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Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category

Nalley

 

Decatur is hosting the third-annual Nalley Tree Festival on Saturday, February 9, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Decatur Square. Nalley will be distributing free one-gallon trees during the festival, which will feature a live band; children’s activities; local sustainable artisans; and educational workshops from municipal and environmental organizations.

The Nalley Tree Campaign is a three-year initiative led by Nalley BMW, Nalley Infiniti and Nalley Nissan in Decatur, Georgia. This spring, the campaign will meet its goal of planting 10,000 trees within the City of Decatur and DeKalb County. The campaign started in 2011 and has proven a tremendous success among partners and locals.

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For more information, local “planters” can visit www.NalleyDecatur.com or share their planting stories and photos on the dealerships’ Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/NalleyBMW, www.facebook.com/NalleyInfinitiDecatur and www.facebook.com/NalleyNissan.

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Living the Green Life Series

Kicks off Saturday, January 26

A Wylde Center, DeKalb County Public Library, and City of Decatur collaboration at the Decatur Library

 

Over the past few years, the interest in living a more green and sustainable lifestyle has grown tremendously. The Wylde Center, the City of Decatur, and the DeKalb County Public Library are pleased to continue their collaboration on offering you an exciting FREE series of classes in 2012 and 2013. Look for seminars and workshops that provide  information that is timely and current as well as leaving with a full list of resources that can be found at your local library and online.

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NO REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

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Unless otherwise noted, events take place at the Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore Street Decatur, Georgia 30030
For more information about this series, please contact
Andrea Zoppo, andrea@wyldecenter.org.

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Cook your Way into the New Year and Celebrate with Healthy Food! 

Saturday, January, 26, 10-11am
Location: Decatur Public Library Meeting Room

Healthy eating is about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping your life in balance.   Les Dames d’Escoffier International members,  Kristy Cook and Nancy Lutz will guide you in the right direction.   These Senior Consultants with Affairs to Remember Caterers will teach you how to host a party with bright colorful healthy foods you can feel great about. You can expand your range of healthy food choices and learn how to plan ahead to create tasty, healthy celebrations in 2013.

 

Upcoming Classes:

Snapshot of Plant your First Spring Garden
Monday, February 25, 10-11:30am
Decatur Library Auditorium
This class is for first time gardeners, or those transitioning over to organic methods of vegetable gardening. Join Stephanie Van Parys, Executive Director of the Oakhurst Community Garden Project, and learn about spring and summer vegetables and herbs perfect for our region.

Why Saving Our Seeds Matters
Saturday, March 2, 10-11am
Brought to you by the Wylde Center and Park Pride, join Ira Wallace, from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, and learn why is it important for gardeners to save seeds. GMOs, seed industry consolidation, and lost seed-saving skills threaten the very basis of organic agriculture. Learn more about what is happening and how you can fight back with your garden, your votes, and your dollars. Join Ira, the Wylde Center, and Park Pride at the Oakhurst Garden for a Free Seed Swap Potluck with Seed Saving Demo right after the presentation at 11:30am. If it is raining we will have the seed swap at the Decatur Library.  Click here to RSVP for FREE SEED SWAP and instructions to participate.

Ira Wallace lives and gardens at Acorn Community Farm, home of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange , where she coordinates variety selection and seed growers. Southern Exposure offers 700+ varieties of non-GMO, open-pollinated, and organic seeds. Ira is a co-organizer of the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello . She serves on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance and is a frequent presenter at the Mother Earth News Fairs and many other events throughout the Southeast. Her first book, The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast, will be available in late 2013.

Permaculture: Common Sense Connections in the Garden
Tuesday, March 12, 10-11am
Decatur Public Library Meeting Room
Join Garden Designer  Brandy Hall and learn the tools to build prosperous and resilient  gardens. We will also look at practical and simple solutions to issues such as water storage and erosion control. Brandy passionately engages communities through education, design, and installation of food forests and perennial farms and gardens through her small ecological design firm, Shades of Green at shadesofgreeninc.org.

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Keep DeKalb Beautiful will host a “Shred & Tread” Recycling Event this weekend in honor of America Recycles Day. DeKalb citizens, including residents of City of Decatur, are invited to bring their sensitive documents for free on-site shredding (limit of five (5) boxes per person)

In addition to the paper shredding option, they will also be collecting your new and gently used shoes through the Soles 4 Souls program. Soles 4 Souls is a non-profit dedicated to providing shoes to people in developing nations.

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WHEN: Saturday, November 10th, 2012- 9am-1pm

WHERE:  The DeKalb County Sanitation Division Central Transfer Station
3720 Leroy Scott Drive
Decatur, GA 30032
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Items for Shredding:
accounts payable/receivable, invoices, client/customer records, confidential finance information,  ballots, business correspondence, contracts, bids and quotations, inventory lists, personnel records, meeting minutes,  new product proposals, customer lists, prescription slips, appointment schedules, arbitration/grievance files, legal  documents, job applications, maps and blueprints, cancelled and blank checks, insurance forms and records, bank  statements, patent application materials, medical records, tax records, legal documents, payroll records, billing statements, any personal documents containing SS #’s, credit card #’s, home address, telephone #’s, or bank account info.

Types of Shreddables:
carbon paper, colored paper, computer paper, fax paper, glossy paper, invoice paper, laser printouts,  ledger paper, letterhead, stationery, transparencies, post-it notes, microfilm / microfiche, plastic credit and ID cards, window envelopes, stapled papers, file folders, brochures, and catalogues.

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For specific event questions or volunteer opportunities, please contact Keep DeKalb Beautiful at 404-371-2654 or download the event brochure HERE.

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A nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, & sustainable food. 

Food Day was created by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest in 2011 to bring people together in celebration of healthy an affordable food produced in a sustainable way.  More than 2,300 events were held in all 50 states. This year, Atlanta has lots of local Food Day events to keep you full and happy, with 2 events right here in Decatur!

For a full list of events or more information visit www.foodday.org

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Food Day Eat-In 

Celebrate Food Day by shopping at the Decatur Farmers Market on Wednesday, October 24! Bring a blanket or chair, grab some delicious picnic food and walk across the street to our Food Day Eat-In outside of the First Baptist Church and enjoy your fresh, local food with fellow Food Day supporters. Local musicians will provide entertainment.

WHERE: Decatur Farmers Market and First Baptist Church, Commerce Dr
WHEN: 4 to 7 p.m.
CONTACT: Emily Cumbie-Drake, ecumbiedrake@gmail.com

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Potluck and Volunteer Day with Decatur’s Kitchen Garden

Global Growers will celebrate and build the movement towards healthy, affordable and sustainable foods by hosting a volunteer work day and potluck lunch at Decatur’s Kitchen Garden. Activities for the day include wood chipping, orchard cleanup and other around-the-garden fall activities.

WHEN: workday: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. // potluck lunch to follow
WHERE: Decatur’s Kitchen Garden in Decatur, GA, located behind the United Methodist Children’s Home at 500 South Columbia Drive, Decatur, GA 30030
HOST: Jesse Sutz
CONTACT: visit globalgrowers.net

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If you shutter bugs are out and about this week, take your Food Day pictures and submit them to fooddayatl@gmail.com.

Or Tweet using the hash tag #foodday2012. Follow @FoodDay2012 for news and updates throughout the day on October 24.

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Tonight’s Living the Green Life session “From the Kitchen to the Medicine Cabinet” has been canceled.  The session will be rescheduled at a future date.

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Join us next month for Decorating Green:  Reuse. Redo. Rethink.
Tuesday, November 13, 7-8pm

Decorating to reduce energy consumption. Furnishings that have longevity, durability and flexibility.  Planned obsolescence. or how and when to update with minimal waste. Thirty-five year decorating veteran and colorist Rebecca Ewing believes that your home is your sanctuary. She’ll talk about thread counts, rub counts, window coverings, the cost of furniture, and lifestyle choices to lighten the carbon footprint, plus the keys to making your home a beautiful and meaningful space. www.HandsOnHues.com

 

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Oliver House, the 2nd phase of the revitalization of Allen Wilson Terrace, a former 200 unit public housing community originally built in 1941, is ready to open.  The Decatur Housing Authority describes Oliver House as a new eighty unit elderly housing community with affordable rents as part of of the ongoing revitalization of the Allen Wilson Commmunity in downtown Decatur.

Oliver House is a “Williamsburg Style” building with 72 one-bedroom and 8 two-bedroom apartments designated for the elderly.  The 82,419 SF four-story building is equipped with two elevators and a portion of the first floor also houses the new management/rental offices and maintenance facilities for the entire Allen Wilson property.

Oliver House is named for a distinguished African American businessman, Henry Oliver, who lived in this area in the 1800s.

The revitalization planning process was designed to retain the residents in the area while constructing the new housing.  Many families were able to move directly into the new Oliver House.   The overall campus includes a 1 1/2 mile paved walking trail to provide a place for residents to walk for exercise and to socialize outdoors.

The Allen Wilson community and Oliver House are participating in Southface Energy Institute’s EarthCraft Communities and EarthCraft House Multifamily programs.  Earthcraft energy features include a 50 kWh photovoltaic (PV) solar power generating system; geo-thermal heating and cooling systems, geo-thermal water heating; rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing and landscape irrigation; and spray foam insulation in walls and attic spaces.  The Housing Authority also incorporated green building practices including maximizing natural day lighting with thermally-efficient windows and ENERGY STAR appliances, incorporating bio swales into the design to minimize storm water runoff, and using Crystal Stream fixtures to purify storm water before it moves downstream.

Phase 1 included 40 units of family housing and Phase 2 includes these 80 units of senior housing.  The Housing Authority is pursuing low income housing tax credits for Phase 3 which includes 71 units of family housing.  They hope to begin construction in January, 2013.

Phase 1 of the Allen Wilson Terrace revitalization project includes 40 units of family housing

Visit The Decatur Housing Authority website for more information.

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Join Georgia Interfaith Power and Light for a Rain Barrel Making Workshop at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Decatur.

Participants will learn about the importance of water efficiency. For $40 per person, participants will each receive a repurposed rain barrel, rain barrel installation kits, and instructions on installing the rain barrel. Register by Wednesday, September 19, to reserve your spot.


WHEN: Sunday, September 23rd
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

WHERE: Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
515 E Ponce de Leon Ave.
Decatur, GA 30030

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>Register for this class today.

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If you have any questions, please email info@gipl.org.

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Dine out at a participating Decatur restaurant on Tuesday, Sept. 18, and support Restaurants for Repairs, benefiting the Decatur Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project. The service project will hold its 11th annual service weekend in January 2013 to provide home repairs and yard work for some of Decatur’s low- and fixed-income senior citizens.

Choose from a wide variety of cuisines at price ranges for every budget and help support Decatur’s senior citizens – while also supporting Decatur’s Keep It Indie-Catur (shop local) campaign. Here is an updated list of Decatur restaurants that have signed on to participate in this fund-raising event:

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Get DecaturWISE about Home Energy Efficiency

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WHEN: Tuesday, July 24th, 7-8pm

WHERE: Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore Street Decatur, Georgia 30030.
CLASS DESCRIPTION:

Get the real scoop on how to reduce your energy bills and increase the comfort of your home.  You hear a lot of things these days about how to save energy, but Mike Barcik and Frank Burdette of the Southface Energy Institute can give you the facts. Call it weatherization, energy efficiency, or greening your home… we’ll call it just plain smart!

 

Next Upcoming Class: (click here for full list)

Plant your First Fall Vegetable Garden
WHEN: Monday, August 27, 11:30am-1pm OR Tuesday, August 28, 7-8:30pm

WHERE: Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore Street Decatur, Georgia 30030.

CLASS DESCRIPTION: For first time gardeners ,or those transitioning over to organic methods of vegetable gardening. Join Stephanie Van Parys, Executive Director of the Oakhurst Community Garden Project, and learn about fall vegetables and herbs you can enjoy all season. Included are tips for success!

 

ABOUT THE LIVING THE GREEN LIFE SPEAKER SERIES

Over the past few years, the interest in living a more green and sustainable lifestyle has grown tremendously. The Wylde Center (formerly Oakhurst Community Garden Project), the City of Decatur, and the DeKalb County Public Library are pleased to announce their collaboration on offering you an exciting FREE series of classes in 2012. Topics include gardening for food and for the unpredictable environment, how to make your home more efficient, composting, and using what you have to lead a healthy life. Look for seminars and workshops that speak to information that is timely and current as well as leaving with a full list of resources that can be found at your local library and online.

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For more information about this series, please visit http://oakhurstgarden.org/classes/living-green-series/ or contact Andrea Zoppo, andrea.zoppo@yahoo.com.

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