This trash is your gas: go green DeKalb!

As reported elsewhere [1, 2, 3, 4], DeKalb County has a methane-harvesting facility that (yeah science!) is projected to generate $1 million dollars a year in compressed natural gas (CNG) sales.

The first station opens this week:

And for people able to fuel up their Honda Civics or Dodge Rams that run on CNG, there will be some bragging, too. The price for a gallon of the fuel at DeKalb’s station: $2.10. 

“You tie the environmental savings and financial savings together and it’s hard to come up with a reason not to do it,” said County Commissioner Kathie Gannon, who has pushed for DeKalb to be a leader in environmental sustainability. “I think demand will rise as more people see this is out there.” continue reading @ AJC

The AJC article also has the horrifying statement that

“... Our trucks only get 2 miles per gallon because they make 1,000 stops a day,” Malone said."

But on the bright side,

"... Already, 40 of the 306 trucks in the department run on CNG. (The rest use diesel.) Over time, the county plans to have at least 70 CNG-run trucks. That will save $3 million on fuel over the eight-year life of the trucks, said Billy Malone, the county’s assistant sanitation director.

For some great images of CNG-powered DeKalb County trucks, see this Flickr album.

REUNITED: Boston Terrier back home

Brighton the Boston Terrier pup is now safely home. Yay!

General election voting registration deadline is Oct. 9

As reported by DeKalb Neighbor,

Those intent on voting on election day must be registered by Oct. 9. Early in-person voting begins Oct. 15. ... Those wishing to make any changes via mail must submit required documentation postmarked Oct. 9 at the latest. Residents can register to vote at the board’s office at 4380 Memorial Drive in Decatur from 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

For all information relating to voting, visit the State of Georgia's Elections Page.

Work day & Fall Festival @ Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve [Oct 13 & 14]

Locust borer beetle joins the goldenrod nectar food festival
@ Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve

The Clyde Shepherd Nature preserve is a volunteer effort that benefits us all. Please mark your calendars for the coming Fall Festival and work day:

1) Neighborhood workday at the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve.

Saturday, October 13 from 9am-noon.

We need everyone's help getting the Preserve ready for the Harvest Festival.

2) Fall Festival 

Crafts for the kids, Girl Scout bake sale, other food, campfire, s'mores, bluegrass music by Culliton, Dean and Lloyd.

All coming your way on Sunday, October 14 from 4-7pm at the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve

Come celebrate Fall at the Preserve.

Book donations for Africa Library Project accepted at ICS [Oct. 4 and on]

via neighborhood Facebook page:

"ICS Brownie Troop 9585 is collecting new or gently used childrens books for a school in Lesotho as part of the Africa Library Project.  

There will be a collection box placed in front of the ICS main office by this Thursday, Oct. 4. So stop by the school with your books if you can't make the collection booth at the weekend's Pine Lake LakeFest Event.  

Here are some suggestions:

• Baby board books
• Paperback easy readers
• Paperback children's picture books
• paperback juvenile literature/chapter books
• K-8 textbooks (English, math, geography and science)
• Encyclopedias and atlases (post 1990)
• paperback dictionaries

This collection is part of Pine Lake's LakeFest event on Saturday Oct 6th from 10am-6pm and on Sunday Oct 7th from 12pm-5pm. This 2-day festival includes artist booths, live music, a regatta race, and a sand sculpture contest. ICS Brownie Troop 9585 is collecting children's books for the African Library Project. Their goal is to collect 1,000 gently used children's books for an elementary school in Lesotho. Book donations may be made at the Troop 9585 booth. If you cannot make it to this first book collection event, there will be another one in October. Questions? E-mail beth.carr@comcast.net"

Yard Sale in support of the Rinehart family [Oct. 6]

Official yard sale site is: http://medlockforhannah.org

Click to enlarge.

Please mark your calendars for our annual neighborhood sale. The homes listed above have joined together to host a fundraiser. Our neighbor Hannah Rinehart passed away recently and this activity will help collect donations so that her husband Mark can meet medical costs related to Hannah's extended stay in the ICU.

To make financial donations at any time, please visit

 http://www.operationappreciationga.org/. 

Operation Appreciation is a 501(c)(3) charity that supports the members and families of the Georgia Guard, of which Mark is a member.

Click to enlarge.

DeKalb drug disposal event [Sept 29]

DeKalb County encourages its citizens to surrender unused or expired medication at any of its police precincts on Saturday, September 29th, from 10 am until 2 pm.

Click to enlarge

This Time magazine article discusses why flushing is not the best way to dispose of old medication.