Sometimes, obeying the law can be hazardous to your health.

Last fall, we beat the Christmas rush in our house and bought a hybrid vehicle -- a Honda Civic from our friends as Piazza Honda to be exact.

Being a research-oriented household, we spent hours on the Edwards.com site and Consumer Reports, checking mileage, crash ratings and the feng shui of upholstery hues (OK, not really on that last one, but sometimes it felt like that).

Anyway, I'm partial to Hondas as the last one we had, referred to with mixed affection as "Frankencar," kept on chugging for 192,000 miles or so with little problems except the body damage that comes from too many New York winters.

(A side note here, as you may have guessed, I come originally from the Empire State and I went to college in Upstate New York. PA may have the legend of Valley Forge, but I have to tell you, from my experience, 10 years and I have yet to see a Keystone winter that matches the mildest in Syracuse.)

Anyway, enough bragging.

As was noted on our Green Pages until this afternoon when I changed it, our feature story had to do with hybrid owners who often compete amongst themselves not for the most torgue or the best pick-up, but for the best mileage.

Given that our economic justification for buying the hybrid calculated how much we would save in gas costs, I admit to gleefully joining this often-annoying and occasionally condescending fraternity.

Contrary to all advertising and intuition, it seems I get better mileage on the highway than the city.

I suspect it's because in tooling around Pottstown, the stops are more often stop signs than stop-lights. The engine on this nifty little car, which I have dubbed "Egbert" because of it's egg-like appearance, shuts off when you come to a stop.

At a stop-light, I suspect this equation works out because of how long you must wait for the light to turn green. But at a stop-sign, shutting down and immediately turning back on again probably saves little gas and in fact, probably consumes more than just running while at the stop sign.

Egbert comes, of course, with all finds of fancy electronic gadgets for showing how smart you are for buying the car and I am not above showing them off to those lucky enough to get a spot in my passenger seat (beige in color in case you were wondering).

The two most significant are a display that tracks your mileage in real time, and another which shows your overall mileage for a trip.

Because I re-set one of the trip odometers every time I fill the tank, it gives me a good idea of how Egbert is doing.

So last weekend, we drove up to New York for my niece's 12th birthday (a shout-out here to Zoe Rae Maxfield. You rock.) and I was, needless to say, watching these gauges almost more than I was watching the road.

This was my wife's first long trip in Egbert and she was amused at my obsession with the mileage, and my obnoxious practice of calling it out as it got better and better.

Soon, however, she became alarmed.

That's because to get the best mileage, I had to set the cruise control around 57 miles per hour.

On I-78 and particularly on I-287 in New Jersey, this proved to be a death wish.

The average speed (indeed my own average speed before I got to see how it gulps gas) is about 75 mph, this being, of course, because the speed limit is 65 mph.

On more than one occasion, I tore my eyes away from the mileage calculator to see some SUV's grill-work in unnaturally clear detail in my rear view mirror.

Finally, Karen convinced me to pick up the pace a little, arguing, convincingly, that our mileage average would suffer severely if we were killed in a car accident.

Sixty-seven mph gave us adequate mileage (we topped out at 44 miles per gallon) and kept us moving quickly enough along to prevent enraged drivers from seriously considering putting a crack in Egbert's thin shell.

It served as an interesting lesson in how having relevant information can change behavior.

Until Egbert's purchase, I was one of those 75 mph guys cursing the slow poke in the right lane, which I justifiably wanted to use to pass the tanker truck hogging up the center lane.

Now that I realize money was on the line -- it being increasingly tight in George W. Bush's America -- I was suddenly a concientious citizen of the road, shaking my fist like the quintessential angry old codger at those who prevented me from puddling along in the slow lane.

I conveyed this annecdote to my best friend, who for mysterious reasons moved his family to Florida a few years ago, and he said in his experience, people are slowing down to save gas in the land of eternal humidity as well.

"It used to be everyone was driving 80, but they've mostly slowed down to 70 now," he said without a trace of irony.

Anyone, myself included, who doubted the strength of "market forces" should take note. Americans have been moved toward more eco-centric driving habits, but not by appeals to their conscience, not by appeals to responsibility or common sense, but rather by a bigger bite out of their wallets.

No matter the reason, it's long over-due.

But as my Florida friend made clear, we still have a long way to go.

The Brave and Bold: Those who braved the waters of the Perkiomen Creek on the first-even Perkiomen Creek Sojourn.

About this time of year, I always get jealous.

I get jealous because it's Sojourn Time and now, this year, a brand new one has been added to the local schedule, so now I have two things to be jealous about.

My schedule and familial duties prevented me from going on the first-ever Perkiomen Creek Sojourn, May 17, but now that I've ready Crystal Gilchrist's press release about the event, as I've said, I'm jealous.

Gilchrist is the executive director of the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy and it was her organization that sponsored the jaunt as a way to boost awareness about the creek and its watershed.

And it would appear, judging from what she wrote and the weather reports for the day before, that one of the things the kayakers became aware of is how to handle themselves in high water.

It's pretty and it's vital but the Perkiomen Creek is also the largest tributary of the Schuylkill River and it's not to be taken lightly.

In fact Gilchrist's release notes that nine of the 31 people who signed up decided their respect for the creek was too great to try their hand at mastering discharge rates of 1,000 cubic feet per second.

For the mathematically challenged (put me at the head of that line), allow me to provide here the graphic picture provided by Crystal. -- "When the USGS gage indicates that the water is discharging at 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) that means that 1,000 packages of water, one foot wide by one foot high by one foot deep are passing a given discharge point on the creek every second. Where the creek is wide, there is space for these 1,000 packages to spread out and pass the discharge point side by side. But where the creek is restricted in width, the cubic foot packages of water must pile on top of each other and speed up in order to get the same 1,000 cubic feet of water past the discharge point in a second. In these locations, the water is moving very quickly and with great force."

In other words: "Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!"

Understand, this can be dangerous. In 2000, the year I muddled through the Schuylkill River Sojourn (seven days, not seven hours!) a man and his son drowned trying to paddle the Perkiomen.

However, that is the same year I learned that it is much more fun to paddle a fast-moving watercourse than to struggle against the wind and current to log just a few miles and a desperate need for shiatsu massage.

I hope the folks at the conservancy do another sojourn next year and I hope this year's sponsors -- Keenan, Ciccitto and Associates in Collegeville -- found it rewarding enough to continue to foot the bill.

If they do, no doubt everyone will come to the same realization as the folks at the Schuylkill River Sojourn, which is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year -- that one year can be the opposite of the next.

In 1999, it was so hot and the water so low on the Schuylkill (sponsored by the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area) that there was more carrying of canoes than paddling.

The next year, when I went, it rained so much I was shivering, but there was little wading and the swift water carried us to our camp sites hours ahead of schedule.

If you want to get a taste of what a sojourn is like, this year's Schuylkill flotilla paddles June 7 through June 14 and arrives in the greater Pottstown area June 9. If you're curious, join the paddlers when they land for the entertainments planned for them and talk to them about the trip. Believe me, they are always willing to talk about it -- often breathlessly.

On June 9, stop by Allegheny Aqueduct Park on River Road in Gilbraltar and you can also hear presentations, starting at 7 p.m., about historic exploration or surviving in challenging conditions.

On June 10, they'll arrive in Pottstown's Riverfront Park and from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., you can hear a free performance by East Side Dave and the Mountain Folk Band.

If birds of prey are your thing, mark June 11 on your calendar when a presentation of live birds of prey will be offered by Antonia Davis of Mill Grove at St. Michael's Pavilion in Mont Clare, starting at 7 p.m.

According to Sue Fordyce at the heritage area, this year's sojourn may be among the biggest, with "hundreds of people every day."

It's great to see these events taking hold and taking off. As someone who has paddled the Schuylkill and the upper Delaware, I can tell you it provides a whole new perspective on these great resources right in our own backyards.

As Americans, we don't really express the will of the people through voting (as apathetic voter turnouts sadly demonstrate) but rather through purchasing.

A true consumer nation, we vote with our wallets.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, did President Bush ask us to buckle down and sacrifice as we geared up to fight the terrorists?

No, he urged us to teach the terrorists a lesson by going shopping.

I’m sure that had them quaking in their caves.

So when Americans decide they want to “go green” (and no, that doesn’t mean root for the Eagles!) they are most likely to do it not by choosing a candidate based on his or her environmental policies, but with what they buy.

Haunted by lurking eco-guilt that, like buyer’s remorse, pounces moments after you leave the cash register with some wastefully over-packaged product, American consumers are increasingly looking for a way to do the right thing, by buying the right thing.

(Like how I made that clever link to my headline?)

Any-hoo, whenever Americans have a desire, other Americans will try to make a buck satisfying it.

And three stories in The New York Times that caught my eye in the past week exemplify this trend and how the American entrpreneur may yet help save America from itself without having to make sacrifices, something my generation seems woefully incapable of doing.

(Reader Warning: Given that my technological expertise is largely limited to spreading butter on bread, be forewarned that rather than provide the easy link to these stories, I must lamely post the actual addresses into this here blog in case you want to go read said stories for yourself. Just highlight the address, then copy and paste it into your browser window. My apologies to the techno-savvy, but hey, until a few months ago, I still had dial-up too.)

The first article -- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/garden/15paint.html?scp=1&sq=The+promise+of+green+paint&st=nyt – has to do with paint, a most troublesome substance from an environmental standpoint, but most necessary for fixing up the old houses green living suggests we re-use.

Oil-based paints, which once lasted the longest, are also the most toxic. And the trade-off that always seems to come hand-in-hand with green products is that it costs more but works less well. I found this to be the case with my attempts to unclog my drains in a green fashion.

In the case of many green paints, experience suggests more coats may be necessary to get the same coverage which may not last as long..

But the important thing is, we’re trying, and, even more importantly, we’re succeeding. When you hear politicians talking about green-collar jobs, this is the kind of stuff they’re talking about.

There are even more exciting trends in other industries.

Featured in another Times article – http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/business/smallbusiness/21tooth.html?ex=1212033600&en=d91f7d8ffee2811c&ei=5070&emc=eta1 -- was Recycline, a Massachusetts company making plastic consumer products entirely from discarded plastic consumer products, particularly used yogurt and cottage cheese containers.

Sold under the “Preserve” brand, the company has a supply arrangement with Stonyfield Farms, which provides used yogurt containers provided by customers who have used them.

Most ingenious is the fact that all these recycled products – primarily toothbrushes and kitchenware -- are themselves, recyclable and come with a pre-paid envelope for mailing them back to the company for another round of re-use when they are re-made into plastic lumber for decking and benches..

“Customers are part of our supply chain,” company founder Eric Hudson, a wiry environmentalist who drives a Volkswagen powered by cooking oil, told the Times.
In this May 21, 2008 article -- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/business/smallbusiness/21image.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=The+Goal+Is+to+Do+the+right+Thing&st=nyt&oref=login – readers learn about a company called Terracycle that makes fertilizer that is unique for two important reasons.

First, the product is made by feeding trash to worms and then harvesting the nutrient rich end-product, which makes it, in the words of its co-founder “green to the extreme.”

Secondly, and this is important, it costs the same as other fertilizers.

These folks seem to understand that you can appeal to the conscience of the American consumer and grab a certain portion of the market. But if you can match the competition on price point, you’ve made the green choice that much easier for them to make.

That, my friends, is truly the American way.

So far in this blog, I have managed to keep politics at bay, which is something I never promised to do, but something which, I think, keeps us focused more on what we have in common than what we don't share.

As you might have guessed, I'm breaking with that tradition today.

Sometimes, something comes along which is so bone-headed, so counter-productive, that to say nothing after you find out about it is, in and of itself, a political statement.

As anyone who has read my columns in The Mercury has probably guessed by now that I am no great fan of the Bush administration, something I now share, if recent polls are to be believed, with about 80 percent of my fellow Americans.

Something else I share with, what I suspect are a majority of my fellow Americans, is a near-reverent appreciation for our national parks.

As a child, my parents took my sister and I on many trips wherein we visited some of America's most stunning natural spectacles -- the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain National Park, Arcadia, Mt. Ranier, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Arches national parks.

Those experiences changed me forever and helped me to understand how things can be so different, and yet all be the same in the natural world.

And we have treasures right here too.

Right down the road, we have Valley Forge, and Gettysburg a short drive away.

It seems that, with increasing frequency, we have to defend these assets not only from developers who want to cash in on the popularity of a publicly owned landmark by encroaching ever closer on its borders, but even from the increasingly compliant government whose charge is supposed to be protecting this national heritage for all time.

Which brings me back to politics.

Those who have been playing close attention to how the Bush administration operates may have noticed that Dick Cheney long ago learned that achieving unpopular goals is much easier by working the many levered handles of bureaucracy, then by publicly asking permission of a voter-sensitive Congress.

Thus many things the American people would unlikely vote for have been implemented by quietly changing some arcane rules.

The latest chapter was revealed in a Washington Post report I posted today on our Green Spotlight on the Green Pages. Since I am unable to get this dang computer to properly insert the handy "just click here" link, I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way and just tell you the address for the article.
It is http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051502880.html?sub=AR

What it boils down to is that the now-absurdly named Environmental Protection Agency is thinking of making an arcane change in its rules to allow them to change the way air pollution is calculated.

This has alarmed many park workers and park advocates who have for 30-some years been tracking poor air quality at a number of national parks, Great Smokey Mountains being, ironically, among the worst.

A study by the National Parks Conservation Association three years ago found that one of every three of the parks is choking on pollution, according to ABC News.

Of the 390 parks within the National Park System, 150 are located in places that fail to meet one or more national healthy-air standards.

From Acadia National Park in Maine to the Cascades in Washington state, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and mercury can be found at air-monitoring stations in spite of a 30-year congressional mandate to restore clean air to the parks for this and future generations.

Now the EPA is trying to undermine that mandate with a rule change that would allow the construction of new coal-fired power plants, the number one generator of this kind of air pollution nearer to national parks than is currently allowed.

To do this, they need to get around a federal rule, enacted by that pesky Congress in the Clean Air Act, which requires the highest level of air pollution reductions in "Class 1" areas, which include our national parks.

According to the Energy Information Administration, there are 3,200 power plants in the United States, the majority of them fueled by coal.

A General Accounting Office report says that together they emit 35 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide, 37 percent of its mercury, 23 percent of its nitrogen oxides, and 67 percent of its sulfur dioxide.

"Spikes" in those pollutants, which coincide with high demands for electricity and which have been measured at the parks for 30 years, would be ignored under the EPA's proposed changes.

Instead, the pollutants would be "averaged" and spread out over a longer period of time, which would have the effect of making them seem less harmful.

"It's like if you're pulled over by a cop for going 75 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone, and you say, 'If you look at how I've driven all year, I've averaged 55 miles per hour,' " Mark Wenzler, director of the National Parks Conservation Association's clean-air programs, told the Post. "It allows you to vastly underestimate the impact of these emissions."

Hopefully, the administration has underestimated Congress' willingness to have its mandates undermined by bureaucracy and Congress will put a stop to this before it's too late.

Otherwise, the next time you take your family to a national park, it may not be the view that leaves you breathless.

Well, it finally happened.

Someone (other than friends and relatives cheering me on from the sidelines) read my blog and e-mailed me a response. The circular miracle of electronic communication is now complete!

I'm so happy I could rush out and recycle ... I don't know ... something really hard to recycle .... like ... old smelly sweat socks.

OK, that would be really hard, but you get the idea.

My correspondent is a fellow named Nathan A. Núñez, Director of Marketing & Advertising for NLR, Inc. in East Windsor, CT.

OK, so he's being paid to write to me, but hey, I takes 'em where I can gets 'em.

Anyway, Mr. Núñez works for a company that is marketing a way to recycle those efficient and delicious but mildly toxic compact fluorescent bulbs I blogged about two blogs ago.

(I wonder, I'm new to this, can a blog be both a verb and a measurement of time? Well, it's a brave new world, so I guess it can be, at least on this here blog of mine, if I say it can.)

Anyway, NLR stands for Northeast Lamp Recycling, or at least it did until they got all 21st century on us and changed their name to Next Level for Recycling.

They call it "moving to the next level" whatever that means.

What it means to me is they are providing a valuable service to close one of those pesky Eco-Catch-22s of trying to do the right enviro-thing.

According to the press release Mr. Núñez brilliantly attached to his correspondence, the company just "unveiled the nation's first 'self-service' compact fluorescent recycling display along with a homeowner CFL recycling program."

As I wrote two blogs ago, these energy efficient bulbs have an Achilles heel, they contain mercury which, unlike The Mercury newspaper, which writes me a nice check every week, is not good for your health (mental or otherwise).

Enter my new friends at NLR, who write: "Many individuals & businesses
purchase CFLs to save energy, money & to help the environment but have an
increasingly difficult time finding where to recycle these used lamps. The
proper management & recycling of CFLs through programs like COM-PAK and
Household-PAK are key to effective "Green" sustainability. Both the COM-PAK
& Household-PAK programs are available nationwide only though NLR or
nlr-compak.com."

Because they were nice enough to contact me, I will return the favor and provide a way for you to contact them (isn't this open communication thing nifty?).
For more information, visit www.nlr-green.com or call 877.8.2bgreen ext.108

Now I don't know if you're going to have to drive all the way to Connecticut to get rid of those bulbs with a clean conscience, but I'll leave that to you and them to work out.

Also, I don't want to leave anyone out here. I'd also like to give a shout-out to another of The Thin Green Line's readers who offered a solution a little closer to home.

In case you haven't seen it further down on the previous light bulb post, a mysterious reader identified only as Malena, posted a response that said: "Well, I was an enthusiastic early adopter of compact fluorescent bulbs and my first bulbs from when we moved into our house in Pottstown around 10 years ago started burning out last year. I saved the bulbs along with batteries and other miscellaneous items and took them to one of the Montgomery County hazardous household waste pickups. The information for this year's pickups are on the borough website. They don't specifically state CFL, but it is a hazardous waste and the person who took them seemed to know exactly what to do with them. Until LED lightbulbs become affordable, the compact fluorescents are the best option we have, in my opinion."

How about that, your government doing something for you efficiently, effectively and at no charge!

Next thing you know, we'll get property tax relief! (OK, let's not get crazy now.) We'll just settle for handling a little pesky eco-problem with which some of us were wrestling.

As you can see dear readers, I get all excited about interacting with people trying to navigate their way through these puzzling eco-issues just like I am. Post a response to this blog or by e-mail me at brandt.evan@gmail.com and you might become famous too!

A number of years ago, I got into a heated barroom debate (imagine that!) with an environmentalist of the granola-crunching, Birkenstock-wearing variety.

Nothing against Birkenstocks, my wife swears by them, but you know the stereotype I mean.

It was my argument that until the environmental movement changes its focus to engage the interest, and thus the cooperation, of a population broader than those just concerned about saving whales and baby seals, it is destined to remain marginalized.

What people need to understand, I said, was not that animals needed to be saved for their own cute and cuddly sake, but because they symbolized a visible aspect of the overall environment on which we depend, and future generations will depend, to survive as a species.

In other words, folks needed to understand that baby seals and bee colonies have a lot in common with coal mine canaries. They die, and then we die. It's that simple.

She insisted instead that the entire population must be brought around to her way of thinking because she was right.

I wished her luck with that and suggested that perhaps she might have had enough to drink.

Flash-forward 20 years and global warming, one collapsing ocean fishery after another and the looming prospect of $4-a-gallon gas, has made the case for me.

Everyone is interested.

And no more clearer evidence that everyone is taking notice can be found than an item I spotted recently on the Environmental News Service wire. (I must have missed it in my scrupulous reading of the sports pages.)

It seems that those Fightin' Phils have seen the light -- the green light that is.

The Phillies have signed up to purchase 20 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy to serve the 43,500-seat Citizens Bank Park.

With that commitment, the Phillies became the largest green power purchaser in major league baseball. You don't get more mainstream American than that.

The purchase, which will offset the stadium's carbon footprint, will avoid the emission of greenhouse gases equivalent to a year's worth of driving by 2,800 vehicles.

It will also make them the third largest green power purchaser in Philadelphia and the seventh largest in Pennsylvania.

But they're not done there.

Frying oil from the stadium is being recycled to create biofuel.

Glass, plastic and cardboard from each game day is recycled; the carry-out trays are 100 percent post-consumer fiber and the food the fans are buying at the park is all locally grown.

Lighting is being converted to energy saving light-emitting diodes, which take 80 percent less power than incandescent bulbs and last years longer.

But wait! There's still more!

Even the clean-up is green, with the crew at the stadium using environmentally friendly cleaning products and a bio-enzyme to remove grease trapped in kitchen drain pipes rather than toxic chemicals which inevitably find their way into our rivers, bays, oceans and drinking water.

Not that we weren't already fans (my 9-year old son would disown me if I didn't mention here that Chase Utley rules!), but now we can enjoy America's pastime without that nagging enviro-guilt creeping into everything we do these days.

Not that there's anything wrong with saving whales and baby seals, but if you want to save the whole planet for our children and our grandchildren -- sappy as it sounds, it is no less true -- you have to involve the whole planet.

So you want to do your bit for the environment, reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the amount of power used to light your home?

Good for you!

After all, lighting accounts for close to 20 percent of the average home's electric bill.

And certain types of bulbs now available on the market, compact fluorescent light bulb -- or CFL as those of us who live in the Enviro-Geek Kingdom often call them -- use up to 75 percent less energy than regular incandescent bulbs, the design of which has not changed much since Mr. Edison first said voila!

And yes, they cost more money, but they also last up to 10 times longer than incandescents so the money evens out generally.

But the benefits are pretty significant during this here undeclared energy crisis of ours.

"If every home in America replaced just one incandescent bulb with a CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars," according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Just one problem. This same environmental boon can also be an environmental bane because they contain a toxic chemical.

Now understand, as a Mercury reporter for more than 10 years, I don't always believe The Mercury can be hazardous to your health.

However, when you're talking about the element, that's a different story.

Mercury can cause brain damage and developmental problems in fetuses and young children, according to The Environmental Report.

The amount of mercury in these bulbs is small, about 5 milligrams -- about 100 times less mercury than is in your average household thermometer -- and getting smaller all the time. But it's nothing to ignore.

So, two things: 1) what do you do if you break one? 2)How do you get rid of them when they burn out?

First, if you break one, know that mercury can linger in your house if you don't clean it up right away.

Here's how -- get pets, kids and people who aren't cleaning it up out of the room, open a window and leave the room yourself for about 15 minutes.

When you come back, use stiff paper, like index cards or playing cards, to pick up the larger pieces of glass. Use duct tape's sticky side (it really does fix everything!) to get the smaller pieces, then put it all in a glass jar with a lid and take it out of the house.

DO NOT use a vacuum, as this can spread mercury vapors throughout your house.

If a bulb breaks on clothing or bed clothes, discard them. Don't wash it as it can contaminate your washing machine or put mercury into the sewage line.

Now, presuming you've managed to light your home with one of these babies until it burns out, you face the dilemma of what do do with it. After all, sending mercury to your local landfill is generally considered an environmental no-no for true believers.

Some states prohibit putting these bulbs in the trash, but Pennsylvania is not one of them. Further, the newer bulbs have a low-enough amount of mercury in them that the state does not consider them hazardous waste.

There is a list of fluorescent lamp recyclers on the DEP Web site, but they are not the kind of place Joe Homeowner can drop off a bulb or two for a clean conscience.

Steve Ickeler, vice president of Corporate Lamp Recycling in Kennett Square, said companies in his line of work generally contract with big office buildings.

He said there have been one or two inquiries from Montgomery County municipalities about doing a collection drop off, but nothing has been put in place yet.

I can tell you that the bulbs we were given at the Pottstown Historic Home Show last month can be recycled by returning them to the Montgomery County Community College West Campus in Pottstown, which gave them out.

Other than that, stay tuned.

The grass was green.

The parking lot was porous.

And in the center, stood John Hoekstra, director of watershed advocacy for Green Valleys Association, holding court.

The occasion was the Chester County organization's annual Enviro-fest and it was a veritable cornucopia of information about everything green.

Hoekstra, who knows more about local stream ecology and the patchwork of laws that generally fails to protect it than I will ever forget, was giving a pep talk to a small group of gritty volunteers about attempts by the state legislature to address the issue, and why, influenced by the building lobby, they probably wouldn't work.

A few feet away, a table set up for State Sen. John Rafferty was there to assure those in attendance that the good senator does indeed care about the environment.

At one booth, an expert talked about the important pollination role played by bees and expressed dismay about the colony collapse disorder that has plagued this insect.

Further along, a table offered information about a new green building development, Kimberton Green, a condominium complext combining the age-old elements of a classic village, with the modern green tchnology like geothermal heating and cooling, solar photovoltaic electricty and smar home technology that tracks and controls energy use.

Another company called "Greenable," had samples of sustainable building materials, including information I've been seeking abotu a green material to replace my sagging side porch, now more of a hazard to my health than TCE in my air.

And since we're talking about basics like shelter, let's also talk about another one -- food.

Maysie's Farm Conservation Center in Ludwig's Corner (Motto: Think Globally, Eat Locally) espouses a sustainable practice called Community Supported Agriculture.

Made more relvant by headlines about food shortages, the idea is to eat food that's grown nearby.

To ensure the farmer has the capital needed to plant a crop, local "members" buy into the crop ahead of time. Then, when harvest comes, come and pick up your fresh produce, without the carbon footprint of having it shipped up from Chile.

And while we're talking basics, let's not forget my favorite part -- the FREE BEER!

Seriously, they had free beer.

Victory Brewing Company, a Downington microbrewery, was on hand with samples of Sunrise Weissbier, a delicious Bavarian Hefewiezen with a nice cistrus snap.

Did I mention it was free?