"Violin Diplomacy"

I was quite surprised to turn on New England Cable News today and see the success of the New York Philharmonic’s journey to North Korea where they performed a 90 minute concert in the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, as described in this story on Boston.com.



As an American, it was exhilarating to see United States and North Korean diplomats standing side-by-side listening to the orchestra perform the Star Spangled Banner and North Korea’s national anthem. And, as an amateur musician who has performed in concert and marching bands since elementary school, it was equally gratifying to realize music – particularly classical music, a genre that seems to be slipping away from the American cultural scene – brought these two arch enemies together, at least for 90 minutes.

The orchestra chose several American pieces, including works by Gershwin and Bernstein, and a theme from a Korean folk song. And, they played Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 9: From the New World.” Ironically, as the Globe points out, this piece was written from the perspective of an immigrant arriving in New York City, something North Korea prohibits many of its citizens from doing.

Dvorak’s symphony also has an important place in my heart. In 2002, when I was in the marching band at Salem, N.H. High School we were invited to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and chose “New World Symphony,” as our music. Since this was just a little more than one year after the September 11th attacks, our performance included formations that spelled the abbreviations “USA” and “NYC.”

From a journalists’ prospective, North Korea provided unprecedented access, including the Internet and almost unrestricted international phone lines, according to the story And the country’s only television station broadcast the entire concert, in marked contrast to the typical policy of animosity towards all foreign things.

Despite the seemingly openness and easing of tensions, there were still some propaganda signs depicting North Korea’s hostility towards America. But, hopefully, in 50 years this concert will be looked upon as the first stepping stone in a long road to peaceful relations with North Korea. And to think, it could have all started with a few notes from the oldest symphony orchestra in America.

Finally here’s a link to a New York Times story and video. I thought the lead on this was fantastic and truly painted a picture of the scene in North Korea. There are also some pictures, video and other new media elements on the Times site.

First Green Roof Comes to Merrimack Valley

Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. will host this region’s first green roof when their Addison Gallery of American Art expansion project is completed in 2009, according to a story in the Eagle Tribune.

Green roofs, which have become a mainstay in Europe, are a growing trend throughout North America. They have increased by 25 percent from 2005 to 2006 while intensive green roofs (those which include large plants) increased by 100 percent, according to statistics by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the North American green roof industry association.

Besides the obvious aesthetic benefits, green roofs provide better insulation than a traditional roof, reducing the costs of heating and cooling the building. Since plants absorb more water then roofing material does, this will create less runoff and potential for lake, ocean or river contamination. Additionally, less water will reduce the wear on city sewer systems potentially lower maintenance and expansion costs. Many other benefits are listed here.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino created a demonstrative green roof atop a portion of City Hall in 2005. And, there are 23 green roofs built or under construction in Massachusetts, according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities which has a searchable database of all such projects reported to the organization. The Massachusetts ones include prominent buildings such as the IKEA store in Stoughton and the Four Seasons Hotel and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Yawkey Building for Outpatient Care, both in Boston.

This is a tremendous opportunity for new construction and renovations in both urban and rural areas. Not only are there many environmental benefits, but a green roof would probably increase the value of the building and surrounding property, making it more attractive to tenants or homeowners. And, as the MGH roof demonstrates (see pictures here), they can provide spectacular sweeping views of a city skyline or a green oasis in the heart of a bustling metropolis.

Green Printing Program

An interesting video on CNN.com caught my attention tonight. Titled “Printing Green,” the piece introduced a new computer application that eliminates wasted pages from a document, saving trees and your money.



Home users can pick between the free and premium versions of GreenPrint, according to the program’s Web site. Here is a description of the program excerpted from its site:

GreenPrint eliminates wasteful pages in any printout automatically, saving you
time and money, and maybe more importantly, saving trees, reducing greenhouse
gasses, and decreasing waste.
GreenPrint's patent-pending technology does
this by analyzing each page of every document sent to the printer and looking
for typical waste characteristics (like that last page with just a URL, banner
ad, logo, or legal jargon).

And it seems to make sense for businesses, for which the company has developed a special version. A savings calculator, also on the Web site, indicates a company with 1,000 employees will save $90,240, 1,410,000 pages, 156.7 trees and 504.9 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

The program was very easy to install and has some neat features and reports that track cost, paper, tree and carbon dioxide savings. When printing from Microsoft Word (or any other program), the print dialogue box that pops up has an option for GreenPrint (which becomes the default choice once the program is installed). Then, after clicking print, GreenPrint opens its own application which shows which pages are being printed and which are being removed. At this point a user can ensure nothing important will not be missed. Then, click a print button and the printing begins.

In case what I just wrote made no sense, here’s a link to a tutorial.

There are also options to determine what filters (for example, only a header and footer or less than five lines on page) GreenPrint uses to eliminate pages. And, the program includes a PDF writer.

This seems like an ideal application for people who frequently print information from the Web, whether for school projects, travel itineraries and tickets or in the office. It seems to be less useful, even detrimental, for printing word processing documents since one typically wants all of that text to be printed.

Here at Northeastern University, some students have been complaining about the implementation of a 400 page per person print quota this school year. Perhaps investing a little money in this program would quell some of their concerns while helping the environment.

And, finally, no one can complain about the company’s amusing commercial:

An Eco-egg?

That’s what Easter egg manufacturer Cadbury Schweppes is experimenting with in the United Kingdom, according to a Guardian article.

The company hopes to reduce the egg’s packaging so it is merely wrapped in foil. They will then be sold from molded plastic casing to prevent the eggs from rolling around on store shelves.

More specifics of the plan’s benefit to the environment are shown below, in an excerpt from a company press release.

This Easter, the amount of plastic used will be reduced by 247 tonnes and
cardboard by 115 tonnes, saving over 2,000 trees as a result. In total, as a
result of the combination of launching the un-boxed Treasure eggs to avoid
excessive packaging and reducing packaging on the standard eggs, Cadbury will
save 1130 tonnes of packaging this Easter.

Although these eco-eggs are only available in the United Kingdom, it does bring to light the worldwide problem of excessive packaging and its detrimental effects on the environment.

In Australia, government and industry partnered to create the National Packaging Covenant, a voluntary program that aims to “minimise the environmental impacts arising from the disposal of used packaging, conserve resources through better design and production processes and facilitate the re-use and recycling of used packaging materials,” according to a statement on its Web site.

And on-line shopping giant Amazon.com notes on its Web site that it primarily uses recyclable corrugated cardboard containers to ship packages. Some of their parcels also contain air filled cushions which can be recycled or at least deflated to take up less space.

Finally, what about those dreaded peanuts? Sure they were fun to play with as a child but are they really necessary to protect items? Amazon.com apparently does not think so since they use them in less than 1 percent of packages. And those that they do use are manufactured entirely from recycled materials, according to the company’s Web site.

Closer to home, New England supermarket chains Shaw’s and Hannaford’s have both been promoting campaigns to outfit customers with reusable shopping bags. Shaw’s has sold 700,000 reusable bags, an average of 3,500 per store, according to this article in the Valley Reporter, a newspaper covering several towns in Washington County, Vermont.

So, from eco-eggs to eco-bags, many companies are rethinking their product packaging. Now, consumers need to support these efforts.

Update: Menino comments on Popular Science Ranking Boston as Third Greenest City

Last week, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino reacted to Popular Science’s claim Boston is the third greenest city.

"Beantown truly is Greentown. Being green helps us build a better city and improve our economy at the same time. The success of Boston depends on us making the city greener," Menino said in a statement.

The Globe ran a brief story on this under their local news blog but there was no elaboration on the power plant proposal I discussed previously.

Patriot Ledger Receives an On-Line Makeover

Both Jessica and Eleni have already discussed this but since I have also spent time on co-op at the Patriot Ledger, I decided to weigh in on the newspaper’s new Web site.

First a quick word on Web site redesigns in general. I always find that at first it is confusing to navigate and locate all the features. But, like any change, over time the site lay-out becomes engrained in your mind and you can navigate more easily. Therefore, I am not going to comment as much on how navigable or organized the site is.

The Ledger’s site redesign was badly needed as their previous Web site was terribly outdated when compared to other regional dailies like the Eagle Tribune.

The front page is certainly visually pleasing and has a modern, 21st century feel. But, besides the lead story, all the other articles merely show a headline instead of a summary paragraph. These paragraphs are a great way to catch a quick glimpse of the story’s contents and determine if it is worth reading. Though they are present on the other pages, it would be great to see them added to the front page.

Many of the individual story pages contain grids of photos which can be enlarged when clicked. This is a wonderful way to show off the great work of Ledger photographers beyond the few that make the print edition. I hope they will include this with as many stories as possible. Plus, photos are a great opportunity to increase on-line readership, as who doesn’t want to see a picture of their kids or pets or town on the Web?

Multimedia has taken on a more prominent role with a tab on the site’s masthead devoted solely to these on-line extras including a photos of the week slideshow and video. And, like the text section, the multimedia area has RSS feeds making it easy to keep up to date with the latest South Shore developments.

Finally, I believe the biggest improvement is greater interactivity. All the stories have a comment option which is being used predominately for constructive commentary that adds additional perspectives beyond those contained in the Ledger’s journalism. And, they seem to be making a commitment to blogging by asking for suggestions for new blogs and links to other South Shore blogs.

Overall this is a tremendous improvement over the previous site and hopefully in time, we will see more great on-line elements from the Patriot Ledger.

Efforts Underway to Protect a Pair of Falcons Nesting Atop Quincy Crane

It is not uncommon to read accounts of environmentalists rushing to protect rare species when their habitats become threatened by development or for construction projects to be delayed or even prevented by the presence of an endangered species. One must merely look to the Northern red-bellied cooter’s impact on the Middleboro, Mass. casino proposal for a recent example.

But rarely does one encounter a species complicating the process of removing a man-made structure. But that is what is happening in Quincy, Mass. where environmentalists are attempting to relocate the nesting site of a pair of peregrine falcons before mating season begins in earnest next month.

Surprisingly, the falcons chose to nest atop the gigantic crane at the former Fore River Shipyard. Now the crane, a giant behemoth of rusting metal that dominates the city’s skyline, is scheduled to be dismantled. And that poses a danger to the peregrine falcon, according to this Globe South article.

Environmentalists have already removed the nest, placing new ones at several locations in the shipyard and Quincy Medical Center, but worry the falcon will lay eggs on the metal regardless of whether there is a nest or not.

My first thought upon glancing at the piece was why would a falcon choose this crane over a more natural setting in, say, the Blue Hills. But apparently, they are attracted to man-made structures, having nested on such Boston land marks as the Deer Island treatment plant and the Logan Airport control tower. And they like to perch high above water so they can dive down and nab their prey.

The story of these birds is an interesting look into how some species have adapted to the urban environment in the Boston metropolitan area. Though the population is far from stable (with only 14 pairs in Massachusetts) it is comforting to know the birds can survive in cities. That said, just because one species can adapt does not mean society should throw caution to the wind when evaluating the impact of new developments. There are countless other animals, like the cooter in Middleboro, that need natural habitats to survive.

Popular Science Lists Boston as Third Greenest City

During Steve’s presentation in class yesterday on Popular Science’s Web site, I was intrigued by the magazine’s lead story on America’s 50 greenest cities. I was curious to see where Boston fit on this list and was surprised to see it ranked third.

The magazine used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and National Geographic Society’s Green Guide to evaluate cities on four categories:

Electricity (E; 10 points): Cities score points for drawing their energy
from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as
well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power
sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.

Transportation (T; 10 points): High scores go to cities whose commuters
take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also plays a role.

Green living (G; 5 points): Cities earn points for the number of
buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as for devoting
area to green space, such as public parks and nature preserves.

Recycling and green perspective (R; 5 points): This measures how
comprehensive a city’s recycling program is (if the city collects old
electronics, for example) and how important its citizens consider environmental
issues.

In Boston, the magazine emphasized a plan for a new power plant that turns grass and leaves clippings into electricity through the feeding of anaerobic bacteria on grass. The remaining material’s decomposition into compost will be accelerated through heat and agitation.

I am fairly surprised little has been reported in the Boston media on this power plant. A quick Google search turned up nothing on the project. Perhaps the plan is still in its infancy and, therefore, has not garnered much attention. The City of Boston’s official Web site does briefly list steps Beantown is taking to reduce its dependency on foreign oil, but again no mention of this venture. Unfortunately the Popular Science magazine only provided a brief paragraph on the project. If anyone has more info, feel free to leave a comment with the link.

In addition to the list and a brief explanatory article, Popular Science included a slideshow of six specific programs cities are implementing, from zero emission buses in Oakland, Calif. to heating homes with waste in Salt Lake City. Each slide contains a diagram and a text block with background information (but nothing extremely technical). Despite this general lack of technical information in the text, each diagram provides a colorful visual of how the program works.

Cambridge, Mass. was the only other New England location on the list, coming in as the sixth greenest city in America. Cambridge beat Boston in the electricity and green living categories but lost in the transportation and recycling/perspective evaluations.

Besides the raw data, Popular Science does not provide much explanation for why certain cities scored higher than others. While this online package was interesting, it could have been tremendously enhanced with additional explanation.

Electronics and the Environment

As the use of iPods, personal computers, televisions and other electronic devices continues to increase, a new study suggests Americans are becoming less in tune with nature.

In an article on CNN.com, the Associated Press breaks down the research which claims electronic gadgets are contributing to a decline in visitors to United States’ national parks. The study, funded by the Nature Conservancy, notes Americans are spending less time outdoors and, therefore, are not as connected to their surroundings. Consequently, they will be less likely to take nature vacations or support conservation and other protection efforts.

The report, which will be officially released Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explains the drop in park visitation began in the 1980s and 1990s, at the same time video games, the Internet and electronic gadgets were becoming a mainstay in households.

Of direct relevance to New Englanders, hiking on the Appalachian Trail, which winds through five New England states, peaked in 2000 before declining 18 percent by 2005.

This is certainly a troubling trend for conservationists since efforts to protect land from development usually requires substantial support (politically and/or monetarily) from the town or city in which the parcel sits.

Americans need to put down their electronic devices and climb a mountain, go snowshoeing or spend a weekend camping in a national park.

Even those urbanites living in the heart of Boston do not have to travel far for outdoor adventures. Middlesex Fells Reservation to the north and Blue Hills Reservation to the south are both quick trips with excellent outdoor activities and tremendous views of the Boston skyline. Or, explore some lesser known reservations like Moose Hill in Sharon, Mass., which offers a view of Gillette Stadium, as seen in this picture taken when I hiked there last month.

These and many more activities will not only be a refreshing change of pace from an electronics-driven lifestyle but help Americans reconnect with nature. And, for those who really cannot bear to put down their gadgets, bring along a camera to record the memories and a GPS to monitor your route, elevation and distance.

Blizzard of 1978

There may have been a few snow showers and squalls around the Boston area today but that was certainly no match for the onslaught Mother Nature served up 30 years ago during the infamous Blizzard of 1978.

But suppose a similar storm battered New England today. Would the region, especially Massachusetts’ South Shore, be better prepared? How would damage estimates compare? Those are questions Globe South set out to answer in this article published today.

The story contends that though the area may be better prepared from an emergency response and communications standpoint, a surge in shoreline development and coastal erosion from smaller storms make leave the region more vulnerable to another “Storm of the Century.”

In the Globe piece, Massachusetts state coastal geologist Rebecca Haney said erosion has placed more homes in the flood plain. Additionally, new construction has exacerbated the problem while a transition from summer cottages in 1978 to year round homes in 2008 would also increase damages.

Of course, improvements in construction techniques and tighter building codes negate some of these effects. And, grants are helping towns and community organizations implement mitigation measures.

While on co-op at the Patriot Ledger, I was able to cover several Nor’easters. Although none caused serious coastal damage, I did learn about some efforts residents are doing to lessen storm impact on their towns’ coastlines. These include planting dune grass, whose roots trap sand, limiting the effects of erosion. (see this story).

Amid the flurry of features and recaps New England news organizations have produced recently about the Blizzard of 1978, those like the Globe piece stand out because they are not simply recounting the storm (an interesting and worthy piece of journalism in itself) but applying it and post-storm actions to present day issues.

As an aside, the Patriot Ledger and Brockton Enterprise have a special Web page with first hand accounts of the Blizzard through text and video and some photographs of storm cleanup. Below is one video featuring Brockton, Mass. fire chief Kenneth Galligan.





Though the presentation is not nearly as interactive and multimedia-based as other features on news Web sites, it certainly has some interesting storm stories, including one from a mother to her daughter who was away at college during the Blizzard.

Photo by Flickr member Sister72. Some rights reserved.

How safe are compact fluorescent light bulbs?

I want to commend the Union Leader for bringing to light one of the less reported aspects of compact fluorescent light bulbs – their mercury content, as discussed in this article. Certainly the dangers of mercury in regards to thermometers became so widely known that such devices are no longer made.

But, over the past few years, compact fluorescent light bulbs have grown increasingly popular along with the movement for reducing energy consumption. While their usage has increased, awareness of how to clean up broken bulbs and properly dispose of used bulbs has not followed.

According to New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) statistics, 106 pounds of mercury are generated annually by 2.4 million worn fluorescent lamps, placing it among the largest sources of the element in the Granite State. Additionally, only 20 to 30 percent of these bulbs are properly recycled.

Of course compact fluorescent bulbs contain significantly less mercury than the old-fashioned thermometers (5 mg to 500 mg, according to EPA statistics cited in the Union Leader piece).

Nevertheless, even small traces of mercury can cause problems for humans and the environment. NHDES notes these symptoms:

In humans, mercury is toxic to the nervous system, affecting the brain, spinal
cord, kidneys and liver. Mercury exposure is particularly significant for young
children and pregnant women because mercury inhibits the development of the
brain and nervous system. Lowered intelligence, impaired hearing, and poor
coordination are some of the effects seen in children with elevated mercury
exposure.

And these environmental effects:

Mercury is highly toxic to wildlife. It accumulates in the tissues of fish and
other organisms inhabiting mercury-contaminated waters and builds up in the
tissues of organisms higher up the food chain, including humans. Eagles, osprey,
common loons, river otters, mink, and other fishing-eating animals may suffer
premature death, weight loss, difficulties reproducing, and other problems as a
result of eating mercury-contaminated fish.

That said, these warnings do not mean people should stop replacing halogen light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. There simply needs to be greater awareness of proper handling and disposal techniques.

As the Union leader points out, NHDES has posted a list of hardware stores that recycle bulbs in the state. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection provides a similar list for Bay State residents.

Both of these Web sites also have information on how to manage a broken or spent compact fluorescent bulb (the most important thing being not to vacuum it.). But this is not enough. Similar information should be highly visible on store shelves and on light bulb containers.

Finally, this will eventually become a moot point as LED bulbs replace fluorescent ones but that’s a topic for another post sometime.

NFL Aims for Green Super Bowl

Amid the frenzied media attention preceding tomorrow’s Super Bowl, both teams have been thoroughly analyzed, the Phoenix area heavily explored and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady received a marriage proposal from an intrepid reporter. But few of the throngs of journalists in the Valley of the Sun have examined the environmental impact of the culmination of the NFL Season.

Had they done so, as this Associated Press piece does, they would have realized the NFL has gone to great lengths to improve the environment around Super Bowl host cities as part of the NFL Environmental Program.

“From planting 10,000 new trees in Arizona to donating thousands of pounds of leftover food to soup kitchens and shelters, the NFL Environmental Program is trying to make the pinnacle of professional football a paragon of environmentalism,” the Associated Press wrote.

Though NFL officials acknowledged their efforts will not offset the entire environmental impact of the Super Bowl, their attempts are certainly commendable. The 10,000 trees were planted in an area that experienced a devastating wildfire several years ago. Although only several thousand are expected to survive due to poor soil, it is still more than if the NFL did nothing.

Additionally, the game will be powered with SRP EarthWise Energy, which is produced entirely from renewable sources like solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal power, according to the official Super Bowl Web site. On the same Web page, the NFL has provided energy saving and recycling tips to encourage fans to be as green as possible as well.

While such actions are not that unusual in today’s more environmentally-conscious world, I was surprised to learn that the NFL introduced its environmental program 14 years ago when activism and global warming were not as prominent in America. Hopefully the program can continue to improve during the next 14 years and become a role model for other major sporting events such as the World Series, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup.

So, regardless of the Super Bowl’s outcome, fans can rest assured the NFL has attempted to make the game environmentally friendly.