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Green Community
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Ybor IKEA to go solar
The company says the solar panels will be the energy equivalent of powering 154 homes.
Posted by Mitch Perry on Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 8:35 AM
For the company's three Florida stores (the others are in Orlando and Sunrise), they will be contracting the work out to REC Solar, who IKEA says have built more than 7,000 such systems across the country.
IKEA says that there will be 5,061 individuals panels built on the Tampa site that will generate 1,792,300 kWh/year, or the equivalent to reducing 1,362 tons of CO 2, 242 cars’ emissions or powering 154 homes.
The IKEA in Ybor City opened in 2009.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Florida environmentalists hail Obama Administration's proposal on raising fuel efficiency standards
Posted by Mitch Perry on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 7:04 AM
A lengthy New York Times story published today illustrates why they might feel let down by the President, as the piece depicts how the administration - in particular chief of staff Bill Daley and regulatory czar Cass Sunstein pushed Obama to reject a proposal by EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to tighten the national standard for smog.
But environmentalists nationally and in Florida are applauding the administration for officially proposed strengthening fuel efficiency and pollution standards for passenger cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
'One Bottle One Dream' aims to teach Florida kids about environmental stewardship
An educational outreach program underway in Florida Public Schools to get teach kids about recycling and the environment.
Posted by Lisa Custer on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 2:00 PM
Local author Stephanie Armenia started a project called One Bottle One Dream, wrote an accompanying children's book and created a teacher curriculum guide that corresponds to the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards to make kids aware of the idea of conservation.
This exciting new outreach is designed to encourage the habit of recycling early in life through Armenia's book, "When Will We Be Recycled, Momma?", and introducing kids to Jack, a water bottle with dreams of being recycled into a spaceship and blasting off to the moon. It starts with one act of kindness locally and grows into environmental stewardship globally.
Recently, there was a kickoff party at McKitrick Elementary in Lutz, FL, where the PTA purchased a class set of books for all 3rd and 4th grade teachers. (Watch the video highlights here.) Joining Stephanie was Worm’s Way, a local organic gardening supply store, who donated composting kits to all teachers and will provide a matching program for schools who participate in the One Bottle One Dream Project.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Temple Terrace 'Bat Tower Talk' with the Florida Bat Conservancy: Thu., Sept. 1st
Learn about the new location of the bat tower and meet the bats.
Posted by Katie Machol on Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Learn about the new location of the bat tower (and see the blueprints), why bats are beneficial to the local ecosystem, how to make a bat roost in your own yard. Plus, get the chance to see some of our local bats in action. A strong showing of community support is beneficial to help this important and historic project project move forward.
Bat Tower swag will also be available for purchase, including shirts, stained glass bats, bat wine, 'Adopt-A-Bat' plush bats and more.
The event will be held from 7-10 p.m. at the Temple Terrace Community Church: 210 Inverness Ave., Tampa. Find out more about this project at the Temple Terrace Bat Tower Reconstruction Project's Facebook page.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Activists hold rally for clean air
Posted by Monica Torres on Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 6:45 PM
This Wednesday, clean air advocates held a rally in downtown Tampa to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) updated air quality standards which will be announced by the end of the month. According to the EPA, proposed updates to reduce mercury pollution from power plants will “prevent as many as 17,000 premature deaths and 11,000 heart attacks a year, in addition to 120,000 asthma attacks and about 11,000 cases of acute bronchitis among children annually.”
With children starting school and the EPA’s impending decision, Phil Compton, organizing representative for Sierra Club Florida Regional Office, believes that the rally is an opportune moment to raise awareness and gain signatures for the Sierra Club’s Clean Air Promise. After speeches by concerned residents and members of the Suncoast Pediatric Asthma Coalitions, members were encouraged to sign the petition and get involved.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Ocean dead zones
Agricultural runoff is a primary culprit, but sewage, vehicular and industrial emissions and natural factors cause dead zones.
Posted by Katie Machol on Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 10:00 AM
- Robert Simmon, NASA
- Perhaps the most infamous U.S. dead zone is an 8,500 square mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico, not far from where the nutrient-laden Mississippi River, which drains farms up and down the Midwest, lets out.
E — The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: What is a “dead zone” in an ocean or other body of water? — Victor Paine, Tallahassee, FL
So-called dead zones are areas of large bodies of water—typically in the ocean but also occasionally in lakes and even rivers—that do not have enough oxygen to support marine life. The cause of such “hypoxic” (lacking oxygen) conditions is usually eutrophication, an increase in chemical nutrients in the water, leading to excessive blooms of algae that deplete underwater oxygen levels. Nitrogen and phosphorous from agricultural runoff are the primary culprits, but sewage, vehicular and industrial emissions and even natural factors also play a role in the development of dead zones.
Dead zones occur around the world, but primarily near areas where heavy agricultural and industrial activity spill nutrients into the water and compromise its quality accordingly. Some dead zones do occur naturally, but the prevalence of them since the 1970s—when dead zones were detected in Chesapeake Bay off Maryland as well as in Scandinavia’s Kattegat Strait, the mouth of the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the northern Adriatic—hints at mankind’s impact. A 2008 study found more than 400 dead zones worldwide, including in South America, China, Japan, southeast Australia and elsewhere.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Our destructive consumer culture
Human society is consuming 30 percent more material than is sustainable from the world's resources.
Posted by Katie Machol on Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 10:00 AM
- Steve Rhodes
- William Rees of the University of British Columbia reports that human society is in a “global overshoot,” consuming 30 percent more material than is sustainable from the world’s resources. Pictured: A "Buy Nothing Day" activist leaflets in San Francisco.
E — The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: I don’t hear much about the environmental impacts of our consumer culture any more, but it seems to me that our “buy, buy, buy” mentality is a major contributor to our overuse of energy and resources. Are any organizations addressing this issue today? — M. Oakes, Miami, FL
There is no doubt true that our overly consumerist culture is contributing to our addiction to oil and other natural resources and the pollution of the planet and its atmosphere.
Unfortunately the tendency to acquire and even horde valuable goods may be coded into our DNA. Researchers contend that humans are subconsciously driven by an impulse for survival, domination and expansion which finds expression in the idea that economic growth will solve all individual and worldly ills. Advertising plays on those impulses, turning material items into objects of great desire imparting intelligence, status and success.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tampa Bay Estuary Program's Invasive Species poetry contest winners announced
"Clever verse from humorous to serious described nasty invasives."
Posted by Katie Machol on Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 3:30 PM
"Clever verse from humorous to serious described nasty invasives from bufo toads and Burmese pythons to lionfish, lovebugs, Brazilian pepper and air potatoes. The judges, representing a cross-section of backgrounds, were entertained by poetry in forms ranging from rhymes to haikus, and even a rap," states the press release.
And the winners are:
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Tips for environmental volunteerism during the sweltering summer months
Help the great outdoors from inside!
Posted by Erin Lennox on Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:30 PM
So what other activities can one do to help out the environment in without the sweat and potential heat stroke?
Do your activism in the air conditioning! If you have petitions to get signed to help the environment, then go to local 'green' conventions and tell people about it. You can even help organize a local green expo that takes place indoors so that people can be proactive about taking care of the outdoors while staying cool.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Environmentalists protest outside Florida Rep. John Mica's local office to protest his "dirty water" bill
Posted by Mitch Perry on Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 12:39 PM
The bill would amend the Clean Water Act by restricting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to issue a revised or new water quality standard for a pollutant whenever a state has adopted and EPA already has approved a water quality standard for that pollutant. It would also "prevent unilateral actions by the EPA that second-guess the decisions of the state regulatory agency."
Thursday morning in Maitland, Florida, a host of environmental activists protested outside Republican Congressman John Mica's local congressional office. The Florida Republican Representative sponsored the bill, which opponents are referring to as Mica's "Dirty Water" bill, claiming it would leave Florida without strong legal protections against pollution discharged in places like Lake Apopka, the St. John’s River, the Indian River Lagoon, the Caloosahatchee River, Lake Okeechobee, the Gulf of Mexico and the Everglades.
