Environmental Happenings

The United Nations Climate Change Conference is taking place in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29 to December 10, 2010. Representatives from the world's governments are meeting to decide what, if anything, to do about climate change after the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of 2012. You can learn more about the conference and even "virtually participate" through the official UN Climate Change Conference web site.

Events in Maine

Wednesday, December 8 - Last of the Kennebec Log Drives, 7 pm, Bath City Hall Auditorium. Join Friends of Merrymeeting Bay to hear Dave Calder talk about the last of the Kennebec Log Drives. A former log driver, Dave grew up in the Skowhegan area and started working on the river drive at the age of sixteen. Dave worked on the drive 10 years until it ended in 1976. Following that, he worked in heavy construction until he retired. Dave has written some songs and stories about river driving which he performs on occasion. Aside from writing he enjoys reading, gardening, some traveling, and time with his grandchildren.  Dave lives in Canaan with his wife, Maureen, their dog and three goats. The FOMB Winter Speaker Series takes place monthly from October-May on the second Wednesday of each month.  For more information, contact Ed Friedman at 666-3372.

Thursday, December 9 - Sustainable Season's Greetings, 7 - 8:30 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Join us for our next Sustainable Living Talk, featuring Shari Burke. Sustaining our own personal peace of mind, sense of well-being, feelings of joy, and personal connections with others can be challenging during the frenzy of activity that is culturally and often personally expected of us in December. Come discuss how we can meet this challenge to create a different kind of holiday experience -- one that is more meaningful and joyful for us and better for the planet.  Free and open to the public. Space is limited; please call us at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

Friday, December 10 - Ventilating New & Existing Homes, 8 am - 12:15 pm - Central Maine Power Company, Augusta. Properly ventilated homes minimize the risk of exposure to indoor environmental pollutants (radon, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, combustion pollutants, chemicals) and minimize the risk of moisture damage in the building envelope and subsequent biological contamination. This program stresses why controlling ventilation in a home is necessary to protect occupant health. It will discuss the most common sources of indoor air pollution in homes and how they get there, and what physical processes are present (air flow, pressure, moisture) that affect indoor air quality. The program provides practical strategies to achieve core ventilation goals. Limited space available.  To register, contact Dick Tarr at Lapointe Lumber Company, 622-5025.

Local permaculture groups in Brunswick and Portland have several events planned. You can learn more about these groups and their events using the Meetup web service.  Check them out at

• http://www.meetup.com/Brunswick-Permaculture/
• http://www.meetup.com/portlandpermaculture/

A transition town group is active in the greater Brunswick area. Find out more about them and their events at

• http://www.meetup.com/Transition-Town-Brunswick/
  

For more news about Maine's environment, check out Maine Environmental News

Reusable Gift Wrap - December's Sustainable Living Tip

Dress up your gifts in reusable raiment. It's a simple, easy way to "give green" this season. Here are some ideas and inspiration to get you started.

Reuse. Common items can make interesting and practical gift wrap:

• dinner napkins
• reusable shopping bags
• bandanas
• scarves
• hats
• towels
• fabric squares cut from old clothes
• hair scrunchies (for tying up)

Furoshiki. Try using a simple square piece of cloth (called "furoshiki" in Japanese) to wrap just about anything. Like origami paper folding, furoshiki gift wrapping is an art. Learn more about this tradition here:

• Furoshiki techniques

Make Your Own Gift Bags. Add an extra element of originality to your gifts with homemade gift bags. Here's a blog showing you how to make these in a snap:

• Make Your Own Holiday Gift Bags

Track-a-Sack. If you'd like to encourage a friend or family member to try using a reusable gift bag, consider giving them a gift in a "Track-a-Sack" WrapSack. The sight of an overflowing trash bin the day after Christmas inspired The WrapSack founders to start selling reusable gift wrap bags. But they knew that just because something can be reused doesn't mean it will be. So they invented a way to track the progress of each bag as it is re-gifted. In their words, tracking gifts bags is "not just to protect our planet but also to see the journeys they take and hope that those journeys will bring people together so that there is just a little more peace on earth."

We sell Wrap Sacks in our store, available in a variety of sizes and patterns. In addition, we also offer reusable greeting card covers to eliminate the waste of paper envelopes.

Decorate Recycled Paper. While most people will be happy to receive and give gifts in reusable wrapping, others just won't get it. For them, consider rescuing and decorating paper from the recycling bin to use for gift wrap.

Children's Art. If you have school-aged children, you probably have a larger supply of drawings and paintings than display space on your refrigerator or walls. Your child's artistic excess makes great wrapping paper, especially for gifts given to their proud grand parents and teachers.

Plain Brown Paper. You can make classic and classy plain brown wrapping paper from paper shopping bags turned inside out. This paper provides a sturdy protective covering, and has the added advantage of being easy to compost. I'm often asked by concerned gardeners and home owners whether they can successfully and safely compost colorful holiday wrapping paper due to the coatings on the paper, residues from the bleaching process, and chemicals in the inks. While I personally shred and compost all types of paper, including wrapping paper, uncoated unbleached plain brown paper is the best for composting.

More Ideas. For more information and inspiration, check out the stories of these people who have gone to extremes to live with less garbage:

• The Clean Bin Project
• No Impact Man
  
• Green Garbage Project
• The Zero Waste Home
• Fake Plastic Fish