The sun is still summer-warm, but the season is fading fast, so make the most of your next-tol-last August weekend, and get outside and enjoy our little state.

You can get a jumpstart tonight, with Providence Green Drinks. This casual group will gather at City Farm, offering a chance to meet some of your eco-neighbors and enjoy a tour of this amazing place. On Saturday morning, you can try out up to 50 varieties of local tomatoes at Casey Farm's Coastal Growers Market in North Kingstown, during Tomato Tasting Day, from 9 to noon. Check NNN's Community Calendar for more info.

Also tonight, URI's art exhibit, Beneath the Bay, wraps up at their downtown campus with an artist's reception from 5 to 9. This excellent exhibit features photographs, paintings, historical artifacts, and more, all exploring some facet of Narragansett Bay. Go to the Gallery Night site for more info.

You can also learn about another local culinary delight -- wild mushrooms -- at Audubon's Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge in Exeter, on Saturday morning. A special class from 10 to 1 will take you out searching and end with sample gourmet dishes featuring local fungi. Contact Audubon for more info at 949-5454.

Also coming up soon -- the Waste=Food film on Monday night in Pawtucket, the Bliss Greek dinner on Tuesday in Newport, and also the new Newport Energy Commission will meet that same night.

Images courtesy of URI Feinstein Gallery and Audubon Society of RI.

In our all-too-short summer, it's hard to ever get enough of Newport, especially for those of us who live on the far side of the bridges. But remind yourself that it is really not that far away, bridge tokens are only a dollar apiece, and the long walk from wherever you find to park to wherever you want to go is good for you, and part of the fun.

So here is a great excuse to visit Newport on a summer night -- Bliss Natural Grocer and Cafe, a whole foods restaurant, is hosting dinners once a month to help promote the Source Newport Conference on Sustainable Development and Restoration, coming up in October. "These  dinners provide another venue to demonstrate the innovations that are working here for continued [ecological] independence and sustainability," says Robert Bailey, organizer of the conference.

The next dinner is coming up next Tuesday, August 26, at 7 p.m. and will feature five courses of Greek cuisine. Each meal is prepared by Bliss Chef Alex Hart Nibbrig, using locally grown produce. Cost is just $40 per person, beer and wine included. The evening’s special guest is Sarah Kite of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, who will offer advice for disposing and recycling of household goods. "These sustainability dinners feed body and soul,” said Bailey.
 
You can find Bliss Natural Grocer and Cafe at 311 Broadway, in Newport. Click on the link above for more info and directions. For reservations and information, call (401) 608-2322. 

This award-winning documentary explores how companies such as Nike, Herman Miller and Ford are experimenting with completely clean and sustainable production methods and products following the concept that "waste=food" -- that is, most of what we throw away can actually be put to good use, with a little creative thinking.

You can catch a free showing of the film Monday night, August 25, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Blackstone Valley Visitors Center, at 175 Main Street in Pawtucket. The event is hosted by Ashley Mason, who will also be organizing a Sustainability Study Circle, to continue to learn more about the topics in the film. For more info, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . For a preview of the film, click here.

Urban and Community Forestry Coordinator, R.I. Resource Conservation and Development Area Council...

Click on "More..." for details.

Today, at URI's Narragansett Bay Campus, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has convened a meeting of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, to discuss the impact of global warming on our own Narragansett Bay. The Committee will hear testimony from some of our leading Bay advocates and scientists, including Dr. Kate Moran, of URI's Marine Geomechanics Lab; Grover Fugate of the Coastal Resources Management Council; Dr. Jon Boothroyd, state geologist; John Torgan of Save The Bay; and Dr. Caroly Shumway, of the Nature Conservancy.

Natural News will bring you a report from the scene in a day or two, and we'll also dig up all the links to the written testimony and webcasts, which should be available online soon.

A local group of activists is working to promote a Green Jobs Now agenda for this November's election, and all are welcome to take part. An event will be held September 27, and a meeting will be held next week to come up with a plan for that event. The organizers promise to keep this meeting to 90 minutes or less! Join them at New England Tech, on Post Road in Warwick, on Wednesday, August 27, at 3:30 p.m. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info.

by Michael Clark

Few things seem so natural and benign as a fresh, green lawn, but in fact, the environmental cost of all that brightness is ridiculously high. Here in Rhode Island, upwards of 80,000 gallons of water go to irrigate just one average quarter-acre lawn just for one season. In one North Kingstown subdivision, where special meters were installed, it was discovered that 95 homes used 5.7 million gallons for outside use during last summer, mainly for lawn watering. That was 78 percent of the total water used.

So, you might wonder, does it matter? Don't we have plenty of water? No, not really. In NK, for example, the main water source is the stressed Hunt River, which virtually ran dry in 2005. Across the state, water use doubles and even triples in the summertime, mainly due to lawn irrigation. The result -- stream flows slow down as water levels fall, damaging aquatic habitats. The economy suffers as new industries find the water systems inadequate for their needs. Demands on infrastructure increase, costing huge amounts of money to increase the supply. Aquatic habitats are further degraded as all that water carries excess fertilizers and chemicals from our lawns and pavements into our lakes and streams and coastal waters.

So what can be done about it? Plenty! and it's not hard. It could even be fun. Click on "More..." for the rest of the story.

Just a few days after investigating a fish kill in Barrington's Bullock Cove, Save The Bay Baykeeper John Torgan is checking into an even worse event in Wickford Cove. Check it out for yourself and learn more about it via this YouTube video from STB.

What you can do:

Get informed. Click here to learn more about the causes of nutrient pollution.

Be an advocate for a cleaner Bay. Support hardworking groups like Save The Bay and Clean Water Action. Write to your local legislators and let them know that you care about a clean Bay, and consider the voting records and policies of candidates when you vote. And do your part to reduce nutrient pollution from your home and lawn (click here for more info).

A new group called the Newport Energy & Environment Commission has sprouted in the City by the Sea, an offspring of the former Newport Goes Green Task Force. The purpose of the Commission is to investigate cost-effective methods for the City to conserve energy, improve efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions, and encourage residents to do the same. The movers and shakers behind this effort include Beth Milham, Annie Colella, Marty Grimes, Kara DiCamillo, Jane Dyer, Cathy Coyne and Al Lowe, an energetic and knowledgeable bunch who are sure to contribute a great green force to the City.

You can meet the new Commission at an open meeting on Tuesday, August 26,  7 to 9 p.m., at The Hotel Viking. A cash bar with food and beverage will be available. They will discuss their goals, introduce other groups who are working on compatible goals, and encourage input from residents. The meeting is open to all.

This is deep summer in Rhode Island! The ocean waters are warm at last, the farmers markets have the peak sweet corn, local shops are overflowing with fresh seafood, Waterfire and the Washington County Fair are happening, and it's a great weekend to get outside and enjoy our natural state, with your friends and family.

For a real weekend-day escape, there is always Block Island, or East Beach in Charlestown, or Trustom Pond 's walking trails, or Napatree Point in Watch Hill (you'll have to pay to park, and there are no facilities, but the beach is free). Pack a lunch, start out early, and spend a day in any of these beautiful spots, and you'll feel you've had a true vacation. Bring a book and a blanket and stay for the sunset. Or visit Goosewing Beach in far-off Little Compton, or any of the state's many farms and wineries that are open to the public, or indulge in lunch on the deck at Castle Hill in Newport, or try any of the 22 dining-spots-with-a-view from this Rhode Island Monthly list.

Find more ideas at our NNN Community Calendar, and get outside to enjoy these final weeks of summer, fall will be in the air before you know it.