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On Designing Activism

2011-04-29T17:11:30Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

This post was written for The Living Principles site in response to a panel discussion hosted by AIGANY, the New York chapter of the AIGA Professional Association for Design. The Living Principles site is for "those who use design thinking to create positive cultural change." The original post is here.

I was delighted last week to see a standing-room only crowd for AIGANY's Designing Activism panel discussion on graphic arts, propaganda and the green movement. If the past few years of climate activism have taught us anything, it is that being armed with the facts is not enough.

The environmental movement needs the knowledge and support of visual artists and marketers to reach people with clear messages about the solutions as well as the dangers of inaction. Environmental organizations like the one I work for, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), are busy fighting filthy power plants operating with out-of-date technology, fending off legislative attacks on values that used to be unassailable and pushing for regulations and policies that will safeguard our air, water and health and set the United States on a path to a clean energy economy. It’s complicated stuff, which is why I find the Green Patriot posters so inspiring; the best of them distill these issues perfectly on a single page.

In the age of social media, everyone can speak out — whether about Trump’s toupee or burning national forests for electricity. And an individual with a network, or a small group of committed people with even larger networks, can create the spark that ignites a mass movement. We’re looking for those sparks. When campaigns by environmental organizations working in the halls of government and in the courts intersect with concerned and motivated individuals, we can create a force equal to the coal and oil industries’ influence peddling. Online distribution is free — the idea simply has to be strong and powerful enough to inspire action at a critical moment.

The fight to curb climate change has many facets and fortunately, even more solutions. Solving a problem this big requires innovative and smart choices. Few of these solutions are familiar to the public, and all could use the expertise and support of visual artists and marketers. The members of the panel offered fantastic insights into how to effectively use design for activism, but details about current environmental issues and efforts were scarce. And it seemed that the audience, to its credit, wanted to get to work. So in the spirit of remaining in touch, here are just a few transformative solutions NRDC is working on this year in concert with many other health and environmental organizations. These are opportunities and reasons for hope.

The government is preparing to set new efficiency standards for passenger cars. Setting the standard to 60 mpg for new cars would cut oil consumption by 49 billion gallons per year and more than 535 million metric tons of carbon pollution by 2030. Better carbon pollution and fuel-efficiency standards will ensure the American auto industry creates innovative cars. Will we go 60 mpg by 2025?

Or will Congress open new areas to drilling, answering the oil industry’s demands for more access, more permits and reduced safeguards for offshore drilling — even in the aftermath of the worst oil spill in United States history?

High gas prices mean Americans are suddenly all too aware of our dependence on foreign oil. The United States consumes 19 million barrels of oil a day, 25 percent of the global supply, but we have less than 2 percent of the world’s proved oil reserves. That means no amount of domestic drilling will reduce gas prices much or provide enough to meet America’s daily demand for oil. We need to develop sustainably grown biofuels and run our cars on electricity generated by solar or wind power.

If we invest in public transit; plan more convenient and sustainable communities that don’t leave thousands stuck in traffic for hours; and offer Americans more and better transportation options (including walking and bicycling!), we’ll not only reduce our demand for oil but perhaps be happier and healthier.

It’s time to develop renewable and clean energy sources, stop subsidizing the oil industry and invest in wind, solar, biogas and geothermal.

If we stop wasting electricity we can stop building new coal-fired power plants just to meet peak demand. We must invest in energy-efficiency improvements and retrofit buildings. We need to set energy-efficiency appliance standards to drive innovation and use more-efficient products.

Can we transform food production so that concentrated animal feeding operations don’t pollute our water and threaten our health? Can we foster a healthier, more sustainable means of producing and distributing food locally to feed everyone?

Smart government policies would promote these solutions and finally transform American energy. But the political influence of the coal, oil and gas industry must be overcome.

We need your help to visualize these facts, bring the solutions to life and present images that illuminates with startling clarity the choice before us. Does any of the above inspire you?

Today we’re faced with a Congress that includes a faction that is determined to dismantle basic health and environmental safeguards without regard for the law. Things that may have enjoyed broad support just a few years ago – reducing mercury pollution, for instance – are under attack. These members of Congress are unabashedly supporting the rights of polluters to release unlimited amounts of hazardous pollution into our air without regard for its effects on people, our health or our environment.

And the coal, oil and gas industries are gearing up to spend record amounts of money fighting any regulations. The oil and gas industry spent a record $168 million in 2009 to lobby the Congress and the administration. (Check contributions to members of Congress on www.dirtysecrets.org/)

I’d welcome your thoughts and ideas on any of these issues and would love to hear how NRDC and other organizations can better communicate with and engage both your industry and the public.

The moderator, Susan Szenasy, editor of Metropolis, voiced familiar concerns when she asked if our consumption is the problem, if people should feel guilty working for large corporations, if small actions are enough in the face of global problems.

Consumer demand for better products — whether it is energy-efficient electronics, renewable energy, clothing made from textiles whose production didn’t pollute rivers, or food produced without pesticides — will continue to drive innovation and the adaptation of more sustainable practices. And the public declaration of our values matters. Health and the environment matter, polluters should be held accountable and we should be seeking more sustainable alternatives.

The green movement will gain the most power when the popular imagination is engaged, when networked individuals intersect with organizations, and street art and calls to Congress echo the same message.

Thanks to Michael Bierut, Paul D. Miller, Edward Morris, Jeremy Osborn,
Dmitri Siegel, James Slezak and AIGANY for an inspiring panel.

Do you like this blog? Vote for NRDC

2011-03-28T12:49:49Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

It's an honor for NRDC to be nominated in several categories of Treehugger's Readers' Choice Best of Green Awards. NRDC has been fighting for the environment for 40 years and we're pleased to be nominated for Best Political Watchdog Organization alongside some other fantastic organizations.

This blog you're reading, which is the product of more than 140 NRDC staff members who write regularly about what they know best, was nominated for Best Business and Politics Website (alongside Mother Jones!). And our Twitter, @NRDC, has also been nominated as Best Business and Politics Twitter Feed. Just this morning we surpassed 20,000 followers on Twitter.

If you agree with Treehugger's editors and have enjoyed reading our blogs and tweets, please click on each of these links and vote for us:

NRDC Best Political Watchdog Organization

NRDC's Switchboard Best Business and Politics Website

@NRDC Best Business and Politics Twitter Feed

We're happy to know that our work is appreciated by the editors at Treehugger, but we'd like to know what YOU think about NRDC and how we talk about the most pressing threats to our health and environment. Please leave a comment or suggestion below. Are you a frequent reader of the blogs? Are you following NRDC on Twitter and on Facebook? What would you like to see us do next and how can we improve?

And as always, thanks for reading!

Waiting for the Future in 2010

2009-12-31T16:00:03Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

We’re a decade into the 21st century and still living on Earth. Our earth-bound personal transport vehicles are still powered by fossil fuels, extracted from the ground. The Model T my grandfather drove in 1926 (a new car that cost $400) ran on pretty much the same stuff we’re pumping into our cars today. Futurists of the past would marvel at our lack of progress.

Change has been slow but the emergence of hybrid engine technology shows that we can develop new technology that transforms and improves our lives.

2010 is a year of enormous possibility. Obama has resolved to develop a new clean energy economy in the U.S. that will create jobs, speed the adaptation of better, cleaner technology and support smarter solutions to energy use. The United States stands ready to confront the world’s greatest contemporary challenge – global warming – after joining 188 nations in voting for the Copenhagen Accord. The Senate will soon consider a bill to curb global warming pollution and forever change American energy policy from burning chunks of coal and importing oil to smarter, more efficient, clean renewable technologies and energy use. But as we’ve seen in the auto industry, there’s enormous resistance to change and industries that were once vital emblems of American progress and ingenuity can fail if they do not continue to innovate.

Only with the support of many Americans will the Senate have the courage to do what it must. Tell your senator that 2010 is the year to make America a global leader by developing a clean energy economy at home. It’s not as hard as it sounds, we already have the technology – you can call your electricity provider today and switch to renewable energy. We just need to develop the infrastructure and incentives to bring American power into 2010. Flying cars can wait but clean energy can’t.

Tell your senators to pass a strong climate and energy bill now

Shopping and Shipping for the Holidays

2009-11-25T19:09:06Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

I'm not good with crowds or long lines so even doorbuster deals aren't enough to get me out of the house the day after Thanksgiving and into a mall parking lot. What I will do is log on and do some early holiday shopping online. From fair trade crafts from around to world to homemade gifts, you can support sustainable enterprises and please everyone on your shopping list. Not only is shopping online more convenient, it's more efficient and can even qualify as good for the environment. Especially if you give one of NRDC's special "gifts from the wild." Starting at just $10 dollars to plant a rainforest tree, you can afford to be generous and share your values with a long list.

NRDC has selected an assortment of holiday gifts from the wild. You can make a donation online to safeguard wolves, plant a rainforest tree, and protect polar bears or newborn whales. The recipient of your gift will receive a beautiful certificate acknowledging that a gift has been made in their name. Or send a copy of NRDC President Frances Beinecke's book, Clean Energy, Common Sense, a small book with a big agenda recommended by Robert Redford.

Your gift will support NRDC's work all year long.

Other bright ideas for gifts -- consider giving something that won't end up cluttering the closet like a fun activity, subscription, class, service, trip or something edible. NRDC staff share some of their favorite gift ideas in our gift guide on NRDC's green living site, SimpleSteps.org.

If that's not enough for everyone on your list, here are a few of my favorite websites for unique, sustainable and fun gifts. But no matter where you purchase your gifts, select ground shipping -- it's six times more efficient than overnight air shipping which means less pollution. So be sure to order early and allow enough time for packages to arrive by ground.

etsy.com
An online marketplace for anything and everything handmade, Etsy is the place for find lovingly crafted items from hundreds of thousands of artists. From traditional crafts made hip to housewares and fine jewelry, Etsy is a wonderful place to find custom and one-of-a-kind items for anyone on your list - especially those hard to shop for people who are too cool for anything mass-produced. Find a gift made from recycled materials.

tenthousandvillages.com
Ten Thousand Villages works with with artisan groups in Africa, Asia and Latin America to bring you fair trade jewelry, home decor and the perfect handmade gift. Check out the selection of recycled treasures.

Overstock.com's Worldstock
Worldstock features thousands of items made by skilled craftspeople around the world, shipped directly to you with the artisans receiving an average of 60 percent of the sales price. From furniture to clothing, Worldstock has an assortment of beautiful handcrafted items.

What better way to show your love than with a gift that gives back?

Join a Global Movement for the International Day of Climate Action

2009-10-23T23:47:10Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

Tomorrow, October 24, 2009, people around the world will participate in a global day of action to raise awareness about a very important three-digit number -- 350. That's the number that leading scientists agree is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide, measured in Parts Per Million (PPM) in our atmosphere. Here's NRDC's New York office getting into the spirit:

If you're reading this blog, you already know we need to pass strong climate and energy legislation if America is going to curb global warming. Urge your senators to pass a strong climate and energy bill now and join one of the thousands of events tomorrow. You can find an event near you on 350.org or stage your own. Be sure to snap a photo and upload it to the 350.org site. You can see more of NRDC's 350 photos on our Facebook page. Become a fan and show us your creative 350 photo!

Join Blog Action Day on Climate Change

2009-10-14T15:51:45Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

Tomorrow, October 15, the NRDC staffers who blog on Switchboard will write about climate change, as they do every day. The difference is that they will be joined by nearly seven thousand other blogs in demanding immediate action to solve global warming.

NRDC is a non-profit partner of Blog Action Day, an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. This year they've wisely chosen the topic of climate change at a critical moment. Here in the United States, we've got to pass strong clean energy and climate legislation. And in December, world leaders need to forge a new climate accord in Copenhagen.

Americans want real, comprehensive climate action. When the celebrity gossip site TMZ posts about climate change for Blog Action Day, you know we've reached a critical point. Concern has solidified into determination to solve climate change before it's too late. The Senate needs to enact strong legislation that will not only curb global warming but build a clean energy future and they need to hear from you! If you have a blog, join Blog Action Day and post about climate change tomorrow. Be sure to share your favorite posts tomorrow -- on Facebook, on Twitter -- and ask your friends, family and coworkers to urge our senators to pass a strong climate and energy bill now!

Read posts on Switchboard for Blog Action Day

Counting My Plastic Waste: Week 3

2009-07-17T18:59:53Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

Here are the results of my second week cataloging and saving all my plastic waste. Despite the long list, it's a big improvement over last week's results. You can see other people's trash on the Fake Plastic Fish Challenge site.

2 newspaper bags
1 plastic bag from loaf of french bread
1 plastic packaging from crackers
1 Ziploc
1 plastic bag of walnuts
plastic wrap from cheese
1 Soyjoy wrapper
1 fruit leather wrapper
1 Cliff bar wrapper
1 plastic case for razors
1 plastic spout, cap and pull tab from milk carton

My waste includes 5 plastic bags this week, down from a high of 19 the first week and 6 the second. The Cliff bar and fruit leather were purchased before the start of the challenge (the Soyjoy mango bar was a free sample and not very good). The most obvious 'oops' is the plastic bag for the French bread I bought at the farmer's market. As I walked away, I almost slapped my forehead when I realized I'd grabbed a load wrapped in plastic.

Nine of my 12 items of plastic trash are from food packaging. I could have easily avoided the bread bag, the Ziploc and the snack foods (5 items). The others are a little more difficult -- I don't know of a nearby place to buy bulk nuts, and it seems very difficult to buy cheese or crackers without plastic.

After three weeks I've managed to reduce my plastic significantly and it's becoming much more natural to just walk away from unnecessary plastic packaging when I know I can find an alternative. But have I managed to permanently change my shopping habits in three weeks?

I'm going to take a couple weeks off from tallying my plastic waste and see what happens. Will my vigilance drop when I don’t have to report it online? We'll see!

(It took me a couple weeks to get around to posting this so I'll soon have an answer posted here.)

Counting My Plastic Waste: Week 2

2009-07-10T18:29:22Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

Two years ago Beth Terry decided to stop using plastic and began chronicling her saga on a blog, fakeplasticfish.com. She recently issued a challenge to readers to collect all their plastic trash for a week and submit photographs and tallies (the results are posted here). Inspired and curious, I decided to keep track of all those bits of plastic refuse.

Here are the results of my second week cataloging and saving all my plastic waste. Despite the long list, it's a big improvement over last week's results.

Non-recyclable
1 bag of feline pine cat litter
2 shopping bags
4 small plastic bags, 2 plastic molded forms, a software cd, a hang tag and a plastic security tag from my new camera1
molded plastic form from scissors
1 plastic cover for the father's day card I bought several weeks ago but still didn't mail on time
1 #6 plastic cup from a club
1 plastic cup from brunch at a friend's house
1 tiny ziploc bag and plastic hanger that contained extra buttons
1 plastic planter
1 herb marker
1 broken clothespin
2 ziploc bags
1 bag that held coconut
2 #6 containers and plastic wrappers that held shiitake mushrooms
1 plastic top and seal from a box of raisins
1 plastic bag that held muffin mix
plastic wrap from cheese
1 Soyjoy wrapper
1 licorice wrapper
1 fruit leather wrapper

Recyclable
1 Via Coco tetra pak
3 envelopes with plastic windows
1 broken #5 deli container

The first week of the challenge I had 19 bags and this week I'm down to 6 bags (excluding the camera's packaging). This week's plastic waste was far lighter and compact than last week's, check out the photo. Much of this waste was purchased or in use before I started the plastic challenge but I have to take full responsibility for buying a new camera and a box of Via Coco last week and accepting two plastic shopping bags.

Again this week, the bulk of my plastic, in weight and in number of items, was from food packaging. It's surprising how much of food packaging is not just plastic but the almost never recyclable #6 plastic, polystyrene. That's the same type of plastic as Styrofoam, which I'd never knowingly buy. From now on, I'll get my shiitake mushrooms at the farmer's market.

The scissors were from the office supply closet. The plastic packaging is ironic since according to the package, the handle of the scissors is made from recycled plastic. The father's day card was made from recycled paper but wrapped in a protective plastic sheath.

Now about the cat... his litter and his food come in heavy plastic bags. He and I are both pretty picky about these things. I want a cat food without a lot of unhealthy grains and a nice smelling, light weight, renewable (if not sustainable) cat litter. Feline Pine is made from Southern Yellow Pine which is grown on tree farms. Allegedly I could compost the sawdust litter at the end of the week but I don't think my neighbors would go for that. The litter is lightweight, so the energy required to transport it is less, and a bag lasts me about a month. But I'd be happy to hear about alternatives.

One Week of Plastic Waste

2009-06-19T22:13:03Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

I work for the NRDC in New York and often write stories about making more sustainable choices on NRDC's green living site, simplesteps.org. As you'd expect, I avoid disposable packaging and buying plastic items, or so I thought until I started dragging all my plastic trash home with me.

I stayed true to the spirit of scientific inquiry and didn't avoid plastic despite my growing dismay at the pile accumulating in the kitchen. Once you begin setting aside your plastic trash you being to see plastic everywhere. Because it IS everywhere. My bag of plastic trash was larger than the week's other garbage, which doesn't include food scraps.

At the end of the week my plastic refuse covered the dining table, filled two bags and filled me with dread.

I was surprised at the amount of plastic that came from food purchases. In the photo below, most of the plastic on the right is food-related. And I'll admit, sometimes it's just far easier to accept a plastic bag. I let the bagger at the grocery store put my Marcal recycled toilet paper, wrapped in paper, in a plastic bag to keep it from getting wet in the rain. But looking critically at this list there's a lot more I could do fairly easily to reduce my pile of plastic. (The cat thought this was all great fun.)

Why is plastic so bad? It pollutes from its production to its demise. Even when it can be recycled, it's downgraded to other products, unlike metal or paper which can be used again and again to make the same products. And recycling plastic can be difficult and costly because it has to be carefully sorted by type. New York City's sanitation department only accepts plastic bottles and jugs, PET #1 and HDPE #2, for recycling. Other cities may collect more types of plastic but that doesn't necessarily mean they actually recycle all of it. Usually they're just trying to maximize the amount of HDPE and PET plastics by making it easier. So even the small amount of my weekly plastic that is recyclable in New York didn't make me feel any better.

At NRDC's office, we collect plastic containers and lids numbers 1-6 so I was able to recycle more of my plastic than the average New Yorker. But I'm still trying to figure out whether all of that plastic actually gets recycled.

Here's the lengthy list.

Recyclable
#2 gallon jug of water - this was the emergency jug stored under the sink that expired last month
#5 container of prunes - I didn't even notice this was plastic and not cardboard when I bought it, why do the apricots come in cardboard and the prunes in plastic?
#2 quart of grapefruit juice
#1 bottle of conditioner

Recyclable at the office
3 contact lens cases #5
packaging for frozen shumai - #5 molded tray and outside packaging
#6 container of hot sprouts

Non-recyclable
5 plastic bags from Associated Supermarket - I brought my cart and canvas bag to the supermarket but not everything fit and of course, they double bagged it
1 plastic bag from Paragon Sports - Not taking a bag at Paragon leads to a ridiculous amount of explanations with the security staff
1 plastic bag from H&M - felt lazy and didn't want to get dirt from the canvas bag on the new duds
1 plastic mailing bag that contained my new bike helmet
1 12 year old bike helmet
1 plastic bag from my lunch
2 plastic bags from Bed Beth and Beyond - again, the security people
2 plastic newspaper bags
1 temporary ATM card
5 paper envelopes with plastic windows
2 plastic screw things from kitchen faucet - if they were metal they wouldn't have broken!
Molded plastic packaging from Dr. Glove foam glove conditioner
4 plastic ties from clothing hang tags
plastic bag that contained a softball (inside a cardboard box, no less)
#6 clamshell packaging for electric toothbrush
extra foam padding for bike helmet
plastic bag wrapping bike helmet
molded plastic packaging from toothbrush (manual)
stickers for bike helmet
plastic ice bag - left over from a party
plastic wrap from frozen pizza
wrapper from a Luna bar
2 chip bags
tofu container
plastic packaging for wasabi rice crackers - #6 molded tray and outside packaging
bag of pearled barley
plastic wrap from cheese
molded plastic tray and saran wrap from chicken thighs
4 plastic produce bags
1 plastic sealer from soybean container
plastic insert from glass bottle of olive oil
2 Ziploc bags
1 plastic straw
2 plastic beer cups and 1 clear plastic plate - from dinner out with friends
3 plastic forks - I'm not sure where 2 of these forks came from, usually I won't hand over my lunch to the cashier to avoid the automatic bagging

I could easily stop accepting plastic shopping bags but I do use them for my trash. My local Associated grocery store doesn't have paper bags, like many neighborhood stores in New York. In fact, I often run out of plastic bags and have to bring some home from work. (Even at NRDC, where over a hundred committed enviros work everyday, the plastic bags pile up in the kitchen. The difference is that we collect them rather than toss them.) Next week I'll try saying no to all plastic bags.

I'll forgo my Lambeth Groves grapefruit juice and I'll certainly miss my fresh-squeezed cherry juice from the farmer's market which comes in an unwelcome plastic bottle. I go to the farmer's market a couple times a week which makes it easy to avoid packaging but I also order from the grocery delivery service Fresh Direct about once a month. The groceries are delivered in recycled cardboard boxes but all the produce comes in plastic bags. Sadly, bulk bins are few and far between in New York. I should give up chips for any number of reasons.

In a normal week there might be more plastic cups from going out for dinner and drinks. I could start drinking bottled beer more when the gin and tonic is coming in a plastic cup. There were a few unusual purchases this week -- sports equipment and toothbrushes. I suppose I could have shopped around and looked for cardboard packaging.

But I am keeping my contacts, frozen pizza and tonic water. The pizza, from Fresh Direct, is pretty minimally packaged. I bought a home seltzer maker last year and love it but seltzer and gin don't work well together. Eradicating each and every bit of plastic seems nearly impossible but I will try to keep it down to scraps rather than piles. Check back next week to see how I do.

In the meantime, in honor of our oceans, which inspired Beth to start this whole saga, take a minute to voice your support for national legislation to reduce pollution, protect ocean habitats and coordinate efforts to manage the coasts and oceans wisely.

Taking the Plastic Trash Challenge for World Oceans Day

2009-06-08T16:48:15Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

In honor of World Oceans Day I'm collecting all my plastic trash, recyclable and non, for a week. What does my plastic bottle of conditioner have to do with the oceans? Since much plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose, it often winds up in unexpected places, like the central Pacific Ocean.

Sunday morning marked the beginning of seven days of hoarding my plastic. As usual, I got up and went downstairs to collect the newspaper. Which was wrapped in a blue plastic bag, despite the sunny weather. I hadn't been awake 15 minutes and I had my first item.

Once you being setting aside your plastic trash you being to see plastic everywhere. Because it IS everywhere -- it's holding my so-called "organic" conditioner, my "all natural" chicken, it's even holding together my kitchen sink. According to the rules, I must live normally the first week and not artificially reduce my plastic consumption. This is turning out to be harder than it sounds, the idea of keeping my plastic makes me want to avoid it as much as possible. But I want to know how much plastic I casually use each week and toss away without thinking about it. Sure, I carry reusable bags to the store, drink from a stainless steel water bottle, use glass storage bowls at home and switched to an all-natural facial scrub when I realized that those little micro-beads in the scrub were made of plastic. But I'm not all that fastidious -- I use Ziploc bags for my lunch, saran wrap to roll out pie crusts and many, many of the items I buy are bottled, wrapped and sealed in plastic.

By the end of the day I had a small plastic produce bag containing:

1 newspaper bag

1 Ziploc bag

1 produce bag

1 plastic container, plastic wrap and bag from a pack of chicken thighs raised without antibiotics

2 broken plastic screw things that held my faucet together until they broke

1 bottle that contained "organic" hair conditioner

It's a little early in the experiment to draw any conclusions but I was struck by the evidence of my consumption of more environmentally-friendly and healthy products -- that came in plastic. Check back next week to see the full results.

For more information on plastic in the oceans and several simple steps you can take to use less plastic, check out my post on simplesteps.org. And celebrate World Oceans Day by telling your representative to co-sponsor a national Healthy Oceans Act. After decades of industrial fishing, 90 percent of the world's large fish are gone, over 75 percent of fish species are not at sustainable levels, coral reefs are dying and global warming is increasing the acidity of the oceans. Without coordinated leadership and management of our oceans, they will collapse. Take a minute to voice your support for national legislation to reduce pollution, protect ocean habitats and coordinate efforts to manage the coasts and oceans wisely.

Recipe for Spring - Seasonal Vegetables

2009-05-05T15:27:07Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

After months of root vegetables at the farmers market, I’m eager for the first sign of spring: ramps, tangy little onions with wide green leaves that grow wild in the Catskills and elsewhere. Delicious raw or cooked, these flavorful members of the onion family are brilliant green reminders of the spring and summer vegetables to come.

An unexpected benefit of relying on my local farmer's markets for most of the produce I eat is discovering new vegetables and figuring out what to do with them. Spying a pile of bright green leaves amid the winter root vegetables last spring, I bought a bunch and heeded the farmer's advice to treat them like green onions but be sure to eat the leaves. I started putting them on everything, from scrambled eggs to salads.

Enjoying seasonal produce means buying what's available that week and learning how to cook it. But you don't have to be a gourmet to shop at the farmer's market. The chief benefit of seasonal, locally produced food is fresh, ripe food that may have been harvested the day before. Food that fresh has so much flavor that it often doesn't require much more than olive oil, salt and pepper to make a delicious meal. But as anyone who has ever confronted an unfamiliar vegetable in a CSA box can tell you, recipes are helpful. Find recipes for what's in season near you with NRDC's online guide to eating local (now available as a widget too) and share your favorite recipes for seasonal produce by posting a comment below. Be sure to include your location in your post.

Last week the ramps arrived again, in giant bags at the Union Square farmer's market.

The ramps I bought grew wild in a potato field on Franca Tantillo's farm in Cooks Falls, New York. The field is a bumpy, 45-minute ride by tractor from the road. Franca's favorite way to prepare this wild little onion is to chop it in half, separating the wide green leaves from the red stem and white bulb, and saute the bulbs for a few minutes in olive oil, then wilt the leaves over the bulbs. Sauteed ramps are delicious sauteed with asparagus, another spring vegetable, or mushrooms. I ate mine with frozen lima beans.

Ramp season will only last another three or four weeks but soon dandelion greens and spinach will appear at the market, followed by broccoli and rhubarb, which always reminds me of my grandmother's garden.

I grew up in the Midwest, and even in the city, you're always aware of the miles of farms across the state, the acres of corn along the highway. But by and large those farms grew just two crops -- corn and soybeans. The vegetables in my neighborhood grocery store came from all over the world, by plane, ship and truck. Even produce grown in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles to market. The implications of this global agriculture system are both large and personal -- from global warming to flavorless fruit that has been harvested before it's fully ripe.

Alternatives to this production system need to be nourished. Next week NRDC will honor three leaders in sustainable food at the first ever Growing Green awards. The awards are not just for food producers but also business and thought leaders that are shaping a more sustainable system of food production, distribution and consumption.

But let's not forget the primary beneficiaries of local food -- the eaters! Share you favorite spring recipes by posting a comment below.

A Good Reason to Shop on ebay

2009-03-16T15:31:02Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

In high school, I used to scour thrift stores for clothes and interesting little oddities. At the time, wearing "used" clothing meant you listened to something that was then known as alternative music. As the music went mainstraim so did "vintage" clothing. Whether it's vintage clothing or original modern furnishings, there's no stigma attached to well-made items that have been enjoyed by a previous owner. And it's easier than ever to reuse and recycle all kinds of goods with help from online listings, freecycle and of course, eBay. The wealth of closets across the nation is easily searchable on eBay. And now there's another reason to shop on eBay -- now through April, you can browse and bid on items listed to benefit NRDC.

Click here to see the items for sale from people who have generously donated a percentage of the sale price to NRDC. And be sure to check back for new listings.

If you have some treasures around the house you've been meaning to get rid of, put "reduce, reuse, recycle" into practice by listing your items on eBay with 10 to 100 percent of the sale price going to NRDC. You can also make an immediate donation via PayPal. Consider joining the cause by listing items on eBay and donating a portion of the sale price to NRDC. In these thrify times, you can make a donation to NRDC without using your credit card. Sell your stuff on eBay and support NRDC. Everyone benefits!

Greener Living in 2009

2009-01-07T21:00:40Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

Over on NRDC's living site, SimpleSteps.org, I've suggested a few resolutions that will not only help you lose weight, eat healthier and save money, but will benefit the environment at the same time. See if you're already doing them and find out which three things even the most avid environmentalist should throw in the trash. And let me know what you think! Resolutions for a Healthier and Greener 2009

We also shared 15 cheap (and even free) green resolutions for the new year with thedailygreen.com. From cleaning your clothes to selecting better products, see how little it will cost to go green(er).

An Easy Resolution to Keep - Eat Your Vegetables

2009-01-06T22:23:42Z

Kathryn McGrath, Sr. Associate, Marketing and Web, New York

I've pretty much given up on making new years resolutions. The end of the year gets so hectic that I hate to stop the stream of presents, parties, food and visits from friends and family to pause for reflection and muse on my failings. I save that for the second week of January.

And in these early dark, chilly days of January, I've made a resolution I won't mind keeping. My resolution arrived in the form of a 996 page cook book, Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."

I've long been a fan of the man's weekly New York Times column but it was this impassioned presentation that won my heart.

Our monocultures of soy and corn are dependent on petroleum fertilizers and pesticides, much of which is for animal feed. Industrial farming degrades and pollutes our land, rivers and ocean. Nearly 20 percent of all greenhouse gases are produced by livestock production and it takes an estimated 10 calories of fossil fuels to raise 1 calorie of beef. This seems a strange development considering that plants need little more than the most natural, renewable energy source -- the sun -- to create calories.

But I don't really want to bring the world's problems, including the growing dead zones in the ocean, global warming and cancer-causing chemicals, into my kitchen. I won't institute a 100-mile diet, become a vegetarian or even eat organic all the time. I will simply hope that many other people are making a few everyday choices like mine to eat a little less meat and a little more adventurously in the plant kingdom. NRDC, for example, does not serve red meat at functions or luncheons and it's seldom missed. By making some small (and even pleasant) adjustments in our lives, we can make a tremendous difference.

So my resolution for 2009 is that I will make it easier to make better decisions, for my health and the environment. Because it is the sensible thing to do. And it tastes better. This is a resolution with benefits.

Bittman's cook book will make it easier with recipes for everything -- even those wonderful, often unloved vegetables I often see at the farmer's market: celeriac, fennel, fava beans, sunchokes, brussel sprouts. This week I'll be eating White Bean and Celery Root Gratin and maybe a Creamy Watercress Soup.

In the past I relied on Google to find reliable recipes for those strange vegetables. I would search online for "CSA" and "recipe" and the name of the exotic vegetable. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, where people pay up front for a weekly share of a farm's crop. They also tend to post some wonderful recipes for the vegetables they receive. In this way I discovered my now-favorite recipe for turnips and that you can improve almost any dish by adding ramps to it. I also learned that sautéed beet greens beat the actual beet as a side dish.

As fun as it was to peek into someone else's CSA box, it was a lot of effort. And even the best intentions are easily thwarted by a late day at the office, hunger and an empty fridge. But now I've got over 900 hundred pages of quick and easy recipes that are much more exciting than a frozen chicken breast.

Next week I'll be eating Pan-fried Pumpkin with Tomato Sauce, Cocoa and Pumpkin Seeds and feeling smug that I've kept my resolution well into January. Just because it was an easy change to make doesn't make it insignificant.