Earth Hour at Zapata

Tonight the Earth Hour Celebration at Zapata was a smashing success. Volunteer organizer of the event, Yazkin brought in over 40 guests who enjoyed a wonderful dinner by candlelight. The place was packed inside and on the patio. At the stroke of 8:30 all but essential electric lights were turned off. It was a great opportunity to hold hands with your honey while dining by the glow of paper lantern covered votives.

Educational materials on a variety of environmental and sustainability topics were available along with collection containers for aluminum cans for recycling.

I bet this is the first of several eco-economic promotions in our fair city.

Thanks to Yazkin for such a creative take on Earth Hour, Tixie for helping get the word out and Phil and Connie for assisting with educational content. Here's Yazkin at the info table.

Tonight, Be a Part of a Worldwide Event While Dining by Candlelight – Really!

Zapata Restaurant in Downtown Historic Norcross is planning to turn off all non-essential lighting tonight for Earth Hour, starting at 8:30 p.m. local time. Earth Hour is an event in which millions of Americans will turn out their lights for one hour in support of action on climate change and toward creating a cleaner, safer and more secure future.

According to an article in the Friday, March 26th issue of The Gwinnett Forum, (gwinnettforum.com) the year 2010 marks the third year of the event, which attracted more than 80 million participants in the U.S. last year, and nearly a billion people around the world, as lights dimmed on such global icons as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney's Opera House, the Great Pyramids of Gaza and New York's Empire State Building. Notable U.S. landmarks will turn off non-essential lighting for the hour, in what is expected to be the largest-ever call to action on climate change. This includes Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, St. Louis' Gateway Arch, Sea World in Orlando, the strip in Las Vegas, New York's Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral, California's Santa Monica Pier and the Space Needle in Seattle. It is expected to be the largest-ever call to action on climate change. According to resident DeeAnn Morton who experienced this event in a Decatur restaurant last year, “It’s really a lot of fun – it’s a neat experience at the restaurant, and then to know you’re part of something that is happening all over the world at that very moment.”

Zapata will be offering candlelight dining tonight; in addition, customers can recycle aluminum cans on site (courtesy of Sustainable Norcross), and enjoy sustainability educational information offered by Yazkin Lopez, the Sustainable Norcross volunteer who organized tonight’s event at Zapata. And then at 8:30, it’s lights out worldwide for an hour! The perfect setting for a delicious candlelight dinner.

Zapata Mexican Restaurant is located at 15 Jones Street in Norcross, 770-248-0052
For a peek at their menu, visit www.zapata-atl.com.

Thanks to Tixie Fowler for this guest blog.

Time for Spring Cleaning

And what better way to dispose of unwanted items than to recycle them? Where you ask? Well right here in Norcross.

Saturday April 10 is the semi-annual Clean Up Day sponsored by Norcross City Code Enforcement Department. Supervisor Phil and team have a great day planned with not just 1, but 4 ways to particpate.

1- Community Clean Up for bulky household items for Norcross residents only

2- Electronics Recycling open to the public and free except for console and projection TV's for $10 fee each

3- Shredding Event for your sensitive and confidentail outdated papers free to the public

4- Canned Food Drive - Last but not least,recycle non-perishable food items from your pantry to local food banks. Not required for participation in the other events, but most appreciated.

Come participate in the Great American Cleanup in Norcross Saturday April 10. Details available by clicking on each numbered item. To volunteer email sustainablenorcross@gmail.com today.