Sites You Should Know - MyEnvironment

We recently ran across a great site that the US EPA runs called MyEnvironment. It is a location based site that provides information for your area. Upon entering your location information, you will get a screen that is divided into sections for the following:

- MyAir
- MyLand
- MyWater
- MyHealth
- MyEcological Conditions
- MyCollaboration

You are able to dive down into each of these categories. For example, under the MyLand section, you can link to an EPA site that will allow you to search for superfund sites in your area. I found four in the Alpharetta area. That was surprising.

Take a look and you will likely find something out about your area that you did not know.



MyEnvironment

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Peach Bites

Georgia Tech Makes the Honor Roll - The Princeton Review has named Georgia Tech to its Green College Honor Roll.  Georgia Tech is the only university in the region to make the list and strikingly absent is Emory University which has more LEED certified buildings than any campus in the nation. MNN

Suniva May Go Public - The Norcross based solar company is considering going public.  They have raised $75M in private funding and are looking for more. The company has obtained over $1 billion in orders. Atlanta Business Chronicle

Atlanta Ranks 33rd in Sustainability - The NRDC recently released rankings of the most sustainable cities in the US.  The west coast came out on top with Seattle winning the #1 spot and San Francisco and Portland close behind.  Roswell was 23rd on the smaller cities list.  Creative Loafing

Help For Our Right Whales - New technology may help ships avoid collisions with whales.  This will help the dwindling population of right whales that breed off the coast of Georgia.  TreeHugger

They'll Call it HotterLanta Soon - I hate the silly name of Hot-Lanta that our city picked up in the 90s but it is appropriate now and will be later this century if predictions are correct.  A report released recently on the potential impacts of global warming states that average temperatures in the 2080s will likely be 4.5 to 9 degrees hotter.  Macon.com

Perdue Says NO to Conservation and YES to Water War

Image Courtesy of Zach Klein @ Flickr

Well, I can't say that Perdue says no to water conservation totally but he definitely doesn't feel that the state will be telling Atlantans what to do with their water anytime soon. Thomas Wheatley at Creative Loafing chronicled the recent meeting between Perdue and 130 other officials at the governor's mansion in Buckhead to discuss the water crisis that has erupted in recent days since the courts ruled that Atlanta has just three years to stop using Lake Lanier as its primary water supply.  It was informative.  To read the entire article click here.

The point that I took offense to is that Perdue and the other officials seem to think that it's impossible to drastically cut our water usage. So, his example is that we would need to go back to 1975 withdrawal levels and that the metro region was 1/3rd the size in 1975. If my calculations, are roughly right, that would mean that we would probably need to cut our water use by approximately 70% understanding that we probably use more water per capita now than we did then.  Personally, I think with the right incentives and a public education campaign, Atlantans could cut water use by 50-60%. Why not reach out to desert cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas to help us.  Atlanta might be able to become a leader in water efficiency.  Oh yeah.. and maybe we can get Coca-Cola to stop using Lanier to bottle Dasani water (actually, I have no idea if that is true or not.)

But, all of this is for naught as the US Supreme Court will probably not the economic engine of the south go thirsty.

This Week in Atlanta

Wow... this is a light week. I guess everyone is on vacation. there are some opportunities to get out or get involved. Take a look at Sierra Club 101 or the weekly Trees Atlanta planting on Saturday morning.

July 27 (Monday)

No Events

July 28 (Tuesday)

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

July 29 (Wednesday)

8am - 12pm - Tomato Fest 2009 @ Dunwoody Farmer's Market

1030am - 12pm - Cloth Diapering Workshop - Harry's Farmers Market Roswell

7pm - 9pm - Georgia Organics - Farm-to-Table Unibroue Beer Pairing Dinner ($,R)

July 30 (Thursday)

6pm - 10pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - Cocktails in the Garden ($,R)

7pm - 10pm - ecosystM Type-A Networking Event @ Dolce in Atlantic Station

July 31 (Friday)

No Events

Aug 1 (Saturday)

7am - 3pm - UCR & Trout Unlimited - Fishing Dayz

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 - Trees Atlanta - Planting - See Website for Details

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market
1030am - 12pm - Sierra Club 101

Aug 2 (Sunday)

No Events

This Week in Environmental History

No events of note

$ - Event Costs Money
R - Registration Required
P - Private Event Invite Only
M - Group Membership Required
V - Volunteer Event

The Congress of The New Urbanism Heads to Atlanta for its 2010 Meeting

The 18th annual Congress for The New Urbanism will be held May 19th - 22nd in Atlanta. It's great to play host to such a forward thinking roundtable. The theme of this year's congress is Prescription for Healthy Places. There will obviously be a big discussion about how neighborhood design impacts health and overall happiness. Surprisingly, Atlanta has come a long way since the 90's and we now have some great mixed use if not completly new urbanist neighborhoods. Some of the best examples are Atlantic Station, Glenwood Park, Smyrna Village Green and Serenbe. Take a quick look at the video and find out a little more about the CNU.

The Unfinished Skyline

image courtesy of Coka Koehler at Flickr

From the Peachtree Streetcar to Trump Towers, projects are on hold and dreams have been dashed. Maybe we'll see some of these projects in 5 or 10 years and hopefully, they'll all have a sustainable flair to them.  Fortunately, our skyline isn't riddled with unfinished projects like many other cities are. 

Rachel Tobin-Ramos with the AJC had a great artile this week abou the unfinished and unstarted projects along Atlanta's most popular road.  The City That Never Was

Celebrating Space

On a day that marks the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, I'd just like to thank the guys who did it for this beautiful photo.  It doesn't seem like much but when you think about it for a little while, it is a truly amazing photo taken by one of a group of some amazing Americans.

Learn About Sustainable Atlanta

Listen to Lynette Young and Mandy Mahoney from Sustainable Atlanta talk about sustainability efforts that the city of Atlanta is making on The VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network. One of the big things on the table right now is the Sustainable Building Ordinance. It is a true game changer in how sustainable Atlanta will be moving into the future. You might be surprised by all of the things the city is taking action on.
Listen Here

This Week in Atlanta

One of the big events in Atlanta this week is the announcement from Sustainable Atlanta of the Sustainable Building Ordinance. They will be holding two public education meetings this week.

July 20 (Monday)

5pm - 6pm - Sustainable Atlanta - Sustainable Building Ordinance Public Education Meeting
5pm - 7pm - Growing Green: The Art of Marketing the Green Business - Green Chamber of the South ($,M,R)

July 21 (Tuesday)

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

6pm - 630pm - Southeast Beltline 101

7pm - 9pm - Whole Foods Buckhead - Local Wine Tasting feat. BlackStock Vineyards ($)

July 22 (Wednesday)

5pm - 6pm - Sustainable Atlanta - Sustainable Building Ordinance Public Education Meeting
7pm - 10pm - Food Inc. Screening @ The Strand Theater, Marietta ($,R)8pm - 11pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - SunTrust Concert in the Garden - Joan Baez ($,Sold Out)

July 23 (Thursday)

6pm - 10pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - Cocktails in the Garden ($,R)

7pm - 9pm - EcoEmporium - How to Set Up a Non-Toxic Baby Nursery w/ Heather Tubbs ($,R)

July 24 (Friday)

3pm - 7pm - Georgia Organics - Corn-U-Copia @ Sweet Auburn Curb Market

8pm - 11pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - SunTrust Concert in the Garden - Bruce Hornsby ($)

July 25 (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 - Trees Atlanta - Planting - See Website for Details

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

9am - 4pm - 2nd Annual Chattahoochee River Summer Splash (R)

3pm - 6pm - Atlanta Bicycle Coalition - True Beginners in the Park Class ($,R)

July 26 (Sunday)

930am - 3pm -Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper - Soque River Cleanup (R)

This Week in Environmental History

No events of note

$ - Event Costs Money
R - Registration Required
P - Private Event Invite Only
M - Group Membership Required
V - Volunteer Event

This Week in Atlanta

We sincerely apologize for the absence of the calendar post last week. The holiday weekend kept us pretty busy and we had to sacrifice the calendar. There are a bunch of cool things going on this week but the most exciting one in my opinion is the Eat Local Challenge that Whole Foods is putting on. Check out the Whole Foods links below for the location closest to you.

July 13 (Monday)

July 13th - 19th - Eat Local Challenge @ Whole Foods Alpharetta (R)

July 13th - 19th - Eat Local Challenge @ Whole Foods Marietta (R)

July 13th - 19th - Eat Local Challenge @ Whole Foods Sandy Springs (R)

July 13th - 19th - Eat Local Challenge @ Whole Foods Briarcliff (R)

July 13th - 19th - Eat Local Challenge @ Whole Foods Buckhead (R)

7pm - 830pm - Whole Foods Sandy Springs - Local Cookbook Signing & Recipe Tasting

July 14 (Tuesday)

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

6pm - 630pm - Westside Beltline 101

7pm - 10pm - Sierra Club - Annual Member Picnic @ Candler Park

July 15 (Wednesday)

7am - 9am - CareerEco - Summer Breakfast Series ($,R)

7pm - 8pm - Whole Foods Sandy Springs Eat Local Challenge - Gardening Workshop

July 16 (Thursday)

6pm - 10pm - Georgia Organics Night Out @ WaterHaven

6pm - 10pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - Cocktails in the Garden ($,R)

July 17 (Friday)

No Events

July 18 (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

930am - Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper - Chattahoochee River Cleanup (R)

12pm - 4pm - Whole Foods Sandy Springs - Eat Local Challenge Farm-to-Table LOCAL Food & Wine Tasting ($)

July 19 (Sunday)

No Events

$ - Event Costs Money
R - Registration Required
P - Private Event Invite Only
M - Group Membership Required
V - Volunteer Event