Read the full article in the Ithaca Journal…
 

If you haven’t been to the Cayuga Nature Center lodge in the past two months, you may be surprised to hear that it is warm indoors thanks to a new super-efficient biomass boiler.

Biomass boilers burn organic materials such as wood and agricultural crop residues to produce heat as an alternative to burning petroleum oil or natural gas.

The European-designed, wood-fueled demonstration boiler was installed at the Cayuga Nature Center in November thanks to the tireless efforts of many organizations and volunteers.  Spearheading this project has been Nature Center Advisory Council member and volunteer Tony Nekut.

Other key collaborators essential to the success of this project are: Advanced Climate Technologies (ACT) of Schenectady, Cornell University, Clarkson University, and Cornell lecturer Francis Vanek and the students enrolled in Cornell’s “Engineers for a Sustainable World” class.

The commercial-sized boiler at the Cayuga Nature Center was funded primarily by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) as part of a larger research project. In 2008 NYSERDA awarded funds for nine projects across the state valued at more than $2.5 million to study energy and emissions performance for a variety of wood-burning equipment, including wood boilers, pellet stoves, wood stoves, and emerging grass-pellet technologies.

After several years in the design and planning phase of the project, the new boiler replaced the old, inefficient propane fueled boilers at the Nature Center, resulting in a significant savings in heating costs as well as a significant increase in heating output.

The new 400,000 BTU/hour boiler system passes stringent European air quality standards and boasts efficiency rates of up to 90 percent, in comparison to many residential wood boilers that operate at 50 percent efficiency. This type of boiler produces less than five percent of the particulate emissions of less efficient wood boilers typically used in the United States. Emissions are roughly equivalent to typical oil or gas boilers used in the United States.

Local woodlots and forests in New York State can supply clean, renewable fuel for wood boilers, and in the process, support local economies by retaining dollars currently shipped overseas to purchase fossil fuels. The Cayuga Nature Center has over 100 acres of land, which through sustainable harvesting has the potential to provide some of the wood chips to fuel the boiler; the Nature Center has been planting fast-growing trees for future fuel.  Planning is also underway to add a demonstration of sustainable forest management at the Nature Center.

Several different efforts are underway in the Ithaca area to explore wood burning technology and supply options. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County is working on public education regarding different energy sources for heating including options and supplies for efficient wood heating. Tony Nekut, working with the Community Biomass Energy collective, is exploring options for the creation of a local wood pellet processing mill in Caroline.

Cayuga Nature Center Executive Director Tom Trencancsky states,  “This project fits perfectly with the Cayuga Nature Center’s mission to cultivate awareness, appreciation and responsibility for the natural world through outdoor and environmental education.  If you haven’t been to the Nature Center in a while, come visit us this winter, and make sure you stop inside the lodge to warm up.”

Catherine McCarthy is Cayuga Nature Center Board President

At New Roots Charter School, a new public high school in downtown Ithaca, our faculty, staff and community partners are preparing our students to understand that:

A)   They are not too young to make a difference.

B)    They have both the responsibility and the privilege to positively influence and transform the path that our community and world is taking.

An excerpt from our charter with New York State about why our approach is so important now:

The Imperative for Sustainability-Oriented Education:

“Our environmental crisis has resulted from technologies, lifestyle choices, and ways of thinking that human beings have developed and passed down over centuries. The solution to this crisis will require an education that directly addresses it, helping tomorrow’s citizens to develop new technologies, new lifestyle choices, and new ways of thinking. Sustainability education supports young people in developing the knowledge and skills they will need to create sustainable communities that are in balance with the ecological systems that support us. Not simply environmental education, sustainability education integrates the social, economic, and ecological dimensions of the human endeavor, emphasizing the relationship between all three of these critical realms and building young people’s competence as systems thinkers.”

Some of the ways that New Roots students are currently learning about and contributing to the sustainability of our local community include:

- Farm-to School Program:  At New Roots, students gain hands-on experience with the many facets of our local food system. Each day, students help prepare and enjoy a healthful meal using as many local, seasonal and organic ingredients as possible.  This fall, all students visited local farms including West Haven Farm and Littletree Orchards.

- Service-Learning Program: All New Roots students learn first-hand about community needs through ongoing service-learning, a method of teaching, learning and reflecting that combines academic classroom curriculum with meaningful service. Research consistently shows that service-learning is a powerful way to engage students with diverse learning styles and levels of academic achievement.

Current service-learning projects include reading/homework buddy groups at GIAC and Fall Creek After-School Program; teaching technology skills to older adults at Lifelong; playing games and doing crafts with residents at Beechtree Care Center; sewing fuel- and money-saving “door snakes” for low-income residents using salvaged fabric at Sew Green; building cold-frames with Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County for a Town of Ithaca community garden with locally-harvested locust wood; refurbishing and recycling used computers through the Ithaca Youth Bureau’s Computer All-Stars program; and forming a peer education mental health role-playing theatre troupe in collaboration with Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service.

- Community Internships and Apprenticeships: We are fortunate to live in a community where the old-fashioned value of learning-by-doing, alongside a caring and knowledgeable mentor, is still very much alive.  These experiences strengthen ties in the community, support the work of local organizations and build student’s skills… Students are currently placed in St. Paul’s Preschool, IACC Day Care, Serviente Glass Studio, The History Center, Ithaca Bakery, Scissorhands Salon, Greentar/Oasis, and Maguire Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Nissan.

Expeditionary Learning: To develop innovative solutions to the challenges we face as world citizens, our students must experience, and learn from, the ways that our social, environmental, economic and other problems are currently being addressed. Our tenth grade conducted a multi-disciplinary investigation of the proposed Marcellus Shale drilling issue, exploring its social, economic, and environmental dimensions.  This project allows them to connect an important current issue in their community with their New York State Regents curriculum of global studies, geometry, and biology.

We anticipate that as New Roots students continue to develop their knowledge-base and leadership skills, we will help change perceptions about what teenagers can do, how they can contribute, and the responsibility of adults in the community to include teenagers in the problem-solving process. For more information, call New Roots Charter School at 882-9220 or visit us on the web at: New Roots Charter School.

This is the last of our series in which Sustainable Tompkins introduces you to “Signs of Sustainability” in the category of new sustainability programs or activities by existing businesses or organizations.

Sustainable Community Development

Alternatives Federal Credit Union offered a holiday market for its business members to sell crafts and products.

Comet Skateboards commissioned local artists to creatively alter skateboards. Sale of one skateboard, decorated by local preschoolers, funded art supplies for the school. 

The Dryden Community Center Café is a hub for community conversation and activity. The “Kids at the Café” program offered fun ways to reuse items.

Amy Cochran devised the “No Drive” Food Drive in which participants were restricted from using personal motorized vehicles to travel between stores to purchase food items to donate to Loaves & Fishes.

The Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair expanded to support more than 50 organizations, offering extended sale hours and web sales.

The Roots and Shoots homeschool group created reusable cloth shopping bags from recycled fabric for Immaculate Conception Food Pantry participants.

SewGreen piloted a summer apprenticeship and jobs program in which teens learned about sewing, reuse, and workplace responsibilities. 

The SufferJets roller derby team shared the proceeds of home games with local non-profits, including Foodnet Meals on Wheels, Ithaca Family Reading Partnership, Books Thru Bars, Ithaca Skate Park, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Recycle Ithaca’s Bicycles.    

Sales of TCAT’s Summer Fun Youth bus passes benefited the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes to help patients with transportation costs. 

Tompkins County Red Cross opened the Homeless Services Friendship Center & Shelter, offering homeless adults emergency shelter and permanent beds, kitchen and shower facilities, and telephones and computer access to search for jobs and apartments.

The Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency voted for sales tax abatement on energy efficiency projects for small business and landlords.

The Whole Community Project unveiled its Healthy Passport initiative to encourage kids to be physically active and interact with their community.

Sustainable Enterprise

Alternatives Federal Credit Union offers special discounts on loans for green home renovations, solar panel installations, and hybrid vehicle purchases. 

Ehrhart Propane offers biodiesel to replace #2 fuel oil and runs its fleet on propane to reduce emissions. 

Experience! The Finger Lakes offers a Sustainability Tour to those who want to learn what makes Ithaca one of the Top 100 Green Places to live.

Ithaca Guitar Works offers musicians: Wheatware™ guitar picks made from compostable bioplastics. 

Local First Ithaca was certified as a member network of BALLE, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. 

Shari Landsman, EcoBroker at RE/MAX in Motion, earned the National Association of Realtors Green Designation.    

SewGreen opened its “Rescued for Reuse” store to sell fabric, yarn, and sewing machines; proceeds benefit SewGreen’s youth programs. 

Sustainable Operations

Acme Pest Control earned the QualityPro designation for its Integrated Pest Management services.

Angelo Dry Cleaners packages cleaned clothing in biodegradable plastic garment bags.

The Ithaca Journal uses a print format that trims newsprint consumption by 50 tons a year, prints on 30% recycled paper with soy-based ink, and recycles aluminum printing plates.

NYS DEC selected La Tourelle Resort to participate in the GreenLeaf Eco-Rating pilot program to measure resource conservation, recycling and composting, and use of environmentally safe cleaning products.

Sheldrake Point Vineyard received the 2009 Lake-Friendly Farm award from the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network for its sustainable farming practices.  

Wink’s Body Shop uses environmentally-friendly waterborne basecoats.

Transportation

Andree Petroleum is the first local retailer offering biodiesel to the public.

The City of Ithaca Engineering Office installed bike lanes on some city streets and is experimenting with “sharrows” to support cycling on streets too narrow for separate bike lanes.

Cornell University’s entry remains in the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition to design a vehicle that exceeds 100 miles per gallon. 

Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Way2Go program supports community members in transportation choices that promote individual, community and environmental wellbeing.

Dominos Pizza delivers pizzas in its logo-branded SmartCar. 

Ithaca Dispatch includes a Toyota Prius in its taxi fleet. 

The Tompkins County Alternative Fuels Consortium attracted a supplier for B20 biodiesel. 

The Tompkins County Legislature approved a “Green Fleet” policy. 

Pritchard Automotive is the first upstate NY dealership for the Wheego Whip electric vehicle.

These entries are excerpted from the complete list of Signs of Sustainability 2009 citations that can be viewed at: www.sustainabletompkins.org

This is the third of our series in which Sustainable Tompkins introduces readers to the large number of “Signs of Sustainability” in the category of new sustainability programs or activities by existing businesses or organizations.

Land Use

The Finger Lakes Land Trust un-veiled its conservation plan for the Emerald Necklace Greenbelt and Finger Lakes Trail Corridor.  Herb Engman of the Town of Ithaca donated 100 acres of land to Greensprings Natural Cemetery.  The Ithaca College Natural Lands committee began a Land Steward program; volunteers accept responsibility for a parcel of campus land. Landscape architect Rick Manning and Dan Segal from the Plantsmen Nursery organized the Designing with Native Plants conference which raised more than $5,000 for the Cayuga Waterfront Trail.

Planning

Cornell University and Ithaca College, both early signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, announced their Climate Action Plans. Both campuses plan to become 100 percent carbon neutral by 2050. Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport is creating a Sustainable Master Plan, making it the first U.S. airport to undertake such an effort. Kendal at Ithaca completed its Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Project, identifying ways to reduce carbon emissions by more than 2 million pounds per year. The changes will substantially reduce natural gas and electricity use; estimated annual savings approach $225,000. The Tompkins County Legislature approved the Planning Department’s Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Element. This County Comprehensive Plan amendment describes ways to achieve an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Recycling and Composting
Cargill Deicing Technology collected used winter coats in the Coats for Totes program. Anyone donating a coat was given a reusable, recyclable grocery tote.  The GrassRoots Festival required food vendors to offer compostable tableware. GrassRoots is notable among music festivals for its recycling and composting support. Finger Lakes Reuse began offering deconstruction service. The deconstruction crew  completed seven building take-downs, salvaging building materials for reuse.  Friedman Electric announced its new residential free recycling program for compact  fluorescent lamps. The Leadership Tompkins “Compost Now” team developed an apartment tenant composting program. The team worked withIthaca Rentals & Renovations as the first landlord to offer composting support to its North Campus property tenants. IRR is covering the costs to purchase collection buckets and biodegradable liners.  The “Compost Now” team offered compost education events for IRRs residents.

New Roots Charter School “repurposed” the historic Clinton House as its new home. Students use the Womens Community Building for their cafeteria. Parkitects Inc. installed a public demonstration of Big Belly solarpowered trash compactors. The Shortstop Deli integrated composting and recycling in its operations and offers compostable fountain beverage containers.

The TCDOG group provides biodegradable plastic bags for pet owners at the Ithaca Dog Park to collect their animal’s waste for compost processing. It is believed they are the first U.S. dog park to do so. Wegmans Food Court offers compostable plates, utensils and napkins and collects the compostables in special receptacles. Renewable Energy Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Renewable Energy program offered the Home Wood Heat Expo to provide information about home heating with wood. Cornell University opened the Biofuels Research Laboratory to house scientists and engineers researching a sustainable and economic solution to biofuel production from crops like switchgrass, energy sorghum and willow. The GreenStar Cooperative Market installed a 4-kilowatt grid-tied solar system on the receiving area roof.

Social Activism
Students from area colleges and high schools attended the 2009 Power Shift conference in Washington D.C. to encourage the Obama administration to support clean energy. The International Environmental Policy course at Ithaca College organized a “ghost walk” with more than 200 participants highlighting the perils of global warming. The local 350.org group organized a rally on the Commons, gathering participants into formation to create giant 350 numbers for a rooftop photograph. “Frac Attack: Dawn of the Watershed,” a short zombie movie made to inspire action to address the process of gas driling hydrofracturing, was created by Shirari Industries, the Dacha Project and Shaleshock Citizens Action Alliance.

These entries are excerpted from the longer Signs of Sustainability 2009 citations. The complete list can be viewed at www.sustainabletompkins.org.

Christina Orlandini is an Ithaca College writing intern. Marian Brown is a member of the Sustainable Tompkins Board of Directors.

This is the second in our series in which Sustainable Tompkins introduces you to the large number of “Signs of Sustainability” in the category of new sustainability programs or activities by existing businesses or organizations.

Energy Conservation

The Tompkins Energy Conservation Corps, a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension, conducts home energy audits and informs community leaders and residents about energy conservation. The Cornell Small Farms Energy Work Team hosted a series of farm renewable energy field days on farmsteads around the region providing information about energy conservation strategies and renewable energy technologies for small farm owners. Students in the Dryden High School Student Sustainability Club were trained, through the Green Energy Compass Home Performance program, to assist Dryden residents with energy audits. Tompkins Community Action Energy Services Department developed the Energy Savings-Saving Energy program to inform homeowners, landlords and tenants about home energy-efficiency strategies and financing programs.  Other associated programs include JobsBuild and the “Toasty in Tompkins” educational program.

The Town of Dryden Highway Department and the Dryden Renewable Energy Work Group (DREW) teamed up to conduct an energy audit of the highway department barns. The Town of Dryden Town Board allotted $30,000 to town residents as grants of up to $1,500 for energy efficiency upgrades.

Food Systems

Cornell Cooperative Extension offered Kitchen Garden Tours showcasing the efforts of residential gardeners. CCE also developed a new Google map of area gardens.  Felicia’s Atomic Lounge uses local produce for their food items and to create “locavore cocktails.” Felicia’s also added AlleyArt, an outdoor sustainable art gallery that welcomes submissions from artists using recycled materials.  This summer, the Ithaca Bakery sponsored a Local Foods Market, offering local vendors and farmers space in their parking lot to sell organic and fresh products. The Ithaca Farmer’s Market now offers a Winter Market at the Womens Community Building, and opened a Thursday evening market at DeWitt Park. New Roots Charter School instituted a Farmto School program, maintaining ties with local and organic farms, and teaching students about food preparation and storage.

A second Simply Red Bistro opened at La Tourelle Country Inn and Resort, using fair trade, local and organic foods in its breakfast, lunch and Sunday brunch menus.  The Sustainable Chicken Project at Steep Hollow Farm collects and compost table scraps from city residents to augment the diet of chickens who produce eggs that are then shared back with the city residents. The Tompkins County Office for the Aging offered free coupons to individuals over age 60 to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at area farmers markets.

The Town of Dryden launched a Farmers Market on Wednesday evenings in conjunction with its Music in the Park Series. The Town of Ithaca’s newest community garden on West Hill next to the Linderman Creek apartments offers plots to town residents; summer youth employees helped maintain the garden. A new Farmer’s Market began in July in the Town of Lansing and by August, the market had more than 30 vendors offering a wide variety of fresh produce and baked goods.  Wegmans held an Organic Fair at the store, inviting in growers and distributors of organic food products. The Whole Community Project at Cornell Cooperative Extension works to improve the local food system and offer recreational activity opportunities in an effort to combat childhood obesity.

Green Building

The ER and ICU addition to the Cayuga Medical Center received LEED silver certification for incorporating key sustainable principles in its planning, design and construction. The Cornell University Solar Decathlon Team’s solar-powered house finished seventh in this year’s national contest. Participants in the WomenBuild training program worked on a Habitat for Humanity construction project in Lansing. This Habitat affiliate has adopted a “build green” policy, committed to building and rehabilitating “green” buildings. Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services completed two new attached townhouses on Corn Street that are registered as LEED Platinum green buildings and Energy Star-rated for efficiency. The plan for the Town of Caroline’s new office building include renewable energy systems, a geothermal heatingcooling system and 12.6 KW solar generating system.

Christina Orlandini is an Ithaca College writing intern and Marian Brown is a member of Sustainable Tompkins’ Board of Directors.

This is the first in the series of articles in which we will introduce readers to the bumper crop of Sustainable Tompkins’ “Signs of Sustainability” for 2009. Even though this has been a fairly dismal economic year, we are able to note the appearance of the following new sustainable enterprises:

The Cayuga Sunrise Holistic Haven in Romulus is a bed and breakfast retreat overlooking Cayuga Lake. It offers vegan, raw and vegetarian cuisine and Sunrise yoga. Congo Square Market, a new market at the Southside Community Center, features music, vendors, food and fun for the community! The market is a collaboration between Southside, Ithaca Youth Bureau, and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County’s Whole Community Project.

Emmy’s Organics creates raw, certified vegan, gluten- and dairyfree desserts. Their macaroons, granola, and ice cream are packaged in recyclable, biodegradable packaging. Essential Saltes Baby offers handmade cloth diapers and diaper covers made of sustainable fabrics like bamboo fleece and organic cotton. Farmer Ground Flour uses grains locally grown by Cayuga Pure Organics and Oescher Farms. Farmer Ground Flour is available at GreenStar and used in local bakery products. Food for the Planet is a new restaurant offering exclusively vegan foods, using organic and local ingredients where possible. High Point Farms, LLC in Trumansburg provides grass-fed beef and lamb, free-range eggs, and pasture-raised chicken and pork, free of antibiotics or growth hormones. High Point’s CSA members receive shares of meat, eggs and cheese once a month. Life’s So Sweet Chocolates uses 50 percent local and domestic ingredients for its handmade chocolates, and offers them in recycled and recyclable packaging.

M.E.S.S. Express is a social advocacy group that combats drunk driving among college students with two strategies: simplified bus chartering and prepaid taxis. M.E.S.S. Express has safely moved over 15,000 students. With Sapsquatch Pure Maple Products, members purchase shares of a local maple syrup harvest in a Community Supported Sugaring (CSS) project. Wishing Well’s online resource publication launched to focus on community journalism, local sustainable business and events, wellness and spirituality. XEO prepares authentic, fresh Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches and noodle bowls using exclusively local ingredients. A umber of new organizations emerged this year as well, each tackling a particular sustainability challenge. The Bioscience Resource Project illustrates the science of food and agriculture, and their environmental and social impacts. Their Web site, www.bioscienceresource.org, provides scientific analysis of agricultural developments like GMOs and pesticides and offers insights into alternatives. The Dacha Project is a new 16-acre, self-sustaining educational homestead in Freeville that includes an earth-bermed structure and straw bale cottage, a fruit and nut tree orchard, and an organic garden.

The Danby Land Bank Cooperative formed to support rural proper-ty owners wishing to use their fields and forests for grass and wood pellet production. The Danby Trails Committee encourages healthful activity and eco-tourism in Danby, incorporating existing trails and abandoned roadways into a recreation trail through natural areas. The new Dryden Solutions group facilitates monthly conversations on issues such as energy efficiency, transportation and strengthening community. Greeks Go Green shows Cornell fraternities and sororities easy ways to make their chapter houses more eco-friendly and sustainable.

The Green Resource Hub launched the Sustainable Enterprise Network, a growing community of sustainable businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs. Growing Hope Together is a joint community project between the Newfield school district and the residents of the Kenyan village of Simenya. Newfield schools donated laptop computers to the Simenya community and the project supports school gardening in both locations. Ithaca’s Food Web is an online resource offering news and information about growers, producers, cooks and food preservation. The Food Web examines larger food system issues and offers a calendar of food-related events and activities. Shaleshock Citizens Action Alliance is a grassroots group of Finger Lakes residents concerned with protecting our communities and environment and work to stop the unsafe exploitation of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. Share Tompkins, formed to help community members share and trade goods and services in Ithaca and Tompkins County, organized six Community Swap Meets.

Christina Orlandini is an Ithaca College writing intern. Marian Brown is a member of Sustainable Tompkins’ Board of Directors.