Climate Connection
Food Waste Piles Up
By Leah Mason
This article ends our series on food and food waste. For a recap here are some numbers to chew on as the days get shorter. You might remember that one of the most effective items on the list of things we can do to reduce our greenhouse gases is reduce our food waste. Some sense of the scale comes from the EPA, which reported that 39 million tons of food waste was generated in the U.S. in 2015. Food waste was the largest single item in municipal waste streams, coming in at close to a quarter of the total volume (space taken up). You can read more about this at
https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/sustainable-management-food-basics.
What we haven’t said is that home composting is actually one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce food waste with a net positive economic benefit of around $149! You can see some even more surprising figures on this subject at
https://www.refed.com/?sort=economic-value-per-ton.
One last idea to bring us full circle is worms! Worm farming is a great way to keep the food cycle working at a very local level. Here are some tips for new players. First, what do worms eat? Microbes! When you put food in a worm farm you are really feeding the micro-organisms that your worms will eat. This little fact changes a lot of what we think you need to do to make a “worm farm” work. Second, where do you keep them? In one of several types of stackable worm farms. Indoors or outdoors! Each comes with its own challenges. If you go with outdoors you can be a little less careful about what you put in it, but you’ll have to pay more attention to keeping the worms and microbes warm enough to do their jobs. An insulated cover in a warm part of a garage might be ideal. If you go with indoors, it’s best to have a couple of barriers between the worm farm and the outdoors. Insects are inevitably part of the worm ecosystem and having several floors between you and the outside is really the only way to make it largely bug free. Finally, the key to making it all work is speed. Microbes take longer to feed on big chunks of fruit and vegetables, so make what you put into the farm as small as you can. I cut up my scraps and store them in a container in my freezer to speed up the breakdown process. This also removes organic smells from the counter top! At the end of the week I let the scrap container thaw out and use an old Ninja to turn it all into a worm smoothie. I use a thick pad of longer leafed moss in the top level of my worm farm, like a kind of “pasta” over which I pour the worm smoothie and then stir! Worms love the moss and they don’t mind a gentle stirring either! Coating the moss means that lots of air and air-loving microbes do the most work, and this keeps any smells to a minimum. The stable temperature suits them, and a place where the temperature is always between 60 and 68 degrees F will ensure that they are very active consumers of your food scraps all year round.
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Leah Mason is a member of Sitka’s Citizens Climate Lobby.
Grant Applications
Ready for Nonprofits
Applications are being accepted by the Holland America Line and Princess Cruises Community Advisory Boards for grants to local service and non-profit groups.
The CABs consist of local civic and business leaders who advise Holland America Line and Princess Cruises on local corporate contributions and community involvement projects.
Each CAB distributes corporate grants twice annually and prefers to provide support for projects that will benefit the community as a whole. Funding requests for special projects, specific needs, or community events are favored over general operating expenses, large-scale capital projects, or travel.
Funding requests for travel outside of Alaska/the Yukon are not permitted, a press release from the organization said. Grant requests must not exceed $2,000.
Organizations that received grant funding within the past year are asked to delay their applications until 2020.
Applications for the fall cycle are due in Anchorage by Sept. 13 and should be mailed or emailed (email is preferred) to Kai Fugere at Kfugere@HAgroup.com or Holland America Line & Princess Cruises 745 W 4th Avenue Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska 99501.
For more information or to request an application electronically, contact Kai Fugere at (907) 264-8043 or email Kfugere@hagroup.com.
The CABs plan on awarding grant applications in late fall.
Leo’s Hope
Panel to Meet
Leo’s Hope Advisory Committee will meet 6-8 p.m. Sept. 20 downstairs at Youth Advocates of Sitka, 805 Lincoln Street.
All are invited. For more information call Leo Jimmy at 738-8061.
Sitkan Named
To State Board
A Sitka woman has been reappointed by Gov. Michael Dunleavy to a state board.
Wendy Lawrence has been reappointed to the Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers. Her term ends March 1, 2024. Lawrence is the assessing department director for the City and Borough of Sitka.
Pig Roast Aug. 25
For Building Fund
St. Gregory’s Catholic Church will hold a pig roast noon Sunday, Aug. 25, to benefit the church building fund.
The cost is $15 for adults, $5 for ages 6-12, and free to under 5. Families with four or more over the age of 12 is $40.
The event is open to the public.
Walk for Recovery
Listed Sept. 14
Sitka Counseling will hold the Walk for Recovery 10 a.m. Sept. 14. Participants will meet at Centennial Hall, walk over the John O’Connell Bridge, and back to the hall.
‘‘Walk with us as we celebrate those in recovery from mental health and substance use related issues,’’ Sitka Counseling said in a news release. ‘‘Help spread the message that prevention works, treatment is effective and people recover.’’
‘Grooming’
Discussion Set
Sitkans Against Family Violence will coordinate an on-air discussion on Raven Radio in the series ‘‘Crucial Conversations’’ 10 a.m. Aug. 29.
Katherine Rose will moderate a discussion titled ‘‘The Concept of ‘Grooming’ – What Parents Need to Know.’’
Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige, psychotherapist Debi Terry and SAFV’s Direct Services Director Tina Bachmeier will be available to explain the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Sitka, talk about indicators and red flags including grooming, announce a planned child advocacy center in Sitka, and describe how parents and caregivers can create resilience in children and child survivors.
Listeners will have the opportunity to call in during the show at 747-5878, or email questions or comments to katherine@kcaw.org. Those who will not be able to listen to the live show can do so later at kcaw.org. SAFV will post the link on its Facebook. For questions, call Martina at 747-3483.
Natural History
Seminar Sept. 3
Dr. Christa Mulder will present “Tales of the Unexpected: Phenology of Boreal Berry-Producing Plants under Climate Change” at the 7:30 p.m. Sept. 3 natural history seminar in room 229 at UAS-Sitka Campus.
‘‘People across Alaska have expressed concern about increased unpredictability in when their favorite fruit will be available for picking,’’ Mulder said in a press release from UAS.
‘‘They have also noticed that sometimes plants that normally flower in spring are producing some flowers in fall,’’ she said. ‘‘Alaska’s climate is changing rapidly, and in interior Alaska springs are coming earlier and summers are warmer than they used to be.’’
Mulder will explain why it would make the phenology (timing of flowering and fruiting) less predictable and what it has to do with the ‘‘late bloomers.’’
Combining data from experiments, herbarium specimens, and observations across Alaska (including ones made by the 4-H Club in Sitka) can answer these questions, Mulder said.
Mulder is a professor of ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she holds joint appointments in the department of biology and wildlife and the Institute of Arctic Biology.
The Natural History seminar series is supported by a grant from the Sitka Alaska Permanent Charitable Trust to the Sitka Sound Science Center and by the University of Alaska Southeast and the National Park Service.
Those with questions can contact Kitty LaBounty at 747-9432 or kllabounty@alaska.edu.
Youth Advocates Named
Recipient of GCI Grant
The 2019 GCI Suicide Prevention Fund, administered by the Alaska Community Foundation, will distribute more than $100,000 to nine recipient organizations this year, funding suicide prevention programs across Alaska.
Youth Advocates of Sitka is one of the nine recipients.
This is the third year that GCI has supported the grant program.
“Alaska has the highest rate of suicide deaths per capita in the country, which is why it’s so important to GCI to do its part to support those who are combatting the issue,’’ said GCI Chief Marketing Officer Kate Slyker. ‘‘It is a cause that touches our customers and employees, in both urban and rural communities equally. Sadly, this issue is personal to many of us.”
GCI launched the Suicide Prevention Fund in 2017 with a $100,000 donation.
‘‘We were unsure what to expect and were completely overwhelmed by the response,’’ she said. ‘‘Entering year three of funding, we are encouraged and eager to continue working with these organizations that are saving lives in our state.”
Grant recipients demonstrated suicide prevention strategies that are best practices or customized to address the specific needs of their communities. GCI, with the help of ACF, solicited and evaluated applications, Slyker said. GCI will continue to rely on ACF as grant administrator.
Since the Suicide Prevention Fund’s inception, more than $337,000 has been contributed to the cause.
Sitka Legacy Foundation Opens
Applications for Local Grants
Sitka Legacy Foundation, an affiliate of The Alaska Community Foundation, has announced its 2019 competitive grants cycle will be open Aug. 19-Sept. 27.
Eligible applicants may request grants for specific capital purchases of up to $3,000. Grants for programs will range from $500-$1,500. SLF will award at least $5,000 in grants for programs that benefit residents of Sitka with low incomes, due to special funding from First Bank.
Applications will be accepted from qualified, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations (or equivalents, such as Tribal entities, schools, and faith-based organizations) that support charitable organizations and programs in Sitka and surrounding rural communities.
Grant applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. AKST on Sept. 27 using the ACF online grant application system. Any overdue grant reports or other follow ups for previous grant awards from ACF and its affiliates must also be submitted using the online grant system prior to the deadline for the current application to be considered.
Applicants are asked to review SLF’s Competitive Grant Guidelines to determine eligibility before applying online. More information, grant guidelines, and a link to the online application is available on the website: https://sitkalegacy.org/grants/
Direct general questions to SLF’s Program Manager Robin Sherman at rsherman@alaskacf.org. Direct eligibility and technical questions about the online grant system to ACF’s Affiliate program officer Lindsey Hajduk at lhajduk@alaskacf.org or 907-274-6708.
Dog Agility
Class at UAS
Registration is open at UAS-Sitka Campus for a dog agility course taught by Karen and Susan Royce.
The course teaches jumps, tunnels, pause box, and weave poles. The class runs 6-7 p.m. Tuesdays Sept. 3-Oct. 8. Call 747-7700 for more information.
