News & Public Affairs

St. Pete's going green with solar water heaters listen

05/29/12 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: solar, energy, sustainability, efficiency, Bill Foster, Kathy Castor, St. Pete, solar power

St. Petersburg officials are celebrating the completion of a federally funded energy efficiency program. A new solar water heater on the roof of the city’s Coliseum and twenty others will save the city more than $22,000 a year. But U.S. Representative Kathy Castor said saving money isn’t the program’s only benefit.

“Created jobs by putting solar panels on the Coliseum and many city of St. Petersburg facilities like City Hall. It updated the air conditioning systems at community centers...

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Urban farming

05/28/12 Jon Butts
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Tags: gardening, sustainability, farming

We missed a chance to interview Will Allen on the Sustainable Living Program last month so we started today’s program with a short clip from the Growing Power website www.growingpower.org. The former Basketball player started Growing Power, a national urban farming network, in Milwaukee years ago and now it has expanded across the USA to provide food for inner-city neighborhoods. It seems someone in the Tampa Bay area needs to duplicate what Will has started. ...

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Students in south St. Pete learn about healthy eating while growing their own food listen

05/09/12 Seán Kinane
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Tags: gardening, sustainability, education, St. Pete, Edible Peace Patch, farming, food, vegetables

Students at two south St. Petersburg schools are learning about healthy eating by growing their own food. Organizers hope the knowledge the kids get will help them continue to make smart food choices as they grow up.

An organization called The Edible Peace Patch has helped to create gardens at Lakewood Elementary and Sanderlin IB World School in areas of south St. Petersburg facing economic challenges. The gardens manager, Erin Mattick, says students don’t normally get a chance to grow the...

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Busch Gardens and SeaWorld parks making the switch from plastic to paper bags listen

05/02/12 Olivis Kabat
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Tags: Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, animals, plastic, sustainability

Florida theme parks SeaWorld and Busch Gardens are making the switch from plastic bags to paper bags. The parent company recently announced the change to paper shopping bags in an effort to promote an eco-friendly recyclable alternative.

Busch Gardens and its parent company SeaWorld have decided to make this plastic to paper swap to demonstrate the parks important commitment to a clean environment and the protection of marine animals. Becca Bides, Director of Communications for SeaWorld O...

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"The Great Disruption"

11/14/11 Jon Butts
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Tags: Occupy Wall Street, sustainability

Our guest on today’s Sustainable Living program was Paul Gilding, author of “The Great Disruption,” Paul’s an international thought leader and advocate for sustainability. He has served as head of Greenpeace International, built and led two companies and advised both Fortune 500 corporations and community-based NGOs. He’s a member of the core faculty for Cambridge University’s Program for Sustainability Leadership. His new book is about the science behind the physical limits to economic and ...

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Sustainability forum in Tampa emphasizes ecology and economy listen

11/09/11 Sarah Curran
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Tags: sustainability, sustainable energy, Tampa Bay Water Supply, Tampa Bay Partnership

The word Sustainability didn’t take on its current meaning in the English Language until the 1980’s. Until recently it didn’t encompass humans ability to endure on Earth. Now the term is taught in schools, behind business models and changing how our planet is run. Today, the organization Urban Land Institute held a Sustainability Forum in Tampa. They defined the evolving term and described how it is being implemented around the world, especially in the Tampa Bay area.

“Consider the ...

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Water managers: shortages need to be addressed, and can be listen

11/01/11 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: water, Water conservation, water shortage, sustainability, USF, Patel Center for Global Solutions

Florida may not be facing an immediate water crisis, but ongoing water restrictions and ever-receding water levels in lakes and rivers shows there is still cause for concern. Today at USF’s Patel School of Global Sustainability, water management professionals brainstormed how to make consumption more efficient. Addressing the problem might wreak a little havoc at first but the school’s director, Dr. Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy, said without the initial burden, changes won...

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Beyond sustainablility

10/31/11 Jon Butts
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Tags: sustainability, Plant City, permaculture

Today's program was about the Beyond Sustainability Conference November 3 & 4 at the HCC and University of Florida campus in Plant City. 0ur guests were the lead consultant Sharon Joy Kleitsch, Cory Brennan a permaculture designer, and Stuart Valentine president of a socially responsible investment company. "This Conference integrates traditional presentations with opportunities to drive deeper into topics you care about and to learn from others' b...

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Florida Yards & Composting

06/13/11 John Butts
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Tags: sustainability, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Gulfport

First on the Sustainable Living Program we talked to one of the founders of the Peaceful Plate group about their upcoming event at the Gulfport Casino on Saturday June 18. This all day event will focus on different aspects of sustainable living. For more information check out www.peacefulplate.org . Next up, the Water Wise Coordinator for Hillsborough County Extension Service, Virginia Overstreet joined the program. We talked about issues with our Florida yards; mainly composting and wate...

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Local sustainability activists

05/30/11 Jon Butts
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Tags: permaculture, food, sustainability

Our very special guests on today’s program were two of the best local sustainable living activists. The founder of Code Green Community, a green transitions group, Eric Steward and a teacher with Fire of Hope, a permaculture design group, Matt Fahy, both joined the show. Matt talked about our local area and how it’s very similar to where human civilization started and the diversity of human diets. Eric talked about the Transitions Movement based on Rob Hopkins book “Transitions”. Eric’s webs...

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