Bernard Carman, who lives in an old eight-bedroom Victorian [in Montford], opened his empty rooms to the people who work, play and create in this city renowned for its vibrant musical, literary and performing-arts scenes [”Sustainable for Whom,” Nov. 17 Xpress]. He has helped his local community grow for 22 years simply by trying to […]
Tag: sustainability
Showing 127-144 of 144 results
Local Matters: Living Green
What’s being green all about? Would Mountain Xpress reduce its carbon footprint by no longer printing each week’s issue? Most likely. Here’s a short podcast preview of our Nov. 17 Living Green issue. (No trees were used in the making of this broadcast.)
Asheville’s next political battle: sustainability advocates vs. neighborhood activists
I’ll go out on a limb and make a prediction: Asheville’s next big political battle will pit advocates of sustainability and affordability against neighborhood activists.
Proposed ordinance triggers fight over a sustainable Asheville
A proposed ordinance that would allow considerably more density — and faster approval — for green, affordable development saw a reversal last week when the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted it down 3-2 and recommended a scaled-down version instead. The rules triggered a debate about exactly how Asheville will pursue the oft-touted goal of sustainability.
Project Green Runway
Wednesday! Sustainable fashion show spotlights green, recycled and upcycled design; raises funds for WNCAP
Asheville City Council brief: Sept. 8 meeting
Council confirms its direction for the W.C. Reid Center
Asheville City Council brief
Council adopts sustainability plan, delays both URTV appointment and 51 Biltmore purchase.
Village people
The seeds for the Ashevillage Building Convergence were sown a dozen years ago when a small group of people in Portland, Ore., transformed a run-of-the-mill intersection into an attractive public gathering space. They built an earthen teahouse, planted gardens, erected a kiosk for fliers and poetry, painted a vibrant design on the pavement, threw a […]
Two days outside the box: thinking sustainably
It was an upside-down conference, where some 150 participants shook their ideas out onto the carpeted floor of the Asheville Civic Center Banquet Hall, then scooped them up in circles and reshaped them into projects to channel storm-water here, grow urban gardens there, and reduce energy demands everywhere. Photo By Jonathan Welch The occasion was […]
What if they had a conference and no speakers came?
Ah, Asheville. Add another feather to her urban-mecca cap: a two-day national convocation on Urban Environmental Design for Community Sustainability, coming to the Asheville Civic Center on March 19 and 20. The conference will be carried out using the nontraditional “Open Space Technology” method of individual participation, with self-organizing groups and fast-paced, consensus-based solutions—doing away […]
Here’s the plan for Asheville’s Downtown Master Plan
“We do work with cities all over the country, and we have to think of every community as very distinct, and at the same time shaped by shared sets of opportunities and challenges,” says David Dixon, leader of the team picked to create a new Downtown Master Plan for “growth and sustainability” over the next […]
Downtown Asheville lures uptown planners
The search for a consultant to help develop Asheville’s Downtown Master Plan has attracted what one local architect called “a veritable who’s who” in planning. By the Nov. 8 deadline, 33 mostly high-profile firms from across the United States and even Canada had responded to the city’s request for qualifications. A project of the Office […]
Schooling fish buyers
Greenlife Grocery has introduced an educational labeling and sourcing program called FishWise that helps consumers make informed choices about seafood. The FishWise buyers’ guide indicates how “sustainable” each seafood item is, and where and how it was caught.
“Local” is the new “organic”
The realization that food from distant places can lose nutritional value while requiring additional fossil fuels for transport — to say nothing of leaving local farmers out of the loop — is helping make “local” the new “organic” for many conscientious eaters.
A sustainable-energy future? SEE Expo wants your ideas
Is a sustainable-energy future in reach? Can we fashion a high-tech civilization that doesn’t rely on technologies that foul our planetary nest? Can your personal energy choices make a difference?
Going for the green
A March 15 workshop led by staffers from the Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls Inc. could point the way toward a substantive sustainability initiative for Asheville. Invited by the city’s Sustainable Energy and Environment Advisory Committee, company representatives led some 50 participants—including Mayor Terry Bellamy, City Manager Gary Jackson and many high-level city staffers—through a series of […]
State energy rep: Gov. Easley’s budget would allow alt-energy programs to wither
According to David Wallace, the western representative for the North Carolina State Energy Office, Gov. Mike Easley‘s proposed new budget would leave many of the state’s alternative-energy initiatives in the lurch.
Permaculture class: Make this journey last
Permaculture, as the name suggests, is all about truly sustainable living. Permaculturist Jim Barton, a West Asheville community activist and organizer, has worked since to permaculture theory into the realm of public policy. Most recently he offered the most comprehensive critique of Buncombe County’s plan to lease landfill space for a new oil-fired Progress Energy […]