Greetings ATLiens! This week our #motivationmonday feature is local chef and locavore expert, Julia Schneider! You may recognize her if you ever frequented (pre-COVID) the Ponce City Market Farmers Market by CFM where she has been a featured Chef. She is a private chef and also works with Moveable Feast ATL, a local catering company. COVID of course has her changing gears a bit and these days her Instagram is filled with all kinds of mouthwatering baked goods and other treats.
Originally from Michigan, she grew up cooking mostly Eastern European food with her adoptive grandmother, though her parents avidly grew food they were not very into cooking. She didn’t enroll in culinary school until her move to the ATL in 2009, but even then found that the best training was directly from the industry itself and moved on to start working with Octane in 2010. She was in charge of the food at all their locations and eventually their catering. In 2017, she began working with CFM as a Market Chef and doing private chef work. Her favorite part about working and living in Atlanta is the community. She connected with the founders of her current venture, Moveable Feast ATL, through work contacts that are also dear friends. She finds the strong locavore community and access to incredible locally sourced food in ATL to be one of the gems of this city.
As a chef diving into at home quarantine baking projects, Julia is not just a chef, she also represents a consumer in this climate conscious world. Julia says that climate is always something she is conscious of when preparing food for private clients or doing things at home. In her own kitchen she makes sure to use reusable containers, source from as many local farms as possible, and use as much of the ingredients as possible, including cooking with scraps. Some of her favorite places to source local ingredients are:
Freedom Farmers Market
Woodland Gardens Veggie Box
Georgia Organics Veggie Box with pick ups at Wrecking Bar
Freewheel Farms online pre-order
Levity Farms online ordering and pickup (both in town and in Roswell pickups available)
Chop Shop
Evergreen Butcher and Baker
Her call to action for ATL’s Green Foodies? It is way easier to eat local than you might think it is. Her advice is to take advantage of the Georgia summer fruits, if you peep her instagram @parkmeejung you will see delicious strawberry poptarts and pies.
End up with a bunch of random local foraged veggies like mushrooms and greens? Keep it simple! A big bowl of pasta, butter (or olive oil to keep it vegan friendly) and a little lemon juice. Let the veggies do their thing. Julia believes cooking for people is a way to show love and friendship, so until we can all get back out and safely enjoy market taste tests again- follow along with her and get some inspiration on how you can bring local food to those you love!
Meredith is GreenATLiens’ Foodie ATLien writing and reporting on all things sustainable food systems in Atlanta. She is an actor and a low-waster transplant originally from Cincinnati, OH. She will likely talk your ear off about locally grown food, carbon emissions, or animal welfare. But when she is not, she can be found hiking with her dog, kayaking, or riding her horse. Her latest obsession is the connection between growing your own food and the rich fertilizer that is manure. In short, she’s trying to grow tomatoes out of horse poop. She also does stand up comedy.
Unpopular opinion- I hate fireworks. There, I said it. I’ve never liked them, when I was little I could never get over the giant booms and the overall thought that the sky must be falling. Everyone around me would say, “but look at the pretty colors!” … to which I wish I would have responded, “Oh wow, gee, thanks for reminding me, totally didn’t notice how pretty it was while fearing for my life.”
So maybe I am a buzzkill but I think many of you following us here at GreenATLiens agree that this year’s Independence Day amidst the headlines of police brutality, climate injustice, global pandemic, and children in cages is cause for pause, or maybe a full stop. This year as we reflect on all that it means to be “American” and celebrate our “Independence Day” (read: the independence of slave-holding, misogynistic white men), I say we also take some time to understand that the “celebrating America by blowing things up” idea has pretty devastating impacts to our environment and biodiversity surrounding us.
The above graphic, created by Andy Brunning in The Chemistry of Firework Pollution for Compound Chem, clearly breaks down the chemicals used to create this explosive artwork, and how those chemicals and other materials can have negative effects on the world around us.
According to Terrapass, there are ways to make your annual fireworks displays a little more eco-friendly, even making them completely carbon neutral through the purchase of carbon offsets. The New Year’s Eve Firework display in Sydney, Australia has achieved total carbon neutrality by encouraging public transit, recycling leftover waste, and purchasing carbon offsets to balance out the pollution left in the air.
But what about noise pollution? The devastating effects fireworks have on local wildlife? The danger for wildfires in those habitats from shoddy at home firework displays? The use of fireworks has been known to cause serious disturbance in the habitats of birds, small vertebrates, invertebrates and mammals. The possibility of resulting brush fires, even ones that are small and easily contained, still destroy the living spaces of many of these creatures and their established eco-systems. The fear and panic caused by loud noises can cause birds and mammals to leave their nests and become disoriented and unable to return, leaving their young unprotected (source).
We can see evidence of this in our own domesticated animals. Fireworks have a very high decibel level in the boom, as much as 190 decibels, more than a gunshot or even some jet engines. We know that many animals, including dogs and cats have a much more sensitive sense of hearing than humans, meaning they are at much greater risk for hearing loss or tinnitus from firework sounds (source). And additionally, many animal welfare professionals will tell you that July 5th is one of their busiest days of the year when it comes to stray animals. If you follow any of our local animal welfare organizations here in Atlanta, you will have seen their posts recommending that you keep your dogs and cats inside. Firework noise, summer storms, and other factors all contribute to a higher level of stray animal intake throughout the summer, which reaches a maximum around this time. Here you can find a list of helpful tips to keep your pets safe and prevent them from getting lost around this time. Because of the higher amounts of animals needing care in shelters at this time of year, many shelters are operating at or over capacity and are offering low-cost adoption events or promoting fostering.
So, all I am saying is, maybe this year you mix up your usual Fourth of July celebrations. Foster a dog or cat, go for a nice walk to observe your local biodiversity, or watch Hamilton! And if you really need a little flair, go outside with some sparklers, just make sure you properly dispose of all the pieces!
Meredith is GreenATLiens’ Foodie ATLien writing and reporting on all things sustainable food systems in Atlanta. She is an actor and a low-waster transplant originally from Cincinnati, OH. She will likely talk your ear off about locally grown food, carbon emissions, or animal welfare. But when she is not, she can be found hiking with her dog, kayaking, or riding her horse. Her latest obsession is the connection between growing your own food and the rich fertilizer that is manure. In short, she’s trying to grow tomatoes out of horse poop. She also does stand up comedy.
After the recent whirlwind of police killings of victims George Floyd in Minneapolis, MO, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY, and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, GA, there has been an increasing call from the people to defund police departments that have been the perpetrators of brutality, violence, and murder against black people for centuries in the United States.
The people of Atlanta have mobilized numerous times to march and demonstrate in downtown Atlanta and beyond to defund the police, stop police brutality, end voter suppression, and dismantle the prison industrial complex. Especially considering that Rayshard Brooks was the 48th police shooting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigated in 2020 (Mainline Zine). In response to rising public sentiment to defund APD, Mayor Bottoms met with and Atlanta City Council June 15th to respond to public calls to revise the budget. Essentially, the amendment to defund APD by 50% was shot down and members of City Council -most vocally Antonio Brown of District 3 where Rayshard Brooks was killed by APD – have been calling on constituents to call into virtual City Council meetings to demand the City defund APD by 33% or 73 million to reimagine safety. In reimagining safety Brown is possibly subtly referencing a viral infographic that was circulating on social media:
Infographic from KnowYourMeme.Com
Since the 2021 Atlanta City Budget has remained unchanged, we at GreenATLiens thought you’d might like to know a few things that got defunded in order to increase the APD budget by over $12 million.
What did the City of Atlanta defund for 2021?
Please keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list. The full PDF of the 2021 Atlanta City Budget can be found here. GreenATLiens is also interested in examining how these particular instances of defunding not only harm the environment but also harm the black community, or in other words are concrete examples of systemic environmental racism.
Department of Public Works defunded from $51.7 million in 2020 to $0 in 2021. Public Works is responsible for maintaining infrastructure, so if there’s any broken bridges or crumbling historic buildings they’ll have to apply for a grant or rely on community donations to fund infrastructural renovations.
Built environment is an incredibly valuable aspect of sustainability. Preserving buildings and infrastructure helps us make things last for as long as possible and reduce the use of new resources. Built environment preservation helps reduce activity that contributes to climate change, essentially.
Defunding the Department of Public Works also disadvantages predominantly black neighborhoods in Atlanta, particularly Historic West End with historic buildings in need of renovation. The Atlanta Budget is essentially saying “You won’t get a cent from us, go have a fish fry to raise the funds cuz we ain’t helpin’.” The budget for Public Works in 2021 is literally $0! *Rubs eyes* Yep, still $0!
2. Department of Parks and Rec is being defunded by $1.6 million (2.4%) in 2021. Not only that but they’ll also lose 33 personnel (see below or budget page 70).
Parks as green spaces naturally are beneficial to the environment, specifically as urban wildlife habitats, carbon sequestration in the form of trees, water pollution reduction through plants that retain and prevent stormwater runoff that carries toxins into storm drains and ultimately our drinking water.
Parks are also highly important for maintaining public health. They provide a community green space to run, jog, play sports, or otherwise exercise, as well as improve one’s mental health through nature therapy and release of endorphins from physical activity and sun exposure. Defunding Parks and Rec means that communities lacking access to greenspaces are less likely to see any park development in the coming year. Wait, the budget says.
Screenshot of the Atlanta City Budget’s summary of personnel showing that APD will have an increase in personnel of 229, while Parks and Rec will lose 33 personnel, Watershed Management will lose 25, Human Resources will lose 9 and Department of Audit will lose 2.
3. The budget literally defunded justice. Atlanta’s Judicial Agencies got a 2.74% budget cut of $367K, so judges will be more overrun with cases than before. If you believe the Criminal Justice System and Prison Industrial Complex can be reformed, then defunding the courts that give Atlantans trials is a blow to justice and a disservice to the people.
Filling up prisons with black people for offenses white people get off easy for is another example of environmental racism. It keeps people out of the workforce and out of the voting pool to suppress black voters and keep black families economically destabilized without two members of household to contribute to household income and the work of running a household. Holding people in cages and forcing them to perform unpaid labor while leaving their families to fend for themselves is a modern form of slavery and oppression. A fair and non-corrupt justice system would end this continued disservice to Atlantans.
4. The Department of City Planning was defunded by $1.6 million (7.33%). Defunding City Planning means defunding walkability and bikability in Atlanta. Defunding City Planning is an example of systemic environmental racism and here’s why:
Poor urban mobility, meaning a poor ability to get around without full dependence on a car, is a systemic factor that makes it more challenging for low-income communities to get around to places like a job, the DMV, a poll location, or the grocery store. It’s essentially a way of keeping wealth in the communities that have wealth and denying low-income communities access to that wealth. Additionally, for those who do decide to walk or bike to access opportunities and needs, doing so poses a greater threat to one’s life than on, say, the cushy BeltLine or Freedom Park Trail.
Poor urban mobility reinforces poverty, car dependency, air pollution, and carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Not to mention the effects of a car-dependent lifestyle on physical health. Car dependency also puts a financial burden on and further economically destabilizes low income households. This is why City Planning needs a budget increase and not a budget cut to improve urban mobility across all of Atlanta and particularly low income areas. Improved urban mobility and diminished car dependence reduces the city’s footprint and air pollution while also connecting communities to more opportunities. With reduced air pollution we’re likely to see less asthma-related hospitalizations and deaths, which disproportionately affect black and brown communities.
5. Water was defunded. The Water and Wastewater Revenue Fund is scheduled to be defunded in 2021 by $23 million (3.9%). The Department of Watershed Management is also scheduled to lose 25 personnel next year while APD adds on 229. Despite Atlanta’s innumerable water woes, Atlanta’s water received the second largest budget cut after the Department of Public Works. Perhaps they’ll pass the buck to non-profit organizations Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and Westside Water Alliance (WaWa) to keep our drinking water clean. Why spend government budget money on clean water when we can have these non-profit organizations apply for unreliable grant funding and rally their supporters to give out of the kindness of their hearts for our basic human right to clean water?
Cancerous toxins in our drinking water is an environmental health issue that quite literally, albeit slowly, kills the poor and disproportionately affects black and brown communities that have been systemically kept from accumulating wealth. Defunding water is defunding black lives, and defunding environmental health across the board for all Atlantans.
What can you do?
District 3 Council Member Antonio Brown is calling on all residents of Atlanta to:
“call in to every committee and full council meeting to demand we amend the budget and fund the resolution approved by council today. Reallocate $73M of police funds in order to reimagine public safety. We must stop the business of the city from moving forward until our demands are met.”
If you can’t attend the meeting due to work be sure to leave a voicemail write a message to your Councilmember and the general City Council email atlantacouncil@atlantaga.gov.
Sharing personally how defunding these various areas of the city budget to increase funding and personnel for APD affects you or a loved one will be the most impactful. Here are a few prompts to get you started:
Is there infrastructure near you that won’t get the attention it deserves as a result of cuts to Public Works?
Is there a lack of community greenspace where you live, or community greenspace that needs investment to be properly maintained? In that case why is Parks and Rec being defunded and scheduled for lay-offs when these greenspaces are of growing importance to the physical and mental health of our communities? If there’s a lack of greenspace where you live, how far would one have to walk to the nearest greenspace? Is it a safe walking distance for children?
Have you or a family member been incarcerated? How did that affect your family economically, emotionally? Do you think defunding the Atlanta’s judicial agencies is in the interest of justice for the people of Atlanta?
Do you walk, bike, or take public transit for transportation? Or would you like to? Tell City Council that cuts to City Planning hurts urban mobility in Atlanta and in turn dampens economic opportunity, reinforces income inequality, and increases car dependency that’s shown to be so detrimental to environmental health as well as public health.
Do you drink water? Would you like Atlanta’s water to be safe to drink for all Atlantans? Don’t you think instead of defunding the Department of Watershed by $23 million (meanwhile increasing APD’s budget by over $12 million) we should be increasing investment in clean water for all?
That’s all for now. Please feel free to add your comments, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Stay green, ATLiens!
Happy #MotivationMonday GreenATLiens! Today we’re feeling motivated by the demonstrators who used their First Amendment rights today at the March On Georgia organized by the NAACP of Atlanta.
It was GreenATLiens’ privilege to chat with a few of the demonstrators present today. Below are direct quotes from March on Georgia demonstrators on their recommended calls to action for all ATLiens:
“Reparations now! Police reform immediately. Mandatory punishment for failure to use body cams. [Prosecute] police for hate crimes. Shoot below the waist. [Use non-lethal] rubber bullets.”
Feeling motivated yet? If you find inspiration through music might we suggest Spotify’s Liberation Playlist or Black to the Future Playlist? Let’s take that energy and apply it to making real, sustainable change for a more just and equitable society!
March on Georgia this Monday, 9:00AM at the Richard Russel Federal Buildong 75 Spring St SW. Don’t forget your masks, signs, and energy!
There is no sustainability in Georgia’s future without repealing citizen’s attest, criminal legal reform, restoring voting rights, and ending police brutality.
Greetings ATLiens 🖖 This #MotivationMonday in observance of #WorldOceansDay we would like to meet Dr. Brian Davis, President and CEO of the Georgia Aquarium. Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Davis earned his B.S. in Environmental Science at Rutgers University in 1992 and shortly thereafter migrated to Atlanta for a position at Zoo Atlanta. The rest is history.
Since moving to Atlanta 26 years ago, Dr. Davis has paid his dues teaching science for over 8 cumulative years in Cobb County schools, serving in senior leadership roles within a number of zoological and educational institutions, and earning his Masters of Education and Ph.D. in Secondary Science Education at Georgia State University. What you may not know about Dr. Davis is that he’s played an integral role in shaping the Georgia Aquarium’s educational programming since 2003.
If you take just one thing away from today’s #WorldOceansDay #MotivationMonday, let it be that Dr. Brian Davis has been working on and advocating for ocean conservation way before most of us were even cognizant of the impacts of plastic in our oceans.
Dr. Brian Davis states:
“I believe scientific literacy and a comprehensive cultural enrichment plan are vital to the continued progress of our students and society. In my current role as President and CEO of the Maritime Aquarium, I will continue my efforts to develop educational experiences that reflect the interconnectedness of scientific literacy to our daily lives.”
Source: Dr. Brian L. Davis (LinkedIn bio)
As President and CEO of the Georgia Aquarium, Dr. Brian Davis oversees the Georgia Aquarium’s research, animal rehabilitation, and education initiatives, including the Seafood Savvy campaign aimed at educating the public on the types of seafood to avoid in the interest of ocean conservation (see wallet insert here, and below), as well as the ongoing expansion of strategic partnerships with local and global organizations to fundraise, research, and promote ocean ecosystems conservation.
Call to Action
GreenATLiens everywhere can join Dr. Brian Davis in taking action for our oceans by practicing the 3 R’s: Reduce Reuse Recycle. See the quote below for more nuance:
“Remember to cut apart plastic beverage rings. Marine mammals can become entangled in the loops, which can be harmful and potentially fatal. Properly dispose of toxic wastes, such as oil from automobile engines or lawnmowers. Never dump waste chemicals down a sewer which can pollute water sources. Limit your use of disposable products, particularly plastic. Take a canvas bag with you when you shop instead of using paper and plastic ones from stores.”
Last Friday our spaceship landed at Centennial Olympic Park for a march to the Georgia State Capitol to demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many other black lives that have been taken by police and white supremacists in this country for centuries.
The protest we participated in on Friday, May 29 was a large gathering of peaceful protesters holding cardboard signs with messages such as “Stop Killing Us,” “Black Lives Matter,” “White Silence is Violence,” and “I Can’t Breathe”. For what seemed like the majority of the march, hundreds of Atlantans marched in complete silence holding signs of cardboard over their heads. As we neared the Georgia State Capitol, marchers began to chant “No Justice (No Peace)” “Black Lives Matter,” “What Do We Want? (Justice) When do we Want it? (Now),” and “When Black Lives Are Under Attack, What Do We Do? (Stand Up Fight Back)”.
Once the crowd reached the Capitol, many people dispersed by way of Uber/Lyft, MARTA, their bicycles, etc. Only when our space ship arrived back home did the majority of protesters hear about apparent vandalism that took place, which the Mayor, T.I., Killer Mike, and others addressed in a press conference that evening.
While many weaponize quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. to condemn rioting and promote peaceful protest, it is important that we remember Dr. King’s less-cited quote:
A riot is the language of the unheard
-Martin Luther King Jr.
The infographic below sheds further light on the nature of what happened Friday night in Atlanta.
Source: @drew_droege
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
What is the connection between environmentalism and racial justice?
Here are a few suggested readings to better understand how racial justice and environmentalism are inextricably linked:
We don’t often think of manmade structures as part of the environment, and yet they are. Humans, also not often thought of as part of the environment, dwell in these structures. Many others dwell without them, something humans have termed as “homelessness” -a loss of human habitat accepted by too many of the fortunate as resulting from the moral failings of the homeless. Humans and housing are a part of our environment, whether it’s accepted or not.
This week the Georgia Conservancy hosted a panel on “The Economics of Housing in Georgia” on their weekly Facebook Live this past Tuesday May 19th at 12 noon. You can watch the 1 hour live here. If the privilege of time escapes you, please see the GreenATLiens summary below.
The Economic Impact of Housing in Georgia
This panel consisted of three presentations, one by the Georgia Conservancy, one by Bleakly Advisory Group, and one by Electric Cities of Georgia. A Q&A followed the presentations to discuss housing development issues in Georgia further.
The majority of Georgians’ income does not match the rising costs of housing. The difference between an affordable home for the workforce and the average home price is a staggering $159K. In the Atlanta area 30-40% of households are considered “cost burdened” or spend a third or more of their income on housing. Georgia will grow by 4 million people by 2040. Taking into consideration high home prices vs. low wages, cost burdened households, and population growth, raising the state minimum wage and lowering the cost of housing will be crucial to Georgia’s future resilience.
Takeaways: We’re experiencing dramatic demographic and generational changes that directly affects housing in Georgia. Household size has been shrinking steadily over the decades, and our housing supply is primarily built for the American nuclear family that is no longer the norm. Younger generations prefer walkability and work from home options, which makes housing and the amenities surrounding housing more important. This market is willing to pay more to live in “walkable” areas. Investing in downtown areas has been shown to improve cities’ economic growth even more than large shopping malls.
Takeaways: It’s important for cities to develop a well balanced tax base that’s a mix of housing, industries, retail, as well as investing in their downtown and quality of life enhancement (such as parks). Doing so will provide a more stable tax base for cities to fund programs that enhance the lives of residents. Holistic economic development required hard and soft infrastructure (see slide 5 for factors cities can control). Housing diversity is especially important given the demographic changes we’ve been experiencing over the decades of smaller households as well as expected economic hardship as a result of COVID-19 that will make more affordable housing more heavily demanded. Mixed use and walkability will be increasingly important going forward to meet the demand of residents.
What is example of a community or a project that you’d like to lift up for having done really great housing projects that support local economic development in a thoughtful way?
Geoff: Two that I can think of that are not necessarily Atlanta-centric are West Point and Rome, Georgia. West Point has a great historic core. Buildings had been sitting there for decades without being fully used and through concentrated efforts they now have 30 or 40 new housing units above retail in their downtown core. In Rome, Georgia they’ve done a lot on the affordable housing side and focused on downtown housing that I think can serve as a model throughout the state. (main emphasis: mixed use, focus on inner city center, walkability, affordability)
Mill: Thomasville, Georgia brought in a lot of progressive housing types into their urban development. Providing quality affordable housing within a quarter mile from downtown it’d been just a great project overall that other rural communities can aspire to.
Katherine: I’d like to give a nod to Georgia’s Mill villages and Mill neighborhoods. These are tremendous opportunities for fresh eyes. They are walkable in and among themselves. Mills can lend themselves as loft opportunities and we see this again and again across the state.
What are some ways that you can promote affordability on top of just promoting good housing policy and housing diversity.
Geoff: I’m a big fan of land banking. Granted cities and counties already have a lot on their plate trying to figure out this year’s and next year’s budget. But in a perfect world cities and counties are out there looking for ways to bank land for housing and using resources and federal government grants to buy land or even buy buy units in their historical downtown. If it’s under public control, especially if you’re controlling the housing units, you have the ability to control how much a person is going to pay for those housing units. Through downtown development authorities and other avenues land banking can then be aggressive in getting that land developed to provide housing. Once the city or the public sector controls the dirt underneath there’s a potential opportunity to impact how much a resident is going to pay for that. In doing so you have the ability to really impact what kind and what price of units are being built.
Mill: I’d completely second Geoff on that one as far as a really effective strategy and one that honestly we’ve always utilized at ECG. It’s an extremely effective strategy and one I think that is going to work for those communities that are able to do it. From a bigger picture what most communities may be able to allocate some of their resources towards are really identifying redevelopment opportunities in their communities. This should be a priority for every city across the state if they can is really to identify where these redevelopment opportunities are and take a strong look at your housing.
In addition encourage specific areas that allow the types of housing that we know can be more affordable such as duplexes and fourplexes and things of that nature that for most municipalities of Georgia are not allowed by regulations and ordinances. What I’ve seen in other communities across the country is places where they’ve established areas in their downtown or within certain neighborhoods that have been historically low income allowing that type of development to encourage more affordable housing in those spaces.
Do you have any experience in land bank resources being put to use through community land trust?
Geoff: The work Amanda Rhine is doing at the Atlanta Land Bank comes to mind. I know Brunswick has set up a community land trust recently. I would look into what Amanda has been doing here in Atlanta.
Mill: Amanda’s work is a great case study. Albany, GA has one. Athens land trust could probably be a good resource as well.
How has the pandemic affected housing?
Geoff: The other shoe hasn’t dropped yet on housing and the economy. Housing prices and rental payments have held up pretty well so far. If you just look at the numbers through the beginning of May you would hardly know we’re in the middle of a a pandemic with 15% unemployment. It just seems unreasonable to think that’s always going to be the case over the next 12-18 months. So there’s a lot that remains to be seen. It will impact housing no doubt.
The demographics I talked about, they’re not going to change. We’re still going to have small households and a mismatch between our household makeup and our housing stock. That’s not going to change with COVID. We’re still going to have a tremendous amount of smaller households looking for smaller and different housing. What that looks like at the “end” of all of this I think we’re still working through that and waiting to see what happens when that other shoes drops on the economic side of housing. It’s a bit early to tell but again the demographics are going to drive the future of housing to a large degree. So, we’ll see.
Mill: Geoff you’re completely right, the demographics are always in the driver’s seat with respect to this so COVID’s not really going to change a lot of that. We’re probably going to see more renters I would imagine coming out of this and just in general communities that kind of have a monoculture of a housing product. When I got ot a lot of my communities there’s a whole lot of single family. If there’s any sort of struggle coming out of this with respect to foreclosures and things of that nature I think those communities with fewer diversity of housing types are going to take a hit. There’s a lot that remains to be seen. If anything [COVID] could potentially be an impetus to accelerate some stuff around retail evolution which we’ve already been seeing but also with housing. The biggest challenge I see is from the government regulation side to allow some of these types of housing. That for me is one of the biggest challenges moving forward and I think COVID-19 could be an impetus to really push that discussion to the forefront. Whether it’s something around your downtown built environment or just your housing a lot of people are going to come out of this worse off than when they went into it and so a lot of cities will be looking at this. andsaying what can we do to help and there’s a lot we can do on the housing front.
Geoff: You’re probably hearing and will continue to hear a lot about resiliency. The colloquial evolution of resiliency is “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” If something fails and that’s where all your eggs are then we’re in trouble, so disperse the risk I guess you may say. Thinking about that in terms of housing is essential coming out of this. The more resilient cities, towns, and counties that have a wide variety of housing means that you’ve got a variety of housing ready to go no matter what the case whether we’re in a pandemic or not your housing stock is ready to accept the future. But if it’s all in one basket and the future heads in a different direction you’re left behind. So that’s just something to think about generally whether it’s retail, housing, your budget, whatever it may be is to think about that resiliency and how you can disperse the risk when things take a turn for the worst.
This was an extremely informative hour-long panel by the GA Conservancy, and the information shared here will be highly valuable when joining local groups such as the Housing Justice League to advocate for affordable housing.
A few action items
Sign the Beltline For All petition by the Housing Justice League (HJL) to support efforts for affordable housing around the Atlanta Beltline.
Happy #MotivationMonday Green ATLiens!! We are headed into week ???? of Quarantine 2020 and who else is tired of staring at that English Ivy in their yard? This week’s Motivation Monday feature is Tanya “Tea” Povolny, founder of EcoLogic, an invasive plant removal service, and she is an expert on just that!
Tea grew up moving around quite a bit before landing in Atlanta in 2016 by way of Austin, TX. One of the things she immediately admired after growing her ATLien antennae is the ecological landscape and beautifully integrated urban forests that call our city home. As she says on the EcoLogic website, “Atlanta’s forest is in our backyards.”
Tanya founded EcoLogic after working on several similar restoration-based efforts (including the Fernbank Forest) and discovering how important this work is to our native habitats. EcoLogic specializes in invasive plant removal, such as English Ivy and privet, relying strongly on a “light touch, heavy effect” approach. According to Tea, sometimes she will leave a site and there will be no noticeable difference, but that’s the point. Much of her work is tailored specifically to the space and the current native species there, so any invasive plant removal is done in such a way that they will not create a vacuum in the landscape, or cause later erosion problems in the soil. So in fairness, it is a little more than just pulling up ivy! The overall goal of Ecologic’s work at a site is to return the landscape to an equilibrium that allows native species to flourish, with as minimal human touch as possible.
EcoLogic is strongly based in restoration rather than conservation. The difference is that conservation is as an effort to keep things the same, and restoration takes into account changes to the area and how to create success in a way that factors in those changes. For this reason, some spaces require aftercare, such as replanting of native species following the removal of invasive ones, or being aware of erosion factors following the removal of an invasive species.
Tea recently began volunteering with the Georgia Native Plant Society’s propagation site and is excited to potentially grow that connection in regard to planting native species.
Tea’s Call to Action
Of course, Tea has done quite a bit of research and field study to know our native plants so well and best understand a space’s needs. But she advises do not let that stop you from bringing these practices into your own yard’s landscaping. According to Tea, the most important thing she would like ATLiens to know about her work is that truly anyone can do it. Tea’s mission was founded on the desire to spread knowledge in Atlanta about how to be good stewards to our native species. A little effort each day can go a long way, so spend a little time each day pulling out privet, or removing ivy, and you will start to see a difference. As we head into another week of quarantine, maybe it is time to #getmotivated and #getoutside to tend to some of Atlanta’s urban forest that might be in your very own backyard!
Green ATLiens 