Category Archives: environmental

The First 100: 23 in 23 begins Monday

23 in 23 logoMayor Langford announced the plans for one of his Citizens First Initiatives during this morning’s City Council meeting. The effort begins next Monday morning in the Five Points West community.

According to the handouts distributed during the mayor’s PowerPoint presentation, the city’s 23 communities have each been assigned a day during which three “waves” will come through and handle all areas of cleaning up debris and trash. Mayor Langford stated that the program would not be a one-time effort; the process will begin anew each month, providing continued, organized maintenance to the city’s 99 neighborhoods. He also stated that dilapidated cars would be identified and removed during the monthly sweeps.

Other announcements made during the mayor’s first report to the council after the jump: Continue reading

Sign a petition, get a farmer’s market

That’s the hope of the folks over at The Bottletree (their site’s down temporarily, but the link will let you buy tickets). They are currently collecting names on a petition to ask that the former Hancock Fabrics building along 3rd Avenue South be converted into a year-round farmers market.

They’re planning to turn the petition in to Mayor Langford after they’ve collected 500 signatures. Considering that 300+ will be there on Saturday to help celebrate the venue’s 1st anniversary, you may think that you don’t need to head on over there and sign it. Well… the more signatures, the better, wouldn’t you say?

Stop on by and sign it.

Take a moment: It’s America Recycles Day!

America Recycles Day screenshot

Screenshot of National Recycling Coalition website

It’s the 10th anniversary of the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products. The section of the National Recycling Coalition website focused on the event provides information about its history, area events by state (the only one listed for Alabama is one in Guntersville; it starts at 10 a.m.), and provides a way for you to pledge that you will do your part.

Continue reading

Green Third Thursday, Java & Jams

According to new Catalyst chair Celeste Griffin, Green Third Thursday is “where green people talk green.” The Terminal already uses the new coffee house downtown as an unofficial base of operations, now you can come on out and find out why we do and why Catalyst is starting to use it too.

Cost: $0 (but you’ll want to have something to drink)

Location:
Java and Jams
321 North 20th Street (directions)

Ecofest 9, WorkPlay

UPDATE: For folks looking for information about EcoFest 10, check out the listing over on our new calendar, destinations (in beta).

The Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College will holding EcoFest 9 on Thursday, October 11,  from 6 – 9 p.m. at WorkPlay on Birmingham’s Southside.  This year’s gourmet food will be provided by Gray Bynum of Culinard & Chris Dupont of Cafe Dupont.  Tickets can be purchased by calling the SEC at 205.226.4934.

Cost: $50 per person

Location:
WorkPlay
500 23rd Street, South
Birmingham, AL 35233

Click here to visit the Southern Environmental Center’s site to see the poster for the event.

Take a Moment: Brew a cup of coffee, support a local organization

We were out starting to place our bright orange fliers around town over the weekend when we stumbled across a yard sale at the Crestwood Coffee Company. The sale was to raise funds for Black Warrior Riverkeeper. It was also a great opportunity to debut a new a new dark roast named in the organization’s honor by Higher Ground Roasters over in Leeds, AL. Proceeds from the sale of the new roast blend will go to support the non-profit organization. You can order it online or pick some up throughout the Birmingham metro region (a list is included in the Locust Fork Journal’s post about the coffee and the yard sale).

What better way to support the cause?

2007 Drought: What’s up at the zoo?

So it’s still hot… and it’s not going away anytime soon, with today’s high reaching 103°. We know how we’re fairing in the heat, but how about the residents at one of the state’s busiest tourist destinations.

The folks at Fox 6 decided over the weekend let us know how the gang at the Birmingham Zoo was beating this insane heat recently, complete with video. We’d just love to have access to that pool right now.