Photo: John Byrne Barry John Byrne Barry has a thing for trash. Barry lived in Berkeley for 30 years, served on the board of the Ecology Center, and wrote about recycling issues for local publications, including the East Bay Express. But he found the world of recycling so intriguing that he couldn’t get it out […]
Green
Posted inNosh
Urban Adamah to break ground on new farm
A sustainable agriculture organization that hopes to create an urban farm and training program for the next generation of urban farmers has nearly broken ground.
Posted inNosh
UC Gill Tract Farm blooms amidst controversy
Volunteers at the UC Berkeley Gill Tract Community farm in Albany have harvested 17,000 pounds of produce in the last year alone.
Posted inNature
In Berkeley, protesters get naked to try to save trees
Volunteers pose naked against eucalyptus trees at the Grinnell Natural Area of UC Berkeley on Saturday, July 18, 2015, to show opposition to a FEMA-funded tree-clearing proposal. Photo: Ted Friedman An estimated 50-75 people took part in a staged protest today at a eucalyptus grove on the UC Berkeley campus, many of them stripping naked in […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Berkeley should be the first city in the US to host the ‘Anything to Say?’ public art project
On Nov. 3, 1964 Mario Savio stood in defiance of the establishment on the UC Berkeley campus and called out words now embedded in history: “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part. And […]
Posted inCity, Community
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, State Senator Loni Hancock, challenge us to save as much water as them
A challenge by Mayor Tom Bates and his wife, State Senator Loni Hancock, aims to raise awareness about California’s drought. Photo: Steve Johnson A challenge by Mayor Tom Bates and his wife, State Senator Loni Hancock, aims to raise awareness about California’s drought. Photo: Steve Johnson Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates has announced a city-wide water-conservation challenge with […]
Posted inNature
New book highlights drought-tolerant garden solutions
Photo: Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings Now that Governor Brown has issued the first-ever statewide mandates on water use, many of us are looking at our gardens through a new lens. How can we can reduce the amount of water they use? What are the most drought-tolerant plants? Should we ditch the lawn […]
Posted inNature
City, already cutting, digs deeper to slash its water use
The grass in Willard Park might not look as green this year given irrigation cutbacks being implemented by the city in response to drought conditions. Photo, taken in August 2014, by Natalie Orenstein The grass in Willard Park might not look as green this year given irrigation cutbacks being implemented by the city in response to drought […]
Posted inSchools
Bay Area Bike Share slated to expand to East Bay in 2016
Bay Area Bike Share in San Francisco: after some hiccups, the program should be running in the East Bay by 2016. Photo: Kathleen Costanza There may have been some bumps in the road, but Bay Area Bike Share is set to expand to Berkeley and the East Bay in 2016. In early April, officials announced […]
Posted inNature
Water conservation gets serious with restrictions, fines
EBMUD employee Mark Bolton at the dried-out Camanche Reservoir in the San Joaquin Valley. Photo: EBMUD Hosing down your driveway, watering your yard more than twice a week, or washing your car with a hose without a shutoff nozzle are forbidden in Berkeley, as the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) faces its worst water […]
Posted inSchools
Berkeley Bicycle Plan workshop draws a crowd
Attendees at Monday’s bike plan workshop gave feedback about what they like, and don’t like, about cycling in Berkeley. Photo: Emilie Raguso Attendees at Monday’s bike plan workshop gave feedback about what they like, and don’t like, about cycling in Berkeley. Photo: Emilie Raguso More than 100 people turned out Monday night to offer feedback […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: How should water be priced in Berkeley?
What does it cost for a typical Berkeley residential customer to use 500 gallons of water a month? 5,000 gallons? 10,000 gallons? Given the scope of the drought California is experiencing, the results may surprise you.* After you pay the service charge, water is less than a penny per gallon in Berkeley, no matter how […]
