Go Green!

This All Hallow’s Eve, a community initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays finds itself more than 2,800 miles from where it started.

A public workshop on air emissions permitting for business, on Oct. 8 at Dover Downs, has raised the ire of environmentalists. Activists from Green Delaware this week urged the public to call on the state to cancel the $50 workshop and reconsider a new program the group says will aid polluters.

After a career in business, managing marinas along the Chesapeake, 15 years ago Joan Deaver made the move many people do and retired to Sussex County. It was an area her parents had enjoyed vacationing in since the 1960s.

The USDA “Building Sustainable Rural Communities Through Green Business Project” is offering Going Green Business Training and Workshops delivered by EcoVentures International (EVI) and Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore (WEB), to be held on Oct. 10 and 11 at Wor-Wic Community College and on Oct. 13 and 14 at the Delaware Tech’s Terry Campus Conference Facility.

For Michele Thornett of Michele’s Granola, her interest in having her own business came from something simple: her love of baking from scratch.

Gardeners by the Sea will be hosting WHYY’s Mike McGrath, radio personality and former editor of Organic Gardening, on Friday, Sept. 12.

So asks the Summer 2008 issue of “Soap Dish,” published by The Soap Fairy owner Scott Blackson. The Soap Fairy has been unconsciously green since its humble beginnings in 1997, when Blackson would drop off soap he had made to friends and family or leave it as a tip in a restaurant — hence the name, The Soap Fairy.

The Fenwick Island Environmental Committee recently met to discuss some of their ongoing environmental interests, one being their official position on the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC’s) proposed Pollution Control Strategy.

DNREC’s Environmental Crimes Unit recently released statistics on its investigations into violations of Delaware’s air, waste and water pollution laws for the first six months of 2008. Enforcement officers handled a total of 1,958 complaints statewide, with illegal dumping complaints up 11 percent over the same period last year.

There is something fishy happening in the Bethany Beach Loop Canal — or rather something fish-less.

For about six weeks, the manmade canal has had significantly low dissolved oxygen levels. That means that, for fish and other aquatic life in the water, it is getting harder and harder to get the oxygen they need to survive. So, it seems many have simply left.

Young people making a difference by caring for our natural world were in the spotlight on Thursday, July 24, at the Delaware State Fair, as Governor Ruth Ann Minner presented the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Young Environmentalist of the Year Awards.

The lines between properties and what features can separate them are far less blurry than before, thanks to Sussex County Council’s adoption of a new buffer ordinance amendment.

UEK Delaware, L.P. a Frankford based tidal energy company, recently received notice of a grant approval from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources (DNREC) Green Energy Office.

Gas prices hover around $4 a gallon. They don’t seem to be going down anytime soon. No news there.

Since 1995, Green Delaware has acted as a grassroots organization concerned with environmental and public health issues in Delaware and surrounding areas.

After having solar panels installed at their house, Gary and Ava Cannon, owners of Gary’s Dewey Beach Grill, decided to install them at the restaurant as well.

Ever since the Russell W. Peterson research vessel was grounded on Bethany Beach in May, members of the Bluewater Wind research team have been seeking alternate options to conduct required bird studies in the Atlantic Ocean.

Delaware Electric Cooperative asked all Delaware Electric Co-op members to voluntarily conserve or limit energy usage between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, July 21 and 22, when its membership was expected be using the greatest amount of electricity and, as a result, when the cooperative would be purchasing power from the market at extremely high prices.

U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) had harsh words Monday about President George W. Bush’s announcement that morning that he had lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling and encouraging Congress to do likewise. Biden, in the backdrop of Cape Henlopen State Park, said lifting the ban would make no difference in gas prices and is a step in the wrong direction as a nation.

Standing in the kitchen of Ted Wycall’s home — which happens to be upstairs from his “central command center” at Greenbranch Organic Farm, just outside Salisbury — it’s hard not to envy the view.

During the last week or so, I’ve begun to notice that I am suffering from a curious phenomenon: Green guilt.

It’s good to be first. In a real estate market that is struggling to get back on its feet, it’s easy to focus on the struggles and hefty competition and much harder to get recognized for doing something positive and out of the ordinary. But that is just what Bob Thornton of SilverWoods has managed to do.

Nothing quite says summer like a Fourth of July barbecue. The word alone can drum up nostalgic smells of summer — charcoal smoke wafting through the air, grilled hot dogs and burgers with perfect seared lines. According to the Sierra Club, 60 million people will be barbecuing on the Fourth, consuming enough energy to power 20,000 homes for a whole year.

Perhaps the greatest measure of the appeal and impact of the “green” movement in today’s society is that there is now an entire television network devoted to green living.

Citizens attended a public hearing last week on an application by NRG Indian River Operations Inc. (NRG) for a permit to construct and operate a new phase of the industrial landfill located at 29416 Power Plant Road, in Millsboro. The hearing was held June 26 by DNREC’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Branch.

It had become somewhat doubtful over the past year that Delaware would ever have an offshore wind farm. But, in a compromise reached this week, it appears the wind park could be built about 12 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach by 2012.

The winds of change may soon be sweeping through Delaware with renewed force.

On Monday, June 23, the powers behind the offshore wind farm - Delmarva Power and Babcock & Brown - announced they had reached an agreement.

At a May 29 hearing, the public had a chance to hear about the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC’s) proposed plan for remedial action for the Burton’s Island Ash Landfill in Millsboro, where ash from the Indian River Power Plant was disposed for many years.

The Bay Colony Community Yacht Club was recently dedicated a “Delaware Clean Marina,” only the seventh in the state to receive the recognition by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

As the summer season starts to get under way, those who want to have a good time — though not at the expense of the environment and leaving a bigger carbon footprint — can rest easy knowing that Funland in Rehoboth Beach has gone solar!