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When my boyfriend proposed that the two of us canoe through the Gowanus Canal, I was mortified.  The smell!  The filth!  He wanted me to canoe in the troubled body of water that has recently reached an all-time low of being listed as a Superfund National Priority!  Secretly my griping eventually turned into guilt.  Maybe it would be good to get involved, learn the history and see the improvements being made to an area just a few blocks from our home.  Here is our story of canoeing in Brooklyn.

Firstly, for those that don’t know, the Gowanus Canal is a lamented waterway in Brooklyn, NY that once served as a busy cargo transportation hub until the 1950’s.  It has been neglected and misused since then.

Our day began by meeting up with The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club as a part of
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There are millions of reasons I love New York. Between the pace and the pizza, it’s impossible to choose just one–so I’ll share one of the more inspiring reasons to love this city: local nonprofit City Harvest. In a place where people can seem too busy, seeing a City Harvest truck (or bike!) pass by is an uplifting reminder to extend compassion to those less fortunate.

City Harvest is a food rescue organization dedicated to feeding the hungry, helping over 300,000 New York City men, women and children find their next meal each week. This committed group collects millions of pounds of extra food from restaurants, grocers, cafeterias and farms–and delivers it free of charge to almost 600 community food programs throughout the city.

Not only do they feed and educate millions of New Yorkers each year, connecting local, farm-fresh goods to high-need areas, but City Harvest salvages tons of great food that would otherwise go to waste.  How amazing (and sustainable) is that?

Their goal this season is to collect 28 million pounds of nourishing food to feed the hungry.

Want City Harvest to be our next Better to Give partner? Click here to vote.

Want to make a difference? Line-drying your clothes is an easy and effective way to reduce your carbon footprint. This week we’re celebrating 10/10/10 with our friends at Project Laundry List. Stay tuned to theGoods for a chance to win a WindowDry rack and join the line-drying movement.

Break out your overalls: Painting your roof white could help combat global warming. “Cool roofs are one of the quickest and lowest-cost ways we can reduce or global carbon emissions and begin the hard work of slowing climate change,” says Energy Secretary Steven Chu.  [CNBC]

Roofs strike again: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a new blue-and-green colored roofing system for catching and storing rainwater, meant to reduce sewer overflows and lower costs by $2.4 billion over the next 20 years.  [Reuters]

More than a drop in the bucket: The 2010 Sustaining Colorado Watersheds conference kicks off in Vail tomorrow through Thursday, October 7. Speakers like Jon Waterman will be pipping up on how to maintain and protect our waterways.  [Colorado Watershed Assembly]

In the meantime, we’ll be doing out part to reduce water usage in Brooklyn with a cool, patent-pending product that’s just hit the U.S.: the water pebble. This brilliant device tracks your running water and helps quicken showers by incrementally shortening recommended stop times. We’re particularly excited to be its exclusive U.S. retailer. Check it out here. [UncommonGoods via Water Pebble]

Efficiency standards might get more mileage: Fuel efficiency standards for the next generation of cars and trucks are looking up–literally. Regulators of near-future vehicle production are said to be raising standards from anywhere between 47 to 62 miles per gallon by 2025. [CNBC]

Oceana’s latest energy report is a win-wind: Offshore wind “outperforms” oil and gas by producing 30% more electricity, costing $36 billion less than fossil fuel production and creating “about three times as many jobs per dollar invested.” Read all about it here. [Eco Friendly Mag via Wind Energy Update via Oceana]

Join the countdown to global campaign 10/10/10! It’s a high-energy movement for reducing global emissions in 2010 by 10%, and it’s gearing up this Sunday. We’ve been biking to work these days–how will you chop your emissions this year? For details on 10/10/10, click here. [10/10/10]