Archive for February, 2009
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 27, 2009
Invitation to the Southface Visionary Dinner 2009
Every year, Southface (one of Atlanta’s greenest businesses and an organization dedicated to creating sustainable communities, from architecture and housing to food) hosts a “Visionary Dinner” and this year’s theme is “Farm to Table: Celebrating Sustainable Values.”
From the Visonary Dinner invitation…
“Experience an inspiring keynote on issues of sustainability and business, and enjoy an exquisite meal with the ingredients provided by Whole Foods and prepared by a champion team of chefs. The dinner will celebrate the theme of “Farm to Table” highlighting local and sustainably produced foods, paired wth sustainable wines.”
- When: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
- Where: The Georgia Aquarium
- Schedule of events: Reception at 5 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m., followed by the keynote speaker, Bracken Hendricks
- Cost: $300 per plate
I had the pleasure of attending this event two years ago with our cousins, the Paulks, who have their own vineyard in south Georgia with scuppernongs and muscadines that they supply to Whole Foods (and other vendors around the south) and it was incredible! Southface does great work here in Atlanta and if you’re unable to attend this event, you can always support them through volunteering. Just click here to get involved with Southface’s volunteer opportunities!
Posted in Events, Food | Tagged: Atlanta fundraisers, atlanta green movement, environmental events, environmental research, green, green building, Southface, Whole Foods | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 26, 2009
Back for it’s second year, the Atlanta BeltLine Bike Ride will feature a tour of the future trails, transit, and parks to ring the city of Atlanta. The bike ride last year was a huge success and this year will offer three different routes for riders of all abilities: a four mile, twelve mile, a forty mile route. So mark your calendars for April 26th from 1-4 p.m.!
A photo of my boyfriend's & my first date with 400 other people on the inaugural BeltLine Bike Ride. He's in the picture to the far right in the black shirt. I got cut off on the other side of him. 
(photo by Todd R. McQueen for the AJC)
In order to make it happen, though, the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign (who’s teaming up with the BeltLine for our biking pleasure) is looking for sponsors for this event. If you or your business would like to sponsor this awesome activity, please click here for more information and sponsorship form on the ABC website!
On a side note, the first BeltLine Bike Ride in 2008 was my boyfriend’s and my first date (although he contends it was when we went to dinner at La Tavola later in the week; I vote bike ride) and was a great ride! The AJC ran a front page article with a huge picture of the bike riders. My boyfriend made it in the picture and I was riding to his left, but I got cropped out of the photo! But there it is for posterity anyway.
With a showing of almost 400 people, I encourage everyone to come out and top that number this year! Whether or not you can sponsor or participate in the bike ride, the BeltLine can always use your help volunteering!!! Please sign up on the BeltLine website for more information, updates, and calls for volunteers from the Volunteer Management Center. Volunteer here!! (You can also email me, Jenny Pittam, at jenny.p@mac.com.)
Posted in Atlanta BeltLine, Be Active!, Events, Transportation | Tagged: volunteer atlanta, Atlanta BeltLine, BeltLine Bike Ride, BeltLine events, BeltLine volunteering | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 25, 2009
On the way home from work today, a rather conspicuous car bumper caught my eye. And it was not on a car. Rather, it was detached from its rightful owner and left on the corner of Clifton Road and Ponce de Leon Avenue in the strip of parks along Ponce. This is not the first of its kind I have seen scattered around Atlanta. In fact, car parts ranging from hubcabs to side mirrors to rear bumpers abound in various intersections, medians, gutters, and islands throughout the metro area.
Why is it that people do not feel responsible for picking up their car parts after getting in a wreck? More than likely, someone was driving like an asshole (as people tend to do periodically), got in a fender bender, and had to call a tow truck to come pick the car up. So who picks up the trash? There’s no magical sanitation fairy that trolls up and down the streets of Atlanta looking for spare parts to claim.
So, for those of you who get into these little pickles, please pick up your mangled car bits along with the rest of your vehicle and cart it off so it doesn’t leave an unsightly mess in our city’s parks and streets!
Thank you!
Posted in Transportation | Tagged: Atlanta trash pick-up, garbage responsibility, Ponce parks Atlanta GA | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 24, 2009
On Sunday evening, I registered and placed my first order with Moore Farms and Friends, an Atlanta and Georgia Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. This is something that I’ve been researching for a while now, so we’ll see how it goes!
Here’s how this CSA works:
- Over the weekend, you go online and order a basket of produce from the farm. You have a couple of choices…
- For $20, you can let the farm assemble a basket for you with a variety of everything that’s in season.
- For $25, you can customize your basket (with certain requirements).
- Then the basket will be delivered later in the week to a location of your choice (in this case, Sawicki’s grocery in downtown Decatur)
Two friends and I have gone in on this subscription together and we pick up our first order later this week, so I’ll let you know how it goes? Do you use a CSA in Atlanta or Decatur? or in your hometown? How has the experience been for you?
Posted in Food | 1 Comment »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 23, 2009
Come on out, join your neighbors, and get ready for spring as the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign presents a “Confident City Cycling Class!”
- When: Saturday, April 18th at 10 a.m.
- Where: Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore St., Decatur GA 30030 (view map here!)
- Who: People interested in bicycle commuting, recreational cycling, or occasional riding on city or suburban streets or trails.
- How much: $25
- Schedule: Class lasts 4.5-5 hours (until ~ 3 p.m.); please arrive 15 minutes early
Check out more photos from the Atlanta Bicycle Campaigns events on their flickr account by clicking the photo! (I borrowed this photo from them)
Join other cyclists to equip yourself with the knowledge you need to ride safely and with confidence on the streets and trails in your community. Joe Slade will be your instructor in this practical, hands- on class. You will receive classroom instruction, watch a video on interacting with traffic, learn bike handling skills, and take a practice ride with your instructor.
Content: Laws affecting bicycles, the importance of visibility and predictability, lane positioning, intersection safety, interacting with pedestrians, trail etiquette, bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills, crash avoidance techniques, basic bicycling gear, and much more! Including:
- Classroom instruction on bike safety, laws, gear, lane positioning, etc.
- Short video
- Parking lot skills instruction
- Practice Ride
Things to bring:
- bicycle in working condition (check to ensure you have brakes, etc)
- helmet
- comfortable clothing and sturdy shoes
- water bottle
- light lunch
Instructors are certified by the League of American Bicyclists. Recommended for adults and children above age fourteen, this compact and comprehensive class will make you a safer and more confident cyclist. Call (404)881-1112 for more information. Visit the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign online at www.atlantabike2.org.
Posted in Be Active!, Education, Events, Transportation | Tagged: alternate transportation, Atlanta Bicycle Campaign, Atlanta bicycle riding, bicycle commuting, bicycle equipment, bicycle safety, bike riding classes, biking laws, Decatur Georgia classes, urban biking | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 23, 2009
How stocked is your freezer?
On the way to work this morning, NPR covered a segment of news on how people are turning to frozen foods more and more in lieu of both dining out and cooking at home. The report explored how the current economy has increased demand on our time and budget and, in turn, resulted in dietary changes. It seems that instead of taking the time to really shop or cook, people are turning to the frozen food aisle for convenient, cheap food. Which would make sense to avoid the hassle of making dinner when unemployed and time is better spent job-hunting. But how cheap and convenient is it really?
Short on time and money? Try freezing food made with fresh ingredients for inexpensive, time-saving meals on week nights! Here I have frozen white chili, turkey, Farmer's Market pasta, bread, strawberries, and more.
To use an example referenced on NPR…
- A one pound frozen bag of french fries costs approximately $4.
- A five pound bag of fresh potatoes costs about $4.
- So is it really cheaper to spend the same amount of money and only get 20% of the product?
- As for more convenient, it takes a whopping five minutes to microwave a baked potato (and a few minutes to let it cool) and I’m willing to wager a bet that a baked potato (even with a little butter and cheese) is healthier for you than french fries in a bag.
- The beauty of buying a five pound bag of potatoes is not only price and convenience, but also the easy ability to purchase locally and support a Georgia farmer who may also be feeling the pinch of the economy.
Maybe it’s time we revisited food’s humble beginnings for a moment… What happened to the idea of preserving and canning and freezing? YOU can do the same thing as the grocery store! And probably do it better!! All it requires is a grocery list, a little time on Sunday afternoon, and a freezer.
Why not come up with a list of some of your favorite foods? Or the frozen ones you find yourself buying in the grocery store? Write down the ingredients, head to the store, and then dedicate an hour of your Saturday or Sunday afternoon to cooking these recipes (which is still far less time than it would take to cook several meals during the week). Divide them up into appropriate portions for you or your family and then stick them in the freezer. Instead of spending a lot of money to get a little product at the store, you can pull your own food out of the freezer on a busy week night, stick it in the microwave, and hit defrost. You can even double or triple the recipes to save yourself time down the road.
Here are some ideas for foods to make and freeze:
- Chili (white chili, red chili, etc.)
- Burgers (black bean, vegetarian, beef, etc.)
- Spaghetti sauces
- A loaf of sliced bread (freeze it immediately, then pull out a slice or two when you need it. That way you don’t waste a loaf by not eating it in time and the freezer retains a surprising amount of freshness when you go to defrost the bread later.)
- Soups, broths
- Lasagna, casseroles, etc.
- Fresh fruit to use in smoothies later
You get the idea. So what’s in your freezer? (If Publix frozen yogurt Moose Tracks is not in there, you might want to check it out…)
Posted in Food | Tagged: dietary changes economy, frozen food, money saving tips, saving money on groceries | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 21, 2009
Usually runners' dreams consist of missing the start of a race or running naked, but instead this is what I felt like in my dreams after a meal at Waffle House...
As healthy as I try to be, I cannot deny my love of Waffle House. And perhaps I harbor a slight, secretive mistrust of those who do not share that passion. Luckily, a couple of like-minded friends were also in the mood for WaHo last Friday night. And two egg & cheese biscuits with hashbrowns later, I was in bed, facing four hours of sleep before a 13-mile training run on Saturday morning. This is not a new story.
But this was different. WaHo penetrated my dreams in ways I have never before experienced. The best way I can describe the sensation was feeling like a sticky, gooey Jabba the Hut – spread out across my entire bed and unable to move (due to both size and greasiness) to get up and go run. Everything was so sluggish and, when I started thinking of the buttery biscuit, thoughts of Jabba’s slobbery jowels filled my mind and I nearly lost it. Oh, the sloth!
After my four hours of sleep, I did get up and run, which was a bit of a miracle, but this has opened the door to whole new possibilities of runner’s nightmares… Too bad I won’t be giving up on Waffle House any time soon (at least not while training for a marathon).(And I felt a little more like the beanbag Jabba than the guy so comfortably reclining on him.)
Posted in Food | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 20, 2009
Does your office recycle? If not, do you find yourself taking that coke can or yogurt container home with you so you can recycle it in
My recycling bin under my desk at work (dwarfing the little garbage can)
your own bins? Some people will argue that recycling everything in sight can be a bit of an inconvenience, but I’ve found that it’s not so bad. In smaller companies (like the one I work for), there isn’t always a recycling program. So why not start your own?
In our office, we’ve always recycled every imaginable type of paper, but never the tea bottles, the diet coke cans, the cans of soup, the plastic bags, and everything else. So a couple of years ago, I set up a trash can in the kitchen (with instructions) for everyone to dispose of their recyclables. It didn’t work out that well in the kitchen since there wasn’t really enough room for multiple trash cans. So I moved it under my desk. And, as it should be, the recycling trash can is bigger than my regular trash can – indicative of how much more recycling we should be doing instead of trashing.
Since then, I’ve gotten just about everyone in the office on board with recycling everything. They come by my desk to drop an item in the bin, I thank them, they may ask a question that leads into an impromptu mini-class on recycling, I hand out information about residential recycling in DeKalb County (see below), and once or twice a week, I cart off a garabage can full of recyclable materials that would have otherwise gone in the trash.
It’s not perfect – there’s still the guy who insists on drinking at least two Dasani water bottles a day, and “we” have a hard time letting go of the styrofoam cups that proliferate the kitchen cabinets, but we’re making progress. So if you’re frustrated by the lack of recycling in your office, don’t be. Just start your own recycling program and others will follow – there are bound to be some like-minded people.
For information on residential recycling and having the county or city come out and pick up from your house, please click the appropriate link below:
Posted in Recycling | Tagged: atlanta green movement, eco-friendly, Georgia recycling, Fulton County recycling, recycling at work, environmental stewardship, corporate recycling, DeKalb County recycling, Atlanta recycling programs, going green Atlanta | 6 Comments »
Posted by Our Green Atlanta on February 18, 2009
Come out and party with your Druid Hills neighbors and surrounding communities for the 2009 Olmsted Linear Park Alliance (OLPA) Gala this Sunday, February 22 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.! All funds raised will go directly to support the Olmsted Parks which we all know and love as the string of green spaces, large trees, and playgrounds along Ponce de Leon Avenue stretching across the Atlanta and Decatur city lines. A ton of progress and restoration has been accomplished along this stretch n the past few years thanks to a major capital campaign, so let’s keep up the fantastic work!
This year’s festivities will take place at the Fernbank Natural History Museum (directions & map here!) and will include:
- Exclusive catering
- Swinging jazz band
- Live & silent auctions with fine art, photgraphy, vacation getaways, fine wines, airline tickets, and more!
- IMAX film with special movie screening
Tickets are $100 and can be purchased through online through the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance or by calling 404.377.5361. You can also email OLPA at olpa.atl@att.net!
Oh yes, I also happen to know one of the artist’s who has two pieces to be auctioned off on Sunday. Here’s a preview of these two pieces:
Deepdene Park illustration in pen and ink by Rod Pittam
Illustration of a long stone bridge through the woods in Deepdene Park by Rod Pittam
He’s my dad, Rod Pittam, and I’m pretty proud of him. He’s been supporting Druid Hills with his artwork for many years and you can check out his portfolio here at www.PittamAssociates.com (a shameless plug for one’s talented parents is acceptable, right? )
Posted in Donate, Events, Parks | Tagged: Atlanta fundraisers, atlanta green movement, Decatur Georgia parks, Fernbank Natural History Museum, green Atlanta, local atlanta parks, Olmsted Gala, Olmsted Linear Park Alliance, parks on Ponce, Ponce parks Atlanta GA | Leave a Comment »
