Organizers of the 2008 CVS Caremark Downtown 5K, billed as the state’s largest road race, have decided to “go green” by collecting and recycling the wide variety of wastes generated by the 10,000 to 12,000 people expected to attend on Sunday, Sept. 21.

The green effort is being organized in conjunction with the City of Providence.

Organizers plan to recycle 15,000 plastic water bottles, 800 plastic gallon jugs, 1,000 plastic juice containers, hundreds of metal drink cans and 100 T-shirt boxes.

The city’s Department of Public Works will provide thirty 30-gallon recycling bins and several toters on race day. Each bin can accommodate about 100 plastic bottles or 150 cans. The toters will handle the cardboard.

Also, a 20-yard recyclables Dumpster will be donated for the race by Waste Management, the city’s private hauler.

“In addition to offering a healthy and competitive activity that appeals to runners of all ages, the CVS Caremark Downtown 5K now has the added feature of being environmentally friendly,” said Eileen Howard Dunn, the company’s senior vice president of corporate communications and community relations.”

Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline said he applauded CVS Caremark for being proactive “in making the Downtown 5K an eco-friendly event and helping to sustain the environment for future generations.”

The 5K race begins at 11:15 a.m. It is preceded by youth races that begin at 8 a.m. The race will be followed by a 3K run for high school students at 12:15 p.m. Live music will be provided along the race course.

For more information go to www.cvsdowntown5k.com.

Global warming is the topic at URI

The Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based organization that supports publications seeking to dispute the science that supports climate change, sponsored a new video this year called Unstoppable Solar Cycles: The Real Story of Greenland.

The video interviews scientists who say the earth is warming because of changing sun cycles and that warming is driving up the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That theory is the reverse of the prevailing science that says carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere by humans is causing the earth to warm.

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Chafee Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus, two professors, Rebecca Robinson and John Merrill from the Graduate School of Oceanography, will analyze the film.

“Our plan is to debunk some of the common arguments we hear from naysayers,” says Merrill. “We’re going to use this beautifully produced film that shows dramatic imagery and portentous music, and explains to us that all of the world’s leading scientists are trying to convince you of something that isn’t so.”

The discussion will be moderated by Peter August, director of URI’s Coastal Institute. It is the second presentation in an honors colloquium this fall entitled: “People and Planet: Global Environmental Change.”

At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, two of the coordinators of the colloquium will answer questions about global warming in an online chat.

Steven D’Hondt, a geological oceanographer who studies life in extreme environments, and Arthur Spivack, a chemical oceanographer, will take part for 30 minutes. Questions may be submitted ahead of time. To participate, go to advance.uri.edu/chats.

A transcript will be posted afterward on the URI Web site.

Film on cod fishing gets R.I. premiere

American Fisheries, a documentary film about the history of the cod fishery and its recent collapse, will have its Rhode Island premiere on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Weaver Auditorium at the Coastal Institute on University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus. Sponsored by the URI student chapter of the Coastal Society, the screening is free and open to the public.

Produced by Bailey Pryor, president and chief executive officer of Telemark Films, the documentary follows the ups and downs of the cod fishery over 500 years and examines the effect of the changing regulations on the fishery. Drawing on the sometimes contradictory perspectives of fishermen, ecologists, fisheries managers and historians, the film reveals an epic story that stretches from the age of sail to what may become an age of sustainability.

Shot over a three-year period in England, Iceland, Canada, and New England (including Rhode Island), the film received its world premiere at the Boston International Film Festival in June.

Following the screening, Pryor will be joined by fisheries and marine science experts to discuss the film and the issues it raises, including Andrew Rosenberg, U.S. Oceans Commission; Dave Goethel, New England Fisheries Management Council; Bill Leavenworth, Gulf of Maine Cod Project; author and historian Jeff Bolster; and URI marine affairs Professors Richard Pollnac and Seth Macinko.

For more information, contact the URI chapter of The Coastal Society at tcs.uri@gmail.com.

Statewide cleanup planned Saturday

The Salt Ponds Coalition will lead a cleanup team at the Quonochontaug Breachway public access site Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.

The site is one of more than 80 locations across Rhode Island that will be cleaned simultaneously by more than 1,500 volunteers. The event is coordinated by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.

Participants will receive a Coastal Cleanup Day T-shirt and doughnuts. Bags and supplies will be provided. Participants should bring work gloves, sun block and appropriate clothing. The site is located at the end of West Beach Road, accessed off Route 1.

To sign up, call the Salt Ponds Coalition at (401) 322-3068 and leave a message with the number and T-shirt sizes of members of your group. For more information, visit Web site www.saltpondscoalition.org

Wildlife refuge to close for two days

As part of an effort to control non-native invasive plants, Sachuest Point National Wildlife refuge will be closed to the public for two days between tomorrow and Sept. 30.

Staff, certified in the appropriate use of pesticides, will treat exotic, invasive plants with herbicides. For public safety reasons, the refuge will be closed during these days.

Call the refuge office at (401) 364-9124 to confirm the exact timing of the closure and any scheduling changes due to unfavorable weather conditions.

Benefit to feature recycled fashions

Groundwork Providence will host Runway Earth, its seventh annual fashion show benefit, on Wednesday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Roger Williams Park Botanical Center. The show will feature fashions made by local designers from recycled material.

Runway Earth showcases local designers and celebrity models, including Miss Rhode Island USA 2008 Amy Diaz, House Majority Leader Gordon Fox and Thomas Deller, director of planning and development for the City of Providence.

All designs are created from reused materials. The show will include a live auction of top designs and a silent auction.

Founded in 1982 as Keep Providence Beautiful, Groundwork Providence is a private, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to building a cleaner, greener, safer, more beautiful city through environmental programming such as the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program, spring and fall cleanups, environmental job training programs and summer Green Teams.

Tickets are $35 in advance at www.groundworkprovidence.org, or $40 at the door.

For information, call (401) 351-6440.

Grant will aid Bristol Harbor

Save Bristol Harbor has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation to assist volunteer efforts in data collection and analysis in support of the development of a predictive habitat model for Bristol Harbor.

The model’s development includes collaboration and support from Mount Hope High School, Brown University, Roger Williams University, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the Kickemuit River Council, the Bristol Harbor Commission, the Town of Bristol and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

West Greenwich site protected

The Department of Environmental Management has announced the permanent protection of 69 acres of forestland in West Greenwich with the purchase of a conservation easement through the Forest Legacy Program.

The property, located on New London Turnpike, is owned by Marie and Ernest Bugnet, who have managed the land as an active tree farm since 1970. The parcel, which abuts the Big River wildlife management area, has been used by the Rhode Island Forest Conservators as part of its wood demonstration project.

Public access to the parcel will be allowed for forest management educational programs.

The department acquired the conservation easement with a $591,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program and $9,000 in state open space bond funds. In addition, the Bugnets donated a portion of the value of the easement.

The Environmental Journal is a listing of brief news items about the actions of individuals, organizations and businesses that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the landscape that surrounds us. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact environment reporter Peter B. Lord at (401) 277-8036, or by email at plord@projo.com or by writing him, care of the Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902.