Daily Loaf

So it’s a week out and you haven’t shopped, planned a menu or sent invitations. Good. There’s hope for you, unlike those annoying ’plan ahead’ types.  Here’s your task list for a green, somewhat sustainable Thanksgiving Day.

1. Send email invitations – granted it’s too late for real paper ones sent snail mail, so your fail to plan has paid off.

2. Make your shopping list on the back of one of those useless return address envelopes you get with bills you pay online anyway. Now would be a good time to make sure you change your billing preference to paperless. Do it Today! points for you here. Oh and you Super Geeks who have eliminated paper billing, use the iPhone iHost app for Thanksgiving.

3. Know the people you invite to dinner. That will eliminate 99.9% of your Facebook friends, but this allows you to avoid serving food that won’t get eaten. So what if creamed pearl onions have been on the table since the Buccaneers’ throwback uniforms were worn by Lee Roy Selmon, bag it and go with another tradition like….

4. Serve locally grown veggies. If you’re lucky enough to be a Sweetwater Organic Community Farm member, skip to number 5. If not, the market is open this Sunday from 12 to 4pm. (Or check out one of these other farmers’ markets around Tampa Bay.)

5. Shop with a reusable bag. It doesn’t have to be one of those bought for that purpose, use the old beach bag  (it’ll love you for the change of scenery).
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Looking for something green-related to do this weekend? Look no further than our own Green Community Calendar.

Dunedin Green Market- Every Friday; 8 am- 1 pm. The Dunedin Green Market is located in Pioneer Park at the cross streets of Douglas Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Dunedin and runs every Friday.

Tampa Downtown Market- Fridays October-May; 10 am-2 pm. The vision of the Tampa Downtown Market is to provide local residents and businesses of the community with the freshest, highest quality, most nutritious, and most reasonably priced food & gourmet products. The mission of the Tampa Downtown Market is to serve as a community-gathering place where local farmers, producers, and artisans can offer fresh agricultural and related products to generate a sense of local pride and further the economic development of Downtown Tampa. With a strong focus on sustainability, the Tampa Downtown Market intends to provide a vehicle to educate the community on the importance of good health as we create more business opportunities and residential benefits. Located in Lykes Gaslight Square- Tampa St. & Kennedy Blvd., Downtown Tampa.

22nd Annual Hillsborough River and Waterways Cleanup and Picnic- Saturday, November 21; 8 am-1 pm. Free breakfast, lunch, and t-shirts for volunteers. Rollin’ on the River Picnic at 11 am. Environmental education booths from 11 am-1 pm. Bring a canned good for America’s Second Harvest Food Bank to help us help families in need. To volunteer, contact the Mayor’s Beautification Program: 813-221-8733, volunteer@mbptree.org. Lowry Park boat ramp- North Blvd. at Sligh Ave., Tampa.

Ellenton Farmers Market- Saturdays; 8 am – 1 pm. Ellenton Farmers’ Market will be the largest year-round market in florida that specializes in “green” natural, organic and environmentally friendly products that makes for a healthier lifestyle and a better environment. Located just North of the Prime Outlet Mall in Ellenton, Florida (exit 224, Old Exit 43, off I – 75).

St. Pete Saturday Morning Market- Every Saturday; 9 am to 2 pm. Downtown St. Petersburg in the Al Lang Stadium parking lot / 1st Ave. S and 1st St. Open October 3 through May 29.
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Are you a technology obsessed person? Are you someone who has a lot of interest in reducing energy consumption and shrinking your carbon footprint? Perhaps you surround yourself with like-minded people and are hoping to find some cool, earth-friendly, and technology savvy gifts for your friends for the coming the holidays?

Well, there are a few innovative options available for those hoping to help the Earth by savvy gift-giving. Technology addicts will all appreciate receiving the Eco Button. This small USB device plugs into any active USB port on a computer and when it is triggered by the user it enters into an extreme energy saving mode. How much does it save? With a single click the average consumption drops from 80 Watts to roughly 2 Watts. To restart the system a user can tap any key on their keyboard and in just a few seconds their computer is back in action. The software included in the package also allows the user to view the total amount of energy they saved by simply triggering the device. This is a great way to help the planet while saving yourself and your friends a ton of money too.
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Yesterday, the Nature Geoscience Journal released a report saying that global carbon emission levels are still rising – 29% since 2000 – and they continue to rise 2-3% each year.

These findings that come from the researchers at the Global Carbon Project who report that the cause of the steadily rising carbon levels is due to the lack of absorption by the Earth’s natural carbon sinks. They believe there is a decrease in the efficiency of the natural land and sea carbon sinks.
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If you live in Sarasota or Pinellas County, you may have heard of the fitness club chain Youfit. They are a relatively new fitness club chain aiming to promote energy efficiency and an environmentally friendly atmosphere, as well as maintain low membership fees.

Right now, they are having a special for new members. You pay a $29 enrollment fee and only $10 per month for 12 months – that’s it! There are other specials as well that include unlimited tanning, drink specials, etc. They also have some of the most up-to-date fitness equipment, including cardio machines with individual televisions so clients can have a personal workout experience.
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The Tampa Green Business Designation Program is a partnership of the Sustany Foundation and the City of Tampa designed to highlight green and sustainable businesses in Tampa. Their website states:

“Businesses seeking to participate in the program will be reviewed against a list of criteria that evaluate their organization’s level of sustainability including green policies and practices. A business can achieve one of three distinct levels of green designation depending on the number of points achieved through the evaluation. Businesses that receive the designation will be provided an item to post at their business location that recognizes their achievement. Additionally, the organization will be included on the City’s green web page as part of Tampa’s “Green Pages” for businesses.”

The program has just given its first three Green Designations to Florida Business Interiors, Bayside Engineering and The Children’s Cancer Center.
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The advice may sound tired, but it is still as valid today as it ever was: “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

And now this maxim applies even to financial proposals that reach out to investors who want to put greenbacks in green-tech. Here is a story ripped straight from the SEC website:  ”Four individuals and two companies were charged with perpetrating a $30 million Ponzi scheme in which they persuaded more than 300 investors nationwide to participate in purported environmentally-friendly investment opportunities.”
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Now that the temperatures have finally dropped here in Florida, it won’t be long before you’re turning up your home’s thermostat at night. Did you know that you can save energy and money on your utility bill just by properly using your thermostat and keeping your house sealed from outside air? This video from National Geographic’s Green Guide site gives some very valuable advice on keeping the heat in and the cold out.

Some of the information includes:

-How to properly use your thermostat to save money and energy.

-Sealing cracks and holes in your house that let in outside air, as well as checking the seals on your doorways.

-How installing storm shutters can minimize heat loss up to 50%.

-Why to buy windows with the Energy Star rating.

-Alternative, eco-friendly insulation options, like recycled cotton, cellulose and soybean foam.

Video after the break:
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After all the efforts from people around the globe to get our world leaders to listen up and take action against climate change in December in Copenhagen, it looks like things aren’t going to be changing any time soon.

Yesterday, President Obama and leaders from the rest of the world’s top economic powers finally fessed up that they don’t believe major progress concerning climate change can be achieved by the end of the year.
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Solar PV developers may soon get the message that the Sunshine State is closed for business.

In an important proceeding at the Florida Public Service Commission in Tallahassee, approval of large-scale solar projects is in doubt. The key issue before the Commission is whether to approve a project with clear environmental benefits, yet its price tag exceeds “avoided cost”, and thus Commission staff has recommend against approval.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

The Temple Terrace Preservation Society’s next meeting to feature local author Dr. John Henry Fleming and his book Fearsome Creatures of Florida – Dr. Fleming will do a reading and signing of his latest book that’s mystical, magical and funny, with an environmental theme about preserving what’s left of Florida.

Tampa Bay Area farmers’/green markets guide - Here’s your guide to finding the freshest, locally produced foods and goods (and an all-around good time) at weekly fresh markets in the Bay Area.

Sustainability and spirituality – Eric Stewart’s speech on sustainability for a local Unitarian Universalist church in Odessa.
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MyGreenBuildings, the Sarasota-based green building company owned by Steve Ellis and Grant Castilow, has recently won an award in the Qualified Remodeler Master Design Awards Contest for the Green Remodel category.

The yearly Master Design Awards, sponsored by Qualified Remodeler magazine, is the premier national design contest that recognizes outstanding achievement in residential remodeling projects in 22 categories. Some of the other categories include: Whole House over $500,000, Outdoor Living, Historic Restoration, Bathrooms over $50,000, and Universal Design.
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Reports coming from The Guardian are that a whistle blower from the International Energy Agency leaked information that we are much closer to the peak production of oil than anticipated. The whistle blower is staying anonymous so I want to state that it’s still unconfirmed, the IEA is denying what is being stated. 

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Looking for something green-related to do this weekend? Look no further than our own Green Community Calendar.

Dunedin Green Market- Every Friday; 8 am- 1 pm. The Dunedin Green Market is located in Pioneer Park at the cross streets of Douglas Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Dunedin and runs every Friday.

Tampa Downtown Market- Fridays October-May; 10 am-2 pm. The vision of the Tampa Downtown Market is to provide local residents and businesses of the community with the freshest, highest quality, most nutritious, and most reasonably priced food & gourmet products. The mission of the Tampa Downtown Market is to serve as a community-gathering place where local farmers, producers, and artisans can offer fresh agricultural and related products to generate a sense of local pride and further the economic development of Downtown Tampa. With a strong focus on sustainability, the Tampa Downtown Market intends to provide a vehicle to educate the community on the importance of good health as we create more business opportunities and residential benefits. Located in Lykes Gaslight Square- Tampa St. & Kennedy Blvd., Downtown Tampa.

Ellenton Farmers Market- Saturdays; 8 am – 1 pm. Ellenton Farmers’ Market will be the largest year-round market in florida that specializes in “green” natural, organic and environmentally friendly products that makes for a healthier lifestyle and a better environment. Located just North of the Prime Outlet Mall in Ellenton, Florida (exit 224, Old Exit 43, off I – 75).

St. Pete Saturday Morning Market- Every Saturday; 9 am to 2 pm. Downtown St. Petersburg in the Al Lang Stadium parking lot / 1st Ave. S and 1st St. Open October 3 through May 29.
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Are you wound up and stressed from all of the holidays coming up? Have you already been eating lots of junk food and feel like you need to revamp your body and mind? Then this local cruise might be just the thing you need to get back into mental and physical shape.

Royal Carribean’s 3rd Annual Yoga cruise is set to depart from the Port of Tampa on Thursday, December 3rd, sails to Cozumel, Mexico, and returns on Monday, December 7th. The cruise pricing starts as low as $400 per person and includes yoga classes throughout the cruise (a minimum of four per day are available for each yoga cruiser), port charges, and taxes.
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Here at Creative Loafing’s Green Community, we often post articles on ways to green almost every aspect of your life. From food and beauty, to pets and decor, we’ve listed a myriad of ways to become eco-friendlier. This time, I’ve decided to focus on home-related issues and ways to make your home greener, inside and out. Here are some of my favorite green home tips, finds, and all-around great information.

Let’s start outside:

-Solar panels are so last year. Why not install these stylish solar tiles to your roof instead?

-Want a plush lawn but hate the thought of using harmful pesticides? Check out this post on safe and sustainable lawn care solutions.
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Seeing as this Sunday is America Recycles Day, I’ve been in the recycling mood and racking my brain for different ways to do so. Then I stumbled upon something wonderful: cash (or swag) for recycling! We could all probably use some extra dough these days, and just for the act of recycling you can make a profit.

RecycleBank is a website where you can register to earn points toward gift certificates for food and other goods just by taking out your recycling every week. After registering, you receive a chip to be placed on your recycling bin. That chip is then scanned when the recycling is picked up and your items are weighed. The information then gets transmitted back to RecycleBank and you receive 2.5 points for every pound of items you recycled. You can earn up to 450 points per week and 5,400 per month. Those points can then be used to get certificates for items from over 1,500 participating businesses, like CVS, Chick-fil-a, Kraft, Kashi, Foot Locker, and Kohl’s. Points can even be redeemed for passes to museums and can be donated to organizations and charities like the Ocean Conservancy.
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We are told that we must recycle. So we put our cans, glass and plastics in our curbside bins. Or we collect our bits and drive them to the nearest recycling station. Maybe we even take old electronics to swap shops to keep the chemicals from leeching into the ground.

But what about the less obvious stuff? What about recycling our own hair?

Think about it. We’re always shedding it, and our heads always (sometimes) replenish it. If it doesn’t get tossed in the waste bin, it gets washed down the shower drain where it creates an icky clog that the eeeevil commercials tell us we need to use chemicals to unclog. So save your hair (and your drain pipes) and try some fun ways to keep using it.

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This Sunday marks the 12th anniversary of America Recycles Day, a nationally recognized day dedicated to recycling and purchasing recycled and repurposed items.

America Recycles Day is working in partnership with Keep America Beautiful and the National Recycling Coalition to support local communities and raises awareness by educating citizens about the benefits of recycling. The ARC website states: “The purpose of America Recycles Day is to continue to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling and encourage more people to join the movement toward creating a better natural environment.”

What can you do? First of all, if you don’t already recycle on a regular basis, this Sunday would be a great day to start doing so. Maybe you could make every Sunday your official recycling day (if you don’t receive the pick up service in your neighborhood).
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I recently presented a speech on sustainability for a local Unitarian Universalist church in Odessa. The scenery was amazing: it was right near some old horse farms, the wind was blowing and when everyone was silent it was eerily peaceful. I had fun, though feeling a bit unprepared; sometimes I get anxious but my passion keeps me going. Every speech I do I learn something new about myself and about how others feel about sustainability and our future.

Shortly after the speech, I sat and had coffee to speak more personally with some of the dozens of attendees. Many came up to give condolences about how they felt their generation was leaving a world far worst off than it was given to them. Others had anger in their hearts about how the present administration is acting.

Video after the break:

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Photos by Eric Snider

“This didn’t have to happen,” says Rob Douglas, his 6-foot-4 frame slouched on a sofa in his south St. Pete condo, his raspy voice weary and tinged with bitterness. He’s a linchpin of the St. Petersburg concert scene, his tenure as a promoter, venue operator and production manager dating back to the early ’80s, when shows were put on by enterprising locals rather than megacorporations. He spent 25 years working at Jannus Landing, one of the Bay area’s most beloved concert venues, until August when he severed ties with the downtown St. Pete institution. Douglas, 54, had reached the end of his tether with then-owner Jack Bodziak. “Even with the wreckage of the economy, we could have survived this,” Douglas says. “It was due to piss-poor stewardship.”

When he spoke those words in late October, Jannus Landing had been empty for most of the prior three months, its last show having been the execrable Insane Clown Posse on Oct. 9. Several scheduled concerts had relocated to other venues, most to the Ritz Ybor. Bodziak was beset by financial and legal problems, the most glaring of which was his arrest by state agents in May on charges that he failed to pay more than $200,000 in sales tax on revenues from Jannus Landing. He also owed a reported $160,000 in back rent and faced eviction. A new guy, Jeff Knight, waited in the wings, a well-heeled businessman with grandiose plans and no experience in the concert business. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s your guide to finding the freshest, locally produced foods and goods (and an all-around good time) at weekly fresh markets in the Bay Area.

Gulfport Tuesday Morning Fresh Market- Every Tuesday; 9 am-3 pm. The Tuesday Morning Fresh Market is a weekly gathering in the Gulfport, Florida Waterfront District offering fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood in a festive environment with local art vendors. Speakers, vendors, artists are welcome to join in each Tuesday in the Gulfport Waterfront District. An all ages event! 2914 Beach Blvd. S., Gulfport.

Oldsmar Downtown Fresh Market- Wednesdays (through April); 8 am-1 pm. 100 State Street West, next to City Hall.

Downtown Clearwater Farmers Market- Every Wednesday (through May); 9 am-2 pm. Providing Clearwater’s residents, business people and visitors with the freshest produce, baked goods, gourmet foods, unique gifts, crafts, flowers and plants has been our passion and our pleasure. Located on the 500 block of Cleveland Street between Garden Avenue and N. Ft. Harrison Avenue.

Safety Harbor Farmers’ Market- Every Thursday (through May); 8 am-1:30 pm. Fresh and organic produce, plants and fresh flowers, gourmet foods, baked goods, handmade jewelry, light snacks. Located at the Gazebo at John Wilson Park- 401 Main Street, Downtown Safety Harbor

Dunedin Green Market- Every Friday (through April); 8 am- 1 pm. Featuring fresh, local produced goods such as baked good, ready-to-eat-foods, organic plants and herbs, coffee, honey, seafood, clothing, and so much more. The Dunedin Green Market is located in Pioneer Park at the cross streets of Douglas Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Dunedin and runs every Friday.
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The Temple Terrace Preservation Society’s next meeting on Thursday, November 19, will be featuring local author and Temple Terrace resident, Dr. John Henry Fleming, and his newest book, Fearsome Creatures. Dr. Fleming will do a reading and signing of his latest book that’s mystical, magical and funny, with an environmental theme about preserving what’s left of Florida.

As CL writer Shawn Alff reviewed, “In Fearsome Creatures of Florida, Tampa author John Henry Fleming serves as taxonomist of Florida folklore, producing a wildlife handbook that could have been published by National Enquirer. This book breathes new life into real creatures and popular myths like the Skunk Ape and the Chupacabra.”
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

City of Seminole recycling and sustainability discussion - A local activist held a discussion on recycling and sustainability at the Seminole Community Library on Monday, November 9.

1890s Ybor City: Green and sustainable (plus vintage postcards) – Grant Rimbey explores the green and sustainable nature of pre-urban renewal Ybor City.

BPA in plastics linked to aggressive behavior in children – Did you know that exposure to the BPA in the “bad” plastics has been linked to aggressiveness in children, as well as other diseases in humans?

Energy systems 2.0 – We are currently in an energy crisis, yet continuing to rely on old, out-of-date systems of provision that are no longer viable, economically or ecologically.
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With the holiday season coming to a start and the year already coming to an end, why wait until the new year to start living a greener lifestyle? Get into the swing of the holidays by putting some eco-friendly practices to use. Bonus: They’ll help you save money as well.

Here’s a list of some sites that offer great tips and advice on how to green your holidays this year:
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Talk about recycling with a purpose: The new Navy Ship, USS New York, came into New York harbor this week sporting more than just 361 crew members – contained in the ship is 7.5 tons of recycled steel from the World Trade Center.

The 25,000 behemoth was built in Virginia and is the length of two football fields. Written on the bow above its crest is written “Never Forget”. Built in Louisiana, it made its way into New York harbor earlier this week, performing a 21-gun salute in front of Ground Zero and docking until November 11 so that the public can climb aboard and get a firsthand glimpse of it.
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For a big budget, Hollywood-style disaster film, 2012 probably wouldn’t come to mind as an “eco film” to most people. But not only does the movie serve as a message (or warning) of the effects of impending climate change, the director, Roland Emmerich, and producers took great strides to be as green as possible when making it.

Roland Emmerich, known for directing and producing other big budget disaster movies such as The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, has been living a green lifestyle himself – driving a Prius and using solar energy to power his home – and wanted to carry over some eco-friendly practices into his filmmaking. He stated to MNN at the Environmental Media Association Awards, “After making The Day After Tomorrow, I said to myself, ‘From now on my movies should have a green footprint’.”
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Looking for something green-related to do this weekend? Look no further than our own Green Community Calendar.

Dunedin Green Market- Every Friday; 8 am- 1 pm. The Dunedin Green Market is located in Pioneer Park at the cross streets of Douglas Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Dunedin and runs every Friday.

Tampa Downtown Market- Fridays October-May; 10 am-2 pm. The vision of the Tampa Downtown Market is to provide local residents and businesses of the community with the freshest, highest quality, most nutritious, and most reasonably priced food & gourmet products. The mission of the Tampa Downtown Market is to serve as a community-gathering place where local farmers, producers, and artisans can offer fresh agricultural and related products to generate a sense of local pride and further the economic development of Downtown Tampa. With a strong focus on sustainability, the Tampa Downtown Market intends to provide a vehicle to educate the community on the importance of good health as we create more business opportunities and residential benefits. Located in Lykes Gaslight Square- Tampa St. & Kennedy Blvd., Downtown Tampa.

Ellenton Farmers Market- Saturdays; 8 am – 1 pm. Ellenton Farmers’ Market will be the largest year-round market in florida that specializes in “green” natural, organic and environmentally friendly products that makes for a healthier lifestyle and a better environment. Located just North of the Prime Outlet Mall in Ellenton, Florida (exit 224, Old Exit 43, off I – 75).

St. Pete Saturday Morning Market- Every Saturday; 9 am to 2 pm. Downtown St. Petersburg in the Al Lang Stadium parking lot /1st Ave. S and 1st St. Open October 3 through May 29.

Land O’Lakes Saturday Market- Every Saturday; 9 am-2 pm. The Land O’Lakes Saturday Market is a weekly community event with live music and a threefold mission: 1. To foster a healthy and productive lifestyle of “buy fresh, buy local” by facilitating the connection of local food producers with local consumers.; 2. To promote the development of local green businesses, as well as artists and craftsmen.; 3. To bring our community together for networking and fun in a relaxed atmosphere. Land O’ Lakes Saturday Market donates profits to the Heritage Park Foundation and the Suncoast Harvest Food Bank. We are located at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center, on the west side of US 41 – Land O’ Lakes Blvd., three miles north of SR 54 (across from the Land O’ Lakes Post Office- Directions). website: www.lolsaturdaymkt.com; email: lolsaturdaymkt@aol.com
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It wasn’t easy for me to resist the temptation to gush happily in print over our President’s visit to DeSoto county last week; but what struck me as I watched the event on TV were the paradoxical images –

Consider this: a utility company executive delivers accolades to the President for his leadership on sustainable energy production. Is this an anomaly? Maybe, but FPL Group’s CEO Lewis Hay, belongs to an exclusive club. Its members are forward thinking business executives readying their companies for a new green economy.

Granted, Mr. Hay’s exuberance may be due to the $200 million of stimulus funding FP & L is about to receive. But you have to admit, it does take chutzpah for him and his activist executive buddies to visit Washington in support of climate change legislation. They gathered as the Waxman/Markey bill was coming up for a key house vote back in June, even taking out a full page ad in DC newspapers. Acknowledging the paradigm shift to sustainable, clean power production so many others deny, they see the legislation as good for business. Whoa, did you hear that, Chamber of Commerce? Jokingly, Obama noted that people get nervous about change, relating Hay’s comment “especially utility executives” to which the crowd, largely made up of utility contractors and employees, laughed heartily.

Or this image: Juxtaposed against gleaming hi-tech solar panels, straw cowboy hats perched atop the heads of men in the first row bobbed up and down nodding in agreement with the President’s words. Thirty years ago this would be a scene in a sci-fi flick, and for some in the Deep South it would have been a horror flick. An African American President telling a rural Florida farming community: Boys, we’re gonna be installin’ some special equipment out here in these pastures, we’re gonna start harvesting sun rays. Yeah, sure ya are, and I just got done putting a trailer hitch on my spaceship to Mars. Oh by golly, farming sure has changed. No horses corralling cattle; no tractors in the fields, no worry of drought damaged crops.
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Earlier this week, I wrote a post about BPA (Bisphenol-A) being found in plastic bottles and food containers and its harmful effects on humans, it also being linked to causing aggressive behavior in children. Use of this chemical has been banned in Canada and in some parts of the US.

Now you don’t have to look much further to get your daily dose of BPA – just open a can of soup or tuna! Tests recently performed by Consumer Reports showed traces of BPA in almost all of the 19 name-brand cans of soup, tuna, vegetables, and juice. There were even some cans labeled “BPA-free” that contained the chemical. And don’t think your organic canned foods are safe either – the chemical showed up in some of those as well.
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The local elections will be decided Tuesday night, but voting for the City of Largo Recycled Innovations Contest has just begun.  This online contest encouraged innovators of all ages to make a use-able items with the contents of their trash can.

Eligible recycled innovations range from kitty litter box hanging gardens to baby food container space savers and more. The innovators went beyond traditional recycling and re-purposed their trash into items that may be reused for daily activities.

Contestants will vie for innovative prizes such a solar/wind powered charges for cell phones, MP3 players and other electronics, environmental board games, and learning toys to name a few.  Prizes will be awarded to the greatest innovators in various age categories: Junior Innovators, Tween Innovators, and MacGyvers.
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Until this week, I had no idea that the World Wide Web that I am accustomed to is called “Web 2.0”, a second wave in the development of our most important medium for communication. Web 2.0 can be thought of as inspiring a shift in the role of the user, from receiver to creator, allowing participants to become “core developers”). The Web became a two-way street, constantly changing at the hands of the public (for a detailed description of Web 2.0 and its development, click here). As hard as it is to imagine the Web without its interactivity, Web 2.0 only came about in reaction to the dot-com bust, when the unidirectional Web 1.0 was in a crisis. The response, a rethinking and reworking of the existing system, introduced the world to many of the most successful applications and websites in use today, from MySpace to YouTube to Facebook.

In a similar sense, we are currently in an energy crisis, yet continuing to rely on old, out-of-date systems of provision that are no longer viable, economically or ecologically. Energy is distributed from power plants to consumers in a top-down fashion that leaves all the control in the hands of large corporations. Additionally, power stations produce massive amounts of waste and CO2 emissions, illuminating the need for a radical transformation in the way that energy is produced and distributed. What must occur, to follow the above analogy, is a shift to Energy 2.0.
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We’ve all heard about the “bad” plastics- those that contain carcinogens, toxins, and BPA (Bisphenol-A). But did you know that exposure to the BPA in the “bad” plastics has been linked to aggressiveness in children, as well as other diseases in humans?

A first-of-its-kind study done by the University of North Carolina linked behavioral problems in children from women that were exposed to BPA during pregnancy.
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This post is about one of my favorite places in Tampa Bay: Ybor City.

The Ybor City I admire is the community pre “urban renewal”: that pathetic time in the 1960s when vast stretches of this remarkable multi-lingual and multi-ethnic historic district were demolished in the name of the mid-century streamlined suburban dream.  I’ve written about Tampa’s planning history in previous Creative Loafing posts: The Tampa That Might Have Been, The roots of sprawl, and Fixing sprawl and redesigning suburbia.

The idea behind urban renewal (a national program) was that it demolish the existing crumbling old historic fabric of cities, and the newly vacant lots would become modern new development that would spur the economy. In Ybor this Faustian new construction never materialized, as I remember the old 1980s “Rough Riders restaurant” in Ybor being surrounded by vacant lots.

The real premise for urban renewal was most likely racial and socioeconomic, with the goal of moving the poor and disenfranchised out of the cities and into the sparkling new modern housing projects further out. Mind you, this re-location scheme is still being pursued by Tampa and the county to this day as these old housing projects are now meeting the wrecking ball and the unfortunate inhabitants are relocated even further out to places like the USF area (aka “Suitcase City”), Lutz, Carrollwood and Brandon (might I add places that largely lack mass transit). Dear readers, please note that South Tampa is not on the list.
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A local activist has scheduled a discussion on recycling and sustainability at the Seminole Community Library on Monday, November 9, from 10 am to 12 pm.

Mary DeGeorge, coordinator of the discussion, moved from New York to Florida two years ago.  While in New York, she established a paper recycling program at the 1,200 student school in which she taught.

Mary is a member of the Pinellas County Utilities Technical Management Committee (recycling subcommittee) which meets at the Solid Waste Management Plant in St. Petersburg.
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