Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
Veterans Green Jobs gets vets work planting trees in Denver
Veterans plant a tree | Credit: veteransgreenjobs.org
If you wanted to plant a million trees, you’d need a small army to do it — which is why Denver’s getting the help of veterans, according to the Denver Post:
The initiative was recently launched by Veterans Green Jobs, a Denver nonprofit that helps homeless veterans get the skills and experience to join the green-jobs economy.
The program has a contract to plant free shade trees in homeowners front yards as part of Greenprint Denver’s The Mile High Million program, which aims to plant 1 million trees by 2025. Over the next five growing seasons, 35 vets will plant 4,600 trees that will shade homes to reduce energy usage and lower energy bills.
Move trees in order to build whatever? Tough sell.
Boulder isn’t the only city that gets complaints and controversy when trees are in the way of city projects — at the moment, Longmont is going through some of that as they look at a plan to reduce Lefthand Creek’s flood risks:
Residents of the Southmoor Park neighborhood gathered Thursday night at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church to question the necessity of removing 169 trees around the creek in order to expand the channel and reduce the risk of area flooding, according to the city.
The approximately $5 million project, funded by the 2007 Storm Drainage Bond approved by Longmont voters, is intended to reduce destruction in the event of a 100-year flood, according to city officials.
If we were two trees, I would totally tree-date you
Groupon uses “collective buying power” to score deals — basically, they set up a discount with a company and say, “Hey, if we promise you 20 people will take advantage of this discount, what’ll you give us?”
Hey, these trees make a heart. ISN'T THAT CUTE?! SAY IT IS. | flickr user saragoldsmith
This week is probably the least practical Groupon I’ve ever seen, but it’s sweet, in time for Valentine’s Day and it involves planting trees in the name of love. They’ll plant two, side-by-side, in honor of you and your special friend.
Plant Trees 4 Life plants Colorado Blue Spruce trees, the state tree, which lives up to 600 years before metamorphosing into a human baby. Your saplings, which can honor a loved one, commemorate a special event, or embody your affection for conical vegetation, will fill out the forest’s embarrassing bald spots, pump out oxygen, anchor the soil, slow down water run-off, and help maintain a lush ecosystem. While you won’t be able to specify your trees’ location, you can virtually visit planting sites on Plant 4 Life’s website. Currently, the organization is planting in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, with the first 500 planted by the Independence Pass Foundation.
(Oh, also, the Groupon is only good for about a day. In this case, there are under 16 hours left.)
And, of course, there are two sites that regularly make use of collective buying power for environmental change: CarrotMob and 1BOG. More on them later!
30th Street bike path eminent domain filing
Rebecca Maret and her son Soren ride over the bridge south of Pearl Street intersection on 30th Street. Photo: Joe Rogers For the Camera
The proposed 30th Street bike path that has been causing a bit of a stir in Boulder — some folks are upset that it would require taking down a few trees — has hit a new controversial milestone. The city, unable to buy land for the proposal from a business there, has filed an eminent domain petition.
The Camera has the full story on the bike path eminent domain development, and here’s the quick-hit update: Read more
$5 stove combats global warming, supports energy justice
Stoves vary in size from that of a paint can to an oil drum and sell for as little as $5. They use 50 percent less wood, making the lives of villagers, such as the ones above in Haiti who is using a stove make by Trees, Water & People, easier. Courtesy of Trees, Water & People via the Denver Post.
Getting simple $5 stoves into the hands of the billions of poor people in the world who still rely on open fires for cooking, heating and lighting would deliver a double-punch, combating both global warming and energy injustices at the same time.
A Colorado company — Trees, Water & People — just won a $1 million prize to expand its cook stove program to Haiti and Central America. From today’s Denver Post:
Their stoves, which vary in size from that of a paint can to an oil drum and sell for as little as $5, let villagers use 50 percent less wood, reducing tree-cutting.
The stoves emit 80 percent less smoke, cutting respiratory harm that the World Health Organization identifies as a major factor in child deaths.
“Climate change is accelerated by deforestation, the cutting and burning of the wood,” said Stuart Conway, 56, co-founder and international operations director for TWP.
The stoves also battle black carbon emissions — or soot — which is one of the least talked about major drivers of global warming. Black carbon not only absorbs heat directly from the sun and heat reflected off the Earth, but it can travel thousands of miles on air currents before settling to the ground. And when the soot settles on ice or snow, it speeds melting.
Read the full story from the Denver Post, or learn more about the energy justice issues associated with the stove project from researchers at the University of Colorado after the jump. Read more
