Another Green Monday
As if September wasn't busy enough, we've decided to throw a good 'ol fashion 7vs7 competition into the mix - you know, to show everyone how great and easy it is to eat local. Five days, eating only food that comes from within a 100-mile radius of Spokane - no problem. Well that was Sunday morning, before we spent 4 hours driving back and forth Cheney to fish (only to come back empty handed) then driving around Spokane to visit Huckleberry's and the Community Roots Market, then up to Greenbluff, then to Colbert. (Hey, some chores just can't be accomplished on our bikes.) So essentially we spent the dwindling moments before Sustainable September being anything but. All for the sake of competition? Hardly. I guess you can say we're working on defining local. Sure it felt great to be gathering farm fresh eggs from a family in Colbert, and picking fruit from Greenbluff, and supporting local farmers at the market, but at what cost? The amount of emisssions we spent yesterday likely negated our attempt at improving our individual food habits. However, on the upside, the education of yesterday was anything but wasteful, and that face-to-face connection with one's food sources is something that constantly sustains local food habits. Regardless, we're looking forward to this competition as a way to better educate ourselves, to better educate anyone following, and for more of an excuse to get our hands dirty for the sake of curing our own hunger. As a wise man once said, "It's not every man that can live off the land, you know."
It's with sadness that we pass along the news of Fresh Abundance's Valley location closure. According to the Spokesman, owner Eden BrightSpirit Hendrix was told by Spokane County officials when she went to seek permits for an expansion, that the area was not zoned for the store. Though this doesn't effect the main store and delivery hub that is located on Division, it's a major blow to the area - considering Fresh Abundance's nonprofit parent, People for Environmental Action and Community Health (PEACH), had also develped a “permaculture” farm at the Valley location. Out There Monthly asked a good question in regards to the closure, "if they can change zoning for a big box store why can’t they do it for local farm and organic grocery?"
Don't get mad, get even. The words of the great John F. Kennedy were ressurected last week when Joel Connelly of the Seattle P-I urged those upset about the plastic bag fee vote in Seattle to not get upset about it, but get even, or, "use less of what the American Chemistry Council produces and urge friends to do the same." Read more of Joel's column HERE.
Alaska's fishing waters and fish population at risk from ocean acidification. According to research, "the state's marine waters are turning acidic from absorbing greenhouse gases faster than tropical waters, potentially endangering Alaska's $4.6 billion fishing industry." There are places in Alaska that are falling into the ocean from erosion, there are places that will likely be swallowed from rising sea levels, pine beetles are moving north due to warmer winters, and an ex governor named Sarah is still hanging around - now this? Read more HERE.
Enough to kill a horse. From the AP: It should have been a perfect day for Vincent Petit, finishing an afternoon gallop on a wide expanse of beach along a pastel-colored bay. Instead, he and his mount were sucked into a hole of noxious black sludge.
The horse died within seconds, the rider lost consciousness, and a dirty secret on the Brittany coast reverberated across France: decaying green algae was fouling some of its best beaches.
Goodbye Nickelsville. The weekend before last, DTE was in Seattle when Greg Nickels announced he was dropping out of the Mayor’s race rather than seeking a third term after a poor finish in the primary. We know: For a daily blog to discuss this news week after the fact equates to a decade time span. Be that as it may, Nickels was hard to pin down, and lately seemed disconnected with the public. Perhaps more respected nationally than locally thanks to his green initiatives, we’ll always hold him in high regard for spearheading the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, an accord between over 600 cities committed to reducing greenhouse emissions which echoed across America. Seattle itself wasn’t always better for his greener policies. His B rating on the city’s response to the paralyzing winter snowstorm after reversing his “no-salt policy” seemed to melt away his political future. Recently the “we’re now a grown-up city” during the light rail inauguration confirmed his concern with impressions and world-class ambitions which might’ve been his undoing. All very un-Seattle. Or so they would like to think. Very Seattle: When people were asked why they didn’t like him, they couldn’t give an answer, they just said they didn’t. Out with the old, in with the new could be an unofficial city motto (although three terms wears out your welcome unless you’re from Chicago). We’re sure he won’t have any trouble finding work but hope he continues in the direction which won us over in the first place: Improving air-quality.
