Rainwater Harvesting Legalized in Colorado
Archive for the ‘Colorado’ Category
Who Owns the Rain?
A rain barrel or two may seem like the perfect solution for watering the garden without waste and without adding to your water bill. Before you build your rainwater harvesting system, though, you might want to make sure that it’s legal to do so. There are three states that say the water that falls from the sky belongs to them, not to just anyone.
Meet Some More U.S. Eco-Heroes
Published on February 19th, 2009
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When you’re looking to green your lifestyle, it helps to learn from the experiences of others rather than trying to reinvent the wheel yourself. That’s why, from time to time, I like to highlight the stories of various “eco-heroes” across the country.
In my last feature — “Going Green? Learn from these Pros” — some of the stars were folks like Mike Turner, who retrofitted an old Honda Civic for a super imrovement in mileage, and Elizabeth Rogers, creator of a new Website (Shift Your Habit) that demonstrates the money-saving power of eco-friendly habits. This time, I’ve got some new green success stories to share:
Historic Senate Vote Protects U.S. Wilderness
Published on January 13th, 2009
The Senate passed a bill on Sunday expanding wilderness protection more than any legislation in the past 25 years.
[Creative Commons photo via rjime31]
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Drilling and Mining Endangers Western Water Supply
Published on January 6th, 2009
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One in 12 American’s water supply comes from the Colorado River. Increased mining and drilling for oil, natural gas, and uranium on its shores is threatening that supply.
[Creative Commons photo by Wolfgang Staudt]
The areas along the river are already suffering from drought, and getting at the resources there uses and pollutes the precious remaining water. Research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimates that the river could dry up in as little as 13 years.
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Keep Glass Out of Recycling Bins … and In Your Walls
Published on October 28th, 2008
My interest was recently piqued by an article at Inhabitat about a temple in Thailand built from one million — yes, that’s right: one million — used glass bottles. Building with glass sounds so intriguing, but does it really make sense?
A little online snooping helped deliver the answer: it sure does.
Colorado’s Project C: Carbon Offset Credits to Fund Community-Based Clean Energy
Businesses, organizations, and individuals in Colorado can offset their greenhouse gas emissions and support local clean energy with carbon offset credits from Project C.
“Global warming is our generation’s greatest environmental challenge. The scientific evidence that human activities are the principal cause of a warming planet is clear, and we will see the effects here in Colorado. But the seeds of change are also here in Colorado, in our scientific and business communities, and in each of us individually.” - Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.
Project C is the nickname for the Colorado Carbon Fund, a program developed by Colorado’s Governor’s Energy Office to develop funding for clean energy projects and provide credible carbon offset credits for individuals and businesses.
The Colorado Carbon Fund will only support new, verifiable, greenhouse gas reduction projects that are developed in Colorado. The GEO is partnering with The Climate Trust, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, to manage this program.
The Newest Hedge Against Industrial Food, Bad Economy? Backyard Chickens
Published on October 6th, 2008
I’ve written before about communities in the U.S. that have changed their laws to allow homeowners to keep chickens in their backyards. Now I’ve found some great resources for those in the pro-poultry movement,which a new report from the Worldwatch Institute describes as an underground “urban chicken” movement sweeping across the U.S:
“It’s no longer something kinky or interesting,” Jac Smit, president of the Urban Agriculture Network, tells Worldwatch writer Ben Block. “The ‘chicken underground’ has really spread so widely and has so much support.”
Another Town Mulls Urban Chicken OK
It seems that self-sufficiency and raising your own food is winning increasing approval from officialdom in the U.S., with Falmouth, Maine, possibly becoming the next town to OK the keeping of chickens in residential areas.
The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reports that the Falmouth Town Council expects to vote next month on a zoning change that would allow backyard poultry-keeping in neighborhoods throughout town. Currently, only four parts of Falmouth have the OK to raise chickens in residential areas.
As Long as You’re Walking and Working …
Published on September 22nd, 2008
The weird things you discover while following random links online: apparently there’s a small but growing trend of people walking on treadmills — dubbed Walkstations — while they work.
The New York Times wrote last week about how companies like Humana, Mutual of Omaha, GlaxoSmithKline and Best Buy have been buying these Walkstations — a total of 335 since last November — to help their employees stay fit while they work. Credit for the concept goes to James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic who’s big on the benefits of exercise.
