Atlanta Audubon Society Holds Photo Contest

The Atlanta Audubon Society is looking for amazing images of birds, animals and habitat. Entries must have been photographed since 1/1/08 and be received by midnight on 2/23/09. Prizes will be offered. All entries will be displayed at the Speaker Series event to be held on the weekend of March 21-22. Click here to learn more.

 

Environmental fund-raiser scores former ‘SNL’ comic

By Richard L. Eldredge | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This Thanksgiving week, Captain Planet Foundation chairwoman Laura Turner Seydel is thankful for the Coca-Cola Co., Georgia Power Co., the Mother Nature Network, Pratt Industries and timing.

The above companies signed up early as presenting sponsors for this year’s 14th annual Xmas Party, the annual benefit for the Captain Planet Foundation set for Dec. 12 at the Tabernacle in downtown Atlanta.

“With the economy the way it is, we’re extremely lucky that we had our presenting sponsors come on board early,” Turner Seydel told Buzz on Monday.

Still, the environmental charity has done some budgetary trimming for this year’s event, eliminating the white tent in the parking lot and consolidating the festivities inside.

Musical guests include Rolling Stones keyboardist and Georgia tree farmer Chuck Leavell, Night Ranger singer Jack Blade, .38 Special’s Jeff Carlisi and the Romantics’ Wally Palmar.

The evening’s special celebrity guest is “Saturday Night Live” legend Chevy Chase and his environmentalist wife, Jayni. So how did Turner Seydel lure the comic actor to Atlanta?

Call it return payment for a pair of borrowed golf shorts.

It seems that some years back, Turner Seydel’s husband, Atlanta lawyer Rutherford Seydel, was playing golf with the comic and Chase arrived sans shorts. He borrowed a pair of Rutherford’s and decided he liked them.

“It’s been a running joke between us for a while,” explained Turner Seydel. “We’re thrilled to have Chevy and Jayni this year.” Jayni, incidentally, is the founder of the Center for Environmental Education, a nonprofit devoted to the greening of public schools. Best-selling author (and the chairwoman’s father) Ted Turner has also R.S.V.P.-ed.

As usual, Turner Seydel’s dress for the occasion is an eco-friendly frock, this year made out of sustainable silk, courtesy of a “free-range silk worm that was allowed to turn into a moth.”

So, no silk worms were harmed in the making of the dress, we inquired?

Cracked Turner: “Um, you could say that!”

For tickets: www.xmasparty.org.

Event: Volunteers needed for Rivers Alive cleanup

 

Times-Herald

The tenth annual Georgia Waterway Cleanup is expected to once again be the largest single volunteer effort to beautify Georgia’s water resources.

Many Georgia residents will wade into rivers, lakes and streams as part of the continuing statewide campaign to clean and preserve more than 70,000 miles of Georgia’s rivers and streams.

The effort will be part of Rivers Alive, a joint program of the Environmental Protection Division’s Adopt-A-Stream Program and the Department of Community Affairs’ Keep Georgia Beautiful Program.  Coweta County’s Rivers Alive Clean-up is sponsored by the Coweta County Cooperative Extension office and 4-H Club and the Coweta County Development and Engineering Department.

Rivers Alive was organized in 1999 as an effort to unite various river cleanup organizations working throughout Georgia since the early 1990s. Since its formation, Rivers Alive has experienced tremendous growth.

During the 2007 river cleanup 25,028 volunteers cleaned more than 2,310 miles of waterways and removed more than 748,306 pounds of trash and garbage including tires, shingles, balls and washing machines from Georgia’s waterways, according to Harold Harbert, Outreach Coordinator with the Environmental Protection Division.

Private donations from corporations and local businesses and event planners across the state have helped to make the program successful, but it is volunteers who are concerned about the environment and are prepared to take action to clean and protect local watershed areas who insure the continued success of the program.

Volunteers can help the local 4-H clean area waterways and watersheds by participating in the Rivers Alive cleanup Oct. 11. Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the horse arena, Coweta County Fairgrounds on Pine Road. Vans and carpools will be available to transport participants to the cleanup sites.

The first 50 volunteers to register will receive a free T-shirt. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Call the Coweta County Extension Office at 770 254-2620 to sign up.

Southeast Shoppers Can ‘Double Up’ on Savings With Annual ENERGY STAR Tax Holidays

PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX

Beginning this Thursday, October 2nd, consumers across the Southeast can double up on savings with the purchase of select products labeled with the ENERGY STAR logo. During successive sales tax holidays in Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina, they will save “up front” when they buy those products and then save again with lower monthly home energy bills, according to the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA).

In addition to foregoing the sales tax on certain ENERGY STAR products, consumers in Georgia and Virginia can also save the sales tax on specific water-efficient products labeled with the WATER SENSE logo. ENERGY STAR and WATER SENSE labels designate products that meet strict federal energy-efficiency and water-efficiency criteria, respectively. Both labels are programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy.

“With energy costs rising and water restrictions becoming the norm, now is the perfect time to save some money, water and energy,” commented SEEA Executive Director Ben Taube. “The ENERGY STAR logo makes it easy for consumers to quickly find the appliances, lights, insulation, and other products that will save them money on home energy bills.”

Taube added that according to EPA data, the Southeast has the lowest market penetration of ENERGY STAR products, coupled with high rates of energy use, population growth, and growing energy demand. “Southerners can greatly benefit from using energy more efficiently,” Taube added. “Energy efficiency is the cleanest, cheapest, and largest source of new power for the South.”

During the upcoming tax holidays, consumers can save the state sales tax on eligible ENERGY STAR and WATER SENSE qualified products costing (cumulatively) up to $2,500 in Virginia and $1,500 in Georgia; North Carolina has no dollar limit on the tax-free purchases. Eligible products include programmable thermostats, compact fluorescent light bulbs, ceiling fans, air conditioners, clothes washers, refrigerators, doors and windows.

“October is Energy Awareness Month, so it’s a perfect time to look for the ENERGY STAR on more than 50 categories of energy-using products, from major appliances to home electronics and office equipment,” noted Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan. “These energy-sipping products not only save consumers up to 30 percent on their related electricity bills, they also benefit our nation’s energy security and environment by extending our domestic energy supplies while decreasing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.” ( www.energystar.gov)

The tax holiday dates are as follows:

Georgia: Thursday, October 2nd through Sunday, October 5th

( www.gefa.org/Index.aspx?page=352)

FLOW Opening and Panel Discussion, Friday, October 3

FLOW, the award-winning documentary by Irena Salina about the world-wide water crisis, will open this Friday at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema in Atlanta. A panel discussion will follow Friday’s 7:25 p.m. screening, including Sally Bethea of UCR as well as representatives from Food & Water Watch and Clean Water Action.

Click here for theater information and here to view the movie trailer.