Connecticut Green Living

If you just moved here from California (as I did in 2001) you are in for a doozy: Winter Storm Benjamin promises to bring a foot or more of snow to the region, below-zero temps and days of sold-out-supplies at your local Big Y. About 205 million people are under some kind of winter weather watch, a watch that promises not only snow and extreme cold, but ice. Unlike the usual Northeast storm, this one also will impact, even paralyze, some parts of the Midwest as well as Southern states, including Mississippi, Texas , and the Carolinas and the Mid Atlantic and parts of the Plains. A growing list of states have declared a state of emergency, including Texas, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, as well as D.C., late this morning. Ice impacts will possibly impact the District Sunday night, following the impact to more Southern regions. Here in Connecticut we will feel the effects of this second-named storm of the season, Benjamin, by Sunday morning. However, the temperatures will quickl...

Governor Dan Malloy announced that in anticipation of Winter Storm Reggie , dangerously cold temps and negative wind chill factors over the next couple of days have forced him to activate the state’s Severe Cold Weather Protocol beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 10, 2017, and remaining in effect through 8:00 a.m. on Monday. The Governor's office issued the following press release to ensure that Nutmeggers stay warm and safe: “Temperatures have been fluctuating a lot lately, which is especially why we want to get word out to the most vulnerable that it will be brutally cold this weekend and anyone in need should seek shelter,” Governor Malloy said. “Following the snowfall that we’re expecting to receive on Friday morning, temperatures will begin to drop for the next couple of days. If anyone is in need of shelter, call 2-1-1 to find the nearest available location.” While activated, the protocol directs staff from the state’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Prot...

The following article originally appeared on Examiner.com, Feb. 13, 2016 Mold. The word conjures up images of two-week old bread in the fridge, that hunk of cheese we accidentally bit into or something we suspect in the crevices of the bathroom tiles. It's that last image this article aims to address. Robert Weitz, owner of RTK Environmental in Fairfield County, says that there are different signs to look for in winter versus summer. In summer, the worry and the danger stem from the humidity and condensation, but sometimes winter brings more insidious challenges. "Ice damming is a big issue," says Weitz. "On Facebook and Twitter we get a lot of traffic [concerning this problem]. [Ice damming means that] when we get a significant amount of snow on the roof, and then the sun on the next day, it causes snow to melt; and that water will end up, naturally, on the roof itself and flow down towards the gutter into the roof ... Now you have water [leaking] into the gu...