Believe In Love, Sustainable Green Love

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Naima

If you tuned into the greenest Super Bowl of all time this past Sunday, you probably didn’t notice the environmental efforts behind the scenes. The 50th Super Bowl, held at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay area, a sustainable forward city, is the first opening of an NFL stadium to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.
The stadium boasts more than 1,150 solar panels, 85 percent of water usage uses reclaimed water, a 27,000 square foot green roof, and they launched a creative “tailgate kit,” which offers three bags to tailgaters — one for trash, compost and recycling. Overall, 64 percent of consumer waste at Levi’s stadium is recycled. The goal of the stadium is to be a platform for good and encourage the community to increase sustainability efforts. With a worldwide audience on Sunday, it was an opportunity to encourage environmental change around the world — although watching the game from home; the environmental efforts were hardly mentioned.

If you tuned in to the halftime show, the message there was apparent, displayed in color across the stadium crowd at the end of the performance were the words, “Believe in Love.” With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s a good message to carry on. Valentine’s Day is often about the chocolate, candy, greeting cards and a ridiculous amount of material crap that has already been in the stores for months. This Valentine’s Day combine the two Super Bowl messages to give your loved one a gift that celebrates and encourages love while at the same time making a conscious effort to incorporate sustainability.
These are also great ideas for the last minute shoppers out there.

Get a membership to a local museum or cultural interest spot. Dallas Blooms at the Dallas Arboretum is on its way, making it a great time to invest in a membership and get outdoors. Explore the inspiring Jackson Pollock exhibit (ends in March), free to members, at the Dallas Museum of Art. Or purchase a Texas State Parks Pass and gain access to more than 90 state parks ­­— many located in the DFW area.

February is a great time to start planning and prepping your organic garden. Grab some pots and herb seeds as a quick present or go full on with plans to create raised garden beds in your backyard. Gardening supplies can get pricey, so make it a present to save some money!

Give a gift that keeps giving for months. Buy a membership to a community supported agriculture (CSA) system. If you don’t have the motivation, time or energy to plant a backyard garden, join a CSA and get fresh produce from local farmers. Many CSA’s now include fresh vegetables and fruits, grass fed meats, eggs and various products such as homemade candles and beauty supplies. Who wouldn’t love that delivered to their house every two weeks? Check out localharvest.org to find the CSA’s in your area.

If you are still thinking about a traditional present, upgrade your gifts to sustainable products. Organic wine demand has increased in the DFW area, and in turn, organic supplies in supermarkets across the area has increased. Wineries are meeting this demand, as well by taking action to reduce water usage, decrease packaging and utilizing recycled glass, and using renewable energy sources. Many vineyards here in the U.S. are meeting these standards. Look for the organic label, find the most local vineyard and upgrade your wine to environmentally friendly.

Chocolate is another traditional gift of Valentine’s Day. Cocoa is grown in warm lush areas around the world, causing environmental damage to rainforests. Cocoa can be grown with limited impact on the environment but farmer education is needed. To find an environmentally friendly chocolate, look beyond the everyday labels we know — none of these are organic or fair trade certified, which work to improve labor practices in agriculture products around the world. Beyond looking for organic, check your ingredients to make sure your chocolate does not include the grossly environmentally damaging palm oil.

Celebrate the holiday and believe in love, love of all.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly. 

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Public Lands Are Yours To Protect

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Naima

The standoff continues on at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. Even days after the arrest and the death of one, there are a few hanging on occupying the refuge. They are on your land, that’s right, the public’s land. More than 40 percent of land in the western 11 states is public land set aside in refuges, national and state parks, and federal land. Agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are tasked with the convoluted project of managing the land for the general public. The task requires sorting out the needs of cultural land marks, wildlife species, economic interests, public recreation and more.

The Malheur occupation has affected many of these interests on the land. The refuge is a destination for birdwatchers around the world, traveling in to view rare species in the dense Pacific flyway (bird migration route). On site, scientists are not able to conduct research and manage the refuge. As Scientific American and High Country News reported, Linda Beck, a fish biologist at Malheur, has been working on removing exotic carp that have taken over the water systems, displacing native fish. The militia occupation came at a critical time and could lead to the loss of a fishing contract to eradicate the invasive carp.

Public lands are meant for everyone to enjoy, yet the public is often unaware of decisions being made about them. Did you know 258 acres of nearby Lewisville Lake (public land), is being put up for auction to the highest bidder by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for oil and gas leases? The land is being auctioned off to be fracked, right under our nose. It’s fairly standard that government agencies lease out public land ­— most commonly for cattle grazing, but can also be for mining, drilling and logging. Should you have a right to say what is done or not done on public lands?

Which brings me back to the Malheur occupation for a minute. The leader of the militia, Ammon Bundy, has been upset with the federal government for years based on his father grazing specific parts of public land (in Nevada) without a lease. When their lease was not renewed based on new scientific information, the Bundy family refused to stop grazing, claiming their ancestry was on the land long before the government. They had their private property (cattle) on public land illegally.

Grazing (and mining, logging and drilling) on our public lands comes with consequences. Overgrazing destroys native plants, which damages soil and increases erosion. Cattle waste contaminates our water quality. The federal government lease fees are standardized across the nation and cheaper than the private sector. The federal government subsidies on cattle grazing are why a cheeseburger costs less than healthier food, and why our public lands are being overgrazed.

What about Lewisville Lake? There are already areas surrounding the lake leased out to private companies for oil and natural gas extraction. This new acreage of land is part of more than 34,000 acres in Texas being auctioned off in April 2016 by the BLM. Other public lands include Somerville Lake and thousands of acreage in the Davy Crockett National Forest. Many of these areas have major cultural and endangered species concerns.

Rita Bevings, Clean Water Fund’s North Texas outreach coordinator and Dallas Sierra Club member, is worried about the potential environmental risks, such as water quality issues associated with more fracking leases on our public lands. Lake Lewisville is one of the reservoirs used for Dallas’ drinking water. Bevings highlighted the importance of understanding what happens on our public lands, “It sort of surprises people that, though these national forests are under the jurisdiction of the National Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers has some jurisdiction over some of these reservoirs, that the Bureau of Land Management can make decisions about all of the surface and mineral rights.”

What can you do? The protest phase of the BLM oil and gas lease is right now. By February 18th, any person can submit a protest letter by snail mail to Mark VanEvery, Forest Supervisor, National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, 2221 North Raguet Street, Lufkin, Texas 75904. Contact your local officials for even more impact.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly. 

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Water Quality And Plastic Bags Take Center Stage

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Naima

The environmental chatter this week has been shocking. Headlining the news was the water debacle in Flint, Michigan that challenged the public’s perception of tap water, for good reason. The local government in Flint rerouted the town’s water supply to save money, and in turn allowed lead to corrode pipes and pollute the tap water. Things went terribly wrong when people developed rashes, hair loss and other serious reactions to the lead while officials urged the water was safe. It wasn’t safe and it still isn’t.

The Flint water crisis reminds us of this everyday resource we take for granted, water. Of all of the water on this Earth, only one percent is available as fresh water in rivers, lakes, and aquifers for all ecosystem needs including public consumption, agriculture, wildlife and plant life. Over 70 percent of the water used by humans is used for agricultural purposes. And fresh clean water is becoming a scarce commodity, especially here in Texas. We may have water on the ground now, but that won’t always be the case. How quickly we forget when our lake levels were at record lows in 2014.

So is Dallas’ water safe to drink? Dallas’ tap water is derived from multiple above ground sources including the Trinity River and surrounding lakes. Dallas Water Utilities provides a yearly water quality report listing the average amounts of contaminants found in our water supply. Contaminants are always there at some levels, except for lead, there should never be any lead. The most recent report published in 2014, shows, “Dallas water meets or exceeds all State and Federal requirements for water quality, and is safe to drink.” But when’s the last time you tested your own water? Or tested the bottle water you drink?

The other chatter that’s resurfacing in the Dallas area this past week, the plastic bag debate. Let’s recap: January 2015, a five cent bag fee was enacted in Dallas. The minimal fee lasted a few short lived months before being overturned, giving everyone back their free plastic bags in the grocery store. But the story lives on and the punch line is… the plastic bag fight is brewing back.

This past Thursday, in the historic Texas Theatre (one of only 18 bars in the Dallas area that recycles their glass bottles), located in Oak Cliff, four panelists spoke on the Plastic Bag issue and the City of Dallas’ Zero Waste Initiative. Panelists included Corey Troiani, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Murray Myers, City of Dallas Zero Waste Manager, Dwaine Caraway, Former Dallas Councilman and Former Mayor, and Scott Griggs, Dallas City Councilman. Scott Griggs spoke on how the plastic ban evolved and dissolved but ultimately filled the room with a positive tone for the future. Griggs went beyond the plastic bags and envisioned our city as a leader in environmental stewardship by saying, “Let’s pass an outright ban on styrofoam in this city.”

Dwaine Caraway spoke impassioned about how he was the last to jump on the environmental and recycling band wagon but today he understands the importance and is putting forth maximum effort to bring the plastic bag discussion back to the table. Speaking to a small crowd inside the theatre brought together by Earth Day Texas for their EDMo series, it was obvious the crowd already understand the importance of recycling. How do we engage the people, like Caraway once was, that are against recycling? Caraway described what made him finally become empowered to fight for the environment, “When we first started talking about it I was undereducated about it. The more I listened, learned, and experienced, I got excited and was finally convinced that it was time for me as a leader to lead by example.”

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Panel included: Corey Troiani, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Murray Myers, City of Dallas Zero Waste Manager, Dwaine Caraway, Former Dallas Councilman and Former Mayor, and Scott Griggs, Dallas City Councilman

The initial bag fee may not have held on, but it brought the plastic bag issue to the forefront, and set a precedence that Dallas is pushing to be a leader in sustainability. More people were educated about the environmental impacts of plastic bags and many have enacted change even without the ordinance in effect. When the plastic bag debate comes back in full force, hopefully more people will have discovered the importance small decisions like using reusable bags, can have on our city, and our environment.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly front page last week: 

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300 Million Tons of Paper Every Year!

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Naima

In a silent office I tried to bite my tongue when I looked inside the recycling bin next to the printer. I couldn’t hold it in, there was so much paper in there with hardly any typing on it, and all of it was one sided. I started digging paper out of the bin until I had a huge pile of scrap paper at my desk that I could use for a variety of reasons including printing. The office I was in does not buy recycled paper, so I set out to investigate what that paper really entails.

The world uses about 300 million tons of paper each year, with the U.S. accounting for 30 percent. Bulk paper comes in boxes that contain individually wrapped reams and each ream contains about 500 sheets, which uses about 6 percent of one tree to make. One virgin tree makes about 16.5 reams of copy paper or about 8,250+ sheets. That one mature tree in a healthy ecosystem absorbs the same amount of CO2 produced by a car driven 26,000 miles.

When I started to question the people in the office, one of the responses I received was “But the paper companies plant trees?!” Some do. But the importance of a tree goes beyond replanting another in its place. Most trees used for paper products are produced on monoculture farms that rotate about every 20-25 years. Mature forests take hundreds of years to grow into healthy biodiverse ecosystems containing a variety of plant and animal species. Many species are lost when areas are cleaned out to plant tree plantations. Planting one tree to grow for 25 years does not replace a mature forest. In Canada, about 90 percent of trees harvested come from old growth forests.

Paper and the environmentNot all paper is created equal. From receipt paper to cardboard, there are many varieties that stem from our trees. Recyclebank.com is a great site to further investigate where paper comes from, types of paper, deforestation and more. Paper can be recycled about five to seven times, and every process makes the fibers smaller. The best way to conserve trees and paper is to buy 100 percent post consumer recycled paper or alternative fibers (such as hemp), and avoid virgin materials. Learn to look for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label on all paper products. The FSC label “ensures that forests are well managed, habitats are protected and local communities’ rights are respected.”

Next set your computer defaults. Set your computer to print on both sides of the paper, single space, set your margins to one half an inch on all documents and utilize either Times New Roman or Arial fonts that maximize paper space. Save paper and consequentially save money — what will your office do with the extra cash?

Utilize your electronics. Next time you need to print to save a copy, such as a bill receipt, make an electronic version instead. Take a screenshot, save as a PDF and manage your receipts in a virtual folder rather than a paper version. Speaking of electronics, choose an e-reader over a paper book. As Slate Magazine put it, e-readers are the cloth diapers of books. Although an e-reader takes more energy and resources to manufacture, every time you download a book instead of buying a resource-dependent, chemically processed book, you are conserving more paper and water. E-readers should be used often and life span extended, but estimates show the carbon emitted over the life of the device is offset after the first year of use. If you love the feel of the book in your hands, visit one of the 29 locations of our Dallas Public Library system. Or buy your book second hand from a local used book store in our area.

I’m not saying don’t ever use paper, but do be mindful of your paper use. After reading this article in a printed newspaper, make sure you find the recycle bin and check out our online version at KatyTrailWeekly.com! Don’t forget that recycling is an energy-intensive process as well. Limit the paper you do use first, before your last option is to recycle it.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly. 

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It’s High Tea Time for the Environment

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Naima

My doctor convinced me to give up caffeine. I thought I was going to die, but two weeks in, I have rediscovered tea. Not black highly caffeinated tea, but the variety and overwhelming world of tea that resides here in Dallas. I began uncovering the underground tea culture, in our own backyard, while also investigating the environmental impact of high tea time.

Tea bushes have some built in sustainability — only the top 1-2 inches of the plant are picked during harvesting and not ripped out of the ground. Some tea plants can produce high-quality product for more than a century. But the carbon footprint of tea concerns the entire life cycle including how the leaves are grown, processed, shipped, packaged, brewed and discarded. The United Nations Environment Program calculated it takes 8kWh of energy to process one kilogram of finished tea, compared with 6.3kWh for the same amount of steel. Drying the leaves takes electricity or wood to create heat, which reduces moisture in the leaves.

Most tea is grown on agricultural lands in Asia and Africa, land that was once natural habitat. Monocultures such as tea farms reduce biodiversity in our environment. But the biggest factor of tea farms across the world is food miles. By the time you sip the tea out of your cup, it has traveled thousands of miles to get there, taking energy and contributing to carbon dioxide emissions.

So what tea should you drink? Loose leaf is higher quality and has less environmental impact than lower quality bag tea, which many people refer to as “dust tea.” Tea bags require excess packaging, ropes, paper and more. It’s better to buy your tea in bulk and use a tea infuser. Tea infusers can cost less than one dollar, up to fancy travel mug designs. They’re simple to use and the best news is, if the tea is high quality you can reuse the tea more than once! Choose organic blends that do not use pesticides on their crops ensuring a healthier product and environment.

What do you do with your used tea? Several options include compost the tea, let it dry out, use in your cupboard to absorb moisture and in your refrigerators for odor. Try a sprinkle of used dried tea in your kitty litter to reduce the smell.

Did you know so many places in Dallas offer tea time? I was shocked at the underground tea aficionados that must exist in this city. The Adolphus offers an Afternoon Tea ($42 and reservation needed) that features scones, pastries, lunch plates and an assortment of teas crafted for your meal, such as, “Washington State pears blended with Ceylon and China black tea and sweet caramel. The perfect after dinner dessert tea or afternoon treat.” More cost efficient, the French bistro Lavendou offers a French High Tea Time, with what looks like amazing pastries. Need some friends to join you for tea time; there are several groups on Meetup.com, in the DFW area, who meet regularly to enjoy tea. Or maybe ask The Cultured Cup, the worldwide tea experts in North Dallas.

But you don’t have to go high class to enjoy tea. Try the fermented functional drink known for high health benefits, kombucha. Kombucha is produced by fermenting black or green tea using bacteria and yeast. The outcome is a fizzy refreshing drink produced in a variety of flavors. To be honest, I tried kombucha many years ago and hated it. My doctor convinced me to give it another chance and here I am raving about it. It’s all about what  variety and brand you get. Be careful of sugar and caffeine content. My favorite = Synergy Triology.

Kombucha also comes on tap at some select restaurants and tea spots around town. I headed to the local coffee shop, Mudsmith on lower Greenville, to get a pour of the draft cranberry pomegranate kombucha made by Holy Kombucha, based out of Forth Worth. As I sipped my kombucha writing this article, I thought, I may have lost my coffee, but I’ve gained an incredible variety of tea here in Dallas.

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At Mudsmith Coffee Shop sipping the cranberry pomegranate kombucha by Holy Kombucha based out of Fort Worth.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly. 

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The grey areas of hunting, meat, and conservation

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Naima

I was out hiking at one of our favorite spots with my nephews last weekend when we came across a deer stand and multiple piles of corn. At five years old, one of my nephews is super curious about everything, obviously leading to 100 questions regarding the “tree fort.” I didn’t even know hunting was allowed in this public park close to Dallas, so I struggled to answer many of his questions. Turns out, Jan. 3 was the last day for open season (bow only in this area), with an extension for youth until the Jan. 17. I may have been thrown off by a tree stand in the park, but I was reminded of how much has changed in “hunting” and how we often forget the impact the meat on our plate has on the environment.

Can you spot the deer stand?

Can you spot the deer stand?

The Merriam-Webster definition of hunting is “the activity or sport of chasing and killing wild animals.” In the corn piles placed right underneath the tree stand, it just didn’t remind me of what true “hunting” is. But this is how it’s done pretty much everywhere. After eradicating deer predators, killing off mountain lions and wolves, from Texas in the mid 1900s, we are left with an overabundance of deer. The way we manage our deer population now is hunting to keep numbers at a viable level that doesn’t destroy their habitat. It’s an orchestrated management plan, but it works.

Most hunters eat their meat, getting a more natural product than what we buy wrapped in plastic wrap in the grocery stores. Most beef in stores comes from a feed lot where animals are kept in a confined space, causing great environmental impacts. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates a single dairy cow produces 120 pounds of manure per day. When animals are housed in small spaces, this waste, if not properly disposed of or utilized, pollutes our groundwater and can lead to harmful algae blooms in water bodies. Air quality is effected by decomposing animal waste and other pollutants from feed lot farming. If you take into account the entire life cycle process of harvesting the steak on your plate or cheese on your pizza, you also have to consider the habitat destroyed, water and chemicals used to produce the feed grain (mainly corn), and water and energy used to process the finished products. Seventy percent of grains grown in the U.S. are fed to farmed animals.

Hunting deer requires resources as well, yet pales in comparison to feed lot beef. There is however, another option, farmers that are raising beef in organic sustainable conditions. I visited a few grocery stores in the Dallas area to determine the best place to find high quality sustainable beef. My first choice is Whole Foods. There selection of grass fed organic beef and knowledge from the butcher, was the highest out of the four grocery stores I visited. The cost may be higher for higher quality meat, but if you factor in the entire process and environmental impacts, it’s a steal.

There’s also another extension of hunting. The annual Dallas Safari Club Convention happened Jan. 7-10, right here in downtown Dallas. The Club has faced backlash after auctioning off a chance to bring home an endangered species trophy two years ago. This year, the big auction item will be an opportunity to dart a white rhinoceros, and take home a picture, not its head. There will still be several opportunities for hunters to bid on trophy hunts. There is a grey area between hunting for food, sport, trophies and conservation. The management and survival of each species is dependent on a variety of factors from reproduction success, diet availability and most important habitat available. Our world population is on a continual upward trend, leaving less uninterrupted habitat for wildlife. In my eyes, that’s the fight we should be fighting, preserve the habitat there is now, build our urban spaces up not out, and find and protect more land for wildlife.

No matter what your views are on hunting, it’s a complicated space deserving of much thought, research and investigation. I only hope everyone can be as curious and ask as many questions as a five-year-old.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly. 

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Top 5 Environmental Commitments For 2016

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Naima

Here are the top five commitments to make for the environment in 2016. I chose these based on simplicity, easy access to resources (focused on here in Dallas), and each tip can be done by a beginner and extended out for the experts. Collectively, as a world now, we have a goal of reducing our impact on our planet and limiting the CO2 released into the atmosphere and it starts with small change.

5. Recycle. Don’t have a blue bin? Contact the city and get one. Not sure what they take, follow their page on Facebook for info. Live in an apartment? Utilize one of the city drop off locations. Go in on the errand with a few neighbors and increase the recycling done at your apartment — maybe the landlords will catch on. Already recycle? Step up your game and start recycling more products such as Styrofoam, binders, light bulbs, batteries, carpet and more at our local comprehensive recycling center, Recycle Revolution (recyclerevolutiondallas.com) located in the Design District. And to the readers who argue recycling wastes more water rinsing your containers than throwing them away, recycling actually saves water. Harvesting and processing virgin materials uses more water than recycling. Clean off recyclables and use minimal water to rinse, but don’t stop recycling.

4. Consider no meat at least one day per week. I know, the travesty, especially in big beef Texas! But one day is not the end of the world. Sixty three percent of global fish stocks are now considered overfished and many fish farm practices are far from sustainable and environmentally friendly. Agricultural meat (chicken, pork, beef, etc) causes pollution to air and water, requires large amounts of water for processing and is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Total meat consumption is on the rise; cutting out just one day can have a great impact on our environment. To put it in perspective, earthday.org states, “if the entire U.S. did not eat meat or cheese for just one day a week, it would be the equivalent of not driving 91 billion miles — or taking 7.6 million cars off the road.” If you are already practicing one day a week of no meat, try two or more. Choose grass fed organic meats and sustainable seafood (Seafood Watch app).

3. One day a week less driving. Another big Texas auto travesty. But small decisions reap big benefits. Can you get to work by train, or carpool with a coworker, telecommute from home, or ride your bike once a week? If these aren’t options for you, plan your errands ahead to save time, money and fuel. Plan to go to your farthest errand and then work your way back all in the same trip. Shorter trips taken from a cold start use twice as much fuel as the same distance covered when the engine is warm. And remember, idling over 10 seconds is a waste — no need to let your car warm up for over 30 seconds even on the coldest of Dallas days.

2. Smarter grocery decisions. You don’t have to buy every organic product in the store, but choose a few this year and make the commitment. Here’s my top three (within a top five) grocery store decisions to execute in 2016. 3 – Buy free range organic eggs. Eggs are most sustainable bought from a local farmer or at a farmers market, but if you must buy at the store, choose high environmental quality. 2 – All natural no sulfates or palm oil dish detergent and soaps. 1 – Ditch the paper towels and upgrade to 100 percent recycled toilet paper. There’s nothing a paper towel does that an actual reusable towel can’t do.

1. Vote. Without getting uber political in a year that will be a political nightmare, choose candidates that are making an effort to place the environment as a top priority. Yes, the big presidential race is happening this year, but we will also have local decisions to make that will have a big impact on our Dallas community. Take the time to research the candidates and make an informed decision. One vote is your voice.

Add some of these environmental commitments to your New Year resolutions and keep an eye on this blog and the Along the Green Trail column in the Katy Trail Weekly to stay motivated!

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Year end wrap up for the environment and Dallas

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Naima

Fifty weeks. Fifty articles. Roughly 32,000 words right here Along the Green Trail ­— all about the environment with a connection to Dallas. From the outside many don’t see the environmental strides our big Texas city has taken, but in the past year we are moving forward to a more sustainable future around the world and right here.

This year started out with a questioning of the construction zone trash dump as the Horseshoe project really got under way. The immense rain came in the spring and floods forced construction to a halt as water washed away sediment and trash downstream. Months later we discovered just where this trash ends up — at a newly opened park in South Dallas, Goat Island Preserve. The uncovering of thousands of tires in this park along the Trinity River was a story told first in this column in the Katy Trail Weekly, which ended up on the local NBC news.

We highlighted the work of the Texas Trees Foundation, who assessed the Dallas urban forest and estimated our city has 14.7 million trees within the city limits valued at $9 billion. Our trees increase property values, clean the air, capture runoff, provide us with health benefits and are a fantastic daily reminder of the importance of our environment. The beauty of the trees encourage us to get outside and hopefully some of you stepped out to #FindYourPark and join the National Park Services initiative to get people outside during their centennial year celebration. If I had to choose one for the year in the Dallas area, I’m choosing Harry Moss Park — a forested gem close to the city.

Speaking of parks, the Trinity River green space was a robust conversation this year. The community argued about a toll road and the Trinity Trust Foundation forged forward highlighting an imaginative design that explores every outdoor idea from disc golf to pop up plazas just steps from downtown. The future for this area looks promising.

Our city hosted big international conferences this year that had the environment on the agenda. Back in early 2015, the Plastics Recycling Conference was held downtown just as our citywide plastic bag fee got squashed. We took steps forward with a fee, but consumers could not make the change, literally. Five cents was too much to bare. But, we don’t need a plastic bag ban or fee to bring your own bags to the stores, and every day I see more people bringing their cute reusable bags.

A conference affiliated with the COP21 was held here in Dallas on the SMU campus a few months ago. Sitting in a large room I’ll never forget the words our very own Mayor said, “I think a lot of people across this country and across the world would probably be shocked if they heard that the Mayor of Dallas, was hosting a conference, in Dallas, focused on climate change, but I think it’s important because it’s real, and we gotta deal with it.” At this conference Mayor Rawlings announced the city’s zero emissions initiative joining the coalition of Mayors from around the world that are creating ambitious goals to combat climate change. We haven’t heard much about Dallas’ plan and action yet, something we need to push for in 2016.

The COP21 in Paris wrapped up with an agreement by 195 nations to cut “global greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and aggregate emission pathways consistent with holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.” It’s up to local cities, businesses, and communities to lead the effort and commit to achieving this goal.

An international goal we all personally can work on. From this past year’s articles including the environmental sides of candles, toilet paper, palm oil, tiny houses, nail polish, light pollution, vehicle idling, water bottles and highlighting local environmental businesses — there must be at least one thing you can choose to do better with. The environment connects to everything we do and use, make a few decisions to reduce your impact on our world and it adds up.

The ending of 2015 is promising even though data suggests this will go down as our hottest year on record. I’m ready to tackle the New Year with enthusiasm to create a sustainable future right here in Dallas. And if you have an environmental story you want me to look into in 2016 or even just a comment, send me an email to me at njmontacer@gmail.com or tweet me at @naimajeannette!

As the sun sets on 2015, I’m eager and excited for a fantastic future forward sustainable 2016!

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As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly.

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Virus season – know your viral nightmares

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Naima

I’ve been sick for more than a week. I blame my students for passing on the nasty virus, but in reality, I could have picked up the virus anywhere.

Viruses, such as an influenza (flu), common cold and more, use our bodies as hosts to replicate more of themselves until our immune systems can find them, mark them and destroy them. This process can be quick or in my most recent case, take too long. And being sick is bad for the environment — literally, the tissues I’ve used in the past few days could fill up a dumpster.

There are thousands of different types of viruses all made up of an outer membrane (capsid) and inner genetic material. You feel sick based on what type of cell the specific virus is attacking. Most cold viruses attack the nose and throat, while human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks your white blood cells which are responsible for your immunity. Viruses, just like bacteria, are always changing. Mutations in a viruses’ genetic material can alter the viruses’ ability to infect its host. A mutation may help the virus survive or may hurt it. Viruses, unlike bacteria, cannot be treated with antibiotics. You’re left to let the virus run its course and hope your immune system kicks in quick. It’s best to limit the environmental factors that can reduce your immunity such as stress, malnutrition and dehydration.

How do viruses persist in the environment? It depends on the virus. In the case of West Nile Virus, the virus lives mostly in birds as a reservoir host and is transmitted to humans and other species by mosquitoes, the vector. In Texas, it’s important to eliminate the pools of water available for mosquitoes to breed even in the winter time. Our weather has variable warm days allowing mosquitos to emerge in winter months. Even watering your lawn can create enough moisture for mosquitoes to breed. I’d rather have less West Nile Virus, than green grass.

“Influenza A and B viruses can persist on both nonporous and porous environmental surfaces for hours to days depending on a variety of human and environmental factors (humidity, temperature, etc.)” from flu.gov. The transmission happens when you touch the surface with your hand and then touch your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Cleaning surfaces can reduce the prevalence of viruses, yet, the strong cleaners we thought we once needed for everything, may not be needed for everyday use. Flu.gov recommends cleaning areas with soap and water first to remove dirt and debris to increase the effectiveness of disinfection. For disinfection, the “influenza viruses can be inactivated by many low- or intermediate-level disinfectants” containing one of the 12 recommended ingredients such as alcohol.

The best way to avoid getting the flu this season, get a flu vaccine. The vaccine is a way to build your body’s antibodies to the virus so when you do come into contact with the flu, your immune system can jump into action right away, sometimes without you even noticing symptoms. But remember, viruses are constantly changing, and there are thousands of different kinds of viruses. Scientists use data to estimate which strand of the flu will be most prevalent in the upcoming season and prep vaccines accordingly. Unfortunately, sometimes a different strand spreads quickly. Either way, less people getting sick means less people spreading the virus.

Although my recent viral infection has given me a bad attitude towards viruses, they aren’t all bad. Viruses do have a positive importance in our world; such as new studies are being done incorporating viruses into medicine and viruses being used as pest control.

If you’re like me and suffered the wrath of a tiny microscopic virus this flu season, take heed knowing it will pass. Take the opportunity to try some sustainable soups like squash, and of course, the standby chicken soup, just up your ingredients to free range organic to make them better for our environment. And soon, you’ll join me back in our everyday lives, hoping to not encounter another viral nightmare.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly. 

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A confession and an early December article

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Naima

Do you want the good news or bad news first?
Good news: I just submitted grades for the Fall 2015 semester!
Bad news: The last few weeks were really busy and I have two blogs to post. Ok, that’s not really bad news, that’s Great News! The bad news is, the articles ran in the paper a few weeks ago so there are a few references that are time sensitive, but still some great tips in there. Ok so this one is up first and I’ll post the second one later this week.

And now – “winter break” time for me. Which means tackling a long list of work projects including writing one magazine article, researching and interviewing for two others, preparing my environmental biology online class for next semester, doing a 10 week online training (in hopefully way less time), prepping for next semester in person classes… oh and making my own wedding dress and creating our wedding video invitation. Piece of cake! Let’s start checking things off. 🙂

Building up for an environmental December!
First up, the Conference of Parties (COP21) has started in Paris, and world leaders have made opening remarks. President Obama opened with, ”I came here personally to say the United States not only recognizes the problem but is committed to do something about it.” British Prime Minister David Cameron focused his talk on making sure the agreement is made for the future. “Instead of making excuses to our children and grandchildren, we should be taking action,” Cameron said.

Nearly 150 world leaders will be in Paris through Dec. 11 working on a legally binding and universal agreement on climate with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. Not an easy task, especially taking into account differing opinions, culture, economics, population numbers and more. Track and support the climate negotiations at cop21paris.org.

In a recent report released by Climate Central, Dallas was given a grade of F in regards to the state’s current level of preparedness for extreme weather events including extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland and coastal flooding. The Climate Central group made up of climate scientists, journalists and a consulting firm (ICF International), assessed preparations made in transportation, energy, health, water and communities. The report sharply states, “The Lone Star State faces the highest overall threat levels from extreme heat, drought, and wildfires among the lower 48 states and has not undertaken a level of preparedness commensurate with this level of threat.”

We in Dallas and the rest of Texas have our work cut out for us, but the passion is here. Even in the cold and rain this past Sunday, many people joined in on a global climate march at the Continental Avenue Bridge in honor of COP21. They joined more than 600,000 people in 175 countries around the world to encourage world leaders to come to an agreement on combating climate change at COP21. The Paris climate march was cancelled due to security concerns, but marchers sent their shoes instead. Thousands of shoes with handwritten climate messages were set out across Paris, making for a silent inspiring movement. Either way, with an agreement or not, it’s up to us in the community, business leaders, residents, city representatives and everyone in between to lead the way to a sustainable future.

Let’s keep all of this in mind as we enter into the holiday season. We started the buying season with companies like R.E.I. promoting another option for Black Friday, closing their doors for the day encouraging everyone to #OptOutside. It was great to watch the #OptOutside Twitter feed of families opting to spend the day outside no matter the weather, yet thousands still ran to the stores for a materialistic deal.

This holiday season, rethink your gifts. The average American will spend about $700 on holiday gifts this year, rethink where you spend that money; shop small and support local U.S. businesses. How can you give a gift of a meaningful activity? How can you carve out some time to create heartfelt gifts loved ones will cherish? Your gifts, your cards, your tree, your decorations: choose a few ways to lessen your impact on the environment. Vanderbilt University states, “If every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.” We as Americans throw out 25 percent more trash during the holiday season than the entire rest of the year. Decorate some brown paper bags for wrapping paper, and recycle the paper after unwrapping.

Let the COP21 talks in Paris drive your decisions this holiday season. Hopefully our international leaders will come up with a solid plan for our world to combat climate change, which threatens the way we live every day. Small changes now can make a big difference in our future. And one last stat to think about: 35 percent of Americans have an unused Christmas present hidden in their closet — me included. To whoever gets the closet perfume from me this year, I adore you, I just hate perfume.

As seen in the Katy Trail Weekly.

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