EcoBytes - Volume 4, Issue 2

Welcome to Volume 4, Issue 2 of EcoBytes, the Center for Ecological Technology's (CET) email newsletter. EcoBytes updates you on CET's activities in waste, energy, environmental education and sustainable development.

Remember to visit us online at www.cetonline.org to learn more about our programs. You can reach us by email at cet@cetonline.org or call us in Pittsfield at (413) 445-4556, in Northampton at (413) 586-7350, or at the ReStore Home Improvement Center at (413) 788-6900. For mailing list additions and deletions, please send a message to ruthd@cetonline.org.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Focus on Education
• ReStore Hits the Airwaves
• Farms Go Back to the Future
• Recyclers of the Future Learn How Now
• Pittsfield's Solar After School Club
• Racing with the Sun
• Rags to Recycling
• Northampton Schools Find Food Waste is Black Gold
• Mercury Free Schools

Restore Hits The Airwaves

To listen to the Marketplace broadcast featuring CET's ReStore Home Improvement Center that was aired on June 18th, 2002, visit: http://www.marketplace.org/shows/2002/06/18_mpp.html. This nationally syndicated business program is distributed by Public Radio International.

Farms Go Back To The Future

Farmers have a long history of using renewable resources. To find out if technological advances are making renewables once again feasible for farmers, CET has initiated a new energy and small farm sustainability project funded by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. In June, CET met with its thoughtful and experienced farm advisory committee to gain insights and guidance about the agricultural side of the energy issue. To further help CET learn what opportunities exist on a dairy for farmers to save money, Dr. David Ludington, a leader in energy efficiency for dairies, traveled from Ithaca, NY to share his years of experience and provide some helpful advice to High Lawn Farm in Lee. For more information about the energy and farm project, contact Ruth Dinerman or Nancy Nylen in our Pittsfield office.

Recyclers Of The Future Learn How Now

"Thank you for showing us the pet worms in their stinky homes. We never heard of having a thousand worms as pets before," commented one student after a CET classroom presentation on composting. Making paper, celebrating a waste reduction birthday party, watching worms transform food into compost or conducting a classroom inventory for mercury-bearing products — these are some of the experiences students in over 50 public schools in western Massachusetts have had. Through the Recycling Education Assistance for Public Schools funded by MA DEP, CET has been elbow to elbow with students and teachers, bringing issues of resource conservation to life through hands-on activities. This year, CET offered presentations on mercury in the environment. Fourth graders to high school students followed mercury on its airborne journey back to the earth and into the food chain. With support from the Housatonic River Restoration, Inc, students in eight schools within the Housatonic River watershed connected energy conservation with decreasing mercury in the environment. For information about school programs, contact Joy Kirschenbaum in our Pittsfield office.

Racing With The Sun

Under sunny skies, on Saturday, June 1st, 50 middle school students and their parents gathered at Reid Middle School in Pittsfield to enter their model solar cars in the Berkshire-Hudson Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) coordinated by CET. In the weeks leading up to the event, students worked individually or in teams to design and build cars powered by solar electric panels as part of a science or technology class or an after-school program. Much excitement centered around the speed competition, but students had other opportunities to shine. Each solar vehicle was also judged according to design innovation, craftsmanship, and technical merit. Parents cheered on their children and viewed commercially available gas and electric hybrid vehicles displayed by local Toyota and Honda dealerships. One parent reported, "the entire event was just fantastic, really incredible." The JSS was sponsored by Berkshire Gas, Verizon and Berkshire Bank.

Pittsfield's Solar After School Club

Students from Reid and Herberg Middle Schools creatively combined math skills with technology as part of an after school enrichment program. Over ten weeks, CET introduced students to real life applications for math concepts, which the students tested as they designed and constructed model solar-powered cars. The success of the program has the students already planning how to design faster and more innovative cars for next year. Several students competed in the Berkshire-Hudson Area Junior Solar Sprint. Three students won awards and advanced to the regional competition where their cars faced cars from around the northeastern United States. For more information about the after school program, contact Rob Feigal-Stickles, Americorps*VISTA member, in our Pittsfield office.

Rags To Recycling

CET's 7th Annual Earth Day Textile Drive collected over 37,000 pounds of fabric items. Berkshire residents took advantage of 18 drop off sites to donate more than 18 tons of clothing, shoes, bedding and drapes. Textiles represent about 5% of waste generated by an average household. Materials collected during the annual drive support Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires, Inc. and are used for employment and training opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Useable items are re-sold inexpensively. Items of lesser quality don't go to waste; they go to other markets and uses. To find out more about the Textile Drive, contact Jamie Cahillane or Dani Kahn, Americorps member, in our Pittsfield office.

Northampton Schools Turn Food Waste Into Black Gold

The main school cafeteria waste - food - is now being recycled in Northampton's public schools. This spring, the Northampton Board of Health and CET worked with the city's seven public schools to set up composting programs. Within days, students were composting more than 50% of the cafeteria's waste. Students created slogans and posters, made morning announcements over the intercom, and performed plays to remind others that food isn't trash. Within the kitchens, staff also separate organic waste for collection. The school's waste hauler transports collected food and milk cartons to the composting site run by Northampton's Smith Vocational Agricultural School. There, it is composted with manure and leaves, and eventually sold to local gardeners and landscapers. Support for this program came from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. For information about this program, contact Jim Desmond in our Northampton office.

Mercury-Free Schools

Mercury, a known neurotoxin, is especially dangerous to children's development. Yet many technical and high schools use mercury bearing products as educational tools. To reduce the risk of mercury exposure, CET joined the South Central Recycling Association (SCRAM) and the Northeast Waste Management Officials Association (NEWMOA) in an effort to remove Mercury from schools. With funding from DEP, CET assisted teachers, principals, school nurses and custodial staff in removing non-essential mercury devices and compounds from Amherst Regional High School, Dean Technical High School, Holyoke High School, Smith Vocational High School and Longmeadow High School. All five schools instituted a policy prohibiting future purchases of non-essential mercury bearing items. In return, the school received free disposal and non-mercury replacements. For more information, contact Joy Kirschenbaum in our Pittsfield office.