Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- And Now, Back to Your Local News…Since the weather’s getting better, I’m sure we’re all totally jonesing to get onto the trails, but in general, they’re a mess. It’s a bummer to see nice singletracks get trashed and widened, so like all of you, I’m grinding my teeth in annoyance while I try to be patient. The good news is that you [...] […]
- Downieville, Take ThreeOkay, well, things went pretty haywire in race promotion after the registration debacle. The organizer received so many hateful emails and comments about the mishap that it made him wonder if he should even bother putting the race on. I can’t blame him, really. In his shoes I might do the same thing. It sounds [...] […]
- And Now, Back to Your Local News…
- Edgy Veggie
Green houses for the not-so-rich
Paradigm Pilot Project, a near-zero development, was constructed by the Boulder County Housing Authority in 2009.
Sometimes it seems like deep green building is for the wealthy. Even a “for the masses” house in a zero-energy neighborhood in Boulder clocks in at more than $1 million. But now, Boulder County is trying to bring green — and the resulting cut in energy bills and increase in comfort — to those with fewer resources.
Boulder County’s Housing Authority, which helps low-income familes, seniors and people with disabilities find a place to live, is going seriously green.
The county finished the Paradigm Pilot Project in October. The tiny, near zero-energy development is only three units, but it’s the template for a much larger plan: a 153-unit green neighborhood.
When the cranes showed up at the property on Avalon Avenue last summer in Lafayette, they wrenched 13 giant boxes off the back of five semi-trucks and stacked them like Lego blocks.
When the cranes left, the connected boxes — which were already fitted with wood floors, cabinets, countertops and porches — had become the modern-looking Paradigm Pilot Project, a near-zero-energy, low-income pair of buildings owned by Boulder County. The tiny project can only house three low-income families, but it’s just a test run for the much larger green-building aspirations held by the county’s housing authority. Read more
Mexico City bans plastic bags. Is Lafayette next?
Nadine Shade places her groceries in reusable bags at Vitamin Cottage in Lafayette. The store has stopped offering plastic and paper bags at checkout. Customers either bring their own bags or reuse store boxes. Photo by Mara Auster
Last week, a new law that bans plastic bags went into effect in Mexico City. This puts Mexico City in the company of San Francisco, New Delhi, the entire country of China and, if the Waste Reduction Advisory Committee gets its way, Lafayette, Colo.
The committee pitched its idea to the Lafayette City Council earlier this month:
“Our main goal is awareness about how bad plastic bags are,” said Shelly Colwell, the committee’s co-chairwoman. “More and more people are bringing their own bags.”
The bags can take more than 1,000 years to break down in a landfill, she said. They’re also tough to recycle — only an estimated 5 percent of Americans recycle them, and they can’t go into a homeowner’s recycling bin.
Read more about the committee’s efforts at DailyCamera.com or read more about Mexico City’s ban — and why people there are probably still using plenty of disposable plastic bags — at the New York Times blog Green Inc.
Build more dam, save more fish
- Denver is planning to nearly triple the size of Gross Reservoir in southern Boulder County.
The city of Denver wants to build a bigger dam in southern Boulder County, nearly tripling the size of its reservoir.
And environmentalists have something to say about it: They want to know if Denver would mind making that dam even a little bit bigger.
It’s an odd request from a group like Trout Unlimited, which has partnered with the cities of Boulder and Lafayette to try and negotiate the bigger dam, but it actually represents a calculated effort to make the best out of a bad situation.
Denver — thirstier now than ever – is trying to push through a plan to expand Gross Reservoir by 72,000 acre feet, which would require making the current dam 125 feet taller. The water to fill the new reservoir would be pumped from the other side of the continental divide, sucking more water out of the tributaries that feed the now-not-so-mighty Colorado River.
The Colorado office of Trout Unlimited, based in Boulder, thinks this is a terrible idea, but they’ve come to accept the reality — there may be no stopping the project. But there may still be an opportunity for a small victory to be had in the Gross Reservoir expansion.
Environmentalists are asking Denver to consider adding an extra 5,000 acre feet of water to the reservoir, creating a bank of water that could be used to guarantee that South Boulder Creek, which flows from the dam at Gross Reservoir through the stunning cliffs in Eldorado Canyon State Park.
Most winters, South Boulder Creek completely dries up as Denver draws down the water in the reservoir, causing devastating fish kills and compromising the stream’s ecological integrity.
Read more about this project in a story by Boulder Daily Camera reporter Laura Snider after the jump, or check out a story from the Denver Post that details this new trend here. Read more
