Saturday, February 21, 2009
eNature Quicklinks
WildlifeGuides: Nature in North America - FieldGuides: More than 5,500 species
- Birding: Identify, attract and understand birds
- On the Wild Side: Our free nature newsletter!
- Articles: Search our vast archive
- Advanced Search: Identify what you've seen
LocalNature: Your neck of the woods
- ZipGuides: Find species by location
- ParkGuides: Parks & refuges near you
- Gardening: Create, attract and conserve
- Wildlife Lists: Save your sightings
- Send eCards: Thousands of images
Reconnecting Children and Nature
The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature. C&NN provides access to the latest news and research in the field and a peer-to-peer network of researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children's health and well-being.
NH Children In Nature Coalition
- Improve physical and emotional health and well-being
- Increase understanding of and care for the natural world
- Promote stronger connections to community and landscape
...and to providing a forum for continued collaboration.
New! N.H. Children and Nature Initiative Receives
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Two Major Grants: The New Hampshire Children in Nature Coalition has received a $50,000 grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and a $10,000 donation from The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation in support of statewide efforts to reconnect children and families with nature. Click here for press release.
Founding Documents Developed: Over the past year, Coalition partners and working groups have established the Coalition's structure and drafted founding documents that detail timelines, strategies and goals for the effort, including the following:
- New Hampshire Children in Nature Coalition - Communication Plan - DRAFT (pdf): Many New Hampshire organizations, individuals, and agencies are already working on issues related to children in nature; the Coalition seeks to connect them with each other and help them bring their work into communities where children and families will directly benefit. Coalition partners have committed time and resources to the effort, and have expressed a desire to work together, build the network, and make use of any tools and opportunities the coalition can offer. This plan outlines the first steps in creating those tools and facilitating needed connections. Click here to view the draft plan.
- Organizational Development and Statewide Program Coordination Work Plan - DRAFT (pdf) - Large numbers of individuals in New Hampshire have expressed interest in developing the NHCINC to promote and coordinate activity around increasing the amount of outdoor free and creative play in the natural environment, to help to reduce childhood obesity and to increase children’s use of all their senses. A work plan charts out a timeline for working toward these goals and objectives. Click to view.
- New Hampshire Children in Nature Coalition - Mission, Goals, Objectives and Activities - DRAFT (pdf): Dozens of suggested activities for communities, educators and others.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Green Projects
Try these great lesson ideas for environmentally conscious teachers (and their lucky students). Credit: iStockphoto
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Recycling Education
Being green comes naturally to bakery owners
Tom and Mariah Roberts run Beach Pea Baking Co. in Kittery, Maine. (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff) KITTERY, Maine - Mariah and Tom Roberts like to talk trash. All of the customers at Beach Pea Baking Co. are reminded about recycling at the refuse bins, educated about it on the cafe's tables, and told about the bakery's pledge to use only what is necessary. Mariah scours restaurant vendors for environmentally friendly products, such as compostable utensils made from potatoes. Even the butter pats here are wrapped in biodegradable paper, rather than metal-lined packets.
As a result, at Beach Pea, when it's time to dispose of your juice bottle or toss your napkin after nibbling on an oversized chocolate-drizzled croissant or a thick lemon bar, you'll find three clearly labeled bins: recycle, compost, and trash. And the trash receptacle is the least full. On any given day, a mere three bags leaves the shop, even after 300 to 600 customers pass through. Ninety-five percent of the bakery's waste is recycled or composted.
Since owners Mariah and Thomas Roberts opened in 2001, they have been about as green as they can possibly be. In fact, this couple is so passionate about their recycling program and sustainable practices that they nearly forget to talk about the actual sweet offerings. As for the confections, they're made with pure ingredients. "We didn't want to sell anything to anyone that we wouldn't cook in our own house," says Mariah. You won't find corn syrup, white sugar, white paper bags, or bleached napkins here.
The husband and wife team, who are natives of Portsmouth, N.H., had worked in enough restaurants to know that they didn't want to be like everyone else - with tons of trash, energy waste, and unnecessary plastic. So they started out using sustainable practices and took serious measures to tread as lightly as possible with regard to ingredients, electricity, and utensils. They source as much food locally as is possible. Breads are made with unbleached, unbromated, and often organic flour, and berry scones are studded with blueberries and raspberries, locally grown when in season.
At lunch fresh, healthful salads and sandwiches use the bakery's crisp French baguettes and the Robertses see to it that no processed products are brought into the kitchen. The couple make their own spreads and salad dressings and roast their own meats. All the bakery's ingredients come from local distributors.
In 2007 Beach Pea, named for the wild flowers that grow along the water, generated 85,000 pounds of trash, but 90 percent of it was composted. The rest was sent to a processing facility in Biddeford, Maine, where it was burned for electricity. "You have to have dedication as owners to teach people to dispose of trash properly," says Tom. "But I think it's been a useful tool for our community. It's interesting to see people get excited about it." Mariah would like to see other restaurants in the Seacoast area follow their lead. In fact she spends a good chunk of time fielding calls from restaurant owners who are interested in going green.
For them, it all starts in the kitchen with time, patience, and dedication. "Bakeries can be more connected to the community," says Tom. Adds Mariah, "You're creating a sense of place for people rather than just being a servant." When customers leave the shop, compostable brown bag in hand, a tempting little confection tucked inside, they can feel good about eating.
Beach Pea Baking Co., 53 State Road (Route 1), Kittery, Maine, 207-439-3555.
