If the traffic nightmare kept you away from South Beach, you’re going to love this.

DecoBike, Miami’s first bike share program, has bike stations across the beach and scattered all the way up to 85th Street, making it easy to move around without (1) creating carbon emissions, (2) adding to the traffic and (3) making you feel guilty for having too much Pizza Rustica.

All you have to do is get a $15 monthly membership and you’ll have unlimited access to the 1,000 bikes in 100 stations across Miami Beach. There are no return dates, no late fees, no extra charges. Just go to your closest solar-powered station, check out a bike, and drop it off at another station.

I think the program is one of the best things to ever happen to SoBe, and will make wonders for locals and visitors alike, specially helping reduce congestion and noise. You won’t need to use to car for simple things such as renting a movie, minor grocery shopping, or even bar hopping. Plus, you’ll be able to eat a little more Rustica -yes, you know I’m talking to you.

The program is almost ready to launch. Do you think you’ll be riding a DecoBike next time you hit the beach? What would it take for you to leave your car behind?

Image via DecoBike

I received my first iPhone bill today (sorry, BB) and there was also information on AT&T’s commitment to plant a tree for every customer that switches to paperless billing.

Between now and Dec. 31, the company will donate $1 to the Arbor Day Foundation to plant a tree for every customer that goes paperless -up to one million trees. Not only that, but you can choose among different reforestation projects, including one in Florida to replant trees in areas hurt by storms and hurricanes.

Yes, I know what you are thinking: greenwashing. The company saves a lot more than $1 by having you go paperless: no postage, no printing, no billing clerks.

But I think this is a win-win situation. Like it’s the case with many environmental issues, going paperless is the right thing to do no matter from which perspective you look at it, and how many companies are actually doing something extra to promote it?

>Check the facts: 1 million customers that switch to paperless billing means: continue

Afraid of parenthood? No worries, try taking care of a tree first.

Miami’s Adopt-A-Tree summer program kicks-off this Saturday to help residents plant a tree for the future. Dade residents of a single-family or duplex home will be eligible to receive up to two free trees during the length of the program -even if they already received free trees in past years.

The program claims to be “better than ever” this year, and looking at the tree species that will be offered, there’s no question about it -part of the beauty of the program is that they are all native species. Check the dates continue

Can you name things you couldn’t find on Google? Your closest community garden is not one of them.

Thank Scott Lewis, who has taken the job to organize local gardens in an interactive Google map, which now boasts almost 50 gardens.

They are neatly organized by ownership: community gardens in blue, school gardens in green, and Miami-Dade College gardens in yellow. And note that school gardens are leading the count, which is great news.
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Florida animal rights activists scored two big laws during the Florida legislative session, which ended last Friday. These two laws passed unanimously:

>Ban on exotic reptiles trade: A new law will prohibit the possession, import, sale or breeding of several large reptile species including the infamous Burmese python that has been troubling so much the local environmentalists.

>Horse protection: A new law will increase penalties for the unlawful killing of horses in Florida and strengthens restrictions on the consumption of horse meat. You might have heard the heartbreaking reports about horses being killed for their flesh across South Florida.

These three laws were also discussed but for different reasons didn’t pass.

>Protecting animals from sexual abuse: This law, which would make bestiality a crime in Florida, didn’t pass for the third year in a row. It made it to the House but didn’t come up for a vote before the session ended. You can email Sen. Nan Rich at rich.nan.web@flsenate.gov and ask her to reintroduce the bill next year.

>pay/neuter surcharge: This law would charge a $15 fee for every animal cruelty or animal control violation. The funds would then be used for spaying or neutering dogs and cats in the community. This law also didn’t make it to the floor of the House or the Senate before the session ended. You can email Sen. Nan Rich at rich.nan.web@flsenate.gov and Rep. Scott Randolph here ask them to reintroduce the bill next year.

>Greyhound racing: An amendment to remove the requirement that dog tracks conduct live racing in order to offer poker or slots died for technical reasons. Had it passed, it would have probably put an end to the cruel -and very unprofitable- greyhound racing business in Florida. You can e-mail Sen. Charlie Justice and encourage him to reintroduce the bill next year: justice.charlie.web@flsenate.gov.

For more information on Florida animal rights issues visit the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida at www.arff.org

Photo courtesy of brettmcbain

Treehugger.com had an article today on a free software called granola that assesses your computer’s energy usage and scales back your processor, letting you consume about 30 percent less energy. The program only works for Windows and Linux, so I can’t install it for now on my Mac.

Like many of us nowadays, I spend most of the day in front of a computer, so the article got me thinking about other ways I could reduce my computer’s energy consumption. I mean, I always turn it off when I’m not using it -one of the mayor causes for phantom power – but there has to be a way to maybe turn off some of the functions I’m not using, put them in a dormant state so to call it.

After a little research and 5 minutes of adjustments, my Mac now runs on a more efficient mode.

This is what I did, which I hope will help you reduce your phantom power too:

1-Change your computer settings. If you have a PC, go to your Control Panel and open the Power Settings option. This is under System Preferences and Energy Saver on Macs. Change the settings to the lowest power or energy saver setting (in Macs, do it for both, the battery and the power adapter). Changing this setting will also give your battery a larger lifespan, and you can leave it like this whenever you don’t need to run a heavy graphics program or stream video.

2-Change your screen saver settings. This is also found in the Control Panel in PCs and under System Preferences/ Energy Saver on Macs. Set it to 10 minutes or less to conserve the maximum amount of energy. You can also schedule sleep times to make sure you never leave it on at night.

3-Unplug when off. I didn’t know this, but even leaving the computer off but plugged wastes power – also known as vampire power. So remember to plug off every night.

4-Install a free power management tool. This is great for your computer because it actually lets you know how much you are saving and how you are doing. Each tool has additional functions so functions, so pick the one that works best for you. Confession: The only tool for Mac is not free, so I didn’t install any for now, but pledged to be more careful about always turning my laptop off when not using it. However, if you have a PC, installing a free tool is a no-brainer:
-Power Manager is the only tool available for Macs
and lets you schedule sleep time and shut downs. $29.
-CO2 Saver 1.0.0.15 shows your savings on your desktop. Free.
-Edison, tells you now only your daily CO2 emission reductions and lets you compete with other users (only for PCs). Free.
-TweakVista assesses your daily consumption and tells you want you can do to do better compared to others (only for PCs). $19.95
-Auto Shutdown Genius lets you schedule clean ups of your recycling bin, hibernation times, and shutdown times. $29.95.
-Auto Power-on and Shut-down 2.20 lets you control standby, hibernation, shutdowns and rebooting. $24.95
-Auto Shut Down is a very simple tool that lets you schedule shut downs. $4.
-granola shuts down your processor when not in use, and shows you in a cool chart how much energy you are saving. Free.

Image courtesy of smaedli

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to explore Vizcaya through environmental music!

New York’s percussion quartet So Percussion will perform April 15 at Vizcaya using the villa’s water and plant matter to recreate John Cage’s percussion pieces from 1975 through 1977.

Listen to the quartet’s beautiful sounds here. I particularly can’t get “Go” out of my head. If still not convinced, this is what The New York Times said about the them:

“Time and time again…you found yourself smiling in a quiet amazement that could verge on disbelief.”

In addition to the concert, you’ll have the chance to interact with So Percussion during an instrument making workshop that will be offered before the show. They’ll help you make your own instrument, which you’ll be able to use in the performance.

The workshop starts at 6:30 p.m., the concert at 7:30 p.m. Seating is limited.

Tickets to be sold on site the day of the performance. Admission: $15 for the concert, $10 for the workshop.

Vizcaya is located at 3251 South Miami Avenue. For more information visit www.vizcayamuseum.org.

If your refrigerator is keeping you awake at night -and I don’t mean because of the munchies- it’s probably time to get a new one that will literally shut off at night.

You have no excuses now: Florida’s Energy Star Appliance Rebate program launches next Friday and over $17.5 million will be distributed in 66,000 rebates statewide on a first come, first served basis until April 25 or until the money runs out.

Get 20 percent rebates on freezers, clothes washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, gas tankless water heaters and room air conditioners. You can also get a $75 rebate if you submit proof of recycling.

The only catch is that all new appliances must qualify as Energy Star appliances. But because energy star appliances consume less energy, you’ll end up saving even more; an efficient refrigerator saves up to $100/ year in energy, so you get the idea.

Visit www.rebates.com/florida for more information.

Photo courtesy of gojeffrey

How greener can flying really get? This is a tough question that Air France and American Airlines were trying to answer during a couple of test flights earlier this month, the Aviaton Record reports.

In the first test on April 6, Air France incorporated next-generation technology and procedures during a Paris-Miami flight that are supposed to significantly reduce pollution and carbon emissions while saving fuel.

Such measures include single-engine taxi on departure and arrival, continuous climb-out and descent, optimum altitude and speed during the cruising phase, and a ‘tailored arrival’.

American Airlines incorporated the same measures during a flight with the same schedule the following day.

The project is led by the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), a joint partnership between the European Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration working to determine how much airlines could trim their carbon emissions.

The efficient measures resulted in CO2 emission reductions by 6-9 tons and saved 2-3 tons of jet fuel per flight, a milestone for environmentalists that have been worried about the impact of the airline industry.

This is a short reduction, but with thousands of carriers on the air 24/7, adopting the measures is a no-brainer. American’s current Fuel Smart program projects savings of 120 million gallons of fuel and 2.5 billion pounds of carbon emissions in 2010.

Photo courtesy of stuckincustoms

Buying local has become a lot easier thanks to a new deal between Publix Super Markets and Redland Farms

Food grown at Miami’s Redland Farms has long been marked as Florida-grown, not really making a distinction between tomatoes picked 400 miles from here and those picked within county lines just few hours before.

Well, not anymore. The supermarket will start marking produce grown in the farms near Homestead under the label “Redland-Raised” in an incentive to promote locally-grown food.

Expect to find Redland-Raised avocados, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, okra, sweet potato, tomatoes, papayas and sapotes, among other things.

I’ll be posting pictures of the produce after my next trip to the market.

Image by wonderlane

Forget about paper or plastic.

Florida could be the first state to ban the two bags altogether if a plan released Thursday by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is approved, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

The plan works by way of taxes and escalating fees, which will start at a nickel a bag and end at a quarter of a dollar in five years.

To get an idea of the size of the problem, get this: Floridians used more than 5 billion disposable plastic and paper bags in 2003 (the most recent numbers available), reports the Orlando Sentinel.

You might have heard a lot of plastic bag talk lately: It has been the topic of city and county meetings across the nation: San Francisco banned the bags a while ago, and Los Angeles joined this week with a similar law. The topic was also brought up during a recent Miami Beach Commission forum.

However, no state has passed such a measure yet, which means Florida could lead the effort. The legislature will consider the proposal as early as next spring.

What do you think? Do you think the government should get involved in this issue? How can we correct the general consumer behavior? Are you already carrying your own reusable bags?

Photo by eflon

Some good and bad news here: I got an e-mail today about a new sustainability report by FPL highlighting the company as a national leader in clean energy.

The report recognizes FPL as the number one producer of wind and solar power in the US, and goes on talking about how FPL plans to make Florida the second state in solar energy generation, how FPL generates more power from its wind farm than from its largest nuclear plant, and how FPL owns the largest wind farm in the world, located in Texas.

I was happy to hear this, not only because finally so much heat will be used for something other than attracting tourists (who consume and leave a lot of waste behind, but that should be another topic), but because I always felt that Florida was a little behind compared to other more energy efficient states.

Well, what does it matter now? Not even an hour later, breaking news about our favorite energy company pop up on the web again, this time pointing out how FPL is trying to expand its nuclear plants and not only pass on the costs to its customers- $67 million next year-, but -and this is the real bummer- how FPL told the Public Service Commission that nuclear power is key to Florida’s future energy plans.

“Nuclear power continues to be more economical than the latest state-of-the-art natural gas power plant. Our analysis indicates that the new nuclear units would save our customers more than $1 billion a year in fuel,” FPL spokesman Mayco Villafana told the Sun Sentinel.

Now I don’t know what to think. Was FPL’s sustainability report released a day before the hearings at the Public Service Commission intentionally? What do you think? Is the company trying to fool us?

The PSC hearings will continue Wednesday and Thursday, with a vote expected Oct. 16.

09/10/09 update: More disappointing news: Two top Public Service Commission staffers resigned yesterday and two others went on administrative leave after a Miami Herald investigation revealed that the employees had given their Blackberry codes to FPL’s lawyer, letting them text message eachother without leaving any paper trail. It seems that there will be new hires at FPL’s pr office.

Photo by afloresm

Some good and bad news here: I got an e-mail today about a new sustainability report by FPL highlighting the company as a national leader in clean energy.

The report recognizes FPL as the number one producer of wind and solar power in the US, and goes on talking about how FPL plans to make Florida the second state in solar energy generation, how FPL generates more power from its wind farm than from its largest nuclear plant, and how FPL owns the largest wind farm in the world, located in Texas.

I was happy to hear this, not only because finally so much heat will be used for something other than attracting tourists (who consume and leave a lot of waste behind, but that should be another topic), but because I always felt that Florida was a little behind compared to other more energy efficient states.

Well, what does it matter now? Not even an hour later, breaking news about our favorite energy company pop up on the web again, this time pointing out how FPL is trying to expand its nuclear plants and not only pass on the costs to its customers- $67 million next year-, but -and this is the real bummer- how FPL told the Public Service Commission that nuclear power is key to Florida’s future energy plans.

“Nuclear power continues to be more economical than the latest state-of-the-art natural gas power plant. Our analysis indicates that the new nuclear units would save our customers more than $1 billion a year in fuel,” FPL spokesman Mayco Villafana told the Sun Sentinel.

Now I don’t know what to think. Was FPL’s sustainability report released a day before the hearings at the Public Service Commission intentionally? What do you think? Is the company trying to fool us?

The PSC hearings will continue Wednesday and Thursday, with a vote expected Oct. 16.

09/10/09 update: More disappointing news: Two top Public Service Commission staffers resigned yesterday and two others went on administrative leave after a Miami Herald investigation revealed that the employees had given their Blackberry codes to FPL’s lawyer, letting them text message eachother without leaving any paper trail. It seems that there will be new hires at FPL’s pr office.

Photo by afloresm

Cities across the globe will celebrate Coastal Cleanup Day Sept. 19, and South Florida is not staying behind.

Why it’s important to cleanup the shore? The list of reasons could be endless.

Think of all the plastic bags, bottles and other garbage that end up in the ocean every year (read this if you haven’t heard about the Pacific Garbage Patch), or the chemicals that our garbage releases into the water (which by the way come back to us in the fish we eat) or the harm we cause to the ecosystem when animals confuse trash for food and end up intoxicating if not choking on it.

Oceans already receive enough mercury from the coal and other industries, which has become a worldwide concern, and the leftovers from someone’s day at the beach shouldn’t add to it.

Remember how Florida advertises having the longest shoreline in the nation? Let’s keep it clean. On Sept. 19, do your (future) children and grandchildren a favor and come out to help cleanup our beautiful shore.

Here are some of the organizations that will be doing cleanups that day. I’ll update the list as I hear from more organizations. Do you know of other organizations planning a cleanup? I’d love to read your comments.

MIAMI:

Miami-Dade Coastal Cleanup:It will have volunteers in more than 30 locations across the County. Registration is required. Check here for a location close to you. As if helping save the marine life weren’t enough, there will be an after party for volunteers at the Miami Seaquarium.
Visit www.miamidadecoastalcleanup.org for more information.

Environmental Coalition of Miami Beach: In addition to their monthly Monument Island cleanups, on Sept. 19, ECOMB is also having a cleanup of Teacher’s Island. Kayaks will be available at no cost for the Monument Island cleanup, which will add to the fun. You need to register no later than 48 hours before the event.Visit www.ecomb.org for more information.

Friends of Virginia Key: Friends of Virginia Key can help clean up the Key at three locations: Hobie Beach, Windsurfer Beach and Marine Stadium. After the cleanup, join Friends of Virginia Key and other groups in an alternate BYOS (bring your own sandwich) mixer at the Virginia Key Beach Park picnic area. Visit: www.virginiakeybeachpark.net for more information.

BROWARD:

Broward County Biological Resources Division: Volunteers will help cleanup coastal areas throughout the county. Pre-registration necessary. For more information visit www.broward.org/bio/coastalcleanup_announcement.htm.

PALM BEACH:

Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful Inc.: Volunteers will clean sites from Boca Raton to Tequesta and will receive free t-shirts (while supplies last) to commemorate the event and their efforts. For more info visit www.keeppbcbeautiful.org/fcc2009.htm.

Photo by Rene Ehrhardt

I recently visited Crandon Park’s Visitors and Nature Center, where they run a Sea Turtle Awareness Program. From July to September -the turtle nesting season is April through September- they have open nights where visitors can watch staff members release turtle hatchlings into the ocean.

These are hatchlings that didn’t break their egg when the other turtles in their nest did. Each nests contains an average of 100 eggs, and there are usually 10 or so turtles that are always left behind. The center takes care of them until they are ready for their journey into a huge seaweed patch in the Atlantic where sea turtles spend most of their adult life.

Unfortunately, with so many threats like storms, predators, fisheries and human-released garbage, only one in 1,000 turtles will complete a life cycle, explained our guide.

So why am I sharing all this? Because I just read how a new study warns that loggerhead turtles are at risk of extinction, in part due to commercial fishing. Turtles get trapped in fishing nets, and usually don’t make it out. This happens once or twice a day among fishing fleets, which can reduce the turtle population by thousands annually, the report says.

But there are also other mayor threats mentioned in the report: coastal development that disrupts nesting, such as erosion-control barriers and other structures that prevent mothers from nesting and bright lights that can disorient hatchlings.

The population along the shores of Florida, Georgia and Carolina are at the highest risk, the report concludes. Are you getting the point?

The good news is that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which conducted the report, is also in charge of regulating the fishing industry, and it’s expected to come up tougher turtle protection measures in February.

So here’s the deal: We have to do something before sea turtles become a rarity in Florida. Follow this link to Oceana’s Website and with just a few clicks, send an e-mail to the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization. It takes seconds, LITERALLY.

Turtle hatchling photo via Crandon Park
Adult turtle photo by Coda