Set the table: It’s easy to default to paper plates since you’re eating outside, but instead try reusable dishware. This time of year, you can find outdoor-ready dishes and utensils in bright colors perfect for entertaining.

Fuel choice: Studies show that gas grills emit less carbon dioxide than charcoal grills. They cook more efficiently, saving you time and reducing your carbon footprint.

Think local: For your cookout shopping, hit up your local farmers market to buy everything from meats to vegetables. Supporting farmers markets is better for the local economy and the environment.

Toasting time: In Wisconsin, it’s easy to find a local microbrewery with great tasting beer close to home. Not only is it a short drive to buy it, but you are also supporting your local economy. Cheers to a win-win.

Easy cleaning: While the grill is warm, clean it with baking soda, water and a wire brush. This will prevent your grill from smoking and your food will taste better.

With these tips, the whole neighborhood will want to be at your next cook-out. Happy grilling!

1. Route planning: Check for bike paths and residential streets that have less traffic. In larger cities, combining a bike ride and a public transit commute is also effective.
2. Morning preparation: Biking to work is exercise. Make sure to eat a good breakfast and drink plenty of water before starting to bike. The Wisconsin morning sun can be hot, bring an extra shirt so you can confidently tackle your day when you get to work.
   

   This could be you on your way to work this week!

3. Extra storage: Planning on doing errands before or after work? Attach a rack to the back of your bike or a basket to the front. You can carry anything you need to pick up or drop off right there on your bike.
4. Maintenance: The miles will start to add up quickly, so check your tires and brakes often. Keeping your bike in top shape will keep you in better shape and keep you safe.
5. Dress Up: Wearing a helmet can protect you from anything you hit while biking. Wearing reflective bands and attaching a blinking light to your bike will prevent anything from hitting you. While on your mission to saving the environment, remember safety.

Want some extra riding time? Join us every Thursday starting May 16 for the Clean Wisconsin & Friends Bike Club. We leave at 5:30 from the Clean Wisconsin office. Each week we’ll offer two different routes, and everyone is invited to join us afterward at our neighborhood bar, Echo Tap, for Happy Hour pricing (bring your own wallet)!

Now that spring is here, it’s time to head outdoors. Unfortunately for some, it might get a little harder to breathe.  This Air Quality Awareness Week, here are five easy ways to improve your air quality.

1. Huge turn off: It seems simple, but remember to turn off lights when leaving the room and power down unneeded appliances and electronics. Using less energy means power plants create less particle pollution, while reducing your electric bill.
   

   This week we can all work together to help each other breathe a little easier.

2. Firewood etiquette: Last winter was harsh, but now is the time to start preparing for next winter. By chopping wood in the spring, it will be dried out by the winter, reducing the amount of smoke and particles created when burned.
3. Ride with company: Catch a ride to work with coworkers. Carpooling reduces pollution from traffic and you’ll save gas money by rotating who drives each morning.
4. Freshen up: During spring cleaning and touch-up, opt for the environmentally friendly cleaners and paints to keep from breathing in chemicals.
5. Collect, combine, compost: Instead of burning yard wastes, which is banned in some cities and causes high particle pollution, start your own compost or contribute to your city’s composting site.

Enjoy this great spring weather we are finally having, but remember to check for air quality alerts to keep you and your family safe. 

The report, Turning Up the Heat II, found that states that provide a nominal financial incentive for recycling mercury thermostat collection are highly effective. For instance, in Texas the voluntary industry-run collection program collected less than 5,000 thermostats in 2011. By contrast, Maine, which offers a $5 incentive for each mercury thermostat recycled, collected 6,600 with a population 20 times smaller.

“In the last decade, the voluntary industry-led program to collect mercury thermostats recycled less than one in ten, resulting in 50 tons of mercury being improperly discarded,” said Tyson Cook, staff scientist at Clean Wisconsin. “And with Wisconsin’s poor collection rates falling even further, there is vast room for improvement.”

While a state law passed in October 2009 bans the sale of non-essential products containing mercury, including thermostats, no Wisconsin law addresses the disposal of existing thermostats.

Mercury can cause harmful problems to both people and the environment.

A neurotoxin, chronic exposure to mercury potentially results in memory loss, speech difficulties, troubles with vision, and cardiovascular problems in adults. It can also critically affect development, and an estimated 5,000 to 9,000 children born in Wisconsin every year are at risk of developmental and cognitive issues as a result of mercury consumption. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Department of Health currently list every inland body of water in the state under a fish consumption advisory because of mercury pollution.

“It only takes one gram of mercury a year, less than the amount in a single thermostat, to contaminate a 20-acre lake over time,” said Cook. “When a voluntary program fails to work, as this one has, we have to engage the industry in more aggressive measures to make manufacturers responsible for these products at the end of their life.”

Wisconsin has such a model in its successful Electronic Waste recycling (E-Cycle) program, which now has more than 400 collection sites in 69 of the state’s 72 counties, with about 100 million pounds of electronics collected in the first three years.

“Wisconsin’s e-waste law provides a great model for keeping toxic mercury from thermostats out of Wisconsin’s environment,” said Cook. “The report released today highlights a big problem with an easy fix. It’s time to make industry responsible for their products at the end of their life and engage them in more aggressive measures like financial incentives for mercury thermostat recycling.”

March 22 is World Water Day, a day dedicated to sustainably managing the world’s drinking water. A vital natural resource, it’s critically important that even in a water-rich state like Wisconsin, residents do all they can to protect their waterways and drinking water.

“While our families have clean drinking water, it’s not something we should take for granted,” said Ezra Meyer, water resources specialist at Clean Wisconsin. “World Water Day is a great time to take a few easy actions that help ensure our water remains clean and healthy for generations to come.”

Rain barrels are an easy way to collect rain water for later use.

Here are 5 tips to make that happen:

1. Pet Patrol: Cleaning up after your pet won’t just keep the bottoms of your shoes clean, it helps keep our waterways clean too. Pet waste contains phosphorus and when excess phosphorus gets into our lakes, rivers, and streams it can cause stinky, dangerous algae blooms.

2. Green Rule of Thumb: Don’t run off to the garden store just yet. Lawn and garden fertilizers can be harmful to our waters, so be sure your garden needs it before applying fertilizer this spring. If your lawn or garden does need a pick-me-up, use fertilizer sparingly and as recommended.

3. Free Water: April showers bring May flowers, but that rain water can work overtime so you don’t have to. Direct your downspout toward your garden for effortless watering or collect rainwater in a rain barrel for later use.

4. Four-Wheel Inspection: Most vehicles can’t tell you when they have sprung a leak, so do a spring car check-up and look for leaking fluids, such as oil and antifreeze. These fluids get washed off of driveways, streets, and parking lots and straight into our rivers and lakes.

5. Less is More: Every drop of water we don’t waste is one we’ll have on hand to meet our needs in the future. Install water-saving appliances such as toilets, dishwasher, washing machine, shower heads, and faucets in your home.

When we all do our part, our rivers, lakes, and drinking water can stay clean and healthy for everyone to enjoy!

“The PSC’s decision today demonstrates an abundance of caution that delays the application process, but does not kill this project,” said Katie Nekola, attorney for Clean Wisconsin. “Clean Wisconsin continues to support this project that promises to bring clean, renewable energy and jobs to Northwest Wisconsin.”

The PSC is requiring the applicant to provide additional evidence that the wind project will not exceed sound standards set by state law, according to a PSC press release issued today. Despite opponents’ claims that low frequency sound from wind turbines causes adverse impacts, all three commissioners agreed there was no proof linking the two.

“Study after study has proven that wind farms are a clean, safe and economic way to produce energy,” said Nekola.

The project would bring an estimated 100 jobs to St. Croix County and enough clean energy to power 29,000 homes. A bipartisan poll conducted in January 2012 found that 85 percent of Wisconsin voters would like to increase the use of wind energy to meet Wisconsin’s energy needs.

“Clean, renewable wind energy enjoys strong support from residents across the state and can help create thousands of jobs,” said Nekola. “Today’s decision is an unfortunate delay, but we look forward to working with Highland Wind to make this project a reality.”

The Penokee Hills, Image: Mario Quintana

On Wednesday, the Assembly Mining Committee is meeting to discuss the mining bill. While they say they’ll consider changes to the environmentally devastating mining bill, we know that the only way to “fix” this mining bill is to start from scratch.

As written, AB 1/SB 1 (the mining bill) cuts the public out of the process and ties the hands of the DNR in protecting our air and water. It grossly rolls back current protections for wetlands, groundwater and lakes, rivers and streams. In short, it swings the door wide open for environmentally destructive mining in our Northwoods and beyond.

Tell your legislator today: Don’t roll back environmental protections for mining.

We know that just one legislator’s vote can make the difference on this devastating legislation and over the next month or so, we need you to continually remind your legislators of what’s at stake to make the difference on this issue. They need to hear from people like me and you, people who don’t want our Northwoods sold to the highest bidder or our pristine waters turned to a toxic stew. From here on out, every voice, every contact matters.

Tell your legislators we don’t want to sacrifice our health, air, water and special places for mining companies – keep mining legislation strong and protective!

Post contributed by Sam Weis, communications director.

Today, state legislators are holding the one and only public hearing on the iron mining bill.

We understand how difficult it is to take time off to attend a hearing in Madison, but we need as many people as possible to register their opposition to this disastrous bill. Luckily, you can do it from home.

In addition to contacting your state legislators directly (find yours here), you can email the Committee Chairs your personal testimony. To be entered into the official record, submit testimony via email prior to the end of today’s public hearing (9 p.m.) Your submittal should include a request that the testimony be considered part of the record. You are encouraged to request a confirmation.

In writing your testimony, speak about why this issue is important to you. Stories from people like you are far more important than spending all your time on talking points. However, if you do need supporting facts on the more egregious parts of this bill, please see our fact sheet.

Emails for the Committee Chairs are:
Representative Mary Williams: Rep.WilliamsM@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senator Tom Tiffany at Sen.Tiffany@legis.wi.gov

(Yes, one is “wi” and one is “wisconsin.”)

By submitting testimony, you are helping to demonstrate what we already know: The majority of Wisconsinites support environmental protections over lax mining laws!

The Penokee Hills, Image: Mario Quintana

We’ve just learned that legislators will hold a hearing on the Open Pit
Mining Bill at the State Capitol on Wednesday, January 23, from 9am to 9pm.

If passed, the Open Pit Mining Bill would let mining companies fill our lake beds, contaminate our drinking water, and dump toxic mine waste in wetlands
and flood plains. Filling hearing rooms with people like you helped defeat
the mining bill last session, and it can happen again.

Please help protect Wisconsin’s waters and the health of our families by attending
the hearing on Wednesday, January 23, and telling legislators NO to the Open
Pit Mining Bill.

Coming to a hearing on a controversial issue like this is not easy and is
time consuming. However, it is the best hope we have of turning legislators
against this bill.

This could be your only chance to have your voice heard on the record in the
fight against the Open-Pit Mining Bill! Join us in room 411 S. at the State
Capitol this Wednesday!

For more information about the hearing, click here.

Planning on attending? Email jlynes@cleanwisconsin.org, so we can keep track of who will be there!

Post contributed by Sam Weis, Communications Director.