While advocating for sustainability, it’s important to note that what we eat and where we do plays a huge role. Some, but not all, food supply methods use a lot of carbon emissions. It can be challenging to find a place with local food that is healthy. But just your luck because Texas has sustainable and delicious locations.

 

1. Hillside Farmacy

First on our list is a well-established restaurant with loads of history. Hillside Farmacy is one of the most sustainable locations in Austin, TX. Chef’s prepare all course from material from Durham Ranch, Springdale Farms, and Rinnger Family Farms. The french-style interior sets the mood for Sunday brunch.

 

2. bellagreen

Since 2008, bellagreen has been offering gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian to the people of Houston. They make sure they cover, water conservation, affordable prices , and alternative energy. bellagreen cares about making the future green and your tummy satisfied.

3. The Cove

Located in San Antonio, TX, The Cove is one of the best local spots in town. The Cove makes sure that the community they serve remains healthy by offering fish tacos, grilled chicken sandwiches, etc. They all have over 60 Texas-brewed beers on tap in their Texas Beer Garden. Be sure to make a stop at The Cove next time your in SA.

4. Odd Duck

Odd Duck take pride in recognizing their amazing farmers that supply them fresh organic ingredients for gaming-changing dishes.  The establishment offers a fine selection of drinks through craft cocktails to beers, including wine. Fast service with fantastic food, Odd Duck is a hard miss. The menu even caters to Texas seasons, making the experience even more homey.

As the world around us continues to evolve, so must we. Society as a whole must become more eco-conscious and work together to preserve our environment. Environmentalist, entrepreneurs and manufacturers are making it a priority to reduce their hazardous footprint by working together to create greener products.  

Lamps that grow plants in windowless buildings

Nui Design Studio has created a solution for people that work in windowless spaces that want to add some life to their scenery. This product allows one to not only grow a plant in a dark environment, but it also creates quality air for the room.

Just Egg

JUST Egg is a vegan version of chicken eggs that offers similar taste without adding to animal agricultural gas emissions. With Texas being one of the greatest producers of animal agricultural gas emission. Applying focus to the promotion of JUST egg to these regions could have tremendous benefit.  

If it isn’t an egg, what is it? This product is actually made from a bean called Mung. The Mung bean originated in the Middle East and can be found in various Indian and Asian dishes. Here are some of the nutritional facts

• 212 calories.
• 38.7 grams carbohydrates.
• 14.2 grams protein.
• 15.4 grams of fiber.

LARQ Bottle

In America alone, billions of water bottles are used every year, with a very low percentage of them being recycled. Many products have been created to eliminate the number of water bottles being used, but the success rate is very low. That is until now! The LARQ bottle separates itself from the competition by using UV light to clean not only the water but the inside walls as well.

How it works

The FinalStraw

Around the country,  plastic straws continue to be banned in different locations to save both ocean & land animals. Organizations like Starbucks and American Airlines are leading the charge in banning plastic straws, and it didn’t take long for someone to create a product to solve an important issue. FinalStraw is a metallic metal straw that can be folded into a keychain for convenience. This product comes with its own squeegee to clean the inside so it is always ready to use.

Bird and Lime Bikes

Bird and Limes electric scooters have taken Austin, Texas by storm. They make touring the city eco-friendly, but put people in grave danger. Hundreds of people are hurt weekly on these electric scooters, yet they haven’t been banned. I don’t believe that these products are a bad idea, but there must be a better solution to increase awareness while using them and making drivers more aware of them on the roads. These bikes were being pushed by policymakers as a better alternative for the scooters. Overall, the idea to get from point A to point B in an eco-friendly manner is bright, but there must be a safer solution.

In the ongoing public debate on whether or not climate change is caused by humans, politicians, journalists and activists often mention the threat of the increasing number of “climate refugees”. However, the term “climate refugee” is not the one that is legally recognized.

Origin of Climate Refugees

After the disastrous events of World War II and redistribution of much of the European population, the United Nations General Assembly decided in December 1950 to hold a conference in order to negotiate and sign a Convention describing the Status of Refugees and Statelessness people.

In July 1951, twenty-six countries were represented in Geneva to agree on a new Convention framing(proposing??) a legal status and an international protection for refugees. The goal of this convention was to find a legal definition for refugees. The characteristics that define refugees can be categorized in three ways:

• The fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion;
• The person is outside the country of his or her nationality (or habitual residence);
• The person is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country.

Only these three elements frame the legal definition of a refugee. This is why a so-called climate refugee does not match the criteria of the Geneva Convention.

Climate displaced persons numbers are expected to rise.

The purple represents the “dry corridor” in Central America, which falls mostly within Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

In June 2011, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) released a report showing that in 2010, more than 42 million persons were displaced because of natural disasters. Among these 42 million persons, NRC highlighted that 90% of them were displaced because of climate related events such as floods and storms. Here in Texas, thousands of Central American migrants arrive at the border each month, fleeing both grinding poverty and unchecked gang violence. Increasingly, they’re also escaping the effects of climate change. The narrow strip of land flanked by oceans known as Central America is one of the world’s most environmentally vulnerable regions. “It’s an area hit by hurricanes on both sides, rocked by volcanic eruptions, drought, earthquakes, and with accelerating climate change, it’s even more vulnerable,” said María Cristina García, a Cornell University professor of American studies who’s writing a book about climate refugees.

As Texans, we are connected to a border shared with millions of people being affected by the harsh reality of climate change. We need to educate both ourselves and our fellow Texans about climate refugees and understand that these people are having to flee their homes due to the actions of humans across the world. Showing these people compassion is the least we can do as fellow humans.

Global Warming and Climate Change are two phrases that are used interchangeably quite often.

It’s okay though, even the president gets these terms confused sometimes! So, let’s work through some definitions and clarify some key differences between them along with weather, and climate.  

On Friday in Austin, Texas the weather was so good that I wore shorts to work and spent as much time as possible enjoying the break from winter, but just two days later there was a drastic difference in the temperature. This day to day change is classified as weather, and is defined according to NASA as “atmospheric conditions that occur locally over short periods of time—from minutes to hours or days.” So the weather is likely what Mr. President was referring to.

Climate is the weather of a specific place averaged over time, usually a 30 year period. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center climate will usually indicate patterns for a specific time of year as well as extremes in the weather of a location. The weather that took place in Chicago at the end of January is an example of those extremes and not the usual weather at that time of year.

Global Warming is a very real phenomena taking place on earth, but the debate surrounds the question of whether or not humans are complicit in causing the warming of the earth’s temperatures. The heating of the earth’s atmosphere is linked to many factors such as fossil fuels released by humans every day, as well as natural causes. The concern comes from the fact that these fuels increased following the Industrial Revolution, and continue to rise at alarming rates. The rising temperatures are not to be ignored because as more and more ice in the world melts, the sea levels will rise along with other environmental changes that will affect humans, animals, and plant-life. Yes, global warming is taking place, but we are not necessarily experiencing the effects in our day to day weather. So global warming refers to the earth as a whole, and not a particular location, unlike climate change.

 Mendenhall Glacier, which has dramatically shrunk in size.

Although Climate Change is a different concept, it also has to do with the variations that are occurring in the atmosphere. This term refers to the change in a location’s weather over time as well as the extreme weather that is taking place more commonly.  It encompasses the extreme weather phenomena, according to National Geographic the term climate change is used by scientists to discuss “the complex shifts now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems—in part because some areas actually get cooler in the short term.” So, while the earth itself is warming the effects that we are experiencing now are referred to as climate change. This includes the fires in the West, extreme cold in the Midwest, and heat waves in the summer.

So what does renewable energy have to do with all of this? Well, the fossil fuels that are a large factor in causing these weather patterns are what we use every day to power just about everything we use. SO, by cutting back on fossil fuels through the use of renewable energy, we can really diminish the carbon footprint that we are leaving. Wind, solar, and hydro-energy are all examples of the ways that we can take a step in the right direction for the earth.

To learn more about these phenomena go to National Geographic, and NASA for information and pictures with more scientific information.

Texas uses wind resources to its advantage making a boom in the economy and bold move to clean energy.

When you think about wind energy, Texas probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. Believe it or not, Texas is actually the leading nation in producing wind energy. Texas has widely been known for its oil and gas industry, but with the help of the strong winds in  West Texas, Texas has catapulted itself to the top of wind power. Since wind energy has become a huge part of the Texas economy, I think it’s important to understand how Texas became the Nation’s leader in wind energy. Click here to see a chart of Texas’ broken down energy use.  

West Texas

One reason why wind energy has been so successful in Texas is because of the way that the transmission has been engineered to move the electricity from remote regions to more populous areas. The overall wind energy production is only expected to increase and produce more and more of the state’s electricity as an advancing technology allows for more electricity to be used from the turbines. To see how wind turbines work, click here.

What about coal?

Since wind technology has advanced, the cost of electricity that has come from wind turbines have already dropped about one-third over the past nine years. This has come after coal-fired power plants have shut down due to the lowering costs of cleaner energy. Last year wind surpassed coal in generating capacity. In 2017, wind generated about 15% of the electricity in Texas, which went up from less than 13% in 2016 according to the Energy Department.

What’s the future of wind energy in Texas?

The future of wind energy in Texas is expected to continue to grow, the only problem is a matter of where the wind farms will be built. Texans are excited that wind energy is both a clean source of energy and good for the economy, the only concerns reside in what land will be used for wind farms and how will the growing economy will be regulated.

 

You can find us on Twitter @TexasGreenRangers1 where you can plan on seeing weekly updates and helpful resources on how you can help our state become greener. Another source to look to if you have any questions is our Facebook group.