Eco-Briefs

Comcast is calling on community-based organizations in the Atlanta area to register for the 13th annual Comcast Cares Day on April 26. Billed as the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer event, the cable provider is encouraging organizations to submit proposals for projects and initiatives that benefit the local community. Comcast has contributed to projects proposed by a variety of local influencers, including public nonprofits, school districts and other community leaders that operate within the Comcast service area. Interested organizations should visit comcastcaresday2014.com to download the proposal request and determine their eligibility for participation.

Atlanta-based PodPonics (podponics. com) has launched its first consumer product, Lettuce Buy Local. The mix of greens is pesticide free, kosher, non-GMO and comes washed and ready-to-eat. Sustainably grown in Atlanta, the lettuce is available in two mix varieties: Green Mix with green romaine and green lollo, and Encore Mix with green romaine, green lollo and red lollo. Both product varieties are sold in select Whole Foods and Kroger locations throughout Atlanta and in the surrounding suburbs. Lettuce Buy Local is also available at farmers markets in Decatur, Piedmont Park, Georgia Tech, East Atlanta and Grant Park www.podponics.com.

Healthy Green Schools (healthygreenschools.com), a national initiative that seeks to make school environments safer, healthier and more sustainable, has launched a national certification program. Founded by Jennifer Hankey and headquartered in Atlanta, Healthy Green Schools offers certification upon completion of the program, which focuses on removing toxins that affect the health of children and implement projects that reduce waste and promote recycling. The organization has partnered with national companies that provide safe, non-toxic products at highly reduced rates, make investing in the certification program affordable for all schools.

The Captain Planet Foundation, an international environmental education foundation for youth based on the successful Captain Planet cartoon, has announced that Academe of the Oaks in Decatur has recently been awarded an educational grant of $800. Academe will use these funds toward an Edible Forest Garden.

According to a new National Parks Service report, 5.8 million visitors to people visited the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, and Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in 2012 and spent $268,088,000 in the metro area. The MLK Historic Site preserves the Auburn Avenue neighborhood where King was born, where he spent his boyhood years, where he preached and where he is buried. The site is one of Atlanta’s top visitor destinations, drawing 707,514 visitors in 2012, who spent $38,072,200 and supported 569 local jobs.

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