Notes – Sierra Club Program on Sustainable Applications of Stimulus Dollars

Following are some of my notes from a panel the Sierra Club sponsored on how recovery bill dollars are being put to use for sustainability efforts. Errors, questions, clarifications may be added as comments.

Caryl Terrell of Sierra Club moderated the following panel:
Al Matano – Dane County Board Supervisors, District 11
Robin Schmidt – Dane County Board Supervisors, District 24
Steve Arnold – City of Fitchburg Common Council, District 4
Bill Clingan – City of Madison Development Director, Community Development Division

I came in as Steve Arnold began to talk about Fitchburg’s “Cool City” status. Steve talked about the recovery bill money’s short deadlines and strict criteria. Fitchburg investigated application for funds in Fitchburg’s new library, Route 14 improvement, Infrastructure for Fitchburg’s green tech village, and Post Road improvement.

Attitude: Optimistic that work in these areas is important regardless of the odds of gaining the stimulus dollars under discussion. Pessimistic regarding gaining stimulus funds with some glimmers of hope in the area of the library since it has a quarter of a million dollars of green features worked into its plan and due to the fact that the library is “shovel ready” – matching stimulus fund criteria.

Steve spoke about sustainability being infused in Fitchburg’s 5 year capital improvement plan – an improvement plan which has helped to give Fitchburg a high bond rating.

Following, we heard from Bill Clingan who gave us a hand-out on the areas that the city is looking at for $2,384,600 in energy block grants that it will be receiving courtesy of the recovery bill.

$1,000,000 for City facilities – energy efficiency changes, renewable energy at Badger Rd. Streets facility, diversion of organic wastes-pilot program to divert residential organic waste from the landfill. Biogas and compost – anaerobic digester technology

and

$1,384,600 for Community Use divided as follows:

$650,000 for Business and economic dev’t.-specifically energy efficiency improvements to commercial, non-profit & manufacturing facilities within the city. Application process to be developed.
$250,000 for residential energy efficiency improvements. Application process under development
$484,600 for training and hiring of unemployed or underemployed people who will perform weatherization projects in one or two neighborhoods chosen by metrics from “Neighborhood Indicators”. “A vendor will be selected through a RFP process with CDBG Commission and Council approval and the Grants Coordinator will monitor the contract”.

Bill said that the city is working on 4 areas in relationship to recovery dollars: foreclosure, homelessness prevention, the energy blog grant, and CDBG funds.

We did not discuss the CDBG model in as much detail (or I was sleepy by then) however I did receive a hand-out of information on this which I will bullet point here:
$534,096 in CDBG funds have been awarded to the city.To be expended –
$37,386 – Foreclosure prevention services – RFP process
$42,727 – Employment services for those facing potential eviction – RFP process
$154,890 – Economic development – creation of jobs that are green in orientation through economic support of businesses [this area seems pretty fuzzy to me…more details likely forthcoming]
$299,093 – Housing Rehab/Infrastructure – repair of affordable housing with energy conservation in mind. Some housing stock needs basic repair before energy measures can be implemented.

Folks I recognized in attendance: Brett Hulsey, Dane County Supervisor and Sonya Newenhouse of MEG.

Original description is below:
Join the Four Lakes Group for a program on opportunities and uses of stimulus funds for environmentally productive purposes. Representatives from three Cool Communities (the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program at http://www.coolcities.us) have been invited to discuss in particular green uses of stimulus funds. A panel will lead off the questions and discussion. We invite all concerned citizens to attend to learn more about what stimulus funds are coming our way, what the opportunities are, and how you can weigh in to help direct use of these funds. Please feel free to come and share your own questions or concerns. We will also be inviting other officials to participate as audience members. This event will be at the Goodman Community Center off the east side bike path, providing ready access via an environmentally friendly means of access. The panel will be from 6:30 – 8:30 PM and refreshments and snacks will be provided. Please attend and make your voice heard!

Filed under: Event Reports

Cameron Diaz Helps Water-Saving Flush Gain Celeb Status

I just read “Hippies, Hollywood and the Flush Factor” in the New York Times online. Cameron Diaz talked to Jay Leno about the rudimentary water-saving technique of not flushing the toilet after every use. Many of us have heard, “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down”. It’s time to avoid being squeamish and talk potty. Thirty percent of household water use is for toilet flushing, and the average household could save 10 gallons of water/day by using the yellow-mellow technique. In rural America, the yellow-mellow flush has been in use for generations to preserve the health and longevity of septic systems. – Carol
NY Times article here. Cameron talks bout the flush factor at about the 2 minute mark in the YouTube video.

Filed under: Sustainability News

The Natural Step Video “Miles the Can”

This video from The Natural Step reminds us that even an easily recycled aluminum can uses up a lot of energy in its lifetime. Note to self: Bring along a container and live lighter on this planet.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Earth Day Week Potluck Report: Yum!

We Met Kristen Joiner We welcomed Kristen Joiner at our first The Natural Step Madison potluck! Kristen Joiner is the new Executive Director of Sustain Dane. Earlier that day Kristen had attended an event which prominantly featured Natural Step principles  – a Bioethics Forum. Also, you may be interested to know: Kristen and Ingrid are both active in efforts to transform the Shorewood Hills Elementary lunch into a locally grown and healthy meal. I know they are also working on composting all of the school’s food waste.   Who Came? Also at the potluck: Sparky Watts, Liz Ferguson, Diane Derouen, Jim Winkle and his wife Bonnie, Susan Grabia, Carol Gruba, and Mike Vidal.  We dined on grilled vegetables, an amazing beet salad, a quinoa dish, an egg/potato salad, and other yummy things that have already faded from memory but not my calorie load!  Better Living Through Tofu We congratulated Susan Grabia on convincing the Willy Street co-op to provide tofu in bulk. The price of the product is the same as if it were purchased in smaller increments. But Susan is really gratified by being able to bring her own reusable container to the deli for this product.Please ask for your bulk tofu at the Willy Street Co-op deli and continue to support this packaging-free option. Odds Are Green: Raffle Tickets Several of us bought raffle tickets from Liz that support The Natural Step Monona. Grand prize:a Gary Fisher bicycle. More on the prizes here.  Your ticket purchase is supporting grassroots sustainability efforts like classes on vermiculture (which is worm composting), and the ongoing Tuesday night green events that got Liz and I into The Natural Step in the first place! Survey Says: Let’s check out wind Liz went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore Earth Day fair with a green tour survey in hand. Seven people filled out a survey. Their strongest interest [drum roll]: wind power. Following wind energy by order of interest were  biomass energy particularly from landfills, large-scale composting sites, permaculture, local wind/solar manufacturing, Cedar Grove cheese factory, and green charter schools. In that process, Liz also gathered contact information from parties interested in joining up on tours! Look for a tour of a wind farm in your future. Help Our Recycling Czar May 9th Both Liz and I attended a City of Madison meeting. I’ll try to write a bit more on that in a separate post, but out of this springs a request from George Dreckman, our Recycling Czar who you have seen in the TV ads. George says: Could I have a few volunteers (2 hour shifts) for the May 9th sale of Earth Machine composters at the Alliant Energy Center? He will provide breakfast AND a pizza lunch for volunteers. Email him at gdreckmann@cityofmadison.com  I know George has some plans in the works to evolve city efforts BUT at the moment, on-site home or industrial composting is the ONLY way to divert food waste from the sewage system and/or landfills. I think that supporting home composting has a powerful impact both on the physical world and our vision for what will be.  And Don’t Forget Rain Barrels Why not add a rain barrel to the mix? A wonderful sale on rain barrels is going on alongside the composter sale AND on that day you’ll be getting $15 off the price tag! See more at the Rain Reserve site HERE. Here is another opportunity to incorporate sustainability into daily life. FYI if you have a bit of time to spare to volunteer, it’s very gratifying work and a breeze. You would get a chance to meet Ry, the new coordinator of the Rain Reserve program. Ry is a recent transplant from Portland, OR and a specialist in water conservation and water quality. Readers feel free to add your 2 cents with a comment and see you at the next Green Tour.

Filed under: Event Reports, Events, bulk tofu, compost, earth machine, green tour, kristen joiner, madison, shorewood hills

Sewer Tour Video and Answers to your questions

Video of the April 3rd tour of Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District is here:

and

This link  walks you through the sewage treatment process: http://www.madsewer.org/LiquidWasteTreatment.htm

Questions and Answers

What is the tour like?

We convened in a visitor’s center of the MMSD Operations Building with our friendly tour guide Roy Swanke. Roy was a pleasure to work with in terms of answering my questions before this tour and in being very gracious with our many questions the day of this tour.

The assembled lobbed a flurry of questions at Roy, we watched a short video, and then we toured the video surveillance room, and the laboratory. Following, we viewed the primary settling tanks which seemed to be pools of dirty still water covering acres, and the aeration tanks which are bubbling pools of dirty water. We then went down into the bowels of the sewerage plant to through tunnels of 24″ thick [and larger] pipes until we emerged in the UV light chamber room which blasts the water with light that kills the genes of the waste-eating bacteria so that it is ready to be finally released into the Badfish Creek.

If you would like to arrange for your own tour at the Nine Springs plant, visit the MMSD tour page and contact Roy.

Answers to our questions:

• How is MMSD removing heavy metals from waste?: Roy said heavy metals are removed from waste before it gets to the MMSD, since heavy metals come from industrial customers that have on-site treatment plans and who must meet MMSD standards before they are allowed to put their waste into the sewerage.
• Is MMSD using or planning on using wetlands to purify waste? [see http://www.aqua-tt.com/benefits/index.html for more on this practice]: No. Roy said this solution is the sort of thing a smaller town or one of the MMSD’s larger customers might use to treat water before it gets to MMSD. A comment on the wetlands link from MMSD staff: “On wetlands – The answer talks about using the wetlands for pretreatment.  They (wetlands) can also be used instead of conventional treatment or can be used for polishing after conventional treatment.”
• What opportunities is MMSD taking to recycle waste water and waste solids?: The obvious answer here is “MetroGro”: a fertilizer for area farm fields that is comprised of a treated sludge. This is spread on 3,000 acres of farm fields in the area, primarily on land growing corn.
• What is in the treated sludge?: According to MMSD, it is 50-70% organic matter, 7-9% nitrogen, 4-5% phosphorus, .9-1.1% potassium, 5-6% calcium, 8-10% trace elements
• Is there separation of urine in Madison for purposes of recycling it as fertilizer?: No.
• Do they know how much of what comes in is food waste?:There is no hard data for MMSD’s facility. My tooling around the net did not yield a firm answer, either. But here are some garbage disposal facts & considerations

1. New York City had banned in-sink garbage disposal use due to concerns for food waste handling in its sewer. In 1995, NYC conducted a pilot project and study finding that allowing sink garbage disposal unit use would result in an increase of $3.15/apt. dweller & $3.70 per “owner occupied dwelling” and increase water use at the rate of 3 gallons per person per day–insignificant numbers according to the authors of this document..
2. The standard “green message” I find is that grinding our food and sending it down the drain is bad. Using the disposal requires that we use more water [I have seen both 2 gallons and 3 gallons cited] and increases the sewer’s electricity bill..See treehugger ‘s take
3. MMSD has a monthly MG&E bill $140,000-$150,000 . Water is heavy and it takes a lot of electricity to move water around.

• Any plans for collecting/composting more of that food waste stream?: No formal plans in the works on the part of  MMSD. However, there are other exciting efforts–

1. This just in from Roy: “Lee Bruce of the Bruce Company was in last week.  He told me he is starting some demonstration projects in which he will be collecting food waste from some large cafeterias and composting it with yard waste.  He said he will be starting with the cafeterias at American Family and Epic.”
2. The City of Madison continues to sell home comosting units and also offer free composting classes -upcoming class dates are April 25 and May 2. Upcoming bin sale date is May 9: More here.
3. ReD.I.R.T! (Redirecting Invaluable Resources, Together!) is an emerging grassroots waste collection group that will be doing neighborhood-scale work  to haul food waste to community gardens for composting. ReD.I.R.T! will use bike carts that they  are making.
4. WasteCap is a WI organization creating waste reduction and food waste composting solutions for businesses and farms. This nice summary of operations describes a pilot program using pigs among other things!

• Are there any possible plans for digesting the sewage wastes (all kinds) and producing energy, like in a digester?: “The sludge _is_ digested. The roughly 600,000 cubic feet of gas produced daily is used to run 3 engines. The methane content of this gas is about 55-60%. One of the engines is a blower that provides air for the secondary treatment bacteria.
• How can I be involved with what MMSD is doing?: One obvious way to get involved with MMSD: be involved with its 50 year master plan which is being created NOW. If your group would like MMSD to offer a special presentation for it, according to the MMSD page, arrangements may be made. For more details: Visit the MMSD page and click on “50 year plan”(Of particular interest at the site “Planning AC Update 03/14/2008” because it  includes responses to a questionnaire which was given to 260 households in 2008.)

A big thank you to our tour guide, Roy Swanke, and to the roughly 20 people who came to our first The Natural Step Madison tour at the Nine Springs plant of MMSD!

Please feel free to comment, question, and augment the information here with your own notes. And feel free to hop aboard a future The Natural Step Madison green tour this summer. We will promote tours through this site and the SustainDane email list.

Filed under: Tours, madison metropolitan sewerage district, metrogro, mmsd, nine springs, sewer tour, sludge, the natural step madison

Events!: Earth day Sat 4/18 & Potluck Thurs 4/23

HABITAT RESTORE EARTH DAY Sat. 4/18–Visit the Natural Step Booth!

Free beverages and music from Round the Bend are yours from noon to 4 pm Saturday April 18 at the Habitat ReStore Earth Day Celebration.

Carol Gruba will be at this gathering with Full Spectrum’s booth and you’ll be able to stop by the Natural Step booth and visit with Heather Gates or Liz Ferguson. They will be spreading the word on Natural Step gatherings, circles, and tours. 

While there, shop at the Restore’s constantly changing bounty of reclaimed home improvement stuff.

Location: 208 Cottage Grove Rd., Madison, WI. (Corner of Cottage Grove and Monona – you’ll see the Walgreens on the corner. )

Booths will abound on green building, sustainable living and other recycling/reuse options that help heal the planet.
Exhibitors include: Artisan Exteriors, Blair Landscape, Bicycle Federation of WI, Full Spectrum Solar, MPower Campaign, PrairieFire BioFuels Coop, Focus on Energy, Isthmus Green Day, Design Coalition, Wildwood Institute of Herbal Medicine, Sustainable Times, City of Madison, Willy Street Coop, Growing Power w/worm composters, Natural Step Group-Monona, Nelson Institute, Olbrich Garden, Green Jeans Insulation, Good Oak Ecological Services, Welz Farm, Assurance Inspection Services LLC, Blue Heron Natural Builders, MG&E, a neighborhood electric vehicle, Sustain Dane Rain Barrels and water conservation kits and much more!

 

THE NATURAL STEP MADISON STUDY CIRCLE POTLUCK -Special Guest, Kristen Joiner, New Executive Director of Sustain Dane, Thurs. 4/23

Let’s gather at Village Cohousing Thursday 4/23 at 6:00-ish for a potluck!

We will have a special guest: Sustain Dane’s new executive director, Kristen Joiner, who will be visiting with you to hear about your study circle and get acclimated to the Madison scene.

Bring your goodies for grilling or a dish to pass. And don’t forget to ask along your family and friends.

We should also have some new plans whipped up for another exciting tour by then, and we can share those with you in person.

Filed under: Events, earth day, Events, habitat for humanity, potluck

Sewer Tour Friday April 3rd, 1 PM Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Our Mound Street Natural Step study circle will be touring the Madison water and sewage treatment plant on Moorland road at 1 pm, Friday April 3rd!

 

The tour will involve a talk, a brief video, a walk through the plant, the control room, and “the wet end”. Unless we really insist, we will not visit what tour Ray Swanke calls “the sludge”.

FAQ for the April 3rd, 1pm Sewer Tour:

What are the questions we have for our tour guide?

• How is MMSD removing heavy metals from waste?
• Is MMSD using or planning on using wetlands to purify waste? [see http://www.aqua-tt.com/benefits/index.html for more on this practice]
• What opportunities is MMSD taking to recycle waste water and waste solids?
• Is there separation of urine in Madison for purposes of recycling it as fertilizer?
• Do they know how much of what comes in is food waste?
• Any plans for collecting/composting more of that waste stream?
• Are there any possible plans for digesting the sewage wastes (all kinds) and producing energy, like in a digester?

Why a sewer tour?
This tour idea got the most positive feedback from circle members! And we have been reading about innovative and sustainable ways that waste is reused, reduced, recycled or processed. Here’s our chance to get smart about one local waste stream.

How long will this tour last?
About 1.5 hours

Where will we meet?
The guest room at the Operations Plant – maps are a few lines down

Who will give the tour?
MMSD tour director Roy Swanke.

How can I learn more about the Madison Metropolitan Sewer District?
Visit the MMSD Frequently Asked Questions page: http://www.madsewer.org/faq.htm

How do I get there?
Mapquest: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Madison&state=WI&address=1610+Moorland+Road#a/maps/m::11:43.032339:-89.359074:0:::::/e
AND
A nice map from the road to the building is here [may take a minute to load]:
http://www.madsewer.org/ContactUs/VisitUs/MapToOperationsBuilding.htm

 

Filed under: Tours

The Natural Step Madison F.A.Q

What is the Natural Step?

“The Natural Step” refers to both a non-profit in Sweden and an international movement to create sustainable “green” systems. The principles of The Natural Step have been used successfully by cities, community groups, and corporations such as IKEA to reduce wasteful spending and wasteful practices that degrade our earth and our way of life. Find out more here: http://www.naturalstep.org/en/our-story

What are the principles of The Natural Step?

The principles of the Natural Step call upon us to reexamine the way we extract resources from the earth’s crust, to reevaluate the way we manufacture and release chemicals, and ultimately, to work with and nurture the natural world.

What does your group do?

Our group just completed a reading and discussion of The Natural Step for Communities. This book is a guide for grassroots sustainable change in businesses and communities which contains case studies of transformation such as the evolution of the Swedish town of Overtornea in Sweden. Overtornea is now a 100% fossil-fuel-free and the largest organic farming business community in the country with 200 new enterprises. Previously, the town of 5,000 had 25% unemployment and had lost 20% of its population over 20 years. Overtornea was the first of what would become 60 “eco-municipalities” in Sweden.

Eco-municipalities are now dotting nations all over the world.

Who are the authors of The Natural Step for Communities and what do they do?

Co-author Torborn Lahti played a key role in facilitating change in Overtornea and developing the eco-municipality movement. Curently Lahti teaches at the University of Umea in Sweden, lectures throughout the world, and is the project manager for the Sustainable Robertsfors project, a pilot project for democratic sustainable municipal development in Sweden. Co-author Sarah James currently provides sustainable community planning and development services through her Cambridge, MA firm Sarah James & Associates.

Who are the facilitators?

Carol Gruba and Liz Ferguson are your co-facilitators. Carol and Liz attended a study circle in Fall of 2008 with The Natural Step Monona and a workshop on study circle facilitation.

For further information:

Read about Karl Henrik-Robert, the founder of The Natural Step: http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC28/Robert.htm

A free Natural Step toolkit for homeowners in PDF format: http://www.naturalstep.org/en/sustainability-home-a-toolkit

The Natural Step Monona www.tnsmonona.org

City of Madison and The Natural Step http://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor/tns/index.cfm

SustainDane and The Natural Step http://sustaindane.org/Pages/ecomunicipality.htm

Filed under: More on The Natural Step