News
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.
JC Raulston Arboretum Arborfest Saturday
On Saturday, April 5 JC Raulston Arboretum is holding its annual Arborfest—a day of education and entertainment at the gardens. Activities include four keynotes speakers, tours in the gardens, informational booths, a master gardener plant clinic, youth activities, and plant and craft sales by local nurseries. This year, in response to the water shortages, the event is focusing on water management and conservation and sustainable design. It looks like it may rain on saturday, and if it does it will be the perfect way to highlight the lunchtime rain barrel demonstration. More info…
Disposals Get Dumped, Try Composting Instead
On Monday the Raleigh city council put an abrupt end to commercial and residential disposals. Because of the amount of sewage overflows and maintenance required to clean grease from sewage lines the council has mandated that no new food disposals can be installed. Existing disposals can still be used but they cannot be replaced or fixed if they break down. So what can the disposal-impaired do with those potato shavings and egg shells? Instead of throwing out food scraps like common trash, why not put them to use? Composting is an easy way to turn your cooking remains into a nutrient-rich soil additive for your garden, flower bed, or potted houseplants. More…
A Little Rain Goes a Long Way- Half the Lake Deficit Recovered
The City of Raleigh released a detailed update about our water shortage today. The recent rains rapidly recovered a third of the lakes capacity or 5 billion gallons and extended our usable water another 135 days.
Striving for Sustainability: The Green Square Complex
Is Raleigh going green? Faced with drought and booming growth, is the city finally looking at both our present and future situation to develop sustainable solutions? Evidence suggests that the motivation to cultivate environmental responsibility is indeed present, though not quite prevalent, in downtown Raleigh. Now a new project downtown is poised to further demonstrate Raleigh’s commitment to sustainable design. More…
Fred Fletcher Park Water Garden Approved
Fred Fletcher Park’s Water Garden was approved early last week to begin construction and is expected to be finished by the end of June. The Water Garden is a Storm Water Management Division project that is designed to achieve several environmental and aesthetic goals by managing runoff in an attractive way. More Below The Fold and Slideshow for RSS Readers
