Park Slope ‘Locavore’ Teaches Local Eating

Eating locally. It seems a little daunting in the first place and next to impossible living in a city, which is one reason why the Brooklyn Botanic Garden held a recent class entitled “Eating Local in the Big Apple.”

“Local,” even though it sounds like it means in and around a city neighborhood, can actually span hundreds of miles and the amount varies depending on who you talk to.

“There is no standard definition of ‘local’ when it comes to food, but the longest distance I have seen used is 500 miles,” said Leda Meredith, a Park Slope resident and instructor of the course. “So I’d say zero-500 miles is the current loose definition of what local means when it comes to food.”

Meredith based the class at the garden on her book, Botany, Ballet, and Dinner from Scratch, which “included the story of my 250-mile year-long eating challenge,” she said. In this challenge, almost all the food she ate was grown or raised within 250 miles of her Brooklyn neighborhood, making her a “locavore,” or someone who eats food grown locally.

“I chose 250 miles because that is approximately the distance an average farm truck can get on one tank of gas,” she said.

“I believe strongly that eating locally produced food is one of the important pieces of the jigsaw puzzle as far as reducing our carbon footprints, supporting the local economy, and reintroducing ourselves to a lifestyle that is grounded in community and in synch with the seasons,” explained Meredith. “My motivation for teaching the course was to share the ways I've found to incorporate local foods into my diet without spending a fortune and while living a full-time, busy city life.”

Katherine Lemcke, director of continuing education at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, said that the class’ 13 students were mostly women, with some men. There was a wide age range, she noted, with students in their 20s, 30s and even 60s.

The students had little or no previous knowledge about eating locally, Meredith said. “Most of the students were aware of some of the reasons for eating locally and had a desire to do more, but hadn’t really done much yet. There was one CSA member, and a few who'd shopped occasionally at greenmarkets, but that was about it.”

In the class, Meredith covered reasons for eating locally, how to make it affordable and also ways to cook. She then conducted a cooking demonstration.

“We made sauerkraut and agro dolce [sweet and sour] winter squash, both recipes from my book. The squash is cooked stovetop until it is starting to brown, then tossed with some cider vinegar and honey,” she said. “It’s delicious!”

As for the advice Meredith gave her students about eating locally, she told them to “always walk through the entire farmers' market before buying. Often the same item will have radically different prices from stall to stall.” She also gave students information on discounted CSA memberships.

A CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture, is a way for people to support a farm by paying a fee and receiving a basket of produce every week. Park Slope has its own CSA.

Meredith hopes that her students will benefit from the class. “I think they will change at least some of their eating habits as a result... One encouraging fact that I shared with them appeared in the current issue of Eating Well magazine: ‘Buying 25 percent of your groceries from local farmers for a year lowers your carbon footprint by 225 pounds — even more than recycling glass, plastic and cans.’”

She said she would definitely teach the class again, and Lemcke assured that the Brooklyn Botanic Garden plans to offer it again. They also have other courses that address different subjects related to sustainable eating.

Coming up in March, the garden will have a “Gardening for Wildlife” course. In April, Meredith will be teaching two classes: “Herbs for Shady Gardens” and “Growing Food in the Shade.” Also in April will be a class called “Edibles in Small Spaces: Growing on Roof, Windowsill or Stoop” for people who want to eat the most local food they can get: food grown in their own homes.

For more information on upcoming courses and registration, click here.

Photo courtesy of Leda Meredith

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One Winner in Power Up! Contest Proposes Green Business

Elissa Olin and her business, Green Home Green Living, was a second-place winner in the Brooklyn Public Library's “PowerUP!: Your Business Starts Here” Business Plan Competition, who received $5,000 cash plus $5,000 in business services.

Olin (pictured above with Amanda Jones and Nzinga Knight, the other winners in the contest) was determined to consume only products that don’t harm the environment. After realizing how difficult it was to locate and shop for sustainable and ecological goods in her neighborhood, she created a small retail one-stop “green” shop to solve her dilemma. Her store will sell environmentally friendly items from personal care products, to pet food, to children’s toys, which will be identified and labeled as organic, natural, sustainable or free trade.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Photo by Philip Greenberg, courtesy of Brooklyn Public Library

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T.A.'s Nine For '09

Transportation Alternatives has posted on their website a "Nine for '09" list, with nine "ways to get the job done" this year. Included in the list is fighting against MTA fare hikes and transit cuts; working toward stricter laws and punishment for drivers who kill pedestrians and bicyclists; and fighting for car-free parks.

See the full list here.

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How Green is Your Toothbrush?

Today, I came across a web site called Green Living Tips (www.greenlivingtips.com), and read a posting about recycling toothbrushes. For some reason, this hadn't occurred to me before. According to the site, "over 25,000 tons of toothbrushes end up in landfill in America each year." Imagine if we all recycled our toothbrushes.

A comment on the posting alerted me to a company called Preserve that makes household items out of completely recycled plastic. Everything they sell can also be recycled. If you purchase a toothbrush (right) from them, after using it you can send it back to Preserve and it will be re-possessed into plastic lumber.

You can see their products and other eco-friendly services here. You can also find some of their products at the Foragers Market (a green neighborhood market) in DUMBO or Target on Flatbush Ave.

Image courtesy of preserveproducts.com

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A Green SEED in DUMBO

Unbeknownst to her, Kate Kerrigan helped make DUMBO greener before she even got there.

During an internship at the Alliance for Downtown New York, “the largest [business improvement district] in the country,” in 1997 and 1998, she worked with the Department of Transportation (DOT) putting up a temporary park at Coenties Slip in Manhattan.

At the time, one of the people Kerrigan worked with from the DOT was Randy Wade. After Coenties Slip, Wade went on to DUMBO and in 2007 worked with then-executive director of the Dumbo Improvement District, Tucker Reed, to create the Pearl Street Triangle. “She [Randy] is the link between the two,” said Kerrigan.

Like Coenties Slip, the Pearl Street Triangle used to be makeshift parking. It was transformed into a green space surrounded by large stone blocks, with parking along the perimeter.

“There’s an interesting juxtaposition between vehicular and pedestrian use,” Kerrigan said of the Triangle. “Because of our particular space, it really works.”

Before coming to DUMBO last year, Kerrigan had been working at the Alliance for Downtown New York since October 2001. She succeeded Reed as executive director of the Dumbo Improvement District in May 2008.

With the Dumbo Improvement District, Kerrigan continues an initiative started by Reed in early ’08: SEED — Smart Environmental Efforts in DUMBO.

The objective of SEED is to “create small changes in the everyday lives of residents, workers and others visiting DUMBO,” explained Kerrigan. “The more we double down on existing green efforts going on here in DUMBO, the more world-class workers, residents and tourists we lure into this exciting community.”

Green businesses abound in DUMBO, and SEED has been an integral part in the greening of the neighborhood. One of its first programs involved distributing canvas tote bags and compact fluorescent light bulbs to DUMBO residents.

“Breaking the habit of using plastic is a very difficult thing for all of us to do,” said Kerrigan, who added that the Dumbo Improvement District partnered with retailers in the community to create incentives for bringing totes instead of using plastic bags. Some were even offering 10 cents off purchases to customers who brought their own bags.

Unfortunately, the tote bag program was difficult to sustain given the economic times, said Kerrigan. But the next SEED program landed DUMBO at the forefront of the green movement and made it “a change agent for other neighborhoods.”

With the help of the Department of Sanitation, street recycling bins (right) were placed throughout DUMBO, making it the first neighborhood in New York City to do so. “It is certainly something we are very proud to have done,” said Kerrigan. “As of June ’08, an estimated four tons of paper, metal and plastic had been removed from DUMBO for recycling.”

In another program, SEED worked with the DOE Fund to collect cooking oil from local restaurants, which was then recycled. Over the summer, the Dumbo Improvement District held a greenmarket, and in December, holiday lights in the Pearl Street Triangle were solar powered. SEED also distributes a “green guide” said Kerrigan, which includes facts and advice about going green.

Yet another facet of SEED, and the Dumbo Improvement District as a whole, is supporting alternative modes of transportation. “Since our founding, we’ve had 35 bike racks installed in DUMBO,” noted Kerrigan, adding that she is always happy to advocate for bike racks. One at the F train stop in DUMBO is pictured below.

In the short time since its beginning, SEED has been extremely influential in decreasing DUMBO’s impact on the environment. But Kerrigan says the initiative won’t stop there.

“We started with small changes in everyday life,” said Kerrigan. “We examined those activities, we tried to continue those activities and we’re moving toward the continued involvement of this community to make larger changes in our own built environment and our own attitudes to create a greener DUMBO.”

Kerrigan sees SEED as an advocate, teaming up with the community to be greener. DUMBO is “a community filled with these enlightened souls who want to help. The future of SEED is in tapping into this enlightened and visionary community’s talents and expertise.

“The small changes we hope to ingrain in our community should lead to a greener planet, a greener DUMBO, and just a greener day-to-day life for a worker or a resident.”

Kerrigan is pictured above right with Kim Gillman. Gillman is participating in a one-year fellowship with the CORO Program — a program designed to prepare its participants for leadership in public affairs — and is helping Kerrigan with SEED.

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Energy in Obama's Inaugural Address

Included in the topics of President Obama's speech was the energy crisis and his commitment to working to reverse it. The energy-related quotes are:

"...each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

"We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.

"With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet."

If you didn't see Obama's address (or you did and want to read it because it was amazing) you can read the full transcript on The New York Times web site here.

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What If We Could Convert Trash Into Energy?

IST's Green Energy Machine can. It takes garbage and turns it into green energy. Read for yourself here. It's pretty cool.

Photo courtesy of Daily Tech

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The Green MTA

So I got another tip from the Brooklyn Green Team's Blog. They posted an entry last month about the "CAN IT FOR A GREENER PLANET!" stickers on trash cans at subway stops in NYC. Turns out, the stickers are true. The Brooklyn Green Team referenced MTA spokesperson Deirdre Parker: "A contractor retrieves the trash after it's taken to various collection points and the plastic, cardboard, paper and glass are pulled out. A fifty cent credit goes to the MTA and last year 63% of the waste collected from the MTA was recycled."

So use those garbage cans!

Thanks again, Brooklyn Green Team!

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Keep the Heat to Yourself!

This week has seen the coldest temperatures in years, and the weekend won't be much warmer. So while you have your heat cranking in your apartment or house, do your best to make sure the least bit of it is escaping through your windows or doors. You will use less energy and have a lower energy bill. Lock your windows and plug up places where air can get in or out, roll up a towel and put it in the crack under doors, and open window shades to allow natural sunlight to give you some heat. Stay warm and green at the same time!

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Another Ghost Bike

This ghost bike is at the corner of Livingston Street and Boerum Place/Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn. It honors the memory of young Alexander “Zander” Toulouse, a student at P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill. Zander was struck by a mail truck on Adams Street while riding his bike with his dad last September. Sadly, there are now 55 ghost bikes installed in New York City, with roughly 20 in Brooklyn.

For more info on ghost bikes and the recent memorial ride and walk held by Transportation Alternatives, click here.

Photo and caption by Mary Frost

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Third Thursday Tomorrow At CUE

The Center for the Urban Environment holds a monthly "Third Thursday" event, and this month it's focused on post-election strategies and campaigns around environmental issues.

Two panelists — Josh Nachowitz, New York State policy director for the New York League of Conservation Voters, and Dave Shukla, organizer with the Student Environmental Action Coalition — will discuss the recent election's impact on national, state and local environmental politics. This includes the role youth will play in ushering in a new clean energy economy by holding our newly elected officials to their campaign promises and demanding real solutions to the climate crisis.

The event is tomorrow from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at CUE, 168 Seventh St., between Second and Third Avenues.

For additional information, visit www.thecue.org.

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NYC Christmas Tree Goes Green

Even though Christmas is over, one Brooklyn family was granted (part of) their Christmas wish this week. On Jan. 10, the Rockerfeller Center Christmas Tree was taken down and milled into lumber that will be incorporated as shelving in Habitat-NYC’s new affordable condominium complex in Brooklyn.

Esther Huambo, a future homeowner at the Brooklyn complex, was at Rockefeller Center as the 72-foot trunk of the Norway spruce was cut into lumber in preparation for its new role. Her children, Dalila Santiago, 12, and Jose Santiago, 4, looked on as a large saw slicked the trunk into planks (family is pictured above).

“Now, every day will be Christmas at my house,” Dalila laughed.

A single mom, Esther works full time as a Student Accounts Assistant at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan, raises her children, is active in her church and has already completed 300 hours of sweat equity, helping to build her Habitat home.

The Habitat-NYC home at Atlantic Avenue, Eastern Parkway and Sherlock Place is the organization’s first large-scale building. When finished, it will house 41 New York families in need — double the number of homes Habitat produces in a typical year.

The residence includes a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units in three four-story buildings. Eleven ground-floor residences will be handicapped-adaptable.

Including wood recycled from the Rockerfeller Center tree will not be the only green feature of the complex. The project is being constructed with healthy and environmentally friendly materials and will strive to meet strict LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. Energy-efficient building methods will enable future Habitat homeowners to save up to 30 percent on their energy bills.

And the tree was green on its own. It was lit with 30,000 energy-efficient LEDs, powered in part by energy generated by a solar roof.

Photo by Anthony Collins

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Holiday Tree Recycling: Remove the Lights!

I came across this holiday tree on Henry Street between Love Lane and Clark Street while walking in Brooklyn Heights today.

As usual, NYC's Department of Sanitation has been doing curbside collection and recycling of trees, which began on January 5 and will last through this Friday, January 16. In a statement issued in December, Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty said the following:

"The Department is very pleased to offer this special recycling service. Providing collection and recycling options for residents is environmentally valuable and benefits our neighborhoods. Working in conjunction with the City's Parks & Recreation Department allows residents to take part in the recycling process and permits them to even reuse their composted Christmas trees to fertilize for the spring. Compost is a natural fertilizer and is an excellent soil enrichment that promotes the healthy growth of plants and grass."

The Brooklyn Heights resident who put out this tree had the right idea, but didn't remove the lights! I hope the Department of Sanitation still takes the tree and recycles it.

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Splashing for Global Warming

Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) New York Aquarium Director, Jon Forrest Dohlin (right) made a splash at the annual Coney Island Polar Bear New Year's Day plunge along with Polar Bear member Capri Djatiasmoro (left). Dohlin joined in this fun event to create awareness of global warming and the plight to polar bears in the wild. In the last 50 years, global climate changes have dramatically decreased the sea ice on which polar bears depend. There are currently an estimated 25,000 polar bears in the wild, but their extinction within this century is possible. See polar bears at the world-famous Bronx Zoo or Central Park Zoo and visit www.wcs.org to learn more about what WCS is doing to protect wildlife and wild lands around the globe.

Photo and press release courtesy of the NY Aquarium

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Tree Recycling at Green-Wood Cemetery

The most recent Borough Hall Christmas tree is fed into a mulching machine at Green-Wood Cemetery on Saturday by, left-right: Scot Medbury, president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden; Borough President Markowitz; and Richard Moylan, president of Green-Wood. The Christmas Tree Recycling and Wood Chip Giveaway is co-sponsored by both the Botanic Garden and the cemetery.

Photo by Georgine Benvenuto

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"I Don't Need A Bag"

Five simple words that could seriously impact the environment if everyone got in the habit of saying them. Unfortunately, sometimes it's difficult. Either you don't have a plastic bag alternative, or the cashier at the grocery (or other) store has already bagged your items before you even finish unloading your cart. More than once I've had to ask for my items taken out of the plastic bag they're already in. And more than once, whoever does it has an attitude about it. But as more and more people use reusable bags, the assumption that everyone wants a plastic bag will happen less and less. So stay strong and resist the plastic bags, no matter how inconvenient it might be.

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Shorter Showers: A Green Tip

I came across the Brooklyn Green Team's blog yesterday, and one feature on it is a series of "eco-challenges." Some of the challenges look fairly easy, like the "No Water Bottle" challenge, the "No Plastic Bag" challenge and the "Bring Your Own Mug" challenge. But I found one a little daunting: the "Five-Minute Shower" challenge.

I take long showers. It's something I've always been embarrassed about and tried to change. I've never been able to trim my shower down to five minutes and always thought it was an impossible feat.

But the Brooklyn Green Team had the following advice:

"Turn your shower on and get yourself soaked. Then turn off the water while you lather, shampoo and shave, then turn on the water for a quick rinse.

"Try using an eco-friendly shampoo and conditioner — not only better for the environment, but washes out faster — cutting your time."

I tried this in last night's shower, and I definitely used less water and took less time.

Thanks, Brooklyn Green Team!

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Get Any Holiday Gifts You Didn't Like?

Build it Green! NYC, a Queens-based company that is New York City's only non-profit retail outlet for salvaged and surplus building materials, is holding their fist ever holiday re-gifting bash at Tandem bar in Bushwick. It's this Saturday, Jan 10, and it starts at 9 p.m.

If you bring a holiday gift you didn't like, you can pile it up with a bunch of other unwanted gifts and pick a new one. One person's trash is another person's treasure!

Tandem is a new bar built with surplus materials from Build it Green! NYC's warehouse. It's located at 236 Troutman St. between Nickerbocker and Wilson.

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Obama's Plan For Green Energy

In today's speech on the economy at George Mason University, President-Elect Barack Obama spoke of his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. Regarding the environment, he made the following statements:

"To finally spark the creation of a clean-energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced — jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings, and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain."

For the full transcript on The New York Times website, click here. For responses from both sides, click here.

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Hall Street Self Storage Is Now iStoreGreen

Last spring, Hall Street Self Storage (right) opened in Brooklyn as the first green self-storage space in the country. Now, it has changed its name to iStoreGreen, a brand which will enable the company to expand to Manhattan and also throughout the rest of the nation.

Owner Jeffrey Sitt took over the location at 12 Hall Street — which was originally a cold and dry storage facility — two years ago. He gutted and renovated the building to make it green.

Among the facility’s many green features are Green-E certified energy (Green-E is a certification process for renewable energy), and a solar water heater that was installed in October.

Wooden beams from the original building (built in the early 1900s) were taken out during renovation and turned into wood chips, which were then packed in bags (left) and sold in the facility’s retail store as green packing materials.

Self-storage manager Wanda Dash said that bags of shredded paper for use instead of bubble wrap are also sold in the store. This paper comes from the facility’s offices and otherwise would have been thrown out.

Sitt opened a “reuse” room, for clients who want to discard items. Unwanted items can be put in this room to be donated instead of thrown out.

After seeing the positive reaction from clients about green self-storage, Sitt changed the name of the facility in order to make it national.

“There’s been green dry cleaning, and even green wines available today — self-storage needs to be greened, too, especially since it’s an industry that can use a lot of energy and materials, and is one which people use every day, not a few times a week. It needs to be accessible.”

Since becoming iStoreGreen, company office desks and shelving for the storage spaces have been made out of wood reclaimed from the original building. The facility has also started distributing a booklet (printed on recycled paper with soy ink) to clients and community residents with advice on how to be green at home.

But Sitt is not stopping there. Dash said that in the future, his hope is to open more facilities that will be even greener than the first. He wants everything to be green, “from the ground up,” she told the Eagle. Instead of a green renovation, he will construct a green building, where the construction materials themselves will be eco-friendly.

iStoreGreen is now looking for its next location, which will be in Manhattan. Future hopes are to create iStoreGreen franchises, where green self-storage facilities across the country will share the name.

So, if you ever see an iStoreGreen in Illinois or California, just remember: it all started in Brooklyn.

Photos by Derek Koleba

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Transportation Alternatives Memorializes Cyclist and Pedestrian Fatalities

On January 4, Transportation Alternatives (TA) held its fourth annual Memorial Ride and Walk for Cyclists and Pedestrians killed in traffic in 2008. Organized by the Street Memorial Project, the event included bike rides across four boroughs to white-painted "Ghost Bikes" installed at the scenes of bicyclist fatalities, and a Memorial Walk in honor of pedestrians killed.

In 2008, there were 14 known bicycle fatalities and more than 100 pedestrian fatalities. Out of the 14 cyclist deaths, five were Brooklynites, said Wiley Norvell, TA spokesman.

Two rides went through Brooklyn, explained Norvell. One began in Sunset Park and went over the Manhattan Bridge, the other began in Queens and traveled through Bushwick and over the Williamsburg Bridge. These two rides, along with others that started in the Bronx and Queens, all converged in Manhattan.

These rides are intended to give a message. "We have to change the 'Wild West' atmosphere of our streets," Norvell told the Eagle. He added that there needs to be "more civility and respect" of street users.

The "Ghost Bikes," Norvell explained, are "personal memorials that call attention to the cost our streets inflict on us." Each one is personalized by families of cyclists who have been killed, and are a "perpetual reminder."

Over its past four years, the memorial ride and walk has grown, this being the biggest year, said Norvell. But the number of cyclist deaths has remained largely the same, he added. And even though the amount of pedestrian fatalities has steadily decreased over the past few years, it's not enough.

The goal is to bring the number of deaths down to zero, he said, explaining that right now, streets are designed for cars. "It would be different if safety were a priority."

For additional information, visit www.transalt.org.

Ghost bike photo courtesy of www.ghostbikes.org

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This Week's CB 6 Meeting Addresses Atlantic Basin

New Plan Includes Green Space for Future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway

The city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is returning to Red Hook’s Atlantic Basin with a symbolic hat in hand, but also with a new development plan that is ready to be executed.

The new plan, called a “balanced strategy,” replaces an earlier plan that suggested more glitz and glamour, but drew few if any responses to request for proposals. That plan was tied in with a more dramatic plan for the piers north of the basin that proved completely impractical.

These false starts and abrupt stops related to a goal to put Brooklyn’s waterfront piers from Atlantic Avenue to the Atlantic Basin — Piers 7 to 12 — to new use. As part of this goal, some planners hoped to evict of the Red Hook containerport ... read more

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Another Tree Recycling Event

Bring your tree to Green-Wood Cemetery on January 10 to be turned into mulch. Master composters from the Brooklyn Compost Project will talk about the benefits of using mulch and other related topics. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, viist www.green-wood.com

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Recycle Your Holiday Tree

The Prospect Park Alliance is holding their annual "Mulchfest" event this weekend. On Saturday or Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., if you bring your tree to the park, volunteers will put it in a tree chipper and turn it into mulch. You can even take that mulch home to your yard or garden. Mulchfest will be happening at two locations: Third St. and Prospect Park West, and the Park Circle entrance to Prospect Park at Prospect Park Southwest and Parkside Avenues.
Make sure to remove the decorations first!

Photos of volunteers from previous Mulchfests courtesy of the Prospect Park Alliance.

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CB 10 Approves Plan For More Bike Parking

The voting wheels turned at Community Board 10’s recent meeting in favor of a new city zoning requirement to place parking for bicycles in most newly constructed buildings, enhancing the sustainability of life in the city and boosting bike ridership.

The board serving Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights at its recent meeting easily approved the Department of City Planning’s Bicycle Parking Zoning Text Amendment, which is making the rounds of boards in the city and gaining support.

It would “require the placement of indoor, secure, long-term bicycle parking in new multi-family residential, community facilities, and commercial buildings,” as stated in the city’s provision. “The proposed text amendment would provide for bicycle parking and storage at both home and in the workplace.”

“The text amendment is part of an overall citywide effort to promote bicycle usage, and to reduce congestion and carbon emissions in keeping with PlaNYC-2030 and to promote fitness,” said Chair Joanne Seminara of the Zoning and Land Use Committee. She gave her report at the meeting held in the Shore Hill Community Room.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC-2030 was created to make the city more eco-friendly and sustainable ... read more

Story by Harold Egeln

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Happy New Year!

Here's hoping 2009 is a year of positive environmental change!