By John Bennett
August 19, 2008
An Aug. 20 meeting at the Savannah Civic Center will, “present background information on current environmental initiatives, including our organization’s goals to reduce carbon emissions and the upcoming launch of curbside recycling,” according to the city’s Web site. In addition, “Citizens are encouraged to share their ideas and pledge to make changes in their own lives to support an earth-friendly future in Savannah.” The town hall meeting begins at 7 p.m.
Posted in Advocacy, Government, Recycling, Transportation 
No Comments »
By Clara Fishel
August 19, 2008
My new favorite sustainability blog -SusHI (Sustainability in Hawai’i) recently posted on 7th Generation’s Sustainability Index. I’ve posted a partial index below and you can read the whole thing here. The index narrows in on a few major areas -energy, pollution, recycling- and is far from a complete picture, but it does highlight some trends while making a pretty good case for greater investment in clean tech and associated green industries. When I see stats like these, I am reminded (again) that beyond idealistic notions of doing the right thing, there is real social benefit and economic sense behind moving toward a more sustainable future.
- Percent increase in production of solar cells last year: 51
- Number of minutes of sunlight hitting Earth needed to meet global energy needs for a year: 1
- Size of the patch of desert needed to meet all U.S. energy using concentrated solar power: 92 x 92 miles
- Percent of global energy needs that could be met by wind power: 3,500
- Cost to build wind power generators to meet 20% of U.S. electricity needs: $1.2 trillion
- Amount of money spent on foreign oil in the U.S. every year: $700 billion
- Percent of U.S. household waste currently being recycled: 33
- Percent of U.S. household waste that could be recycled: 75
- Cost per ton of garbage collection in the U.S.: $70-$200
- Cost per ton of curbside recycling in the U.S.: $50-$150
- Number of jobs created per 10,000 tons of waste incinerated: 1
- Number of jobs created per 10,000 tons of waste landfilled: 6
- Number of jobs created per 10,000 tons of waste recycled: 36
Posted in Business, Economics, Energy, Recycling No Comments »
By Clara Fishel
August 12, 2008
Some friends of mine went fishing this past weekend near Darrien. Over two solid days on the water they caught nothing but sharks. Having recently heard similar stories from other recreational fisher-folk I know, seemed to be a good time for a post on sustainable seafood.
The worldwide depletion of ocean fisheries is not new news. But it is a fact that doesn’t get much attention in the whole enviro-food discussion. Overfishing, overconsumption, polllution>habitat destruction and fisheries mismanagement are the main culprits. According to the Environmental Defense Fund,
Worldwide, it is estimated that some 90 percent of species of large predatory fish are gone. Domestically, of 230 assessed U.S. fisheries, 54 stocks are classified as overfished, 45 are experiencing overfishing, and the status of just over half of the nation’s stocks are unknown. America’s fishing communities are also suffering. The collapse of New England’s cod fishery in the early 1990s cost an estimated 20,000 jobs. About 72,000 jobs have been lost because of dwindling salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest alone.
To be sure, fisheries management is an extremely complex issue (only further complicated by global climate change) that involves common pool resources, multiple stakeholders, intra-state and international agreements. You can find a wealth of related information from these websites . . .
South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council
Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary
Marine Stewardship Council
but in the meantime, what can we do to address this issue in our everyday lives?
Well, this is just one less thing for vegetarians to worry about I guess. But for the rest of us, I highly reccomend checking out the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s guide to sustainable seafood buying in the southeast region. Note that delicious and iconic local fish Grouper, Flounder and Red (& Vermillion) Snapper are all on the list of fish to avoid. However, we are lucky in that there is plenty of yummy local seafood that makes the best choices and good alternatives lists, including: Blue Crab, Wild Shrimp, Mahi-Mahi (troll/pole caught), King Mackeral, Croaker, Mullet, Striped Bass, Lane & Yellowtail Snapper, Yellowfin Tuna (troll/pole caught) and one of my alltime faves, Wahoo.
Savannah area resources that get the green light . . .
Russo’s Seafood 201 E. 40th Street (@ Abercorn)
Mathew’s Seafood 121 Kicklighter Way (just off Louisville Rd in Garden City)
Bowie Seafood 801 1st Street, Tybee Island (especially for live blue crab)
Dubberly Seafood, Savannah, 912-925-6433 (best Wild GA Shrimp around)
Asking questions (at restaurants, fish markets and grocery stores) is another way to make sure you are getting the goods. Asking questions also lets retailers know that you are interested in sustainable seafood options. My favorite French blogger, Clotilde Dusoulier (check out her excellent post on sustainable seafood here) has some good advice about how to ask questions . . . The trick is to adopt just the right tone so as not to sound high-and-mighty, yet make it clear how important it is to you.
Comments, tips and resources from readers would be greatly appreciated!
Posted in Conservation, Education, Food, Health No Comments »
By Clara Fishel
August 11, 2008
Both the Sunday NY Times and the SMN had articles about cycling on the front pages of their lifesytle sections (Sunday Styles and Accent respectively). The premise: there are more bikes on the road these days, many bikes on the road belong to bike commuting novices, people who drive cars are annoyed.
Before I get into the rest of this post I just gotta say, ugh. This is not an issue for the fashion and style pages.
The SMN article offered new cyclists tips on “how to share the road and enjoy a safe ride,” complete with color photo illustrations of hand signals. The NYT article (titled “Moving Targets”) focused on nationwide incidents of auto-agression directed at cyclists as well as the bad driving habits of some cyclists.
While the SMN article didn’t seem to acknowledge that auto drivers also need to beef up on their road sharing and safety skills, I was happy to see our local paper putting it out there (even in the style section!). Ongoing education that reaches all segments of the two and four wheel driving population is so important. There is a lot of bad behavior on both sides . . .
Top 5 Bad 4-Wheel Driving Behavior
1. Hit and Run
2. Running a cyclist off the road
3. Yelling obsenities out the window or honking when passing a cyclist
4. Making a right turn in front of a cyclist & generally not looking out
5. Acting all annoyed and making a big show of speeding up when passing a cyclist
Top 5 Bad 2-Wheel Riding Behavior
1. Driving as if autos are actually looking out for you
2. Not following the rules of the road: running stop signs & traffic lights, not signaling
3. Riding on the wrong side of the street or on the sidewalk
4. Not yielding to pedestrians (same goes for 4 wheelers)
5. Not wearing a helmet (because brain damage just isn’t sexy people)
Posted in Transportation No Comments »
By John Bennett
August 9, 2008
The Savannah Morning News Web site now has a green corner. Called, “Green Living,” the new area of the newspaper’s site corrals stories with environmental angles, provides links to local Web sites (Sustainable Savannah is oddly absent from these) and features a blog by Mary Landers, the paper’s environment reporter. As far as I can tell, Green Living went live within the last 24 hours.
Posted in Business 1 Comment »
RSS
Recent Comments