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Entries from August 1, 2007 - September 1, 2007
EcoBrokers featured in September issue of Atlanta INtown
Big shout-out to Kathy Vogeltanz, Anne Berry Pomeroy and Company at Atlanta INtown for spot-lighting me and fellow EcoBroker Robby Stiles in this month's issue, which focuses on alternative transportation solutions to our infamous gridlock. It's a subject near and dear to me. No home is an island and can't be the full expression of eco-friendly living if it's not location-efficient as well as energy-efficient.
You can find the EcoBroker article on page 57 of their online edition, which is a very groovy green thing all by itself.
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PrintBlack Balloons
This video clip illustrates as well as any I've seen the concept of how our homes are major contributors to greenhouse gases. Use it to help a friend or family member "get the picture."
Seen any good videos? Care to share with the rest of the class?
Paper NOR Plastic -- BYOB
My wife is a bag lady. And I'm a bagger at the local grocer. Call it the ecolution of Liana and Burke Sisco.
Now, when the check-out person at the grocery store asks "paper or plastic" we say, "neither, thank you. We brought our own."
Reusable bags are one of those practical applications of the environmental mantra "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" that we can all practice.
We always had the best intentions. We'd save the plastic bags and try to remember to take them with us the next time we went shopping. We never did. Or we'd try to find ways to reuse the paper bags, but they always end up being used to tote more paper and plastic to the garbage can and then ultimately on to the landfill.
The truth is that both paper and plastic bags represent a huge environmental problem:
- The USA consumes billions of bags per year that require millions of barrels of oil to produce.
- Plastic bags don't biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when accidentally ingested by animals. They never fully decompose.
- It has been reported that paper bags produce 70 times more water pollution and 50 times more air pollution than plastic bags during their life cycle.
- It is estimated that 100,000+ marine animals are killed every year by plastic.
- It is estimated that 53% of plastic shopping bags are distributed into circulation via supermarkets and grocery stores.
Reusable bags are an excellent way to combat this problem. By using 10 reusable bags you can replace 1,040 paper and plastic bags per year.
Australia and Ireland have taken leadership roles in reducing the use of plastic bags. Other countries, including but not limited to the United Kingdom, South Africa, Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, Japan and Taiwan have introduced some form of governmental reforms aimed at reducing the country's consumption of HDPE bags.
In this country San Francisco became the first city in the nation to outlaw the use of plastic checkout bags. The ordinance requires large supermarkets to discontinue use of the plastic bags within six months and large chain pharmacies within the next year.
Harvest H2O from your A/C
File this one under the "sometimes the solution is right under your nose," or "if you want to change the world, begin in your own backyard" categories.
Fitz Randolph has written an excellent article at ajc.com (peep here) on how he learned to harvest water from the air around him -- not from rain, which is not an option in drought conditions like we are experiencing -- but by catching the condensate from his air conditioner.
I can vouch for this simple solution to lots of free water.
My brother installed a re-purposed 55 gallon coca-cola phosphate container (reuse! recycling!) near his air conditioner and ran an extension hose like Fitz describes in his op-ed piece. You can make out the tube running from the a/c discharge hose into the barrel if you study the picture above.
The barrel stays about three quarters full of water, even though we are constantly using the condensate to water plants and vegetables growing on the grounds around Hampton Lofts.
Atlanta home to EcoManor
Ted Turner's daughter and her husband, Laura and Rutherford Seydel, have built one of the country's premier ecological demonstration homes here in Atlanta.
Visit www.ecomanor.com for more information.
Serenbe, a shining light of sustainability
I am writing this entry from the Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop in the heart of Serenbe, a community that continues to inspire me. Serenbe itself is in the heart of the Chattahoochee Hill Country, a 60,000 acre area Southwest of Atlanta that could help to redefine development practices around the city that has become known as the poster child of sprawl.
I'll blog more on the Hill Country later. For now, back to the Daisy.
I met some potential clients here today that had found me on EcoBroker.com. They are from San Francisco seeking to buy a second home in the Atlanta area as they visit often. They want to work with an agent who is green and can help them find a home that is as eco-friendly as possible. When they told me they were open to South Atlanta, I said they had to come and visit Serenbe.
All the residential buildings in Serenbe are Earthcraft Certified, the green building standard for Atlanta. The Blue Eyed Daisy holds the distinction as the smallest commercial LEED-certified building in the country.
But the buildings are just the beginning.
The community is being developed with an eye towards environmental sustainability in every detail. At a higher level, the entire 900 acres that is the Hill Country's first Hamlet will be developed in a way that preserves 80% of the green space. Not as a golf course or as land clear-cut and re-landscaped, but as truly unspoiled woodlands, meadows, and wetlands. The community follows the natural undulations of the hill country, or "sacred geometry", so land disturbance and grading are kept to an absolute minimum. Native plants and organic landscaping are used exclusively eliminating the need for chemical fertilization. The community is networked with a system of pathways making walking a viable alternative to the car.
The residential and commercial are concentrated using best practices in New Urbanism. English Villages served as a reference, but the architects didn't limit themselves to one style of architecture like you might find in Seaside, Florida or Helen, Georgia. Although all new construction, the Hamlet appears to have grown organically with a broad range of styles and influences, both old and modern.
On a purely aesthetic side note: the signage, benches, trash receptacles and other public fixtures are all manufactured in a unified organic theme. The street lights are masterpieces of urban artwork (see the picture above).
Waste water treatment employs greywater techniques and a constructed wetland area for natural chemical-free treatment of black water. This element alone deserves wide adoption by the metro area as an alternative to traditional sewer management.
In addition to all this, the community has a 25 acre working organic farm. The local restaurants like The Farmhouse and The Hil make extensive use of the locally grown vegetables and herbs. Residents can purchase the organic produce at the Serenbe Farms farmer's market on Saturdays.
I could go on about this crowning achievement in sustainable community. If you're looking for one of the greenest lifestyles Atlanta has to offer, meet me at the Blue Eyed Daisy and I'll show you around...
Burke Sisco
Take a virtual tour of Serenbe:
