Tag Archives: environment

Green Drinks in 3 No Jersey enviro justice cities in December. Come talk sustainability!

Thanksgiving 2013 Group Photo
GreenDrink logo with wordsGreen Drinks are not a type of drink – that’s just our name! Green Drinks meets monthly in three north Jersey cities – we hold informal gatherings bringing people together to chat over food about green and sustainable issues relevant to our lives and communities. Green Drinks meetings are open! Everyone is welcome and there is no admission fee. Pay for the food and drinks you order at the restaurants where we meet – each location serves good food at moderate prices.

Discussion themes this month

  1. Replacing New Jersey’s climate change denying congressman – Scott Garrett
  2. Collecting toys, clothing, coats and money for holiday gifts
  3. Alternative fuel vehicles for personal and municipal use
  4. Growing the Green Drinks community in 2014!

Green Drinks Newark 1st Mondays | 7-9pm
December: 02 Dec 2013
Agave Mexican Restaurant
118 Pacific St, Newark, NJ | 973-732-4168

Street parking

Green Drinks Hackensack 2nd Mondays | 7-9pm
December: 09 Dec 2013
Villa de Colombia
12 Mercer Street, Hackensack, NJ
Parking if restaurant lot is full:
Weekdays after 7 across street in jewelry business parking lot
Weekends in Salvation Army lot on the corner of Mercer & State Streets

Green Drinks Clifton-Paterson (this location has no fixed date or spot for now)
December: Tues, 17 Dec 2013 | 7-9pm
Sultan Restaurant
429 Crooks Avenue, Clifton NJ (on the Paterson border)
Safe street parking

November Green Drinks schedule & sustainable activities

Green Drinks Hackensack 1308

Green Drinks (Sustainability) chats monthly in 3 north Jersey cities

GreenDrink logo with wordsGreen Drinks are not a type of drink! They are informal gatherings that bring people together to chat over food and drinks about green and sustainable issues relevant to our lives and communities. Green Drinks meetings are open, everyone is welcome and there is no admission fee. Pay for the food and drinks you order at the restaurants where we meet – each location serves good food at moderate prices.
Green Drinks Newark 1st Mondays | 7-9pm
November: 04 Nov 2013
Rio Rodizio
1034 McCarter Highway, Newark, NJ
Green Drinks Hackensack 2nd Mondays | 7-9pm
November: 11 Nov 2013
Villa de Colombia
12 Mercer Street, Hackensack, NJ
If parking lot is full, park weekdays after 7 across the street in the jewelry business parking lot and on weekends park at the Salvation Army lot on the corner of Mercer and State Streets.
Green Drinks Clifton-Paterson (this location has no fixed monthly date for now)
November: Thursday, 21 Nov 2013 | 7-9pm

Sultan Restaurant
429 Crooks Avenue, Clifton NJ
Discussion themes this month: stormwater management, composting, climate change

Like us on Facebook!

Other green/sustainable activities & events

Stand Against Fracking at the Next DRBC Meeting
Tues 03 Dec | 12-1:30 pm
LOCATION TBD – Commissioners have not announced final meeting location
RSVP & look for carpool (as of 11/13, none from north Jersey yet, so feel free to add your own)
The Delaware River Basin Commission put plans on hold to allow drilling in this critical watershed two years ago. Now the executive director of the DRBC is talking about developing a strategy for drilling in the basin. Fracking will destroy this precious landscape and threaten the water that we all depend on. Their next meeting will be on December 3 — please join Food & Water Watch and our allies to celebrate two years of no drilling in the Delaware River Watershed and stand up for the only strategy we should be support: A Ban on Fracking!.

Fund Raising Campaign Kick Off Reception for the
MLK Jr. Bergen County Monument Committee

Tues 19 Nov 2013 | 6-9pm
Rothman Center at Fairleigh Dickinson University
140 University Avenue, Hackensack NJ
The public is welcome. Come out for the unveiling of the MLK Jr. monument, network, support the committee’s efforts.

Free Screening of A Place at the Table and Panel Discussion
Thu 21 Nov 2013 | 6:30pm
Bergen Community College
Technology Center Building Room TEC-128
400 Paramus Road, Paramus NJ
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey and Bergen Community College collaborate to screen this dramatic documentary about hunger and food insecurity in America. In Bergen County, 88,000 are hungry. There will be a panel discussion after the film and we invite you to come and take your place as part of the soluton. All are welcome, admission is free, and light refreshments will be served. For more info visit cfbnj.org/bcc or email driley@cfbnj.org.

Public Rally to shut down the compressor station
Sat 23 Nov 2013 | 12-1:30pm
621 Eagle Rock Avenue (Next to the Essex County Environmental Center), Roseland, NJ
There is widespread community concern in Roseland New Jersey that a new 30,000 horsepower gas compressor is being built right next to a major electric transmission terminal and both of these are within a major flood zone of the Passaic River. Star Ledger story about the Roseland Compressor station.

Sierra Club Trenton Environmental Lobby Day
Thu 19 Dec 2013 | Time TBA
This Lame Duck Session will have a huge impact on New Jersey’s environment and we need your help! Join us in Trenton for an Environmental Lobby Day focused on several important issues. The Lobby Day will include briefings on these important issues, meetings with our representatives, and a Rally in front of the Statehouse. Please Save the Date for now .. more details to come. Email Kate.Millsaps@sierraclub.org to RSVP

Sign to stop elephant slaughter
More than 30,000 elephants were slaughtered last year for their tusks, which are used to make ivory trinkets and carvings. They are sold in black markets around the world, including in the United States. But we’re working to stop this illegal trade.

Nearly six tons of elephant ivory will be crushed into gravel by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It is the largest amount of seized ivory ever destroyed in the US. By destroying its store of seized ivory, the US government is sending a strong signal to the rest of the world that we need to end the demand that is fueling ivory trafficking and get serious now about saving elephants. Sign to show you care.

Green Drinks 1st & 2nd Mons 7-9pm + 3rd Tues Lunch

Green Drinks 3 logoEspañol hablantes siempre muy bién venidos. Visite greendrinks3.org por mayor información.

THIS MONTH AT GD Hackensack: How do the Senatorial candidates hoping to win Lautenberg’s seat look on environmental issues?
THIS MONTH AT GD Newark: Superstorm Sandy had a serious impact on Newark’s sewerage pant. Currently, its air permit is up for comment. There were also a lot of votes on environmental bills in the New Jersey Legislature recently; please bring your knowledge, and let’s compare notes from our collective research.

Green Drinks Monthly Meeting Schedule
(Address info at greendrinks3.org)
Newark 1st Mondays (01 JULY) 7-9 PM
Hackensack 2nd Mondays  (08 JULY) 7-9 PM
Paterson-Clifton Area Lunch 3rd Tuesdays (16 JULY) 12-1:30 PM

Green Drinks Hackensack 2nd Mondays
08 July 2013 7-9pm
Villa de Colombia
12 Mercer Street, Hackensack NJ

ORGANIZERS
Kimi Wei, Ivan Gomez Wei, Luis Ariel Lopez Wei and Sally Gellert

Visit greendrinks3.org for more info

Hackensack Green Drinks Mon 6/10 & June GD schedule

Green Drinks Hackensack 120611 GREEN DRINKS 3 JUNE SCHEDULE
¡Español hablantes muy bienvenidos!
#1 Newark (03 June)
1st Mondays 7-9pm
#2 Hackensack (10 June)
2nd Mondays 7-9pm
#3 Paterson-Clifton (18 June)
3rd Tuesdays 12-1:30pm
Venue addresses at http://greendrinks3.org

At Green Drinks we don’t make or serve green colored drinks – the green in our name means the environment. We meet monthly in 3 north Jersey cities with experts attending every get-together for the pleasure of sharing information.

#2 Green Drinks Hackensack
Monday 10 June 7-9pm
Villa de Colombia
12 Mercer Street, Hackensack NJ

We discuss the environment, green jobs, bees, gmos, the topic of sustainability and sustainability topics such as:

environmental justice, community empowerment, healthy food and food systems, communities safe for biking and walking (aka complete streets; energy innovations; vibrant local economies and strong public schools; transportation and the preservation of culture. We discuss other topics too, like: gardening, clean water, the science of happiness … and protecting the free and open internet (for more on this see savetheinternet.com).

Who’s welcome?
You are! We’re very casual and very welcoming. We always have interesting and lively discussions … we always meet at restaurants that serve good, inexpensive food … are easy to access by public transit … and there’s always safe parking for drivers. Feel free to drop by any time.

Your hosts
Kimi Wei, Ivan Gomez Wei & Sally Gellert
email us

New report shows people of color want more cycling equity

New Majority: cycling equityThe New Majority: Pedaling Towards Equity, a joint report released on May 29, 2013 by the League of American Bicyclists and the Sierra Club, shows that

85% of people of color (African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and mixed race) have a positive view of bicyclists and 71% say their community would be a better place to live if bicycling were safer and more comfortable.

It is safer to bike in white neighborhoods than communities of color, where there is less access to bicycles and more bicycle and pedestrian crashes. The report,

… underlines stories of powerful local efforts of communities organizing to address these issues, opening up new lanes to cycling in communities often overlooked by traditional transportation planners and cycling advocates … and … uncovers stories and data that point to consistent disparities and inequities in the manner in which people of color, women and youth — including groups that are bicycling at higher rates and have more to gain in terms of bike benefits — are engaged in bicycling-related matters. For example, data gathered by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition revealed that neighborhoods with the highest percentage of people of color had a lower distribution of cycling facilities — and areas with the lowest median household income ($22,656 annually) were also the areas with the highest number of bicycle and pedestrian crashes.

Download report

April green & sustainable actions, training, events

Calendar treeCheck back for updates throughout the month.

Green Drinks 3 meets in Newark, Paterson-Clifton and Hackensack

Elly faceGreen Drinks are events – not a type of drink. They’re informal gatherings where people get together and chat about green and sustainable issues in our communities. Everyone is welcome and there is no admission fee. Pay for the food and drinks you order at the restaurants where we meet.
Green Drinks Newark 1st Mondays
(01 April 2013 @ 7-9pm)

Rio Rodizio
1034 McCarter Highway, Newark, NJ
Green Drinks Hackensack 2nd Mondays
(08 April 2013 @ 7-9pm)

Choripan Restaurant
76 Main Street (corner of Bergen St. aka Bridge St.), Hackensack, NJ
Green Drinks Paterson-Clifton
3rd Tuesday Lunch (16 April 2013 12-1:30pm)

Sultan Restaurant
429 Crooks Avenue, Clifton, NJ

Bergen CC NAACP screens Half the Sky

Half the SkyTuesday 29 April @ 11:45am
Bergen Community College
400 Paramus Road, Paramus NJ
Room A-104 in the Student Center
Read about it

27th Annual Stand Up for New Jersey Conference: Fighting for Clean Water, Air & Land

Stand Up for New Jersey! Learn about the most pressing environmental issues facing New Jersey in our exciting workshop sessions. The day also includes coffee and continental breakfast, environmental awards, lunch and a wine & cheese reception.
Saturday 06 April 2013 @ 8:30am-5pm
Georgian Court University
900 Lakewood Avenue, Lakewood Township, NJ
Tickets only $25 if you register now!

Featured Speaker: State Senator Barbara Buono

Workshop Sessions

  • Occupy Main Street, Occupy State Street with Tracy Carluccio of Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Clean Water Action’s national board chair David Tykulsker.
  • Climate Change Hits Home with Dr. Laumbach, MD of EOHSI and Dr. Kennish, PhD of the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University.
  • We All Live Downstream with Brick and Jackson Township Municipal Utilities Authority.
  • NJ’s Green Energy Future with Stephanie McClellan of the Atlantic Wind Connection.
  • Sustainable Water & Green Infrastructure with Meishka Mitchell from the Camden SMART Initiative and Cooper Robertson’s Earl Jackson, IV and William Kenworthey.
  • Zero Waste with zero waste consultant Priscilla Hayes and Laura Petit of New Paltz, NY.
  • “Just Say No” Environmental Justice workshop with Henry Rose of the NJ Environmental Justice Alliance and Dylan Hawkins, Senator Weinberg’s legislative director.
  • Sustainability Tour of Georgian Court University (GCU) with GCU’s Director of Sustainability Dr. Louise Wootton and the Bus for Progress.

Statewide immigration reform rally at Jersey City State Park

Brothers and sisters Come with us, join us, and send this message to the President and the Congress “that we are united workers fighting for a Humane Immigration Reform that keeps family together! There will be a march on Liberty State Park in Jersey City to make our collective voices heard, this means that all New Jersey will be participating. Working People of NJ, from East and West, around North and South, all will be marching to demand that President Obama and Congress act quickly and pass a fair immigration reform package this year. We must make a single voice and stay strong to win this fight.

Saturday 06 April 2013 @ 12pm
Jersey City State Park
Directions by public transportation:
PATH subway to Pavonia/Newport or Hoboken.
Then take the Light Rail to Liberty State Park.

For more information
Elizabeth NJ: Rev. Ramon Collazo 908 209 0335 | Maritsa Loaiza 848 203 4310
Morristown area: Morris County Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce 973 818 2666
SEIU NY & NJ

Strategy meeting for actions to stop Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Join Food and Water Watch Bergen/Passaic Group and our allies for the next meeting to stop the Tennessee Gas Pipeline! We’ll be discussing important campaign updates, planning next steps and continuing to build our local movement for a livable future. New members are always welcome!
Sunday 07 April 3:30-5pm
St. Mary’s Church, 25 Pompton Ave, Pompton Lakes NJ (Ground Floor of the School Building)
Who: You, your family, friends and neighbors!

For more info contact Matt Smith, North Jersey Organizer of Food & Water Watch 201.321.1967

Film: 
The Highlands Rediscovered

Presented by the New Jersey Highlands Coalition and the League of Women Voters of Ridgewood
Thursday 11 April 2013 @ 7-8:30pm
Lester Stable, Maple Avenue, Ridgewood
Free and open to the public!

This informative 30-minute documentary, shot beautifully in high-definition, explains the history of the Highlands region and why it became the source of clean drinking water for more than half of New Jersey’s population. The film shows how the ecological functions of the Highlands forests cleanse rain as it percolates into underground aquifers and ultimately, out into surface reservoirs. It also speaks about the challenges the Highlands region faces to retain forests so essential to the state’s health under great pressure to develop the land.
 
Following the film, Erica Van Auken and Elliott Ruga of the NJ Highlands Coalition will host an audience discussion and answer questions. For more information contact: Erica Van Auken 973-588-7190 or erica@njhighlandscoalition.org

State controlled school district advocates hold public meeting

The attack on public education is serious locally,statewide and nationally. Until we all come together and work collectively to stop school closings and gain local control and elect individuals who’s number one agenda is to strengthen and empower the community. Come and join Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Camden along with other cities. Together we can and will make a change. Light refreshments served.
Saturday 13 April 13 2013 @ 10am-1pm
Africana Institute or Essex County College
303 University Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07102

RSVP to Sharon Smith Ssmith@Pulsenj.org or Johnnie Lattner Jlattner@Pulsenj.org

Kokokidz Latino Youth Peer Empowerment Group Meetings

Kokokidz meets once or twice a month in north Jersey. If you’re a Latino student junior high school through college age, Kokokidz will help empower you to make positive change happen in your school and community. Young Latinos support each other in the areas of career, education, applying for scholarships, civic engagement, sustainability practices and cultural preservation. We’re also seeking mentors who can interact with Kokokidz members and provide career and education advice.
Kokokidz General Meeting
Sunday 14 April 2013 @ 6-8pm

Villa de Colombia
12 Mercer Street, Hackensack, NJ
The group will choose an Earth Day activity and look at scholarships, summer internships.
Kokokidz Meets with Mentors and Gets A Finance Lesson
Sunday 28 April 2013 @ 6-8pm

Location TBA
Dennis Bedoya of 1st Jersey Federal Credit Union will give a half-hour presentation about money management and why credit unions can do more for our communities than traditional banks. Mentors will get to know the Kokokidz members.

Kokokidz Contacts
Ivan Wei 201-688-0036 @ivanwei
Luis Ariel Lopez Wei @lalwei

Mentors Needed!
If you’re available as an adult mentor please contact our advisor Kimi Wei via Facebook or Twitter to chat about volunteer opportunities.

Community Service We are looking at different types of community service opportunities. If you have a cause or event you’d like Kokokidz to engage with please share details.

Kokokidz is helping with the movement to Close New Jersey schools on Martin Luther King Jr. Day https://www.facebook.com/pages/Close-NJ-Schools-on-MLK-Jr-Day/276810379041778

Film: Food, Inc. in Paterson

Watch Food, Inc. and learn if Big Ag is putting profits over people
Wednesday 17 April 2013 @ 5pm
Paterson Free Public Library
250 Broadway, Paterson NJ

Extraordinary NJ Environmental Ladies Rock!

Lady Gaga, the environmentalist!The foursome in this “League of Extraordinary Women” video – Lady Gaga (Amanda Nesheiwat), Marilyn Monroe (Rachel Wieland), Wonder Woman (Leslie Raucher) and Hillary Clinton (whom I don’t recognize) are in real life, powerful environmental advocates in their own right. Spending a few minutes with them in their super-power incarnations – what I can say? It’s the chance of a life time, and one you will NOT want to miss.

These women pack powerful sustainable punches into the statements they make in, but the fun is how delightful they are. Don’t be surprised if you like Amanda’s Lady Gaga almost better than the real thing. Thanks for a few minutes of sheer enjoyment, ladies!

!–Lady Gaga, the environmentalist!–>

Education and fun at the 2012 Fair Lawn Green Fair

Please join us for this educational and fun community event sponsored by the Fair Lawn Borough Mayor, Council & Green Team. Learn about what the borough’s Sustainable Jersey certification means to residents, and congratulate Pat Larocco, winner of the Fair Lawn 2012 Going Green Award. The event is free and open to the public!

Fair Lawn Green Fair 2012
Tuesday May 22 6-9:00pm in the D-Cafe
Fair Lawn High School @ 14-00 Berdan Avenue
View the event on Facebook!

Giveaways and Special Promotions!

You could win a rain barrel from The Green Wei or receive the gift of an Eastern White Pine tree (over 50 will be given away). Kits with 10 CFL bulbs, 2 lamps and 2 LED night-lights will be on sale for $10 ($70 value) from a NJ State Green Communities program administrator.

Workshops and Demonstrations

Build Your Own Rain Barrel Demo
Composting Lessons
Rain Garden Education & Demonstration
Make Eco-friendly Paper Pots
Learn to crochet a bag from plastic shopping bags!
Gardening tips from the Master Gardeners

Exhibitors

Fair Lawn Borough Organizations
     Community Garden, Garden, Open Space & Shade Tree Committees
     Historic Preservation & Environmental Commissions
Fair Lawn Sunshine Rotary club
Fair Lawn Schools
Garretson Forge and Farm
Green Living Solutions
Hackensack Riverkeeper
League of Women Voters
Lime Energy
NJ Food & Water Watch
Americorps New Jersey Watershed Ambassador
NY/NJ Trail Conference
The Wei
Master Gardeners of Bergen County
The Wei
Green Wei
Green Drinks

For more information 201-794-5327 or greenteam@fairlawn.org.

Indian Point denied NY water permit

In a major victory for environmental advocates, New York State has ruled that outmoded cooling technology at the Indian Point nuclear power plant kills so many Hudson River fish, and consumes and contaminates so much water, that it violates the federal Clean Water Act.

. . . strongly worded letter from the Department of Environmental Conservation. . . said flatly that Indian Point’s cooling systems, even if modified in a less expensive way proposed by Entergy, “do not and will not comply” with New York’s water quality standards.

It said the power plant’s water-intake system kills nearly a billion aquatic organisms a year, including the shortnose sturgeon, an endangered species. The letter also said that radioactive material had polluted the Hudson after leaking into the groundwater.

. . . the cooling system at Indian Point Units 2 and 3 . . . take in enormous volumes of river water . . . and use it to create steam for turbines and to cool the reactors. The water is then pumped back into the Hudson, 20 or 30 degrees hotter.

Sucking so much water causes plankton, eggs and larvae to be drawn into the plant’s machinery, or entrained, and the water pressure also causes fish to be trapped, or impinged, against intake screens, the state said.

. . . An Entergy spokesman said that converting Indian Point’s cooling system would cost $1.1 billion and would require shutting both reactors down entirely for 42 weeks.

Jump to fullNew York Times article