Conservation Notes

This monthly column provides brief information on conservation and preservation issues, ideas and meetings.

If you want to eat locally grown food, check out Farm Fresh Express at http://www.ctffe.com/, which delivers Connecticut food products, mostly organic, to your home on a weekly basis. No minimum orders and no need to order every week. The delivery charge varies by location.

Disposal of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs): CFLs save electricity and therefore reduce carbon emissions, but contain a small amount of mercury. They should be properly recycled and, if one breaks, one should open the windows and leave the room for 15 minutes. Do not vacuum, and follow the procedures for handling and disposal outlined by the EPA at www.energystar.gov/CFLsandMercury.

GCA Legislative Updates: Update #19, Last Minute Regulatory Juggernaut, posted on the GCA Website www.gcamerica.org, details proposed Bush administration regulatory changes on new source review for power plants, mine dumping rules and endangered species, and what can be done to prevent them from taking effect. To read this, click Members Only to sign in (user name: gcamember; password: compost), then Committees, and scroll down to National Affairs and Legislation to find the Current Legislative Update. You can access all prior Legislative Updates. Update #18 focuses on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The GCA opposes drilling in ANWR, but the posting includes the arguments pro and con.

Conservation Watch Newsletter: The Fall Conservation Watch Newsletter is available at www.gcamerica.org, and describes conservation projects in each Zone. Click Members Only and sign in (see above), then click Con Watch at the top of the page.

Cocoa Mulch can harm dogs if they eat it: Although most dogs will not eat it, cocoa mulch from which theobromine has not been removed can cause serious harm to pets if ingested. See
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp for a thorough discussion of the risk.

Please send any such information you think should be made available to GCNH members to Mikey Hirschoff, Chair, Conservation Committee, at mhirschoff@comcast.net, for possible inclusion in this column.