News
Toxic Free NC Tip of the Week: Non-Toxic Carpet Cleaning
Thanks are due to Lisa for requesting this week’s topic: Cheap & Toxic-Free Carpet Cleaning (for homes with dogs and other dirty creatures great and small).
Big Changes for the LEED Rating System
On Tuesday, the U.S. Green Building council approved significant changes to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines for 2009.
City Issues Call For Nominations For Environmental Awards
From the City of Raleigh: The City of Raleigh is accepting nominations for the 2009 Environmental Awards. The deadline to submit nominations is Dec. 15.
Toxic Free NC Tip of the Week: Mold & Mildew Killer
I dedicate this week’s tip to everyone who, like me, has been so busy these past few weeks with election madness that they haven’t cleaned their bathrooms. Eeeewww.
Toxic Free NC Tip of the Week: Roaches
had my crawlspace insulated and sealed a couple months ago. The good news is that I’ll have much lower energy bills this winter, and my crawlspace is now pretty inhospitable to pests like rodents, termites and other insects. The bad news is that some cockroaches migrated north from my now-inhospitable crawlspace into my kitchen…
Toxic Free NC Tip of the Week: Fire Ants (Part 2)
It’s been an especially good year to be a fire ant in NC, and kind of a painful one for the rest of us. How do you get rid of them without toxic pesticides? Last week, we talked about the boiling water method, which, though effective and pretty non-toxic, it’s not ideal for lawns and gardens, since it’ll cook the plants! Here’s another option for those spots.
EGB Green Drinks at Buckhead Saloon
Triangle Green drinks return to Raleigh tomorrow night at Buckhead Saloon.
Starbucks Runs Faucets All The Time, Wastes 6 Million Gallons of Water a Day
A call to several Starbucks locations this afternoon revealed that the Raleigh stores are in lock step with the coffee shop company’s policy of running a faucet during all business hours. This is their method for keeping spoons clean. When asked if Starbucks kept this up through the water crisis, an employee at the North Hills location replied “Yes we did.” Another employee at a Glenwood Avenue location when asked what she thought of the policy “That’s just the way it is.” More on Starbucks Water Waste Below The Fold
Toxic Free NC Tip of the Week: Fire Ants
It’s been an especially good year to be a fire ant in NC, and kind of a painful one for the rest of us. How do you get rid of them without toxic pesticides? Toxic Free NC on New Raleigh.
Raleigh Gas Shortage Tip
In case you haven’t noticed, Raleigh citizens are freaking out this afternoon because gas stations around town are literally running dry. Oil refineries in the Gulf Coast have been shut down in anticipation of Hurricane Ike. Read more…
Hurricane Hanna Might Rip Raleigh Wide Open
Scientists at some organization called the “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration” have predicted that Hanna (the storm formerly known as Tropical Depression 8) might run straight through town this coming weekend. Raleigh will be hosting Wide Open 3, a cultural festival of sorts which will celebrate the opening of the new Raleigh Convention Center, among other things. Projected storm path below the fold.
NC State Grant Will Explore Genetic Modification for Alternative Energy
North Carolina State University will study the potential for growing genetically modified tree species to produce ethanol in a more efficient manner. Last week’s news release provides a detailed outline of the grant recently awarded to the school by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The DNA of these new Populus (poplar) trees—the first genus of tree genome to be genetically sequenced—has been tweaked to make the plants grow faster, produce more celulose (used to make to ethanol) and contain less of the substance that inhibits the extraction of cellulose. More on Growing Our Fuel Below the Fold
Boylan Heights gets Dusted
Residents of Boylan Heights, the neighborhood adjoining the site of the new Central Prison Regional Medical Center and Mental Hospital, are being dusted by the airborne residual from the demolition of old buildings and site grading that is being conducted in preparation of construction. North Carolina Department of Correction and the contractor Balfour and Beatty have filed to implement standard practices to mitigate so-called fugitive dust, usually accomplished by simply watering the material being worked. They are avoiding the effort and attendant costs by letting the dust blow onto their neighbors, much as a litterbug would toss cigarette butts out the window of a car. “They’re supposed to water the site. That’s the law in every state,” said a construction worker who did not want to be identified. “I haven’t seen watering truck one. You see trucks carrying fuel to the dinosaur track hoes, but I haven’t seen a single water truck.” Read More below The Fold
Recycle your CFLs in Raleigh
Raleigh’s Waste Reduction Specialist, Linda Leighton, announced today that residents can now recycle compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in Raleigh. Until now CFLs had to be taken to one of Wake County’s Household Hazardous Waste Facilities, the North Wake facility open the first Saturday of each month and the South Wake facility open the third Saturday of each month. More Below The Fold
SAS Solar Farm
Our local 500 pound software gorilla is building a five acre, one megawatt photovoltaic solar farm. More..
Beware Falls Lake
We all know Friday the 13th is a bad day for skinny dipping in the lake, but in Raleigh, Jason is the least of worries. More…
North Carolina Wildfire Smokes Out Raleigh
A haze, and subsequent stench, have descended on Raleigh as western shifting winds continue to bring smoke from the largest active wildfire on American soil to the Triangle and beyond. More below the fold…
Earth Show Saturday at Katmandu
As Raleigh recovers from the closing of The Downtown Event Center, where will experimental bands play? It looks like Slim’s and Double Down have had shows recently that are on par to what the DEC has attempted to bring in. There were a few shows that the DEC had booked before it closed. One was A Rooster for the Masses, which has been canceled. The other was the massively influential drone rock band Earth. Canceling this show was not an option with integrity.
Respect Your Mother: Planet Earth Celebration in Downtown Raleigh
Burt’s Bees, along with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, is sponsoring a Planet Earth Celebration this Saturday in Downtown Raleigh, as part of Earth Day Raleigh 2008. Find out more…
6th Annual Neuse River Spring Clean-up
The annual Neuse River clean-up is this Saturday, April 5, 2008 from 8 am to 2 pm. Raleigh volunteers will be meeting at Lockwood Playground at 1200 Crabtree Blvd.
