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Overview > Local Scoop > Labels > Environment Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Asheville to see more air quality warnings this summerAsheville may have more days this summer of poor air quality. Changes to the official national air quality standard have lowered the amount of ozone in the air to constitute air quality warnings. The EPA adopted the new standard to update measurements with new research on air quality and public health. It is expected that Asheville will see a substantial increase in "orange days." Forecasts started on April 15th and will end on September 1st. For updated daily forecasts, visit ncair.org. On code orange days, children, the elderly and anyone with heart or respiratory disease such as asthma should limit their physical activity. Labels: asheville, environment
Thursday, February 28, 2008 Southern Living's Eco-Friendly HouseSouthern Living has chosen eco-friendly community Whisper Mountain located just outside Asheville to build their 2008 Green Idea House. The architect has drawn up a traditional farmhouse, and visitors will be given tours to learn about building green homes. The contractor is EcoBuilders and features will include solar panels, a gray water system and radiant-heated floors. While the house is being constructed, on-site recycling is being implemented as well as the use of non-toxic materials and locally made building materials. The house's energy recovery ventilator draws in filtered air and removes humidity. Recycled metal will be used on the house's roof. Bill Allison of Allison Ramsey Architects and Traci Kearns of Alchemy Design Studio designed the house locally. For more information about the Southern Living eco-friendly house, call (877) 687-2626 Labels: asheville, environment
Monday, January 14, 2008 Asheville Recycling's New Curbside Contest Curbside Management and Asheville's sanitation department are holding the new Feed the Bin and Win competition. Starting the week of February 4th, they will be giving away $100 a week for 16 weeks. Those people living in the cities that participate in Asheville's Curbside Recycling Program can enter the contest by sending in an enrollment card. The cards and a flyer will be brought to each residence when the 2008 recycling and brush collection calendar are delivered. Every week for 16 weeks, a card will be randomly drawn and if the selected house puts out its recyclable items and all meet the city recycling guidelines; then the household will win $100. If the household does not meet the requirements, the prize money rolls over to the following week. Each week that the conditions are not met, it gives the winner of the next week's drawing a chance to win $200. The card and guidelines are available below, and can be turned in via e-mail to sanitation@ashevillenc.gov. Labels: asheville, environment
Thursday, December 27, 2007 City of Asheville to propose converting to hybrid buses Asheville City leaders want to use state transportation funding to begin converting the Asheville Transit System's diesel buses into diesel hybrids some time in the next year. Ordering only of five of the new hybrid buses would give Asheville one of the biggest hybrid bus fleets in North Carolina. The five buses would come at the cost of $3 million. Funds would come from both state and local taxpayer coffers. The purchase will most likely depend on the State of North Carolina giving Asheville $2.7 million in transportation funding. The hybrids would be an element of a program that would replace Asheville's 16 older diesel buses, which were purchased in 1996. While the hybrids would cost 30 percent more than standard diesel buses, they would use 25-50% less diesel fuel as well as reduce maintenance costs. City Councilman Brownie Newman says that fuel savings is one of the major reasons to support the hybrids. Also among the stated reasons are improved air quality and lower noise levels downtown, among other advantages the hybrid buses would provide. Labels: asheville, environment
Thursday, November 29, 2007 Asheville expands recycling programAsheville's Curbside Management is adding two new materials to its collection program. All empty aerosol and plastic bottles will now be accepted for recycling!  Asheville residents can now recycle both materials by placing them in their green recycling bin and following these rules:
To see whether a plastic container is in fact recyclable, here is what to look for:
There are still a few plastics that cannot be recycled. The following items will not be collected:
If you have questions regarding recycling in Asheville, please call Curbside Management at (828) 252-2532. Labels: asheville, environment
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Asheville asking residents to conserve waterWith Western North Carolina still in a drought, Asheville City Government is asking residents to conserve water. This voluntary conservation effort is the first step of a three-phase plan that will be implemented if water consumption in the city cannot be curbed. The Phases are as follows:  Phase I - Voluntary Measures – Phase II - Mandatory Measures – Phase III - Surcharges Implemented – Asheville's primary source of water is the 6 billion gallon North Fork Reservoir in Black Mountain, which is located in a 22,000 acre protected watershed. Asheville also gets water from the Bee Tree and the Mills River water treatment plants. These facilities provide water to all of Asheville. Asheville uses a computer-based drought management modeling program that helps the city assess how much water is on-hand. The model takes into account current water levels, precipitation, past reservoir levels and recent rainfall to access future drought conditions. Labels: asheville, environment, water
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