Environment
For Alameda County residents who own their homes, now is a particularly good time to invest in home energy upgrades, thanks to a number of federal and regional rebates offered by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and spearheaded by a statewide program called Energy Upgrade California.
Homeowners and apartment renters have several different options from the Alameda County Waste Management Authority about how to dispose of their trees, while two tree lots in Oakland send what’s left of their supply to the Oakland Zoo.
For Dimitri Thompson, it’s all or nothing. Whether its the rectangular chillers to keep the milk cold and sanitary, the energy-efficient espresso machine that draws little power or the reused materials that make up most of his furniture, Thompson left no detail unattended while crafting the blueprints for his Noble Cafe. His ultimate goal: a carbon neutral cafe — the first in the United States.
Oakland’s Children’s Hospital & Research Center is attempting to inspire parents and kids to create nutritious meals together with their recently launched “Mix & Match Brown Bag” healthy lunch plan.
Perhaps you’ve seen one around town. You might have caught yourself doing a double-take or stopping to ogle its long, supple lines, the graceful curvature of its frame, the straight-up beauty of something so simultaneously striking and functional.
Two ordinances aimed at reducing waste in Alameda County moved a step closer to implementation on Wednesday afternoon. The Alameda County Waste Management Authority board voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance at a planned meeting January 25 that would ban single-use checkout bags for many retailers in the county. The board also voted Wednesday to introduce a mandatory recycling ordinance which would require businesses and managers or owners of multi-family buildings to recycle at that meeting and put it before a vote.
As the new year approaches, Oakland officials are preparing residents for a new ordinance that will require certain property owners to replace their leaking sewer pipes. The regional Private Sewer Lateral (PSL) program—already in effect in Emeryville, Piedmont, El Cerrito, Kensington and Richmond— will start in Oakland on January 16.
As a growing number of Oakland residents embrace urban farming—including the raising of chickens, goats and pigs in their back yards—the city planning commission is investigating the trend’s potentially negative impacts on the surrounding community.
Megan Reed and Christine Landry are in the market for two Christmas trees, as they push a stroller with their infant son through aisles of options at the Simonis Christmas Tree Lot on Telegraph Avenue and 51st Street on a quiet Monday morning. Reed and Landry usually buy one Christmas tree for their home, but they’re going for two this year because grandma is visiting and needs one for her place. “We got kind of the ‘junior Charlie Brown’ for…