Green Options » New Orleans

‘New’ New Orleans could be National Model for Green Building

Jeff Kart — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:43:31 +0000

Aug. 29 is the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and Kanye West’s “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment on live TV.

The rebuilding of New Orleans continues. And it’s being rebuilt in shades of green.

According to a “New Orleans Green Building Assessment” released by the Sierra Club, the devastation of 2005 has provided the city with a unique opportunity to develop a national model for rebuilding with sustainability in mind.

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Project Sprout Turns Vacant Lots into Sunflower Gardens

Becky Striepe — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:00:40 +0000

[Sunflower. Creative Commons photo by cygnus921]

Pittsburgh-based nonprofit GTECH Strategies is transforming empty plots of land in New Orleans into sunflower gardens! GTECH’s partner in Project Sprout, Green Coast Enterprises, is a local New Orleans real estate company that’s focused on sustainable development in the Gulf Coast area. GTECH’s vision is to reclaim abandoned land, like these “blighted” lots in New Orleans, to produce biofuels and green jobs for the community.

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The story of St. Thomas 7-Hot Pepper Sauce. As told by the chickens who made it possible.

Kelli Peterson — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:40:39 +0000

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the case of St. Thomas 7-Hot Pepper Sauce, it was definitely the chicken. Without the chicken, there wouldn’t be the fertilizer to grow the hot peppers to make the hot sauce that the sent kids from the St. Thomas projects in New Orleans Lower Garden District off to college.

And without the chickens, Derek Hoeferlin and his architectural students from Washington University would not have had reason to take interest in this little community garden which has begun to harbor interest for it’s uniquely designed “urban chicken coop”, the story of its recovery post-Katrina and the sustainability recipe it holds for other communities across America.

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Urban Garden as Sustainable Business in New Orleans

Kelli Peterson — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:01:49 +0000

Good ideas have a life of their own. That’s what Paul Baricos, Executive Director of the Hollygrove Growers Market and Farm (HGMF) in New Orleans is learning two years after the Carrolton-Hollygrove Community Development Center (CHCDC) set out to figure out how to bring fresh produce to a neighborhood with no real access to affordable food.

The result of this initial vision, and perhaps ten iterations later, is a one-of-a-kind one-acre urban produce and garden center located in the New Orleans community of Carrolton-Hollygrove. Initiated just two short years ago in partnership with the New Orleans Food & Farm Network, the site is in its fledgling stages of a well mapped out multi-use center. “We began this journey simply trying to figure out how to bring fresh produce to an under-served community. What has evolved is a vision for this center to be a resource for urban gardening that delivers fresh produce”, relayed Paul.

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New Orleans: a hotbed of entrepreneurship

Kelli Peterson — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:16:29 +0000

Three and a half years ago, not many would have suspected that New Orleans would ever recover, let alone demonstrate the promise of prosperity after Hurricane Katrina wiped out an already fragile economy. At the time the levee broke, New Orleans was already suffering from an exodus initiated in the late 80’s when the oil industry began its regional decline. But the very characteristics that have given New Orleans its unique disposition are those contributing to its stealth recovery.

Communities that support successful entrepreneurship exhibit a similar range of traits. Not surprisingly, many of them are emotional qualities bred by circumstance and history. New Orleans was a late addition to the United States, acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Literally separated by swamps and rivers, New Orleans benefited from both a distance and unique geographic location. In combination with its very European roots, quite literally the city enjoyed a more laissez-faire approach to development which lent itself to a certain type of creativity and openness.

This same bayou location plus southern gulf weather has also not been kind to it, which has bred another entrepreneurial quality, emotional fortitude. One could argue that this is an innate quality but New Orleans has an extra high concentration of this, born of survivor-ship. From this comes a kind of optimism and resiliency that drives entrepreneurs ever forward.

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New Orleans: Inspiring change, one community at a time

Kelli Peterson — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:07:06 +0000

New Orleans has produced its share of celebrities over the years but since Hurricane Katrina, musicians and celebrities have been keen to give something back to a city that has given and lost so much. Taking their personal passions to a new level, these celebrities are lending their name and fundraising support to create safe and affordable communities with a long-term view of economic redevelopment and poverty eradication.

New housing programs target specific populations or neighborhoods that have been dislocated by the sequence of events initiated by Hurricane Katrina and which are critical to getting the New Orleans economy thriving again. This article looks at three different visionary approaches to re-building neighborhoods filled with newly empowered home-owners educated and dedicated to preserving a safe and healthy environment for their children.

Keeping the city safe

In 1980, Dan Aykroyd turned his love for blues music into the cult comedy “The Blues Brothers”. And now, nearly 30 years later, he is lending his financial and fundraising support to get first-responders back into the city that created the blues.

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New Orleans: rebuilding a cultural economy

Kelli Peterson — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:29:08 +0000

Note: This is the first in a multi-part series reporting on how New Orleans is leveraging its own roots in culture and creativity to re-build commerce and community.

Jazzfest kicked off its 40th year anniversary this weekend under beautiful breezy blue skies. Despite the global economic mood, the festival goers seemed more upbeat this year as programs to rebuild the New Orleans economy are slowly taking root and beginning to yield visible results.

At the round table hosted by the Louisiana Office of Tourism on Saturday at the fairgrounds, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu led a group of local culture entrepreneurs and artists in a discussion for the vision of re-invigorating the economy through New Orleans rich heritage. “We have our priorities right here in Louisiana, we treasure the arts. Our friends and family come first. We have a shared sense of stewardship to the community”, he said.

As Seth Harvey put it, also from the state’s Office of Tourism, “We have a lot of very different assets here in Louisiana. 50% of our revenue used to come from the oil industry, now that is down to 20% but revenue from the film industry is up to $800 million (up from $25 million in 2002)”. Louisiana has re-looked at cultural preservation and initiated the groundwork to re-build an economy that leverages its unique heritage. From reaching out to Hollywood to create the first ever Cajun and Zydeco music category in the Grammys (2008), to fostering international interest in Louisiana’s rich culinary traditions, New Orleans is building bridges back into the state through the promotion of culture not found elsewhere.

In an era dubbed “the creative economy”, Louisiana is an interesting example of innovation. By creating tax incentives for film production to passing legislation to help create districts or cultural hubs within the city, commerce is facilitated at a very grass roots level. Block by block, business is developing, not from harnessing the internet or technology but from the firsthand understanding of needs and limited available resources. By tapping into the population that was born and raised in Louisiana and providing them training and guidance, Louisiana is an example of bottom-up development instead of top-down governance, a recipe for resilience.

In fact, the festival itself is a mark of the type of grass roots success that the region seems to feel at home with. The first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was originally started to celebrate the indigenous music and culture of the region. 40 years later, the festival is expected to attract over 400,000 guests, 40% of which are expected to be from outside the state. In a down economy, this is a cultural success story.

In celebration of Jazzfest, this series of stories will focus on why and how NOLA is a hotbed of social enterprise, a check-in on the different housing re-build efforts 3 years after the storm, and a review of some of the unique sustainable community projects that just may have scalable applications. Stay tuned.

1 Block Off The Grid Launches New Solar Campaign in New Orleans

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:25:24 +0000

Solar group purchasing program 1 Block Off the Grid (1BOG) just launched a new campaign in New Orleans.

1BOG works by grouping customers together into a sort of buying club. Then, after a rigorous selection process, they choose a solar installer who will provide the biggest discount and the best quality. The more people that sign up, the better the discount for anyone buying solar through the program.

If you aren’t familiar with 1 Block Off the Grid, what they do may be best explained by New York Times Magazine:

…in a cultural moment when many individuals aren’t feeling all that rugged, perhaps it makes sense that a company called 1BOG has put collective buying at the center of its business model. The name is derived from the phrase “one block off the grid,” a reference to the goal of rounding up groups of homeowners willing to install solar-power systems on their houses — removing the rough equivalent of one block from a city’s electrical grid.

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Green New Orleans Updates: Good News in the Big Easy

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:43:57 +0000

Three and a half years after New Orleans was devastated by post-Katrina levee failures, the Big Easy is still working to bounce back … and it’s coming back greener than ever.

(Did you know, by the way, that President Barack Obama’s pick for head of the Environmental Protection Agency — Linda Jackson — grew up in the lower Ninth Ward?)

So what’s new and green in the Crescent City? Check out some of these developments:

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Pennies for the Planet Encourages Kids to Take Action

Becky Striepe — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:00:59 +0000

The environmental group Together Green wants to empower kids to make a difference. An offshoot of the Audubon Society, they’re running the national Pennies for the Planet campaign to do just that.

[Creative Commons photo by Mindsay Mohan]

The campaign, first launched in 1995, wants to “help today’s communities nurture tomorrow’s environmental leaders” by giving kids ways to get active! This year, participants nationwide will collect change to support three national conservation projects:

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Obama Criticizes Bush’s Response to Katrina on New White House Website

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:45:49 +0000

Out with the old and in with the new! Following Obama’s inauguration, change is already underway. From halting tribunals at Guantanamo Bay to accelerating the drawdown of troops in Iraq, Obama is wasting no time as the United States’ 44th president.

The “new era of responsibility” expressed in Obama’s Inaugural Speech extends to the past, particularly criticizing George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina on the new White House website.

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration’s “unconscionable ineptitude” in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business, and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.

President Barack Obama will partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.

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Lower Ninth Ward New Orleans gets $500,000 Eco-Friendly Playground

Derek Markham — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:12:15 +0000

The most technologically advanced, eco-friendly, solar powered playground, the first of its kind in North America, is being dedicated in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward today.

The Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans suffered catastrophic flooding after Hurricane Katrina pummeled New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and many of the residents lost their homes.

They also lost something else.

Playgrounds.

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Louisiana Kids Work to Save Wetlands

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:43:25 +0000

What a great way to both help restore a critical ecosystem while teaching young kids valuable lessons about the real world: encourage schoolchildren to grow wetland plants at their schools for later planting in coastal habitat restoration projects.

That’s what Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Coastal Roots Project aims to do. Established in the pre-Katrina days of 2001, the program is now more vital than ever and — happy to say — schools across the state have come on board to join the cause.

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Solar-Powered, “Anti-FEMA” Trailer Stars in New Orleans

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:29:37 +0000

What’s the opposite of one of those formaldehyde-reeking FEMA trailers so many Katrina victims had to live in — and get sick in — for months and months? Check out New York artist Paul Villinski’s “Emergency Response Studio,” a solar-powered, refurbished, non-toxic and self-sufficient artist’s studio on wheels.

Set to go on display Nov. 1 as part of the Prospect.1 New Orleans art show, Villlinski’s trailer is a mobile testament to his mission of transforming trash into objects of beauty or functionality (he’s also created butterfly sculptures out of old beer cans and LPs, and wings, jackets, blankets and bags out of lost gloves).

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Campaign Aims for 3 Million Artworks to Clean New Orleans’ Toxic Soils

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:59:37 +0000

So many hard-working and innovative people have stepped in with projects to help rebuild New Orleans in the wake of the devastating 2005 levee failures, but the Fundred Dollar Bill Project is beyond unique.

The project’s goal is to encourage schoolchildren across the U.S. to create their own version of a $100 bill dubbed a “Fundred Dollar Bill” (a blend of “fun,” “fund” and “hundred”) … for a total of 3 million Fundreds in all. Once completed, those 3 million Fundreds will be collected for delivery to Washington, D.C., in a biofuel-powered armored truck in hopes of receiving in return $300 million in real currency to protect New Orleans residents — kids especially — from the toxic levels of lead found in the city’s soil.

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Earth Policy Institute: Rising Seas and Powerful Storms Threaten Global Security

Earth Policy Institute — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:31:40 +0000

By Janet Larsen

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update76.htm

Standing before the United Nations General Assembly in October 1987, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, made an appeal representing “an endangered nation.” That year for the first time, “unusual high waves” in the Indian Ocean inundated a quarter of the urban area on the capital island of Male’, flooded farms, and washed away reclaimed land. Gayoom cited scientific evidence that human activities were releasing greenhouse gases that warm the planet, ultimately raising global sea level as glaciers melt and warmer water expands. The trouble extended beyond small islands; studies showed that rising seas would wreak havoc on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the Netherlands, and the river deltas of Egypt and Bangladesh.

Fast-forward through two decades of swelling seas and more powerful storms and the call has moved from the need to study global warming to the necessity of dramatic action to stabilize climate. With small island nations in peril, these days President Gayoom evokes the vision of a United Nations where “name plates are gone; seats are empty.” He does not speak alone: this fall, some 50 countries, including a number of small island nations along with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the European Union, are planning to put a resolution before the U.N. General Assembly requesting that the U.N. Security Council address “the threat posed by climate change to international peace and security.” As Ambassador Stuart Beck of Palau has asked, “Would any nation facing an invading army not do the same?”

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New Orleans Green Home Stands up to Gustav, Ike

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:55:38 +0000

Here’s a rare but welcome thing: good news from post-Katrina New Orleans. Global Green USA’s first ultra-green home in the Holy Cross neighborhood stood strong during hurricanes Gustav and Ike, both of which caused massive damage in parts of Louisiana and Texas, as well as elsewhere.

Global Green USA’s first house, which currently serves as a visitors’ center,”withstood the storm and is now open and ready to show others how they can rebuild stronger and greener,” said Beth Galante, director for Global Green USA New Orleans.

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Post-Katrina New Orleans Goes Energy Smart

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:23:55 +0000

With this week marking the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans residents are looking back … but they’re also looking ahead, to a more sustainable and energy-efficient future. (They’re also praying feverishly that Gustav doesn’t head their way.)

In addition to all the green rebuilding efforts underway throughout the Crescent City, existing homes that survived the post-storm flooding are also getting eco-friendly makeovers. Those efforts received a boost earlier this summer, when the New Orleans City Council approved the Energy Smart New Orleans Energy Efficiency Program.

Among the program’s goals

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Eco-Churches Take Action Across the U.S.

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:03:37 +0000

They might not garner as many headlines as big-name corporations when they go green, but many churches across the U.S. are tackling environmental challenges as a way to honor God’s creation.

Among those leading the way are groups like the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC), whose Eco-Justice Working Group includes participants of every denomination from African Methodist Episcopal to Greek Orthodox and Mennonite. The NCC’s Washington, D.C.-based Eco-Justice Program also provides a wealth of resources to help churches and church-goers take environmental action.

Many of those actions are highlighted in the Eco-Justice Program’s guide to “Bottom Line Ministries that Matter: Congregational Stewardship with Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Technologies.” Among the success stories held up as examples in the report:

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Walk This Way: ‘Big Easy’ Walkin’ in New Orleans, Louisiana

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:05:08 +0000

Few U.S. cities can appeal to walkers of all stripes like New Orleans. Even after the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, the Crescent City remains a destination that’s made for pedestrians.

For lovers of historic architecture, what can beat a stroll down one of the streets of the French Quarter or Garden District? And, of course, for people-watching, live music, a few of the good kind of Hurricanes (thanks, Pat O’s!) and general weirdness, there’s nothing like a walk along Bourbon Street, day or night.

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