What's Happening in the Local Environmental Scene and Beyond
F.W. Horch in Brunswick is now open on Mondays!
Store hours: Mon 9:30-4, T-F 9:30-7, Sat: 9:30-6, Sun Closed.
Events in Maine
Thursday, May 7 - Legal Advocacy: Fighting for Environmental Justice, 7:00 pm, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. Featuring David Nicholas, Attorney-at-Law, this event is part of a series sponsored by Friends of Merrymeeting Bay with support and valuable door prizes from Patagonia Outlet in Freeport. Free and open to the public.
Thursday, May 7 to Sunday, May 10 - Food+Farm Examining our access to sustainable food, SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. Co-presented by SPACE, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and Cultivating Community. For more information, call 828-5600, email info@space538.org, or visit www.space538.org
Thursday, May 7 - Food+Farm: Ted Ames "Fishing Voices", 7 pm, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. The Stonington lobsterman and MacArthur "Genius" winner will discuss his work researching the past and future of wild fisheries and how they can be restored and used sustainably. The event will include a screening of local filmmaker, Cecily Pingree's short film, Fishing Voices. $6 or free for SPACE or MOFGA members, all ages.
Friday, May 8 - Food+Farm: Film "Food, Inc.", 7 pm, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. A special advance-release screening of the new documentary exposing how corporations compromise profit over consumer health and safety in the American food industry. The film features such sustainable food luminaries as Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma), Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Joel Salatin (Polyface Farms), and Gary Hirshberg (Stonyfield Farm). Introduction and post-film discussion with Russell Libby, Executive Director, MOFGA. $8 or $6 for SPACE or MOFGA members, all ages.
Saturday, May 9 - Urban Gardening Fair, 9 am, Cultivating Community’s Boyd Street Urban Farm (corner of Cumberland Ave and Franklin Arterial), Portland. A free, family-friendly event featuring a variety of demonstrations including garden preparation, composting, container gardening, rainwater collection and raised bed gardening. With live music, hands-on activities and plenty of opportunities to ask your gardening questions. Free, all ages.
Thursday, May 7 to Sunday, May 10 - Food+Farm Examining our access to sustainable food, SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. Co-presented by SPACE, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and Cultivating Community. For more information, call 828-5600, email info@space538.org, or visit www.space538.org
Thursday, May 7 - Food+Farm: Ted Ames "Fishing Voices", 7 pm, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. The Stonington lobsterman and MacArthur "Genius" winner will discuss his work researching the past and future of wild fisheries and how they can be restored and used sustainably. The event will include a screening of local filmmaker, Cecily Pingree's short film, Fishing Voices. $6 or free for SPACE or MOFGA members, all ages.
Friday, May 8 - Food+Farm: Film "Food, Inc.", 7 pm, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. A special advance-release screening of the new documentary exposing how corporations compromise profit over consumer health and safety in the American food industry. The film features such sustainable food luminaries as Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma), Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Joel Salatin (Polyface Farms), and Gary Hirshberg (Stonyfield Farm). Introduction and post-film discussion with Russell Libby, Executive Director, MOFGA. $8 or $6 for SPACE or MOFGA members, all ages.
Saturday, May 9 - Urban Gardening Fair, 9 am, Cultivating Community’s Boyd Street Urban Farm (corner of Cumberland Ave and Franklin Arterial), Portland. A free, family-friendly event featuring a variety of demonstrations including garden preparation, composting, container gardening, rainwater collection and raised bed gardening. With live music, hands-on activities and plenty of opportunities to ask your gardening questions. Free, all ages.
Saturday, May 9 - Food+Farm: Bryant Terry, 7 pm, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. Eco chef, author, food justice activist, Bryant Terry works in many facets of food advocacy. He is currently a fellow of the Food and Society Policy Fellows Program and has worked to build a more just and sustainable food system and has used cooking as a tool to illuminate the intersections between poverty, structural racism, and food insecurity. $8 or $6 for SPACE or MOFGA members, all ages.
Saturday, May 9 - Compostmodern Conference on Design and Sustainability, 9 am - 3:30 pm, One Longfellow Square, Portland. AIGA Maine is pleased to present Compostmodern ME - an interdisciplinary conference that explores the range of design thinking necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society. Join us for a day of convergence - webcasts, live presentations and discussions at the intersection of design thinking and sustainability. Designers, manufacturers, and business leaders will come together to find inspiration, share knowledge, and explore real world opportunities for transforming products, industries, and lives. For more information, and to register online (by May 6), visit maine.aiga.org. $45 Non-AIGA Members, includes lunch.
Saturday, May 9 - International Migratory Bird Day Festival, 6 am - noon, Pine Tree State Arboretum, 153 Hospital Street, Augusta. Adult bird walks at 6 AM and 8 AM. Children's bird walk at 10 AM. Ongoing festivities from 9 AM until noon including information on caring for birds and attracting them to your own backyard, bluebird information and houses for sale, specimens on loan from Maine State Museum, and more. Children's crafts and activities, including make-your-own bird feeder out of recycled materials, owl pellet dissection, and many others! Please pre-register for bird walks by contacting Toni Pied at 621-0031 or ptsaedu@roadrunner.com
Saturday, May 9 - Compostmodern Conference on Design and Sustainability, 9 am - 3:30 pm, One Longfellow Square, Portland. AIGA Maine is pleased to present Compostmodern ME - an interdisciplinary conference that explores the range of design thinking necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society. Join us for a day of convergence - webcasts, live presentations and discussions at the intersection of design thinking and sustainability. Designers, manufacturers, and business leaders will come together to find inspiration, share knowledge, and explore real world opportunities for transforming products, industries, and lives. For more information, and to register online (by May 6), visit maine.aiga.org. $45 Non-AIGA Members, includes lunch.
Saturday, May 9 - International Migratory Bird Day Festival, 6 am - noon, Pine Tree State Arboretum, 153 Hospital Street, Augusta. Adult bird walks at 6 AM and 8 AM. Children's bird walk at 10 AM. Ongoing festivities from 9 AM until noon including information on caring for birds and attracting them to your own backyard, bluebird information and houses for sale, specimens on loan from Maine State Museum, and more. Children's crafts and activities, including make-your-own bird feeder out of recycled materials, owl pellet dissection, and many others! Please pre-register for bird walks by contacting Toni Pied at 621-0031 or ptsaedu@roadrunner.com
Saturday, May 9 - Sustainable Energy Conference, 8 am - 4:30 pm, Chewonki Foundation, 485 Chewonki Neck Rd, Wiscasset. Chewonki's 9th annual Sustainable Energy Conference will take place on May 9 on the Chewonki campus. The daylong conference features experts and academic leaders in the field of sustainability and renewable energy, and will showcase the latest technologies and vendors from New England. This event features a host of different renewable technologies, including tidal power, geothermal designs, solar heating, residential wind turbines, green building construction, and electric cars on hand to test drive. The conference is open to the public by reservation. If you have questions regarding the conference, please feel free to contact us: pathways@chewonki.org Registration fee includes the workshops and keynote speaker, interactive exhibits, a tour of Chewonki's renewable energy systems, a continental breakfast, and a hearty lunch. $65
Sunday, May 10 - Food+Farm University, 9 am - 5 pm, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association helps organize an all-day series of intensive workshops to give attendees the skills to start producing their own sustainable food with a focus on urban/suburban food production. Topics will include small space gardening, beekeeping, chicken care, root cellars, fruit for small spaces and vermicomposting.
9:00 - 9:30 Registration
9:30 - 12:30 Urban Chicken Care (Stacy Collins)
9:30 - 11:15 Grow Your Own Organic Urban Garden (Roger Doiron, Kitchen Gardeners International)
11:30 - 12:30 Vermicomposting (Mark Follansbee, Worm Mainea)
12:30 - 2:00 Lunch Break - on your own
2:00 - 5:00 Backyard Beekeeping & Meadmaking Demo (Erin Forbes, Overland Apiaries & Eli Cayer, Maine Mead Works)
2:00 - 3:15 Basic Root Cellar Techniques for the Basement or Backyard (Cheryl Wixson, MOFGA)
3:30 - 5:00 Selecting and Growing Small Fruit in Small Spaces (Lisa Fernandes, Portland Permaculture & David Buchanan)
All-Day (2 blocks per person): each block is $12.50 or $10 for SPACE or MOFGA Members. Half-Day (1 block only) $15 or $12 for SPACE or MOFGA Members. Buy tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com
Monday, May 11 to Friday, May 15 - Commute Another Way Week is Maine's annual transportation event that promotes the use carpools, vanpools, public transit (bus, ferry and rail), bicycling and walking as cost-effective, healthy and enjoyable alternatives to driving alone to work. Since 1995, hundreds of employers and thousands of commuters throughout Maine have participated in Commute Another Way Day and helped reduce pollution and traffic, made Maine a better place to live. For more information, visit www.gomaine.org
Monday, May 11 - Gardening to Attract and Conserve Beneficial Insects and Spiders, 7 pm, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. If you are interested in natural pest management and learning how beneficial insects and spiders can help control insect pests in your yard and garden, then this workshop is for you. Mike Sowers, Cumberland County Master Gardener, will describe an ecological approach to sustainable pest management that includes the use of practical gardening and landscaping techniques to enhance essential resources for our natural enemies. Participants will learn to identify and attract the good bugs with flowering plants and creative garden design. For information, please call 833-5125. Free and open to the public. Door prizes.
Thursday, May 14 - How and Why to Keep Bees in Top Bar Beehives, 7 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Gold Star Honeybees will present a beekeeping discussion and demonstration of top bar beekeeping. Both experienced beekeepers and "wannabee" beekeepers are encouraged to attend. For more information, please call 729-4050. Free and open to the public.
Saturday, May 16 - Birdathon 2009. Join birders throughout Maine -- from Arundel to Aroostook and Fort Kent to Fort Foster -- for this once-a-year, one-of-a-kind birding event! What is the Birdathon? It’s a bird-watching event during peak migration in which participants try to identify as many bird species as possible. Birdathon is also a great fundraising event for Maine Audubon, supporting our mission to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat. It's not to late to form a team or decide to go it alone, and then head out to count, have fun, and raise money for wildlife conservation. Questions? Call Eric Hynes at (207) 781-2330, ext. 237. Want to register, form a team, or make a pledge? Please call Linda Ledoux at (207) 781-2330, ext. 215.
Wednesday, May 20 - The Green and Lean Lecture Series: Cutting Your Electric Bill 50%, 7 pm, St. John Episcopal Church, 315 Main Street, Southwest Harbor. Green & Lean is a series of monthly lectures which focus on ways to save money and resources. We have adopted a very pragmatic approach -- no technical jargon, no complicated concepts, just straightforward, useable information you can put to use in your own home or place of work. For more information, contact Erika Shriner, 244-3532 or jerika@roadrunner.com
Thursday, May 21 - Preserving the Harvest, 10 am - 1 pm, American Legion Post 35, 413 Broadway, South Portland. Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables? Our hands-on food preservation workshops will teach you some basics steps, like how to use pressure canners and water bath canners to preserve pickles, jam, and vegetables. Learn from the experts. We will provide fresh produce and canning jars. You will receive Preserving the Harvest Resource Materials. Registration required. Space is limited. Call the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County office at (207) 780-4205 or 800-287-1471 (in Maine) for more information or to register. Registration deadline is May 14, 2009. Course and Materials Fee: $10.00 per person.
Thursday, May 28 - Preserving the Harvest, 1 pm - 4 pm Session A, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm Session B, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Lisbon Falls County Office, 24 Main St, Lisbon Falls. Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables? Our hands-on food preservation workshops will teach you some basics steps, like how to use pressure canners and water bath canners to preserve pickles, jam, and vegetables. Learn from the experts. We will provide fresh produce and canning jars. You will receive Preserving the Harvest Resource Materials. Registration required. Space is limited. Call the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County office at (207) 780-4205 or 800-287-1471 (in Maine) for more information or to register. Registration deadline is May 21, 2009. Course and Materials Fee: $10.00 per person.
Saturday, May 30 - Small Farm Field Day, 9 am - 4 pm, MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center, Unity. This is a great day of workshops and demonstrations for farmers, gardeners and homesteaders. Activities will include: scything; yoga; horse-drawn farm equipment demos; pasture raised rabbits and butcher demonstration; poultry exhibit; low-impact forestry woodlot tour; chainsaw sharpening and basic maintenance; timber felling; weed and pest identification; homestead metalworking and blacksmithing; baking in a wood-fired oven; dairy goat milking demonstration; tours of MOFGA's windmill & solar hot water systems; spinning and fiber demonstrations; and a wild and edible plants tour. There will be vendors selling tools, garden supplies and seedlings, and lunch will be available for purchase. Admission $2.
Tuesday, June 2 - Preserving the Harvest, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm, Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program, 84A Union St., Brunswick. Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables? Our hands-on food preservation workshops will teach you some basics steps, like how to use pressure canners and water bath canners to preserve pickles, jam, and vegetables. Learn from the experts. We will provide fresh produce and canning jars. You will receive Preserving the Harvest Resource Materials. Registration required. Space is limited. Call the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County office at (207) 780-4205 or 800-287-1471 (in Maine) for more information or to register. Registration deadline is May 23, 2009. Course and Materials Fee: $10.00 per person.
Sunday, May 10 - Food+Farm University, 9 am - 5 pm, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St, Portland. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association helps organize an all-day series of intensive workshops to give attendees the skills to start producing their own sustainable food with a focus on urban/suburban food production. Topics will include small space gardening, beekeeping, chicken care, root cellars, fruit for small spaces and vermicomposting.
9:00 - 9:30 Registration
9:30 - 12:30 Urban Chicken Care (Stacy Collins)
9:30 - 11:15 Grow Your Own Organic Urban Garden (Roger Doiron, Kitchen Gardeners International)
11:30 - 12:30 Vermicomposting (Mark Follansbee, Worm Mainea)
12:30 - 2:00 Lunch Break - on your own
2:00 - 5:00 Backyard Beekeeping & Meadmaking Demo (Erin Forbes, Overland Apiaries & Eli Cayer, Maine Mead Works)
2:00 - 3:15 Basic Root Cellar Techniques for the Basement or Backyard (Cheryl Wixson, MOFGA)
3:30 - 5:00 Selecting and Growing Small Fruit in Small Spaces (Lisa Fernandes, Portland Permaculture & David Buchanan)
All-Day (2 blocks per person): each block is $12.50 or $10 for SPACE or MOFGA Members. Half-Day (1 block only) $15 or $12 for SPACE or MOFGA Members. Buy tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com
Monday, May 11 to Friday, May 15 - Commute Another Way Week is Maine's annual transportation event that promotes the use carpools, vanpools, public transit (bus, ferry and rail), bicycling and walking as cost-effective, healthy and enjoyable alternatives to driving alone to work. Since 1995, hundreds of employers and thousands of commuters throughout Maine have participated in Commute Another Way Day and helped reduce pollution and traffic, made Maine a better place to live. For more information, visit www.gomaine.org
Monday, May 11 - Gardening to Attract and Conserve Beneficial Insects and Spiders, 7 pm, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. If you are interested in natural pest management and learning how beneficial insects and spiders can help control insect pests in your yard and garden, then this workshop is for you. Mike Sowers, Cumberland County Master Gardener, will describe an ecological approach to sustainable pest management that includes the use of practical gardening and landscaping techniques to enhance essential resources for our natural enemies. Participants will learn to identify and attract the good bugs with flowering plants and creative garden design. For information, please call 833-5125. Free and open to the public. Door prizes.
Thursday, May 14 - How and Why to Keep Bees in Top Bar Beehives, 7 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Gold Star Honeybees will present a beekeeping discussion and demonstration of top bar beekeeping. Both experienced beekeepers and "wannabee" beekeepers are encouraged to attend. For more information, please call 729-4050. Free and open to the public.
Saturday, May 16 - Birdathon 2009. Join birders throughout Maine -- from Arundel to Aroostook and Fort Kent to Fort Foster -- for this once-a-year, one-of-a-kind birding event! What is the Birdathon? It’s a bird-watching event during peak migration in which participants try to identify as many bird species as possible. Birdathon is also a great fundraising event for Maine Audubon, supporting our mission to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat. It's not to late to form a team or decide to go it alone, and then head out to count, have fun, and raise money for wildlife conservation. Questions? Call Eric Hynes at (207) 781-2330, ext. 237. Want to register, form a team, or make a pledge? Please call Linda Ledoux at (207) 781-2330, ext. 215.
Wednesday, May 20 - The Green and Lean Lecture Series: Cutting Your Electric Bill 50%, 7 pm, St. John Episcopal Church, 315 Main Street, Southwest Harbor. Green & Lean is a series of monthly lectures which focus on ways to save money and resources. We have adopted a very pragmatic approach -- no technical jargon, no complicated concepts, just straightforward, useable information you can put to use in your own home or place of work. For more information, contact Erika Shriner, 244-3532 or jerika@roadrunner.com
Thursday, May 21 - Preserving the Harvest, 10 am - 1 pm, American Legion Post 35, 413 Broadway, South Portland. Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables? Our hands-on food preservation workshops will teach you some basics steps, like how to use pressure canners and water bath canners to preserve pickles, jam, and vegetables. Learn from the experts. We will provide fresh produce and canning jars. You will receive Preserving the Harvest Resource Materials. Registration required. Space is limited. Call the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County office at (207) 780-4205 or 800-287-1471 (in Maine) for more information or to register. Registration deadline is May 14, 2009. Course and Materials Fee: $10.00 per person.
Thursday, May 28 - Preserving the Harvest, 1 pm - 4 pm Session A, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm Session B, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Lisbon Falls County Office, 24 Main St, Lisbon Falls. Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables? Our hands-on food preservation workshops will teach you some basics steps, like how to use pressure canners and water bath canners to preserve pickles, jam, and vegetables. Learn from the experts. We will provide fresh produce and canning jars. You will receive Preserving the Harvest Resource Materials. Registration required. Space is limited. Call the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County office at (207) 780-4205 or 800-287-1471 (in Maine) for more information or to register. Registration deadline is May 21, 2009. Course and Materials Fee: $10.00 per person.
Saturday, May 30 - Small Farm Field Day, 9 am - 4 pm, MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center, Unity. This is a great day of workshops and demonstrations for farmers, gardeners and homesteaders. Activities will include: scything; yoga; horse-drawn farm equipment demos; pasture raised rabbits and butcher demonstration; poultry exhibit; low-impact forestry woodlot tour; chainsaw sharpening and basic maintenance; timber felling; weed and pest identification; homestead metalworking and blacksmithing; baking in a wood-fired oven; dairy goat milking demonstration; tours of MOFGA's windmill & solar hot water systems; spinning and fiber demonstrations; and a wild and edible plants tour. There will be vendors selling tools, garden supplies and seedlings, and lunch will be available for purchase. Admission $2.
Tuesday, June 2 - Preserving the Harvest, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm, Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program, 84A Union St., Brunswick. Ever wonder how to preserve all those great garden vegetables? Our hands-on food preservation workshops will teach you some basics steps, like how to use pressure canners and water bath canners to preserve pickles, jam, and vegetables. Learn from the experts. We will provide fresh produce and canning jars. You will receive Preserving the Harvest Resource Materials. Registration required. Space is limited. Call the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County office at (207) 780-4205 or 800-287-1471 (in Maine) for more information or to register. Registration deadline is May 23, 2009. Course and Materials Fee: $10.00 per person.
News and Views
On May 1, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released "Solving the Puzzle," a special report calling climate change "the most important puzzle humankind has attempted to solve." In the report, the NSF cited compelling evidence of climate change:
- Ecologists have noted marked changes in the habitats of the species they study -- where they find a particular species and the dates plants first sprout and bloom.
- Ocean scientists have recorded higher temperatures and rising ocean acidity, which alter the characteristics of the most fundamental organisms of the ocean food chain. Coral reefs -- some of which have thrived for centuries -- have died off suddenly as a result of ocean temperatures that exceed the corals’ ability to survive.
- Polar scientists have watched vast tracts of Arctic sea ice melt away.
- Glaciologists have witnessed ice shelves -- once thought too large to be influenced by anything short of cataclysmic environmental change -- break up into icebergs in a matter of days.
- Social scientists have recorded the bewilderment of indigenous people. Their cultural knowledge, which stretches back in time through numerous generations, holds no record of the kinds of environmental changes they are encountering today.
- Paleoclimatologists have discovered -- through tree ring data, ice cores, and other corroborating records -- that the concentration of carbon dioxide, and Earth’s average temperature, are nearing levels that haven’t been reached for hundreds of thousands of years.
This year, International Compost Awareness Week is May 3 to May 9. If you like to rot a lot, this is a great time to get out some compost and spread it around!
No comments:
Post a Comment