March/April EarthShare NC E-News

In This Issue

On the Homefront: New Workplace Partners

Your Dollars at Work: Coal Ash Spill Response, Rails-to-Trails a Plus

Highlights: Earth Day, Earth Hour, Bird Friendly Communities

ESNC Member Events

Sustainability Corner

ON THE HOMEFRONT

We are happy to announce ESNC's newest workplace partners! If your workplace is interested in supporting EarthShare NC and our 70 member nonprofits to protect our water, air, land, and wildlife, contact Heather Beard, 919-687-4840.

Strata Solar

is one of the top solar providers in America, committed to fostering sustainable energy while providing a sharp focus on the bottom line. They develop cost efficient alternatives to traditional energy sources.

McAdams

was founded in 1979 and is now one of the largest infrastructure design firms in North Carolina. McAdams provides design, surveying, and permitting services to public and private clients.

YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK

Photo from Waterkeeper Alliance

Coal Ash Spills: ESNC Member Response

NC made national news recently when Duke Energy's coal ash containment basin in Eden, NC contaminated the Dan River with approximately 39,000 tons of coal ash. Sources say this spill is the third largest coal ash spill in US history. The spill strikes at an intersection of issues that EarthShare NC member nonprofits work to protect and improve, including water quality, wildlife, river ecosystems, environmental policy, and cleaner energy alternatives.

Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal for electricity. ESNC members including Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Western NC Alliance, and Sierra Club have been working for years to close coal ash ponds in NC. According to the SELC, coal ash ponds are often unlined and have leaked arsenic, mercury, thallium, selenium, and other contaminants into rivers and groundwaters. These contaminants increase risk for cancer and have been found in waters near Wilmington, Asheville, Myrtle Beach, and Charlotte. In response to the Dan River spill, NC League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense Fund and others are working to hold the State and Duke accountable for taking care of North Carolinians' health. For updates, visit the NC Sierra Club. To find out about coal ash near you, see SoutheastCoalAsh.org, a site run by SELC, NC Conservation Network, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, and others.

Rails-To-Trails A Plus for NC Health, Community, and Economy

Photo from NCRT

Trails have been in the news lately with the completion of the American Tobacco Trail connection from NC-54 in Durham to the Chatham County line, including a long-awaited pedestrian bridge over I-40. The American Tobacco Trail is part of a trail system that runs from Florida to Maine.

This trail opening was particularly celebrated by NC Rail-Trails, an EarthShare NC member that works with communities across NC to create walking, biking, and horseback riding trails from abandoned rail corridors. NC Rail-Trails Executive Director Carrie Banks recently contributed to a ScienceLine article about the benefits of rail-trail projects, saying, "Unused rail corridors often become dumping areas and loitering grounds. When they become a rail-trail they become alive again."

"The rails-to-trails movement is booming in the United States," wrote Caitlin Davis, the article's author. "The trails have become popular not only because they encourage people to get outside, exercise and enjoy nature, but because they also connect neighboring communities." Carl Knoch of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy pointed to research that transforming abandoned rail corridors into trails tends to reduce crime in those locations. Bike and pedestrian trails can provide an alternative transportation corridor to help residents access schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. For example, a 2 mile rail-trail project planned in Marion, NC would give one-third of all Marion residents trail access to McDowell Technical Community College and early college facility.

NC is home to more than 30 rails-to-trails projects. For more information, see NCRailTrails.org.

HIGHLIGHTS

Earth Hour: March 29th

Join World Wildlife Fund for Earth Hour 2014. Turn off your lights for one hour on March 29 at 8:30pm! Earth Hour is a simple idea that quickly turned into a global phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people around the world turn off their lights for one hour on the same night to focus on the one thing that unites us all--our planet. Go to the WWF Earth Hour website to sign up and tweet at national landmarks to encourage them to participate. Charlotte, NC, Appalachian State University, Duke University's Environmental Alliance have already signed up. Will you help represent NC?

Earth Day: April 22

Earth Day is April 22, 2014! Earth Day is a great time to rally your workplace in support of environmental nonprofits. EarthShare NC's workplace partner IBM holds an Earth Day event every year in conjunction with Take Our Children to Work Day. Belk has a variety of activities slated for Earth Month. How is your workplace celebrating Earth Day? Tell allison@earthsharenc.org and you may be featured in our special Earth Month E-News.

Winging toward Spring: Bird-Friendly Communities

One in five adults watch birds, and Audubon North Carolina's Bird-Friendly Communities program is focusing conservation efforts where most people live---in cities and towns. Audubon is working with a coalition of citizens, nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses to create sustainable urban habitats for birds. Bird-Friendly Communities in North Carolina will help birds succeed by providing habitat dominated by native plants, minimizing threats by the built environment, and engaging people of all ages and backgrounds in stewardship of nature.