Greening the Ridge is today! Head on down to 69th Street Veterans Memorial Pier!

From our friends at the SRWA:

GREENING THE RIDGE 2009!
SUNDAY, JUNE 14th, 2009 at Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
10am- 6pm

Festival Schedule:
9am-10am: Exhibitor setup
10am: Festival Opening Ceremony
10am-Noon: Xavier High School Jazz Band “Bailout”
11am, 1pm, and 3pm: Dance Performance Installation, “What We Can See From Here,” by Cassie Mey and Jesse Phillips-Fein
Noon: Dance Performance Installation- Kids Workshop!

2:00pm: OLPH Twirlers!
2:30pm: SRWA Green Youth Award Ceremony
Noon to 6pm: Pill Hill Radio and Musical Guests
6pm: Festival end

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance is pleased to announce our Second Annual Greening the Ridge Festival in 2009! This annual summer festival will bring vendors, agencies, programs, and individuals to the pier for an educational festival on how to green our community.

Building upon the success of our First Annual GTR Festival in 2008, this year’s event will bring even more people, and more inter-active booths to the Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. In addition, we are unveiling our Green Youth Award Program at this year’s festival, click here for more information!

Special music entertainment provided by: Xavier High School Jazz Band, and Pill Hill Radio with Musical Guests!

Special dance performance:
What We Can See From Here
Performance Installation by Cassie Mey & Jesse Phillips-Fein

Meet our current sponsors & exhibitors:

Petri Plumbing
Kettle Black
Alley Cat Exterminating
Green Spa
Ben Bay Realty Co.
Ben Bay Realty Co. of Bay Ridge

Smart Car Manhattan

Gallery 364
Bay Ridge CSA
Bay Ridge Food Co-op
Greenmarket
Center for Urban Greenscaping (CuGreen)
EPA
Narrows Botanical Gardens
Ella Vickers Recycled Sailcloth Collection
Petit Oven

Circles International Natural Foods
Bettencourt Green Building Supplies
WowGreen
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
Farm Sanctuary
Natural Resources Defense Council
FDNY Smoke House
GreenBrooklyn
CleanAir NY

Garden Direct
Xaverian High School Environmental Club
Scandinavian East Coast Museum
Transportation Alternatives
Life Scout Troop 20, Edward Maddalena
Bay Ridge Historical Society

Plus many more to be added!

This all-day festival is FREE to the public.

More info at SRWAlliance.org.

If you are interested in obtaining more information, please contact Heather McCown: heather@srwalliance.org / (917) 971-0007.

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance gratefully acknowledges support from Councilman Vincent Gentile, Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer, Congressman Michael McMahon, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and State Senator Marty Golden.

Over the last month Food and Water Watch has gotten more than 10,000 petition signatures and over 100 groups supporting our campaign for better milk in schools. This is great news, but now it’s time to turn up the heat on Congress.  That’s why we’re having the first annual National “Know Your Milk” Day Wednesday, March 11, 2009.

We’re having a call-in day to Congress to ask our Representatives to support artificial hormone-free milk in schools.  Brooklyn is vital to this campaign’s success.  Representative Yvette Clark sits on the House committee that decides the wording of the bill that would allow schools to easily switch to rBGH free.  Show her that you support this issue!

We’re having a call-in day to Congress to ask our Representatives to support artificial hormone-free milk in schools. We need your help to make this day a success. Can you host an event for National “Know Your Milk” Day to get at least 10 people to make a call to Congress? This could be as simple as organizing a call-in coffee break at work or an rBGH-free milk and cookies party.

The more calls we can get in to Congress, the better chance we’ll have to get healthy milk for schools.

Email Hamirek@fwwatch.org for more info!

If you plan to make calls, start by calling the Capitol Switchboard.

Capitol Switchboard: 800-828-0498

Give them your zip code and they will connect you to your Representative.

Here is a script you can use:

“Hello, my name is _____________ from ____________ and I’m calling to ask Representative Clark to support children’s health by including a provision in the Child Nutrition Act to clarify that schools may purchase rBGH-free and organic milk.

Do you know if the Representative has a position on rBGH?

Thank you for your time.”

Don’t forget to take notes on what they say! Report back to GBK or to Hamirek@fwwatch.org.

Our kids deserve the healthiest food possible, and parents deserve to have a say in what their kids eat. Milk is a staple for many of our nation’s youngsters, and it’s crucial that the milk served in schools be safe, healthy and free of artificial hormones.

The artificial growth hormone rBGH, used to increase milk production, is unhealthy for cows and may be linked with some types of cancer in humans. RBGH is already banned in some countries, and US consumers are increasingly opting for milk produced without it. Now, companies may be looking to school lunch programs as an outlet for milk consumers don’t want.

We can’t let pharmaceutical companies and corporate agribusiness dictate what’s best for our kids. That’s why Food & Water Watch’s School Milk Campaign is working to give all schools the option to choose milk that is free of rBGH.

Brooklyn is vital to our campaign because New York’s 11th district Rep, Yvette Clark, sits on the Education and Labor Committee in the House, which determines the wording of the School Lunch Act legislation.

Food and Water Watch would really like your support, if you’re interested please check out our webpage and SIGN our Petition!

If you have any questions and/or would like to help more please email me at hmirek@fwwatch.org.

If your children are interested in the environment or sustainability—the Center the Urban Environment has a great new program for urban explorers called CUE Labs. The program is designed to help fill a critical niche in the academic year—the holiday break. With one soon approaching, CUE is launching the program this February (2/16 – 2/20) and plans to continue it in the spring and summer recess as well.

“People are always looking for an exciting way to spend their school vacation,” said Doug Pereira, Director of Education and Community Initiatives at the Center and organizer of the program, “and CUE Labs offers kids the opportunity to learn amazing things about their urban environment through exploration, field-trips, hands-on activities and science experiments.”  CUE Labs scientists will enjoy educational games, arts activities and model building in programs like City Critters where children from 5-7 explore the lives of worms and pill bugs and Eco-Defenders, where older kids investigate human impact on the environment and consider issues of reuse and conservation in relation to their community.

February Break Offerings:

City Critters

Students explore their often unseen neighbors in New York City by meeting live soil creatures including worms, pillbugs and snails.  Using inquiry based science methods and tools, children have the opportunity to conduct experiments while learning about local ecology.  Art projects, puppets, and games diversify this dynamic science experience.

Ages 5-7; February 16 – February 20, 9:00 am- 12:00 pm

Eco-Defenders

Through, plant, soil, water, and healthy food explorations students are introduced to healthy food and the value of recycling and sustainability. Students investigate human impact on the environment and consider issues of reuse and conservation in relation to their habits and community. Activities include hands on science experiments, interactive games, guest speakers, healthy snack making, and more!

Ages 8-10; February 16 – February 20, 9:00 am- 12:00 pm

Ages 11-13; February 16 – February 20, 1:00 pm- 4:00 pm

If you’re interested in offering your child a dynamic science experience at a local, leading environmental center, please call 718-788-8500 and ask for Peachy Cao or email pcao@bcue.org to get more information or to register your child. $40 per day. All students registered by January 30^th will receive a 10% discount.. Every child registered after February 1^st will receive 5% off.

[image source wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-lipped_snail]

As a guide to a more sustainable New York City, CUE is dedicated to educating individuals about the built and natural environments. For more about our work visit www.thecue.org.

Jillian Rubio becomes one of 40 people selected nationwide in the new TogetherGreen conservation initiative:

For her fellowship, Jillian will partner with Stoked Mentoring, an action sports mentoring program in New York City, and together they will create a unique opportunity for Brooklyn youth to gain supportive mentors, along with a team of people determined to see them succeed. Youth participating in this program will be introduced to both the resources of the Prospect Park Audubon Center and the life lessons of an action sports mentoring program. Each participant will be paired with a mentor and will take part in both a series of onsite environmentally-focused workshops and activities at Prospect Park and in offsite activities including snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing. By engaging urban youth in this unique way, they will have an opportunity to be outdoors and experience nature, on their terms.

Go here to read more about Jillian, and here to read about other 2008 Fellows.