May 12, 2008
This post was written by John Bennett
There’s something sustainable happening every day for the rest of the week. Doubt me? Submitted for your consideration:
Tuesday: The May installment of Green Drinks Savannah happens at Cha Bella, located near the corner of Broughton and East Broad streets. The events starts at 5:30 p.m. More information is available here.
Wednesday: SCAD’s chapters of the The American Society of Interior Designers and the International Interior Design Association present a lecture called “Off the Grid,” by Mariyn Whitne and Cindy Faulhaber. The event begins at 7:45 p.m. in Room 104 of Eichberg Hall, located at 229 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Attendees will “learn from a designer and a client what it takes to design an ‘off the grid’ home.” Disclosure: I am a SCAD employee.
Thursday: You can save the trip out to whichever Gwinnett Street recycling drop off point you prefer and take your aluminum cans off at St. James AME church at 631 E. Broad St. The church’s Recycling Committee will accept your cans between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. in an effort to “preserve the environment for God and the community.” For more information, contact Willie Stephens at 631-2674. Cans will also be accepted during the same hours May 13-22.
Friday: The Savannah Development and Renewal Authority and other partner organizations encourage everyone to “Dump the Pump” and leave their cars at home Friday, May 16. The purpose of Dump the Pump: Leave Your Car At Home Day is to raise awareness about the benefits of using alternative modes of transportation and to encourage people to commute by carpooling, mass transit, bicycling and walking. A full rundown of Dump the Pump events, which include a coffee break for alternative commuters and a “crosswalk action,” can be found here.
Saturday: The Starland Farmers Market is open from 9 a.m. until noon in several indoor and outdoor locations throughout the Starland Dairy district, bounded by Whitaker to Drayton and from 39th to 41st. More information is here.
Sunday: The Savannah Bicycle Campaign presents its second Savannah Wheelie Ride. The casual, slow paced ride coincides with the Sand Gnats’ May 18 batt
le with the Greenville Drive (there is a message here: Ride, don’t Drive). The live leaves Grayson Stadium at 1pm, returning for the 2pm Gnats game. Savannah Wheelie participants will get in for $5, which is $2 off the general admission price. More information here.
Posted in Advocacy, Food, Green Building, Recreation, Recycling 
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May 5, 2008
This post was written by John Bennett
That’s right! Sustainable Savannah is currently seeking qualified individuals to expand its coverage of the events, programs, projects and people related to sustainability efforts in the local area. It’s a great job, but there’s a catch: This site does not accept paid advertising and does not generate income of any kind. As a result, the compensation Sustainable Savannah available to staff members is limited.
In other words, being a Sustainable Savannah contributor does not pay well. In fact, it doesn’t pay. At all. At least not in dollars. Or Euros.
However, if you want to help spread the word about what’s happening on the sustainability front, we should talk. Betsey and I have the food and transportation beats pretty well covered, so we are primarily interested in folks who want to write about recycling, energy, conservation, green building and other topics that deserve more coverage than Sustainable Savannah has offered so far. Of course we’d still like to hear from you if even if you’d prefer to focus on bicycles or beets. There’s certainly room for more on those topics.
If you think you have what it takes or — more accurately — if think you have something to give, drop us a line at info@sustainablesavannah.com.
Photo credit: Small Ape via Flickr.
Posted in Advocacy No Comments »
April 17, 2008
This post was written by John Bennett
Tomorrow morning at 11 a.m., a press conference will be held on the frontage road at the corner of Abercorn Street and DeRenne Avenue to announce the launch of a revolutionary (at in local terms) approach to reducing traffic congestion. At its most basic essence, Coastal Commuters makes it easy for people to find someone who’s going their way. Or as the press release describes:
“Coastal Commuters encourages carpooling, mass transit, bicycling, and walking as methods in everyday transportation. A central feature in the program is a regional, online ride-matching system, which will be available for free to the general public, effective April 18, 2008. The promotion of alternative transportation among commuters to DeRenne Avenue was a recommendation in the Connecting Savannah Action Plan.”
The “central feature” mentioned above is especially important as it addresses the needs of people who live in areas that are not served by public transportation or who live too far from work to walk or bicycle. These folks can register, log on and find someone down the street or in the next subdivision over whose workplace is near their own. What’s more, the site will allow users to calculate how much they are saving in gas and vehicle miles and even pollution reduction.
But why is the Coastal Commuters revolutionary? Because it attacks the problem of traffic congestion from a completely different angle. Instead of taking usual approach of increasing capacity (building new roads or widening existing ones) it aims to reduce demand. Not only is it much more cost effective than adding capacity — something our financially troubled department of transportation recently revealed it can’t afford to do anyway — it avoids the undesirable side effects that come with widening roads, including:
- Eviscerated neighborhoods
- Destroyed tree canopies
- Streets that are dangerous to cyclists and pedestrians
- Additional automobile dependency and fuel consumption
- Increased air pollution
- Metastasizing sprawl
- Public spaces that are civic liabilities instead of community assets
All this is on top of the reality that congestion relief promised by road widening is often only temporary, with the additional capacity serving to induce more traffic. Like the saying goes, trying to reduce congestion by widening roads is like fighting obesity by loosening your belt. It may address the symptoms in the short term, but it makes the underlying problem worse.
If for no other reason, Coastal Commuters is revolutionary because it can do what no other transportation project in this community can: It will put money back into the pockets of the people who use it. Show me a road widening project that can do that.
More information on Coastal Commuters is available here.
Posted in Conservation, Government, Transportation No Comments »
April 16, 2008
This post was written by John Bennett
As mentioned previously, April 18 is “Dump the Pump: Leave Your Car at Home Day.” And the timing is nearly perfect. The weather will be nice and today a barrel of oil became more expensive than it has ever been before. It’s not too late to pledge not to drive. Carpooling qualifies, too. If you ride with someone else or give a friend a ride so they are able to leave the car at home, you’re doing your part.
Posted in Conservation, Transportation No Comments »
April 15, 2008
This post was written by John Bennett
An editorial in today’s Savannah Morning News suggested a logical course of action for two large governmental agencies: They ought to work together.
When it comes to recycling, the more stuff removed from the waste stream, the better. That’s why it’s good news the Chatham County Commission is looking into bringing a recycling program to the unincorporated county. The county’s smaller municipalities, such as Garden City, Pooler and Port Wentworth, should also consider a recycling program.
The city of Savannah has already received entries from a request for proposals for a sorting and recovery facility. It is currently reviewing those proposals and working with the low bidders on site locations. The county could contract with the same recycler, which is expected to pay between $10 and $40 per ton of recyclables delivered, as well as the cost of running the recycling center.
Read more of “Recycling: Team up” here.
Meanwhile, at the city’s Gallery S.P.A.C.E., a recycling themed exhibition is slated to open next month. “Reincarnated: Art Showcasing Reduce, Reuse & Recycle,” features 12 local artists who use found art or recycled materials “as a conscious, creative way to cut down on waste.” The exhibition runs May 2-27 with a reception on opening night from 6-8 p.m.
Anne Robinson, outreach coordinator for the city’s Recycling Complex, organized the show. She described the genesis of the show this way:
“I recruited the artists by going to festivals and art galleries all around Savannah and seeking out pieces that were, whether intentionally or unintentionally, made with reused or recycled materials. Once I found a talented cadre of artists, we met monthly for six months to exchange ideas and materials. Reincarnated is the end result of these gatherings.”
Artists included in the exhibition are Maria Johns Brown Danielle DeMasi, Kristie Duncan, Liz Guri, Paschal Ford, Kelly Goode, Chris Harris, Lind Hollingsworth, David Kelley, Brian MacGregor, Jan Clayton Pagratis and Christopher Schell.
Gallery S.P.A.C.E. is located at 9 W. Henry St. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information is available here.
Image: “Our Ocean” 2007, 5″x 7″ Oil Paint Chips and Rusty Metal on Canvas by Jan Clayton Pagratis.
Posted in Advocacy, Government, Recycling 1 Comment »
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