Washingtonian’s Ecofriendly Guide to Washington

Emily over at the Washingtonian forwarded this great resource to me: Go Green!.

-greenDCgirl

 

Katoomba Conference 2008 and Ecosystem Services

A great colleague of mine recently started a more formal blog covering developments in ecosystem services marketplace development or payments for ecosystem services (PES). I will also occasionally be providing commentary for her - for access to that please click here: EnvironmentalMarkets.

Most recently, a bunch of us attended the Katoomba Conference this past week at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History-so look out for commentary on a surprise visit from John Kerry and notes about the challenges of the politics in protecting the Amazon mentioned by Governor Blairo Maggi and former Secretary for the Ministry of Environment Mary Helena Allegretti-both of Brazil.

-greenDCgirl

 

A Boring But Easy Way to Help: Cloth Napkins

I’ve been forgetting that my main aim with this blog was to help others live a more green life. Instead I’ve been going off on random tangents that are related but not necessarily helpful…Beltwoods was lovely-but I’m not sure that a rush of visitors to that swath of virgin forestland would do the woodpeckers much good-unless you’re a millionaire who after seeing it, was inspired enough to go buy a parcel of land to protect.

In any case, there are a couple things I’ve been doing in my daily life to keep my footprint to a minimum. As many of my colleagues do, I keep a Nalgene/aluminum bottle at work to prevent the usage of disposable plastic cups and I keep a sponge and bottle of dish detergent in my cubicle along with some dishes so as not to rely on the paper/Styrofoam dishes when heating up my lunches. However, I recently realized that I use a ton of napkins-mostly because I’m a bit of a klutz and also because I’m chronically worried that I’ll go to a meeting with a glob of food stuck on my face. So I recently grabbed a couple cheap and ugly handkerchiefs and even accidentally ‘borrowed’ a real cloth napkin from a restaurant and I keep them in my desk at work (for the creative types out there- you can even make your own personalized napkins with old clothes that you no longer wear or from cool fabrics at textile stores). When lunch time arrives, I place a napkin over my lap and eat like the civilized lady I am. With three or four cloth napkins at my disposal- I take them home every two weeks or so to give them a wash and it’s not an inconvenience at all; the main trick is to remember!

And look- it’s just about time for lunch.

-greenDCgirl

 

Beltwoods…

Man oh man. I’ve been so busy lately I never had the chance to post about my visit to Beltwoods- a tiny swath of virgin forest in Maryland that’s not too far from DC (30 minute drive?).

Anywho- I will say I had a blast observing all the mayapples scattered underneath the trees and I saw my first red-headed woodpecker.

I won’t be able to give this experience justice today- but here are some pictures to share:

Enjoy!

-greenDCgirl

 

My Fave Blog: No Impact Man

Out of all the green blogs out there, this one is by far my favorite- mainly because this person is displaying- for the world, but especially for NYCers - how EXACTLY to go green- and how extreme you can get.

“The problem: 350.

One great solution: 350.org.

350. I should write it 350 times. We should all write it 350 times. Everyone on the earth should get out a pen, write down the number 350, and send it to their head of state. 350 times.

Now let me explain.

For the next two or three years, the nations of the world are supposed to be negotiating a successor treaty to the Kyoto Accord, the current international treaty on reducing the emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. In December 2009, heads of state will converge in Copenhagen to sign a new treaty that would forge a new international agreement on how we, as a planet, can limit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to a level that would keep us safe from global warming’s worst effects.

What is that level? How much carbon dioxide can our planet safely withstand?

350. As in parts per million (ppm).”

To read more, go to: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/.

And I promise to stop being lazy and post a blog myself soon- pictures of Beltwoods in Maryland coming up!

Cheers,

greenDCgirl

 

Earty Day Update - Green Technology & Buildings Bloom on the National Mall

4th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo and People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Awards

WHO:
Stephen L. Johnson, EPA Administrator (speaking Monday, 9 am - 9:30 am)
George Gray, Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Research and Development
More than 50 Student Design Teams and 40 Exhibitors

WHEN:
Sunday, April 20 - from noon to 5 pm
Monday, April 21 - from 9 am to 5 pm
Tuesday, April 22 - Earth Day - from 9 am to 3 pm

WHERE:
National Mall between Constitution and Independence Avenues and 3rd and 4th Streets, N.W.
(Federal Triangle Metro stop - Orange and Blue Lines)

On April 20–22, 2008, EPA will hold the National Sustainable Design Expo which showcases new sustainable or “green” technologies. More than 50 college teams from across the country will exhibit their innovative solutions for an environmentally sustainable future, including: generating wind power from kites, solar panels made from plant chlorophyll, producing plastic from wastewater, green parking lots near floodplains to reduce runoff, new technologies to provide clean drinking water to developing nations, and much more!

On Monday morning, Administrator Stephen L. Johnson will announce EPA’s new strategic approach to green building, which aims to help the agency facilitate mainstream adoption of effective green building practices.

The Expo is also the showcase for EPA’s Annual P3 – People, Prosperity, and the Planet – Award Competition. Previous P3 winners have taken their innovations to new levels including starting successful businesses. This is a great opportunity not only for an Earth Day story, but to tell your readers about new green technologies.

More information about the P3 event: http://www.epa.gov/P3
Video of the exhibits and teams (after the event): http://www.epa.gov/multimedia
(EPA’s new web multimedia portal)
EPA’s Green Building programs: http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding

 

smart growth in arlington, green jobs in dc and other going ons about town

So lots happening in the green world of D.C. and the surrounding areas (!!!).

Encouraging news - local government and non-profit leaders testified in a House of Rep subcommittee hearing held today on how to more effectively green DC and the region. Yay. Click here for that story.

There was also an article in the Express about green jobs entitled, “A Changing Job Climate: Green Jobs Grow in D.C.”. They especially talk a lot about USGBC’s (U.S. Green Building Council) work- an org I adore. Architecture and being green- what’s not to love? Click here for that article.

Also, I got to sit in on the Northern Virginia Urban Forestry Roundtable quarterly meeting today and learned about smart growth in Arlington; how to help residents learn more about trees (especially taking care of them); and a bit about some new Virginia tree conservation legislation and how it will benefit NoVa jurisdictions.

In terms of smart growth in Arlington- I didn’t realize how much progressive thought and planning went into developing places like Pentagon City and Shirlington (focus on density in small area to prevent urban sprawl whilst also highlighting urban forests). Chris Zimmerman of the Arlington County Board highlighted some interesting info on Arlington. For instance, at 26 sq. miles, Arlington is the smallest county in the U.S. Due to smart planning and designated development areas, 90 percent of development in Arlington has stayed within transport corridors – savings tons of open space and tree canopy. In addition, transit use in Arlington stands at 23.3% vs. the national average of 4.7%. Super interesting to politicians is the fact that the Rosslyn to Ballston metro corridor produces 1/3 of Arlington’s real estate tax revenue and that all the metro sectors in Arlington combined constitutes only 1/10th (or less) of the county land area yet produces more than half of the county’s tax revenue- talk about efficiencies! For people who live in that area, the Columbia Pike revitalization sounds like another great smart growth project as does some development planned for Potomac Yards – both of which really take into account green infrastructure and other smart growth principles. All the interesting facts about Metro and public transport makes me want to go into transit planning… but not really…not my passion-still very cool. Don’t you agree?

On the citizens/tree stuff- I’ll just say that people across the river need to check out orgs like Earth Sangha (who grows native plants/trees/shrubs from seedlings to provide in the area) and tap the expertise of Tree Stewards (volunteers who improve health of trees via educational programs, plantings and tree care demos-almost an Arlington version of Casey Trees). Btw- Tree Stewards is looking for more volunteers!

That’s all for now- I have to get outside and enjoy this amazing weather.

-greenDCgirl

 

Earth Day on the Mall!

Green Apple Festival

Starting at noon on the mall on the 20th. Also - if you bike they will have free bike valets!

Click here for more info: Green Apple Music Festival.

Free music (the roots, thievery corporation and etc.) and speeches from folks like Edward Norton, Fenty, Thomas Friedman and various green members of congress.

-greenDCgirl

p.s. Sierra Club is also having Moonlit Hike on the Mall from 7-10pm on April 18th. Click here for more info on that: Moonlit Hike .

 

Java Green - Yay Small Businesses!

I’d been meaning to visit Java Green for months and I finally visited with my roommate for a weekday dinner. I’ve been on detail in the McPherson Metro area and my roommate works nearby so the two of us just walked over to 19th St (between K and L).

I started snapping away with my camera as soon as I could see the large circular Java Green logo and just as I was sitting down spotted a recycling truck picking up from Java. So I quickly rushed outside to snap pictures of the truck which had a large yellow bumblebee emblem on the side of the black truck. Only after taking a couple shots did I notice that there was a person sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle, I smiled in an embarrassed manner and sort of pranced away. Later, the truck driver approached me to ask why I’d taken those pictures and I felt my cheeks heating up as I explained that I had a silly blog I liked to post green items of interest on. But he smiled and said, “Yeah, lots of people doing the right thing now - like Java, okay, I was just curious”. And he walked away.

After much deliberation I ordered the Boolgogi & Kimchi ($10.00). Boolgogi is traditionally this Korean dish that is made with beef. However, Java Green being the progressive restaurant it is had managed to compose a faux boolgogi that tasted great! I mean you can tell it’s not meat but I don’t think I would have noticed right away - and I know my Korean food. The faux boolgogi was accompanied by organic rice, jobche (vermicelli) noodles, mushroom, spinach, lotus root, gobo root and kimchi (a traditional Korean staple dish of pickled cabbage). Now, I absolutely must mention the rice because it was just great, not to mention much healthier than white rice. My father was recently diagnosed with diabetes and simply changing his white rice intake to brown rice or even brown rice mixed with a variety of bean types has improved his blood sugar level a great degree- so I’m a big proponent of the brown rice. My roommate ordered the jobche noodles ($9.50) which were accompanied by ‘chicken’. My roommate and I debated over what exactly the chicken was composed of- and I think we settled on it being either a type of mushroom or fermented tofu that was marinated to be spicy chicken-ish. It was actually pretty spicy but my roommate inhaled it.

My roommate and I also ended up ordering a Ginger Chai Tea Latte which was amazingly fresh. The manager (owner?) of the store later told me that they used fresh ginger (you could definitely tell by the spicy undertones) and raw organic agave. I asked for soy milk and I was amazed at how frothy they managed to get it. Every time I try to froth up soy milk at home it only stands for a couple moments before it fades into the beverage. Perhaps next time I’ll ask for their secret frothing technique.

Before my roommate and I dashed out of Java to watch The Jane Austen Book Club whilst curled up on our couch, we had a chance to meet the manager/owner of Java and after raving about the food learned that he was having a meeting that very night about expanding to other locations in the D.C. area. Of course, I pushed to have one in the Eastern Market location, but we’ll see.

The food was great, especially considering the cost/value and the social reasoning’s behind Mr. Kim’s sourcing. I could definitely see why Java was voted most progressive restaurant. They are a member of the Clean Energy Partnership (i.e. purchases 100% wind power), support fair trade and organics, and use real chinaware when possible while also providing the to-go crowd with biodegradable serving ware and carry-out bags (though I will have to write a note about the corn-based cups…). With a diverse menu that includes sandwiches, soups, noodle dishes, rice entrees and a variety of smoothie options - everybody should be able to find something to satisfy their palette. Java Green was great - I feel so lucky to be able to get Korean food that is in line with my social values - how random is that? I definitely plan on dropping by again very soon.

  -greenDCgirl

p.s. Click here for practical info on Java Green

p.p.s. Click more to see additional pictures from our Java Green adventure.

 

a foggy morning