Here is Kale Smoothy recipe found on Earthhour’s  Tumblr

Therese Kerr’s Berry and Kale Smoothie

PREP TIME: 10 minutes
FREEZING TIME: overnight for banana and berries

NOTE: You can use fresh berries and bananas and just add a few ice cubes to make the shake thicker and cold. Omit yoghurt and add up to 1 frozen banana for vegan.

Ingredients:
1 cup coconut milk (or milk of choice)
1 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 cup yoghurt or coconut yoghurt (or use more fruit for vegan)
1 cup chopped kale or silver beet (chard) (packed)
1 cup of spinach leaves
½ frozen banana (coarsely chopped)
¼ cup each frozen blueberries and raspberries
2 heaped tbsp Vital Protein Powder (or other protein powder)
1 – 2 tbsp honey or agave syrup (to taste)
2 tsp melted coconut oil or chia oil

Optional Additions:
1 – 2 tbsp cocoa powder (add a little more honey or agave syrup if desired), ½ cup strawberries, 1 – 2 tsp chia seeds, 1 – 2 tbsp maca powder, 1 – 2 tbsp Vital Greens Powder

Method:
1. Place all the ingredients in the blender and blend on high for 1-2 minutes until well combined.
2. Check to see if it needs more sweetener or liquid and blend again.
3. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed up to one day.

For more incredible healthy recipes have a look at Therese’s iBook Lunchbox Solutions, for more information click here: http://theresekerr.com/books/lunchbox-solutions/

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This arrived in my inbox this morning and I liked the idea so much that I thought I would share.
Excerpt

SIMPLEST TIP EVER: WHY YOU SHOULD DRINK WARM WATER & LEMON

One of the easiest health tips you’ll ever hear to radically boost your health

The Chalkboard 5.4.12
Ashley Pitman

Your mind may say you have to check emails, take the dog out, get the kids out the door, that you can’t be late for work or that you just don’t have enough time to cultivate your own morning rituals. But if you can only make time for one ritual that will improve your health, let it be this: start the day out with a mug of warm water and the juice of half a lemon. It’s so simple and the benefits are just too good to ignore.

Adopting just this one practice of drinking a cup of warm water with lemon in the morning for a month can radically alter your experience of the day. Don’t be surprised if you begin to view mornings in a new light.

Like I said, the recipe is really simple – a cup of warm (not hot) water and the juice from half a lemon.

Please read the full article to find out what the many benefits are.

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This seminar will be presented by Tom Minnon, who has over 35 years of experience in energy conservation and renewable energy. “Most homeowners can do several inexpensive things to save energy and money on their heating and hot water bills” says Minnon. “Up to 30% of a home’s heat loss is due to air infiltration. We’ll show homeowners how to identify those areas where infiltration is occurring and how to seal them”.

Windows are a major source of heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter. Even the most energy efficient windows only have an insulating value equal to about 1” of fiberglass insulation. Applying energy saving films, adding the proper storm windows, weatherstripping and using the right drapes and blinds can have a significant impact on energy use and human comfort. This seminar will show homeowners how to improve their existing windows and what to look for in buying new windows.

Most homes’ attic insulation is way below recommended levels. Here in Southern NH, attic insulation should have an R-Value of 50 or more. That’s equivalent to about 16” of fiberglass insulation. If your home has less than that, this seminar will show you how to efficiently and effectively bring it up to standard. Minnon adds, “Just as important to adding insulation in the attic is making sure that the attic has proper ventilation. Improper or ineffective ventilation can result in mold growth in the attic and ice dams during winter”

A major source of energy use in the home is heating hot water. Adding insulation to an electric water heater, insulating hot water pipes and installing a timer can reduce the cost of heating hot water. Minnon will also show participants how to make a simple solar hot water heater that is very effective during the warmer months, resulting in savings of up to 50%.

The Derry Library is located at 64 E. Broadway. Prior registration is not required.

Contact:
Tom Minnon
603-721-2994
tminnon@comcast.net

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So a BIG THANK YOU to all who braved the side of the roads so far and many THANKS to those who clean up the roadsides on a regular basis.

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A Garden for Wildlife: Natural Landscaping for a Better Backyard

A Garden for Wildlife is a slide presentation that shows how anyone with a backyard, garden, or landscaped area can help wildlife by altering their landscaping and gardening practices. Includes discussion of wildlife and habitats, plant choice, use of native plants, nest boxes and feeders, and issues such as invasive plants.

Jean Eno, Education Program Naturalist and “Speaking for Wildlife” volunteer through the UNH Coop Extension Service, will show how to enhance your backyard habitat for birds, butterflies and a variety of wildlife using native vegetation and water features.

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The Transfer Station has blue bags.  All you have to do is pick up the garbage, leave the bag, and call Public Works to let them know where to pick up the filled blue bags.  Remember to wear gloves and bright colors, too.  You never know what you might find along the side of the road… maybe you’ll find something totally crazy (one year I found a toaster oven!).   If you do get a group together or have a funny find, let us know about it and we will even post pictures of your group if you like!  Most of all, Go Green Derry thanks you.

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To begin with, consumption and waste have exponentially grown in the last 30 years. Trash has become a huge business and a major expense for towns. To be cost effective the Town of Derry recycles items like Cardboard, Paper, Aluminum and Scrap Metal; because it can make money to offset the expenses of the Transfer Station. Other Recyclables, 1–7 Plastics and glass are transferred to a recycling facility at a lessor cost than hauling it to a landfill.

Professor Halstead explained how some recyclables, for example glass, cost more for us to recycle because it is heavy and therefore expensive to transport to a facility where it can be processed for reuse; thus an economic factor that does not support recycling in all cases.  Is there a processing facility nearby to make use and profit from materials being brought to the Transfer Station to be recycled?

Professor Halstead also shared a more world-view, using an input–output theory, where natural resources, like bauxite (a natural mineral used to make aluminum) are input and pollution is output with recycling as the tool for keeping resources from being used up and minimizing the output of pollution.

This presentation made me wonder if, in order to move recycling forward in the state of NH that our state government might consider incentivizing manufacturing companies that process recycled materials to create new to move to NH.  And where that is not feasible or the pollution output from the process is not tolerable than perhaps some consumables could be eliminated.  For example banning plastic grocery bags and single use plastic bottles is gaining favor throughout the country.

All in all, thinking about reducing our consumption should be the priority and each purchase should be mindfully considered: where will this item end up when I am done using it?

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Derry resident and interim chair of EEAC (Energy & Environmental Advisory Committee) Maureen Reno, explains RGGI and sheds some light on what is happening with RGGI in New Hampshire.

For over five years now Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) has demonstrated that a market based approach to limiting lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the electricity generating sector can make significant environmental progress while benefiting our economy. In fact, an independent report by the Analysis Group found that the investment of RGGI proceeds from the first three years puts $1.1 billion in electricity bill savings back into the pockets of consumers in the RGGI region and keeps $765 million in the local economy due to reduced fossil fuel demand.

In 2008, New Hampshire joined RGGI, to lower carbon dioxide CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants. These emissions pollute our air and are a key component of the climate changes we have been witnessing lately.  To accomplish this goal, RGGI allows electricity producers to purchase allowances to exceed agreed upon limits in a multi-state allowance market. Each state then uses the proceeds from the sale of allowances to invest in energy efficiency programs and offer customer rebates.

After its 2012 review, the RGGI states, including nine states in New England and the Northeast, are proposing to reduce the regional emissions limit to better reflect the current level of regional emissions. This proposal, HB 306 as amended, was approved by the NH House last week. Derry’s Representative Mary Till joined the majority vote, 190 to 156. The bill is now in the Senate.

Emissions since RGGI’s inception have decreased due to several factors. State investments in energy efficiency have reduced electricity demand and the need for new transmission and generation in the region, saving rate payers increased energy prices.  Due to lower natural gas prices, electricity producers have invested in gas power plants (with much lower CO₂ emissions) to supplant generation from coal in the region. The lower energy costs from using natural gas have opened the door to other energy suppliers to move into the New Hampshire market and compete head-to-head with PSNH.

According to the Department of Environmental Services, the proposed decrease in the emissions limits envisioned in HB 306 will lead to about a three percent reduction in typical residential electric bills. It also means that towns like Derry will see their energy bills decrease which in turn is good for taxpayers.

Thank you, Representative Till, for voting in favor of New Hampshire’s environment and economy.

Maureen Reno
Derry, NH

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For starters, Go Green Derry will have an informational display at the Derry Public Library for the month of April. You will be able to pick up a copy of our new brochure there.

Next we will be hosting or Co-hosting a couple of Sustainability Lectures at the Derry Public Library. The first to be held this Monday evening, April 1^st from 7 to 8 pm.

Rethinking ‘Trash’: Composting, Recycling, and Sustainable Resource Use 

Given by John Halstead, Ph.D.

This lecture will focus on the economics of trash and diversion. Those with either concerns or interest in Derry’s plans for an updated Transfer Station will find this presentation very informative.

John is a professor and chair of the department of resource economics at the University of New Hampshire. His current research interests include the economic factors affecting siting of solid waste facilities, and infrastructure investment and rural economic development

The second lecture in the series we will co-host with the Derry Public Library on Monday evening April 22^nd from 7 to 8pm.

A Garden for Wildlife: Natural Landscaping for a Better Backyard

Come learn some things you can do to make your yard more appealing and safe for NH fauna. What better way to spend Earth Day than planning a garden to let nature in.

In addition to these library talks it is time to put on your work gloves and pick up blue bags at the Transfer Station to collect roadside trash and clean up Derry for the upcoming summer. Join Go Green Derry as we host the annual town-wide Earth Week clean-up.  Visit our website for details on this community event, and check for future events on the Calendar page

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