cape fear’s w w w .go i n g green p co m going...

Going Greenyour guide to local eco-friendly resources

Cape Fear’s

Volume 8 Issue 1www.GoinGGreenPublications.com Winter 2015 / 2016

www.GoinGGreenPublications.com

The Pope and the PlanetGreen GamingEnvironmental Book Club

StriperFest 2016: A New Generation Learns About Our Native Fish

2 www.goinggreenpublications.com

Contents 3 StriperFest 2016 4 Lock and Dam #1 Celebrates a Centennial 5 The Case Against Pesticides 7 Town Creek Elementary School Garden Receives Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Grant for School Garden Addition 7 Kids in the Garden 9 Bellamy Mansion Environmental Awareness Day 9 Round Up at the Register at Tidal Creek 12 Green News 12 Your Ecological House™—The Pope’s Encyclical 14 Wild Bird & Garden Nature Photo Contest Results 16 Green Gaming 18 Environmental Book Club Announces Reading List for 2016 19 Congress Extends Federal Solar Tax Credits Through 2022 20 BEMC Unveils Electric Charging Stations in Brunswick County

Cape Fear’s Going Green is a quarterly publication promoting eco-friendly resources and lifestyles in the Lower Cape Fear River Basin.

Publisher & Editor in Chief: Valerie Robertson

Sister City: Eugene, Oregon (Voted “Greenest City” 2006 by The Green Guide)

Eugene Contributing Editor: Mary Robertson

Advisors & Editorial Contributors: Lynn Alexander, Alan Cradick, David Erwin, Gareth Evans, Cameron Gonzalez, Heather Holbrook, Michelle Lawson, Maggie O’Connor, Jill Peleuses, Kay Lynn Plummer-Hernandez, Adeline Robertson, Pete Strawbridge, Linda Thomas, John Tollefson, Ryan Ward, Philip S. Wenz, Charley Winterbauer, Jim Woodson.

Cape Fear’s Going GreenGoing Green Publications

P. O. Box 3164 • Wilmington, NC 28406(910) 547-4390

www.goinggreenpublications.com

Cape Fear’s Going Green is available by subscription or on our Web site.

Print copies are available at more than 140 area eco-friendly businesses and locations, including:

Arboretum/New Hanover County Extension Service, Aunt Kerry’s Pet Stop, Azalea Coin Laundry, Lovey’s Market, Old Books on

Front Street, Pomegranate Books, Progressive Gardens, Re-eco Design, Tidal Creek Co-op, UNCW, WHQR, Shelton Herb Farm, and

the YWCA.

Editorial: If you have story ideas or calendar items to suggest, email us at [email protected], or call (910) 547-4390.Advertising information: Email [email protected] Fear’s Going Green is distributed free through Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender counties. If you have a business and would like to receive multiple copies for the public, please contact us.The views and opinions expressed in articles in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication.

Letter from the EditorI spend time outdoors nearly every day, but that wasn’t

always true.

This summer I spent a few weeks in Washington, D.C. I took the time to explore some of the nature sites I’d never quite made the time to see in the years I lived and worked in the D.C. area. Evidently I’d driven past or even through many wonderful nature settings for years without stopping to experience them on foot. Or even to wonder about the how things get their names. This trip, I stopped. I drove to Rock Creek Park, got out of the car, and took long walks along the trails.

There’s a creek. With rocks.

I also happened to be in Washington at the time of Pope Francis’ visit to address a joint session of Congress. I had read the Pope’s June encyclical online the night before. (I recommend it to everyone—a link to finding it online appears on page 13 of this issue.) Rather than watch his address on TV I took the Metro down to the National Mall (a national park I have visited often). I wasn’t prepared for how moved I would be, to be surrounded by representatives of so many environmental groups—global groups, national organizations, and young D.C. area students working to bring healthy food into their own community. We all watched the address on large screens placed on the Mall, together. It was memorable.

— Valerie L. Robertson Editor

❧ ❧ ❧Front Cover: Olivia Burdette shares with us her fish artwork during a previous StriperFest Community Education Day. The fish in her right hand is an American shad; the fish in her left is a Striped bass. Both are native to the Cape Fear River.Photo by Alan Cradick.

photo by Valerie Robertson The editor enjoys a vacation walk through Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.

3Cape Fear’s Going GreenWinter 2015/2016

environmental education

StriperFest 2016: A New Generation Learns About Native Fish

photo by Kay Lynn Plummer-Hernandez New for StriperFest 2016: a puppet show! Shown here during rehearsal, from left: Lill Van Order with “Shadow” the American shad, Jessica Stitt with “Jumper” the endangered Atlantic sturgeon, Andrea Belletti with “Striper” the Striped bass, and John Belletti with “Trooper” the American shad.

A little boy with a fishing pole stands next to a blue kiddie wading pool, fishing pole in hand; when the magnet at the end of his line catches a fish, he pulls it high up in the air with glee, and someone shows him how to know what kind of fish it is.

A little girl studies the anatomy of a Striped bass, as a local biologist dissects it.

A youngster with a little turtle painted on her cheek concentrates as she looks through a microscope.

A volunteer spreads out colorful gyotaku fish paintings on a table to dry.

A circle of children sits in a circle, mesmerized by a storyteller.

Children and volunteers alike are wear-ing funny paper hats they’ve decorated with fish.

The room is filled with color and pipe cleaners and paints and crayons and con-struction paper and busy children—and lots and lots of fish. Not cartoon fish, but realistically rendered American shad, and Atlantic sturgeon, and the Striped bass for which the festival is named.

It’s Community Education Day, where, every January, for three hours in the middle of StriperFest, children and their families are immersed in fish-related games, art and science. It’s a part of the two-day StriperFest event held annually by Cape Fear River Watch, as its biggest event of the year.

“The event is a way for us to bring community awareness and support to the restoration of the Cape Fear River Fishery, one of this region’s most impor-

An invitation from Cape Fear River Watch:Join us as we celebrate the resurgence of the migratory fish of the Cape Fear with our biggest event of the year—StriperFest! Our Auction and Banquet is Friday night (January 15)—be there to bid on great items and be a part of the live action! All of the proceeds go to the Cape Fear River. Join in on the fun Saturday (January 16) as we watch the boats take off at 8:30a.m. for our one-of-a-kind Tag and Release Striped Bass Fishing Tournament! Hang around for an informative fisheries forum (10a.m.), fishing seminar(12p.m.) and our fabulously fun free Community Education Day! (11a.m.–2p.m.) Bring the kids and enjoy art projects, fisheries biology, face painting, casting lessons, boat trips up the Cape Fear and MUCH MORE! For more information about StriperFest 2016 please visit www.CapeFearRiverWatch.org.

StriperFest 2016January 15 & 16, 2016

Coastline Convention Center

Auction & Banquet

Striped Bass Tag & Release Tournament

Fisheries Forum, Fishing Seminar & Community Education Day

Lakefest 2016May 7, 2016 • 10am–2pm

Fun, free outdoor celebration of Greenfield Lake. Live animals, face painting, waterfowl identi-fication, discounted eco tours, arts and crafts, kayak races and MUCH MORE!

tant economic and environmental resources,” explains Kay Lynn Plummer-Hernandez, Education Coordinator for Cape Fear River Watch. “Each year people of all ages learn about the river, the species that live there and how each of us can help create and maintain a healthy environment.”

It’s educa-tional, and it’s fun. Exhibitors are all asked to provide an activity for children with an environmental theme...preferably “fishy” in nature.

“I encourage all of my students and their families to attend StriperFest because it is one of Wilmington’s most educational and fun events!” says teacher Michelle Lawson. “The Community Education Day is not only free, it provides wonderful hands-on activities that can be tailored to each child’s age and attention span, and it is staffed by fascinating locals with a wealth of knowledge to share. Geared toward ages 2-99, there is truly something for everyone. My only wish is that it lasted longer!”

Visit the Cape Fear River Watch website to learn all the ways you and your family can enjoy StriperFest and its sister event, LakeFest, held at Greenfield Lake in May. www.CapeFearRiverWatch.org.

Cape Fear River Watch brings you two family festivals:


Centennial event visitors were treated to a nature hike led by UNCW’s Roger Shew, and were among the first to enjoy the new boardwalk along the river, just upstream of the dam. Access is at the base of the hill, just past the parking lots shown in the photo at upper left.

Lock and Dam #1 Celebrates a Centennial

environmental education

Sabrina Woofter simulates rain on a model home-site, to show how repositioning the bottom of a downspout onto the yard or rain garden instead of the driveway can slow stormwater runoff.

The rain garden at Lock and Dam #1 is getting established, and is already fully functional. It hosts a variety of plants native to our area.

photos this page by Valerie Robertson

Cape Fear River Watch hosted a Centennial Event on November 21, 2015 for the Lock & Dam #1 in Riegelwood, NC, which was constructed in 1915. Attendees enjoyed educational activities for all ages, a food vendor, the new educational board-walk, rain garden, games, and of course the rock arch rapids!

An economist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service esti-mates an annual boost to our economy of 5.5 million dollars if the Striped Bass population recovers and the fishery re-opens. With the construction of the rock arch rapids (fish passage) at Lock and Dam #1 complete, River Watch advocates for fish passage farther upstream at Lock and Dams 2 and 3, to allow anadromous fish, including the Striped Bass, to reach their historic spawn-ing grounds. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide greatly improved fish passage past all three locks and dams for all migrating fish species. Learn more at www.youtube.com/watch?v=e92MOSi64OU.

Want to see the rock arch rapids for yourself? The public may visit any time: Lock and Dam #1, 996 Lock #1 Road, Riegelwood, NC 28456, or call Cape Fear River Watch at (910)762-5606.

The view from the hill affords a view of the lock on the left and the fish rapids on the right. The rain garden, with its curved walking path, can be seen at the left of the photo. Visitors may drive or walk down the hill, to see everything up close, or to walk along the boardwalk.


The Case Against Pesticides

environmental science

by S. M. BranderIf you were asked to come up with a list

of things that are poisonous, that list might include things like arsenic, rattlesnake venom, and maybe anthrax. Luckily most of us rarely encounter any of these. However, we rarely think about our daily exposure to small amounts of poison, such as the pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed

initially foresee. It’s a bit like taking a drug that you haven’t been prescribed.

Recent research has shown that com-monly used pesticides and herbicides such as glyphosate (i.e. Roundup®), pyrethroids (i.e. Talstar®, Biomist®), carbaryl (i.e. Sevin®), and neonicotinoids (i.e. Gaucho®) are toxic both to humans and ecosystems. Neonicotinoids and pyrethroids appear

organic, try to at least avoid the “Dirty Dozen.” (See following page.) For example, according to Consumer Reports, in the U.S. as little as one conventionally treated apple can cause they typical 3-4 year old child to enter the high dietary risk range for a number of pesticide types.

A recent study done on a family in Sweden that eliminated pesticides from their diet for just one week showed that all family members reduced their pesticide load (detected in urine); particularly the children whose levels dropped by nearly a factor of 10. There are local sources of organic produce as well as plenty of places to purchase such products (e.g., Tidal Creek, Lovey’s, Whole Foods, Harris Teeter). If you grow your own produce or decorative plants, try to purchase organic seeds that aren’t infused with pesticides (i.e. neonico-tinoids), which are toxic to pollinators and to us as well.

Some Local Sources of Organic ProduceIndigo Farms, Calabash, NC

http://www.indigofarmsmarket.com/ Black River Organic Farm, Sampson Co., NC

http://blackriverorganicfarm.com/ Vollmer Farm, Bunn, NC

http://www.vollmerfarm.com/

on the produce we eat, in our homes, and on our backyards. Most of us think that if we aren’t immediately sickened by something, that it isn’t harmful. It turns out, however, that many of the seemingly harm-less chemicals we use to control insects can also affect us.

The reason for this is that we are more like insects than we think, at least when you shrink things down to the level of the cell. All complex living things, insects included, are made up of them, and we all evolved from common ancestors so our cells are similar. The way a pesticide works is to interfere with the way a cell functions. If an insect stops moving upon being sprayed, it may be because the chemical blocked channels in its cells, for example, causing paralysis. Although humans don’t become paralyzed when exposed to pesticides, some of the same channels or other proteins in our very own cells can be affected, causing changes our nervous or endocrine systems. Furthermore, some-times pesticides (and herbicides) interact with parts of the cell that scientists don’t

“Someday we shall look back on this dark era of agriculture and shake our heads. How could we have ever believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons?” – Jane Goodall

to affect the developing nervous system (particularly in fetuses and young chil-dren), and both glyphosate and carbaryl are suspected carcinogens. Exposure to multiple pesticides at once compounds the problem, as little is known about the effects of mixtures.

Connecting the dots between effects on insects and unintended impacts on wildlife is a bit easier. For example, aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans are very similar physiologically to insects, hence their high sensitivity to pesticides. Fish are impacted because they are exposed constantly as run-off enters rivers and estuaries. Many studies on aquatic life have linked declines in reproduction and the ability to avoid predation to pesticide exposure. Another issue is that not all insects are targets, so valuable pollinators such as honeybees have fallen victim to the cocktail of chemicals sprayed on or around the flowering plants that they frequent. We now have a serious bee shortage, one that has been linked to a combination of disease and pesticides such as neonicoti-noids. These chemicals not only end up in local ecosystems, but can be taken up into global air and water currents and deposited as far away as the poles, where pesticides have been detected in penguin eggs and the tissues of polar bears.

So how does one reduce his or her pes-ticide footprint? Eating organic as much as possible is one of the easiest ways to start. If it’s not in the budget to go completely

(continued on page 6)


Pesticides – continued

Decrease your exposure to pesticides by learning which of our foods are most and least likely to bring pesticides to the table.

Living in Southeastern NC, one is bound to encounter insects around every corner. It is therefore understandable that many resort to treating their homes and lawns. However, there are some better alternatives to Mosquito Squad and Mosquito Authority, both of which use pyrethroids—shown to interfere with hormone function in wildlife and in human cells, in addition to being neurotoxic. Often companies will advertise pyrethroid pes-ticides as being “botanically derived.” The reason for this is that they are based on a natural chemical produced by chrysanthe-mum flowers, but that chemical has been synthetically modified and is anything but natural. A better alternative is pyrethrin, the actual natural chrysanthemum compound, or even better yet, orange oil is known to repel many types of insects, is food-safe and is also organic-certified. Products such as Orange Guard® are available at hardwares stores such as Ace, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. A third option is to choose plants that repel mosquitos, such as basil or citronella. Some of the essential oils derived from such plants are used in natural insect repellent skin sprays, sold by companies such as Babyganics and Burt’s Bees.

Although no single action will solve the global problem of pesticide pollution, these are all examples of small steps individuals can take to reduce their overall footprint on the environment and to potentially improve the health of their families and themselves. As Margaret Mead once said

Clean FifteenAvocadosSweet cornPineapplesCabbageSweet peas (frozen)OnionsAsparagusMangosPapayasKiwiEggplantGrapefruitCantaloupeCauliflowerSweet potatoes

Dirty Dozen (plus)ApplesPeachesNectarinesStrawberriesGrapesCelerySpinachSweet bell peppersCucumbersCherry tomatoesSnap peas (imported)PotatoesHot peppersKale / collard greensBlueberries

“Never doubt that a small group of thought-ful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”Sources: www.ewg.org; www.naturallivingideas.com; www.info.achs.edu.

environmental science

Insert-Repelling Oils & PlantsLavenderBasilThymePineVetiverBergamotPeppermintTea Tree (Australian)EucalyptusLemon eucalyptusCitronellaGarlicLemon balmCatnipMarigoldsPennyroyalRosemaryGeranium

Helpful WebsitesEnvironmental Working Group www.ewg.org Consumer Reports Health www.consumerreports.org/cro/health/natural-health/pesticides/index.htm).

Susanne M. Brander, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Her research encom-passes the fields of toxicology, endocrinol-ogy, and ecology, currently focusing on the impacts of endocrine disrupting com-pounds on estuarine fish and invertebrates. She lives in downtown Wilmington with her husband, daughter, and four (yes four) cats.

Learn the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen

Dirty Dozen Each of these foods tested positive for a number of different pesticide residues and showed higher con-centrations of pesticides than other produce items. Key findings:

• 99 percent of apple samples, 98 percent of peaches, and 97 percent of nectarines tested positive for at least one pesticide residue.

• The average potato had more pesticides by weight than any other produce.

• A single grape sample and a sweet bell pepper sample contained 15 pesticides.

• Single samples of cherry tomatoes, nec-tarines, peaches, imported snap peas and strawberries showed 13 different pesticides apiece.

• Leafy greens - kale and collard greens - and hot peppers do not meet traditional Dirty Dozen™ ranking criteria but were frequently found to be contaminated with insecticides toxic to the human nervous system.

Clean Fifteen Produce that is least likely to contain pesticide residues. Key findings:

• Avocados were the cleanest: only 1 percent of avocado samples showed any detectable pesticides.

• Some 89 percent of pineapples, 82 percent of kiwi, 80 percent of papayas, 88 percent of mango and 61 percent of cantaloupe had no residues.

• No single fruit sample from the Clean Fifteen™ tested positive for more than 4 types of pesticides.

• Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on Clean Fifteen™ vegetables. Only 5.5 percent of Clean Fifteen samples had two or more pesticides.

Source: www.ewg.org


Kids in the Garden

gardening news

by Ryan Ward

Progressive Gardens, a local organic gardening store, hosted a truly progres-sive Father’s Day event in June. At their first annual Kids in The Garden event, the staff offered free watermelon plants to all children in attendance: encouraging the next generation to learn the importance of horticulture in a family-friendly and

Town Creek Elementary School Garden Receives Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Grant for School Garden Addition

The Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education® grant to Town Creek Elementary School in Winnabow, North Carolina for the construction of an outdoor garden learning space. Town Creek Elementary School, in partnership with Feast Down East, FoodCorps and Brunswick County Cooperative Extension invite the community to lend a hand in building the new learning space during a three-day garden build, taking place on April 14, 15, and 16 from 8:30–11a.m. at Town Creek Elementary School, located at 6330 Lake Park Drive SE in Winnabow.

Town Creek Elementary is one of more than 600 schools across the United States to be awarded a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant this spring for improve-ment projects during the 2014-2015

Elementary is among four FoodCorps recipient schools in Brunswick County. FoodCorps is a Feast Down East and Cooperative Extension sponsored national AmeriCorps service project focused on reducing the incidence of childhood obesity by connecting kids to real food and helping them grow up healthy.

For more information on volunteering for the FoodCorps garden build, contact Elin Amundson at [email protected].

For more information on Feast Down East, also known as the Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program (SENCFS), visit their website www.feastdowneast.org

To learn more about the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, visit Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility and LowesInTheCommunity.tumblr.com.

school year. FoodCorps Service Member Elin Amundson, applied for the grant to help the school realize their vision of creating a school garden that meets the learning needs of all students, through hands-on sensory learning opportunities. As Amundson explains, “The garden will provide a broader range of garden-based learning environments, so that all students can benefit.” The new garden addition will be fully accessible to students with special needs, and will include a shade pergola, raised wheelchair-accessible garden beds, vertical gardens and a music wall.

Amundson regularly teaches lessons in the classrooms and garden about eating and growing fruits and vegetables and works with the child nutrition team to bring more local fresh fruits and veg-etables into the cafeteria. Town Creek

fun way. Loaded with a bounce house, face painting, information sessions, and an eager staff, this miniature festival sparked the interests of dozens of children to the importance of plant life and the tiny organisms that perpetuate growth: microbes. Microbes are the microscopic individuals that aid in the breakdown of nutrients in soil, unlocking the hidden

nutrients within the soil to be utilized by the plant. Evan Folds, store owner, explains the pro-cess metaphorically by describing the soil as a construc-tion site. “Microbes are the construc-tion workers, organic fertilizers are the building materials, and the thriving plants that grow as a result are the happy inhabitants of the newly constructed

neighborhood,” says Evan. “Microbes don’t recognize or grow from artificial fertilizers. Your job as the contractor is to use organic fertilizers and bring as many construction workers (microbes) to the site as often as possible; the microbes take care of the rest.” Progressive Gardens plans to host more events throughout the year includ-ing workshops on how to grow and eat organically. Progressive Gardens is located at 6005 Oleander Drive.

For more information about the store or their upcoming events, visit the website at progressivegardens.com or give them a call at (910)395-1156.

photo by Ryan WardEvan Folds explains the workings of microbes.

Have a green product or service? Cape Fear’s Going Green can help you find green-minded customers!

Call us at (910)547-4390 for ad-vertising rates or contributor guideines. Advertising rates also available on our website: GoingGreenPublications.com/ advertising.html.


gardening news

New Agricultural Worker Protection Standards Released

A Century Farm & Bird Friendly Business

Herbs • VegetablesNatives

Butterfly & Bee Plants

340 Goodman Road, Leland910-253-5964

Year-Round • M-Sat 8-5

web page: LocalHarvest.orgwww.sheltonherbfarmnc.com

Douglas Dixon, M.D. Serving Downtown for 12 years!

Lives vegetarian lifestyle, understands and supports vegetarian and vegan lifestyles.

910-762-9995douglasdixonmd.comor stop by 720 Market Street, Wilmington downtown

The EPA released the long-awaited revised Agricultural Worker Protection Standards (WPS) on September 28th. These rules had not been updated in 23 years.Toxic Free NC and other farmworker advocates praised the EPA for adopting many policies that will reduce exposure of farmworkers to pesticides.

Some of the highlights of the new rules are: required annual trainings on protection from pesticides; first time age require-ment of 18 years old to be a pesticide handler; providing multiple ways for farmworkers to gain knowledge about pesticides that are applied; and anti-retaliation provisions.

Check out the EPA’s chart that compares the new rules to the old ones here! http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/comparison-chart-wps.pdf

Source: the Toxic Free NC October 15, 2015 newsletter. Visit www.toxicfreenc.org to stay current on North Carolina efforts to fight pesticide pollution.Bringing together all those who support the

local food system in Southeastern NC, including farmers, fishermen, food retailers and establishments,

consumers, advocates, and community leaders.

Register at www.FeastDownEast.org

Space is limited, register today!

New Hanover County Offers Residents Plants at January TreeFest

TreeFest 2016 is coming up Jan 22 & 23, from 10am–5pm (or until the trees allocated for that day run out). New Hanover County holds an annual distribution of tree seedlings, inside Independence Mall. They offer a selection of bare-root tree seed-lings and native grasses, and County residents may select up to five plants per household. It’s free, but they appreciate a donation of $3 to offset their costs. For a list of plants offered this year, see http://news.nhcgov.com/news-releases/2015/12/treefest-2016-offers-tree-seedlings-native-grasses/.

Carolina Beach Christmas Tree Dune Restoration

Looking for a way to recycle your Christmas Tree? The Cape Fear Chapter of Surfrider Foundation will repeat its successful beach restoration event from last year. On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 10 a.m., volunteers will assemble on the beach in Carolina Beach and place old Christmas trees to act as an anchor for the dunes to rebuild themselves.

Organizers say, “Just as we did last year, we will take old Christmas trees and strategically plant them into partially washed out dunes to help them grow outwards. It actually works very well!”

Meeting location will be the Tennessee Avenue Public Beach Access in Carolina Beach. For more event information, or to see photos of how the dunes have incorporated last year’s trees, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1667772416795434/ or email [email protected].


environmental outreach

Bellamy Mansion Environmental Awareness Day

Deliveries to:• Tidal Creek• Island Wellness Market• Family Dog Naturals

Please visit our website for more information and to see more delivery locations.

www.downeastconnect.com

Experience the freshest and most

avorful local produce delivered to you!

Greenspots

Native PlantSociety

Southeast Coast Chapter

North Carolina

www.ncwildflower.org

Come for a nature walk

Native PlantSociety

Native PlantSociety

Native PlantSociety

by Cameron Gonzalez

The 2015 World Environment Day was celebrated on May 7 during the Bellamy Mansion’s Green Day at the Bellamy. The event was held on the mansion’s lush front grounds with a center stage view of the historic building. In light of the Bellamy’s status as a green building with features such as a 6,000 gallon cistern for irrigation, permeable walkways, and a rooftop belvedere (see pages 3–5 of volume 3, issue 4 for more information), the Bellamy Mansion was an exemplary host for World Environment Day. Many visitors stopped by, from experienced green enthusiasts to families just looking for a bit of fun on a hot summer day.

Arranged around the grounds were a variety of green orga-nizations supporting the cause, and among them: Going Green’s very own booth displaying the importance of planting native! The booth showcased plants local to North Carolina’s coastal ecosystem. Milkweed, passionflower, and parsley are the three plants displayed from left to right in the picture below. Adults walked away from the booth with knowledge on the importance of planting native in support of butterflies and their associated caterpillars. Younger ages took part in a matching game relating butterflies to their respective plants on the table.

photo by Gareth EvansRyan Ward shares information on the benefits of native plants with attend-ees at Environmental Awareness Day.

Round Up at the Register at Tidal Creek

photo by Ryan WardMilkweed plant.

Going Green has been selected as Tidal Creek Co-op’s next Real Change recipient! Between now and March 31, 2016, when shopping at the Co-op, you can “round up” at the register; the ex-tra pennies will help Going Green expand its community outreach.

The Co-op’s Real Change donation program is a way for shop-pers to support worthy causes and organizations throughout the year. Donations can be made on an ongoing basis, during your transactions at the register, by rounding up your total to the near-est dollar—or any donation amount of your choosing.

Going Green will use the fundraiser monies to create two new interactive displays to teach children (and their parents!) how native plants benefit pollinators, whose health is critical to our food supply, and the benefits of a plant-based diet. Learn more at http://www.tidalcreek.coop/giving-initiatives/.


Thank you for doing business with our advertisers!

green news

B+O: design studio, PLLC architecture / landscape architecturemail: 1319-CC Military Cutoff Rd., PMB 221 tel: 910.821.0084 www.b-and-o.net

Imagine the Possibilities in Your Backyard

Wild Bird & GardenHanover Center

3501 Oleander DriveWilmington NC 28403

910-343-6001www.wildbirdgardeninc.com Wild Bird Garden

Sat., May 22: Painted Bunting Workshop 9:15-10:30 a.m. Native Plant Sale 2:30–4:30

ildird

WBG&

arden

ildird

arden

Imagine the Possibilities in Your Backyard

Wild Bird & GardenHanover Center

3501 Oleander DriveWilmington NC 28403

910-343-6001www.wildbirdgardeninc.com Wild Bird Garden

Sat., May 22: Painted Bunting Workshop 9:15-10:30 a.m. Native Plant Sale 2:30–4:30

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians with the regional 2015 EPA Rain Catcher Award in the Tribal Category for the Native Plant Facility project in western North Carolina. The award was given at a ceremony during the EPA Region 4/International Erosion Control Association Municipal Wet Weather Stormwater Conference, in Atlanta, Ga.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Native Plant Nursery Facility is designed to provide native plants for tribal projects associated with aquatic restoration, riparian enhancement, and wildlife habitat enhancement. The facility has provided approximately 75,000 plants for projects, and contains 120,000 container plants of 32 different species. The project employed two 6,000-gallon cisterns to capture and reuse approximately 1,750 gallons of rainwater per inch of rainfall. The facility lo-cation received 52 inches of precipitation in the past year resulting in approximately 91,000 gallons of rainwater captured and ultimately applied to the plants. With this rain harvesting capability, the Cherokee have reduced surface water consumption from the on-site stream by more than 36 percent.

The EPA Region 4 Rain Catcher Award recognizes excellence in the implementa-

Legacy Architectural Salvage Workshops

Legacy Architectural Salvage will hold regular building workshops and dem-onstrations the second Saturday of each month through May, 2016. The workshops are most suited for beginners who want to learn how to use tools, repair salvaged items and reuse items in a creative way. Workshops begin at 9:30 a.m. and gener-ally last about 90 minutes; all are held at 1831-B Dawson Street in Wilmington.

Tentative schedule: February 13–Pot-ting table; March 12–Pallet planter; April 9–Entry way coat rack.

Information available on Facebook or historicwilmington.org, or you may call (910)762-2511.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Awarded 2015 EPA Region 4 Rain Catcher Award

tion of stormwater green infrastructure practices. Green infrastructure uses natural systems and/or engineered systems de-signed to mimic natural processes to more effectively manage stormwater and reduce receiving water impacts. This reduces the volume of stormwater discharges by man-aging rainwater close to where it falls and removes many of the pollutants present in runoff, making it an effective strategy for addressing wet weather pollution and improving water quality.


2015–2016 AQ–IQ Contest for 7th Graders

The North Carolina Division of Air Quality is hosting the second statewide AQ-IQ Contest for Seventh grade students in the 2015–2016 school year. Students are invited to create a project that highlights an air quality issue and provides a solution to that issue.

Teachers are encouraged to integrate the contest into their science or social studies curricula and classroom pacing. The final project due date is March 1, 2016, to the nearest NC DAQ Regional Office. Visit www.ncair.org to find your local Regional Office and to coordinate a time and place to drop off submissions. The best regional projects will be evaluated in the statewide AQ-IQ Contest. Contact Keith Bamberger to submit a video to the contest electronically.

For more information visit the North Carolina Air Awareness page at: http://ncair.org/airaware/edu; visit the grants, contest and awards tab on the N.C. Environmental Education web page: http://www.eenorthcarolina.org, both of which offer several support files.

For questions, contact Keith Bamberger, Information and Communication Specialist, NC Division of Air Quality at [email protected] or by calling (828)296-4500.

student news

“It is now within the power of individual gardeners to do something that we all dream of doing: to “make a difference”... to the future of biodiversity, to the native plants and animals of North America and the ecosystems that sustain them.”

—Douglas Tallamy Bringing Nature Home

Cape Fear Audubon SocietyCan help you Go Green

NC Aquarium Costa Rica Sea Turtle Trip

Calling all high school students! The NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher is hosting a teen trip next summer for the Costa Rica Sea Turtle Ecology Project. This immersive, hands-on experience includes nightly sea turtle patrols to find nesting female leath-erbacks, rafting in the rain forest and a cultural exchange day with local students.

During the 9-day trip, June 20–28, 2016, participants will support conserva-tion by assisting with a leatherback sea turtle monitoring project and exploring the rainforest. Students will experience international travel and culture, practice Spanish language skills and create friend-ships to last a lifetime.

The trip is open to all high school stu-dents ages 14 to 18. For more information call Marissa Blackburn, Education Program Specialist at the Aquarium, at (910) 772-0508 or email her at [email protected].

In partnership with the North Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Network the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort will host a one-day program, the North Carolina Whales and Whaling Symposium. This event will be held April 9, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is free to the public.

This day-long event will include several presentations focusing on whales and historic hunting practices. Participants will learn about species of whales that can be found in our coastal waters, how some of these whales were hunted from the shore and the diversity of marine mammal strandings in North Carolina. The event is free. The schedule of presentations follows:

North Carolina Whales and Whaling Symposium10 a.m. Whales of North Carolina -

Natural Science Curator Keith Rittmaster

11 a.m. Native American Whaling and Porpoise Hunting - Education Curator John Hairr

12 p.m. Break for Lunch (on your own in historic downtown Beaufort)

1 p.m. The History of Whaling in North Carolina - Associate Curator Benjamin Wunderly

2 p.m. Legendary Cetaceans - Historic Interpreter Christine Brin

3 p.m. NC Marine Mammal Stranding Response - Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator Dr. Vicky Thayer

This will be an indoors auditorium setting at the museum. Participants are asked to register so the museum can get an estimate for attendance. Participants can register by calling program registrar Francoise Boardman at (252)728-7317 or email [email protected]


your ecological house™

The Pope’s Encyclical, Part 1: The Pope and the Planetif a broad-based, diverse movement grew around the core idea of living in harmony with nature and then a spark—an envi-ronmental event, an election, even the publication of a book—set that movement ablaze, capturing the human imagination and ultimately steering policy.

The job of people who envision a healthy planet, I said, is to keep building the environmental movement incremen-tally, never losing faith in the emergence of the consensus or the inevitability of the spark.

Little did I imagine then that, within a few short months, a major advance in the movement’s growth, possibly the spark that will ensure its predominance, would come from the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. But in his June 18 “encyclical”—essentially a papal policy statement to which all of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics nominally adhere—the Pope addressed the causes and effects of the planet’s environmental crisis in no uncertain terms.

Opening with statements such as “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of

world order based on spiritual, rather than merely economic, values.

Fundamental to the Pope’s vision is the relationship between God, the earth He created, and man’s relationship to that earth. Here, by redefining a standard inter-pretation of the Bible’s first book, Genesis, he offers one of his most profound chal-lenges to the philosophical underpinnings of our modern economic order.

Genesis states that God gave humans “dominion” over the earth and its crea-tures. This has been interpreted to mean that humans are separate from and placed above the rest of God’s creation and have a right, in the Pope’s words, to the “un-bridled exploitation of nature.” However, as Francis states directly, “This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the Church.”

Taken in the context of whole book of Genesis, “dominion” is seen not to be a gratuitous gift but a charge, a command to “till and keep” the garden of the earth. According to the Pope, and therefore the Church, “ ‘Tilling’ refers to cultivat-ing, plowing or working while ‘keeping’ means caring, protecting, overseeing and preserving.”

This is how the 15 percent of the world’s population that self-identifies as Catholic—and, in my opinion, the rest of us—should understand “dominion.” We have been given the privilege of guardian-ship over God’s, or, if you prefer, Nature’s beautiful domain. To merit the honor, we must perform commendably.

A scientist by training, the Pope sides with science on the human causes and potentially disastrous results of climate change. But although this one aspect of his encyclical made the biggest splash in the media, the document is a more far-reaching, fundamental challenge to any rationalization that attempts to justify the exploitation of nature and humans. Indeed, the Pope exposes the inescapable link between the degradation of the earth and its people, especially the poor, as we’ll learn next at our ecological house.

© Philip S. Wenz, 2015

[The Earth] now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her.

—Pope Francis

filth,” the lengthy encyclical identifies the causes of the planet’s malaise as the megatrends that drive contem-porary commerce and development: overconsumption and its excessive extraction of resources; and the concentration of wealth in the hands of those who exploit the environ-ment and people while obfuscating the problems they create and inequali-ties between na-tions and peoples.

Thus it calls for a new vision of the

photo by Valerie RobertsonStudents from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC worked with Beyond Ex-treme Energy to create this 55-foot “United States of Fracking” banner, which they brought to the Nation’s Capital to display on the National Mall during Pope Francis’ talk before Congress. They joined thousands of people—repre-sentatives of local to national environmental groups, and citizens of all ages and backgrounds—to hear the address to Congress, which was displayed on large screens on the Mall, to allow thousands to watch it together.The entire banner can be seen on the beyondextremeenergy.org website, and is currently on a 10,000-mile tour of the country.

On September 24, 2015 as part of his first-ever visit to the U.S., Pope Francis visited Washington DC and spoke before a joint Congress, calling on the U.S. to take “courageous actions” to address climate change.

Last year I wrote a series of columns about the possible emergence of a world-wide consensus that humanity’s primary, urgent task is to save the biosphere from destruction by humans.

I proposed that the consensus could emerge if the right conditions were met:


your ecological house™

The Pope’s Encyclical, Part 2: The Poor, the Planet, and the Pope“…a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

—Pope Francis

It was interesting for me to observe myself struggling to write this column, which intends to tie environmentalism to morality.

Sure, it’s wrong to trash the planet and in the process to cause others, including our own heirs, to suffer the consequences of our heedless behavior. But long ago I concluded that moralizing is not persua-sive. Instead of telling my readers that they should change their behavior—reduce excessive consumption, for example—because they owed at least that much to others, I decided to explain the practical effects that degrading our environment could have on them.

For example, I might say “Climate migrants could arrive in your county, straining public services and competing for scarce jobs.” Or, “A megadrought might have you scrambling to feed your family.”

Thinking that playing the morality card might be counterproductive, and frequently questioning my own ethical certainties, I’ve carefully avoided con-fronting my readers (and myself ) with a fundamental question: Am I my brother’s keeper?

However, as the head of the world’s largest unified religious organization, Pope Francis suffers from no such misgiv-ings. Moral leadership is part of his job description.

Taking his mandate seriously and treading the path followed by prophets, philosophers and pontiffs for millennia, Francis has addressed the immorality of allowing a vast gulf to separate the world’s wealthy from its poor; of the exploitation of the have-nots by the haves. But, in tune with our modern condition, and to the delight of most environmentalists, he has taken a new turn on that path by address-ing the links between environmental and human degradation.

In his recently issued “encyclical,” a document of moral instruction for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, the Pope states, “the human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environ-mental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation.”

He goes on to give examples of how people in environmentally degraded areas often must choose between starv-ing and migrating, giving up their way of life in the hope, often illusory, of reach-ing a safe harbor. Additionally, he ties environmental degradation to localized resource wars, especially wars fought over the increasingly scarce supplies of potable water.

Addressing the “ecological debt” owed by the global north to the south—the overuse of resources and overconsump-tion of goods by developed countries—he states that “meeting vital needs” of the largely impoverished south is “inhibited by a system of commercial relationships and ownership which is structurally perverse.” To remedy this iniquity, he states that “The developed countries ought to help pay this debt by significantly limiting their con-sumption of non-renewable energy and by assisting poorer countries to support policies and programmes of sustainable development.”

“…perverse…” “…ought to…” This is the language of morality, of eschewing the wrong path and doing the right thing not only to reap the benefits of enlightened self-interest, but because we owe it to our fellow humans and creatures.

But do we?

What is owed to whom? There are those who make the social Darwinism argument—that only the strong should survive—but somehow societies adhering to that principle quickly come unglued. Because our current global society is quickly coming unglued, perhaps its time to consider the dimensions of the environmental/social crisis from an ethical perspective.

No matter what your religious predi-lections are, you might want to read the Pope’s encyclical (available online) and take him up on his invitation to all citizens of the planet, not just his Catholic flock, to join a conversation about morality in our ecological house.

© Philip S. Wenz, 2015

Philip S. (Skip) Wenz is a freelance writer specializing in ecological design issues. He was a general contractor, residential designer, teacher and writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the early 1990s he founded, and for ten years directed, the Ecological Design Program at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture. He also teaches “Creating Your Ecological House,” at Berkeley’s Building Education Center and wrote the book, Adding to a House (Taunton Press, 1995).

Skip now lives with his wife, Pam, in Corvallis, Oregon. He may be reached by email through his website: www.your-ecological-house.com.

photo by Valerie RobertsonSome of the many signs the enthusiastic crowd carried as they showed support of Pope Francis’ speaking before Congress.

You can find the text of Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on the environment and climate change, at https://laudatosi.com/watch.


Now you can listen to two full hours of Science Friday, every week from 2:00-4:00 pm, on HQR News 91.3 FM

photo by David Erwin

“Painted Bunting”2nd Place – Judge’s Vote

photo by Lynn Alexander

“Pelican”1st Place – SouthportI was boating with friends on the Cape Fear River near Southport and saw this Brown Pelican resting on a pier.Pelicans love to loaf around piers and on top of the pilings, finding them to be a great place to search for a meal. They are one of the few water birds that will pose for a photo!Brown Pelicans are fairly common today—an excellent example of a species’ recovery from pesticide pollution that once placed them at the brink of extinction.

Wild Bird & Garden Nature Photo Contest Results: 2014

We are thrilled to announce the winners of our 5th Annual Nature Photo Contest!

Once again we received so many amazing entries, and we want to thank everyone who entered for sharing their talent with us. It was a challenge for our voters and judges to select these winners from all of the entries!

Get Ready for the next

Great Backyard Bird Count!

February 12-15, 2016Bird watchers of all ages count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are.

gbbc.birdcount.org


photo by Pete Strawbridge

“Soaring Eagle”1st Place – Judge’s Vote

photo by Jim Woodson

“Busy Bluebird”2nd Place – Popular Vote

photo by Maggie O’Connor

“Dancing Bird”1st Place – Popular Vote

photo by John Tollefson

“Raccoon on the Feeder”3rd Place – Judge’s Vote

Wild Bird & Garden Nature Photo Contest Results: 2014


by Royce Grayson Morse

Although Going Green encourages readers to unplug, go outside and experience nature firsthand, there are some fascinating video games available that can entertain while educating us about the environment, perfect for a cold, rainy day. Good games involve a thought-provoking experience geared toward maintaining the balance of nature or mitigating environmental damage; the best of them are engaging to play and easy on the eye as well.

Here are some top picks:

Gameplay: A browser game that involves simple clicking and use of arrow keys.

Recommended ages: 10 and up. There’s a good bit of reading comprehension involved to understand the basic principle of the game, but this could be explained by a parent.

Pros: A nice-looking interface and pleas-ant sound effects. A six-minute timer, and several possible outcomes.

Cons: Requires a Unity browser plugin to run. Somewhat lengthy instructions are presented before the game begins, which will be repeated every time the game is restarted.

Garbage Dreamshttp://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/game.html

Creator: Independent Television Service (ITVS), with funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Concept: Assume the role of the Zaballeen people in Cairo, Egypt, who survive by collecting and recycling garbage. Starting with limited cash resources, the player has eight rounds (equivalent to eight months) to build up the level of recycling as high as possible by making choices about whether to upgrade or expand facilities.

Gameplay: A browser game with straight-forward instructions and a point-and-click interface.

Recommended ages: 12 and up. Although the game isn’t difficult to play, there’s a level of strategy required that younger kids might have trouble with.

Pros: A thought-provoking look at how to make the most out of limited startup funds while maximizing profit and recycling as much as possible.

Cons: A fairly basic-looking interface, and it requires a degree of financial thinking that might not engage everyone.

Collapsushttp://www.collapsus.com/

Creators: VRPO and Submarine Channel, which describes itself as creating “visually-led transmedia projects that explore the possibilities of … new storytelling techniques.”

Concept: This multi-award-winning web game offers an immersive experience that blends a short film, news clips and mini-games. The premise involves the world’s challenges with moving away from fossil fuels to renewable resources, told through the eyes of different characters.

Green Gaming—An overview of a few intriguing environmentally-themed video games

green entertainment

BioHarmOnius

(continued on following page)

BioHarmOniushttp://artworksforchange.org/bioharmonious/webplayer.htmlCreator: artworksforchange.org, an organization dedicated to creating “con-temporary art exhibitions and projects around the work to address critical social and environmental issues.”

Concept: Two interconnected worlds, one natural and one man-made, must share resources to survive. The health of the natural world is being negatively impacted by the man-made world, which is in bad shape. In order to save them both, the player must move resources from one to the other, striking compromises that cre-ate viable environments on both.


green entertainment

Garbage Dreams

Collapsus

Battle for Big Blue

Green Gaming – continued

Gameplay: This is more web-based visual story-telling than straight gameplay, although there are some interactive com-ponents to it. Aside from the mini-games contained within the various panels, one can click on the different elements on each screen, and watch the story unfolding through live-action vignettes, cartoon-like drawings or real-appearing news clips. Blackouts and conspiracies abound.

Recommended ages: 16 and up. The story-telling is compel-ling and visually engaging, but it has fairly realistic film noir quality and a definitely adult vibe.

Pros: A unique, visually-rich, thought-provoking experience.

Cons: Not a traditional game; if that’s what is desired, a different choice might be better. A big monitor makes for a better experience, since the multi-column visual format takes up a lot of horizontal geography.

Battle for Big BlueAvailable in the App Store or on Google Play for mobile devices

Creators: G-Star Raw and celebrity Pharrell Williams, who also created the sounds for the game.

Concept: The game aims to raise awareness about the incred-ible volume of plastic deposited in the ocean, and according to Williams, the app should prevent anyone who plays it from ever dropping another plastic bottle into the sea. (Williams also has a clothing line made from recycled plastic.)

Gameplay: A very simple two-thumb-tapping mobile device game that allows the player to maneuver an octopus left and right in order to collect falling plastic bottles in the various oceans of the world. Play solo, with a friend, or battle Pharrell. While the game is simple, it’s not easy, and it’s the kind of thing that could become somewhat addictive.

Recommended ages: 5 and up. Kids will love it; it’s cute, simple, and engaging.

Pros: Peppy music, adorable sea creatures, clean design, and it’s easy to learn.

Cons: Not a lot to it, and surprisingly difficult for less agile older people.

Collapsus – continued

Discover more on these websites:

http://www.gamesforchange.org/game_categories/environment/

http://ecogamer.org/ (although many of these links no longer work)

http://games.noaa.gov/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_game

Royce Morse is a freelance writer and media director, and an avid gamer. Contact her by email at [email protected], or connect on LinkedIn.


2016 Book TitlesJanuary 12 (2nd Tuesday)

Wanderlust: A History of WalkingRebecca Solnit

February 2The World Without Us

Alan WeismanMarch 1

Life EverlastingBernd Heinrich

April 5Speaking for Nature: The Literary Naturalists, from Transcendentalism to the Birth of the American Environmental Movement

Paul BrooksMay 3

Farmacology: Total Health from the Ground Up

Daphne Miller, M.D.June 7

The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man & the Sea

Callum RobertsonJuly 5

Living DownstreamSandra Steingraber

August 2Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land: Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty

Gary NabhamSeptember 6 (date subject to change)

The End of Plenty: The Race to Feed a Crowded World

Joel K. Bourne, Jr.October 4

Where the Wild Things WereWilliam Stolzenburg

October X (gather to select titles for 2017)November 8 (Second Tuesday)

The Campbell PlanThomas Campbell, M.D.

December 1Meltdown: Terror at the Top of the World

Sabrina Shankman

Call (910)547-4390 for details

The environmental book discussion group met in October to select the titles the group will discuss throughout 2016. See the listing on this page for the titles of books they look for-ward to reading and discuss-ing in the coming year.

The book list is also avail-able on the calendar page of Cape Fear’s Going Green’s website (go to the calendar page of www.goinggreen-publications.com and click on any book club meeting in 2016 for a full list of titles) and it also appears in the “Notes” section of the Going Green Facebook page.

The Environmental Book Club is organized by Cape Fear’s Going Green and hosted by Old Books on Front Street. They typi-cally meet the first Tuesday

green books Cape Fear’s Going Green

Environmental Book Club!Come join us 6–8pm atOld Books on Front Street249 No. Front Street • Wilmington

Environmental Book Club Announces Reading List for 2016

evening of the month inside the bookstore. Social time is at 5:30; discussion begins at 6:00 and runs approximately 90 minutes.

There’s no long-term commitment: you can come when the book being dis-cussed is a title that interests you! “We do hope you’ll read the book before you come, as it enriches the conversa-tion,” says club leader Valerie Robertson. “Our group welcomes new members and one-time visitors.”

Snacks, beer and wine are available for sale inside the bookstore, for you to enjoy during the gathering. Old Books On Front Street offers a discount on new copies of the book club selections. Please call the store for details, or ask at the register. 910-762-6657.

Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll send you updates to let you know when a new issue is published. Let us know by email if you’d also like to be on the email list for Environmental Book Club news! Email [email protected] or sign up directly on our website: GoingGreenPublications.com.

Save Trees.Buy Used Books.

Old Books on Front Street249 No. Front Street, Wilmington, NC

(910) 762-6657Proud sponsor of the Environmental Book Club.


On December 18, 2015 Congress ap-proved an extension of the federal invest-ment tax credit (ITC) for solar through 2022. The ITC will remain at 30% through 2019, will drop to 26% for 2020 and step down to 22% in 2021 and remain at 10% thereafter. This is great news for hom-eowners wanting solar, as the federal 30% Income Tax Credit means that they can reduce their income tax bill by 30% of the net cost of their solar electric system.

As 2015 will forever be marked as one of the most successful years of solar adop-tion in the United States, and particularly in North Carolina, this extension means for the solar industry a long term stability and broadened employment possibilities. “I speak daily with people, neighbors, passing by when we install solar panels. They all want solar. The tax credits make it possible for them. I was thrilled to hear about the Congressional approval on the Tax Credit extension, as I got married this past summer and plan to start my own family. The extension brings stability for my own personal plans,” smiles Kyle Vincek, a lead installer of Wilmington, NC- based

Cape Fear Solar Systems, LLC. Cape Fear Solar currently employs 19 outstanding individuals and plans to add 5-7 more positions in 2016.

Solar is surely becoming a standard feature on homes, and increasingly also on commercial buildings, yet property owners sometimes face obstacles with the required upfront cash. “Many solar compa-nies started to collaborate with financial institutions to offer financing where the solar system owner is cash positive from a day one,” states Linda Hanykova, vice president of operations at Cape Fear Solar Systems. “Our company is leading the way in our region and starting this month, we are offering special solar financing, where homeowners can enjoy the energy bill savings and tax benefits resulting from solar system installation for as low as a $1,000.00 up front investment.”

Cape Fear Solar Systems, LLC was es-tablished in 2007 and to date has designed and installed more than 275 systems in the Greater Wilmington area. “The tax extension brings a bright future for clean, renewable energy,” says Hanykova, “and

Cape Fear Solar Systems can continue the serious work of changing the planet for the better, one roof at a time.”

To learn more about the com-pany and its services, please visit www.CapeFearSolarSystems.com or www.facebook.com/capefearsolarsystems.

renewable energy

Congress Extends Federal Solar Tax Credits Through 2022

Local Chapter of Electric Automobile Association

The Coastal Carolina Chapter of the Electric Automobile Association has been revived, by Wilmington resident Blair Brown. She organized one event for local members this summer, and hopes to hold more such events in the future.

To join the chapter, or to learn more about the group’s activities, visit their FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/groups/WilmingtonChapterEAA/?pnref=lhc.

Fiber art for your wall

910.547.4390www.etsy.com/VLRDesign

Detail, “School of Fish”$5,000

One-of-a-kind fabric art, 3-way collaboration of Ivey Hayes,

Adeline Robertson, & Valerie Robertson.

Hand pieced, hand appliqued, hand quilted. 48" x 60.5"

Cape Fear’s Going Green2016 Print Publication Deadlines

March 10 deadline for Spring 2016 Earth Day issue on Gardening for Pollinators (available Apr 15–Jul 15)

June 10 for Summer 2016 issue on Transportation (available Jul 15–Oct 15)

September 10 for Fall 2016 issue on Birding & Citizen Science (available Oct 15–Jan 15)

October 1 for 2016 Holiday Giving Guide

Call us at (910)547-4390 for ad-vertising rates or contributor guideines. Advertising rates also available on our website: GoingGreenPublications.com/ advertising.html.

Share your green initiative news: send your news items to [email protected].


SUPPLY, N.C., December 16, 2015– Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation (BEMC) recently installed two DC Fast Charger “CarPower” electric vehicle charging stations in their service area. There are fewer than a dozen in North Carolina, and they can charge an electric vehicle in approximately 20 to 30 minutes. This is much faster than the 4 to 6 hours it takes to charge using a standard Level 2 charger, which are commonly found in Wilmington and North Myrtle Beach.

BEMC CarPower’s northern location was recently installed in Brunswick Forest, on property near the development’s entrance and Port City Java. CarPower’s southern location is at Callahan’s of Calabash. These fast charging stations are the result of the collaboration between BEMC, the manufacturer SigNet, and Nissan–North America. Nissan is hoping to expand its charger infrastructure and asked the electric cooperative to place

renewable energy

BEMC Unveils Electric Charging Stations in Brunswick County

them in well- traveled Brunswick County locations.

“We are delighted to be able to of-fer this to our members and the general public, and BEMC is pleased that Nissan chose us to partner in this venture,” said Monte Herring, Manager of Distributive Generation/Renewable Energy at Brunswick Electric. “We’re always working on ways to provide access to the latest in energy trends and technologies. This is really special because DC Fast Chargers are somewhat scarce, and EV drivers love

them because they can fully recharge a vehicle in less time.”

In June, Brunswick Electric hosted a free electric vehicle workshop in associa-tion with Advanced Energy at its head-quarters in Supply. Attendees learned how electric vehicles work and the benefits of having electric vehicles in the community. Since plug-in electric vehicles were intro-duced in 2011, every major auto manufac-turer is now developing or selling a plug-in model. More than 300,000 vehicles have been purchased across the United States.

BEMC is a locally owned and operated not-for-profit corporation. Founded in 1939, today it is the second largest electric cooperative in North Carolina, serving more than 90,000 meter locations in Brunswick, Columbus, and parts of Bladen and Robeson counties. BEMC has a longstanding commit-ment to the communities it serves, providing support for a wide variety of activities that contribute to the quality of life for all citizens.

photo courtesy of BEMC

cape fear’s w w w .go i n g green p co m going...

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