Volume XVII, Issue 17 # April 23 - April 29, 2009 |
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Correspondence
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How We Can Be Good to Nature
Dear Bay Weekly:
Last I heard we had gained a few thousand acres for environmental protection while oil industries gained a few hundred thousand acres for exploration. Sounds like a vast difference to me. We need more balance in this energy exploration. All parks should be conserved for the public — especially in these stressful times when we need to look to the beauty of our lands, not to mention to restore the air we breathe. Our parks are places to go to relieve our tensions from what we have done and to restore our balance with nature.
More and more of us choose to recycle. But why are many counties still only collecting 1’s, 2’s, 3’s while businesses are sending more products out in higher numbers that aren’t even collected? When are we going to see more jobs in recycling centers and more recycling centers? And why can’t America recycle more of its trash like other countries (e.g. Switzerland)?
We don’t need more landfills. We need to learn to deal with our trash. We need more sensible, good-paying jobs to revitalize and help us feel good about helping. Be true to nature and she will be good to you.
–Gloria Brennskag, Middle River
Celebrating Our 39th Earth Day
Dear Bay Weekly:
Thirty-nine years after Little Harbor School’s first Earth Day celebration (Jane Elkin’s Bay Reflection, April 16), we celebrate Earth Day in a variety of ways. We have a Green Team and green tips every other week. We constructed a teaching pier that extends into the harbor. Now the marsh grasses are protected from 800 feet, but kids can still study life in the estuary. Grade 2 participates in a beach cleanup. Grade 5 is participating in a worldwide Earth Day event. They will be communicating live with children and schools around the world. Their discussion focuses on energy-efficient and green houses.
I think kids understand the importance of being good stewards of the Earth. Kids and their parents are ahead of institutions that are 40 years old.
–Robin Burdick, Principal: Little Harbor School; Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Rockfish Is Too Good to Waste
Dear Bay Weekly:
With rockfish season underway, I have noticed many fishermen and first mates discarding the backbone, keeping only the two filets.
Keep those backbones! There’s a lot of meat on them. Place the backbone in a casserole dish, add a splash of white wine, lemon juice and some water. Cover with foil. Place in the oven and heat on low (around 220 degress) until you can smell the fish. Remove and let cool. Once cooled, drain liquid from dish. Remove bones from the meat. Flake the meat and make fish cakes the same way you make crab cakes. Fantastic! And they freeze very well.
If you have a garden, keep the head, fins, entrails, etc. Dig a hole in the garden, dump in the remaining fish parts, cover with soil and plant your tomatoes, cukes, whatever, over the fish. It makes a great natural fertilizer.