There's a lot more green on a tree than just its leaves! At this month's 4WDD ISA-Certified Arborist Scott Gregory will talk about assessing the economic and environmental benefits of the urban forest. In April, Scott successfully defended his master's thesis, "Quantifying Street Tree Function and Distribution: Analysis of Environmental Services, Population Characteristics, and Sidewalk Uplift in the City of Chico, California". His thesis entailed inventory of 34,950 street trees, stumps, and available planting sites within the City of Chico and subsequent data analysis to quantify environmental services provided by the City's street trees. By identifying public and private trees in adva

Bicycle food delivery service Edible Pedal has opened a Midtown retail store with an emphasis on helping new cyclists, repairing bicycles and providing locally produced gear. The shop opened Jan. 1 in the Alley between L Street and Capitol off 17th Street, next to Old Soul Co. Originally, Edible Pedal was solely a food delivery service. “This is the perfect location,” said owner John Boyer. “We get a lot of foot traffic through here, and people are taking the time to look at the (business) signs and see what’s around them. When they drive down the major streets, you don’t really get that.” The first products for sale were bicycles on consignment, and it expanded from there. Business now

Nothing lives forever, but according to Clark Kayler, trees can. He extends the life of trees by turning them into furniture. The trees go from decorating the streets to decorating various rooms. Kayler, 41, is the owner and founder of New Helvetia Hardwoods. They rescue trees that have been knocked down by storms, trees that are being chopped down for development purposes or dying trees that are all headed for the landfills. “(I am) giving our city’s trees a second chance,” Kayler said. In early 2005, Kayler noticed a tree being removed from his neighbor’s yard. It bothered him. He asked the neighbor for the redwood tree, and he created his first piece of furniture: a table. As a pr

Sacramentan Thomas Dodson can't chill out in an air-conditioned office when days get hot or pressure at his new job marketing treehouses in the Costa Rica rainforest heats up. His bosses tell him to go jump in the river. And they're likely to join him. One of the perks at Finca Bellavista, which is billed as the world's first treehouse community, is living and working in a remote, pristine mountain setting fed by the Rio Bellavista. They can use "sky trails," a zipline network, to get around and cool off in the river anytime it gets too hot, Dodson said. "We've got a great waterhole just down the hill," he said Monday via Skype. The 37-year-old was working in marketing for the architec

How can we design ‘greener’ landscapes in Sacramento?  With the growing focus on water conservation, responsible use of resources, and the impacts of the built environment on human health and well-being, the conversation about what makes a site design ‘green’ is being elevated to a higher level. From pre-design and planning through construction and operations, a new rating system, dubbed ‘SITES’, has been developed which sets the bar for what we can do to design more sustainable places.  Developed to be incorporated into future versions of the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, SITES is currently in its pilot project phase.  Please join us on Wed

The Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op is the best place in the state to purchase sustainable seafood, and No. 2 in the nation, according to Greenpeace. “(The co-op) is one of those great stores that has taken amazing steps in realizing that sustainable seafood is incredibly important,” said Casson Trenor, seafood campaigner for Greenpeace. Greenpeace ranks the 20 biggest grocery store chains on how sustainable their seafood is, and Trenor said some smaller grocers are included as well due to their commitment to ensuring seafood is sustainable. Sustainable seafood is seafood that is not being overfished or fished in hazardous ways that deplete the ocean’s stocks or destroy the environment.

"Why the Climate Crisis Can Only be Solved by Citizen Lobbyists” Sacramento Sustainability Forum is a monthly venue for connecting businesses, non-profits, government and interested citizens in the Sacramento region in order to promote sustainability, share insights and resources, and support movement toward a more sustainable future. The May SSF event was held at SMUD Auditorium Thursday, May 20. Approximately 65 attendees filled the auditorium, including interested citizens and students as well as members of the business, nonprofit and government communities. The Keynote topic was called "Why the Climate Crisis Can Only be Solved by Citizen Lobbyists", presented by Mark Reynolds, Exec

Earth Day;  a time to pull on the tie-dyed tee (the one with the peace sign)  slip on the Birks, and spin a few Donovan tunes (and say, good morning, starshine). On the other hand, if you'd rather skip your inner Hippie ensemble and accompanying tunes, maybe a more sophisticated celebration is in order, like popping the cork on a sustainably-produced bottle of wine. There are several 'green' agricultural buzzwords flying about the news these days, so you might be wondering, what exactly does 'sustainability' mean? Sustainable farming is the return to more responsible farming techniques. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture was embraced as a way to grow food abundantly and cheaply

Who is Ted and why is he so popular? The nearly 200 people who attended Sacramento’s inaugural TEDx conference last night at Hinde Auditorium at Sac State discovered that “what is TED?” is the better question. TED is a nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds--Technology, Entertainment, and Design--and now its scope has become ever broader. Since the launch of the TEDx program only six months ago, thousands of individuals have gathered to enjoy independently organized TEDx events. Last night, Sacramento made local history with its first TEDx conference. TEDx Sacramento curator Brandon Weber, co-owner of

Sacramento led the state in green job growth in 2008, with an increase in green jobs of 87% between 1995 and 2008, reports Many Shades of Green: Diversity and Distribution of California’s Green Jobs. This report was released by nonpartisan Next 10 and Collaborative Economics, and provides the most comprehensive green jobs accounting to date, systematically tracking the most recent available data on green companies, job type, location and growth across every sector and region of California. There are other positive indicators in the Sacramento region that we are on our way to becoming the clean tech capital of the state. In its annual CleanStart Progress report, SARTA identified over $130

This Tuesday, clean tech players from around the region will gather to discuss the latest industry buzz at CleanStart’s PowerSurge networking mixer at McClellan Park. The event includes a tour of Technikon’s Renewable Energy Testing Center (RETC) as well as several other clean tech businesses located in McClellan Park. Featured speakers include Robert Weisenmiller,  who was recently appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger as one of the five commissioners for the California Energy Commission (CEC) and Kristine Mazzei, partner at Valley Vision, a nonprofit association working to secure the social, environmental and economic health of the Sacramento Region. "The Sacramento Region's clean techn

 VSP® Vision Care has been honored by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) through the SACOG Salutes! Regional Awards Program which recognizes significant contributions to the region in transportation, air quality and smart-growth planning. “VSP is pleased to accept SACOG’s distinguished Business of the Year award in recognition of our efforts to continue to reduce our carbon footprint and protect the environmental health of our region,” said Steve Hibbs, Director of VSP Corporate Services. “We are committed to leading the way for other companies to implement sustainable business practices and being recognized by an association such as SACOG is a great asset in working towar

The Arden Dimick Library open book club has announced a fall theme for foodies – reading about eating, cooking and sharing food. Recent slow food events in Sacramento have illustrated the region’s deep interest in sustainable food issues. Michael Pollan’s California Lectures event sold out. The Crest Theater continues to be pestered by callers looking for opening night of sustainable food documentary Food Inc. Local foodie websites like Vanilla Garlic and Poor Girl Eats Well garner huge audiences and serious praise. With that in mind, this summer may be the perfect time to read about food, preparing you to take part in the book club discussions this fall. September 20, the club will discu

On Thursday night, Sacramento residents will gather to celebrate a new brand of "localism". Increasingly, Sacramentans are redefining it's traditionally negative conotations of narrow-mindedness and stubbornness. Instead, "Sacramento localism" is about efforts to build a healthier, more sustainable community, including reducing pesticide use and increasing food security. Thursday's event, entitled “Organic Sounds,” will highlight two local efforts that are setting precedent for the entire state: the Pesticide-Free Sacramento and the soon-to-be-launched EAT (Environment and Agriculture Taskforce) Sacramento projects. Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong and Chef Michael Tuohy of the Grange

In my efforts to market our product I took many things into account including sustainability, person to person contact, responsibility and creativity. Our vision as a company is to truly be part of a community while reporting the news. With that said we are doing a lot of our marketing at ground level, passing out grocery bags at farmers markets, meeting neighbors one by one and truly being part of a neighborhood.  We are also doing a few creative campaigns using less than traditional tools. I hope you look forward to seeing us in your community. If you see our work and love it or think we can improve please feel free to comment and join the conversation.