Published on June 27th, 2008
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I love discovering an occasional gem of a Website during minutes (hours?) of random Internet browsing, and today I found a real diamond: RUBARB, which stands for “Rusted Up Beyond All Recognition Bikes.”
Started by volunteers in March 2006 — about a half-year after Hurricane Katrina and the levee-failure flooding of New Orleans — RUBARB was inspired by a much-repeated experience of hurricane cleanup crews: pulling bicycle after unused, flood-damaged bicycle from the mountains of trash that covered the city. Rather than consign these flood bikes to the post-Katrina dump, these volunteers decided, why not clean them, fix them and then pass them along to residents and other volunteers who need them?
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Published on June 5th, 2008
This summer, a group of students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison plans to travel to New Orleans to help restore an urban wetland in the Lower Ninth Ward, a neighborhood decimated by flooding after the post-Katrina levee failures.
The group of nine students expect to study Bayou Bienvenue, testing water, surveying vegetation and researching whether the area could be restored with a diversion dam that would help bring in fresh water and sediment. They also plan to talk with neighborhood residents about their concerns and will even host a crab boil to involve the community.
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Published on June 2nd, 2008
The post-Katrina rebuilding effort in New Orleans has a long way to go, but some residents, activists and volunteers are celebrating one small but noteworthy step after another toward a more sustainable city.
Their efforts take on a special poignancy with the start of yet another hurricane season (it officially began on June 1, though the tropical system Arthur formed a day early around the Yucatan Peninsula). With lingering La Niña conditions and water temperatures in parts of the Gulf of Mexico already a degree or two above average, there’s reason to be concerned.
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Published on May 16th, 2008
While I’ve lived on the Gulf Coast for just a little over 10 years, I’ve already endured a more-than-fair share of hurricanes: Georges, Ivan, Dennis, Katrina, Wilma.
I’ve been more fortunate than many, but my post-hurricane experiences have actually raised my awareness a great deal about the importance of sustainability. Because few things make you understand the challenges of sustainable living more than a few days or weeks in a disaster zone with no electricity, no drinkable running water, no passable roads.
And so, with another hurricane season once again looming (it starts June 1), here are some of the sustainability lessons I’ve learned over the years:
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Published on May 13th, 2008
A new report from the National Research Council (NRC) finds numerous problems with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ followup recommendations for restoring wetlands and protecting southern Louisiana from another Katrina-like disaster.
Among the most worrisome findings in the paper: the Corps’ failure to “consider the potential for structural failure of levees and floodwalls.”
“As a consequence,” the NRC report states, “the true risk to homes and businesses and people behind structures has not been determined.”
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Published on May 5th, 2008
Actor-activist Sean Penn, who became a celebrity rescue-worker helping to pull people off their rooftops after Katrina and the New Orleans flooding, returned to the Big Easy this past week as part of a new mission: The Dirty Hands Caravan.
Penn launched the effort at last week’s Coachella Festival in Indio, California, urging festival-goers to join a three-biodiesel-bus trip across the country to volunteer their services in communities that need help.
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Published on April 23rd, 2008
Green Light New Orleans Recently reached a milestone: 60,000 compact fluorescent bulbs installed for free in local homes since October 2006. The headline-making 60,000th CFL was installed earlier this month at the Jeannette Street home of Irene Green.
Established in 2006 after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Green Light New Orleans is the brainchild of Swiss-born musician Andi Hoffmann, who’s now a resident of the Big Easy. Hoffman started the program first as a way to offset the greenhouse gas pollution he and his band b-goes generated during their tours to Europe. It’s since taken on a greater goal: to reduce New Orleanians’ energy costs and help fight climate change.
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Published on April 3rd, 2008
You want music with a message? Then you’ve got to — if you haven’t yet — check out the works of Tab Benoit.
A Louisianan through and through (born in Baton Rouge, reared in Houma), Benoit is not only a wonderful Southern Cajun/blues musician, but an outspoken and active environmentalist. His primary cause: protecting and restoring the wetlands of the Gulf Coast … something that would not only help native wildlife but the people of coastal Louisiana (and the overall climate) as well.
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Published on April 1st, 2008
If you’re like me, you never need an excuse to visit New Orleans, even post-Katrina. Between the food, the music, the architecture, the history and the people, the Big Easy always beckons.
But here’s a new and nifty reason to plan a Crescent City getaway: the Marriott’s “Care Concierge” vacation package.
Now through Nov. 15, travelers who book a stay at one of New Orleans’ Marriott or Renaissance hotels will receive email recommendations for local groups that welcome visitor-volunteers who want to help the city rebuild. And $50 of the package rate (ranging from $159 to $259) will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, which is working to return New Orleans’ flood-ravaged neighborhoods to life.
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