Eco Briefs

Happy Mango , an eco-friendly baby, pregnancy and kids boutique, is now open in the Kirkwood neighborhood at 1996 Hosea L. Williams Drive NE. The store offers unique items - from bamboo swaddles to furniture that grows with your baby to non-electric educational toys - that are eco-concious and comparable to their non-eco counterparts. For more information, visit ShopHappyMango. com.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has two projects in the works that will move it toward further sustainability: a state-of-the-art, onsite composting and recycling facility (which would be called Green Acres ATL Energy Park) and procurement of an electric shuttle bus. The recycling facility would repurpose, reprocess, and/or recycle at least 90 percent of domestic municipal solid waste generated at the airport. The facility will also process chipped yard trimmings from the City’s Department of Public Works. The 22-passaenger shuttle would be used to transport guests around the facility with zero emissions.

Park Pride announced seven recpients of its 2016 Inspiration Awards during the recent Parks and Greenspace Conference. This year’s Inspiration Award Winners include: Linda Bain, for her years of dedication as the executive director of the Sandy Springs Conservancy before her retirement in 2015; Dave Butler, for his commitment to improving and activating natural greenspace during his tenure as DeKalb County’s Greenspace Environment Manager, a position from which he retired in 2015; Pauline Drake, for her dedication to the transformation of empty lots into Jennie Drake Park, named after her mother, Jennie Drake Park; Cynthia Gentry, for her advocacy for children’s right to play and her role as Atlanta’s play expert; Ronald Johnson, for his contributions to the County Line/Ellenwood community and greenspace; Karl Schultz, in recognition of his efforts to motivate local youth to engage in park projects at Frazier-Rowe Park; and Esther Stokes, for her passionate pursuit of quality parks.

The City of Atlanta has been recognized by the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP), an international organization which motivates companies and cities to disclose their environmental impact, for its climate control reporting. CDP selected Atlanta as a Top 10 city out of 308 cities worldwide after evaluating its sustainability practices and policies.

In addition, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) awarded the city with the CREATE Community Award, an honor presented to local governments for their innovative efforts in environmental sustainability.

The 2015 Atlanta Climate Action Plan, created by the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and adopted unanimously by the City Council last September, details approaches and policies that the City of Atlanta is uniquely positioned to implement, including actions that can reduce energy and water usage, create local jobs, improve air quality and reduce the city’s carbon footprint. “The Office of Sustainability is excited to be recognized for our climate work,” said Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.

“I would like to thank CDP and ARC for these honors and our more than 50 stakeholder experts across Atlanta who helped us earn them.”

The idea of retirement community living never really occurred to the Andersons. Their daughters wanted them close by and willingly did the research, visiting several communities, and eventually choosing Canterbury for its welcoming feeling. With T.J. actively composing most days, their newly renovated apartment had to provide a gracious home for his piano, as well as expansive art and book collections. That it also offered a great view of Peachtree fireworks was icing on the cake.

The Andersons invite you to discover their Canterbury Court.

By Manning Harris

In recent years Atlanta has become a virtual summer theater festival. With the influx of actors and technicians in Atlanta to work in the burgeoning film scene, it’s entirely possible that new shows may pop up at any time. As you can see, summer is no vacation for working theater professionals in Atlanta; quite the reverse. It’s a boomtown, and audiences are very happy about that. Here is a sampling of what’s in store for us in the spring and summer of 2016: