What Grows On in Rhode Island ~ News Blog

RI Recycles Day ~ November 21, 2009

From RI Resource Recovery Corporation:

WHEN: Saturday, November 21st from 8 a.m. to Noon.

WHERE: Central Landfill, 65 Shun Pike, Johnston, RI 02919

WHAT: Recycle your hard to dispose items all in one place!

Accepted items include:

• Sensitive Personal Documents for Shredding
• E-Waste
  
• Household Hazardous Waste

For more information, see the website!

Providence Recycling Program and City Council ~ November 19, 2009

Environmental Community Calls on Providence City Council to Maintain “Green Up Providence” Recycling Program While Addressing Residents’ Concerns
 

Providence RI –A coalition of environmentalists and community residents are urging the Providence City Council to maintain the city’s new recycling policy while addressing concerns from residents about the implementation of the program.
 
According to the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, the early reports from the Providence’s program already show a marked increase in recycling.
 
A number of council members proposed delaying the implementation of the program, but supporters of Green Up are urging the city to stay the course and continue to troubleshoot according to residents’ concerns until the new recycling policy is running smoothly.

Tree Survey Training Workshop for Ninigret Park ~ October 14, 2009

The Charlestown Conservation Commission is seeking Volunteers to take part in a Tree Survey of Ninigret Park. Training will be conducted by The Rhode Island Tree Council on Wed. October 14, 2009 from 12:30PM to 2:30PM at the Charlestown Police Station. Please call (401) 364-6471 if interested.

Upcoming RI Environmental Events ~ September 23 - October 1, 2009

From What Grows On in Rhode Island Calendar:

RI Wild Plant Society events for the fall and the URI Landscape Architecture Lecture Series for the school year are now in the Calendar. RIWPS has a seed exchange workshop on the 30th, and the Landscape lecture is Thursday night on caring for athletic fields.

The Ocean State is the perfect place for the third public meeting of the national Ocean Policy Task Force, September 24, 2009 at the Convention Center in Providence, 4-7pm. This hearing is for the entire East Coast. The link takes you to the meeting's press release, which includes another link to the task force website where you can submit comments.

Everyone is looking forward to Apeiron's First Sustainable Living Festival in Providence next Saturday, the 26th. It will be fun and informative. Also around the state on the 26th, you have several opportunities to unload hazardous stuff, e-waste, and even get documents shredded.

• Water Quality Monitoring Workshop ~ Sept 23
• Ocean Policy Task Force Meeting ~ Sept 24
• Sustainable School Summit ~ Sept 24
• Sustainable Living Festival (Providence) ~ Sept 26
• The Economical Historic Home ~ Sept 26
• E-Waste Fest ~ Sept 26
• Farmer's Daughter Harvest Festival ~ Sept 26-27
• Carnivorous Plant Show ~ Sept 26-27
• Weetamoo Woods Tour (Tiverton) ~ Sept 27
• Blackstone River Wilderness Tour ~ Sept 27

Also note:

• Electober Fest is October 1, brought to you by Clean Water Action.
• Interbike Fesitval OutDoor Demo East is at Roger Williams Park on Oct 10-11.
• Bioneers by the Bay is in New Bedford, MA, Oct 22-23
• Several International Day of Climate Action (350.org events) are planned around the state for October 24.

All of these events and more are listed in the Calendar.

Much more is in the Calendar than I can possibly mention here, so take a moment to check it out again. Bookmark, set up an RSS feed, subscribe to it.... See what's growing on in Rhode Island in the next few weeks.  Remember that you can also forward individual events information to your friends DIRECTLY THROUGH THE CALENDAR.

Weekend Environmental Update ~ September 19-20, 2009

From Little Rhody's Biggest Environmental Calendar:

SATURDAY's (September 19th) menu includes:

• International Coastal Cleanup in more than 80 locations
• 3 other afternoon cleanups
• Open Garden Day in Providence (the poster has the wrong date because this event was postponded from last week)
• United Plant Savers Conference in Coventry
• 36th Harvest Fair at Coggeshall Farm in Bristol
• Waterfire

SUNDAY (20th) choices include::

• Coggeshall Farm's Harvest Fair continues
• Buffer Planting & Restoration Project
• Bird Banding (Audubon, Bristol)
• Blackstone River Wilderness Tour
• Autumn Advent at Kettle Pond Visitor Center
• Fish Ladder Groundbreaking Ceremony at Slater Mill Park, Pawtucket
• Wild Mushroom Walk at Kimball Wildlife Sanctuary
• The Impact of a Green Municipal Building in Tiverton

You can also keep up with news through the RI Feeds website which retweets on the ProvGardener's  Twitter. For more environmental news see:

• Feed of What Grows On in RI News Blog 
• Feeds of other RI environment-related feeds available for

• FOOD
• GARDENING, FARMING, LANDSCAPING
• NATURE/OUTDOORS
• GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

International Coastal Cleanup ~ September 19, 2009

From Audubon Society of RI:

International Coastal Cleanup in Rhode Island
Saturday, September 19
9 a.m. – Noon
 
The morning of Saturday, September 19 will find more than 1,500 volunteers documenting and cleaning up shoreline trash in Rhode Island as a part of the International Coastal Cleanup, and Audubon urges you to join them. The world-wide event is a project of the Ocean Conservancy, and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island is the state coordinator. Those wishing to volunteer should call 949-5454 to find a convenient location, or check the Coastal Cleanup page on the Audubon website.

Next Phase of Narragansett Bay Cleanup ~ DEM Press Release, July 20, 2009

From RI Department of Environmental Management

235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462

Contact:
Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402
Terri Bisson 222-2776 ext. 4402
Monica Allen, NOAA, 301-713-2370
NOAA, STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS LAUNCH NEXT PHASE OF NARRAGANSETT BAY DEBRIS CLEANUP

BRISTOL - Department of Environmental Management officials, Rhode Island's Congressional delegation, officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, joined with Clean the Bay, Save the Bay and the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association this morning at Bristol Marine in Bristol to highlight a revitalized program to rid Narragansett Bay of marine debris and to launch the third phase of the comprehensive cleanup initiative.

Asian Longhorn Beetle ~ Survey Volunteers Needed

From RI Tree Council:

RITree is looking for volunteers to help conduct ALB detection surveys during the months of August and September 2009.  The surveys will be held in areas of Cranston, Warwick and northwestern RI.  Volunteers will be required to attend a training workshop where they will be taught to identify the adult beetle, ALB injury, and ALB-host trees, and how to collect and report the survey data.  The location, time and date for the training sessions is provided below:

George Washington Management Area
Thursday, July 16, 2009; 9:30am to 11am

Warwick Public Library, West Shore Road, Warwick, RI
Monday, July 20, 2009; 6:30pm to 8pm

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, 399 Fruit Hill Avenue, North Providence, RI
Saturday, July 18, 2009; 9:30am to 11am

Must RSVP to RITree @  764-5885

Rhode Island Tree Council
PO Box 6144
Providence, RI  02940
401-764-5885
www.ritree.org

Volunteers Needed ~ 2009 RI Butterfly Count

Audubon Society of Rhode Island
Annual Rhode Island Butterfly Count
Volunteers Needed
June 27, 2009 (East Bay) and July 11, 2009 (West Bay)
10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

(June 10, 2009) – Audubon Society of Rhode Island seeks butterfly enthusiasts for the 6th annual North American Butterfly Association (NABA) Butterfly Counts on Saturdays, June 27 and July 11, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Amateurs and experts team up to identify and record all the butterflies they can in one day.  Orientations sessions before the Count will help participants identify butterflies.   Beginners are welcome, and special beginner groups will be organized for the survey.

Volunteer Gleaners Needed ~ Fall 2008

From Farm Fresh Rhode Island's email newsletter today:

Fresh for All of Our Neighbors:  750 Pounds of Corn Harvest and Donated to the Food Bank!

Two weeks ago, Farm Fresh RI got a call from Cooks Valley Farm about an abundance of corn in their fields. The farmers didn't have enough time or staff to harvest the corn, so a few volunteers traveled to Wrentham to pick some ears and deliver them to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. After just two hours, Lindsay, the Farm Fresh RI Food Systems Intern, and her friend Emilia picked 750 pounds of corn and delivered it to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank!

The next few weeks are a great time spend a few hours outdoors and volunteer! At this time of year there's plenty to be gleaned at most farms, but many farmers don't have the time to harvest and drive to the Food Bank themselves. Gather some friends, family and a truck for a gleaning day on a farm, and help make a farm-to-food-bank connection that will address local hunger!

If you are interested in joining the e-mail list to learn about volunteer opportunities for harvesting fruits and veggies over the next few week, email Jessica Knapp and ask to be put on the list. We'll send out an alert anytime there's a farm with an abundance of food to be donated to the Food Bank.