Join the San Antonio chapter of the Texas Green Network on April 4th for a roof top tour at UTSA.  Learn about their solar panels and electric converters then hear a presentation from Dr. Afamia Elnakat titled Sustain-Ability: Turning Promise into Practice.

The Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute develops citizen leaders for the global community committed to transform the energy future of San Antonio, Texas and the nation through discovery, innovation and stewardship coupled with pragmatic implementation that promotes socioeconomic prosperity regionally, nationally and globally.

Texas Green Network’s Austin March Event hosted by the City of Austin

“An Introduction to Austin Green Business Leaders Program”

Wednesday, March 21st   6:00-8:00 p.m.

Barr Mansion (Please Note Location Change!)

10463 Sprinkle Road, Austin, TX 78754

FREE Admission (Appetizers sponsored by the Office of Sustainability)

Please RSVP to: rsvpaustin@texasgreennetwork.org

“Austin Green Business Leaders” is a new City of Austin program created to recognize businesses for their efforts to become more sustainable. Zach Baumer and Marc Coudert, from the city’s Office of Sustainability, will provide an overview of the program and discuss how the Texas Green Network helped to craft the actions with our input from a similar TGN meeting last year.

The city program helps Austin businesses save money and protect the environment by consuming fewer resources, practicing community stewardship, and maintaining a healthy workplace. Businesses that do well in the program are formally recognized as an Austin Green Business Leaders and promoted by the City of Austin.

While local, national and international governments struggle to address this growing issue, communities all over the world have been banding together to form community gardens to provide nutritious food for the poor. Community gardens can bring fresh, delicious food choices to neighborhoods where fruits, vegetables and healthy protein sources are often unaffordable or only available in stores a long drive or bus ride away, which is a genuine hardship for busy, hard-working families.

How do chickens fit in you might ask? Chickens are a natural fit with community gardens because they provide an economical source of protein. In fact, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization rated eggs as a more efficient source of protein than the other four top sources, higher in value than cow’s milk, fish, beef, or soybeans. In addition to being a healthy source of food, chickens benefit the garden by producing manure for fertilizer and compost, plus serving as mobile weed and bug control. Chickens provide all of these benefits on a small footprint, which is an advantage to urban gardens. Austin’s own Sunshine Community Gardens, which was featured on the 2011 Funky Chicken Coop Tour, has a chicken coop and number of plots that are set aside as designated gardens to grow fresh produce for the Micah 6 Food Bank.

​With this in mind, Austin’s 2012 The Funky Chicken Coop Tour® decided to benefit Austin’s Green Corn Project with a portion of our proceeds. The Green Corn Project creates organic food gardens for elderly, low-income, and disabled community members, as well as for elementary schools, community centers, and shelters in underserved areas of Austin. We at The Funky Chicken Coop Tour® are proud to be associated with this organization, which works hard to make fresh and healthy food available to everyone in Austin.

We hope you will help spread the word about Funky Chicken Coop Tour and the Green Corn Project as we work together to create a healthier, more sustainable community.

The Funky Chicken Coop Tour® is self-guided tour which will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, on Saturday, April 7, 2012. For more information go to: http://austincooptour.org.

by Paul Robbins

 A new report, “Hard to Swallow,” by environmental writer and consumer advocate Paul Robbins has alarming news.  Austin’s water utility has the highest cost per unit of combined water and wastewater of any large Texas city. It is highest in all rate classes, Residential, Commercial, Multifamily, and Industrial.  And it is highest when these rate classes are totaled.  The report also proves that Austin’s costs are higher than the majority of the suburban cities that surround it.

In 2011, Austin’s combined water/wastewater cost per unit (thousand gallons) was 53% higher than the weighted average of these 9 other large cities.  And Austin is 17% higher than the weighted average of the 14 smaller cities that surround it that were surveyed.

Comparing the water/wastewater costs for the other 9 largest Texas cities, the excess cost borne by Austin residences and commercial customers amounted to over $141 million in lost discretionary income and increased business costs in fiscal year 2011.  Comparing the costs of its suburbs, the excess cost to Austinites was $60 million.

This bodes ill for the affordability and competitiveness of the city.  This is especially true since the Austin Water Utility plans to raise its costs by another 19% per person by the year 2016.

“This report adds to the deep concern that Austin is becoming unaffordable for large numbers of its citizens,” said Robbins, who has been researching consumer issues for over 30 years.  “We are in the middle of an electric rate case where bills are proposed to increase by 20% for residential customers and as much as 80% for churches.  In 2011, the average cost of a house purchased in the Austin metropolitan region was among the highest in the state.  And now we learn that Austin’s water costs are the highest of any major city in Texas, are higher than most cities in Central Texas, and that costs are only going to go up.”

“The single biggest reason for these high costs is too much debt,” observed Robbins.  “The utility is spending 52% of its budget per year on debt and cash-funding required by lenders linked to debt.  And similar to Austin’s electric utility, the Austin Water Utility’s “profit,” which goes to support City services, has increased far above inflation over the past decade.”

The report also analyzes the environmental programs run by the water utility.  “Austin spends $18 million on 3 environmental initiatives at advanced levels: water conservation, green power, and land management contributing to water quality.  This increases water utility costs by 4% a year.  As fiscally conservative budget cutters react to this report, I am extremely concerned that they will come after these programs in a short-sighted effort to cut water bills.”

The concept of these programs is to save money and protect the environment. Water conservation protects the region’s water supply from drought.  Green power will guarantee long-term fuel prices for the enormous amount of electricity used by the water utility.  But Robbins observed: “These savings and protections mean little to people looking for a scapegoat.”

The report suggests possible budget savings by selling tracts of land that are no longer needed by the utility, using energy efficiency retrofits to save money on electricity, and capping the General Fund Transfer, similar to what has already been suggested for Austin Energy.  “But until the debt is under control, the economic hemorrhaging will likely continue unabated.”

 Hard to Swallow is available to the public online at: www.environmentaldirectory.info/

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Paul Robbins has been an environmental activist and consumer advocate since 1977. He has written extensively on water and energy issues.  He is the editor of the Austin Environmental Directory, a comprehensive sourcebook of green issues, products, services, and organizations in Central Texas.  The Directory, as well as water report, is online at www.environmentaldirectory.info/

Thursday, March 1, 2012

12:15pm – 1:45pm
LBJ School of Public Affairs, SRH 3.122

The StraussCenter’s Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program presents Water Governance in Challenging Environments: The Heroes, Victims, and Villains, a talkby Dr. Faustin Maganga of the University of Dar es Salaam. The lecture will be held on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 12:15 pm in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, SRH 3.122. Light refreshments will be provided.

How do institutions that govern the distribution and use of water adapt to changing conditions? Who are the winners and losers in adaptation and what are the implications for development? Dr. Maganga will delve into these questions and more during his talk on the evolution and effects of water governance in the Usangu basin, Tanzania.

‘Mainstream institutionalism’ claims that robust institutions for community management of natural resources can be designed. Alternatively ‘post-institutionalists’ assert that institutions largely elude design, evolving in the dynamic processes of social life. Dr. Maganga’s research explores the conceptual, empirical and policy implications of ‘post-institutional thinking’ for practical water governance.

Dr. Maganga is an Associate Professor at the University of Dar es Salaam’s Institute of Resource Assessment. He has been involved in a number of research projects related to resource management including a four-year project on Political Ecology of Wildlife and Forest Governance in Tanzania (with colleagues from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Sokoine University). His lecture is based on a joint project on Understanding Water Governance in Challenging Environments: How Institutions Adapt to Change. The project is being undertaken with colleagues from the University of Bradford.

This presentation is part of the Strauss Center’s Africa Series, which features leading scholars, practitioners, and policymakers discussing key issues related to climate change, governance, and security in Africa. The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law engages the best minds in academia, government, and the private sector in developing practical solutions to the pressing problems of an increasingly globalized world.The Climate Change and African Political Stability program is a five-year research program that analyzes how climate change, conflict, governance, and aid intersect to impact African and international security. For more information, visithttp://ccaps.strausscenter.org and www.strausscenter.org.

The Spring Chicken Festival is a celebration of Spring, Gardening and Backyard Poultry Keeping.  A family affair – join us for this eventful day full of fun, educational sessions, kids activities, and local shopping. 

Educational sessions will include backyard chicken keeping, organic gardening, composting, and much more.  Vendors will include purveyors of organic gardening products, chicken keeping products, and locally-made foods and art.

Sustain Center is an education center and cooperative demonstration project comprised of variety of local businesses displaying sustainable systems and products.  Learn how you can lead a more sustainable life, be more self-reliant, and make a smaller impact on the planet.  Sustain Center brings you the people, products and knowledge to make sensible decisions for your future.

Also, to clarify, the 18th is our Greens 101 cooking class at 11AM, and the 25th is Occupy Your Plate #3, our farm feast, at 6PM. Both are free to CSA members and 10$ for non-members. These are two separate events that occur a week apart from one another.�
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5 Mile Farms Volunteer Schedule
Cooking
MONDAYS at 10am at Waterluu Farm (5213 Jim Hogg Ave)

Harvest
MONDAY
WEDNESDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
10am at Waterluu Farm (5213 Jim Hogg Ave)

Farm Work
MONDAY at 10am at Waterluu Farm (5213 Jim Hogg Ave)
TUESDAY at 10am at Summit Farm (1602 Taylor Gaines)
WEDNESDAY at 10am at Woodview Farm (5111 Woodview Ave)
THURSDAY at 10am at Boyce Farm (5400 Fernview)
FRIDAY at 10am at The Farm on the Sides (5004 Ave F)
SATURDAY at 10am at Waterluu Farm and Summit Farm
Events Committee
Plan Monthly Workshops and Occupy Your Plate (farm feast series)

First Monday of the Month (March 5th, April 2nd, May 7, June 4)
6pm at Waterluu Farm
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 Need Help Starting that Spring Garden?
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Let us know quickly if you need help sourcing and replanting your
garden for spring.
Call Randy at 743 4245�
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February
Plant vegetable seeds: Beets, broccoli, carrot, chard, collards,
endive, kale, kohlrabi, leek,
lettuce, mustard, parsnip, peas, seed potatoes, radishes, rutabaga,
spinach, shallot, turnips
Start tomato & pepper seeds indoors.
Plant vegetable plants: Artichoke and asparagus crowns, Asian greens, broccoli,
cabbage, chard, collards, lettuce, mustard greens, onion sets, spinach
Plant herbs: All hardy perennial herbs, such as chives, oregano, and
thyme; and cool-season annuals
or biennials such as dill, fennel, and parsley. Be sure dill and
fennel are watered and protected before
any freezes.�
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March
Plant vegetable seeds- Beets, chard, collards, leaf lettuce, mustard,
peas, radish,
EARLY MARCH: Beans, endive
LATE MARCH: Cantaloupe, corn, cucumber, eggplant, black-eyed peas,
pumpkin, New Zealand
spinach, summer squash, watermelon
Plant vegetable plants- Broccoli, chard, collards, endive, leaf lettuce, mustard
LATE MARCH: Pepper, tomato
Plant herbs. Seeds: All hot-weather herbs, such as basil, chives,
epasote, milk thistle Plants:
All hot-weather herbs and perennial herbs, such as artemesias, basil,
bergamot, catmint or catnip,
chives, comfrey, scented geranium, lemon grass, mints, oregano,
pennyroyal, rosemary, santolina,
thyme (Plant all of these the second half of the month. Avoid
cool-season herbs such as
cilantro/coriander, dill, etc.)

            Affordable housing is not many things common to us Americans today; why because we do not build homes/buildings to last and perform as other areas in the world do.  Our resources are not as plentiful or wasteful as they were 20 years ago.  When I was a kid gasoline was 11 cents a gallon; not today.  My point is simply made.  Today our building decisions have to be based on long terms effects (people, buildings, and the environment), if we are to have a tomorrow.  Many of you do not realize that theUSAis the only country building “wood stick” building.  In this country wood houses are considered “old”, when they survive 100 years—we put a “Historical plank” on them!  Most people do not know that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin developed “wood frame style” construction (400 years ago).  Then, there is the “medical” side to housing.  Do you remember “green womanized lumber?  It was made with “arsenic” and the out gassings were poisonous to the inhabitants and there are other products still used today as well–formaldehyde.  Remember the “envelop Housing of the 1990-2000?  Well 13 people died before building officials realized the problem—as a result they opened the houses to breathe more—whoops—what about the energy efficiency?   As one can see there are a mired of problems involving our past building techniques.  One would ask why?  Again, as a country with its “unlimited” resources we could do no wrong, but we have.  Then there is the problem of maintenance on these “wood houses”.  Being a remodeler for 50 years, I always felt my future was secure—wrong again, especially when it comes to keeping the property in a resalable condition!  Most people have not put the pencil (math) to “How much it Cost to keep this home”!  Here is an example: a 2400 sq ft home with a garage can easily cost one what is cost to build it in less than 20 years!  Now if we did not have to spend that money, what could a family do with an extra $200k in 20 years—-how about your kid’s education, your retirement, etc—get the idea!  Now today we look at making more energy “efficient” products—a/c units, refrigerators, clothes dryers, windows, and the list goes on.  So what is the “cost” of these products, especially when we look at the building we are using them in?

            I am not trying to paint a grim picture here, but we need to wake up and see where we are going.  So let us look at other countries and their housing— in Europe some houses are over 3000 years old and still more “efficient” than what we are building here inUSA.  Let us look atAustralia’s outback—Cooper Pedy!  In the summer their day can vary 140 degrees and they get 2-3 inches rainfall a year.  How do they survive?  The mining industry allows a mine to be converted into housing if it meets certain criteria.  The results are homes offering more protection, more benefits, and more savings 10x’s greater than here inUSA.  So let us define “protection”, that which can protect the inhabitants against fires, hurricanes, tornados, floods, and earth quakes.  So what kind of “benefits” are we talking about—“medical”.  How much do you spend on allergies, arthritis, hay fever, colds, etc each year?  Is there not a lot to learn?  Now the biggest factor according to most people is “savings—dollar savings to be exact”.  Unfortunately we have already shown that removing “maintenance” can far save one more, so let us look at the “energy” concept.  Energy today is the “power” needed to operate electricity (lights, a/c, hot water, etc), to produce petroleum fuels from raw state to desired application, solar and wind generation and more.  The question we should be asking, Can we produce housing that needs a much smaller fraction of what we are consuming today?  Very definitely, we are with Earth Sheltered homes/buildings. 

            I have been in home construction for over 50 years (second generation) and my son is following but with a higher degree of enthusiasm.  Yes Affordable Housing is needed is this country, especially if we are to be the leader we should be—helping others and our country.

Feel free to contact me and thank you for your time.

Ralph C. Smoot

PO Box21

Rosanky,Texas78953

512-844-8820

www.earthshelteredhome.com

www.conradscastle.com

This event is sponsored by AIBA partners Austin Energy and Texas Green Network 

Almost every business in Austin can find ways to improve their bottom line through energy-savings. Austin Energy’s Terry Moore will help you look at your work space with fresh eyes. He’ll offer no cost solutions for saving money, as well as improvements that may be an investment – giving you some handy rules of thumb to help you determine which types of improvements make sense for you in your business situation right now.�
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RSVP Now and Save! New Early Bird rates! $20 members, $30 nonmembers through March 20. $25 members, $35 nonmembers after March 20. Early Bird registrants will also be entered into a drawing to win one of two free lunches.�
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Terry Moore leads the commercial/industrial energy efficiency programs for Austin Energy.  He has been with the City-owned electric utility for 5 years. Terry’s team works with customers that range in size from small businesses to Austin Energy’s top 200 commercial/industrial customers.
Before joining Austin Energy, Terry owned and operated his own mechanical and electrical contracting company.  He has also worked as a commercial/industrial consultant and as an operations manager for Central Power and Light Company (AEP).

Join the San Antonio Chapter of the Texas Green Network (www.texasgreennetwork.org) on February 29 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at our first San Antonio event of 2012. Owner and President of Corona Visions, Vandell Norwood, will be the keynote speaker and provide all guests with a tour of the recycling facility.

Corona Visions (www.coronavisions.com) is a locally owned and operated company that specializes in servicing the computer recycling needs of companies in the San Antonio region. They assist in developing a strategy for simplifying the disposal process of computers and other electronics while also addressing data security needs.