Off to a good start
Thank you to all of the locations who included Earth Share of North Carolina (ESNC) in their 2006 workplace giving campaigns. Most campaigns wrapped up by the end of December, and we are starting to receive results. The Guilford College and REI campaigns got us off to a good start again this year with employees increasing their support for the environment by 24% and 55% respectively when compared to 2005! ESNC member organizations also increased their support by 11% this year.

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ESNC - In a grocery store near you...
We are excited to announce that we are Earth Fare–Chapel Hill’s Friend of the Month for January. This means that we will promote ESNC and the work of our Participating Organizations and benefit from fundraising efforts throughout the month. Bring your own bags when you shop at the Chapel Hill location of Earth Fare, and ESNC will receive $.10 for every bag re-used to bundle your purchase throughout January. This can add up fast, so pack your bags, tell your friends, and take part in this easy way to reduce waste as well as raise funds for ESNC. For more information on the store location, please visit www.earthfare.com.

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Making it easier to keep your New Year's Resolutions
Did your New Year’s Resolutions include volunteering, becoming more engaged in your community, or maybe finding ways to align your daily life and activities with your desire to support a healthy and thriving environment? By receiving NC E-News, you are already on your way. In 2007, we look forward to continuing to bring you the latest information on accomplishments, activities, and volunteer opportunities with ESNC organizations, along with the news and tips in the Sustainability Corner section of each issue.

Most issues also feature one of the many ESNC Brown Bag Lunch Programs available to workplaces. Presentations range in topic and format and provide employees with valuable information about their local environment and how they can get involved. Visit www.earthsharenc.org for the current menu of offerings, or contact Heather Beard at (919) 687-4840 or (800) 200-6311 to schedule a presentation.

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News from National
National Group Educates the Public on PVC
The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ), a national organization included in ESNC campaigns, has created a powerful education tool on the dangers of PVC through an animated spoof video: Sam Suds and the Case of PVC, the Poison Plastic?

Sam Suds, PI (Poisons Investigator) is no ordinary detective —his job is to protect the Johnson household from dangerous toxins. He'd been a hero in the past, locking away household villains like lead and DDT. Now, he faces one of the most toxic offenders yet: PVC, the poison plastic. But the trail had gone cold. Word around the bathroom was he was washed up. Until she floated in . . .

Watch the three-minute video, help Sam Suds crack the case, and have a laugh at www.pvcfree.org, brought to you by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.

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Sustainability Corner
New Year's Resolutions
We are traditionally bombarded with messages of losing weight and exercising more at this time of year as we consider our annual New Year's Resolutions. This year, we invite you to also think of the Earth and North Carolina as you make those goals. When we make a sustainable choice for the environment, we are choosing another way to make our own health a priority (and everyone else’s). Below are five suggestions of easy things you can do to make a positive impact on the environment and the health of plants, animals and human beings.

1. Eat local
   Make it a priority to shop at your local farmer’s market or health food store where produce and foods are supplied by local producers. You can also join a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program where you purchase a share of the farm’s crops at the beginning of the season, and receive a box of vegetables every week. Visit www.localharvest.org/csa for more information on CSA programs in your area. When you buy local foods, your food has not endured a long and gas-guzzling trip to reach your plate.
2. Drink filtered tap water instead of bottled water
   According to the Container Recycling Institute, more than 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away each day in the United States. While one in six bottles is recycled, those that are thrown away end up in landfills or incinerators. The Earth Policy Institute estimates that making bottles to meet the US demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year. When you make the investment of a good water filter for your home or office, you also make an investment in the planet by reducing the demand for disposable plastic containers.
3. Use energy efficient light bulbs
   An energy efficient bulb uses 18 watts to give the same illumination as a 75-watt bulb and lasts 10 times longer. Over its lifetime, one bulb (costing $15-18) will save one ton of carbon dioxide emissions, 20 pounds of sulfur dioxide emissions, $20 worth of bulb replacements, $20 of electrical generation costs, and $200-300 worth of new electrical generating capacity. The Energy Star website has great information on these important light bulbs. Visit them for more information at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls.
4. Compost
   Make a compost pile in your back yard to reduce the amount of waste you send to the landfill. Why send your table scraps to the land fill when they could nourish your own back yard? When you create a compost pile, your food waste decomposes, leaving behind nutrient rich soil as an added bonus for those of us with a green thumb. For more information on how to compost, please visit www.howtocompost.org.
5. Reduce water consumption
   Install low-flow shower heads to cut your water usage by approximately 20,000 gallons per year. At the same time, you can save 10 to 16 percent of your water heating costs.

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Lying at the confluence of the East and West Forks of the Eno River is a beautiful and unique piece of property that the Eno River Association (ERA) is working to purchase and open to the public so that more people can enjoy this peaceful stretch of river. Bounded by the forks of the river on three sides, this 100-acre farm has more than two miles of river frontage. The property has been in the Albright family for four generations. When it came time to sell her family’s property, Joanne Stollings hoped there was a way to keep it in the undeveloped condition in which she loved it, and so she contacted ERA. The property is a mixture of woodland and field, with hardwood forests coming down to the banks of the Eno. For more information on this purchase, please call Kathy Lee at (919) 620-9099.

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The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) scored a precedent-setting victory for water quality in rapidly growing areas of North Carolina. In a case involving Goose Creek, a tributary of the Rocky River that flows near Charlotte, a judge’s decision takes state regulators to task for not providing adequate protection from polluted runoff, the leading source of water contamination in North Carolina and across the South. The judge’s ruling means that state regulators must go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to controlling polluted runoff. From now on, storm-water permits must safeguard the most sensitive species in each river and stream. For more information on this issue, please call (919) 967-1450.

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The Piedmont Land Conservancy (PLC) is pleased to announce that they closed on a donated easement on a 211-acre farm in Randolph County on December 20, 2006. Located near the N.C. Zoo, the property is owned by George and Chris Bain, and approximately 204 acres are covered by the easement. This is the first easement held by PLC in which the landowner covered all transactional costs (biological inventory, environmental assessment, survey of easement area, and recording fees) and paid the full endowment amount at closing, without any outside funding. For more information on this easement, please contact PLC at (336) 691-0088 or visit them at www.piedmontland.org.

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The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is pleased to announce the permanent protection of Southern Appalachian Bog in Avery County. TPL conveyed the 95-acre bog to the State of North Carolina’s Division of Parks and Recreation for the creation of the Sugar Mountain Natural Heritage Area. At lease six rare plants associated with the bog or surrounding seeps have been documented on the site, as well as one rare butterfly. It is also an excellent habitat for the federally threatened bog turtle found in this site. For more information, please visit TPL’s website at www.tpl.org/northcarolina.

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