Energy Efficiency at Home: It's Not Just About Saving Money

A couple of years ago OG&E began energy efficiency programs in Oklahoma. The goal was to reduce overall use and shift demand from peak periods (2-7 pm in the summer months) to other times during the day. If the goal is reached, Oklahoma ratepayers can avoid the costly and litiguous process of siting and building a new coal or gas-fired power plant. Power plants of any kind take years to site, burn more energy not less and the ratepayers bear all the cost through their bills. Not a good deal but you can do something about it.

To find out more, read Sustainable Shawnee's "Sprouts" blog on the Shawnee News-Star's website.

Crow Family Farms and Shawnee Public Schools Recognized in First Lady's Book "American Grown"

SHAWNEE, Okla. — Shawnee Public Schools received national recognition for their Farm to School program, in part with Crow Farms. Family-owned Crow Farms and Shawnee Public Schools were featured in first lady Michelle Obama’s book, “American Grown.” The book highlights farms and gardens across America promoting healthy eating. Claudia Crow was interviewed about the Shawnee Farm to School program for the book.

For the complete story visit, http://www.news-star.com/features/x69084147/Shawnee-public-schools-get-recognition

Prozac in Drinking Water May Be Link to Autism, Study Says

Consider where your medications and pills end up BEFORE deciding to take them...

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Fish exposed to psychiatric medicines showed gene patterns similar to those found in people with autism, in a study suggesting a link between drugs that get into the human water supply and the brain development disorder.

Researchers put antidepressants Prozac and Effexor, as well as antiseizure drug Tegratol into water tanks of minnows. Tests showed that the same genes turned on in people with autism were also triggered in the fish after exposure, according to a study published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The findings suggest that small amounts of psychiatric medications found in the drinking supply may be a cause of autism, the researchers said. Psychiatric drugs have been linked to autism-like symptoms in studies of rats exposed to the medicines, according to the study.

"An environmental cause is really not on the radar for a lot of people," said study author Michael Thomas, a professor of evolutionary biology at Idaho State University in Pocatello, in a telephone interview. "My sincere hope is that this opens the door to a new question and allows people to look into that possibility."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/06/06/bloomberg_articlesM55YV10YHQ0X01-M57WH.DTL#ixzz1xD4VlxFZ

Cleaner Cruise Lines?

Can the Cruise Industry Clean Up Its Act?
by Micheal Behar

When you board a cruise ship, you’re sailing on some of the planet’s most polluting vessels. Can the industry clean up its act?  Royal Caribbean's new "green" mega-liner still burns the world's dirtiest fuel.

 It’s dawn in early December, and I’m standing barefoot on a deserted beach that overlooks Falmouth, a colonial-era port, population 7,800, on Jamaica’s breezy northern coast, about 90 miles from the capital, Kingston. The air is deliciously cool and silky. Seabirds are pecking in the sand, scavenging for mole crabs at low tide. On the opposite side of the harbor, across shimmering blue water, there is a new $220 million port development for cruise ships.

Click here for the complete article.

Shawnee Community Garden Featured in Oklahoma Gardener!

Check out the May Edition of Oklahoma Gardener to see a seven page profile of our very own Shawnee Community Garden!

Titled, "Growing Together: Community Gardening in Shawnee.” The good folks at State by State Gardening did a great job on the spread. It’s available online and at newsstands statewide.