a difference by incorporating more native plants in their own backyards. Cape Fear Audubon

Alistair Glen in the Fall 2009 Cape Fear’s Going Green “Bringing Birds into the Fall Garden.” These native plant suggestions apply all year around—and it’s not too early to start planning for fall.

Check the nurseries listed elsewhere in this issue, or try sharing plants with neighbors. You may already have plants conveniently located in your own backyard. Landscape architect Lara Berkley, co-owner of B+O: design studio, suggests you first inventory your own property for volunteer plants you can let mature (sometimes just by not mowing over them) or transplant to another part of the yard. “These plants are conveniently already adapted to your specific site conditions, they’re free, and they don’t come in containers,” she offers. “You’d be surprised how many lovely seedlings pop up between the azaleas and camellias!”

member Nancy Buckingham likes its argument for promoting native plants over ornamentals: natives need less water, less fertilizer and less maintenance. And they’re good for birds and butterflies year-round, not just for a single season.

Charley Winterbauer finds the book’s web site particularly useful. He especially likes the lists of “best bets” for woody and herbaceous plants, as these lists show the number of moth and butterfly species supported by each plant. Visit http://bringingnaturehome.net.

Read it at the library, or buy your own copy of Bringing Nature Home from your favorite local independent bookseller. Area stores that carry the book include:

Pomegranate Books

4418 Park Avenue

Wilmington, NC (910)452-1107

www.pombooks.net

Two Sisters Bookery

The Cotton Exchange 318 Nutt Street Wilmington, NC (910)762-4444

www.twosistersbookery.com

Can looking at our own yards with a fresh eye toward making it bird-friendly really make a difference to our birds? Absolutely, says Paynter.” Very few of us can afford to buy land to set aside for conservation, but most of us have a yard.” Collogan agrees, noting “our suburban landscape has the potential to change the tide on biodiversity loss. The more people use this tool, the more habitat our local fauna will have.”

The Bird-Friendly Habitat Award Program is a great road map to help you learn about native plants and our local ecosystem, attract more colorful birds to your yard, and reduce your yard maintenance time and cost. And, it just might help save the world, a yard at a time.

Charley Winterbauer is currently Chairman of the Conservation Committee of the Cape Fear Audubon Society.

NCCF Native Plant Festival

Volunteers have begun potting trees that will be sold at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s annual Native Plant Festival, which is set for April 23 and 24 at NCCF Headquarters in Ocean. The first day of the sale is reserved for members and the second day is open to the public. The festival features not only native plants, but coastal artists, musicians and non-profit groups. If you would like a booth to exhibit your artwork or the work of your organization or if you would like to make music on the festival’s outdoor stage, call Rose at (252)393-8185 or visit www.nccoast.org.

Winter Birding

by Jill Peleuses

The Wilmington area serves as a haven for a large variety of birds, and our mild climate makes it easy to bird year-round. In fact, our great variety of wintertime species makes us the envy of birders elsewhere. Many birds migrate or stay here for the winter, and one of the best birding areas around might be in your own back yard. In the winter, birds are less able to find food in the natural environment and often look to backyards and bird feeders to sustain them through the cold, rainy—and on occasion snowy—months.

In order to attract a variety of winter birds, three basic essentials are needed: water, shelter and food. Bird baths are important year round. Although we live in an area surrounded by water, many of our natural water sources are salty and cannot support songbirds. A bird bath with approximately three inches of fresh water is recommended.

Shelter is essential for birds. Now is a good time to put up bird houses because birds will roost and seek shelter during cold or rainy months. Putting out a variety of different bird house shapes and styles can encourage more species to stay in your yard throughout the winter months. Roosting boxes, or natural areas such as dead snags or tree stumps can also help provide a safe haven for birds.

Last, but not least, food is essential to bringing birds to your backyard. During the winter fatty foods such as suets are particularly helpful to sustain birds.

Bluebird Workshop Be Ready for Bluebirds

Saturday March 27, 2010 9:15–10:30 a.m.

Hosted by: Wild Bird & Garden

Workshop Location: Temptations Everyday

Gourmet (six doors down from Wild Bird & Garden in Hanover Center), 3501 Oleander Drive, Wilmington

Want to attract bluebirds to your backyard?

Let us show you how. This free workshop covers all the basics including bird houses, bird food, and habitat types for bluebirds. See www.wildbirdgardeninc.com or call (910)343-6001.

Sunflower chips (shell-free sunflowers) are a great wintertime seed and attract a variety of colorful birds. The American Goldfinch, a striking yellow bird that only comes here for the fall and winter, loves thistle or nyjer seed. Peanuts are another calorie-dense winter food. High in protein, these seeds will attract a good variety of both winter species and year-round residents. Make sure to put an opaque

Make sure bird houses are in good repair and cleaned out in order to provide them the habitat they need in the winter.

Encouraging these birds to your yard in the fall and winter can increase your chances for spring nesting: the birds become used to your yard and realize that they have the food and habitat essentials needed to raise their young. In the spring one Bluebird pair can have three broods of babies, hatching out 12-15 young in one bird house!

The American Goldfinch arrives in late October and can stay as late as May. Goldfinches are flocking birds, so by adding feeders that have yellow you can increase chances of attracting them. They love thistle, but will also eat sunflower seed. In the winter Goldfinches change colors from brilliant yellow to a much lighter, almost butter, color. The black on the wings is a good distinguishing mark that can help with identification.

decoration of some sort on glass windows and doors near any feeders; their reflective surfaces confuse birds in flight and invite crashes (see article p. 7).

We are fortunate to have Eastern Bluebirds, one of our most adored birds, year-round in the Wilmington area. In the winter, Bluebirds are not territorial and often come to feed and forage in groups. You can encourage them by offering meal worms in an open area of the yard.

Bluebirds often roost in bird houses during the winter. Sometimes multiple Bluebirds will pack in one house to avoid harsh winter conditions. Bluebirds require a different house than most birds, as the opening must measure just 1½ inches.

The Eastern Bluebird and American Goldfinch are just two colorful examples of winter birds in the Wilmington area. Others include Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos, Orioles, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and many more. Consult your bird books, because many species change their appearance: winter plumage is generally more muted, which can make identification harder. A bird you have been familiar with all spring and summer might look completely different in winter.

Wintertime birding provides a hobby that can be enjoyed by the whole family. By locating feeders just outside the window, you can see wonderful birds without leaving the warmth of your home. Make the most of our mild weather and enjoy the variety of birds Wilmington has to offer.

Jill Peleuses is one of North Carolina’s Certified Environmental Educators in Brunswick County (www.ee.enr.state.nc.us/ certification/certified.htm) and is co-owner of Wild Bird & Garden, Inc. in Wilmington. She sponsors educational events on bird habits and habitat, and leads birding hikes at Airlie Gardens.

photo © Chuck Carmack

The Eastern Bluebird is a local favorite.

Where to buy native plants? a few local suggestions...

Growing Wild Nursery (910)200-2112

www.growingwildnursery.net

Alistair Glen specializes in propagating native plants of the NC Coastal Plain. See his web site for photos and descriptions and locations for 2010. See also article on p. 8.

Shelton Herb Farm

340 Goodman Road, Leland (910)253-5964

Margaret Shelton’s family has been farming on this property for 200 years. Visit the farm, open 8–5 Mon.–Sat., or find her at area farmers’ markets, Hobby Greenhouse Club sales, and other area events.

My Garden

Duane Truscott will move his nursery from Castle Hayne to Bolivia in March 2010, affording him room to expand. Call (910)2531244 or email truscottd@bellsouth.net.

Hobby Greenhouse Club

Club holds three plant sales each year, at 2318 Metts Avenue in Wilmington. All plants (some natives) have been propagated locally by club members, so are more likely to thrive in our area. 2010 sale dates:

April 9 - 10

• 9AM – 6PM

April 11 • 12PM – 5PM

June 4 & 5

• 9AM – 6PM

Who’s in Your Backyard?

Dick Hayes sent us photos he took last March of Eastern Screech Owls nesting in his backyard near Monkey Junction. The photo on the right is of the mother owl and was taken March 20, 2009, presumably about the time the eggs were laid, since the incubation and time to fledge is about two months.

The photo on the left is of the two “babies,” taken on May 23, the night before the little ones left the nest. In order to capture the moment, Hayes took this shot at night—by flashlight. He wasn’t happy with the quality, but had he waited, he would have missed the opportunity.

Recommended Reading

Sept. 10 & 11

• 9AM– 6PM www.hobbygreenhouseclub.org

Master Gardener Plant Sale

Annual plant sale March 25-29 at New Hanover County Arboretum. www.gardeningnhc.org or (910)395-2332.

Arbor Day

Keep an eye out for seedling giveaways.

N.C. Forest Service

Great prices for 100 seedlings, and you can customize the plants in the mix. Share with neighbors. www.dfr.state.nc.us or 1-888-NC-TREES.

Elsewhere in North Carolina

Coastal Plain Conservation Nursery (Dr. Ellen Colodney) – Edenton

Mellow Marsh Farm (wholesale wetland plants) – Pittsboro

Cure Nursery (wholesale wetland/mitigation plants) – Pittsboro

Niche Gardens (retail nursery – mostly natives + some exotics) – Chapel Hill Carolina Native Nursery (retail/wholesale)–Burnsville (some coastal plain plants)

North Carolina Coastal Federation

Annual plant sale in April (see p. 4).

NC Native Plant Society meetings are a great way to learn about plants from fellow enthusiasts: Cape Fear Chapter starting March 28! See www.ncwildflower.org.

We asked gardening expert Sandy Wood to recommend a book on how to pick out native plants for the backyard. One of her favorites is Gardening with Native Plants of the South by Sally Wasowski with Andy Wasowski. Plants are grouped by use (from evergreen trees over 15 feet tall to shady groundcovers). The photographs

are wonderful, and under the photo of each plant it gives the Latin and common name, and growing requirements. It also tells what wildlife the plant supports: Spicebush, for example, produces seeds eaten by 24 species of birds, and the plant itself is a larval plant for spicebush and tiger swallowtails.

Eastern Screech Owl photos by Dick Hayes

Supporting Our Songbirds

By Andy Wood

Spring is fast approaching. For hundreds of species of birds, this begins a time of intense and stressful migration. With shrinking natural habitats, pollution and other stressors taking their toll, we need to be more aware of steps we can take to help protect and support our bird population.

During migration, birds are frenetically flying in unfamiliar places as they search for food, shelter and places to rest and—eventually—nest. One of the most charming of our migratory birds is the Cedar Waxwing, a fawn-colored songbird that eats soft fruits, berries and insects. Flocks of waxwings travel hastily through our community in ragged groups, visiting feeding stations including holly and dogwood trees that hold the red berries they prefer. The waxwings attain speeds over 30 miles per hour between feeding sites, even through thick timber. These are high-strung birds that flinch and take flight at the slightest disturbance, such as a sudden loud noise. If the flock leaves a tree in frightened haste, the birds may not see potential threats such as fast-moving cars, or windows that appear to be open instead of solid. The result is collision, injury and very often, death for the delicate songbird.

According to researchers with the Fatal Light Awareness Program, FLAP (www.flap.org), bird collisions with windows and other human constructs, such as power lines and communication towers, may kill as many as 100 million to one billion birds each year in the United States alone. Glass windows act as a mirror for birds, reflecting an image of a nearby tree, and so fooling a flying bird into thinking it is heading to safety when instead it is on a collision course. A bird has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving this impact.

What can we do to reduce these collisions? Landscape architects can select only non-fruiting trees and shrubs for use along roadways and in urban settings. If a holly tree is desired, use only non-fruiting male hollies. Fruiting trees such as red cedar, wax myrtle, female hollies and dogwoods should be planted away from roads and large windows.

Studies show that bird feeders located just a few feet from a window may prevent bird-into-glass impacts because birds at the feeder do not have space to build speed and momentum after leaving the feeder. If your bird feeders are farther away, consider applying opaque decals or other hints to the glass to let

the birds know that newly-washed patio door is, in fact, solid.

Another safety tip to help our beleaguered birds: If you own a house cat, please keep it indoors. Worldwide, house cats are the single most efficient mammalian predator of songbirds. Even a well-fed cat will instinctively stalk and capture birds, making them a keenly adapted predator. The

American Bird Conservancy’s Cats Indoors program (www.abcbirds.org) has studied cat impacts on wildlife and while exact numbers are unknown, their research indicates that in the U.S. alone “…cats kill hundreds of millions of birds, and more than a billion small mammals, such as rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks, each year. Cats kill common species such as Cardinal, Blue Jay, and House Wren, as well as rare and endangered species such as Piping Plover, Florida Scrub-Jay, and California Least Tern.”

Often, it is the simplest action that helps protect environmental health and integrity of our community. Planting roadsides and urban areas responsibly and keeping our cats indoors can prevent the loss of millions of songbirds each year. Birds not only amuse us with their bright colors or feeding antics—they are an important link in our ecosystem. Their pest control alone makes them worth protecting—the insects and rodents they eat each year are ones a farmer doesn’t have to use chemical pesticides against, or suffer a reduced crop yield from. Birds are not just a pretty bunch of feathers; they are integral members of our communities and the wild habitats we share with them.

Springtime is here, and songbirds will soon be busy in a family way. As responsible stewards for the world around us, we must make decisions now that are designed to assure a healthy planet, replete with birdsong, for our children’s tomorrow. This includes our decisions about such minor-sounding things as managing house cats and landscaping our community.

Andy Wood is Education Director of Audubon North Carolina, and is author of Backyard Carolina. Proceeds from the book support Andy’s work to protect two critically endangered species of freshwater snails, both endemic to southeast North Carolina. His commentaries can be heard every other Monday on WHQR 91.3FM.

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And please mention you saw them in Cape Fear’s Going Green!

photo by Andy Wood

The Cedar Waxwing, or Bombycilla cedrorum, is one of many species of bird that migrate through our area in the Spring. You may hear their high, thin whistles before you see them. Visit www.allaboutbirds.org to hear audio recordings that will help you recognize their sound.

Attracting Caterpillars to Your Garden

habitat by Alistair Glen

“Attract caterpillars? Are you crazy!”, I can already hear some of you say. But I hope to change the way you regard these industrious and essential insects, by looking at the bigger picture and explaining the important role they play.

Many of us know that by planting milkweed we can attract Monarch butterflies, which lay their eggs on milkweed plants. From each egg a caterpillar hatches, eating milkweed leaves before retreating into a chrysalis. Around ten days later, a beautiful Monarch butterfly emerges. Life cycle complete—and we have in a small way helped the Monarch butterfly continue its journey of survival, a very satisfying achievement considering habitat loss and extinction of animal species is all around us. Which leads us to the most important reason to attract butterflies, moths, and other insects to our landscapes—not just for their beauty, but

for their ability to feed and sustain many other animals. For example, did you know that caterpillars and other insects are an excellent source of protein, and that most birds raise their young on caterpillars and other insects, not seeds and berries?

So, how can we attract caterpillars to feed other wildlife? First we have to look at our gardens in a new light, not one of “perfection” with blemish free leaves, but as a functioning ecosystem alive with diversity. Learn to tolerate a few chewed leaves. When you notice insect damage, instead of pulling out the pesticide bottle, take time to educate yourself on what’s causing that damage. Most of our native caterpillars feed almost exclusively on native plants, with which they have coevolved over thousands of years.

This is one reason why exotic plants have become so popular with landscapers and home gardeners: most insects avoid them. Planting exotics may help

make your landscape “pest resistant,” but it also creates an insect desert where hungry birds cannot find food to sustain themselves or their offspring. By planting native species in the garden we can attract many beneficial insects and create garden ecosystems that shelter a natural balance of insects and their predators.

So why is this all so important? One word can sum it up—biodiversity. We need a variety of animal and plant species to sustain a functioning ecosystem. Without a wide range of life, plants would not get pollinated and many species could become extinct. Plants and animals have evolved to be dependent on one another for pollination and food, so that when one disappears, the other soon follows. Consider how many acres are being developed in our area every year, and which species are being excluded from those acres due to the types of plants we choose for our landscapes. It will not take long before many of the insects, birds, and mammals dependent on native plants for food disappear forever from our rapidly urbanizing area.

For our future generations to see and appreciate the natural world as we do, it’s important that we learn to welcome all sorts of creatures into our surroundings. Maybe in time we will all look at plants, not in terms of how pest resistant they are, but in terms of how many insects they attract. So, before you go and squish that caterpillar, think of it as “bird food” and consider tolerating a little damage for the sake of other species who call your landscape home.

Intrigued? If you would like to learn more about the dynamic between insects, birds, and native plants, and the many benefits of attracting “bird food” into the garden, Glen highly recommends you read Bringing Nature Home, written by Douglas W. Tallamy (see p.4).

Alistair Glen owns Growing Wild Nursery, which specializes in nursery-propagated native plants of the Atlantic coastal plain. Learn more about plants native to our area on his web site: www growingwildnursery.net.

photo by Alistair Glen

The caterpillar here is a Phosphila turbulenta, a type of Noctuid moth. The caterpillar feeds only on Smilax species (Greenbrier). When planting larval plants in the hopes of attracting and supporting butterflies, expect for success to be accompanied by leaves with bites taken out of them.

2010 Striper Tournament Encourages Youth

Cape Fear River Watch (CFRW) holds a catch and release fishing tournament every year, as a fundraiser for the organization's work to protect the Cape Fear River. Teams of fishermen enjoy a day on the water, vying to catch the largest striped bass. All fish are measured, tagged, and released back into the river.

Since a goal of the tournament, and of CFRW’s Cape Fear River Striper Foundation, is the preservation and restoration of the

Cape Fear River fishery for generations to come, organizers wanted the tournament to reach out to and include the next generation of anglers. This year CFRW set aside one entry slot—including boat and guide—for the winner of a Junior Angler essay contest.

Junior Anglers (who would be between the ages of 12 and 16 on January 16, the day of the tournament) wishing to fish in the tournament were asked to sub -

mit a 500–1,000 word essay on the topic, “How a Strong and Healthy Cape Fear River Fishery Will Benefit the Entire Region.” The winning essay was to convey the angler’s passion for conservation-minded fishing as well as his or her understanding of the special characteristics of the Cape Fear River fishery.

Dustin Chambers, 14-year-old student at Isaac Bear Early College High School, wrote the winning essay, which appears below.

Winning Student Essay: How a Strong and Healthy Cape Fear River Fishery Will Benefit the Entire Region

by Dustin Chambers

In the last several years the Cape Fear River Fishery System has been changed by human interference. This has been anywhere from environmental reasons such as the fish population decrease, to the rise in commercial trade, both of which are affected by the lock and dam system along the Cape Fear River. If people as a community came together then we could improve the condition of our local fishery, thus making it stronger and healthier.

During 1910 the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) granted permission to begin the construction of the first lock and dam on the Cape Fear River. The first lock and dam was announced complete in 1915. The second lock and dam followed just two years later. The third and final lock and dam was constructed in 1935.

In the first years following the construction of the lock and dams the industries improved greatly. This was due to the lock and dams located along the Cape Fear River. The dams acted as an elevator for the barges carrying the goods. At one end of the dam there was a two-way opening. A barge would go into one of the doors and wait for it to close. When the door was shut, the water from the river would be pumped into the isolated section containing the barge. Once the water was leveled with the other side, the other door would

open allowing the commercial fleet to progress up the river. As this increase in commerce helped cities close to the river, the dams hurt the population of anadromous fish. Anadromous meaning fish that live in the ocean but swim upstream to spawn. Some of these Anadromous fish include the Striped bass, Sturgeon, and the American Shad. Studies once showed that only about 2/5 of the fish at each lock and dam were getting through. This meant fewer fish were making it to the spawning grounds up towards Fayetteville. This drastically lowered the population of all kinds of the fish, even putting the Sturgeon on the endangered list.

These same problems are noted by USACE. Over the years they have tried to increase the population of the fish without destroying the dam. The first attempt was in 1997 when a “Fish Ladder” was placed at the opposite end of the doors. The ladder functioned like a watermill, lifting the fish and flipping them over the dam. Unfortunately it didn’t pass an appropriate number of fish. They then looked at digging out a natural passage around the dams to allow the fish to swim upstream, but due to budgeting it was stopped. In 1995 the commercial traffic came to a halt. By 1995 the dams were mostly used by locals and their boats. This raised a lot of controversy about whether or not to destroy the dams to allow the fish to get to

the fisheries, considering the main purpose for the dams then was gone.

Those along the Cape Fear River need to know just how important the fisheries are to the local area. They provide tourism, income during the off season of crops, and local employment/involvement. Fisheries have a big environmental and industrial role in our region. As a community we need to strive to improve our local Fisheries.

photo by Valerie Robertson

Dustin Chambers and Art Brownell, the fisherman who sponsored Chambers’ junior angler tournament slot, attended the pre-tournament Banquet.

2010 Striper Tournament

Cape Fear River Watch held its 2nd Annual Invitational Striper Tournament January 16 and more than 30 fisherman turned up to spend the day on the water. Fortified by another of Cape Fear River Watch’s signature blueberry pancake breakfasts—this one right on the pier— the teams set out in search of Striped Bass.

Captains were correct in predicting the cold temperatures of the weeks leading up to the tournament would result in participants catching bigger fish, but fewer fish than during last year’s tournament. During the course of the day tournament participants caught twenty-six Striped Bass, all of which were measured, tagged and released. Robert Bongard and Kevin Bloom had the busiest day on the river tagging 10 of those Stripers with Captain Jamie Rushing. Duane Auman, fishing with Captain Jot Owens, caught the largest fish of the day—measuring 27¹/₂ inches. He and fishing partner Todd Byrd also took first place in the aggregate category, as their two largest fish totaled 53¹/₂ inches.

Dustin Chambers, who had earned his spot in the tournament by winning the

Junior Angler Essay Contest, spent the day fishing with Captain Cord Hieronymus. A crowd across the river gathered to see the boats come home, and was starting to wonder whether all boats would make it back to dock by the ending bell, as required. Chambers returned at the last minute, having caught, tagged and released a 24" fish just minutes before the official ending bell.

Photographs of the tournament and of the awards ceremony that followed can be seen at www.cfrw.us, along with photos of the pre-tournament banquet.

The Cape Fear River Watch Invitational Striper Tournament is an annual tournament to celebrate the striped bass of the Cape Fear River and to raise awareness of the decline of the once bountiful fishery on the river. The fishermen and guides involved with the tournament hope to restore not only striped bass but the total fishery—including shad, river herring, and sturgeon populations as well. The Cape Fear Fishery Restoration Foundation has been established to receive funds and implement the goals of the tournament.

2010 Striper Tournament Results

Most Fish Tagged

1st Place

Robert Bongard & Kevin Bloom with Captain Jamie Rushing

10 Tagged Stripers

Largest Fish

1st Place

Duane Auman with Captain Jot Owens

27 1/2"

2nd Place

Todd Byrd with Captain Jot Owens 26"

Aggregate Lenth (2 fish total)

1st Place

Duane Auman & Todd Byrd with Captain Jot Owens

53 1/2"

2nd Place

Phil Metz & Bruce McGranahan with Captain Stu Caulder 50"

Junior Angler

1st Place

Dustin Chambers with Captain Cord Hieronymus 24"

Planet Ocean Seminar Series

The Planet Ocean Seminar Series offers four lectures each academic year, featuring prominent speakers from UNCW faculty and other leading research institutions, from well-known environmental organizations, and from government agencies.

Next in the series (on April 13): Changing Climate, Changing Oceans: Ciguatera, Vibrios and Other Emerging Disease Risks, presented by J. Glenn Morris, Jr., M.D., M.P.H. & T.M., of the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute.

The Planet Ocean Seminar Series is free and open to the public. Due to limited seating at the UNCW Center for Marine Science, reservations are required. To make reservations or for further information, please call (910)962-2301.

Green Roof Planted on Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital

New Hanover Regional Medical Center has a new addition: thanks to Mott Landscaping, the Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital now boasts a green roof, to be used by pediatric patients and their families. In addition to the therapeutic value of having a safe, green outdoor space for patients to enjoy fresh air, the roof will provide the hospital with long-term environmental benefits and financial savings.

The vegetation and light-weight, shale-like growing medium will absorb rain water, keeping the rooftop from contributing to stormwater runoff. The garden will also filter and absorb pollutants, preventing airborne pollutants like acid rain from entering the storm drain system.

Green roofs typically provide an insulating barrier that reduces urban “heat island” effect. This allows a building to save

Greenspots

from ten to thirty percent or more on its ongoing heating and cooling costs, according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, association for the green roof infrastructure industry. The resulting diminished load on the HVAC equipment extends its useful lifetime. A typical green roof allows the roof membrane itself to last two or three times longer; since the garden itself receives the sunlight instead of the underlying roof, the roof is less subject to UV damage and the normal expansion and contraction of its waterproofing membranes.

The hospital’s garden is one of the first of its kind in the WIlmington area. It was designed by Steve Mott of Mott’s Landscaping, a locally-owned, LEED-certified company, tailored to the performance goals of the hospital. Learn more about rooftop gardens and see photos of other projects at www.mottlandscaping.com.

photo by Shannon Rippy

Steve Mott (left) and Dave Fortuna lower wood onto the hospital roof, to be used as the frame work for the green roof. A green roof is a contained green space atop a manmade structure.

photo by Shannon Rippy

The newly installed green roof atop the hospital is filled with 30-40 species of local native plants, which will require little or no maintenance once established. The growing medium is much lighter in weight than soil, and allows for good drainage; excess rainwater is stored for future garden use. Signage planned for the garden will allow children to learn about the plants they find in the garden.

green building

Wilmington Environmentalist Volunteers at Solar Decathlon

by Mary Tavares

Every two years, 20 collegiate teams from around the world assemble in Washington D.C. to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Similar to the Olympic Decathlon, the Solar Decathlon consists of 10 individual contests which evaluate the design and performance of solar-powered homes. The competitions include: architecture, market viability, engineering, lighting design, communications, comfort zone, hot water, appliances, home entertainment and net metering.

Leading up to the competition, students pour their ideas and efforts into constructing fully-operational houses that are then taken apart, transported and reassembled on the National Mall for the ten-day competition, held last year October 9th-13th and 15th-18th, 2009.

The houses are designed as zeroenergy homes, meaning their power generation must equal or exceed their consumption over the course of a year. The homes are state of the art in both design and function—providing all the amenities and comforts desired for daily living.

As a member of the local Cape Fear Green Building Alliance and an environ-

mental enthusiast, I had read about the event in previous years and decided to head to D.C. to absorb as much inspiration as possible over a two-day visit. After exiting the metro station, I resisted the youthful urge to run when I spotted the first solar installation. The event was hard to miss: “Decathlete Way” stretched along the Mall between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capital Building with educational exhibits set up all along a main Smithsonian thoroughfare. Despite the ironic lack of sunlight and uncomfortably cool conditions the event was well-attended and a steady flow of curious visitors weaved through the exhibits all day.

During a docent tour led by a Philadelphia architect I learned that netmetering was a new feature for the 2009 Decathlon. Net-metering connects a solar home to the power grid allowing the customer to sell their unused electricity back to the utility company. Most of the photovoltaic power generated was exported back to the utility.

In terms of technical aesthetic, my eye was first drawn to the Team Germany (Technische Universität Darmstadt) house. Aside from windows, the entire surface was covered with a beautiful form of photovoltaics—somewhat resembling shingles. The “SurPlusHome” was designed to produce 200% of the home’s energy needs with the side panels performing even in cloudy weather. In the end, Team Germany walked away as the overall winner and the champion in net-metering.

The second place winner, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign ranked

Above: Often the longest lines were those leading to the house of Team Germany. Their house is a two-story cube, using the maximum overall building dimensions allowed. Every available surface is covered with solar cells: an 11.1-kW photovoltaic (PV) system made of 40 single-crystal silicon panels on the roof and about 250 thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) panels on the sides were designed to produce 200% of the energy needed by the house. The CIGS component is slightly less efficient than the silicon but performs better in cloudy weather. The façade has highly insulating, custom vacuum insulation panels plus phase-change material in the drywall. Automated louver-covered windows block unwanted solar heat. Below: The Decathlon event is mirrored in the CIGS panels covering Team Germany’s house.

Team California’s solar-powered “Refract House” ranked in the top three of nearly every contest, and also excelled in some of the most prestigious subjective contests. It finished first in both the Architecture and Communications contests, achieved second in Engineering, and tied for third in Market Viability. It won third place for the Decathlon as a whole.

The deck in the foreground extends over a pool designed to capture rain water and filter greywater.

“Decathlete Way” provided a walkway between the two rows of houses competing in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

photo by Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

photo by Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

photo by Valerie Robertson

green building

alongside the edge of the home. Similar in appearance to many of the constructed wetlands here in Wilmington, the feature captures storm water runoff and also filters greywater (wastewater from laundry, sinks and showers) from within the home. Additionally, the area creates habitat since the native plants attract local birds and insects.

consistently high throughout the competition by striking a balance between traditional design and energy efficiency technology. After a student’s grandparents sold their farm for development, the team salvaged wood and other materials from a former barn and grain elevator for use as siding and decking material in their “Gable Home.” The entry also used a new form of bamboo laminate board, “lamboo,” which was developed jointly by the University of Illinois and an outside company. Because the home maximized passive solar design and quality insulation materials, the team’s mechanical engineers needed to develop only a small, energy efficient HVAC system to keep the home comfortable.

Ecology was the overall theme of Team California’s (Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts) third place “Refract House.” This entry illustrated seamless indoor-outdoor lifestyle while the building’s shape, a long bent rectangle, maximized light absorption and refraction, nearly eliminating the need for heating. Outreach was a major emphasis for the team and visitors were able to use their cell phones to text a code or scan a barcode and receive information about certain features while waiting in line to tour the home. Motivated by the 2000-2001 California Energy Crisis, a programmable controller and an iPhone application were designed for the home. The controller displays a breakdown of energy expenditures in real-time allowing the homeowners to make adjustments before the bill comes if they realize they have overspent. The iPhone applications allow the tenants to monitor and control appliances while away from the home. Most notable to me was the seasonal pond constructed

Other highlights of the tour included Team Spain’s inverted pyramid roof atop their “Black and White House.” Covered in both solar electric panels and solar hot water collectors, the rooftop pivoted on a ball and socket, tracking and collecting sunlight throughout the day and reflecting the excess into rooftop skylights. Rice University developed the ZEROW HOUSE, an affordable interpretation of a shot-gun house, and has since donated the building to a community in Houston’s Third Ward. Virginia Tech, the only team competing in both the Solar Decathlon 2009 and the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010, featured north and south removable walls of glass and shutters in their “Lumenhouse,” maximizing sunlight and creating a versatile indoor/outdoor central room.

I spent the second day as a volunteer in the workshop tent directing visitors; free workshops ranging from Energy Efficiency for the Homeowner to Green Jobs were offered throughout the competition. The temperature hung just below fifty degrees as northeast winds blew and rain drenched the mall. Amid these conditions, the crowds were willing to wait for up to an hour to tour the homes; likewise the welcoming students smiled as visitors tracked mud through their masterpieces. My final stop was the “Anatomy of a House,” an interactive model that demystified energy consumption and reduction within a home. Other museum-like exhibits demonstrated how photovoltaics and other green building technologies operate.

Overall, the event was a satisfying glimpse into the future. I realized that, like the Olympic Games, the pursuit of green

building technology draws out the best in human talent—from design and architecture to hospitality and communication. In short, the homeowner can have it all: a higher level of comfort and quality on a lower energy bill.

Mary Tavares is a recent graduate of UNCW’s Master in Environmental Studies Program. Her career goal is to act as an intermediary between science and the public promoting health, sustainability and a higher quality of life.

Photos and links to the web sites of past and current Decathlon teams are available at www.solardecathlon.gov.

photo courtesy of a helpful passerby Mary Tavares braved wet, cold weather to learn about the houses at the Solar Decathlon. Here she visits the “Anatomy of a House” model, on “Decathlete Way” at the midpoint of the event.

photo by Valerie Robertson

Visitors wait to view “Gable Home,” by the team from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

green building

By the Time I Get to Phoenix

by Ron Wilson

As occurs every year, I began spring semester 2009 with a new group of second year architectural technology students. The capstone course I teach involves student teams competing in the annual Natural Talent Design Competition sponsored by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). Every year this challenging class and event bring forth the best from my students.

This year’s project challenge was to design a nine-unit multi-family building that would include a group meeting area. The occupants would be recovering substance abusers who are mainstreaming back into a productive lifestyle. Part of the initial concept of Cape Fear Community College’s “Team Phoenix” was to use the building to inspire the residents and the surrounding neighborhood with an uplifting green example of what is possible with forethought and vision. The staggered, stepped form and butterfly roof resembles a flock of birds taking flight; this symbolizes breaking free of stereotypes and starting a new life. Hence, the mythical, colorful bird, “The Phoenix” became the metaphor and logo for their project.

This year, Team Phoenix placed first in the NC Sustainable Building Design Competition, winning over other teams from NC State, Appalachian State, East Carolina University, Duke and numerous others. As a result of this significant achievement, the team was the second CFCC team in a row to earn the right to advance to national competition.

The Phoenix Project incorporated the following green building strategies:

• Sustainable Site

• Water Efficiency

• Energy Conservation

• Sustainable Materials and Resources

• Indoor Environmental Quality

• Innovation and Design Process

• Awareness and Education

illustrations courtesy of Team Phoenix The staggered layout of the Phoenix design allows more sunlight to enter each unit. See the online version of this article to view additional storyboards.

• Universal Design

• Green/Energy Certifications

The Natural Talent National Design Competition is hosted each year by USGBC at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. This year the conference host city was Phoenix, Arizona.

It was particularly rewarding for CFCC to be awarded second place nationally, as they were the only community college that qualified to compete at the national level. The first place winner was Team Grow Harlem, a group of young professionals from a New York City architectural firm, whose winning design was an urban green upfit project in Harlem.

Team Phoenix members are Eli Barrett, Larry Carr, Patrick Gorham and Josh Lee with Ron Wilson, Architect and Faculty Advisor. USGBC’s 2010 Natural Design Competition, in partnership with Salvation Army’s EnviRenew Initiative, will focus its sights on the rebuilding effort in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Architect Ron Wilson is Program Director of the Architectural Technology Program at Cape Fear Community College. Learn more about the Architectural Program at www. cfcc.org.

Team Phoenix was 2009 National 2nd Place Winner in the USGBC’s Natural Talent Design Competition. From left: Patrick Gorham, Larry Carr, Ron Wilson (Faculty), Eli Barrett, Josh Lee.

greening your business Going Green Can Keep You Out of the Red

by Rachel Lawrence

Earlier this year, the International Nanny Association (INA), of which I am a Board of Directors member, decided to become a green organization. Through the process of making the switch, I realized that “greening” your organization is not only good for the environment, it is good for the bottom line as well. You may be asking yourself why your organization should “go green,” and what it might entail. Using the example of the INA’s process may shed some light on why greening makes sense and how to implement these changes in your business.

Why switch?

We all know that for environmental reasons, going green is a must, but are there reasons it makes good business sense? Yes. Following environmentallysound practices not only reduces consumption of materials, but also minimizes consumption of that ever-dwindling resource: money. In today’s tough economic times, it makes sense for organizations to spend their money wisely, and these little changes can add up to a big difference.

INA was successful in cutting costs by changing the way they processed printings and mailings. We transferred printed materials to pdf documents and made them available via the web site. We made our new publication, “Beyond Parenting Basics,” available by printing on demand. Both measures saved money for the INA; these types of changes could easily be integrated into all types of businesses. It is more convenient for clients or members of any business or association to be able to access important material easily and quickly, and the internet is a great tool for this.

Other changes included transferring services such as fax/phone lines, and minimizing office space. By switching to an internet-based fax service, we eliminated the cost of an additional phone line plus the cost of electricity to operate a fax machine day and night. This switch also allows clients and employees to retrieve faxes from any computer in the world.

The same is true for on-line file storage, making it possible for members to access needed documents from their home office or while away on business. This convenience helps make it possible to minimize, or even eliminate, the need for a large office, allowing the organization to use a smaller, less expensive office space, or to eliminate it all together if members and employees telecommute.

How to make the switch.

While some aspects of a switch to green may be made easily and immediately, others may need to be made over time, so setting up an action plan will make for a smooth transition. Start with a list of the things that can be done immediately, such as recycling paper, converting your printed newsletter to an e-newsletter, and sending out your standard mailings via e-mail. Then, make a list of intermediate transitions, such as setting up on-demand printing of larger documents, designing direct deposit and e-commerce capabilities for your accounting transactions, and entering and storing files online. Finally, create a list of long-term transitions, such as scaling back on office space, and switching to an e-mail based fax service—these may require you to wait for your current contracts to expire.

At the end of the switch, you will not only see a major

consumption of resources, you should see a reduction in your expenses. The INA realized a savings of nearly $16,000 last year. I’ll bet with some planning and creative execution you could have the same results!

Rachel Lawrence is a member of the INA Board of Directors (www.nanny.org) and President of Wilmington Nanny Agency LLC (www.WilmingtonNanny.com).

The INA is a nonprofit organization, that serves nannies, families, nanny agencies, and industry related businesses, while working to professionalize the industry by setting high standards for industry professionals, and educating parents about the benefits of hiring a qualified nanny to care for their children.

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Wilmington Residents Concerned with Industrial Food System Return Home from Convention Ready to Act

by Nicole Carpenter

The second annual Southeast Youth Food Activist Summit was held at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (UNC) on February 5-7, 2010. The event was hosted by the nationwide non-profit group Real Food Challenge, with help from regional student groups including UNC’s food activist group FLO (Fair Trade, Local, Organic) and Virginia Tech’s Sustainable Food Corps. Despite pouring rain and even a bit of snow, over 150 young activists from twelve southeastern states convened in Chapel Hill for a weekend of seminars, panel discussions, peer networking, leadership workshops, and community dinners. A dozen Wilmingtonians attended, most of them active members of local groups such as the UNCW Environmental Concerns Organization, Sustainable Wilmington and Feast on the Southeast.

The goal of the Southeast Youth Food Activist Summit (SYFAS) is to help food activists and student leaders form and strengthen peer networks in order to build coalitions on campus, in local communities, and across the region to support a sustainable food system. It also serves as a place where activists can examine social inequities that exist in the nation’s current food system and develop strategies for creating equal access to safe, affordable, nutritious “real food.” The Real Food Challenge (RFC) claims in its literature that our current food system is unjust, exploitative, damaging to our natural resources,

Learn

Real Food Challenge

http://realfoodchallenge.org

UNCW Environmental Concerns Organization http://uncweco.com

Feast on the Southeast

http://feastsoutheastnc.org

Food Not Bombs http://www.myspace. com/beyourownherofest

Castle Street Community Gardens

http://www.meetup.com/seacc-ilm or search name on facebook

and lacking universal “food security” and equal access. The RFC represents students on over 300 college campuses, calling for their institutions to invest $1 billion of the “roughly $5 billion per year” spent on campus food in a “real food economy,” one they define as “nourish[ing] consumers, producers, communities, and the earth.”

Real Food Challenge regional organizer Elena Dulys noted that the attendance at this year’s SYFAS had “more than doubled from last year,” marking a growing momen-

Some of the 150 young food activists attending SYFAS paused for a photo at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Attendees from the Wilmington area included Darlene Azarmi, Christina Benavides, Nicole Carpenter, Vanessa Haugh, Michael and Lauren Hazlett, Chloe Lloyd, Kathryn Sparrow, Paige Woodruff and Meg Young.

tum of the food activist movement in the Southeast. Summit attendees share a concern that the state of the nation’s food system damages the environment and fosters food insecurity, hunger, and unjust labor practices. In order for them to achieve their goals of rectifying these issues, the public needs to be aware that these problems exist in the first place. The food system isn’t going to change unless people demand change. Recent films, such as King Corn and Academy Award nominated Food, Inc., are slowly exposing the food industry’s questionable practices, aiding the spread of this movement.

Wilmington attendees Lauren Hazlett and her brother Michael came home from the conference motivated to take action. “I feel energized and empowered to achieve the goals I set for myself as a youth committee member of the Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program (Feast on the Southeast)” says Lauren. She hopes to encourage youth advocacy and activism in the local food system through education, social networking and involvement. The Hazletts are also helping cultivate a garden at the Tidal Creek Co-op on Oleander Drive, a satellite of the Castle Street Community Garden. At a third garden, on the corner of 5th and Wooster Streets, volunteers plan to build a greenhouse where they can grow fresh produce

for Food Not Bombs, a community group that collects and prepares food, and then gives it out to those in need every Sunday. Food Not Bombs is excited to be collaborating with the Community Gardens. Gardening helps people better understand where their food is coming from and how much work is needed to produce it. It also allows people to experiment and learn the skills and knowledge needed to grow gardens of their own. Finally, it provides some people with consistent access to fresh, nutritious food that they might not be able to afford. Community gardens are an excellent way to stimulate a change in the food economy at the local level, the grassroots.

Nicole Carpenter recently graduated cum laude from UNCW’s Environmental Science program. She is involved with the Environmental Concerns Organization, the Castle Street community gardens, and the local youth activist group Be Your Own Hero. She can be reached by email at nicolecarpenter86@gmail.com.

Carpenter attended this year’s SYFAS and was especially moved to hear about the success of programs like SEEDS and Crop Mob that have flourished in the Raleigh/Durham area. “I hope that soon Wilmington activists will be able to return to SYFAS with their own success stories.”

photo courtesy of Real Food Challenge

food and farming

Community Supported Agriculture

Community supported agriculture, or CSA, is a food delivery system whereby subscribers prepay for a “share” of an individual farmer’s produce. Typically, there is a specified season, and boxes of produce are delivered weekly to a single location for subscribers to pick up. Consumers benefit from buying fresh food from a nearby farmer; the prepayment received by the farmer allows her or him to judge how much to plant, and helps pay for seeds and labor during the growing season.

Sybil Mitchell Simmons reports that Veggies by the Sea is selling CSA shares. Deliveries start the first weeks of April, and locations are to be determined. For $300 you will receive 13 weeks of fresh produce cultivated by Simmons and sons Bryan and Justin. Simmons encourages those who need smaller portions to split their box with a partner. For more information call her at (910)754-8998 or (910)754-8954.

Herbie Cottle, owner of Cottle Organics in Rose Hill, has a few more subscriptions available for the 2010 season. For $300, beginning mid-April, you receive 12 weekly boxes of produce,

which can be picked up at Progressive Gardens in Wilmington (on Wednesdays) or at The Strawberry Shed in Rose Hill (Tuesdays). Sign up with Progressive Gardens at (910)395-1156 or call Cottle at (910)289-5034.

First “Feast on the Southeast”

Farmer-Chef Dinner

Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program (SENCFS) sponsored its first “Feast on the Southeast” Farmer-Chef Dinner on February 21 at the new Catch Restaurant on Market Street. The purpose of the dinner was to bring local farmers and local chefs together in an effort to develop lasting business relationships between the two groups. There was great representation on both sides; farmers producing a wide-range of products and chefs from not only restaurants, but catering and retail food businesses, as well. Participants dined on culinary creations prepared by area chefs using locally grown foods, donated by many of the farmers. The event provided a forum for farmers and chefs to network, share ideas and form partnerships. This was the first of many dinners and a major step towards SENCFS’s goal of creating a sustainable local food system and helping strengthen the local economy. For more information on SENCFS see www.feastsoutheastnc.org.

photo by Raven Bruno Chefs Keith Rhodes (of Catch on Market) and Steve Hotz (of Siena’s Trattoria at Masonboro Commons) (center) oversee the array of displayed food.

photo by Valerie Robertson

Farmer Sybil Mitchell Simmons (Veggies by the Sea in Supply) selects produce for attendees of her Open Field Day.

food and farming

Castle Street Community Garden Expands Reach

After winter activities to reshape the gardens, Castle Street Community Garden has started planting for the spring and invites community members to join them. Experienced gardeners and those who would like to learn how are welcome to

participate. Weekly gardening sessions are scheduled for Sunday afternoons from 3 to 5p.m., supplemented by additional work sessions and—through the summer—opportunities to help with daily watering. No experience is needed.

Castle Street Community Garden is a community garden located in downtown Wilmington, NC, next door to 317 Castle Street. Founded in February of 2009 by herbalist Kathryn Sisler, the garden continues to expand in its second season. Castle Street Community Garden is funded by Southeastern Alliance for Community Change, and regulars to the garden are asked to pay a small membership fee of $15 to $30, on a sliding scale, to join SEACC and the garden; these funds help defray garden costs.

The garden is used to grow vegetables and herbs, including medicinal herbs. Sisler teaches classes on-site on the various uses of herbs.

In addition to its original site on Castle Street, organizers are now supervising the community garden next door to Tidal Creek Co-op, on Oleander Drive. They have also partnered with another community

garden, located at 5th Avenue and Wooster Streets, where they serve as a resource for tools and materials.

Melvin Milbourne is now Assistant Project

Manager for Castle Street Community Garden. Milbourne has a strong background in organic and natural gardening; he conceived, found materials for, and built the new bamboo greenhouse at the Castle Street Community Garden.

For more information about this year’s activities contact project manager Kathryn Sisler at kathryn.sisler@gmail.com or visit www.meetup.com/seacc-ilm or search for “Castle Street Community Garden” on Facebook.

Photo by Valerie Robertson Kathryn Sisler harvests a few late winter carrots while Rona thinks profound thoughts. In the background is the children’s square-foot-gardening garden, still under cover against the winter cold.

Photo by Valerie Robertson Melvin Milbourne (left) and Cole Crabtree begin assembly of the bamboo structure for the new greenhouse at Castle Street Community Garden. The floor was constructed of used pallets.

your ecological house™ Glocalization

by Skip Wenz

I call it the “glocal economy.” By that I mean the blended global and local economies in which we are all embedded.

Some of the products we consume are produced locally, and the money we pay for them circulates locally. This benefits our own communities.

Most of the products we consume are produced elsewhere, increasingly in foreign countries. While expenditures for foreign goods confer some benefits on those who produce them, they mostly enrich the top management of transnational corporations and the international financiers who invest in them.

As more of society’s wealth is transferred to these “globalizers,” less is available for everyone else. There is no motivation for those who are benefiting from this trend to change its direction, so it is up to rest of us to look out for ourselves—or, more effectively, to look out for one another.

One way to resist globalization is through “localization”—strengthening our local economies. I espouse localization, but before I discuss some specific steps we can take, I want to interject a note of caution: localization is tricky business.

External trade, the exchange of currency for goods from other locales, allows us to enjoy a much higher standard of living than we could have if we were reliant entirely on local production. Would you do without a computer or medicines? These cannot be manufactured in every small town.

Then there’s the economics of localization. In my town in Oregon, the national-chain grocery store Trader Joe’s, which is owned in Germany, sells Tom’s of Maine toothpaste for about $3.50 per tube. Our local coop grocery store sells it for about $7.00. While I support the coop, and might pay the higher price to support a local manufacturer, Tom’s toothpaste is owned in . . . Maine.

If I want to support my local economy, I can recycle the money I save buying toothpaste at Trader Joe’s into tips for a local who, ironically, serves me a cup of Columbian coffee.

Getting localization right entails more than going on automatic and supporting only local businesses (which is, in fact, impossible). We can only counterbalance our overly globalized economy by creating an intelligently glocalized economy—consuming selectively and modestly from the global marketplace while strengthening local economies wherever possible.

Begin by consuming far fewer imported manufactured goods, and if possible do not go into debt to purchase them. Debt is slavery, or at least indentured servitude. Goods acquired on credit give you the illusory trappings of wealth while impoverishing you and making others rich.

Along with consuming less and eschewing debt, you can transfer wealth from the globalized economy to your community by removing your money from large national and transnational banks and putting it into local banks—especially credit unions which are not-for-profit and usually invest your savings locally.

Another way to build community wealth is to create or participate in a local currency system. It is perfectly legal for local communities to issue and exchange their own currency, so long as it does not resemble U.S. Treasury bills. Local currency, also called “scrip,” can be exchanged for goods and services just like “regular” money, but it can only be spent in the local community where individuals and businesses have agreed to accept it.

Those accepting scrip can control how much they take in based on how much they think they can spend. For example, a grocery store might accept up to $10 worth of scrip for each purchase, collecting the balance of the receipt in dollars. The store can then exchange its scrip for local farm produce or services such as accounting or carpentry. Communities from Ithaca, New York to Corvallis, Oregon

have issued scrip in recent years to help relieve cash shortfalls and build their local economies. To learn more, visit the E.F. Schumacher Society’s web site: www.smallisbeautiful.org.

The practices that strengthen local economies, such as consuming fewer imported manufactured goods and buying local produce, tend to benefit the environment by reducing packaging and transportation impacts.

To “glocalize” is to seek a healthy balance between the macro economy and that of your local community. For now, that means promoting the local economy at your ecological house.

© Philip S. Wenz, 2009 Philip S. (Skip) Wenz is a freelance writer specializing in ecological design issues. He was a general contractor, residential designer, teacher and writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the early 1990s he founded, and for ten years directed, the Ecological Design Program at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture. He also teaches “Creating Your Ecological House” at Berkeley’s Building Education Center and wrote the book, Adding to a House (Taunton Press, 1995). Skip now lives with his wife, Pam, in Corvallis, Oregon and divides his time between various writing projects and retrofitting his older home to be more environmentally friendly.

The Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program

SENCFS is a BUY LOCAL economic development project. We connect local farmers with local buyers, helping to strengthen the local economy & educate consumers on the many important reasons to BUY LOCAL!

business news

Group to Pursue Green Business Innovation Center for Wilmington

Grant Program Drives Entrepreneurial, Job-Creating Ventures Statewide

The Cape Fear Economic Development Council (CFEDC) announced it has been selected by the North Carolina Office of Science & Technology to submit a full proposal to their 2010 solicitation, one of only a few chosen for the next stage from among hundreds of applicants, according to Paul Shannon, Green Business Funds Administrator at the N.C. Energy Office.

At stake now is a sizable grant that would help launch the Green Business Innovation Center, to be based in downtown Wilmington, the brainchild of founding CFEDC members who collaborated in developing the project. The innovation center is just one of many initiatives on the drawing board for the upstart nonprofit, which is focused on 21st century economic development and jobs creation for Greater Wilmington.

CFEDC is an all-volunteer endeavor promoting innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship as essential to successful local economic growth, regional competitiveness, and jobs and income generation. Following the lead of the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s “Cape Fear Future” initiative, the group puts a high priority on preserving the region’s economic vitality both today and in the future.

“We are pleased to have been recognized for the creativity of our proposal, which emphasized the opportunity to leverage private sector investments and entrepreneurial growth here in the Cape Fear Region, while promoting environmentally conscious clean technology and renewable energy products,” said Lloyd Smith, President of CFEDC. “We hope to showcase everything from the exciting innovations at GE Nuclear all the way to the solar, wind, and other sustainable offerings of local start-ups,” said Smith. Smith also noted that partnerships are currently being explored

with key regional business leaders about the Center.

The Green Business Fund encourages the development and commercialization of promising new technologies. “Gov. Bev Perdue has made fostering the development of innovative commercial technologies, products and services a priority to make North Carolina a national leader in the green economy,” said Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco. “This fund helps our state’s entrepreneurs create and market the cutting-edge technologies we need to fuel our state’s future and meet that priority.”

Local “Buy Local” Efforts Gain Steam

Armed with social media, two area grassroots groups are working to promote local business and keep revenue dollars in their own communities.

Based in Wilmington, Buy Local ILM is a grassroots organization aimed at reminding consumers of the importance of purchasing locally manufactured goods and patronizing locally owned businesses throughout the Greater Wilmington area. Formed in October 2009, Buy Local ILM has successfully utilized social media for making its cause known.

It didn’t take long for the word to spread. Founding member Gayle Tabor, co-owner of Glynne’s Soaps, explained, “People and businesses are eager to help us promote our campaign within their own networks.” Facebook fans numbered more than 1600 by mid-March.

Why buy local? Patronizing local businesses keeps more money in your home community. It also nurtures the local economy and ensures the unique store in your neighborhood is able to thrive.

In Southport, owners of small local businesses are participating in a national initiative called The 3/50 Project as a way to promote their local economy. A national effort, the 3/50 Project supports inde -

pendent, locally owned enterprises by asking consumers to pick three favorite local businesses and commit to spending a total of $50 combined at the locations each month. Their slogan: “Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.”

To learn more about the 3/50 project, visit http://the350project.net.

If you’re shopping in Wilmington, look for the blue sign in business windows to identify local businesses that are part of the campaign. Spread the word by becoming a fan on Facebook (www.facebook. com/buylocalilm) or following on Twitter (http://twitter.com/buylocalilm). Contact Gayle Tabor at (910)470-8693 or gayletabor@gmail.com if you want your business to be involved.

No matter where you live—whether there’s a program in place or not—consider thinking of three businesses you’d miss if they were to go away. As the web site for The 3/50 project suggests, just by choosing where you spend your money, you may be able to save your local economy... three stores at a time.

business news

How to Green Your Rental Property

Whether you’re a renter or a homeowner, come learn how you can substantially reduce your footprint on the local environment by making sustainable, cost-effective choices in your home. Kyle Davies will offer tips for making your rental property greener, on Wednesday, April 21. This event will be sponsored by Cape Fear Green Building Alliance, and scheduled as part of the UNCW Sustainability Committee’s Sustainability Week on campus, April 19–24.

The session will be held from 6:00-8:00p.m. at UNCW’s Fisher Student Center. Doors will open at 5:30pm for networking. For more information, please call Kyle Davies at (919)412-4557 or email him at Kyle.N.Davies@gmail.com.

Bicycle Delivery Available Downtown

Seth Parham has started an all purpose delivery business for

downtown Wilmington, powered entirely by pedal-powered vehicles. His web site, www. staythereillbringittoyou.com, almost says it all. His company, Downtown Delivers, travels between Wilmington’s two bridges and out as far as 17th Street, between the hours of 8 and 3, weekdays. (910)465-4117.

Green Social Returns

With the advent of warmer weather, Cape Fear Green Building Alliance is resuming its monthly “Green Social,” held the last Thursday of the month starting April 29, 2010. Come enjoy the rooftop and meet with people who share an interest in things green. Location: Reel Cafe rooftop, 100 So. Front Street, Wilmington.

Green Drinks at Kefi

Cape Fear Green Drinks, our local version of an event enjoyed by green-minded folks in 622 cities worldwide, is held the second Thursday of each month, at Kefi, 2012 Eastwood Road, Wilmington. The event

North Carolina Science Festival

The first North Carolina Science Festival will be held September 11 through 26, 2010. This is a wonderful opportunity to share information about your own environmental education programs taking place during the festival dates.

The goal of the Festival is to get more North Carolinians engaged in science, by highlighting hands-on activities, science talks, exhibits, nature experiences, lab tours and other science-related activities taking place across the state. Activities for children and adults will be featured. Festival planners are also considering special ways to engage schoolchildren in classrooms across the state.

“We would love to feature activities, exhibit openings, teacher trainings, and other events in the Festival program, says Festival Coordinator Julie Rhodes. “Just let us know about things you’re already planning to do—you don’t have to plan something ‘special’ just for the Festival.” Your event will get advertised on the Festival website and in print publications that will be disseminated across the state as the Festival approaches. All you have to do is register your event(s) on the Festival web site: www. ncsciencefestival.org. For more information email Julie Rhodes at jcrhodes@email.unc.edu or call (919)962-5842.

offers a casual place to network and a monthly speaker. Coming up: April 8—oyster shell recycling; May 13—rain barrels and rain gardens. For details email Paul Pascarosa at cppascarosa@gba-inc.com.

Sustainable Energy Strategies for a Green Economy

April’s monthly meeting of the Cape Fear Green Building Alliance will be a panel discussion on Sustainable Energy Strategies for a Green Economy. Featured panelists will be Larry E. Shirley, Director of the Green Economy, N.C. Department of Commerce and N.C. Green Business Fund Grant award partners Joy Allen, Executive Director of CFGBA; Skye Dunning, Building Performance Specialists; JC Skane, Executive Director of W.A.R.M.; and Elaine Jack, Sapona Green Building Center.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, April 14, from 7–9p.m. at the Balcony on Dock Street, downtown Wilmington. Visitors are welcome; the doors open for networking at 6:30.

Progressive Gardens Radio Show

Evan Folds now has a thirtyminute radio show Saturday mornings at 9:30. Listen at WAAV 930AM, and call in with your gardening questions.

Sambuca Relocates

Sambuca is moving to 3304 Wrightsville Avene. Visit them the week of April 5–10 as they celebrate their Grand Opening.

Green Enterprise Resource Summit

Join Congressman Mike McIntyre at 10:00a.m. on April 19 for a two-hour Green Enterprise Resource Summit. Representatives from multiple federal and state agencies will discuss both federal and state resources that can help green businesses and creation of green jobs. Cape Fear Community College North Campus, 4500 Blue Clay Road, Castle Hayne. Email tony.mcewen@mail.house. gov for details.

This colorfast beeswax medium is free of all toxic chemicals used in traditional mediums.

mountain biking

IMBA Crew Visits, Teaches Trailbuilding Techniques

by Austin Fenwick

Welcome to New Hanover County, home of the beach and…mountain biking??? While many may not know it, New Hanover County houses a bustling mountain bike community. We mountain bikers have a slew of area trails to choose from, but call the Blue Clay Bike Park in Castle Hayne home. Here, we have built six miles of trail on a former landfill—land that few would think suitable for biking.

It was because of this trail that we were able to get a special treat for the Halloween weekend. The International Mountain

Biking Association (IMBA) sent their highly touted “Trail Care Crew” to Wilmington to help us learn more about sustainable trail building. The duo of Kelly and Collins Bishop are one of two such crews that travel North America teaching mountain bikers how to build sustainable trails.

During the weekend, Kelly and Collins led a “Club Care” workshop in which they gave suggestions on how to start and maintain a local mountain biking organization. Then they led a three-hour class on sustainable trail building, covering topics ranging from sustainable trail design to

the problems of drainage and rockwork on the trail.

In the afternoon Kelly and Collins took us out to the Blue Clay Bike Park to practice what we had learned. After another three hours of work, the 30 volunteers were able to remove standing water from portions of the trail system and improve the drainage system of other portions.

Even with this day of work, Blue Clay Bike Park still has a lot of work yet to be done. Because portions of it are built on what was previously a landfill, trail builders face challenges such as seepage from the landfill as well as severe erosion and drainage problems on the trail. Thanks to this visit from Kerry and Collins of the IMBA, we mountain bikers have the knowledge and experience to address these problems and build more sustainable trails in the future. Visit the Blue Clay Bike Park soon to see what we have done!

For more information on Mountain Biking in the Cape Fear area please visit: www. sirbikesalot.com and www.capefearcyclists. org and http://www.sorba.org

For more information on Kerry, Collins, and the IMBA Trail Care Crew see: www.imba.com.

June 10 is the deadline for our Summer 2010 issue

Editor@goinggreenpublications.com or call (910)547-4390

Life in Trolldom

photo by Erol Caglarcan

Local mountain bike enthusiasts worked for the afternoon to improve Blue Clay Bike Park, using techniques learned from the visiting International Mountain Biking Association team.

STORMWATER POLLUTANTS FIND THEIR WAY INTO WHERE WE SWIM, WHAT WE DRINK AND WHERE WE FISH. Everything that goes into our storm drains—grass clippings, soap, pesticides, pet waste, whatever—makes its way straight into our streams. Stormwater pollution is our biggest source of water pollution. It all adds up. It all comes back. And you’re the solution, now that you know where it goes. Find out more today. Visit www.wilmingtonnc.gov/stormwater.

www.WilmingtonNC.gov/Stormwater

Bradley Creek Elementary Expands Recycling Program

Bradley Creek Elementary School began a full recycling program this February with the help of Green Coast Recycling.

At the time, the school’s existing recycling—which was through the New Hanover County School board—only allowed for two outdoor recycling bins. This was not enough and the school was not able to recycle ANY paper!

The students and staff reached out to Bradley Creek’s Green Team Representative, Kim Shovlin. (The New Hanover County PTA has put into place a “Green Team” made up of representatives from each school; the goal is to assist schools with “green” projects and to help educate students about the important role these play in our future.)

“The students came to me and asked how they could get more recycling bins and increase the school’s recycling,” Shovlin explained. “We did not realize that the schools in New Hanover County that

have great recycling programs, actually pay for those services out of PTA fundraisers and grants.”

Recycle March 27

The Greater Wilmington Recycle Revival is a celebration of everything second-hand, recycled, and environmentally friendly that contributes to an overall healthy and sustainable community. This free event centers around a massive community yard sale that will provide spring cleaning and fundraising opportunities to area families, civic groups, clubs and churches. It will also feature artists and crafters that work in recycled or earth friendly materials, a farmer’s market sneak preview, local products and food, area “green” businesses, music, vintage and second-hand fashion, and more. This event is open to anyone in the Greater Wilmington / Cape Fear Region, including surrounding counties! Applications are still be accepted for the Community Yard Sale, the Green Living Showcase and the Handmade Recycled Arts Fair; log on to www.greatergoodwilmington. com for information!

Green Coast Recycling saved the Day! Green Coast recycling is a local business that is committed to recycling 100% of separated materials; they are also dedicated to community service and education. Bradley Creek reached out to Green Coast’s owner, Clifton Cash, for some help with the school’s recycling. Green Coast came in and offered to finish out the year while the school got together their funding for next year’s recycling program.

Mrs. Shovlin spoke for the school’s excitement, “ We could not believe it! The school is now recycling 100% and the kids are so excited to see the amount of recycling that goes out every week and the reduction in garbage! We are very grateful to Green Coast and their dedication to the sustainability and education of this community.”

photo by Kim Shovlin

Bradley Creek students show their enthusiasm for their new recycling program. From left: Nathan, Nathan, Sutton, Julia, Julia, Saelar, Patrick.