STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS

Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment

A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication

April, 2002

Living Lightly

City recycling figures exceed requirements: disappointing minimal residential participation
By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

The good news is the City of Modesto has reached a 61% waste reduction rate, exceeding current state requirements. The not so good news is only 2% of that figure comes from residential blue bag and buy back recycling.

Thirty nine percent of recyclables diverted from the waste stream is attributable to overall commercial recycling from Modesto's 11,000 businesses, which included 30% from recycling, 2% from source reduction and 7% from composting. The residential figure adds 10% for composting and the meager 2% residential recycling figure. The remaining 10% can be credited to waste-to-energy extractions.

These figures, currently under review by the city, were pulled from a recent audit by Dr. Eugene Tseng of the University of California at Los Angeles. The 61% commercial rate figure is based on samplings of businesses' garbage and can be extrapolated to 72%. The study took into consideration the city's 55,000 residential households, 15,000 apartments and the 11,000 businesses.

The city oversees residential blue bag recycling and yard waste composting, including the new counter top food waste bin recycling. Residents can obtain free counter top bins from garbage haulers to be filled with solid food scraps and food paper waste for disposal into green cans for weekly pickup. Commercial food waste recycling is being considered for a broadened future program.

Beverly McCoullough, city recycling coordinator, encourages residents to choose counter top food waste recycling over running the garbage disposal into the sewer system by reminding us, "It's nothing different than what was done before garbage disposals were invented." It is a very easy option for all those table scraps, greasy paper plates and napkins, bones, fat and rotten refrigerator "mystery" leftovers.

Used oil, bulky items (large appliances, furniture and junk items too large to fit into black garbage cans), and cathode ray tube electronics (computer and television screens, some camcorders) can be picked up at curbside by appointment with local garbage haulers.

A permanent household waste collection center for batteries, pesticides, paint and other hazardous chemicals is open Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1716 Morgan Road in Modesto. Waste tires and hazardous waste pickups are scheduled at various times and sites throughout Stanislaus County.

When asked about the effectiveness of blue bags, McCoullough points out most come to disposal recycling separation lines intact and must be pulled apart for sorting.

McCoullough speaks often at schools and businesses, and says the double-siding of paper documents and buying of recycled paper can cut the use of office paper in half. Her department also conducts backyard composting workshops 4 times yearly through Modesto Junior College and sells backyard composters at cost.

ACTION: Reduce your use of consumables, reuse items whenever possible (canvas and other grocery bags, recycled paper, post consumer manufactured products), and as a LAST RESORT, participate in all possible recycling programs. More info at 577-5494.

Seed germinates for Stanislaus County’s first community arboretum and gardens

By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL and MYRTLE OSNER

The Hughson Arboretum and Gardens’ seed is germinating and the first shoots of life are anxiously anticipated within a year, when planners hope to begin construction.

The arboretum and gardens concept developed from the fertile mind of Margaret Sturtevant, long time community activist, environmentalist and organic farmer. It is her vision to convert a onetime walnut orchard to a regional facility designed to help the public develop an appreciation for trees and the environment.

The Sturtevant home once included a forty acre walnut orchard. As Hughson High School was built nearby and Hughson began to grow, Mrs. Sturtevant became concerned that her land might one day be covered with houses. Her fears were founded, as a huge retirement housing complex is to the north, and the city is growing around the thirteen acres she is turning over to the Arboretum Foundation.

She shared her vision with Brian Sinclair, a fourth generation Hughson resident and son of a former Stanislaus County Agricultural Commissioner. Sinclair, whose family also owns agricultural land in Hughson, has an avid interest in ornamental horticulture and shares Sturtevant’s concern for nurturing an awareness of the environment and the sustainability of valley farmland. He has taken on the position of arboretum board president and is working with an enthusiastic and highly skilled board and advisory committee to bring the project to fruition.

About one quarter of the 13 acre property at the corner of Euclid and Whitmore in Hughson is currently planted and labeled with ornamental trees and some shrubs. One corner boasted several redbud trees, their  intense fuchsia colored blossoms a pleasure to visitors in March. Sinclair invites more area residents to come take a look at the potential project.

Historical trees are one emphasis for the arboretum, and that goal already has been initiated with the propagation of a tulip poplar from the seed of a tree originally planted by George Washington at Mount Vernon.

Another major focus is to provide educational opportunities through outdoor classrooms, a small visitor’s center and a wide range of garden models.

Dennis Dahlin, a former Modesto landscape architect, has sketched the garden design, which features representative valley habitats. Plans include desert, foothill, delta, and riparian forest plantings, as well as stands of fruit trees, seasonal gardens, a sculpture garden, an herb garden, and numerous historical tree samplings.

Sinclair says his board hopes the arboretum and gardens will be a destination for local schools and area residents to learn about and appreciate environmentally responsible agricultural and gardening management techniques in a place centered around peace and relaxation.

ACTION: Future plans call for member volunteer participation, and current needs are in the areas of fundraising, promotion, and communication. Those who wish to offer skills, services and/or financial support may contact Sinclair, (209) 883-0443.

Landscaping with Nature

By MYRTLE OSNER

A capacity crowd of mostly landscaping professionals had an intensive introduction to Sustainable Gardening recently. While gardening with less water, less fertilizer, no pesticides and no herbicides seems to be catching on over on the West Coast, the Central Valley still seems to be in the Dark Ages.

It’s the rare garden in Stanislaus County that doesn’t run sprinklers on its lawn every day or so during the summer. Of all the water wasters, lawn is probably the worst. Soaking up fertilizer, often running off into the streets and down into the groundwater or rivers, is not healthy for an environment that was dry savannah before irrigation.

So, what to do? Most of he speakers were admittedly from coastal areas. Spearheaded by the Ecological Farming Association, based in Watsonville, other sponsors were the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, Ecosystem Restoration Program, Biological Urban Garden Services. (B.U.G.S.), plus Peaceful Valley Farm Supply from Nevada City and local Grover Soil Fertility and  Friends of the Tuolumne.

Owen Dell, from Santa Barbara, went so far as to answer one landscaper’s question about customers who don’t want sustainable gardens, “Just tell them you can’t work for them”. He believes that designing landscapes based on ecological principles will reduce costs and increase human and environmental safety. He emphasized conservation of water as well as using plants that can take our hot summers. In the afternoon session he detailed how we are polluting our urban areas with runoff from over-fertilization as well as runoff from too much hardscape and urban streets. It all goes down the drain and into the ocean eventually. Or, alternatively, drain water goes into storm drains and pollutes the groundwater and streams here in the valley. Landscaping professionals received lots of pointers; just plain gardeners found it a little daunting.

A beautiful slide show by Kate Frey of Fetzer Vineyards illustrated gardens that attract birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. These gardens could bring peaceful living by their artful design and beauty, yet they don’t appear at all formal.

We learned a lot more than we amateurs wanted to know from Steven Zien of B.U.G.S., mainly how to find out what your soil needs and what to provide to give it fertility. His whole thesis is keeping plants healthy so they can resist pests.

He was followed by our local  UC Ag Extension man, Ed Perry, who gave us info about preventing pest problems, including plants to choose, mulching (saves water, cuts down weeds), pruning. etc. In other words, use pesticides only as a last resort. Other speakers told us that pesticides kill both the good and the bad bugs, creating a sterile environment, and that helps the bad bugs come back stronger than ever.

Jeffrey Caldwell of Cupertino talked about native plants and how they fit into our Central Valley climate and encourage “good bugs.” All the speakers emphasized the absolute necessity of using compost, preferably what you make yourself, to lighten up heavy soil or otherwise change its texture. “All the green stuff you cut, including leaves, should be composted and returned to the land from which it came,” they all repeated.

ACTION: Attend the native plant sale, sponsored by JoAnn Morgan as an Animals at Risk benefit, on April 20 and 21, at Hischier Nursery (the same day as Earth Day in Modesto). There are many good books that can help you. For native plants I recommend Margery Schmidt’s Growing California Native Plants. To see an example of landscaping with native plants, visit Muir Trail Girl Scout Council office, 3621 Forest Glen Drive. Originally designed by Dennis Dahlin more than a dozen years ago, in its maturity, some of the plantings haven’t survived, others have come into their own and are flourishing. (See Stanislaus Connections October, 1989.)

Amphitheater or hole in the ground: Modesto’s maps need reality update
By CAROLINE MITTON
 Conservation Chairperson, Sierra Club, Yokuts Chapter

 The Power Point presentation and poster for the Tuolumne River Regional Park plan that the Modesto Parks Department is continuing to show at public meetings does not represent the plan that was agreed to after much discussion and public input. The presentation and poster were developed very early in the process and have not been updated to reflect changes as they were made. There are no plans to do any such updating so that future presentations would truly represent the agreement.

 While there have been a good many changes in the plan, the greatest is the location of the amphitheater. The poster shows it very close to the edge of Dry Creek. However, the Master Environmental Impact Report for the Modesto Urban General Plan states that "Within the identified riparian corridors, environmentally sensitive habitat areas shall be protected against any significant disruption of habitat values and only uses consistent with these values shall be allowed (e.g., nature education and research, fishing, habitat enhancement and protection). . . Generally, a minimum 100-foot buffer of undeveloped land would be necessary." Now, trails could probably go in the buffer zone, but not a 3,000-seat amphitheater. So, that puts the amphitheater at least 200 feet from the edge of Dry Creek. The Parks Department has verbally agreed to this distance although the poster doesn't show it. Since this is a flood plain, no structures can be built on it. Which means that instead of carving a chunk out of the bank of Dry Creek, now the amphitheater will have to be scooped out of the ground, and a method of drainage devised. The ground will need to be armored in some way so that the tiers for people to sit on will not be washed away during the next rainy season. We are assured it won't be noticeable except when its in use. I find that very hard to believe and think it not only will be very noticeable, it'll be attractive to skate boarders.

 The reason for having a 3,000-seat amphitheater is to attract large festivals. All of the ones now held at Legion Hall are to be moved there, and advertising brochures are to be developed to attract more. Bringing this number of people and all of the paraphernalia for a large festival into the area this often is not compatible with the habitat restoration planned for the area. The Parks Department sees no conflict and doesn't mention any problems in their presentations.

But, the EIR for the plan repeatedly points out that large festivals would negatively impact all of the surrounding area by increasing air pollution, noise, traffic and night lighting. Traffic problems are even expected to spill over onto Highway 99. The plan adopted is environmentally the worst of the four alternatives and that includes doing nothing. The negative impacts cannot be mitigated to insignificance. The "Statement of Overriding Concerns" that CEQA requires lists all of the benefits of the plan without noting that none of the benefits are dependent on a large amphitheater. Nor does it note that those same benefits will be negated by having a number of large festivals in the amphitheater. A much better size for an amphitheater would be 250 seats for story-telling and nature-related lessons. Then the habitat in the park could be developed, appreciated and understood in a peaceful atmosphere, while still leaving plenty of room for small-scale active and passive recreation in the area. But meanwhile, updated Power Point presentation would at least let the public know what the plan is that was agreed to for their park.

Celebrate Spring! Native Plant Sale supports animal sanctuary!

The Tenth Annual Celebrate Spring! Native Plant Sale will be held on Saturday/Sunday, April 20-21, 2002, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Hischier Nursery, 1520 Standiford Ave., Modesto.

Sale items include wildflowers, perennials, shrubs, trees, and grasses grown from seeds or cuttings; none collected from the wild. Proceeds support the animals living at the Animals at Risk Care Sanctuary.

Rx for healthier kids: cleaner school buses and safer streets

By MYRTLE OSNER

Recent reports from the Valley Air Pollution Control District indicate that we face severe non-attainment penalties for our air pollution.

Polluting school buses must go. “Over 23 million children ride on school buses that emit smog and soot pollution linked to asthma, bronchitis, and cancer. There are clean and cost-effective alternatives to standard diesel-powered school buses. Natural gas is a clean, safe choice, reducing toxic soot by up to 93 percent compared to older diesel buses.

There are other ways to clean up the air: improve the bus system here until it truly serves as a way to get around. Some of us have been lobbying to increase funding for transit systems in Stanislaus County, but the meetings have been dominated by trucking interests. Most of the money available through StanCOG (Stanislaus County Association of Governments the planning agency responsible for divvying up the money), is dedicated to building more highways and widening the ones we have. And try to get money for bicycle routes. A plan was accepted a few months ago, but I don’t see any money to implement it. We must get out of our cars. Placing sanctions on industry and agriculture depresses the economy, though it may be necessary. Other measures might help, though nobody seems (here at least) to be taking them seriously.

Another unsettling report comes from the Surface Transportation Policy Project: Obesity is a major cause of ill health in the U.S., and IT’S INCREASING! This has been directly related to lack of exercise as well as eating a diet too high in fat (mostly fast foods). It would seem that California, where fresh fruits and vegetables are available the year round, is no better than the rest of the country.

Furthermore, the report tells us that obesity is increasing very fast among children. And, guess what, that is related not only to fast food, but to the fact that very few children walk to school any more. A task force studying the safety of children in Stanislaus County is struggling to find ways to make the streets safer for children; every child should be able to walk to school without fear of injury.

A recent congressional forum on funding for the Safe Routes to Schools program emphasized that all ages need to move about safely, to enable commerce and to promote social interaction and health. One of the major issues is funding for sidewalks, crosswalks, and traffic signals, the most costly of all solutions (but the most effective). California’s requests have experienced demand far in excess of funding. Here we have used that funding for sidewalks and a stop light and median strip, near Shackelford school, after parents testified about how dangerous it was for their children to get across Crows Landing Road, and how they have to walk knee deep in rain water in the winter.

ACTION: Tell your Senators to support and fund a dedicated grant program for school districts to replace older buses with cleaner, new alternative fuel or low-sulfur diesel buses. Voice your support today so that this program will pass through Congress and be signed by the President.”

--Source: Union of Concerned Scientists

The Valley’s future: it’s not if we grow, it’s how
By TRINH NGUYEN

We often hear about how vibrant, walkable and transit-friendly European cities are, but in reality, some of the most charming, historic, small towns and cities are actually right here in our own backyard. Imagine yourself in the winding streets of Auburn, the little China Town strip of Marysville, revitalized Lodi, the Tower District of Fresno, or any one of hundreds of small towns and rural communities, more often than not built around the railroads that dot the valley floor. Yet all around us, new growth patterns are changing the very character of our communities. Pastures of magnificent horses or herds of grazing cows are increasingly being replaced by new big box retail stores and cookie-cutter subdivisions, while many existing communities remain in neglect.

Our historic town centers and walkable neighborhoods that, until recently, were a vital part of the rural fabric of the central valley — with a mix of shopping, work and housing within walking distance of home — are fading, being replaced by newer faceless developments with long distances between destinations often only accessible by driving. These newer, post World War II designs of our spread out suburbs and wide streets often makes a simple walk to the store downright dangerous if not impossible. Even if you’re lucky enough to find a sidewalk (many communities in California built in the 1950s and 60s were built without them since planners told us walking would soon be obsolete), government zoning codes and ordinances practically outlaw any nearby main streets, corner stores or neighborhood schools.

With fewer transportation choices and the scattering of our suburbs, we’ve become increasingly inactive. Time magazine’s January 21, 2002 issue reports that fewer than a third of adults in the U.S. get the recommended amount of exercise each day, and 40% are almost completely sedentary. We live in a nation in which obesity may soon overtake cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable death. More than two thirds of all children walked or biked to school as little as thirty years ago, now that number has plummeted to less than 10%. The article concludes that the magic bullet is walking, getting Americans back on their feet again.

Despite these trends, new housing and retail developments don’t have to be detrimental to our health. Funding is becoming available to support walkable, quality, charming, human scale community design that gives pride in sense of place. Financial incentive programs are being proposed in Fresno County, at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), and in the legislature under Senate Bill 1262. They take the form of mouth watering carrots rather than the all-too familiar sticks — using transportation dollars as incentives to help ensure that we increase development of healthier, more compact, and more walkable communities. These programs are aimed at rewarding cities and counties that attempt to be innovative in the way they grow and develop. They’ve also succeeded at turning the red tape into red carpet making new proposals for compact housing and in-town shops and retail infinitely more financially attractive for local governments.

But these investments in community planning and design can do far more than create more attractive main streets and livable neighborhoods. They can reduce congestion, increase transportation choices, and improve air quality. Compact communities can decrease infrastructure costs to local governments and property owners by up to 25%, according to a recent report by the California Department of Transportation. Conversely, growth in the middle of nowhere drains the city’s coffers. A 1995 study by the American Farmland Trust of 39 cities in the Central Valley found that scattered development would cost the cities nearly $30 billion dollars more than compact growth.

Just as we acknowledge the convenience of big box retail stores and driving, we must seek a balance to also ensure that Americans who desire to live in the walkable neighborhoods and towns have a chance to do so. A recent Fannie Mae report concludes that “despite widespread awareness of the importance of the aging baby boomers in the housing market, housing analysts do not seem to have grasped the implications for building more compact cities that include walkable neighborhoods.”

We all know the valley will undergo dramatic changes in the next thirty years. But the choice for the types of places we build, and the quality of the communities that we leave our children with is up to us. We can grow the valley’s economy, our population and our housing stock and maintain the pride all of us have in our heritage — without having to accept characterless subdivisions and endless strip malls. We don’t have to become another Los Angeles, or even another Bay Area. For me, the valley’s future rests on our ability to forge an identity uniquely our own. It’s one that will provide a wide range of housing types and transportation choices, and it will only happen with leadership, innovation and a dramatic new approach to transportation, growth patterns and infrastructure funding.

ACTION: For more information, contact Trinh Nguyen, Surface Transportation Policy Project, (916) 447-8880, tnguyen@transact.org.

A Clean Today . . .A Green Tomorrow: Earth Day in the Park Festival
By the CITY OF MODESTO

Earth Day is celebrated worldwide as a time to consider the importance of responsible behavior with our Earth’s precious national resources, Modesto’s annual festival invites a variety of vendors with Earth friendly products, services, and programs to help educate our community about important environmental issues, and we throw in a little family fun to boot!

Join us as we celebrate Modesto 13th annual Earth Day in the Park Festival in Graceada Park on Saturday April 20th from 10 AM to 6 PM. We promises a fun filled days for the whole family with good information, great food and entertainment, and lots of vendors! And don’t forget to join the Arthritis Foundation Walk-A-Thon. Kids, win prizes in the Clue Card Search! Free Admission and parking.

California Nightmaring
By INDIRA CLARK

The air in the San Joaquin Valley is thick with pollution and we’re facing government sanctions for this poor air quality.

News that Ed Filbin now owns the tire-burning plant near Westley and wants to restart it causes many area residents to shudder.  Filbin began collecting millions of used tires on land in the Coastal Range in the 1960s, and has a long history of controversy with regulating agencies.

Modesto Energy Limited Partnership built a tire-burning plant next to the huge pile in 1987 on land leased from Filbin. He sold the tire pile to Mark Kirkland in 1995. However, he retained ownership of the land under the pile.

The tire pile were struck by lightening and ignited in September 1999. (See Stanislaus Connections special edition April 2000.)The fire shut down the plant next door.

Modesto Energy has met its obligations to help pay for fire cleanup, a company spokesman told The Modesto Bee. Filbin also was ruled partly responsible for cleanup costs after the fire in the lawsuit brought by the California Attorney General and Stanislaus County District Attorney.

Modesto Energy stopped making payments on the lease when it couldn’t find help to restart the plant, either through state subsidies or a buyer for the plant. According to the terms of the lease, the tire-burning facility now belongs to Filbin.

Filbin claims to be negotiating with five companies interested in operating the plant for him, according to the Bee.

“...the area of animals used and/or abused in the entertainment industry deserves special scrutiny. ...Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves.”     

— Cesar E. Chavez 12/9/90

Rodeo and Circus “Entertainment” Traditions

By S. E. MEARS

If you are like the average tax-paying citizen, there’s no doubt you not only get bills, catalogs and fliers, but you receive your fair share of requests from charities. The persuasive picture/plea on the front is used to prompt you to open it, grab your checkbook and send off a generous (guilt-lifting) gift. If you notice, with that remittance slip, there is letter proclaiming the numerous successes (‘that you made happen’) and how close they are to that cure.

On the other side of the letter it talks about all the inconclusive, frivolous tests, all the catastrophic failures, all the raises the CEO’s received... Oh, it doesn’t have that information? Of course not — all businesses, big, small, profit or non-profit, need promotion — and the truth and promotion don’t work together many times, especially if large monetary losses could be a result. The same goes for the hugely profitable entertainment industry: movies, sports, live shows. All of these areas of entertainment, like society, have their moral, responsible people: those striving to be more compassionate. They have a moral code built in, and it helps keep themselves in check. They also feel compelled to move forward and do something, even when others would rather they didn’t, especially those so greedy, that nothing (internal or external) better stop them from their end GOAL: $$$.

The two industries I’m addressing are industries thriving on one, single defense: Tradition. Both these of industries, circuses and rodeos, have secrets they don’t want the general public to know. In rodeo the “Old West/Americana “ theme is built in. Many defend it saying it’s a demonstration of the work cowboys do. When the Police K9 unit performs demonstrations they don’t actually take a criminal from the jail and have the dog attack him so the public can see “how it’s done”.

Rodeo is not a demonstration: it’s an out-dated, unnecessary cruelty to farm animals, especially to those frightened little calves. Injuries and death do occur, and most rodeo people I have spoken with do not dispute that. On the contrary, some even work with the animal spokespeople to alter legislation. I hope they also fight to expose and end barbaric, illegal rodeos (foal tripping...), and will work to provide a witness HOTLINE. I am not attempting to persuade those in rodeo.

I am here for others who do agree (there are many) and for the people that want to be more fully informed, and use their “right to know”. * You don’t get the full story when you get answers from those making the money. That said, I have spoken with wonderful, pro-rodeo people throughout my life, and I do appreciate the understanding and mature dialogue we’ve shared.

Unlike rodeo, in which it is obvious what injuries can occur, the circus is truly a deceptive, shady business. Circus Vargas will not be here this year. We protested last year, and of the many people that received our information, some did turn away. Behind the costumes and clowns are animals, some taken forcibly from their homeland and imported to circuses and zoos. Many times their parents are killed because they strongly object to having their child taken from them (i.e.: elephants, monkeys). Many have experienced horrendous transport conditions-and many more exotic animals die than live in the importation process.

The circuses do not want you to know what it takes to ‘break’ an elephant for training. It is truly heart wrenching, especially for people who have witnessed baby elephants being beaten. The image never goes away when you hear and see that baby actually crying, and not even their parents are present to protect them as they once were.

The big cats, who normally roam territories miles wide, are reduced to biting bars on their tiny cage forever. Well, some are ‘retired,’ sold to ‘game’ ranches so they can be hunted /killed for fun. Sterling and Reid (one of the most exploitative) even has a hyena -a truly wide-roaming animal - are there no limits?

The USDA governs the Animal Protection Act (AWA) which, at best, is minimal, and odds aren’t great in catching savvy circus owners committing violations, since so many occur during the “off-season” in their training methods. Nevertheless, there are still long lists of violations on Ringling Bros., Circus Vargas, Circus Gatti, Sterling and Reid, Culpepper and Meriweather, to name just a few that have been our area, and many others.

PLEASE-don’t give circuses your money! Instead write to me and I’ll tell you about animal-free circuses (some are former animal circuses).

There’s a much bigger picture here, of being stewards for all earth’s inhabitants; and of empathy; putting yourself in another’s place. When a child gets his/her first pet, accountability and empathy becomes part of the package: “Is my dog/cat hungry, thirsty, lonely...?” If a child has this insight early on, just think of their growing compassion throughout life!

This is a different world from the early 1900’s. Thomas Edison once publicly electrocuted an elephant (as well as many dogs and cats and other animals), and people actually came to see this! Are we better than that today? Children should never have to witness a horse or bull violently die in front of them at a ‘family’ event. They should never have to view beaten, scared and scarred animals in costumes and jumping through fire. And adults don’t need that either. Haven’t we evolved?

Especially now, teach compassion — it IS the only way. Peace to you and yours for the holidays, and beyond.

ACTION: Contact S. E. Mears at salamndr@earthlink.net,  PO Box 111, Hickman, CA 95323