Peach Bites

McMansions Out of Favor, for Now - WSJ.com

When they get cheap enough, do you think they will be in favor again? I hope this is a sustainable trend but I'm not 100% convinced yet.

Organic Box Program @ Emory - in Decatur
Emory has started the Emory Organic Box Program to help connect farm-fresh produce, local, sustainable farms and the Emory Community. Those Emory Students don't realize how good they have it.

Suniva lands Fairburn project - Atlanta Business Chronicle - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Norcross based Suniva will supply solar cells to Woodbridge at Parkway Village an independent senior living facility. This is great for Georgia since Woodbridge will be the first Georgia location to have an all Georgia solar installation.

Go Green Intown: ICS Contract Services' Cleaning Service is the Southeast's First Green Seal Program - Go Green Intown

Why aren't more businesses and cleaning companies jumping on this wagon? I guess it's an awareness thing because I have a difficult time just getting my maid to use green products. But, she is gradually opening up and recognizing that they do just as good of a job.

Peach Bites

Mother Nature becomes a dot-com
Atlanta Journal Constitution

We have a new big-time entrant into the green themed website arena. The Atlanta based Mother Nature Network (www.mnn.com) launched recently and it is a very robust offering. The website has eight main sections ranging from business to lifestyle and each section comes complete with its own blogger. The site also has a number of green themed videos and infographics that ou will find interesting.

Atlanta's Greenspaces Inadequate for a Growing Population | Planetizen
Planetizen.com

Not that we didn't already know this but Atlanta has the lowest percentage of green space amongst major American cities. The median amount for the nation's largest cities is 13.6 acres of parks for every 1000 residents. Atlanta is at 7.7. We are working on increasing that with the Beltline. The article also points to Gwinnett as a great example. Since 1997, Gwinnett has raised over half a billion dollars for parks and greenspace development.

Georgia K-12 Schools, Apply to Win a Free Energy Audit
MarketWatch (press release) - USA

Southeast Rebuild Collaborative, a five state energy office initiative to improve energy efficiency by at least 10% in the upcoming year, Southface Energy Institute and the Division of Energy Resources of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) are offering a free energy audit to one K-12 school in Georgia. Anything that our schools can do to save money that doesn't need to be spend is fine with me. We look forward to seeing what school wins.

Serenbe in the News Again
Chicago Tribune

We recently highlighted an article from the NY Times that featured Serenbe and it's local, sustainable living model. It looks like the community is making news again but this time in Chicago which is home to the community that inspired Serenbe, Prairie Crossing in Grayslake.

Fees to Rise at Georgia State Parks
Peach Pundit

Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources is suggesting state park fees be raised from $3 to $5. Additionally, they are planning to raise the fees for annual passes to $50 from $30. I'm just curious whether they are raising the fee out of necessity or out of opportunity. It is no secret that during recessions, families look for cheaper alternatives to entertainment and the parks have historically been one of those cheaper forms.