Retail for the River at Vinings Jubilee

Head over to the Vinings on Saturday to get some great deals and help out the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. 

Peach Bites

EarthShare of Georgia Wants Your Georgia Nature Photos - Go Green Intown

Help EarthShare of Georgia out with their project. Post a picture. We did but you'll have to guess which one it is.

Lovett Gets National Recognition for Conservation Programs - Go Green Intown

Great strides are being made by the Lovett school in greening their entire operation. They have a fantastic sustainability program that includes the following; carpooling, biodiesel fuel initiatives, seeking LEED certification, Recyclling, Organic Gardening. There is much more that you might want to check out on their website, www.lovett.org.

Oregon: The Green Jobs Leader - Worldchanging

Well, the good news is that Georgia has 4.95 million jobs. The bad news is that only .31% of those jobs are in the clean energy field. This is a tie for 4th worst in the US. Only Florida, Nevada and Mississippi had lower percentages.

A big messy thing like the Beltline is 'in my sweet spot' - AJC

This is a good interview with Terri Montague outgoing CEO of Atlanta Beltline Inc. She's been through a lot in just a few years.

Find What You Need @ ecoEMPORIUM

You can find some fantastic products to help you live an environmentally friendly, sustainable lifestyle at ecoEMPORIUM in the Brickworks on the west side of Atlanta. The store is a beautifully designed showroom with just enough size to make it feel open while still keeping a cozy atmosphere. You can find everything from bedding to baby products in the store and virtually everything is earth-friendly, organic and/or non-toxic. Store owner Carol Held opened shop in September 2008 and although times have been tough she has managed to continue to do good business and her store is really the only store focused fully on green solutions for the home here in Atlanta. There are other locations that carry green products but you would be hard pressed to find one that compared closely to ecoEMPORIUM.

Their website states that "ecoEMPORIUM endeavors to make the world and our environment a better place to live by introducing our customers to earth-friendly products with style, regardless of your shade of green." From what I can see, they are doing a good job achieving their mission. Many of the products they sell are very unique and seem to be very useful. I was surprised to find a number of products that I have never seen before even being an avid environmentalist who has a chronic addiction to all things green.

Their product selection is great and includes the following:

• Air Purifiers
• Bath
• Cleaning Products
• Composters
• Pet Supplies
• Fabrics
• Fashion
• Gifts
• Kids & Baby
• Kitchen & Dining
• Linens
• Loungewear
• Mattresses & Pillows
• Paint
• Sustainable Furniture
• Toys

The store is also hosting a series of seminars by local non-toxic baby expert, Heater Tubbs, that will focus on how to set up a non-toxic baby nursery. See their website for more info on their events.

Ultimately, ecoEMPORIUM is an exciting concept and we're lucky to have it as part of the green business community here in Atlanta. I'd highly suggest that our readers stop by and check it out when the chance arises even if it's just to window shopping or look for a small gift.

This Week in Atlanta

We have a lot going on this week. Tuesday has a couple networking events and Saturday is action packed as usual. We also have seminars from Eco Emporium and Verde Home in the middle of the week. Also, we are getting closer and closer to the opening of the new LEED certified addition to the Chattahoochee Nature Center. There is a preview party on Tuesday that will give the lucky attendees a nice sneak peek.

June 15 (Monday)

No Events

June 16 (Tuesday)

7am - 9am - CareerEco Summer Breakfast Series

230pm - 430pm - Green Chamber of the South - Real Estate Seminar & Tour of the Hurt Building

4pm - 8pm - Whistlestop Farmer's Market - Norcross

5pm - 8pm - Chattahoochee Nature Center - Discovery Center Wine & Cheese Preview Event
6pm - 7pm - Southeast Beltline 101

June 17 (Wednesday)

1130am - 1pm - Verde Home - Day of Design Luncheon with Barbara Dornbush

June 18 (Thursday)

5pm - 7pm - Green Chamber of the South - Growing Green: The Art of Marketing the Green Business

7pm - 9pm - EcoEmporium - How to Set Up a Non-Toxic Baby Nursery w/ Heather Tubbs

7pm - 10pm - Verde! - Generation Green Summer Soiree

June 19 (Friday)

No Events

June 20 (Saturday)

8am - 12pm - Lawrenceville Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Suwanee Farmer's Market

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

8am - 4pm - Keep Atlanta Beautiful - Electronics Recycling Day @ Grady High School

830am - 12pm - Peachtree Road Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta - Planting - See Website for Details

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

9am - ? - Friends of Washington Park Clean-Up

10am - 12pm -Green Up Your Garden @ Atlanta Botanical Garden

10am - 12pm - Oakhurst Garden - Grow a Garden

11am - 5pm - Retail for the River - Benefit for UCR @ Vinings Jubilee

12pm - 3pm - Organica Festival Hosted by Sevananda Natural Foods Market

June 21 (Sunday)

1030am - 1230pm - Atlanta Bicycle Coalition - Fun Ride

Peach Bites

Georgia watering restrictions lifted - Atlanta Business Chronicle

We'll go with the good news first. The drought is over and the state is beginning to lift restrictions on watering. Now the bad news. Most people are going to go right back to their old habits and continue dumping valuable drinking water on their chemical saturated lawns. There are better ways.

Hardiness Zone Changes at arborday.org - ArborDay.org

If you're on the fence about global warming, here's a little bit of info that will stick in the back of your head. The changes from 1990 to 2006 are pretty impressive. I guess things are looking good for Georgia agriculture.

Video Tour of the Alpharetta Community Garden - Sustainable Alpharetta

We love to see these little signs of sustainability pop up. The 30 plots sold out quickly.

Taxing the Rain: Speaker Richardson Needs to Pay Attention to This - Peach Pundit

Hmmm... Municipalities need money.. Property tax revenues are falling.. So, what to tax... How about the Rain?

Tesla Motors to Open 7 New Stores in Major Cities - TreeHugger

This comes as no surprise but Atlanta isn't one of the lucky 7 cities to get the first Tesla Motors stores. The US Cities are New York, Seattle and Chicago.

Meet Recycle Bot

Okay... This was super geeky but I needed to get the attention of the recycling pick-up men somehow.  You see, they left all of my boxes the prior week, I assume because they weren't broken down, and thus my garage was getting packed with cardboard.  I normally don't have excessive cardboard but with a baby on the way we have received a number of gifts that are packaged in cardboard and I'm not going to allow that cardboard to go anywhere but to the recycling plant.  What they do with it there is out of my hands.  Anyway, I hope that you enjoy my weak attempt at humor.  I'm sure the pick-up guys got a kick out of it.

Sites You Should Know - Earth911

Every week, GreenPeaches brings you a very useful site that you can use to help green your lifestyle. Our picks may or may not relate directly to Atlanta but they will always be great tools. We hope that you add these to your bookmarks and visit them in the future.

This weeks site is Earth911 (www.earth911.com).  This site is a fantastic resource for locating places where you can recycle almost anything.  Their database is very large and thorough.  A search for places within 25 miles of Atlanta where you can recycle batternies yielded almost 70 results.  Many of which are easily accessible such as Office Depot, Best Buy and Batteries Plus.  I was able to find two places that will accept styrofoam and 33 businesses that will accept scrap metal. 

Another great tool is their iPhone app, iRecycle.  It interfaces with the same database that the online website does and is searchable based on your current location or any location you want to enter.  When I was going through my garage this week cleaning up to make room for all the new baby stuff, I decided to give the app a try and loved it.  I was able to find a place to recycle my old cell phones, batteries, scrap metal, clothing and a number of other items right from my phone. 

Using the Earth911 website is a no brainer when you are in doubt about what to do with something you are looking to get rid of that is bulky, hazardous or that has an alternative use.  We highly recommend the website and as far as green iPhone apps go, this is one of the best out there.

This Week in Atlanta

This week is an active one for the Beltline iwth several 101 sessions and a study group. There are also several group gatherings, GA Organics, Sierra Club and the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Don't forget to get out to your local farmer's market and support the local food movement.

June 8 (Monday)

First Annual World Ocean Day

6pm - 8pm Georgia organics - Green Pizza Party @ Pizza Fusion

June 9 (Tuesday)

4pm - 8pm - Whistlestop Farmer's Market - Norcross

6pm - 7pm - Westside Beltline 101

6pm - 8pm - Green Chamber of the South - Summer Mixer @ Pizza Fusion

7pm - 10pm - Sierra Club - Metro Atlanta Chapter Monthly Mtg.

June 10 (Wednesday)

6pm - 7pm - Northside Beltline 101

June 11 (Thursday)

630pm - 830pm - Beltline Northeast Study Group - Subarea 6 Master Planning

June 12 (Friday)

6pm - 8pm - Atlanta Bicycle Coalition - Courteous Mass Ride

June 13 (Saturday)

8am - 12pm - Lawrenceville Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Suwanee Farmer's Market

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

830am - 12pm - Peachtree Road Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

9am - 2pm - 7th Annual Back to the Chattahoochee River Race & Festival

12pm - 1pm - Southwest Beltline 101

June 14 (Sunday)

1pm - 330pm - Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper - Chattahoochee River Beautification Day/Cleanup

This Week in Environmental History

June 11 - Jacques Cousteau Born - 1910
June 14 - DDT Banned by the EPA - 1972

Peach Bites

HOV lanes switching to toll lanes on I-85

NorthFulton.com - I guess Money talks. I wonder how much this will actually help congestion. If you don't want to pay the 'tax,' you can still use the lanes if you have 3 or more people in your vehicle.

EPA Gives BeltLine $1M for Cleanup (2009-06-02)

WABE - Wow!! There are over 100 brownfield areas along the Beltline corridor that are still in need of cleanup. Hopefully, this $1 million can stretch a long way.

Proposed Coal Plant Loses Support

GPB News - Good to hear that four energy suppliers have lost interest in the proposed coal power plant in Douglasville. This leaves only six remaining companies backing the proposed plant.

Greenpeace places Publix last for seafood sustainability

Atlanta Business Chronicle - Not a very good score for one of the largest grocers in the metro area. The highest rated company was Whole Foods but they only scored a 4 out of 10.

The Buckhead Blog: Streets of Buckhead Delays Opening to Fall 2010

The Buckhead Blog - Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait a little longer to see how the old Buckhead Village evolves into its next incarnation. The project is seeking LEED certification and should be another great addition to the Atlanta scene.

Sites You Should Know - Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database

Every week, GreenPeaches brings you a very useful site that you can use to help green your lifestyle. Our picks may or may not relate directly to Atlanta but they will always be great tools. We hope that you add these to your bookmarks and visit them in the future.

This week, our choice is the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com)that is maintained by the Environmental Working Group. There are so many chemicals and compounds that are recklessly added to hygiene products. Without a PhD in chemistry, it’s difficult to tell how these chemicals interact with each other and even more difficult to tell how they interact with the human body.

The Cosmetics Database has done exhaustive research to help you make a more educated decision on what you purchase. You can find info on makeup, skin care, hair care, eye care, nail care, baby care, oral care and fragrances. They score products on a one to ten scale with one being the least risky. It will show you a percentage of products measured that score better than the product you are looking at. The research also gives you the detailed ingredients from the packaging and any warnings that are on the package. It will break down rank products based on their risk. It also breaks down the specific issues that the ingredients have been linked to like cancer, reproductive issues and many more.

The database is a very useful tool that may or may not make you feel much better about the products you buy. From my personal experience, I was able to find a deodorant that achieved the highest score and that actually works. I’ve also found many so called green or healthy products that score very poorly. Do an inventory of your products. You might be surprised or even scared by what you find.