re:form

utnereader: Where the Streets are Paved with Plastic The city...

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:12:30 -0400

Where the Streets are Paved with Plastic

The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is hoping to reduce greenhouse gases by 300 tons per year by using a hybrid asphalt made with recycled plastic. Read more.

"The federal government has been slow to enact meaningful reforms to combat climate change...."

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:31:44 -0400

“The federal government has been slow to enact meaningful reforms to combat climate change. Fortunately, some local legislators have stepped up and are leading the way. Here are twelve American cities with innovative sustainability initiatives.”

- 12 Cities Leading the Way in Sustainability | BillMoyers.com (via alongtimealone)

City Of Orlando Wants to Fine Couple $500 A Day for Garden

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:27:35 -0500

City Of Orlando Wants to Fine Couple $500 A Day for Garden:

Gardening is not a crime

steveoatney: “The city of Cambridge, Mass has teamed up with...

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:33:11 -0400

steveoatney:

“The city of Cambridge, Mass has teamed up with MIT to produce a Solar Tool that allows people to type an address into a website and get a detailed account of that roof’s solar electric potential. This is probably the most detailed service now existing and every building in Cambridge is covered. You can learn how much of your roof sees enough sun for a PV installation, how large that PV installation can be, how much it will cost, how high your Federal and state tax rebate will be, how much electricity it will produce in a year, and how much carbon it will displace.”

Solar Tool v.2. Via. climateadaptation

Stanford Study Arguing Against Benefits of Organic Food Funded by the Cargill & Agricultural Complex

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:36:54 -0400

Stanford Study Arguing Against Benefits of Organic Food Funded by the Cargill & Agricultural Complex:

joshuanguyen:

“The researchers started with a narrow set of assumptions and arrived at entirely predictable conclusions. Stanford should be ashamed of the lack of expertise about food and farming among the researchers, a low level of academic rigor in the study, its biased conclusions, and lack of transparency about the industry ties of the major researchers on the study. Normally we busy people would simply ignore another useless academic study, but this study was so aggressively spun by the PR masters that it requires a response.”

motherjones: Want lower crime rates? Plant tomatoes. A growing...

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:15:13 -0400

motherjones:

Want lower crime rates? Plant tomatoes. A growing body of research shows that urban farms reduce violence.

a-day-in-the-life: John Fetterman “America’s coolest...

Mon, 07 May 2012 17:41:50 -0400

a-day-in-the-life: John Fetterman “America’s coolest Mayor” Rehabing Bradick, Pennsylvania.
He won by one vote.

"We are told ceaselessly that sustainable or organic agriculture cannot feed the world. I find this..."

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:50:27 -0500

“We are told ceaselessly that sustainable or organic agriculture cannot feed the world. I find this claim very hard to understand.”

- HRH The Prince Of Wales, excerpted from Co.Exist. (via fastcompany)

Photo

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:24:27 -0500

Austin passes disposable bag ban

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:25:00 -0500

Austin passes disposable bag ban:

publicradiointernational:

austinstatesman:

At 2 a.m. today, the Austin City Council passed one of the broadest bag laws in the nation, agreeing to ban disposable paper and plastic bags at all retail checkout counters starting in March 2013.

Only reusable bags — defined as those made of cloth, durable materials or thicker paper and plastic bags that have handles — can be offered by retailers.

Is this good legislation or bad?

Photo

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:58:07 -0500

wnyc: nybg: Nation’s Largest Public Food Forest Takes Root on...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:42:56 -0500

wnyc:

nybg:

Nation’s Largest Public Food Forest Takes Root on Beacon Hill

“Form follows function” is the latest mantra of public space landscapers in Seattle. Or at least that’s the case if the city’s planned food forest comes to fruition (the best of puns).

Seven acres of unused lawn space are set to be transformed into an edible oasis. Not only will the land boast all of the gazebos and grilling opportunities of any respectable public park, but an entire forest of vegan eats ripe for the picking:

“Visitors to the corner of 15th Ave S. and S. Dakota Street will be greeted by a literal forest — an entire acre will feature large chestnuts and walnuts in the overstory, full-sized fruit trees like big apples and mulberries in the understory, and berry shrubs, climbing vines, herbaceous plants, and vegetables closer to the ground.”

And that’s just one acre. Further fruits and vegetables will be grown throughout the space.

While lead landscape architect Margarett Harrison thinks this will set a precedent for future land revitalization projects in the northwest, it’s much more than that: this will be the largest of any such project in the entire United States.

How long will we have to wait until such a tasty oasis crops up in the middle of New York City, I wonder? —MN

Public Food Forest? Yes! —A.P.

wnyc: redeyednblue: World’s Largest Rooftop Farm Expands its...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:28:28 -0500

wnyc:

redeyednblue:

World’s Largest Rooftop Farm Expands its Territory

At 40,000 square feet, the Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm in Long Island City is the largest of its kind. Anywhere. But the folks behind its growing success have decided that such an enormous space still doesn’t stand up under their ambitions.To hold onto their title, the Grange has recently decided to expand to a rooftop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, adding more than 45,000 square feet to their current holdings.

yes.

Mmmmmm. Farmy. —A.P.

I want this to happen in Boise amd then all the cities in the world.

Rooftop Garden

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:12:12 -0500

Rooftop Garden

In northwest Pasadena, access to healthful food is limited

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:14:58 -0500

In northwest Pasadena, access to healthful food is limited :

latimes:

Just three supermarkets serve an area with 66,000 people. The Pasadena Public Health Department wants to set up a farmers market there next year.

samadamspdxor: “Probably not as good as Bibi’s...

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:55:28 -0500

samadamspdxor:

“Probably not as good as Bibi’s (http://t.co/3EuIcEif) but today a couple of wonderful hours in my garden keeps the Kale chips-to-be crop growing.”

Thank a farm worker for putting food on your table!

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:46:09 -0400

Thank a farm worker for putting food on your table!:

An unprecedented number of consumers across America are questioning the system that puts food on their tables. Yet all too often, farm workers are left out of this discussion.

In California, farm workers have literally been paying with their lives when their employers fail to provide shade and drinking water during extreme temperatures. Nationally, farm workers die in workplace incidents five times more often than non-agricultural workers. Agriculture for most farm workers is hardly a sustainable profession.

Yet it should be, as we depend upon farm workers to put the wine, milk, fruits, vegetables and other products on our tables every day.

Today, consumers around the country are celebrating Food Day. Please add our voice to this movement for a healthier, more nutritious, just, humane and sustainable food supply. We ask that you take a moment not only to remember but to thank the workers who are in the fields rain or shine, hot or cold, to make sure our families enjoy the rich bounty of food we have come to expect.

"Money and time. “I ride the bus to get to work,” Nicholas says. It takes an hour. “If I could drive,..."

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:49:01 -0400

“

Money and time. “I ride the bus to get to work,” Nicholas says. It takes an hour. “If I could drive, it would take me 10 minutes. I have to catch two buses.” She gets to the bus stop at 6:30 a.m. The bus is supposed to come every 10 or 15 minutes. Sometimes, she says, it comes every 30 minutes.

What could you accomplish with the lost 20 minutes standing there in the rain? Waiting. That’s another cost of poverty. You wait in lines. You wait at bus stops. You wait on the bus as it makes it way up Georgia Avenue, hitting every stop. No sense in trying to hurry when you are poor.

When you are poor, you wait.

”

- The High Cost of Poverty: Why the Poor Pay More (via africansunset)

thedailyfeed: This farm provides organic food for a farmers...

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:31:42 -0400

thedailyfeed:

This farm provides organic food for a farmers market, CSA, and six organic restaurants, has zero carbon footprint, uses rainwater instead of irrigation, keeps chickens & rabbits for manure and nutrients, and uses compost for soil. It’s a closed loop system: everything that goes out can come back.

Where is this 6,000 square foot model organic farm? On a rooftop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Meet The Eagle Street Rooftop Farm.

davereed: Spent Saturday helping build a community garden at my...

Mon, 02 May 2011 14:44:54 -0400

davereed:

Spent Saturday helping build a community garden at my brother’s church in Beaverton. Here I am staking down weed barrier for the gravel paths

WOOT!