Connecticut Green Living

Most Americans think the environment is getting worse --about two thirds responded this way to Gallup -- and 63 percent think our government isn't doing enough to protect it. SmileHub is again illuminating how states can raise their green game, as well as who stand as role models. It just released its list of greenest states, and while we are not at the top of the list (we're #13), an honor enjoyed by my home state of California, we've been holding steady in this spot. I sent over a few questions again for Luke Powers, the company's environmental spokesperson and business manager. 1. What is Connecticut doing better than any other state? Luke: Connecticut 's biggest environmental strength is how efficiently it uses resources while keeping pollution levels low. The state ranks 7th in the nation for low energy consumption per capita, 1st for low daily water consumption per capita, and 1st for low landfill waste per capita, demonstrating an exceptional ab...

Stephen Colbert and his team won an Emmy last year, punctuating a brilliant decade of fierce political satire, hijinks, erudite Lord of the Rings-laced humor and a spot-on Biden-in-Aviators. But arguably, that talent only landed well with part of the public, and some critics could have seen this day. I was not necessarily among them, though I told folks at the time I wasn't really a fan. I was too sad about Dave leaving. All of that changed once I got into the show, and especially when I attended. I became such a fan that I attended four times and got to ask him a question. What did he miss of the South? I asked the night Trevor Noah was on to say goodbye to his show. Family, friends, food, he said; then he dug his heel into the floor for a bit - I could see from the light - and looked to the band and laughed, " Pluff mud ." I would later find out from my seatmate, Jennifer, whom I had met because we were both attending singly, that "it is what remains when the ti...

The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, or "NETEC", has compiled clinical guidance, preparedness resources, and educational materials related to hantavirus to support healthcare decisions, as reflected on their website. Access the resource library here . As of this post, Saturday, May 15, 2026, the World Health Organization -- of which the U.S. is no longer a part -- states in relation to the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius outbreak: "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10 hantavirus cases (eight confirmed and two probable) — including three deaths — have been reported among passengers aboard the cruise ship. WHO currently assesses the global public health risk as low. However, more cases could be reported as ship passengers return home, due to the long quarantine of this disease, notes the WHO director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus. (WHO Media Briefing , 5/15/26). It has been widely reported that while the risk is co...

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...

You may have first seen the red and black-winged creature fluttering about your lawn, or outside the store or on a walk with your family. You didn't think too much about it, but one day you mused, 'I don't remember seeing this insect in Connecticut before.' Then it gets worse: you are outside Market 360 or Elm City Market in New Haven and you see a horde of them, most still alive, some smashed dead on the sidewalk. (I have wondered if these critters are coming in on the packages to these markets, but more on that in the future.) I wanted to investigate, first speaking to people off the cuff — from a young woman at the train station to my dentist — and they too have seen them .Turns out these seemingly innocuous creatures are a serious threat to our environment , even while benign to humans. They harm crops including grapes and other fruity plants, and spread a type of sticky substance that produces mold on outdoor equipment, vehicles, clothing, pets and even your hai...

When I stayed with my late mother in South Texas in 2016, there was a Zika Virus * scare, and so even sweeping the back porch was a fraught exercise in mosquito dodgeball. I remember scurrying about so fast that I likely made more of a mess than I helped. Spending summers in South Texas at my grandmother's, I was always mosquito-bite ridden. It was annoying, I itched, but I was young. Remember youth? We were never going to get really sick, much less die. But these days I take, and you should take, the threats posed by mosquitoes and ticks very seriously. ............................ SciLine, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently hosted a panel of scientists to discuss said threats ("Ticks, Mosquitoes and Rising Disease Risk"). Some of the takeaways were that climate change can, but does not necessarily portend, the deletirious effects of mosquito and tick season on a population. Interestingly, changes in land use also play huge facto...