Environment News in Raleigh

Tomorrow, Mayor Meeker, Council Member Russ Stephenson, and Sierra Club representatives will formally address the townsfolk in Nash Square (the park with the firefighter statues.)  The event will be at 10:30 AM.  I am hoping they will give us some tangible information about what it means for Raleigh to be a Cool City.  I also hope that a significant number of people show up to show that we care about our city’s effect on climate change.  If you make it, let me know how it goes.  Like most of us, I will be at work.

As the nation’s largest single-day bug event, BugFest — held annually at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh — offers quirky bug-filled fun for adventurous people of all ages

With the new Raleigh water restrictions you may be frustrated by what may seem like overbearing rules.  It is important to know why the restrictions were set in place to begin with.  Raleigh sits 24 inches below expected rainfall for the year. Falls Lake, our reservoir, is four feet below its normal levels. The city has announced that if our water use continues and rainfall does not improve, the city could run out of water by January.  January!

Another Raleigh blog decided to make light of the situation, and while I can understand the need to lighten the mood, considering the $200 first offenders fine, I think it’s important to share some creative and mostly passive ways that one can save water. While some of these solutions are involved, one must consider that water problems are here to stay, our city will only grow in scale and the existing resources are stretched, even during times of sufficient rain.  You can go on ignoring the problem, or do your part to tread lightly. 

10 ways to save water in Raleigh below the fold.

Without getting into the fact that Starbucks was voted best coffee shop by readers of the Independent, human beings knowingly have a moral obligation to take care of their environment.  One thing that EVERYONE can do to help is save and reuse materials.  In the United States, our recycling rate, on average, is somewhere just around fifty percent…