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.

How Do You Turn Snowmen Into Rain Barrels?

Volunteers from Sustainable Norcross can show you how.
Assemble your own rain barrel or order ready to install.
Classes are forming now.
Contact sustainablenorcross@gmail.com.
Let it snow!

What We've Been Up To

It was a beautiful morning for a stream clean up. About 15 people joined Mayor Bucky and Sustainable Norcross founder Connie to clean up in and along the stream on the city owned Fickling green space that includes Ruby Pond. They picked up litter and removed invasive plants on the 5.5 acre property and adjacent tributaries as part of the annual Rivers Alive statewide waterway clean up.

Fantastic weather continued and the freshly spiffed up town center Sparkled. Fourth grade Girl Scout Troop from Simpson Elementary School placed recycle containers in historic downtown Norcross on Friday before the kick off to the holiday shopping season. Then they walked to 3 of the houses on the Holiday Tour of Homes collecting litter prior to the annual event coming Saturday December 5. The service project was part of the scouts observance of national America Recycles Day and work towards their Bronze award.


See more photos in the side bar.

Energy Efficiency Puts Money in Our Pockets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Upcoming Walton EMC Energy Seminars Put Money in Your Pocket

Contact Jennifer Broun, 770/266-2572

MONROE, Ga. - There is no better time to have a few extra dollars in your pocket than the approaching holiday season. If you learn how to lower energy use around your home, you'll have extra money all year long.

Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is hosting a home energy seminar in the local area. Experts will show consumers how to save money and energy on heating and cooling (the largest part of an energy bill), water heating, lighting and other energy uses.

"Our energy experts have the practical knowledge to teach you easy ways to reduce your power bill," says Walton EMC's Jennifer Broun, youth and community representative. "Not only will these measures save money; they'll also make your home more comfortable."

Programs begin at 7 p.m. and run approximately 1-1/2 hours. Admission is free, but registration is required. To register or receive more information, call 770/267-5551or email Jbroun@waltonemc.com.Seminar date and location is November 24-Brookwood High School, Snellville.

Each participant will receive a gift and be entered to win door prizes. Civic and religious organizations are welcome to attend as a group. The group with the most members present at each program will receive $100 to use toward charitable activities.

Walton EMC is a customer-owned power company that serves 118,000 accounts over its ten-county service area between Atlanta and Athens.

Join others from Sustainable Norcross Tuesday November 24 at Brookwood High School, Snellville at 7 PM. RSVP. Attend, learn how to save and help earn a chance at $100 towards Sustainable Norcross volunteer activities.

4 in 1 Results - Guest Post By Phil Robertson, Norcross Code Enforcement Supervisor

Below you will find all the final totals for our recent Clean-Up Day, Recycle and Shredding Events and Canned Food Drive held on October 24th. All four events had a great turn out and I want to thank all the staff, volunteers and participants – without all of you the success of these events would not be possible. The participants were very enthusiastic and appreciative that the City of Norcross offered these services and that we are environmentally aware.

Again, thank you everyone for your support!

Regards,

Philomena M. Robertson
City of Norcross Code Enforcement Supervisor

Electronics Recycled:
• 10,951 lbs of metal, plastic, glass computer housing and peripheral equipment.
• Eighty-two (82) participants

Shredded Papers Recycled:
• 8,080 lbs of sensitive and confidential records.
• One Hundred-twenty seven (127) participants

Clean-Up Event:
• 12.67 tons of bulky items, trash, old appliances/furniture, yard debris.
• One Hundred-five (105) participants logged – not the complete count

Participating Cities (21):
• Alpharetta
• Berkeley Lake
• Buford
• Decatur
• Duluth
• Dunwoody
• Flowery Branch
• Grayson
• Johns Creek
• Lawrenceville
• Lilburn
• Loganville
• Norcross (city)
• Norcross (county)
• Peachtree Corners
• Roswell
• Sandy Springs
• Snellville
• Sugar Hill
• Suwanee
• Tucker


Added Activity to Recycle/Clean-up Day Events:
We also collected on the same day, non-perishable food items for our local food bank. Participants did not need to make a donation in order to participate in the Clean-up/Recycle Events but it was greatly appreciated. Donations of these items will be given to members of our community in need. We collected a total of 771 non-perishable food items.

Upcoming Event Dates:For 2010, the Spring Event will be held on Saturday, April 10th and the Fall Event will be held on Saturday, October 9th.