Last night I went to the Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Buckhead featuring Al Gore.  The former Vice President essentially went through the nuts and bolts of his new book “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis”.  It was a super energizing event that had the place on it’s feet and cheering, giving you the impression that everyone was going to walk out of the building, go home and retrofit their homes and get us back on the right track…and that’s what it’s going to take.  He emphasized the need to embrace renewable energy sources like solar, ground source heat pumps and wind.  One of the possible solutions that caught my ear was a 100 mile square solar collector proposed for the Arizona desert could collect 100% of the energy needed to power America.  That’s a big deal!  A major roadblock for that would be the transporting that energy across the country.  Our current system wastes about 60% of it capacity getting to your house and that’s not good enough.  These kinds of ideas will shape our future and the lives that our children and grandchildren lead.

He spoke about scientists all over the world trying to come up with the next great invention that could naturally remove carbon from the air…and many are making great strides to do so…but guess what?  It’s called a tree, and you put many together and they are called a forest!  That’s what trees do, and all we are doing is tearing them down.  Preservation and Conservation have to be on the forefront of our minds and our actions.  There are many things in our nation and world to be concerned about these days.  Farming responsibly, eating well, conserving what we are blessed with, and living in a healthy and efficient environment will naturally solve many of those issues.

You can check out his book at http://www.algore.com/

Tonight we held the 2nd Green Life Series at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in Buckhead which featured Esther Ayers > Green Girl Atlanta who spoke to us about ways to green up your life at home.  Highlights included Recycling, Composting, Rainwater Collection and Junk Mail.  She had a fabulous presentation that not only identified ways to go green, but solutions that you could take home tonight and put to work.  Info about next month’s Green Life Series will be coming soon.  If you are interested in speaking or attending, please email me at carsonmatthews@bellsouth.net.

Here are some pics from tonight.

To find out more about Esther and Green Girl Atlanta, visit www.GreenGirlAtlanta.com.

Carson Matthews
www.CarsonandCarol.com

  Carol and I are happy to present our first “Green Life” Speaker Series which will take place this coming Wednesday, June 10th at 7pm.  It will be held at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve on Roswell Road just across the street from Pike’s Nursery.  Our featured speaker will be Matt Hoots of the Hoots Group.  Matt is a leader in the Green building industry in Atlanta and will talk about sustainable solutions for your home.  Our flyer is below and you can also learn more about The Hoots Group at www.thehootsgroup.com.   We really look forward to seeing you.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me at 678-595-9286 or post a comment on here.

I saw an interesting article in the Buckhead Reporter this week about the new Zero Waste Zone in Buckhead.  You can only imagine the amount of waste that area restaurants produce on a daily basis.  I have worked in several restaurants and they all work differently, but in every case there is a great deal of waste.  Many of the kitchens I worked in did a really good job of using and reusing as much of the produce as possible.  It’s the little things that make or break a profit.  Anyway, participating restaurants will collect used grease for biofuel production,  send uneaten food to the hungry, (or compost as needed) and recycle paper and plastics.  It’s hard to imagine that this hasn’t been going on for ever but for one Atlanta restaurant that was quoted in the paper, they are proud to be the area’s first “dumpster-free” restaurant.  All of the waste at Ecco is picked up by a recycling or composting company.  That is awesome! 

You can find more information about the Zero Waste Zone on the Green Foodservice Alliance’s website http://www.greenfoodservicealliance.org/index.html.

The Eco-Fair in North Buckhead’s Blue Heron Nature Preserve was quite a hit.  I have uploaded photos from the event along with a little recap.  Please check it out at ChastainParkBlog.  It was a great event and I am glad everyone was able to make it out.

Carson

Below is an email from Sam Massell discussing Buckhead’s longtime traffic congestion problems and the only solution he sees as a viable one. If you have complained about it before, make sure you are at this meeting February 26th. All of the details are below.

It is pretty well conceded that the one major Buckhead problem that has very limited solution options is traffic congestion. It’s unlikely any new roads would be suggested; the very costly idea of a tunnel has no authoritative support; the streetcar promotion has exhausted Buckhead.
One proposal which is universally agreed would reduce traffic on such major arteries as Piedmont and Lenox Roads, is the projected ramp connecting GA-400 south to I-85 north (and vice-versa). This was in the original plans for the 1989 agreement to extend GA-400 through Buckhead, but left out of final construction for financial reasons. The Georgia Department of Transportation still owns part of the right-of-way obtained for this purpose.

GA DOT has now scheduled a “Public Information Open House” on this subject at St. Phillips Cathedral (2744 Peachtree) for Thursday, February 26th, from 4 – 7pm. Everyone who has ever seriously complained about Buckhead traffic needs to attend this meeting!

Please share this information with members of your civic and service clubs, your neighborhood associations, your church congregations, your fellow workers, your family and friends. Let’s convince them this should be a top priority for this community’s quality of life!

Sam Massell
President
Buckhead Coalition, Inc
Tower Place, Building 100
Suite 560
3340 Peachtree Rd., NE
Atlanta, GA 30326-1059

I just received an email from BATMA and they have extended the hours of ”The Buc“, Buckhead’s free shuttle.  The shuttle is great for those that live and work in the areas surrounding Lenox & Phipps.  During the month of December BATMA along with Simon Malls will be giving away gifts from their “favorite things” list to lucky riders.  Items include:

• Wine from the Tinder Box/Vino 100
• Signature Hot Chocolate from Williams-Sonoma
• Running Shoes and a Customizable Shirt from Niketown
• The New E-Watch from Prophesy E
• Jimi Rocker Clock and WeatherCast Wireless 5-day Forecaster from Brookstone
• Holiday Tumbler and Cocktail Plate Set from Tommy Bahama
• Hair Products from Cortex International
• Accessories from Chico’s
• Gift Cards to J. Jill
• And more!

Holiday Shopping in Buckhead is Easier, Greener and More Fun

BATMA extends hours of Buckhead’s free shuttle and partners with Simon Malls to give holiday shoppers some gifts of their own

(ATLANTA – Dec. 5, 2008)  To make holiday season shopping trips a little less daunting for Buckhead shoppers, residents and workers alike, the Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association (BATMA) has once again extended the hours of its free shuttle “the buc” and, along with Simon Malls, is giving away some of the season’s hottest gifts from “the buc’s” Favorite Things list.

December 1 through 24, “the buc” will have an extended lunchtime schedule, running every 15 minutes from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and continue its normal operating schedule during morning and evening commutes on weekdays.

“Our goal is to give workers in the area a way to get to and from the malls without getting caught in the traffic crunch,” said Denise Starling, executive director of BATMA.  “They can take a long lunch break, get to the mall and take care of holiday shopping without the frustration of wasting time in traffic or looking for a parking spot.  And they can feel good about going green this holiday season by keeping pollution out of the air.”

To thank riders for helping reduce traffic and air pollution in the Buckhead, BATMA and Simon Malls have built “the buc’s” Favorite Things list full of the best buys of the holiday season and will be randomly giving them away to lucky riders throughout the month of December.  Some of “the buc’s” Favorite Things this year include holiday delights from Williams-Sonoma, cool gadgets from Brookstone, athletic gear from Nike and tropical home accessories from Tommy Bahama—just to name a few.

“Our retailers are proud to support clean commuting as a way to improve the quality of life in Buckhead,” said Dewayne Herbert, director of marketing and business development for Simon Malls.  “And giving those clean commuters some of the area’s finest gifts is a great reward.”

During the shopping season, when traffic surrounding the popular Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza malls gets more congested than usual, “the buc” is the area’s only alternative to walking to the car, sitting in traffic between the malls and circling the parking lots looking for spots.  Holiday shoppers can even take “the buc” to multiple MARTA stops to avoid a car altogether and enjoy a “Green Christmas” this year.

“the buc” will also continue its normal operating schedule on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.  Detailed schedules, routes, stops and more information on “the buc” can be found at www.bucride.com or by calling (404) 812-RIDE.

About BATMA
The Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association (BATMA) is a partnership of private businesses, public agencies and residential and civic associations within the Buckhead community whose mission is to provide relief for commuters, residents and visitors traveling in and around Buckhead.  BATMA is one of nine transportation management associations in the Atlanta region fostering public-private partnerships to develop solutions for activity centers facing unique transportation challenges.  Since its inception in 1997, BATMA’s mission has been to work cooperatively to improve mobility, accessibility and air quality in Buckhead.  For more information, visit www.batma.org.

About Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group, Inc. is an S&P 500 company and the largest public U.S. real estate company.  Simon is a fully integrated real estate company which operates from five retail real estate platforms: regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers®, The Mills®, community/lifestyle centers and international properties.  It currently owns or has an interest in 387 properties comprising 263 million square feet of gross leasable area in North America, Europe and Asia.  The Company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and employs more than 5,000 people worldwide.  Simon Property Group, Inc. is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol SPG.  For further information, visit the Company’s website at www.simon.com.