While buying local is ALWAYS the best choice, take the first week of December (1st through 7th) to remind yourself how important it really is. Lowcountry Local First is celebrating Buy Local Week with events including a Give Local Holiday Bazaar, a viewing of the documentary film Independent America at the Terrace Theater, and Eat Local Night and a Local Hero contest. The culmination at the end of the week with the BUY LOCAL, BE LOCAL BASH on December 7th at Lowndes Grove!

Get a head start and buy local for your Thanksgiving Feast!

Not sure how to “be green” like everyone’s telling you to be? Coming up September 28^th, the Charleston Green Fair will be held in Marion Square.

Reputable green festival planning company, Seven Star Events, has been hired to ensure the fair is truly sustainable and has zero-impact. Enjoy a variety of entertainment: speakers, musicians, demonstrations, as well as plenty of food and “green” exhibitors for family, home and office, food, health and wellness.

Still not convinced? Charleston’s finest Mayor Joe Riley is on board supporting the green effort! The Lowcountry has so many amazing programs and services to offer, so come check them out. You’ll be surprised how easy it is being green.

Photo courtesy of CharlestonGreenFair.org

From eco-friendly redevelopment with Oak Terrace Preserve to the state’s first LEED certified school, North Charleston is doing everything it can to become South Carolina’s “most sustainable city”.

If you haven’t heard about everything going on around the Noisette area in North Charleston, you’re missing out. Focused on revitalizing the grounds of the former Navy Base, Noisette and local developers have adopted civic guidelines to “put sustainable into practice.”

Author Keith West recently editorialized North Charleston’s sustainable efforts (read the article). The best part about this initiative is how several entities are actively taking steps to add to the community’s success. Area businesses and schools, City Council elected officials and local housing developers are all contributing to the ’sustainable’ movement.

North Charleston residents have reason to celebrate. But, what do you think? Is North Charleston really the most sustainable city in the state? It’s definitely inspiration for other communities to follow similar paths…

Photography by Brennan Wesley. Courtesy of Noisette Company.

This Friday ends with a wonderful new development from the city of Charleston — a new bicycle and pedestrian path in West Ashley! Now residents along Hwy 61 will be able to bike to school and work. To top it all off, because of the city’s planning efforts, no trees were cut down to create this new path. I’m sure members of Charleston Moves are thrilled about this one.

Personally, some of my best ideas come from my time on my bike… so, I challenge those residents to use their commute time to breath the fresh air and get inspired by the beautiful city that surrounds them.

Then, tell us about it.

Thanks to the handy newsletter from our friends at Noisette, here’s a quick summary of local sustainability and green initiatives making headlines across the nation.

• Charleston Trident Homebuilders encourages its members to “go green” with the Earthcraft standard
• Oak Terrace Preserve, North Charleston’s newest green community, is featured on NBC News 2
• Half Moon Outfitter’s new facility is certified LEED Platinum

Great to see Charleston featured in such a great light. Tell us what inspires you, Charleston.

Has anyone ever heard of ’super trees’? I didn’t until recently. Apparently they are “trees that have been genetically engineered to grow faster, produce more wood on less land, thrive in unfamiliar climates and be processed more easily into wood or paper once they are cut down.”

The company behind this science is ArborGen, a biotechnology company in the Lowcountry that plans to grow super trees in local factories. They are hoping to improve the genetic makeup of trees grown for paper, wood or biofuels and conserve the world’s rainforests (which loses a 100,000 acres a day).

Yet another cool company in our area spearheading some leading-edge technology and engineering!

And, from what I understand, the idea is to have robots run these factories one day. Check out recent articles on the company at PopSci.com & Fortune.

Just saw this in the CRBJ Daily Journal… there’s a groundbreaking for one of Charleston’s green neighborhoods today:

I’On Group will break ground Wednesday on Mixson, a traditional walkable neighborhood in the Park Circle area of North Charleston. Vince Graham, founder of I’On Group, and North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summey will lead the ground breaking beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Mixson Avenue between East Montague and Durant Avenue.

Mixson’s streets will be characterized by tree-lined walks leading to parks and plazas. Public gathering places will complement private residences and provide neighbors the opportunity to engage in a healthy civic life. Mixson will be a diverse, walking neighborhood with plans for residences in a variety of forms, including single-family detached homes, rowhouses, multi-unit homes and live-work flats. I’On Group will complete 29 one- to three-bedroom residences by next spring with prices starting in the mid-100s.

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