Grassroots and Lovin' It

There are two initiatives I've recently been alerted to...

www.wecansolveit.org: The We Campaign is a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by Nobel laureate and former Vice President Al Gore. Its goal is to stop global warming. The organization is educating people in the US and around the world that the climate crisis is both urgent and solvable. It gives the public great ways to get involved, and alerts you about what's going on in your area.

The other one is www.thepickensplan.com...the aim of this grassroots movement is to decrease our country's dependence on oil. Apparently, in 1970 we imported 24 percent of our oil, and today that number is more than 70 percent. The Pickens Plan proposes to be a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buy us time to develop even greater new technologies. Check out the website to see different ways to get involved and spread the word.

Eco Tip

According to getenergyactive.org, the best "green" temperature setting for your freezer is 5 degrees F.

Home Green Home

Not too long ago, I was recommended to check out a store in the Druid Hills area that has great green products for the home...it's called Pure Life Healthy Homes, and it has some cool eco-friendly products that will help your health as well as the earth's. It's a bare bones, small little shop that's chock full of great products.

I ended up leaving with a Code Blue water filter (which looks like a Brita, but according to owner Audrey, is way better than even installed filters) and a filter for my shower. Audrey also carries things like organic mattresses, these really cool balls you can put in your bath to suck out the chlorine and other toxins, paint, sealants dehumidifiers, EMF protectors, and more. She is super knowledgeable, and even had a radio show on 1010 AM twice a month. It's on a temporary hiatus, but hopefully will be coming back on the air soon. If you're looking to green up your home, it's worth stopping in here.

For more information, visit purelifehealthyhomes.com.

Making it Right

I read something in Body + Soul magazine I thought was really interesting, so I wanted to share: "Take fewer left turns. UPS has used this quirky, fuel-conserving trick for decades. Stopping to turn left takes longer-and wastes more gas-than turning right (which you can often do at a red light). UPS estimates that in 2007, it saved more than 3 million gallons of fuel and reduced its trucks' CO2 emissions by the equivalent of taking 5,300 cars off the road, just by route planning with right turns in mind. Even a small change in driving habits can help the earth in a big way."

Driving slowly, making sure your car's properly tuned up and has the appropriate tire pressure, and parking your car in the shade can also help the environment.

Parish: Busted?

So, Concentrics restaurant group's newest addition, Parish, is one of the city's newest "hot spots," and has gotten written up everywhere. One of the restaurant's biggest selling points is its "eco-friendly" practices, of which there are many, and I'm very happy about. For instance, they use potato-based, biodegradable to-go silverware, and their patio umbrellas actually collect rain. They also use many organic ingredients, and lovingly restored the space, and it looks great.

My only question is why they serve their bread in paper? It just seems contradictory to their message, and I don't know if there's a reason. Is it a blatant mistake or a calculated decision? I'd love to find out about this one!

I barely have to think of what to write about, because everyone's sending me great info! So, thanks! Here's the latest one that my friend Josh sent me: The Sustainable Living Roadshow, which, according to their website, is "a sophisticated and dynamic tour designed to educate, entertain, inspire and empower individuals and communities across the globe with information and tools necessary to live in more direct sustainable harmony with the earth. It represents a new paradigm of businesses, travel, education and entertainment."

The event is coming to Emory Sept. 20...I can't seem to find out exactly what they'll be doing, but I'll try to get the info and post some more info asap...what I do know so far is that they're educators and entertainers who will be traveling in renewable fuel vehicles to empower people to implement more green initiatives in their communities. How cool??

Veggie roof

So I was going to write about something else this evening, but my friend Fernando asked me if I'd heard about the High Museum's new green roof on the France Bunzl Center...which I hadn't...but now I have! I just researched it and it sounds great. The link below has the info, but basically it says the 6,680-square-foot vegetated green roof will "help clean and reduce storm-water runoff, reduce the urban-heat-island effect, reduce energy consumption, extend the roof life and improve air quality. This particular green roof also has the ability to retain about 62,000 gallons of storm water per year."

http://www.high.org/main.taf?erube_fh=erblog&erblog.submit.PostDetail=true&erblog.blogid=31&erblog.BlogPostID=732


It sounds a lot like the roof of the recently renovated Sweetwater Creek visitor center...the center achieved platinum LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition to its green roof, which I believe not only helps with conserving water, but also energy consumption, it boasts a composting toilet system, greywater irrigation and photovoltaic roo conserves resources by eliminating wastewater, reusing rainwater on-site and reducing storm-water runoff. In addition, the visitors’ center employs a photovoltaic solar panels.

Very cool stuff! Thanks Fernando!

Gathering Green

Hello eco-minded Atlantans! I'm excited to start this blog to not only encourage Atlantans to take part in the city's green movement, but to make them aware of the greenery that already exists. It's exciting that the country's getting more conscious, and Atlanta is getting onboard, slowly but surely. Stay tuned for info about the city's environmentally restaurants, businesses, buildings, jewelry, clothes and more.