Our Decrepit Food Factories

From Michael Pollen's latest NYTimes article:

For years now, critics have been speaking of modern industrial agriculture as “unsustainable” in precisely these terms, though what form the “breakdown” might take or when it might happen has never been certain. Would the aquifers run dry? The pesticides stop working? The soil lose its fertility? All these breakdowns have been predicted and they may yet come to pass. But if a system is unsustainable — if its workings offend the rules of nature — the cracks and signs of breakdown may show up in the most unexpected times and places. Two stories in the news this year, stories that on their faces would seem to have nothing to do with each other let alone with agriculture, may point to an imminent breakdown in the way we’re growing food today.

Click here to read more.

Extreme Marketing to Kids

See story and action on McDonald's marketing to kids in Florida on their own report cards.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/t/4886/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21959

Complete the Streets!

Could we do this in NC? It is now official policy in the entire state of Illinois. How about starting with Carrboro...

http://www.completestreets.org/

The Kids are Alright

From Kids tell town how to save, Chapel Hill News:

Thirteen-year-old Connor Bernstein told the Town Council that the Chapel Hill Police Station consumes 420,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year at a cost of $25,000.

“That’s a lot,” Connor said.

Wearing button-down shirts, dress pants, sweaters and sneakers — including one pair of Converse All-Stars — seven young men appeared before the council Monday to present the results of an energy audit they conducted at the police station on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Click here to read full article.

Don't throw those oyster shells away!

From Shelling For Sustainability, Chapel Hill News:

Every Thursday, Greg Overbeck pulls his silver Ford pickup to the back entrance and loads heavy boxes of empty oysters shells into the truck bed. He drives to Carrboro and delivers them to Tom Robinson at Tom Robinson's Carolina Seafood, in a tiny freestanding building in the parking lot behind Armadillo Grill.

Robinson in turn drives the shells to the beach on his weekly fresh fish run and turns them over to fishery workers, who dump them back into the ocean to help replenish diminishing oyster beds. Young oysters prefer to grow on the backs of bigger oyster shells.

Click here to read full article.

Help Preserve Carrboro Greenspace

From Carrboro Greenspace re property at 116 Old Pittsboro:

In the last few weeks a REAL chance to save one of the only green spaces left in downtown Carrboro has emerged; but we need your help to make it happen! As of November 19, we received news that there is a potential buyer willing to help purchase the property and support its preservation IF they can a) partner with the town, b) be assured of community investment in and support for purchasing and conserving the land.

We know for a fact the town is interested, but we need to convince them that a) residents really, really want this, and 2) that this is economically viable. The town was recently sent an official proposal and a request to partner… this means that if there was ever a time to save this magical property, it is probably now. Please help us make this effort a reality

Click here to help.

Advisory Board Openings

Help Carrboro develop sustainably by becoming a member of an advisory board. Spots are currently open on the planning and environmental advisory boards.

Check the town's message board for current openings and to apply online.

Unpackaged

There's a new store in town, Unpackaged,(if you live in London).

Here's their deal:

We believe that most packaging is unnecessary so we’re doing something about it.

The result is Unpackaged- the new way for you to shop safe in the knowledge that you’ve not created any waste that’s going to end up in a landfill.

We want you to bring your own containers for us to fill up with your favourite things and we’ll make it cheaper if you do. We know that it isn’t always easy to remember so we can also offer reusable containers that you can bring back next time.

Cool Biz

Japan's government started a campaign two years ago to turn down thermostats in government and business offices. So far, it has prevented two million tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted.

Read the Morning Edition transcript.

Has anyone heard of similar programs in the U.S.? I would like to get town hall and local businesses to relax their ac/heat use and I think a campaign would encourage people to see their indoor comfort differently--as part of a cause rather than as a necessity.