Go for the Green at the Pinellas Living Green Expo

The Pinellas Living Green Expo returns to the Harborview Center in downtown Clearwater on Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3. The event is free and open to the public. More than 120 exhibitors and vendors will share their knowledge and expertise about living a sustainable way of life on Florida’s West Coast. Pinellas County Environmental Lands Division, Pinellas County Extension and Pinellas County Utilities will be among the exhibitors offering green-living information localized for Pinellas County residents.

The theme of the Pinellas Living Green Expo is Save Money...Save the Environment. In today’s uncertain economic climate, it is more important than ever to understand and embrace sustainability and green-living solutions to preserve natural resources and save money.

This year’s Expo will include multiple scheduled information sessions covering diverse subjects including green tax rebates and incentives, bio-fuels, solar power, efficient mass transit, how to retrofit a home for energy efficiency and building a new “Platinum” LEED-Certified home. Pinellas County experts will be on hand presenting a variety of topics including Rain Harvesting, Reducing Your Waste Stream: The 3 R’s, Being Green at Home and Work, Selecting the Right Plant for the Right Place, and Climate Change: the Science, the Impacts, and the Solutions.

Pinellas County Extension educators will also be working with Expo coordinators in the lobby of the Harborview Center conducting research through quick and easy on-line surveys about citizens’ journeys to sustainability.

The Pinellas Living Green Expo will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 3. The Harborview Center is located at 300 Cleveland St. in downtown Clearwater. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit http://www.pinellaslivinggreenexpo.org/

Join Us As We Celebrate the Earth!

Please join us this Saturday, April 18 at an extra-special Market in the Park which will feature extra exhibitors and programs in celebration of Earth Day.

In addition to the fabulous foods and products found at the Market each week, on Saturday we will be joined by friends from Pinellas County Utilities, Environmental Management, the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation, the Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society and the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.

Trees donated by the Botanical Gardens Foundation and the Native Plant Society will be given away during this celebration.

From 9:00-1:00 Miami-based public artist Xavier Cortada will be on hand to discuss his sustainability-themed art installation in the Gardens.

For families, there will be a Family Fun area set-up with lots of fun, interactive games and crafts to enjoy.

For more information:
Florida Botanical Gardens Earth Day Celebration
Xavier Cortada Participatory Art Project
Market in the Park

How the First Earth Day Came About

By Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day

What was the purpose of Earth Day? How did it start? These are the questions I am most frequently asked. Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962.

For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political "limelight" once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963.

For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day. I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation's political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.

After President Kennedy's tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?

I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try. At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air - and they did so with spectacular exuberance.

For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office. Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events: "Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...." It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day.

It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities. Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated.

That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.

Source: http://www.envirolink.org/

Leaving PCs on overnight wastes billions in energy costs, study says: Scientific American Blog

In the world of sustainability and the "green movement," the converted already understand how small changes add up to BIG resource conservation. As educators we strive to get this message out to the rest of the populace, and in these tough times perhaps there is no better incentive than underscoring how much MONEY can be saved by adopting sustainable practices.

A recently released study conducted by Stamford, Connecticut and the Alliance to Save Energy, (a Washington, D.C., coalition of business, government and environmental organizations) found that in the US alone, energy waste by PCs adds up to $2.8 billion.

Just think what we could do with that $2.8 billion if it were not being spent unnecessarily...

See the full article here:

Leaving PCs on overnight wastes billions in energy costs, study says: Scientific American Blog

Vote Earth! Your Light Switch is Your Vote

On March 28th at 8:30pm local time the Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge and Sydney's Opera House---just to name a few iconic landmarks---will be turning off their lights for “Earth Hour” to shine a spotlight on climate change. So far 2,140 cities, towns and municipalities in 82 countries have already committed to VOTE EARTH as part of the world's first global election between Earth and global warming. To add your destination to the list of communities responding to this challenge, visit http://www.earthhour.org/.

Green Building Expo Open to Public March 14

Our region's first ever Green Building Expo, featuring experts in green construction, landscaping and other facets of environmentally friendly living will take place at the Shops at Wiregrass off State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 14.

Sponsored by the Tampa Bay Builders Association, the Green Building Expo will host seminars, demonstrations and discussions explaining how public and private efforts are creating programs to promote green building in the Tampa Bay area, says association president Dan Molloy, president and CEO of Oak Creek Land Company.

Among speakers scheduled to appear are:
• Chris Dewey, coordinator of the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program of the Pasco County Extension Service.
• Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano, who will discuss county programs established to promote green living
• Jonathan Greaves will discuss green remodeling.
• Drew Smith, vice chairman of the Florida Home Builders Associations’ Green
Building Council, will discuss statewide efforts by the building industry.

These experts and others will showcase their products and services, explaining how they are integral parts of Florida’s green-building initiative. Among the topics are green washing, Green Building 101, Florida Friendly Yards, what to look for when shopping for a green builder and more than a dozen other topics.

Admission is free and the expo is open to the public.

Headquartered in Tampa, the Tampa Bay Builders Association is a professional organization serving Tampa Bay-area construction-related businesses including builders, developers, suppliers and subcontractors. Its members also include lending institutions, architectural and engineering firms, as well as other related businesses.
Currently, the TBBA has more than 1,300 member firms, and is among the largest building-trades organizations in Florida.

The TBBA promotes professionalism and continuing education within the Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco county building-and-development industry, while encouraging industry participation in the community at large.

To reach the Shops at Wiregrass from Interstate 75, go to State Road 56 (Exit 275).
At the end of the exit ramp turn right onto S.R. 56 and go about 2.5 miles. If coming from the north, turn left off the exit ramp unto S.R. 56.

For further information about the Green Building Expo or TBBA, call (813) 873-1000, or visit http://www.tbba.net/.

March Marks the Beginning of Florida's Bike Month!

Susan J. Miller, Pinellas County Planning Department via TampaBayCycle.com

The Tampa BayCycle campaign offers fun and educational activities throughout Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. This year's Bike Month events include: bicycle and gear giveaways, group rides, children's safety rodeos, street skills classes, festivals for people of all ages and abilities, and much more.

Bike Month is your chance to discover quiet, safe, beautiful routes for excursions or everyday trips to work, school, or play. Feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair. Get fit. Save money. Fall in love with your commute.

Distinguish yourself by becoming a Tampa BayCycle Ambassador or one of the 1,001 Friends of Cycling.

Join the growing number of people who experience the pleasure of cycling in the month of March, and every day of the year. Visit the Tampa BayCycle Facebook group page, and share your ideas for Bike Month 2009. Help us make cycling an integral part of the transportation culture in the Tampa Bay area.

Watch for details regarding events and other information on how you can participate. There will be great prizes and group activities again this year.

Check out our Events page for the latest on Tampa BayCycle happenings.