100 Days of Green Cantabile

Wednesday Feb. 1 | Jerry (tenor)

For his 100 Days Of Green Cantabile, tenor, Jerry, decided to adopt one or more local storm drains to clean up. I was inspired to do this by the amount of litter I see accumulating around storm drains in my community.
Storm drains flow directly to local lakes, rivers, and wetlands, acting as a conduit for trash and organic pollutants. Rain and melting snow wash anything that’s on streets and other paved surfaces down storm drains and into lakes rivers, and wetlands.
Adopting a drain and keeping it clear of leaves, trash, and other debris helps to reduce water pollution.

Thursday Feb. 2 | Poldi (alto)

Alto, Poldi’s pledge for the 100 Days of Green Cantabile:

“I will learn to switch to vegetarian cooking with an emphasis on vegan cooking. This will be my small contribution to mitigate climate change and towards a sustainable planet.  I have had to acknowledge the fact that (regular) meat consumption leads to pollution and is usually not conducive to animal welfare (factory farming).   If anyone has a favorite vegan recipe that’s easy to make, please share!”

Friday Feb. 3 | Rebecca (artistic director)

For her 100 Days of Green Cantabile, artistic director, Rebecca Scott, decided to collect one or more pieces of litter every day.

“I was inspired to do this by the amount of litter I see on a daily basis as I walk my dog around my community. This challenge started with the idea of picking one piece of litter every day, but it eventually turned into multiple pieces or even bags full of litter. On every walk I do now I take a trash bag with me. By the end of my walk, I hope that it is not full but most of the time it sadly enough is.  We need to take care of our surroundings, even with picking up one piece of litter you make this world already a better place.

Monday Feb. 6 | Ray (tenor)

Tenor, Ray Nolan has been a member of the Good Earth Community Garden located in Donaldson Park in Highland Park since 1980.  For my ‘100 Days of Green Cantabile’, I will make weekly donations of vegetables grown in my plot to the Global Grace Marketplace & Café located at the Reform Church of Christ (RCHP) on South 2^nd Avenue in Highland Park.  Our community garden currently has 45 member families. The community garden is in Donaldson Park, Highland Park and membership is open to the public from Middlesex County.  RCHP’s environmental work continues today, in signing on to letters against pipeline expansion, participating in national and global rallies and movements, as well as deepening the engagement of congregants with the natural world around them.

Tuesday Feb. 7 | Elizabeth (alto)

For her 100 Days of Green Cantabile project, alto, Elizabeth Verderosa promises to do the following:

“I pledge to limit my use of water by taking 3-minute showers.  A typical shower is 8 minutes long and uses 20 gallons of water. At 3 minutes, I will be saving 8.5 gallons a day.  I also plan on collecting the water that comes out of the spigot as it warms up, to use in my laundry.”

Wednesday Feb. 8 | alto

Another of our altos watched this Middlesex County YouTube video on home composting. https://youtu.be/lWx83kq4zeA

She says, “I have been inspired to pick up my Home Composter tomorrow in East Brunswick. Then start a 100 day journey learning how. Composting reduces fertilizer and water use and the volume of garbage going to landfills.

Thursday Feb. 9 | Nancy (alto)

Alto, Nancy, says, “we recently replaced our oil furnace with an air-source heat pump. Sustainability requires that the use of fossil fuels be reduced, since burning them generates greenhouse gases as well as harmful nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. A heat pump represents a large improvement over an oil furnace through two effects: It is much more energy efficient than a furnace, and its power is provided by the electrical grid. The grid derives its power from sources that are cleaner than oil, such as natural gas, and carbon-free sources such as nuclear, wind, and solar. Our investment represents an immediate large improvement in sustainability, and as the grid becomes cleaner the carbon footprint of our heat pump will continue to decrease.”

Friday Feb. 10 | Lynne (alto)

“I’m committed to buying all my apparel used (including shoes, bags and outerwear). Ten percent of the world’s total carbon footprint comes from the clothing industry. Apparel is the second largest polluter of fresh water. On average, an article is worn only seven times before being discarded to landfills. Polyester, a plastic made from fossil fuels, is found in 50% of all clothing, but items made from natural fibers like cotton also consume resources to produce and leave manufacturing waste. – There are thrift shops in our area (many of which donate their proceeds to charitable causes) and lots of websites selling used items. And your monetary savings will be substantial: I bought a brand-name jacket that retails for $298 for $37! And I donate my used apparel to a thrift store that supports my favorite animal rescue. I know firsthand that this shop yielded almost $80K to the organization.”

Monday Feb. 13 | Ruth (soprano)

Soprano, Ruth, is learning about the impact of plastics on the environment as part of her 100 Days of Green Cantabile.  She discovered many of our clothes contain plastics like polyester, nylon, acrylic and polyamide. In fact, most new fabrics are made of plastic – up to 64% of them.  The thing is every time we wash these materials, they shed millions of plastic microfibers. Threads so small they can drain out of our washing machines and pass straight through wastewater treatment plants into the sea.  Some of the changes she has made concerns washing clothes in cold water because a lower-temperature wash is less aggressive and therefore less likely to shake out plastic fibers.

Tuesday Feb. 14 | Gerry (tenor)

Gerry will be planting New Jersey native wildflowers for biodiversity and pollinators.

Wednesday Feb. 15 | Gail (soprano)

Soprano, Gail, has several “GREEN THINGS” she will continue doing;  She says,  “I drive an elective car, compost, use a rain barrel, eat no meat or fish, grow many of my summer fruits and she buys bamboo toilet paper.” Most of the toilet paper used in the U.S. is not sustainable or recycled.

Thursday Feb. 16 | Yeung (soprano)

For her 100 Days of Green Cantabile, soprano, Yeung, will use the public transportation bus system for inter-campus trips as much as possible.  She expects this to be 4-5 times a week.

Friday Feb. 17 | Kaitlin (soprano)

Soprano, Kaitlin, is recycling all the discarded paper from the elementary school where she teaches.

Monday Feb. 20 | Rick (bass)

For his 100 days, bass, Rick pledged to walk when taking trips into town and drive his hybrid vehicle when that is not feasible.  He is also growing an herb garden and will be eating vegetarian food for most meals since cattle emit methane and require ten times as much resources for a pound of meat as compared to produce.

Tuesday Feb. 21 | Bruce (bass)

Bass, Bruce is continuing many things already practiced:  Clothesline in basement to do final or complete drying of most clothing; walks for any errand less than two miles round trip—drives hybrid car otherwise.  Maintains a small home garden; purchase limited pre-packaged goods and re-uses glass containers.

Wednesday Feb. 22 | tenor

Uses a 55 gallon rain barrel to capture water from downspout for spot gardening; Built a raingarden which divers rain runoff from the sewer to reduce flooding and land erosion; Two composters to supply mulch for garden.  Reduced/eliminated use of organic fertilizers to promote pollinators and insects.

Thursday Feb. 23 | Christina (soprano)

Soprano, Christina is focusing on recycling for its benefits when it comes to reducing water pollution.  She says, “from our ocean wildlife to drinking water, it is important to me that we keep our waters clean for both humans and animals alike.”

Friday Feb. 22 | Anita (alto)

Alto, Anita is buying carbon offsets from https://marketplace.goldstandard.org/collections/projects to offset carbon footprint for the year.  This fights climate change but also improves the lives of people in the developing world.