Do you recycle your newspaper?

The MBTA, in partnership with The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, metro, The Phoenix, and Stuff@Night, recently launched a paper recycling campaign.

Located at every train and subway station in Boston and the immediate vicinity are trashcans that are specifically marked for disposal of newspapers, magazines, and other papers.

At Boston's North Station, for instance, the receptacles are on each commuter train platform and also downstairs in the subway terminal.

The participating newspapers and magazines are also printing full-color advertisements like the one here I photographed in the latest issue of Stuff@Night:


(You can click the photo to see it blown-up.)

Imagine if the Daily News, Newburyport Current, Port Planet, The Town Common, Merrimack Valley Magazine, and the like came together for a similar paper recycling campaign. Work it with the MBTA and the MVRTA, and the communities' recycling pickup routes, and we can easily mimic what's happening in big city Boston.

...and God rested

I just stumbled upon this 1970 excerpt from Art Buchwald...and while omitting the concluding sentence with reason, I like the symbolism.

In the beginning God created Man, which, according to all the latest birth control statistics, was a big mistake.

And Man said, "Let there be light," and there was light, and Man called this light fire, and at first it was used to warm him and let him cook his food and protect him from the wild animals. But Man discovered fire could be used to burn down a forest or burn someone else's hut or tree house or a witch at the stake or soft coal or oil, which made the air turn dark gray and black. And this made Man start to cough and his eyes to run and his sinuses to hurt. And Man finally said. "God, what are You doing to me?"

And after God made the rivers and lakes and streams and oceans, Man dumped all the refuse from the earth into the waters, and it killed the fish and the plants and even the oxygen, and the waters turned muddy and brown and smelled, and no one could drink from them or bathe in them or even sail on them. And finally Man shook his fist at the heavens and said, "For God's sake, knock it off."

And Man created the wheel, and this was good because Man no longer had to walk through the forests or up and down the mountains or to school. And then Man created the engine which turned the wheels, and Man no longer had to depend on animals to pull him on the roads and paths. And Man called the new creature automobile, and it changed the face of the earth, for Man was forced to cut down the trees and flowers and pour concrete on the land to accommodate the automobile, and drill into the earth and the sea to fuel it, and sometimes the ocean turned black and the air turned brown, and as the automobile multiplied there was less space to park it, and it was unable to move any faster than a horse, and Man behind the wheel screamed, "Good God, am I ever going to get home?"

And Man created the plastic bag and the tin and aluminum can and the cellophane wrapper and the paper plate and the disposable bottle, and this was good because Man could then take his automobile and buy his food all in one place and he could save that which was good to eat in the refrigerator and throw away that which had no further use. And pretty soon the earth was covered with plastic bags and aluminum cans and paper plates and disposable bottles, and there was nowhere left to sit down or to walk. And Man shook his head and cried, "Look at all this God-awful litter."

And Man learned to split the atom, and then he took what he learned and he put it in a bomb to defend himself from other men, and he set off the bomb to see if it would work, and it did. And Man was very pleased with himself because he was safe from other men, and this was good. But other men learned to split the atom, too, and they put it in their bombs, and so Man had to make bigger bombs, and the other men had to make bigger bombs, and the explosions put radioactive material in the air which got into Man's food and water and made that which was nourishing inedible and that which would quench thirst undrinkable. And again Man became very frightened and said, "God help us all."

Have a good weekend.

Daily News slacking on bicycle stories

At Monday night's City Council meeting, the mayor and council president read a proclamation celebrating national bike week. I thank them for this.

However, I haven't seen the paper of record, the Daily News, follow-up with a story. Maybe one is planned.

Earlier this month, the Daily News reported on the rising cost of gas, then at $3.60, and how businesses such as Port Taxi, Volpone Towing Service, and Pizza Factory II are feeling the pinch.

One sentence in the article stands alone:

Be it car pooling, riding a bicycle, walking or taking another form of transportation, many drivers are conserving.

Despite being the second sentence in the article, this notion of a consumer's choice to not drive a car but ride a bike, walk, or use public transit is not elaborated.

What's the point of the sentence?

Last October, the Daily News published this article about the initial erection of three bike racks downtown in an effort to cut down on the number of cars in the downtown district and increase the number of bicycles.

I don't recall subsequent stories on whether more people are riding their bikes downtown. Granted, the weather is only getting warm so maybe a story is planned.

Officials hope the racks will encourage people to ride bikes to the city rather than drive their vehicles, wrote reporter Stephen Tait in the above article. There are many benefits, they say, including helping to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases and helping to fix the parking and traffic congestion problems downtown.

I've seen subsequent stories on parking and traffic congestion, but not anything on whether more people are riding their bikes to the city. I know of many people who ride their bikes from their homes to downtown locations and would be more than willing to talk about it.

In an effort to give the DN an idea of the type of story I'd like to see, take a look at this article in today's issue of The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington, about the benefits of bicycle commuters.

I'll soon join the bandwagon, as I filled my tank yesterday at $3.67 for regular unleaded gas. My bike is in the shop for a tune-up; and I anticipate 2-wheeling around the area more than 4-wheeling.

Energy musings of Newburyport and beyond

I shot this photo last summer in a north Jerusalem neighborhood while visiting my cousins.

Note the rooftop infrastructure. Israeli law requires every household to erect on their roof two photovoltaic panels and a water heater. Companies compete for installation and service.

I can't put a number to how many years and how many dollars, let alone how many millions of carbon dioxide emissions, the United States trails Israel.

It's no surprise the American media never shows these images. Sadly, because of the preponderance of suicide bombing explosions and missile attacks, most American citizens can't appreciate life in Israel &mdash which is no different than life in the States.

As proof, how many of my photos would typically be seen in the U.S. mainsteam media?

Over on Port Reporter Unlimited, Gillian Swart asks why Flint, and not Newburyport, is taking the lead on a public-private partnership with a Swedish firm to create a biogenic fuel.

If the United States falling behind other industrialized nations isn't an eyesore, how's Massachusetts falling behind California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina in R&D ingenuity? There's a reason why the first desalinization plant that can convert human urine into water opened in California.

Clearly, Michigan is more forward-thinking than Massachusetts in these terms.

But all is not lost. Massachusetts is taking the national lead on life science design and development (biotechnology, pharmacology, and medical devices), not to mention higher education, plastics manufacturing, the so-called creative cluster, and more.

Governor Deval Patrick is no Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mayor John Moak is no Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Newsom, San Francisco's mayor, recently met with Israeli startup Project Better Place to replace CO2 cars with electric cars. In Israel, the group is working with Renault-Nissan in a quest to replace every Israeli car with an electric one.

Here's a video of Newsom in Israel:


In the coming weeks, if everything goes according to plan, Newburyport will purchase its first electric vehicle, in the form of a emissions-free dump truck, for DPW operations intended solely for travel on downtown vehicular and pedestrian ways, parks, and the boardwalk for collection of recycled material.

This material is currently collected by diesel emission trucks.

Stay tuned.

SEED, Biking, and LSD

Anna Whistler, 17, a member of the environmental club at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey, rode her bike to school last month and couldn't find a bike rack on the campus.

She asked officials where to park it.

"I thought for sure there was something," said Whistler, in a May 1 article in The Star Ledger. "They told me to park behind the Dumpster. That's where I ended up parking."

The environmental club students, after raising $2,000 over four years, wanted to give back to their school community and make the world a greener place by purchasing and installing a bike rack at the school.

Principal James Riccobono disagreed.

"In as much as the district provides courtesy busing to students who live within walking distance of the high school, because of the danger on Garretson Road, it does (not) make sense, in my opinion, to promote the riding of bicycles to school," the principal wrote in a letter distributed to the club on Earth Day.

Here in Newburyport, Seacoast Energy & Environmental Design activist Ron Martino is unhappy with Riccobono's perspective, viewing the principal as a barrier to be overcome.

Martino included a link to Streetsblog in an email he sent today to SEED's mailing list.

Granted, subsequent online searching reveals the New Jersey school is surrounded by busy streets that are links to sidewalk-free residential subdevelopments. Because of the lack of sidewalks and crosswalks, let alone smart growth policies, children and the environment are suffering. Welcome to urban sprawl and a need to allow vehicular drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians to share the roads.

Newburyport already has bike lanes and bike racks, so I don't see a restriction of biking policy at NHS happening any time soon.

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On a related note, Swiss scientist, LSD researcher, and centenarian Albert Hofmann died last week, and in tribute of his 102 years, here is a video of the Bicycle Song, vectored from Morristown Pedal Pushers:

Green consumerism

How green are Newburyport consumers?

That is, not how green are their lifestyles but how green are their spending habits? How green are our spending habits?

Let's look at five sample products: compact fluorescent light bulbs, organic baby food and formula, organic milk, extended life paper products, and concentrated/reduced-packaging liquid laundry detergents.

I can't think of a Newburyport retailer that sells all five. K-Mart doesn't sell organic milk for sure, let alone organic baby food. Do Market Basket or Shaws?

Wal-Mart, once the mark of all things capitalistic, sells all five categories and according to a April 21 press release about their Live Better Index, nationwide green consumerism increased 66 percent in just one year.

How can we track this locally? For those who rally against chain stores, are there "buy local" statistics that can be correlated against the domestic Wal-Mart average?

Vectored via Green Daily

Earth Hour: Looking back and ahead

I shot this photo of the front facade of the Newburyport Public Library during Earth Hour, on Saturday night, March 29, 2008, at approximately 8:15 p.m.

Note the lights.

Readers of this blog may recall this post about two weeks ago when I wrote about the Earth Hour phenomena that was spreading around the planet like wildfire.

Northampton, Falmouth, and Martha's Vineyard were the only communities in Massachusetts that officially pledged and signed onto the global initiative.

Boston didn't participate, as the Boston Globe later reported.

I walked around Newburyport, shot pictures here or there, and took mental notes for next year. It's not as important that *every* light turns off, but at least shut the landmark lights off.

By landmark lights, I refer to the neon Fowle's sign, the Unitarian church steeple, the outdoor lit clock across from Rosie O'Shea's, the still-Christmas lights within the Market Square bullnose trees, the al-fresco patio lights in front of Not Your Average Joe's.

I recently purchased a domain, newburyportearthhour.info, which is parked without content right now but will be updated as necessary in the coming months.

I'd like to see Newburyport, the going green community it is, step up to the global warming plate in every way possible. Earth Hour, included.

More on Earth Day

As of tonight, there are 25 merchants signed onto the Earth Day celebration. Two in Amesbury, one in Newbury, and the rest in Newburyport; the latter stretching from Vitamin's Etc to the Carry Out Cafe.

And rumor has it another 10-20 are expected to sign on in the coming days.

And that's just the merchants.

Full listing at www.newburyportearthday.info. I hope all the local bloggers will add something about this. Spread the green!

Newburyport's Earth Day Celebration

Earth Day is celebrated globally on April 22, and Newburyport is no exception.

While over 25 events and venues are being planned for the weekend of April 19, two green art exhibits began this week.

The calendar of events with detail and description is at the official website at www.NewburyportEarthDay.info.

The website is a work in progress, as new events and new participating merchants are added daily.

I challenge you

You, the reader of the Newburyport Report, I challenge you.

I challenge you to turn off your lights and turn off your appliances, unplug unnecessary equipment for one hour, Earth Hour, on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m.

I further challenge you to challenge everyone else you know, whether a person or a company.

Let's go dark for one hour. Let's react to global warming on a personal level for one hour. You won't be alone, and I don't mean just me...

Pedal power

A recent transplant to Newburyport, I hadn't realized the Newburyport Pedicab organization only started operating in May 2007. The Daily News reported on one of their first rides.

I remember seeing these three-wheeled cycles last fall, and I anticipate seeing them again after the winter thaw. Did you know the company doesn't charge for rides, but operates on tips only, with proceeds going to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute? That's so cool.

Here's a video they produced last fall:



I recently shared a story with Molly Ettenborough, the city's recycling coordinator, about Pedal People, a year-long cooperative business in Northampton that hauls up to 300 pounds of trash and recycling material from point A to point B. Another cool service, and something I'd love to see here in Newburyport.