Views of the future: Asheville’­s chief sustainabi­lity officer weighs in

Amber Weaver, the city of Asheville’s chief sustainability officer, is working ahead of time. She’s working with the year 2035 in mind, when the Buncombe County landfill will be at capacity, and toward 2050, when the city has promised to reduce its carbon footprint by 80 percent. However, with new hotels on the horizon and […]

Sacred sacrifice: Upcoming workshop embraces conscious butchering practices

“If we are disconnected from our food and where our sustenance comes from, it’s a very dangerous thing for humanity,” says Natalie Bogwalker, founder of Wild Abundance. In November, Bogwalker teaches a two-day workshop that focuses on humane, reverent and conscious slaughtering and butchery practices.

Backyard chicken keeping not as easy as it’s cracked up to be

Recent relaxing of city restrictions mean Asheville is “chickening” like never before. But many would be chicken-keeepers don’t realize the birds stop producing eggs early in their life, yet still require care and attention to survive. As the interest in backyard chicken keeping raises so do the number of abandoned and neglected animals.

Empowermen­t from the Earth: Reclaiming Cherokee health and heritage

Cherokee is a community in flux. Decadeslong high poverty and unemployment rates are beginning to decline, but access to healthy food remains limited and cultural values seem to be changing. “It’s Western civilization versus our traditional Cherokee ways,” say community leaders. But community efforts are using gardens to reconnect the Cherokee people to local food, health and a collective heritage defined by knowledge of the earth.

The consequenc­e of waste: Buncombe’s discarded problem is piling up

From the Get It! Guide: A close look at the trash collected in Asheville was shocking — 26 percent of our waste is compostable matter, 18 percent is recyclable and 56 percent is true waste, fit only for the landfill. With the city alone producing over 22,000 tons of trash a year, what is the cost of all that waste. And what is it going to take for us to reduce it?