EcoLocalizer

The Tower Grove Farmers’ Market and Bazaar in St. Louis is not only a community center piece, but a regional one. And the group is candidly joining a nation-wide line of community-minded organizations who are in economic straits and need support.

Understanding that there are many worthy groups asking for assistance these days, the one that organizes the Tower Grove market is asking, in particular, for those who already value what it creates in the St. Louis region — shoppers and friends who stop by, even just twice a season — to consider stepping forward. The support can be monetary or otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »

St. Louis, Mo., rates as one of the dirtiest cities — in the bottom 10 percent — in the United States “in terms of air releases of recognized carcinogens,” according to scorecard.org.

It pains me to have to put more horrifying news about St. Louis out to the world. If anyone not from St. Louis, my home city, thinks anything of this historic, blues-music thrumming, Gateway Arch-boasting, Stan Musial-loving, Mississippi River-guarding city, it’s likely about the city’s position in the annual “most dangerous city” rankings. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m as much for reducing, reusing and recycling as anyone, but a small zoo in Illinois has taken those concepts to a whole new level for the holidays.

Tampa Bay Online reports that the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington is selling $5 hand-crafted Christmas ornaments made from … wait for it … reindeer droppings. Yes, reindeer droppings. Of course, the zoo’s found a more appealing name for the creations: “magical reindeer gem ornaments.”

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The Jewel-Osco grocery chain opens its first green store today in Chicago’s River West neighborhood. The new store features not only green construction but some green items inside as well, including locally produced foods and organic selections.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the new store took five years to develop, thanks to a slew of special engineering and site use requirements. Among the challenges: building the facility 25 feet over Metra’s train tracks to provide bridge access for local residents.

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As the US federal government has failed to step up to the plate, many smaller forms of government have realized it will be in their hands to bring about environmental changes. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley revealed Thursday details for the Chicago Climate Action Plan.

The plan will add Mayor Daley to about 800 US mayors who have adopted the Kyoto global warming protocols. Chicago’s new plan will build upon measured already in place and under way in the city, in an attempt to make Chicago the most environmentally friendly city in the US.

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Good news for Chicago middle school and high school teachers who want to teach their students about the environment and earn a bit of extra cash: the city has extended its deadline for applications to its 2008-2009 Chicago Conservation Corps (C3) Student Club.

Teachers now have until Friday, Sept. 19, to apply for the C3 Student Club program.

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Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said today he would create a $5 billion trust fund to restore and protect the Great Lakes, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The fund would pay for efforts to prevent and control invasive species entering the lakes, clean up polluted sediments and help pay for sewer system repairs throughout the area. The program would also create a Great Lakes coordinator position in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Funding for Obama’s Great Lakes plan would come from reversing some existing tax cuts and incentives for oil companies.

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File this in the “pretty cool” folder: a Chicago-based company has found a way to make paper without using trees (and it doesn’t involve recycling used tree-based paper).

GPA calls Ultra Green Film an “eco-friendly substrate” that not only doesn’t require trees, but doesn’t need water or bleach to make either. Instead, the paper is limestone-based, made of mineral powders bound together with small amounts of high-density polyethylene and a non-toxic resin.

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Re-localization is the process through which a community reverts from ever increasing dependence upon the global economic system back to local networks of economic interdependency. Localization brings production closer to consumption obviating the need to rely on long supply chains and distant markets so that communities can largely provision themselves. Local production strengthens the local economy, creates worthwhile jobs, and increases local self reliance. Refocusing the economy locally will necessarily revitalize the community, increasing camaraderie, cooperation, and support for local culture and a sense of place.

The top five reasons we need to localize:

• Make our cities more resilient
• Reduce C02 emissions
• Reduce energy consumption
• Prepare for an energy scarce future
• Create a publicly-owned safety net

In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, regional officials have become increasingly concerned about how the San Francisco Bay Area would fare if another 1906-style earthquake were to occur. The San Francisco city government and CORE - Citizens of Oakland Responding to Emergencies (as well as the national emergency preparedness sector in general) are strongly recommending that people get prepared to live for 3 days without major infrastructural support (i.e., electricity, running water, supermarkets, etc).

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The area in front of San Francisco’s city hall doesn’t exactly represent lush farmland but that doesn’t prevent it from being a viable SF food source. For the first time since 1943,
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Slow Food Nation founder Alice Waters and more than 100 volunteers planted the first edible garden in the City’s Civic Center. This victory garden, which takes its name from from 20th Century wartime efforts, helps to address food shortages by encouraging citizens to plant gardens on public and private land.

Victory gardens continue to spring up in and around the City as food prices continue to rise and food sustainability becomes more of an issue. This Civic Center venture found its funding through various organizations including Slow Food Nation, CMG Landscape Architecture, City Slicker Farms, The Presidio Native Plant Nursery, Alemany Farms, Friends of the Urban Forest, Ploughshares Nursery, Urban Permaculture Guild, Coevolution Institute and many others.

Our salad bowl spins with the thought of the many crops being grown Amaranth, Snap Bean, Pole Bean, Dry Bean, Broccoli Raab, Ground Cherry, Chicory, Chinese Cabbage, Collards, Cowpea, Cress, Leeks, Okra, Bunching Onion, as well as Calendula, May Flowers, Sunflowers and many others. Being realists, we thought that in this City that how will these crops survive with all the pesky homeless and veggie thieves but the city provides on-site security to guard against theft.

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