Monthly Archives: January 2019

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Want A Tasty Way To Go Green? Check Out The Green Dining Club!

 Membership in The Green Dining Club offers members exclusive discounts at a variety of local restaurants! (See the restaurant listing here.)

Here is what the Green Dining Alliance (GDA) website says about how your membership will help the local St. Louis area:

“Support the GDA by joining the Green Dining Club… Club members receive a set of bamboo cutlery, offers for exclusive discounts at select GDA member restaurants, discounts at St. Louis Earth Day events, and email blasts about food and sustainability news in the Saint Louis area!

Membership is $45 annually – your investment helps the GDA provide education, resources and training to restaurants and diners about sustainable practices – including recycling, composting, sourcing local ingredients, energy reduction strategies, and eliminating Styrofoam!”

For more information, or the link to join The Green Dining Club, CLICK HERE.

 

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Posted on January 30, 2019 in Environment

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MDC Marks 50th Anniversary With Year Long Celebration of St. Louis’ Urban Fishing Program

Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.

Read the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) story of how the Urban Fishing Program (UFP) began and how the positive influence of the outdoors was a resounding success in our urban communities.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the MDC Urban Fishing Program. MDC plans to spend 2019 celebrating and invites metro area anglers to join in.

The UFP was originally initiated in 1969 by the federal government during a time when civil unrest was causing tensions in many cities across the country. Their goal was to bring close-to-home fishing to people and infuse a positive influence into urban communities. The program launched in six cities, including St. Louis with the cooperation of MDC and the St. Louis Parks and Recreation Department. It was a resounding success in the Gateway City. MDC took over the UFP in 1972 and eventually expanded it into St. Louis County and Kansas City.

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Posted on January 19, 2019 in Home, Outdoor/Nature

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Asian Carp Invasion: Time To Build A Wall?

Don Corrigan has an opinion on “The Wall.” No, not the wall proposed along the Mexico border, but a wall proposed in Illinois.

By Don Corrigan (Webster-Kirkwood Times)

It’s time to seize the day and build the wall. Not the wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for at our southern border, but a wall to stop invading Asian Carp from traveling up our Mississippi and Illinois rivers into the Great Lakes.

The multi-million dollar wall would be built underwater near Joliet, Illinois, to keep the Asian carp from swimming into Lake Michigan near Chicago. There are fears the invading carp would make a home in the Great Lakes, including that big lake they call Gitche Gumee.

Around these parts, I have seen Asian carp establish themselves in the lakes we call Simpson, Unger, Creve Coeur, as well as in the Meramec River. During our annual 500-year floods, I have seen hordes of Asian carp kissing the surface scum in the Meramec River tributaries at lovely Emmenegger Park.

Asian carp take over wherever they invade. It’s estimated that they now make up more than 60 percent of the fish bio-mass in the Illinois River. Scientists say if these voracious fish enter our Great Lakes, they could ruin prized fresh water angling and wipe out the region’s $7 billion fishing industry.

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Posted on January 16, 2019 in Opinion

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Snow Crystals – Close Up & Personal At The Webster Groves Public Library

Photo: Webster-Kirkwood Times

By Don Corrigan (Webster-Kirkwood Times)

Snow is not just for shoveling. Dr. Richard Walters of Webster Groves wants those who loathe the snow to take a new, close-up look at the white stuff. He makes it easy with his snowflake photography exhibit.

His prints on display at the Webster Groves Public Library this January offer an array of snow crystals, including needles, bullets, plates and rare capped columns. Of course, there also are the typical six-armed stellar forms that we all associate with snowflakes.“I’m into details and there’s a lot of work and care that goes into capturing the details of snowflakes,” explained Walters. “For one thing, you have to hold your breath to keep the crystals from melting and distorting when you are shooting them.”

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Posted on January 13, 2019 in Local Events, Outdoor/Nature

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Winter In The Woods Festival Featuring Maple Sugar

The 2015 Maple Sugar Festival.

The Missouri Department of Conservation has announced Rockwoods Reservation’s Maple Sugar Festival!

Just because the temperatures drop, doesn’t mean you have to stay inside! There are many fun activities to do during winter, like maple sugaring, hiking, camping, bird-watching, outdoor photography, and fishing to name a few.

MDC and local partnering organizations will help uncover the many different outdoor activities you can do in winter, along with information about how animals weather the season as well. It’s a day your whole family will enjoy!

Read more about the event from the MDC below.

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Posted on January 8, 2019 in Local Events