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The risk to the clean water and produce we enjoy from upstate New York, not to mention the beautiful land itself is at risk from hydrofracking. The time to comment on the latest plans from the NYC DEC is now— the deadline is January 11, 2013 . Please don't put it off—every comment helps. The easy-to-use form at the New Yorkers Against Fracking site will help you quickly construct a few comments and send them. Otherwise, New York State may look like this: Learn more about how hydro-fracking affects the food and water supply , as well as air quality and global warming. Farms in upstate New York: Photo by Keturah Stickann/John Menier Fracking image by J. Henry Fair

The following is about protecting our air and water from hydrofracking—please read what Sandra Steingraber has to say and help out by sending your comments to the DEC now: A note from acclaimed ecologist and author  Sandra Steingraber: I’m writing to recruit you into a writing project I’m doing with Grassroots Environmental Education–and also ask if you will be an ambassador for it.  It’s called  Thirty Days of Fracking Regs , and it’s a fun-yet-deadly-serious approach to commenting on the newly released, and completely absurd, draft regulations for fracking in New York State . The story so far :  On Nov. 29, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation  issued draft regulations to allow fracking in New York. It was a cynical and reckless move—especially because the state’s own limited health review is not even finished, and Governor Cuomo has made no decision yet on whether to permit or prohibit fracking in our state.  The effect o...

My apartment didn't really seem expensive.  (I live in Sunset Park.  Rents are quite a bit more reasonable than Park Slope).  Utilities didn't amount to all that much.  BUT, after realizing that I wasn't using water then RE-using water, I decided to catch most of the greywater I make and see what happened.  The results have been astonishing.  And pretty darned easy!  And I've saved money and I've saved fresh water. What is greywater?  All the water which I use then let go down the drain.  That's grey water.   I suppose it's called grey because it's not drinkable after using it - so it's not necessarily clear.  That is, dishwater, for one.  That's a big one.  Then there's the water I can catch easily when I'm washing my hands, taking a shower, etc.  That's the idea. Here are the kitchen/bathroom buckets ready to be filled from the standard dishpan in the kitchen sink.  And in the bathroom, the full bucket is...

From the 8/28/12 New York Times : Destroying Precious Land for Gas By SEAN LENNON ON the northern tip of Delaware County, N.Y., where the Catskill Mountains curl up into little kitten hills, and Ouleout Creek slithers north into the Susquehanna River, there is a farm my parents bought before I was born. My earliest memories there are of skipping stones with my father and drinking unpasteurized milk. There are bald eagles and majestic pines, honeybees and raspberries. My mother even planted a ring of white birch trees around the property for protection. A few months ago I was asked by a neighbor near our farm to attend a town meeting at the local high school. Some gas companies at the meeting were trying very hard to sell us on a plan to tear through our wilderness and make room for a new pipeline: infrastructure for hydraulic fracturing. Most of the residents at the meeting, many of them organic farmers, were openly defiant. The gas companies didn’t seem to care. They gave us the feel...

With so many areas of the country suffering from drought this summer, we might want to think about ways to conserve water. The average lawn and many gardens use quite a bit of water, but there is no need to do without greenery in our backyards and community gardens. Think about growing plants that require less moisture. Treehugger has a nice slide show on would-be lawns that have been converted into gardens requiring minimum water . The Chicago parkway garden (above) is planted with native and drought tolerant plants that divert rainwater from sewers, provide food and forage for pollinators, and brighten up the neighborhood.

Saturday, April 28 is the fourth national Pharmaceutical Take-back Day. The DEA website allows you to type in your zip code and find a take-back location near you . There are locations in Brooklyn and other NYC boroughs—more will be added to the database until the day of the event. What can you bring to these locations? All medicines that your family and your pets use should be properly disposed of at a drug take-back program. For more details, check the DEA website .

Why not save some of the rainwater for your garden? If you had a rainwater harvesting system you could do just that. On April 22, Grow NYC's Lenny Librizzi will be joining members of the Environmental Committee outside the Food Coop to celebrate Earth Day. He will have a rainwater harvesting system on display and will be glad to answer any questions you may have about it. Please join us on Sunday, April 22 between 9am and 3pm in front of the Park Slope Food Coop . In the meantime, learn more about Grow NYC's rainwater harvesting system , already in place in many community gardens all over the five boroughs as well as individual backyard gardens.

We are holding three last workshops to create effective letters commenting on the problems in the DEC's proposed hydrofracking regulations under which hydrofracking could occur in New York State, as early as next year. The workshops are: Friday, December 16 from 5-7 pm Saturday, December 17 , from 3-5 pm Tuesday, January 3 from 3-5 pm Please help publicize these last workshops by forwarding this information to others on your squad, friends, neighbors, etc. The workshops are open to everyone: coop members and non-members alike. You don't have to stay for the whole time—just stop by for awhile and write an effective letter to the DEC. It will be mailed for you (no procrastination!) Governor Cuomo and the DEC seem unmoved by the facts about hydrofracking. See the recent news articles " EPA Sounds Alarm on Fracking in Wyoming " and E.P.A. Links Tainted Water in Wyoming to Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas and Some Blame Hydraulic Fracturing for EarthQuake Epidem...

If you are concerned about the potential health and environmental threats of hydraulic fracture gas drilling want to tell Governor Cuomo not to allow hydrofracking in New York State, here is a chance to speak up. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be a public hearing in New York City on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center , 199 Chambers St., New York, NY. There will be two sessions of the hearing: 1pm and 6 p.m. You can attend just to listen and support others, or write out a statement of your own to read. If you want to read your own statement, there will be a sign up list when you get to the hearing. You can also submit your comments about the latest proposed regulations (SGEIS) by mail or email to the DEC until December 12. For some tips on writing an effective letter about these regulations, see this valuable resource suggesting the different topics you might want to comment on. If you can, please write to the DEC now and/or ...

If you're at the coop this weekend, why not stop at the workshop to help you write an effective letter to the DEC commenting on their proposed fracking regulations: Saturday, November 19: 2-4 pm Individual letters make a difference--the DEC is required to read every one, whereas form letters are merely counted. The deadline for submitting comments is December 12--fracking may start in early 2012 if we don't speak up. We will help you complete a letter at the workshop and mail it for you. Stop by at any point during the workshop sessions. One more session will be held right after Thanksgiving: Saturday, Nov. 26: 1–3 pm Bring friends—coop members and non-members are welcome! We are very, very lucky to have access to clean, drinkable tap water in New York. Let's not take it for granted and assume that this problem will go away or that someone else will take care of it. Everyone's help is needed.

Write to the DEC before the December 12 deadline . For pointers on composing an effective letter to the DEC, see this resource from the Sierra Club and/or this resource from Sourcewatch . It needn't be perfect; it needn't be long Use the linked resources to make your words strong We all tend to wait, but please don't delay If you care for clean water, please write today!

Slowing Down the DEC on the Fast Track to Frack New York State Governor Cuomo and the Department of Environmental Conservation are putting the Energy Industry on a fast track to frack New York State. Why the hurry ? The NYS DEC recently issued a Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) which, if accepted, will allow hydro-fracking to begin. We have until December 12 to send comments to the DEC. The Environmental Committee is organizing a series of workshops to provide guidance for writing an effective letter to The DEC commenting on their regulations. Individual letters make a difference--the DEC is required to read every one, whereas form letters are merely counted. We will help you complete a letter at the workshop and mail it for you. Stop by at any point during one of the workshop sessions: Sunday, 11/06: 12-2 pm Saturday, 11/19: 2-4 pm Bring friends—coop members and non-members are welcome!

Sandra Steingraber is one of my heroes. A bladder cancer survivor at 20 years of age, she went on to get a PhD in biology and devote herself to environmental work. She writes poetry, too, and lives in upstate NY with her family. If you haven't read Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment , I highly recommend it. We just learned that Dr. Steingraber won the Heinz Award: an unrestricted $100,000 cash prize. She has announced that she will use her award to fight hydrofracking. Read her own words about this decision.

Please join us as we partner with Josh Fox, the National Grassroots Coalition, Food and Water Watch, Credo, Democracy for America, Working Families Party, United for Action and many others this Tuesday, September 13th in calling President Obama and telling him we want hydrofracking banned. The threat to our drinking water and our health is unacceptable. Your call does matter. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414 between 9 am and 5 pm EDT on September 13th. Say, " Hello my name is _, I live in (City, State) and I want fracking banned and a sane, renewable energy policy for this country ". If the phone lines get jammed, send an email through the White House Contact page here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact We need to let President Obama know that Americans do not want fracking.

After months of study, the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released their report , and Governor Cuomo has indicated his approval of hydraulic fracture drilling in parts of New York State other than the watersheds of NYC and Syracuse. But what about all the other cities and towns, not to mention farmers and rural dwellers who rely on wells or local water supplies? What about the organic farms that supply the Park Slope Food Coop and others? Unfortunately there is no part of New York State that is not a watershed for somebody. You can make a strong statement by calling Governor Cuomo’s office to tell him that his plan to push hydraulic fracturing in New York State puts New Yorkers at too great a risk and must be abandoned. You can reach the Governor’s office by calling (518) 474-8390 or (212) 681-4580 .