Archive for August, 2009

Minority women in New York’s South Bronx are turning three acres of “scruffy marginal land” into an herb and vegetable paradise. According to Treehugger.com, La Finca Del Sur, the “Farm of the South,” is an urban farmer cooperative with a goal of providing affordable, fresh produce to the community, while encouraging healthy living and educating the public about the environment and social equity. continue

Guest writer Phil Pitchford, CQ Media Group, LLC

Riverside, California is planning to convert a former landfill into a photovoltaic (PV) farm that produces solar energy. But city officials were concerned that some residents might oppose the project, so they held a community meeting and erected E-Z Up tents so residents could see just where the solar panels would be. continue

Richard W. Lariviere, President of University of Oregon, where treadmill workouts are converted to energy.

Treehugger just published their list of 10 greenest college campuses. While colleges bring prestige and the students generate income for the local community, they also use tremendous amounts of energy, water and landfill capacity. Colleges that pursue green practices demonstrate stewardship, become better partners with the community, and are more attractive to students.

The colleges identified by Treehugger vary from private to public institutions with populations from a few hundred to 39,000. The institutions are located on both coasts and in the middle of the country. When looking at their green practices it is obvious that the commitment must come from both the college and students.
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To learn how your city compares to other cities your size check out Smarter Cities , a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The mission of Smarter Cities is to nudge cities towards friendly competition about sustainability. The website has a wealth of information about best practices and ideas cities are employing to become greener. You can even take a quiz to see how city smart you are about urban rehabilitation, sprawl, green space, green building, renewable energy, energy conservation, water, transportation, food, recycling and air.
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Community and urban gardens are an important component of making sustainable communities. The National Community Gardening Week is an opportunity for your local government to show support by publicly promoting community gardens August 23 – 29.

According to the Department of Agriculture website, US Agriculture Secretary Vilsack declared August 23 – 29 National Community Gardening Week. “Community gardens provide numerous benefits including opportunities for local food production, resource conservation, and neighborhood beautification,” said Vilsack. “But they also promote family and community interaction and enhance opportunities to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Each of these benefits is something we can and should strive for.”
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Transition Towns is an international movement started in England that is gathering momentum in the US. The purpose of Transition Town is to help local communities become resilient to the challenges of climate change, peak oil and economic crisis. So far there are 36 US communities formerly designated as Transition Towns and another 600 who are “mulling over” getting their communities involved.

As a member of government or as an educator you can work with people within your community without having to re-invent the wheel. The process is already formed and the specific actions are determined by the individual communities. continue

If you live in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, St. Louis, Louisville, Milwaukee or Minneapolis/St. Paul, you just got one step closer to a high-speed rail system that would link those cities in what will be called the Chicago Hub High Speed Rail (or Midwest) Corridor.
According to Environment News Service , a meeting of Midwest governors and rail executives, hosted by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chicago Mayor Richard Dailey, has resulted in an agreement that establishes a Midwest steering group to coordinate each state’s individual applications and to lobby the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for funding under the Obama Administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. President Obama has targeted $8 billion to jump-start a high-speed passenger rail system, along with five years’ worth of $1 billion budget requests.
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