Pinellas County Brooker Creek Preserve – Sustainable Living

Pinellas County Florida has invested in protecting our environment and one such example is their work to create Brooker Creek Preserve, 8500 acres in Tarpon Springs Florida.

The Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve help raise funds to be able to provide more local green education and eco-friendly work especially as it pertains to our local watershed. They also support the Brooker Creek Environmental Education Center. The Brooker Creek Environmental Education Center is open 9:00am – 4:00pm Wednesday – Sundays (Note: it is Closed Mondays and Tuesdays)

Pinellas County Living Green | Learn how to make your Holidays Green

The Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center Staff will be offering a free program, Make your Holiday’s Green, this Wednesday November 14, 2007 from 7–8pm.

“Did you know the holidays add 25 million tons of garbage to our landfills each year? Most wrapping papers, greeting cards and decorations cannot be recycled” – Brooker Creek Educational Center website 

The Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center Staff will be offering a free program to teach you how to Make your Holiday’s Green, this Wednesday November 14, 2007 from 7–8pm at The Cypress Swamp Cafe.   

You may even get started on your holiday gift wrapping – you will be learning eco-friendly ways to wrap presents, make environmentally friendly holiday cards and even how to make “green” decorations from nature.

• Admission: Free;
• Recommended for ages 10 and up;
• Serving shade-grown coffee and refreshments;

Clearwater Florida Family shares Favorite Eco Friendly Wrapping Project

Green Gift Wrapping: One of our families favorite eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas is to purchase the brown lunch bags and use our rubber stamps to decorate them.

Even my youngest son can do a great job making one-of-a-kind eco-friendly gift wrapping.   

A few years ago we found rubber stamps on a roller – these are great for decorating larger items like butcher block paper and holiday cards on recycled paper.

Eco-Friendly Decorations: For years we have combed the beaches and picked shells with a natural hole in them. We can then string them to make a one-of-a kind ornament and my youngest has even made special “shell jewelry” – it’s something everyone treasures. 

Can you believe the holidays are around the corner? Do you have a eco-friendly decorating tip or other idea to make our holidays special? I’d love to have you share your tip below…don’t be afraid to comment, it’s always welcome here!    

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Keeping Tampa Bay’s Water Blue by being Green 

I want to introduce you to a wonderful 501(c)(3) eco-friendly non-profit we are members of here in the Tierra Verde, Florida – Tampa Bay Watch 

They are located at: Tampa Bay Watch, 3000 Pinellas Bayway South, Tierra Verde, FL 33715 

Tampa Bay Watch is very active in a variety of programs and education to make a real difference by helping to Conserve and Restore Tampa Bay. 

They are working to restore the Bay everyday through:

• Building Oyster Domes;
• Oyster Reef Enhancement Programs;
• Salt Marsh Planting Program;
• Sea Grass Planting Program;
• Coastal Clean Up Program;
• Mono-filament Program;
• Great Bay Scallop Search;
• Invasive Plant Removal

They do a great job of helping Tampa Bay’s waters stay blue (through their green efforts).

They organized 13 years ago when the waters of Tampa Bay were facing serious environmental challenges that threatened our extensive eco-system which supports 70% of the local fish, shell fish and more wildlife at some point in their life. 

Did you know that Tampa Bay (the body of water) is the largest estuary in the state of Florida?

• It is and it is made up of “400 square miles of open water and 2,300 square miles of highly developed watershed that supports industry, agriculture, and a diverse population in excess of 2.4 million people.” – Source: TampaBayWatch.org

Tampa Bay Watch’ s purpose is the protecting and restoring Tampa Bay’s estuary, as well as, restoring the marine and wetlands environments.  They focus on the delicate ecosystem that exists in the waters of Tampa Bay.

History of Cunningham Key Home to Tampa Bay Watch

From Tampa Bay Watch’s website I learned about their history and their current location – a waterfront piece of property to die for at the southern most point of Tierra Verde. In the 1960s the Department of Transportation dredged Tampa bay and this piece of land known as Cunningham Key became part of the causeway connecting Tierra Verde to Ft. De Soto park.

In 2000 Pinellas County and the State of Florida Greenways Program worked together to purchase the Cunningham Key property to be the headquarters for Tampa Bay Watch’s environmental protection and restoration programs.  

All in a Green Days Work – Caring Volunteers Make a Difference:

On a recent Saturday morning the Tampa Bay Watch volunteers hit Fort Desoto beach and the surrounding mangrove areas to do a Coastal Clean Up. Look at the results in the picture to the left.

Being a frequent visitor to the beach I was amazed at just how much trash was collected – just imagine what our beaches would be like if this wasn’t done periodically.

 As a Cleawater house with 2 cub scouts we always try to leave Tampa Bay beaches places better than we found them, this is the crux of what Tampa Bay Watch does everyday in so many ways.

Below is a video with a Tampa Bay Watch intern, Jessica, kind enough to share more about www.TampaBayWatch.org.

You can support their efforts, Join Tampa Bay Watch and become a member for as little as $25 a year.   

 

 

Tierra Verde Florida Real Estate

Are you looking to buy a Tierra Verde Waterfront Home or Tierra Verde Waterfront Condo? Here's what some of our past clients have to say about how we helped them....

** CLICK ON PHOTOS BELOW TO SEE CLIENT VIDEO TESTIMONIALS **

Buyers tell us that selecting the best Tampa Bay Florida Real Estate Agent, especially online or from a distance, can be a challenge. Some of our past clients agreed to share their experiences and tell you why they think you should work with us. 

Click on the photos below and meet some of our clients and now friends...we'd love to be YOUR choice too!     

 

 

 

 

  Want more info…click to get it now!         

The above information and images are Copyright © 2007 Jack and Cyndee Haydon, Clearwater Beach Real Estate Consultants and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published. All rights reserved. Plagiarism will be detected and is punishable by law.

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 Clearwater Florida is Getting Greener

Clearwater FLorida Real Estate News– Today Clearwater home owners are looking for ways to live green and be more "Eco Friendly" - from recycling to using green products when possible.  The desire is often there before the products. Local Clearwater residents often tell me they'd like to be more "eco-friendly" at home but they aren't sure where to start.

Well, now it's going to be even easier for everyone to find more environmentally friendly products in Clearwater, Florida and everywhere else that has a neighborhood Home Depot.

   
Why? Because Home Depot is working aggressively to fully implement its new Eco Options program. They are working to get the best eco-friendly products into their stores for their customers. They invited all the suppliers of their 176,000 products to submit any "green products" they have for consideration in their Eco-Options program. They were surprise when their suppliers came back with over 60,000 products for consideration.

Home Depot's goal was to find 6,000 products out of the 60,000 submitted that their customers would want to find in their local Home Depot store.  With so many options the Home Depot Eco Options team went to work determining the "real green products" from the "voodoo" ones.

        
 In the end, "Only 2500 of the products have made the cut to date. The proucts selected had to pass the muster with a man who fertilizes his own home garden with a liquefied worm paste product packaged in recycled soda bottles and fills his swimming pool with saltwater to avoid putting chlorine into the environment," said Ron Jarvis, a Home Depot senior vice-president who oversees the Eco Options program.  

Home Depot Eco Options for Clearwater Florida

  What are some of the Eco Option products coming to a Tampa Bay Home Depot near you..

• Front Load Washers that use less water;
• Herbs & Vegetables sold in biodegradable pots that release nutrients into the soil;
• A Flush mounted light that generates 70% less heat and uses 2/3s less energy than standard lighting; 
• None of the wood products they purchase come from the endangered regions worldwide;
• Solar powered landscape lighting;
• Paints that discharge fewer pollutants;   

Home Depot Green Standards

Home Depot is committed to working with the Scientific Certification Systems, a private company that audits and certifies company "eco friendly" claims and they are helping Home Depot develop it's green standards to include:

• the products environmental record over it's entire product life-cycle;
• understanding the products it's efficiency;
• as it relates to the products longevity; 
• how sustainable is the production of the product;
• how can it be recycled when it's no longer needed;

I applaud Home Depot for working to establish meaningful green standards. This is one of the challenges facing "eco friendly" consumers today - how to really determine how effectively green a product really is. I'm looking forward to learning more about eco friendly solutions we can implement in our home. 

More Home Depot Eco Options Information

• Home Depot Eco Options press release;
• Home Depot Eco Options website

I'm curious, how Green is your home or your home town today?

Home Depot's can found in and around Clearwater, Florida  33764, 33761  

                **************************************

Submitted Cyndee & Jack Haydon, Clearwater Florida Realtors.  

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*The above information and images are Copyright © 2007 Jack & Cyndee Haydon, REALTORSand may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published.  All rights reserved.  Plagiarism will be detected and is punishable by law. 

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