Mission Mission

Friends of the Urban Forest want to give you a tree! Here’s how it works:

Mission residents have until October 1 to sign up to receive a street tree in the planting that Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) is organizing for November 8.  Residents who have eligible sites in front of their homes and businesses can save approximately 75% of the total tree planting costs by participating in FUF’s neighborhood tree planting program; most of the costs are covered by grants, government funding and private donations.

Sign up here!

(No guarantee the tree you get will be as cool as the Ghostbusters ghost tree, originally photographed by Ariel Dovas.)

Full press release after the jump:

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While we’re on the subject, why do so many people think they can put things like clear plastic bags (such as the kind bread comes in) and god damn candy wrappers into the recycling bin?

IT’S NOT THAT DIFFICULT, PEOPLE.

MM reader Tom M. wonders if it might be:

On my walk home tonight I noticed what seemed at first to be a large pile of trash on the corner of Harrison and 17th. No big deal. However, upon further inspection, it was apparent that, yes, someone blew up a recycling bin.

At least it wasn’t a compost bin.  Or, god forbid, a porta-potty!

Farmgirl rules. Here’s the deal:

• No Waste: We offer one daily arrangement of beautiful, local and seasonal flowers and greens. For Valentine’s Day, you may get Cymbidium Orchids, non-red Roses, Tulips, Lisianthus, Anemones, Ranunculus, Kale & Scabiosa, depending upon is available with our growers that week.
• Field-to-vase: We work directly with local farmers to source only the freshest flowers.
• Recycled packaging and low-emission: We use recycled vase and reused burlap coffee bags from San Francisco-based Ritual Roasters and our bouquets are delivered via bike courier.

Lovely! Browse today’s options here. (Bouquet in a burlap sack, bouquet in a reused vase, or a LIVING PLANT.)

Residents have been questioning the design that DPW has proposed for the new park set to blossom at 17th and Folsom since the first draft was revealed, and although many of their concerns have been addressed in subsequent revisions, one of those qualms continues to stand out. Quite literally, actually, in the form of an 8-foot fence surrounding the park:

The original concept design was even more inwardly focused, though it did address access to the future affordable housing to the north. Most egregiously, it set the 8-foot-high fence right at the park’s edge, making the 10-foot-wide sidewalk feel even more constrained…

The inflexible, over programmed design remained inwardly focused and lacked any integration with the urban fabric and immediate neighborhood community, which features many arts organizations. By most measures of good urban design, it was still a very unsuccessful design…

A low fence, such as the one at the nearby Mission Playground, can provide safety for small children without such a defensive and negative feeling.

[Link]

So, do you agree that DPW is totally completely it when it comes to building this park?  And just how high does a park fence have to be in order to keep all the good stuff inside while not looking like a prison from the outside?

Previously:

• Potential New Park On 17th And Folsom
• Breaking: Proposed 17th and Folsom Park Will Be Green
• Future Park at 17th and Folsom Will Probably Take a While

What a deal! Here it is:

brown paper bags – 5 cents per – half off retail (SOMA / south beach)

brown paper bags 5 cents each
Lowest prices in the city!

Plus it’s still environmentally friendly because you’re paying for them

[link]

(Thanks, Gary!)

[via Sexpigeon]

[graphic via The Cornicopia Institute]

We don’t do that much politicking here (there’s plenty of that on the internet already), but it is a big election year, so expect some issues to pop up as we find them relevant or particularly pressing.

Local grocery cooperative, Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, is officially endorsing California’s Proposition 37, the Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Initiative. This endorsement is not shocking, since 2000 Rainbow has officially opposed the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs):

“We will ban these foods from any private label product we carry, and support efforts to label and/or ban such foods until a time when they can be proved safe for consumption and the environment.”

Christa Irwin, of Rainbow’s Ecology Committee says of Prop. 37:

“People want to know what they’re eating. Just because a product says ‘natural’ does not mean that it hasn’t come from a GMO crop or possibly processed with or contaminated by one. This fight is imperative and hopefully will change labeling on a national level.”

You have to wonder why the food companies would pay so much money to stop us from knowing how they’re making our food and what they put into it. Since the above graphic was made the numbers on the red side have continued to go up. Fog City Journal has an informative write up on the matter. I just don’t trust companies like Monsanto and Phillip Morris, excuse me, Altria, to hold our health as their top priority. Anyone remember StarLink? If it costs less to do recalls or payout lawsuits…

I think the consumers have a right to know. If the companies believe that GMOs are safe then don’t hide them, convince us. It’s a bummer though, I like a lot of the products in the left column. I think Prop 37 is just the first step in getting to a better place with the development and use of GMOs. Much more testing should to be done, especially focusing on long term effects. Unfortunately there seems to be very little push back on the chemical/food companies making them, and much of the changes they are making are likely irreversible. If Prop. 37 passes consumers will be able to weigh in on the matter with their wallets, which is what the Big Ag companies are afraid of.

There’s cheap socks and gloves to go with them, too.