Julie Thibodeaux

Dallas Greendrinks and Net Impact are planning another Carrotmob. This time they are coming together under the green umbrella of Earth Day Dallas to once again bring people together to ‘mob’ a local Dallas business.  Carrotmob will reward an environmentally and socially responsible business with a mob of new customers.

On Wednesday, March 23rd, the House Appropriations Committee voted 18-7 in favor of a state budget that would make major cuts to our state parks system. This budget could force the closure of at least seven state parks, drastically reduce services at the rest, and eliminate funding for local parks and playgrounds.

Ninety percent of the energy used to wash clothes comes from heating the water. However, you can reduce demand on the hot water heater by washing most clothing in cold water. You will also see less color fading with the clothes. Use hot water for whites, towels, and sheets. Washing sheets in hot water is especially important for killing dust mites. But even with the warmer loads, consider using the hot cycle initially and then using cold water in the rinse cycle. Hot water more effective at killing germs.

On Monday night, the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League voted overwhelmingly to support Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt in her effort to establish an open and transparent gas drilling task force to study the effects of shale gas drilling in Dallas.

Joshua Tickell's film, Fuel, looks at a topic that affects our entire world. Fuel heats us, cools us, and feeds us. Yet, the extraction of fossil fuels is a dirty business, affecting health and environment. It is a limited resource and it leads to political and international conflict.

Computer equipment contains some pretty toxic materials, including lead, cadmium, mercury, and PVC plastics. Over 70% of the heavy metals in landfills come from electronic equipment. Additionally, 60% of electronic equipment that is 'thrown out' doesn't make it to the landfills; instead it is shipped to other countries where there is often less money and resources to dispose of it properly.

As you have probably heard, we have been losing large populations of honeybees. There are multiple factors for this, but the largest threat comes from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a disorder still not clearly understood.

Bees and humans have had a long connection--particularly when it comes to the cultivation of plants.

Last week, Tom 'Smitty' Smith of Public Citizen met with local environmental organizers at the Dallas Clean Air meetup to discuss several issues, including the outcome of the Sunset hearings for Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Texas Railroad Commission. Every state agency must go through a Sunset review where it's practices are evaluated and the agency may or may not be permitted to continue. 

On Tuesday, each member of the Dallas City Council, along with Mayor Tom  Leppert and City Manager Mary K. Suhm received a gift: their very own copy of the Academy Award nominated film, Gasland. 

A TCEQ public meeting in Frisco this month drew more than 60 people to discuss lead pollution coming from a battery recyling plant operated by Exide Technologies, inc. The 46-year-old plant is the only battery recycling plant in Texas.

Over 80 people turned out at the Trinity River Audubon Center this month on a sunny Saturday afternoon to learn about net metering. The event was sponsored by the Texas Solar Energy Society and the North Texas Renewable Energy Group.

Hundreds of people from across the state showed up in Dallas on Friday (January 14th) to participate in the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Public Hearing to support EPA's enforcement of the Clean Air Act in Texas.

And why? Because Texas residents cannot get help from their own state agency, Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ), to safeguard their basic rights to clean air.