Greening Memphis: News Blog, Memphis Flyer

Shelby County To Open Christmas Tree Recycling Center

Bianca Phillips — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:26:41 -0600

Shelby County is opening a Christmas tree recycling center beginning December 22nd (just in case you get sick of Christmas early) and running through January 11th in the south parking lot of the Shelby County Showplace Arena (105 Germantown Rd.).

Natural trees, wreaths, and other greenery must be free of lights and decorations.…

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Downtown

Bianca Phillips — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:57:11 -0500

Twelve electric vehicle charging stations have been installed and are now operating in downtown parking garages.

ECOtality, a San Francisco-based company that specializes in energy-efficiency, and its partner, Blink Network, paid for the equipment and installation.…

Air Quality Committee To Deal With County's Polluted Air

Bianca Phillips — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:24:11 -0500

A 13-member committee has been appointed by Mayor Mark Luttrell to explore new ways the county can improve its air quality and meet ozone pollution standards.

The committee met informally for the first time on Tuesday, and it's charged with examining air pollution from cars, industry, and other sources.…

Updated Plans Unveiled for Overton-Broad Connector

Bianca Phillips — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:38:28 -0500

Updated plans for the two-way bike path that will connect Overton Park to the Shelby Farms Greenline were on display this afternoon at an open house-style public meeting at the Lester Street Community Center.

The path will begin in Overton Park with a paved trail connecting the existing Old Forest trails to Sam Cooper, but that part of the project is being undertaken by the Overton Park Conservancy.…

Overton-Broad Connector Meeting

Bianca Phillips — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 12:32:28 -0500

Two public meetings to gather input on what cyclists, pedestrians, and other stakeholders would like to see in the proposed bike path connecting Overton Park to the Shelby Farms Greenline via Broad and Tillman are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 16th.

A day time "open house" drop-in meeting is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Lester Street Community Center (317 Tillman), and a formal presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m. at First Baptist Church Broad (2835 Broad).…

Memphis Joins National Protected Bike Lane Project

Bianca Phillips — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:57:57 -0500

The Green Lane Project, sponsored by the national bicycling nonprofit Bikes Belong Foundation, will include Memphis and five other U.S. cities in its plan to support the development of protected bike lanes over the next two years.

"Protected bike lanes," also known as "green lanes," are lanes buffered from traffic with curbs, planters, posts, or parked cars.…

New Bicycle Route from Kentucky to Memphis Unveiled

Bianca Phillips — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:43:36 -0500

A team of local cyclists set out in mid-March to map a bicycle-friendly trail from the Kentucky-Tennessee border to Memphis as part of the Mississippi River Corridor. Their route — known as K2M for Kentucky to Memphis — was unveiled this morning at the Tipton County Museum & Nature Center in Covington.…

Assisi Foundation Grants Funds to Overton Park Conservancy

Bianca Phillips — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:35:57 -0500

The Overton Park Conservancy was awarded a $500,000 grant from the Assisi Foundation. The money will be used to fund cultural and educational programs, family-friendly activities, and for support of Overton Park's operations and capital improvements.…

Cyclists and Pedestrians Needed for Complete Streets Video

Bianca Phillips — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:21:24 -0500

More and more Memphis streets can be considered "complete streets" as Mayor A C Wharton's office makes good on its promise to add bike lanes wherever possible.

The urban planning term "complete street" is used to classify streets that cater to all users: motor vehicle drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and public transportation.…

Harahan Bridge Greenway Meeting Tonight

Bianca Phillips — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:28:42 -0500

From 1917 to 1949, the Harahan Bridge was open to car traffic, but today the old bridge only carries rail traffic.

But that may change with a plan to convert the old 1917 motorway into a bicycle and pedestrian path across the river.…

More on Memphis' First Electric Vehicle Charging Station

Bianca Phillips — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:56:53 -0500

MBQ (our sister publication) reporter Lindsay Jones attended the unveiling of the city's first electric vehicle charging station in the Peabody Hotel's parking garage.

First Electric Vehicle Charging Station Unveiled Wednesday

Bianca Phillips — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:48:51 -0500

Drivers of electric cars in Memphis can finally charge their vehicles at a public station. The Peabody Hotel is home to Memphis' first charging station, which will be unveiled on Wednesday afternoon.…

Overton Park Advocates Host Public Meetings

Bianca Phillips — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:51:47 -0500

A group of park preservationists, ecologists, business leaders, and others have launched a Speak Up for Overton Park campaign to gauge interest in forming a nonprofit conservancy to fund and manage Midtown's largest park.

The conservancy would be similar to the ones that manage Shelby Farms Park and the Memphis Botanic Gardens.…

MLGW "Water Police" Go Door-to-Door

Bianca Phillips — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:00:39 -0500

More than 800 Memphis Light, Gas, & Water (MLGW) customers in five zip codes will get a little schooling on water usage on Friday, April 1st. Beginning at 8:30 a.m., representatives from the utility company will begin visiting homes of people who demonstrated overly-high water consumption in the month of March.…

Douglass High School Goes Green

Bianca Phillips — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:13:58 -0500

On Tuesday, March 29th, Douglass High School was officially granted partner status in the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's TP3 Green School program.

The TP3 program promotes environmental education of students and staff through hands-on projects in clean air, energy conservation, hazardous materials, education, land and water conservation, and waste reduction.…

Bike Lane Buy-In Rescheduled

Bianca Phillips — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:44:00 -0600

Only a handful of diehard cyclists braved the rain and cold weather this past Saturday for the Madison Avenue Bike Lane Buy-In ride. So organizers have rescheduled the event for Saturday, March 12th at noon.…

Bike Lane Buy-In Ride This Saturday

Bianca Phillips — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:28:46 -0600

Madison Avenue is scheduled for re-paving this spring, and the city of Memphis is considering adding bike lanes in both directions at that time. Adding bike lanes would mean taking away two lanes of car traffic, and some Madison business owners are worried that such a move would result in a loss of business.…

Memphis Allowed Into Electric Vehicle Demonstration Project

Lindsay Jones — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:56:02 -0600

It’s official: Memphis is on the grid.

On Tuesday morning, representatives from San Francisco-based ECOtality North America hosted a partner forum at The Peabody to welcome the Bluff City into a five-state embrace of electric vehicles and charging stations called “The EV Project.”

“Electric vehicles are coming, and we want to make sure businesses in Tennessee are as EV-friendly as possible,” said ECOtality’s Stephanie Cox.…