Going Green!

The annual barbecue to benefit James Farm Ecological Preserve will be held this Saturday, Oct. 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be live bluegrass music and food catered by Bethany Blues.

Increasingly, collective thinking is shifting from disposability to sustainability. As environmentally-conscious thinking permeates society, it extends to even the most basic needs, like shopping for groceries.

The Board of Directors of the Center for the Inland Bays approved a substitute resolution regarding the proposed Wandendale regional wastewater treatment facility near Lewes, choosing to wait on any action until the appeals process was complete.

Former Lt. Governor and Congress-hopeful John Carney visited Harbeson-based Flexera on Friday, September 24, to talk shop. Carney toured Flexera’s plant, and viewed a vertical-axis turbine prototype, which can be seen outside their offices.

When Greg Menoche of Dagsboro installed his own wind turbine a few years back, it was fairly simple. With plenty of acreage at his home, he fit under Sussex County’s 5-acre minimum for windmills nicely, and after getting the various permits and approvals, he was in business.

The Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Public Health jointly announced this week the launch of a Web site with comprehensive water-quality information, at www.waterquality.delaware.gov.

Children who have enjoyed the weekly lessons on marine life, wetlands and other fun outdoor activities at the Bethany Beach Nature Center – and those that have yet to see what the fuss is about – are being invited on a special free guided kayak tour through the inland bays on Saturday, Sept. 11.

There’s nothing quite as “green” as eating food that was grown locally, in an outdoor setting, enjoying all that Mother Nature has to offer. It seems miles away from rushing through a well-lit drive-through or even eating a home-cooked meal with ingredients from who-knows-where.

Four inns and a hotel have joined the Delaware Green Lodging program and received certification for implementing green hospitality practices that are designed to conserve natural resources, save money and enhance their marketing potential as environmentally-responsible businesses.

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announced this week that it will host its Sixth Annual “Imagine A Litter-Free Delaware” Clean Up Day on Saturday, Oct. 2. DelDOT has designated this as a statewide cleanup day, when everyone is being invited to go out to clean Delaware’s roads, highways and community areas.

Imagine going to a local grocery store and buying produce that was grown directly on the store’s roof. This is precisely the type of innovation that Ryan Bunting and Derek Dutton, inventors of patent-pending AquaGreen Roofing systems, dream of.

When tourists come to the Delaware beaches, clean air and water is not something many of them think about. It is seen more as a given that the air is pure and the water is clear. That’s one of the beauties of the area – right?

State officials and environmental advocates officially kicked off the drive for volunteers to support this year’s Coastal Cleanup, a statewide effort to clean up Delaware shorelines, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 25.

At the Delaware State Fair recently, Gov. Jack Markell and DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara honored the 2010 Wetland Warrior, ecologist Martinr Martin of Georgetown, for “his tireless pursuit of restoring the largest freshwater wetland that remains in Delaware, the Great Cypress Swamp near the Maryland line in southern Sussex County.”

After a successful year, the SEU Energize Delaware residential appliance rebate program will end as planned on Aug. 31, segueing into rebates for energy efficient heating and cooling systems and discount efficient lighting.

Online volunteer registration is now open for the 25th annual Delaware Coastal Cleanup, to be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 25. Sponsored by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the cleanup spans the First State’s 97-mile eastern coastline and includes river and ocean shorelines, as well as wetland and watershed areas.

Kayaking has traditionally been viewed as a low-impact recreational activity, but in Delaware’s Inland Bays, it has the distinction of having a huge impact – on wildlife habitat that is. Since the first “Paddlin’ for the Bays” event in 2007, more than $9,000 has been raised to support habitat restoration efforts in the Inland Bays watershed.

Clean Energy USA of Rehoboth Beach is gearing up for their 3rd Annual Renewable Energy Fair. The fair is scheduled for Aug. 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center and will be open and free to the public.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has launched a new grant program aimed at helping businesses, state and municipal agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and/or non-profit assistance providers identify and implement plans to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in their organizations and communities.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has launched a new grant program aimed at helping businesses, state and municipal agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and/or non-profit assistance providers identify and implement plans to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in their organizations and communities.