Welcome to our website.
We promise to keep updating it if you promise to keep visiting!
Click here for upcoming events.
Please “Like” us on facebook and follow us on twitter.
_____________________________
We are very grateful to the First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven for their ongoing support of our work.
We are excited to announce that after a hiatus last year, our rain barrel program is resuming this spring and summer. Contact us if you would like to attend one of our rain barrel installation and maintenance workshops. After attending you will receive a free rain barrel to take home. The first workshop of the season is May 18 in Beaver Hills (please register to get details) and the next one will be in July, followed by another in September, details TBA. Hope you can join us!
We mourn the loss of our treasured friend Bob “Bobcat” Carruthers: teacher, bioregionalist, busker, flutist, guitarist, bluesman, mentor, tinkerer, astronomer, popcorn maker, moonshine mixer, philosopher, guru of simple living, good-naturedness and goodwill. A master teacher and practitioner of bioregionalism, Bobcat and his free spirit and life-affirming sense of humor will never be forgotten. He is now a star in the night skies he loved so much. Thank you, friend.
We had a great time this morning visiting the new nature preserve at Brickyard Point in North Haven, which was formerly a highly polluted brownfield site (the Upjohn Chemical plant) that has now been reclaimed as a wetlands preserve and nature center! There are excellent trails, numerous interpretive signs, osprey nesting platforms, and beautiful views from two scenic overlooks. Currently you have to make a reservation to visit but we will be organizing a group trip there next spring – stay tuned! 
https://www.brickyardpoint.org/
#quinnipiacbioregion #trails #nature #watershed
We have new barrels available and the final rain barrel workshop of the season will take place on Saturday, Sept. 18 at noon. This is for greater New Haven residents (New Haven, Hamden, East Haven, and Woodbridge), courtesy of the GNH Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) and the Bioregional Group. WPCA provides the barrels and the connection kit with spigot (may need one or two additional pieces of hardware, depending on how you want your set-up), and we will provide the installation training. Save money watering your plants with rainwater, prevent pollution by stopping the sewer lines from backing up when there are downpours. Please contact us if you are interested in attending the workshop and getting your barrel.
The New Haven Bioregional Group began in 2005 as a collaborative effort to “walk the watersheds” of the Quinnipiac Bioregion. Our intellectual and spiritual guide, Peter Berg, built the edifice of bioregionalist philosophy on the foundation of watershed-based thinking and governance. In our 15+ years of existence, we have been early and enthusiastic supporters of watershed coalitions for the West River and the Mill River, which have grown into thriving organizations that catalyze relationships across socioeconomic, racial, age, and geographic boundaries.
In “A River Speaks,” New Haven documentary filmmaker Steve Hamm has created a beautiful, deeply bioregional film that weaves together the human and natural history of one of the principal watersheds of our bioregion. It manages to be both a lyrical visual essay and a compelling, fact-filled narrative that is chock full of science, history, sociology, and philosophy. We hope you can join us for a screening and discussion with Steve for Earth Day this Saturday, April 24!
We have received a number of requests lately regarding rain barrels. Over the last four years, we have given out over 150 *FREE* rain barrels across New Haven and given dozens of demonstrations about installation of rain barrels and best practices for controlling stormwater pollution. We are very proud of this work.
Unfortunately, we are currently out of rain barrels and are unsure when we will be getting a new supply. If you contact us and let us know of your interest, we will make sure you are among the first to be notified when we are able to offer free rain barrels again to the community. Also, please let us know if you would like to host a rainbarrel party at your home, where you invite your friends and neighbors to learn about stormwater, and we bring the free barrels!
[Photo: Lucy Gellman.]
Controlling our stormwater runoff has been one of our top priorities over the last few years. Did you know that stormwater is the #1 source of pollution in most Connecticut waterways, and that millions of gallons of raw sewage flow into New Haven’s rivers and harbor every year because of stormwater-related combined sewer overflows?
We are pleased to share this “Bringing in the Rain” stormwater management educational video, produced in conjunction with Save the Sound and funded by the Greater New Haven Green Fund:
Our sincere thanks to:
___________________________________________
Enjoy and please share!
We are very grateful to local eco-ally Elaine Piraino-Holevoet for compiling this informative “Downsizing Donation Guide” — a tremendous resource for anyone in the New Haven area looking to give away items to worthy nonprofits!
Bioregional Group member Steve King (pictured below in Utah) has compiled a Comprehensive Guide to Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling in the New Haven area. We are very grateful to Steve for developing this tremendous resource. 
Read this NY Times story about why recycling is positive and beneficial but only one part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce waste and protect the environment! Remember to practice all three R’s: REDUCE, REUSE, AND RECYCLE!
[Author Steve King in Utah]
An exciting project to connect different parts of the Mill River watershed with a pedestrian linkage got a major boost recently when the State of Connecticut approved a $289,000 grant for developing two sections of the proposed Trail.
[Photo: Maria Tupper.]
The Bioregional Group has supported the Mill River Trail concept since sponsoring this 2008 walk following the river from the Whitney Museum down to New Haven Harbor. Read more about recent developments here and here.
