Sierra Club and Southface Host Citizen's Summit for Environmental Living and Sustainable Communities
The Sierra Club and Southface Energy Institute's annual conference on Saturday, November 1, 2003 offers the general public a unique opportunity to learn about key environmental policy issues as well as the "nuts and bolts" of more environmentally sustainable living. GSU Student Center, Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. To register, visit www.georgia.sierraclub.org

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Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable: The State of Quality Growth
How we develop land has powerful effects on water quality, traffic congestion, housing affordability, air quality and infrastructure costs - in short, the quality of life in our region. Despite regional and local quality growth policies, many zoning codes make it illegal to develop new communities that look like downtown Savannah. Atlanta's Regional Business Coalition (RBC) identifies and advocates for quality growth solutions that foster greater economic vitality. At the November Roundtable, you'll hear the latest on its Smart Growth Audit. Come learn how we are doing regionally, and what steps remain to ensure a healthy environment for our businesses and our citizens. Join Southface Energy Institute on Friday November 7 from 7:30-9am at Sci-Trek Museum. Click here for more information and to register online.

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Georgia Businesses Set the PACE
The 2003 PACE Awards were presented by The Clean Air Campaign on October 3 honoring employers in the metro area for the their pacesetting efforts to create clean-commute alternatives for their employees. "The judges for this year's PACE Awards had a real challenge in choosing the winners because there were so many excellent entries," said Ellen Macht, executive director of The Clean Air Campaign. "Each year the quality and quantity of PACE applications improves, indicating that more employers are making serious efforts to provide employees with commute alternatives." Among the honorees for public sector employers were the Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Atlanta and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta, both of which contribute to Earth Share through the Combined Federal Campaign. Emory University, another Earth Share workplace giving partner, received an honorable mention award. Hats off to all! For the full list of winners visit www.cleanaircampaign.com.

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Georgia Gets New State Park
South Georgia will be home to a new 484-acre state park thanks to funds from the Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On October 29, the state Board of Natural Resources voted to add the property in Appling County along the Altamaha River. At least 120 species of rare or endangered plants and animals are found along the Altamaha River including the gopher tortoise, piping plover and red-cockaded woodpecker. For more information on this region visit TNC's website.

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A Northern Transplant Toasts Trust for Public Land for Safeguarding The Hooch!
Maybe it's just me, but I'm a little skeptical about drinking water that comes from a river nicknamed "The Hooch"-- hooch being most notably associated with really bad tasting beer! Then again, growing up in Davenport, Iowa I was raaised on tap water straight out of the "Muddy Mississippi" (that's right, mud…among other things). Nonetheless, The Chattahoochee provides half of all Georgians, a title I now proudly share with y'all, with their drinking water and supplies Atlantans with 70 percent of theirs. This might explain why there are so many bad drivers in Atlanta but it also raises a very serious point; that there is an urgent need to protect and clean up this vital natural resource. As part of its Chattahoochee River Protection Campaign, The Trust for Public Land has made it its mission to do just that. To date they have protected 66 miles along the river, representing over 75 land transactions and 12,308 acres. Added to previously existing parkland, over 143 miles of riverbank are now protected. What that means for the Chattahoochee is that existing buffer zones will remain in tact that reduce rainwater-borne sediment, pesticides, septic-tank seepage, toxic metals and other the "non-point" pollution. Even I can drink to that! Visit www.tpl.org for more information on this program.

The transplant in question is Green at Work Online editor, Annie Nixon

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Door-to-Door Activism-November 8
Volunteers will be walking door-to-door in metro Atlanta to educate residents on the threats to Georgia's water. This event is sponsored by the Sierra Club and the Georgia Water Coalition. For more information on how to sign-up, visit www.georgia.sierraclub.org or call 404-607-1262.

Elachee Volunteer Discovery Day-November 11
Learn more about the volunteer opportunities at this 1,300-acre nature preserve in Gainesville. The one-hour session is free. Call Elachee Nature Science Center at 770/535-1976.

Indoor Volunteer Opportunity with Trees Atlanta
Trees Atlanta needs help hand-addressing envelopes for the 2003 Holiday Tree Greeting Program. In the upcoming season Trees Atlanta will be planting shade trees in town for $25 a piece as a unique gift alternative. Volunteers will help out in the office between November 17 and December 19. You don't have to be a calligraphist, but those with mere chicken scratch need not inquire! Email joestaley@treesatlanta.org or call 404-522-4097.

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The purpose of conservation: The greatest good to the greatest number of people for the longest time.--Gifford Pinchot, U.S. Forest Service

Non-native Invasive Species Pamphlet Now Available
In partnership with Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Nature Conservancy, Georgia Chapter has identified 10 of the most threatening non-native plant and animal species occurring in South Georgia. Information on identifying and controlling the species has been compiled into a pamphlet jointly published by the Conservancy and the Reserve. To request a free copy of this publication, please contact Christine Griffiths at cgriffiths@tnc.org or call 912-437-2161.

Bird Lover's Special
Help Atlanta Audubon Society's Important Bird Areas Program (IBA) fund its projects to save birds and their habitats in Georgia with your purchase of the 2004 Important Bird Areas Calendar. The full-color wall calendar features 12 beautiful photographs of birds found in IBA habitats, many of which are on the Georgia Conservation Priority List. The IBA aims to identify and conserve key breeding and feeding sites for birds. To order calendars, contact Allyson Read at 770-451-3968 or email heyal6559@msn.com.

Planateer Alert!
Did you know? A typical household spends about $90 a year, or 10 percent of its annual electricity bill, on lighting. The more than 40 types of Energy Star qualified bulbs use 75 percent less energy without sacrificing quality, and are tested to last at least 6,000 hours, saving the consumer energy, money and time spent on replacements. If every household in the U.S. changed the lighting in one room of their home to Energy Star, the nation would save 857 billion kilowatts of energy and keep one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air! Call 1-888-STAR-YES or visit www.energystar.gov for more information.
Thanks to Captain Planet Foundation for this factoid!

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It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.--Charles Darwin

Register Now for Southeast Green Power Summit!
The Summit will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, December 3-4, 2003 at the Emory Conference Center and Inn in Atlanta. Back by popular demand, it will cover some of the hottest topics facing green power today: making green power attractive to the marketplace, choosing appropriate technologies, and launching a green power program in the southeast. Leaders in business, environmental, and governmental sectors will offer insights on strategies to expand renewable energy markets throughout the region. Contact Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, (404) 659-5675 or email
atlanta@cleanenergy.org for more information.

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Let us permit nature to have her way; she understands her business better than we do.--Michel De Montaigne