May Marks the Beginning of Smog Season

The Clean Air Campaign blog has a good post from a few days ago to kick off Smog Awareness week. There is a lot of great info so I suggest you check the post out but here is a summary.

• The One Ton Challenge helped keep 3600 tons of pollution out of metro Atlanta’s air.
• Rainfall this year is expected to be above normal according to the Farmer’s Almanac. That will definitely help pollution levels.
• Atlanta ranks #23 out of the 25 top cities for Ozone pollution according to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report released today. L.A. was #1. The report also ranked for Year-Round Particulate pollution. Atlanta came in at #17 on that front. The final ranking was Short-Term Particulate pollution where Atlanta didn’t make the list.
• Last smog season had almost 30 days with unhealthy levels of ground level ozone and/or particle pollution.

Kudos to the Clean Air Campaign for its initiatives at engaging individuals and businesses to help create a healthier environment.

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May is National Bike Month

image by Francois Schnell

Hopefully all of you bike owners out there will take advantage of the nice weather we are having and participate in National Bike Month. I’m trying to pedal a couple of times a week to work even though Alpharetta isn’t all too bike friendly.

You might even want to incorporate biking into your regular weekly commute after May ends. It’s a great way to get some exercise and reduce your footprint.

Additional resources:

Clean Air Campaign Rewards Program

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition Website

National Bike Month Website

PeachBites

EPD Says Air Will Be Cleaner When New Coal Plant is Built

GPB News

"The state's top environmental regulator for air pollution says the air in eastern Georgia will be cleaner if and when a coal plant is built near Sandersville in Washington County." This must be one of those new "clean coal" plantsl.

Georgia Organics 12th Conference: A Success

Go Green InTown
Unfortunately, I missed this one. Hopefully I'll be able to get to next year's conference. The conference and trade show had over 1100 attendees and was the largest in the 12 years of the event. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, was the keynote speaker. You can see his speech here. If you have never heard or read Mr. Pollan and you are interested in sustainable and healthy food, check out the clip or read one of his books. It was great that Georgia Organics was able to bring such a big time name to the event. We are fortunate to have such an organized group right here in Georgia focusing on local and organic food production.

Old Suburbia Must Fit Into New Society

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Our love affair with shopping is on the skids. Ghost-town strip centers already abound. It’s not hard to imagine dead malls pocking the landscape like buffalo carcasses amid the tumbleweeds in old Westerns." Ellen Dunham-Jones' book Retrofitting Suburbia details a recreation of the suburbs or "new suburbia." She says that metro Atlanta is one of the top three metro areas undertaking suburban retrofits with projects such as Smyrna Market Village and Perimiter Place in Dunwoody. It's good to see that Atlanta is finally starting to get it. Unfortunately, we got it right at the wrong time for real estate.

Toxic Cloud in Forsyth County Disipates

GPB News

This one was scary. Authorities recently had to evacuate 80 people from a kitchen and bathroom faucet manufacturing plant. The cause of the yellow puff of toxic smoke was an inadvertent chemical mix.

Movie Review - Earth

This was pretty much just a condensed version of the BBC series Earth that was released in 2007. It was fun but the brevity really inhibited the documentary's ability to educate the audience thoroughly. Some of the action shots were incredible though and it was worth the ticket price just to see them on the big screen.

All in all, it was entertaining and visialy stimulating if not educational. I don't think this film will really cause anyone to act differently or change their habits. I would suggest renting the Blue Ray version of the Made for TV version as it is much more thorough and educational. At least Disney will be planting a couple more trees for us.

This Week in Atlanta

The past two weeks have been very busy with festivals and events celebrating Earth Day and the environment. We are getting back to normal a bit this week but there are a few interesting things going on from the Beltline to seminars. Here's a preview of what is going on this week:

April 27 (Monday)

530pm - 700pm - Celebrate the Beltline @ Park Tavern

630pm - 830pm - Beltline Public Workshop - Westside Study Group

April 28 (Tuesday)

630pm - 830pm - Good Urbanisim 101 Class ($, Registration Required)

April 29 (Wednesday)

12pm - 1pm - Green Chamber of the South - Green Wednesdays Networking Lunch ($, Registration Required)

630pm - 830pm - Good Urbanisim 101 Class ($, Registration Required)

April 30 (Thursday)

8am - 5pm - The South's Recovery - Making it Accountable & Green (Registration Required)

630pm - 830pm - Good Urbanisim 101 Class ($, Registration Required)

April 31 (Friday)

730 - 9am - Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable - Metro Atlanta's Transportation Destiny

10am - 5pm - Kitchen & Bath Industry Show & Conference

May 1 (Saturday)

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Sewanee Farmer's Market

830am - 330pm - Trees Atlanta - 1st Annual City in the Arboretum Conference

10am - 5pm - Kitchen & Bath Industry Show & Conference

1pm - 6pm - Decatur Cool Cities Campaign - Tour of Green Buildings

3pm - 9pm - Decatur Green Fest

May 2 (Sunday)

10am - 5pm - Kitchen & Bath Industry Show & Conference

EarthShare of Georgia - Party in the Sky

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend the EarthShare of Georgia Party in the Sky this year. We started off by doing a little volunteering to help set up and then enjoyed the party. The evening could not have been nicer. There were about 350 or so people in attendance and from what we could tell, the fund raising went well. Some of the prices on the silent auction items were getting pretty high. I had my eyes on a pair of cuff links that quickly escaped my budget. Oh well!

The facility was one of the best event sites that I have had the opportunity to visit in Atlanta. It was in Atlantic Station on the 18th floor of the 201 17th Street tower. The location was very fitting for an Earth Day party since as you probably know Atlantic Station is the largest urban brownfield re-development in the nation. The view was incredible looking out over downtown and midtown. it was very nice to mingle and have a few brews compliments of the SweetWater Brewery.

We hope that the event was a big success for EarthShare and I foresee that we will be back next year to help out and enjoy the party. Thanks to EarthShare and all of the sponsors who made this event possible!

Happy Earth Day Atlanta!

We hope that everyone takes some time today to recognize the importance that a healthy planet plays in all of our lives.  It is our belief that education and thought are the starting points for an improved relationship with the environment and our natural world.  Until we start to realize our impact on a large scale, changes that truly make a difference will be difficult to achieve.  There are so many areas where education and leadership are needed in order to fix what we have done.  The good thing is that there are people all over the world working hard to effect the kinds of changes in human behavior that are needed.

Here in Atlanta there are several events that are going on.  You can get out and learn more about how you can help at Atlantic Station, The Atlanta Botanical Garden, The Atlanta Zoo and several others.  Check out our Earth Day Events entry or go over to Atlanta Green Parenting for some others. 

Have fun today and hopefully we can all remember to treat every day like Earth Day

This Week in Atlanta

Last week was a busy one with several Earth Day festivals and events going on throughout the area. This week brings more of the same. There has been a good amount of excitement surrounding Earth Day this year and we are hoping that that excitement carries on. Here's a preview of what is going on this week:

 
April 21 (Tuesday)

7pm - Beltline 101 Southeast

April 22 - Earth Day (Wednesday)

9am - 7pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - Earth Day in the Garden ($)

11am - 4pm - Atlantic Station Earth Day Event

1140am - 1pm - Green Chamber of the South - Green Wednesday @ Pizza Fusion (Membership, Reservation Required)
7pm - 10pm - EarthShare Georgia - Earth Day Party in the Sky ($, Reservation Required)
7pm - 9pm Earth Day Benefit Yoga Class at Yoga Samadhi ($)
Planet Earth from Disney Opens in Theaters

April 23 (Thursday)

630pm - 830pm - Beltline Public Workshop - Southwest Study Group

April 24 (Friday)

National Arbor Day

8am - 10am - EarthShare Georgia - Leadership Breakfast ($, Reservation Required)

7pm - 1130pm - Georgia Conservancy's 15th Annual Hoochie on the Coochie ($, Reservation Required)

April 25 (Saturday)

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta Planting

10am - 3pm - Chattahoochee Nature Center - Chattachoochee River Rafting Trip ($, Reservation Required)

10am - 3pm - Fayette County Earth Day Festival

10am - 2pm - Glenwood Park Farmer's Market

11am - 830pm - 38th Annual Inman Park Festival

230pm - 530pm - Oakhurst Gardens Chicks in the City Tour ($, Reservation Required)

April 26 (Sunday)

1pm - 4pm - Atlanta Bicycle Coalition - Earth Day Beltline Bike Tour

11am - 7pm - 38th Annual Inman Park Festival

12pm - 4pm - Glenwood Park Farmer's Market

This Week in Environmental History

April 21, 1838 - John Muir was born in Dunbar, Ireland. John Muir founded the Sierra Club.

April 22, 1970 - First Earth Day is celebrated

April 26, 1986 - Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Meltdown

Earth Day Events in Atlanta

There are a lot of events going on this week and next to celebrate Earth Day. We've rounded up what is going on in the Metro Area for you. Check out the links for the full details of each event.

Festivals

Sweetwater 420 Fest

When: Saturday, April 18th (12pm - 10pm), Sunday, April 19th (1230pm - 8pm)
Where: Historic Candler Park 1500 McLendon Ave. NE Atlanta, GA 30307





Beltline Earth Day Cleanup

When: Saturday, April 18th (9am - 12pm)
Where: Freedom Parkway Bridge to DeKalb Ave



Georgia Tech Earth Day Celebration

When: Friday, April 17th (10am - 2pm)
Where: Ga Tech Student Union


7th Annual Earth Day Kids Fest

When: Saturday, April 18th (10am - 3pm)
Where: Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell, GA 30075

Earth Share Georgia Party in the Sky ($50, RSVP Required)

When: Wednesday, April 22nd (7pm - 10pm)
Where: Nelson Mullins, 201 17th Street, Atlantic Station




Atlanta Zoo Party for the Planet Earth Day Celebration

When: Saturday, April 25th (10am - 5pm)
Where: Atlanta Zoo




Decatur Green Fest

If you can't make it out on Earth Day, on either of the weekends bookending Earth day or you didn't get enough, Decatur is holding the Decatur Green Fest on May 2nd.

When: May 2nd (3pm - 930pm)
Location: Old Courthouse Square, Decatur

 

Peach Bites

One Of Most Endangered Rivers In Georgia
from GPB News by Edgar Treiguts

The conservation group American Rivers released their report on the 10 most endangered waterways in the U.S. There is some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Chattahoochee River is not on the list. The bad news is that the Flint River is on the list. It is actually the #2 most endangered river according to their report.


Georgia ranks No. 25 in nation for energy costs
Atlanta Business Chronicle

We're right smack in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, we don't have more renewable energy.Georgia’s energy cost ranks in the middle of the country, according to a new study released by The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. The lowest cost states are 1) Wyoming; 2) Idaho; 3) Utah; 4) Kentucky; and 5) West Virginia. The highest cost states are 46) Massachusetts; 47) Rhode Island; 48) Alaska; 49) Connecticut — tied with New York — and 50) Hawaii.


Adult workshops in Atlanta - an engaging and educational schedule for spring
from Atlanta Green Parenting Examiner

The Chattahoochee Nature Center is a great place to visit and learn about wildlife and environmental issues in our area. They are offering adult classes on topics including birding, rafting, photography and fishing. Additionally, the new Chatthoochee Nature Center Discovery Center and pavilion is scheduled to open in June.

Study: Spammers scourge to inbox and environment
from AP

A study was released today detailing the overall impacts of Spam email. Unfortunately, the impact is not limited to cyberspace. McAfee Inc's study estimates that the total amount of power wasted each year that can be attributed to Spam email is enough to power 2.4 million US homes for a year. WOW! Spam has one heck of a carbon footprint.