PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Treading through a morass of revised data, the city’s water officials will attempt to relieve water-quality worries at a City Council hearing over findings of pharmaceutical traces in the local drinking water supply.
The City Council’s committees on public health and the environment were expected Monday to hear from water department officials, as well as environmental advocates. Some Council members were upset to learn from an Associated Press investigation, instead of the Philadelphia Water Department, that the city’s water supply carries minute concentrations of many pharmaceuticals.
WILMINGTON, Del. — This week, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary unveiled ecoDelaware.com, a new website promoting ecotourism events and destinations throughout the State of Delaware. This launch comes 10 days prior to the 2008 Governor’s Tourism Summit, an event where ecotourism is featured prominently on the agenda.
The mission of ecoDelaware.com is to increase awareness, appreciation and, ultimately, environmental stewardship for Delaware’s creeks, rivers, and estuaries. This website not only equips users to experience these destinations, but it also features outdoor events and preplanned “ecotours,” the latter of which helps to cut down on exhaustive research that can often hinder an excursion.
“Nature enthusiasts consider Delaware’s estuaries to be a premier destination on the East Coast,” said Jennifer Adkins, executive director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. “The migrating shorebirds, spawning horseshoe crabs, and many other species that call our waters home are a huge draw, both locally and nationally, and this provides us with opportunities for conservation, education, and more.
Another ecotourism website is currently under development in Southern New Jersey, and related sites promoting Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Delmarva Peninsula are already available to the public. Therefore, ecoDelaware.com will help to fill a critical niche in the Delaware Estuary region while, at the same time, giving a boost to both environmental education and the state’s slowing economy. Ecotourism, after all, contributes $730 billion to the United States economy every year; this, according to a 2007 study by the Outdoor Industry Association of Boulder, Colorado.
EcoDelaware.com has been made possible thanks to a $10,000 grant provided by the Delaware Economic Development Office in June of 2007. Additional support for the project comes from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. And many of the website’s photographs have been donated by outdoor enthusiasts throughout the First State.
For more information and to submit a destination, event or photograph, please contact Shaun Bailey of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary at (800) 445-4935, extension 113, or SBailey@DelawareEstuary.org.
Here’s why you should:
If you haven’t worn this silky soft natural fabric that Footprint Bamboo offers, you’ve got to experience it! According to the National Geographic Green Guide, bamboo is an “a priori” eco-friendly material because it’s naturally pest-resistant, requires little water, is amazingly regenerative and known to grow a foot a day.
Did you know bamboo also has a much lighter environmental impact than pesticide-laden conventional cotton and petroleum-derived nylon and polyester synthetics?
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), conventional cotton consumes more water than any other agricultural commodity. Nitrogen-heavy fertilizer runoff from cotton fields feeds oceanic “dead zones” that deprive water of oxygen and kill fish. Seven of the top 15 pesticides used on U.S. cotton crops are deemed by the EPA to be potential or known human carcinogens.
Industrial production of synthetic fibers releases lung-damaging pollutants such as nitrogen and sulfur oxides, particulates, carbon monoxide and heavy metals into the air. Manufacturing of most fabrics also releases climate-warming carbon dioxide into the air.
Not so with bamboo! In comparison, bamboo requires NO fertilizer, pesticides or chemicals to grow, being that it is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet. In addition, it has no harmful residues left on it from the non-sustainable, chemically damaging cultivation that cotton requires. In terms of carbon dioxide, bamboo consumes 45% more carbon then a similar stand of trees, helping to reduce global warming…and if that doesn’t convince you, just wear Footprint Bamboo and experience a softness and breathability unlike none other!
Footprint…leave a good impression
Still own a car? Using a company car or private car during business hours? Take PhillyCarShare’s “Walk Ride Share” challenge, to put it in “park”, reduce your carbon footprint, and have your shot at Philly fame. During the entire month of May, PhillyCarShare will be challenging local residents and businesses to give up their car keys – and to rely on walking, biking, transit, and PhillyCarShare.
To help them along, we will provide every participant with a special Mobility Package, which will include free PhillyCarShare driving, a SEPTA pass, a free bicycle safety check, a chance to win a new Fuji bike, and even a free pair of running shoes with a personal fitting. These participants will be journaling their experiences weekly on the Walk Ride Share website for all of Philadelphia to follow.
The goal is simple: to show all Philadelphia residents just how easy it is to get around the city without owning a car. Along the way, they will also experience the convenience and ease of using alternative forms of transportation in Philadelphia, personally define the economical savings that can result from using alternative forms of transportation versus relying on personal car ownership, greatly reduce the region’s carbon footprint, and play their part in reducing congestion in the city.
For more information and to apply to be a participant, visit www.walkrideshare.org.
How To Reduce Your Energy Bills / Energy Conservation Begins at Home
Imagine leaving a window open all winter long — the heat loss, cold drafts and wasted energy! If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan or AC Return, a fireplace or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home every day.
These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause heat to pour out and the cold outside air to rush in — costing you higher heating bills.
Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.
But what can you do about the four largest “holes” in your home — the folding attic stair, the whole house fan or AC return, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Attic Stairs
When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.
Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.
Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door — do you see any light coming through? These are gaps add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.
Whole House Fans and AC Returns
Much like attic stairs above, when whole house fans are installed, a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only leaky ceiling shutter between the house and the outdoors.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan cover. Installed from the attic side, the whole house fan cover is invisible. Cover the fan to reduce heating and air-conditioning loss, remove it when use of the fan is desired.
If attic access is inconvenient, or for AC returns, a ceiling shutter cover is another option for reducing heat loss through the ceiling shutter and AC return. Made from R-8, textured, thin, white flexible insulation, and installed from the house side over the ceiling shutter with Velcro, a whole house fan shutter cover is easily installed and removed.
Fireplaces
Sixty-five percent, or approximately 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.
Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.
A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.
Why does a home with a fireplace have higher heating bills? Hot air rises. Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking the heated air from your house.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, a fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.
Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts
In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.
Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.
If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan, an AC return, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover, an attic access door, and is the U.S. distributor of the fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit www.batticdoor.com
