Name Name
titledescript
If you assumed that super-wealthy homeowners are the only ones putting rooftop solar panels on their houses, you wouldn't be alone. But, according to a new Center for American Progress (CAP) study, you would be wrong. The CAP report used residential solar installation data from the Arizona Public Service (APS), California Solar Initiative (CSI) and New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program (NJCEP)......read more
Craig Lewis for The Huffington Post: Too often campaign promises go unfulfilled. But for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, keeping his word should be easy. Mr. Garcetti was elected to office on a platform that called for a significant expansion of solar energy in L.A. And this promise is becoming more attractive by the day. The Department of Water and Power's newest solar program is already......read more
Brooklyn Grange, the rooftop farming operation that launched in Long Island City a couple years ago, celebrated its first harvest at its new site, a 43,000 square-foot rooftop farm in Brooklyn -- now the largest such farm in NYC. Located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the rooftop farm was financed in part by a $592,730 grant from the DEP's Green Infrastructure Grant Program. Mayor......read more
Food doesn't get any more local than when you can plant, pick, cook, and eat it all within a space of about five feet. That's the exactly the situation that building manager Peter Malerba finds himself in. The longtime Brooklyn resident takes advantage of having open access to a vast rooftop by growing a variety of organic delights every summer. But like a good Brooklynite, Malerba......read more
Hallelujah! A baptist church in a neglected Manhattan neighbourhood has entered the urban farming game, with a 1,000 square foot rooftop garden that's producing abundant fruit and veg for the church's busy food pantry. Located in Hell's Kitchen between the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the Lincoln Tunnel, the Metro Baptist Church is as far removed from rural farm life as it gets. But with......read more
For Justin Vernon, there's more to gardening than growing plants. His rooftop garden, one of the many cropping up on the Brooklyn skyline, is part of a broader shift in environmental consciousness. The moment he started thinking of the planet as a living entity, Justin couldn't wait to get some seeds and get down to business. Now, with the Gaia philosophy informing his approach, Justin raises......read more
In the latest episode of The Perennial Plate, series creators Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine travel to East Asia, where urban farming is beginning to take hold on empty rooftops. The clip introduces us to Osbert Lam at City Farm in Hong Kong and Guichun Zhang in Beijing, each of whom have created rooftop garden oases in their respective cities. In both cases, it seems like the motives......read more
By standard definition, "local food" is that which is produced within 100 miles of where it's sold. BrightFarms wants you to forget that. The New York-based greenhouse company aims to shift our understanding of local-ness by bringing rooftop gardens to the place where consumers buy food: the supermarket. Launched in January 2011, BrightFarms' vision is to convince grocery retailers to grow......read more
Paul Nosa makes "sustainable art" using a sewing machine powered by his bike. You give him an idea in five words or less, and he sews a piece of art for you. Not just any idea, though. I tried "baby punched in face" and he politely declined. How rude....read more
For all the excitement over low cost solar power, much of it is still in the development stage backed by government resources and has yet to prove that it can compete on the market with cheap fossil fuels. However some private investors are starting to bet on low cost solar in a big way. Among them is tech specialist Len Batterson, whose startup NextGen Solar is kicking into gear. NextGen......read more
