Concerned Citizens

What would the results be if you started teaching recycling and sustainability early in a child’s life? What if activities at the school focused on daily sustainable living? Things like recycling paper, plastics and food. Reducing consumption at every point of the school day. What if the students had their own community garden and spent time each day helping take care of that garden? What if food from the garden were a part of the daily school lunch or snacks? What if you taught the kids more about nutrition in a way they could see in concrete terms from dirt to plate? Would it be a way to change the behaviors of generations to come? Could it be a way to make sustainable living a natural part of that child’s life for years to come? Read more…

Tomorrow a group of the Fiesta family will be traveling to Portland, OR to attend the Portland Rose Festival, a citywide festival not quite as large as Fiesta San Antonio but similar in many ways. For me, it’s both a chance to enjoy the great city of Portland and to learn how they do sustainability and recycling. You see, the Portland Rose Festival is one the greenest festivals in the nation. So when the opportunity arose this year, I jumped at it and decided to travel with the Fiesta team to Portland. Not only will I be observing but I volunteered to help with the parade clean-up, knowing the best way to learn is to get your hands dirty, literally. However, I’m starting to discover that there’s much more to this festival than just being a green one. Portland seems to have a different outlook on life and fun, in a way that really kind of makes me want to bring some of it back to San Antonio. Read more…

Sunday, when I was wading through my feeds, I found an interesting one from a fellow blogger, Charles Kuffner in Houston, highlighting an NPR story about SAWS water conservation and reclamation efforts. Charles didn’t say much in his piece but ended it with an interesting point about how San Antonio has taken an adverse situation and made the best of it. “The point here is that while San Antonio’s population has been growing, the amount of water available to it is finite. Either you make the best use of what you have, or you suffer for it. San Antonio’s good choices mean that the city can continue to grow and prosper,” said Kuffner. He’s right about how our city, specifically SAWS, seems to be taking some very critical steps to make sure that even in drought conditions our water source will never be compromised. That’s a key thing employers consider when evaluating new business locations. If the water system is ever in question then business operations will most likely be disrupted. So how do these efforts stack up in the overall picture?

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You’ve seen them throughout the city, along streets, in ditches and probably even against your fence lines. They’re those pesky plastic tumbleweeds we get every time we visit a store. What’s even worse is they are creating a problem in our environment. Now the City of San Antonio/Solid Waste Management Division (COSA/SWMD), Keep San Antonio Beautiful (KSAB) and five area retailers are trying to do something to help reduce them to get them off the streets. Today, at City Hall, the campaign to help change the attitude of San Antonians kicked off with the help of Mayor Julian Castro City Manager Sheryl Sculley. So what can you do to help?

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How fitting that on the three days prior to the big announcement about new energy we’ve had record-breaking heat and sun. Yes, today San Antonio seemed to be on the cusp of a new era in the city’s economy. As CPS CEO Doyle Beneby and Mayor Julian Castro took the stage opposite each other, they were flanked by executives from five new energy companies who not only announced new initiatives and investments for San Antonio’s energy economy but the exciting news that three were relocating their headquarters to San Antonio. As Mayor Castro said in his remarks “We make announcements today that truly define the nexus between sustainability and job creation.” So what’s in this brighter and greener future for San Antonio?

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Small businesses make up a large part of the business environment in America, representing over 99.7% of all employer firms and employing over half of all private sector jobs according to the Small Business Administration. Small businesses are just about everywhere you look, from consulting firms to taco stands. So, with such a substantial footprint in America, how green are these small businesses? In reality, probably not very green since small businesses don’t have the capital to invest in green or sustainable technologies. In many cases, small businesses are working hard to meet payroll and try to expand the business. After all, most small businesses are the first step to bigger things for their owners. But are there options for a small business to “go green” and is it worth it?

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Tomorrow is Earth Day, celebrated around the world as a way to highlight activities focused on helping improve our presence on this planet. Started in 1970 by Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), the purpose was to inspire awareness and appreciation for Earth’s natural environment. As Nelson stated “I am convinced that all we need to do to bring an overwhelming insistence of the new generation that we stem the tide of environmental disaster is to present the facts clearly and dramatically.” It’s a great celebration but it’s also something that should create lifestyle change.

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Yes, I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted to the blog but there’s good reason for the absence. I’ve been playing the Trash Man of Fiesta, heading up the Fiesta Verde effort in conjunction with Fiesta events and the city. It’s my second year in the position and we wanted to make a difference compared to our pilot year. The numbers are still coming in but it’s looking like we may hit our goal of doubling recycling tonnage collected from last year. That’s pretty impressive considering it’s only our second year at the game but we still have a long way to go. I’m probably going to tackle the effort again for Fiesta 2012 and hopefully we’ll double the number yet again. But Fiesta’s over and it’s time to get back to the business of blogging.

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I’ve been blogging lately about the focus of redevelopment in and around the downtown area of San Antonio. To start the conversation I focused on whether the development should be in or around downtown, feeling that developing around downtown might be a better choice. Following that I looked at the area around Madison Square Park as one of the neighborhoods that might make a good choice for redevelopment focus. In doing so, I started to realize that redevelopment actually makes a lot more sense for our city than continuing the sprawl currently happening around the edges of the city. It’s just the right thing on so many fronts. Read more…

Thursday San Antonio took another step towards becoming a greener city by passing an ordinance that requires multi-family dwellings to provide recycling bins for residents to drop off recyclable items. In doing so, the city possibly can divert as much as 25,000-50,000 tons of waste annually from the landfills to recycling facilities. This would represent a very significant change in San Antonio’s waste management structure and help move the city towards a zero-waste objective for the city. But this ordinance not only allows people to do the right thing; it also starts educating people on what can be recycled and how to purchase recyclable items. Read more…

This weekend, while reviewing some of the various events, I ran across an article in the Express-News about an upcoming lecture by Robert Hammond, co-founder of The High Line project. The event will be Tuesday, November 23, and is sponsored by the Architecture Foundation San Antonio. While I have already written about The High Line in an entry a couple of summers ago, I found out that the project actually has a San Antonio tie in Mr. Hammond, a native of our city. Read more…

Today I took a walk around Woodlawn Lake Park after an early morning meeting. It was great to get back out on the walking trail at Woodlawn Lake since it gives me an opportunity to do some thinking while walking. Sure enough, the brain started working while I was hiking around the 1+ mile trail that surrounds the lake. What I noticed while walking along the trail was the large amounts of land that really go unused in obscure places around the park. What I also noticed were a lot of lamps that I’m sure are lit throughout the night to provide safety and security. So why not leverage both components to create a sustainable solution? Read more…

As I said yesterday, I’m going to try a new approach to my blog by writing on a different topic each day of the week. Wednesday I’m going to focus on sustainability and am toying with Wednesdays are for the World. I know it’s corny but I couldn’t find a good W word for Wednesday. Today I decided to look at a new trend in clothes regarding sustainability, especially on a concept of clothing made from recycled plastic. Yes, I’m talking about those recycled water and soda bottles. It’s possible and can help drive an important factor in the sustainability equation. So what does the market look like for sustainable clothes and how can we improve the situation? Read more…

I’m in Houston this weekend enjoying my annual MLB weekend. Unfortunately my friend couldn’t join me due to work issues. But I’m still going to make the most of it. The weekend started with a presentation to the Texas Festivals and Events Association (TFEA) Conference on Fiesta Verde. After that, we’re at the Inn at the Ballpark (great deal through Priceline) which puts me literally across the street from the park. I’ll have to say the highlight was presenting what we learned during Fiesta Verde to about 15 people in the session. Read more…

Just when I thought we were finally getting on the same page about the oil spill caused by the Deepwater Horizon incident the politicians showed their true faces regarding the oil spill. This is really sad when you look at the damage of the spill and its impact to the region in the years to come. Since the incident happened millions of gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf with no complete relief in sight for months. Yesterday BP was able to finally secure a containment cap on the wellhead but officials are not sure if the cap will provide a secure enough seal to capture the escaping oil from the well. Video of the placement of the cap seemed to indicate the pressure of oil escaping may be too much for the cap but we can only rely on the expertise of BP and the government, something that’s proven wrong in the past. However, what really seemed to be the shocker of the day was the Republican response to the incident.
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