Tag Archive for 'Florida'

The Sunshine State: Keep Shining!

niki published on December 2, 2008 in technology. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

Hey!

Just saw this at the NY Times blog:
“The Sunshine state is starting to live up to its name on the energy front. Today Florida Power & Light, the state’s biggest utility, broke ground on what it says will be the first utility-scale solar investment in the state — and the second-largest of its kind in the country when it is fully turned on in 2010….
This solar thermal plant, which is located on the Atlantic coast just north of Palm Beach County, will consist of 180,000 mirrors, spread over 500 acres. It also matches solar power with an existing combined-cycle natural gas plant, so that when the sun is not shining, the natural gas can take over the work of powering the turbines….
The plant is the first of three solar facilities that F.P.L. is constructing in Florida, which the utility says will make the state the second-largest solar energy producer in the country. California is currently the largest.”

Yay for progress!

Thanks to Florida Power and Light for the image and the NY Times for letting us know!

Niki

For the Love of a Dog

jordan published on October 5, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

I guess it can only be called dramatic irony to write a post about kinship with sharks, only to find two days later, this story


When he saw his dog being attacked by a reef shark, a Florida man, Greg LeNoir, dove in and punched the shark to save his dog.  Wow!
In a way, you could call that a type of kinship.  Because only a very special bond with your pet drives a man to such a bold and heroic act.  And I guess you could call it communion as well.  Like: “Nooo!”, or “Get away from my dog, sharkface!” and finally, “I love you Jake!”
Jake here being the rat-terrier.  Who suffered lacerations to his stomach and back, but is expected to make a full recovery.  That’s one lucky dog, one loving owner, and one sore shark.


Like I said before, when it comes to sharks, there’s nothing to be afraid of.  Now would I have jumped in for my dog… well, that’s another story.
-jordan

SuperForester Spoon Presents: Daughtry – What About Now

jackson published on August 25, 2008 in Uncategorized. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .


Hey Yo!

A few weeks back, we started Ask SuperForest, our very own advice column.
Our first (and currently only) question came from SuperForester Spoon in Florida.

(You can read his question and our answer right here.)

Today, Spoon sent in his first post!


Hey everyone!

My name is James but most people refer to me as Spoon. I stumbled across Superforest a few months ago through Jason Mraz’s site (not unlike some other folks out there) and have been hooked ever since.

I am a student as well as a musician and employee. I love anything that has to do with music, reading, films and especially things that have to do with Florida.

I was born and raised in the Sunshine State, which is still hurting in some areas because of the recent Tropical Storm Fay. So when I found Daughtry’s “What About Now” video I was personally touched because of what is happening to thousands of people across this state, several of whom I personally know.

If you ever find yourself asking, “What can I do to make a difference?” The answer is simple: You ARE the difference. You ARE the change.

Get out there and create some good vibes, you will be surprised to see just how many you get back in return :)

I hope everyone is having a happy Monday and may the sun shine down you all!

Sincerely,

Spoon

Sadly, the video has embedding disabled. No matter, click on any above picture to see it on youtube.

Awesome!

Great first post, Spoon!

And if you’ve got a question you’d like Team SuperForest to answer, email asksuperforest@gmail.com. Yes, do!

Ask SuperForest: S’s Question

jackson published on August 21, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .


Good Morning!

Last week we started our very own advice column: Ask SuperForest.

Our first question has come in!

“Hey guys!

First let me say that since I have discovered your site (through Jason Mraz’s, as is the case with other people), I have been, taught, entertained, and inspired to try to be more “Superforesty”. I have recently become a vegetarian and try only to buy local food and products. I have also make an active attempt to eliminate unnecessary waste from my day-to-day living. So far, things have been going great and I cannot wait to tell others how to be more conscientious of their decisions.

Which leads me to my question: Do you know of any local groups or sites that are similar to yourselves? I live in Orlando, Florida and would like to help contribute to a group in my general area. I recently joined my local farmer’s co-op and plan on volunteering with them but I would also like to find a blog or something similar that I can help with. Have you ever thought of local branches of SuperForest? I think something like that would be a great way for individuals across the country to help contribute to their local communities. It is something I have been thinking of since visiting your blog and would like to know your thoughts since you all have been doing this a lot longer than I have.

Thanks for your time and effort in everything you all are doing, and good luck on all future endeavors!

Sincerely,
S.”

S’s question came in and Team SuperForest has spent a week discussing it, and here is our reply:

Dear S,

Firstly, let us say thank you so very much for your kind words about SuperForest.
Sadly, we don’t really know of any local groups in the Orlando area who are doing exactly what we do here at SuperForest.

So here is our solution.

We cordially invite you, S, to join Team SuperForest!

We would love it if you joined our Team, learned to speak SuperForest, and then began the Florida arm of SF.

This past year has been one of extraordinary growth. SuperForest has gone from a one-person blog to a many-person site, with writers and contributors all over the world.

What we’d very much like to see is for the “Home Office” to remain what it is, but for every state in the U.S. to have it’s own local SuperForest where sustainably-minded folk could meet, post news about local events, makes each other laugh, fall in love, grow and thrive, find happiness, etc.

So S, join our Team, learn and grow with us, and then sally forth into the great wild world with our full support to start superforest.org/florida. Create your own local Team SuperForest, organize events, celebrate ingenuity and promote inspiration and communication among your fellow Floridians and the rest of the world.

This would make us beyond happy.

For you’ve come to recognize a need in your neighborhood for some SuperForest-style thinking and if it doesn’t exist, you must create it yourself.

We’d be very excited to help you do that.

Think about what we’ve said and we will post you the email chain/discussion that lead up to our reply.

Cordially yours and hoping this finds you well,

Team SuperForest.

NY Times: Florida to Buy Sugar Maker in Bid to Restore Everglades!

jackson published on June 24, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .


(photo via flickr user acmelucky777)

OMG!

This is wonderful, inspiring news!

The state of Florida has worked out an agreement with U.S. Sugar that will allow the sugar producer to continue operating for six more years, and then…

Allow the land to return to its natural state!

Looky!:

“LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. — In a deal that environmental groups said would be the largest ecological restoration in the country’s history, a plan for the state to buy the nation’s largest producer of cane sugar was announced Tuesday by the governor and officials of U.S. Sugar Corporation.

Joe Skipper/Reuters

Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, with Robert H Buker Jr., the chief of U.S. Sugar, held up an agreement struck between the state and the sugar producer.

The intention is to restore the Everglades by restoring the water flow from Lake Okeechobee, in the heart of the state, south to Florida Bay. That flow had been interrupted by commercial farming and the Everglades have suffered as a result.

Under term of the tentative deal, U.S. Sugar would continue farming and processing for six more years before closing the business and allowing 187,000 acres of land to return to its natural state. For its part the state would pay U.S. Sugar $1.7 billion.

Governor Charlie Crist said the deal was “as monumental as the creation of the nation’s first national park, Yellowstone.””

187,000 acres of land! That’s approximately 2,200 Disneylands!

Plenty of room for ‘gators, and birds, and snakes, and all manner of wildlife to move back in and get to work setting things right.

What deliriously wonderful news.

Here’s the original article.

And a huge thanks goes out to the NY Times, U.S. Sugar, Governor Charlie Crist, Robert H. Buker Jr., and the good state of Florida.

You’ve made our night, y’all.

Have an excellent evening.

Love,

Team SuperForest