Ideas (and Animals) Fly at Tosa Green Summit

A chicken tried its best to take to the air.

A butterfly did so, fluttering across the room to the delight of those who noticed.

But the turtle in attendance stayed put on terra firma.

At the Tosa Green Summit, held for its third year Wednesday evening at the , all were welcome regardless of species. The event is intended as a community affair where anyone can learn about sustainable and cost-saving methods to help one's self and one's neighbors live lighter upon our corner of the Earth.

Kilbourn, the hen with aeronautic aspirations, belongs to Jessica Lane of Cream City Hens, a group that promotes urban egg-farming.

"I'm here mostly to educate people," Lane said. "That's what it's all about. People think it's gross and dirty but it isn't. Plus – free eggs!"

Lane's feathered friends, Kilbourn and Milwaukee (who did not wish to fly but stayed calmly perched on her keeper's shoulder) were the best advertisements for a nationwide movement to allow the keeping of laying hens in urban back yards. But Lane had plenty of benefits to tout.

The eggs "are pretty good," she said. "The yolks are bigger and brighter. And they have almost twice the vitamin D" of factory-farm eggs.

"You get eggs and then you get compost," Lane said, "which I think is just as good."

Lane said healthy chickens that lay good eggs need sunshine, exercise and access to grass and insects to nibble on, all of which can be found in the average back yard.

Cassie Mordini staffed the booth of the Urban Ecology Center, where she is a development assistant who just started her job in March.

"The big thing we've got going on right now is our Earth Day Festival on April 30," Mordini said. "We've got lots of activities in both locations, Riverside Park and Washington Park.

"In the morning we have a Weed-Out scheduled, and later there will be animals to feed and pet – depending on the animals, of course.

"Weather permitting, at Washington Park there will be canoeing on the lagoon."

Maureen Badding had a table at the front to get a jump on letting people know about the upcoming Village Green Street Fair on June 4.

"Our entertainment has been really ramped up this year," Badding said, "and we'll have a children's craft area using recycled items.

"We did the Unity Drum Circle last year, and it was so popular we're bringing that back."

Barb Agnew, the godmother of the Monarch Trail on the County Grounds, brought an unseasonably early tiger swallowtail butterfly to the Green Summit, and it took flight after getting its picture taken.

"It'll be fine," Agnew said. "It'll land on the window blinds." Sure enough, it did.

Agnew's project promotes the protection of monarch butterfly habitat surrounding the Eschweiler buildings on the County Grounds, where UWM is building its . Each year, hundreds and sometimes thousands of monarchs come to roost in groves of trees in the area during their migration to Mexico.

Joyce Boyland took a break from her Transit NOW booth to visit the Wisconsin Department of Transportation exhibit next to Agnew's. She wanted to know what the DOT was doing about stormwater runoff in the Zoo Interchange Project.

"We're studying the whole watershed, Honey Creek, Underwood Creek and the Menomonee River," said Tim Anheuser, an advising engineer to the DOT, "instead of just looking at the right-of-way. We're learning that past practices like outfalls every so many feet may not be the best idea.

"We're anxiously awaiting the results."

Boyland's Transit NOW display showed some interesting and startling information: Individuals in dense urban areas like downtown Milwaukee produce about 2.5 tons per year of carbon dioxide, while those in outlying suburban areas produce a whopping 12 tons because of driving habits. Wauwatosa, close to the urban core, falls closer to the low end of emissions.

"We promote a regional transit plan," Boyland said. "Cars and trucks make up a huge amount of the pollution in the world. But it's also about the people themselves. There are perfectly qualified people who can't afford a reliable or fuel-efficient car.

"If we had transit service, thins would just be more reliable."

The City of Wauwatosa itself had two displays at the Green Summit, one featuring the groundbreaking brownfields study, which has mapped historical site contamination, allowing the city, developers and citizens to learn what unseen problems lurk before they invest in a tract; and the Parks and Foresty Department, promoting urban trees and offering tips for being watchful for the emerald ash borer.