11 Sep Best of Austin 2014: Green-filtered Edition
We love this time of year because the Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin edition always gives a bunch of our favorite green businesses, organizations and people a chance to shine. See below for reminders of some of your favorites, like Goodwill and Bouldin Creek Cafe, as well as new joys to discover, such as the Bendy Bus and the State Surplus Property Store.
We took the liberty of highlighting the Austin EcoNetwork partners first among all the great green winners in Austin. These include Critics Pick winners Green is the New Black and the Dumpster Project as well as Reader' Poll winners Bicycle Sport Shop, Texas Farmers Market at Mueller, Greenling, and The Natural Gardener. Special kudos Natural Gardener's founder/leader and popular radio personality John Dromgoole, winner of Best Environmentalist.
The award categories and writing below are the creative writing of Austin Chronicle Staff, compiled and edited by special editions queen, KATE X MESSER. Orange highlighting added by us to indicate Austin EcoNetwork partners.
Readers Poll
Best Farmers Market – Texas Farmers Market at Mueller
Popping up every Sunday in the Browning Hangar of the Mueller redevelopment, this market combines a lovely park environment, an ever-expanding selection of nibbles and crafts – from regular vendors as familiar as Johnson's Backyard Garden and Pure Luck to new (to us) friends like Tamale Place and Kiskadee Chocolates, and fresh music made-to-order. It's no surprise this market has it made in the shade. It's a wonderful way to have a snack, enjoy the day, and start planning menus for the week.
Mueller Farmers Market, 4550 Mueller, 512/363-5700, http://www.texasfarmersmarket.org
Best Garden Supply Store – The Natural Gardener
Spread out over eight acres, this isn’t just a garden supply store. It’s a living example of how green, organic, all-natural practices are the best solution for preserving our beloved land. Bag your own soil, shop for just the right plant, ask the experts for advice, stroll through the butterfly garden, chat with the farm animals, or take a class in the revival tent. It’s an oasis of natural beauty, and the wonderful staff – including owner and 2014 "Best of Austin" Best Environmentalist, John Dromgoole – will help you learn to care for your own plot of earth.
Natural Gardener, 8648 Old Bee Caves Rd., 512/288-6113, www.naturalgardeneraustin.com
Best environmentalist – John Dromgoole
Native Texan and longtime Green Revolutionary, John Dromgoole founded the expert organic gardening store, Natural Gardener, in South Austin. He’s also hosted KLBJ’s organic gardening radio show, Gardening Naturally for almost 30 years (the longest running in the U.S.), started the city’s Chemical Clean-Up Day, and founded Lady Bug Natural Brand Products. The is one earth-friendly man with a beautiful, sustainable plan for living the good life.
Natural Gardener, 8648 Old Bee Caves Rd., 512/288-6113, http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com
Best Bicycle Repair – Bicycle Sport Shop
Serving Austin's cycling needs since 1983, this once-humble shop has blossomed into a local institution. Their commitment to service, love of the road, and helpful attitude make them a sure bet. We recommend their free maintenance tutorials for the noobs, and they also offer advanced courses to experienced riders to keep everyone on the road, where they belong.
Bicycle Sport Shop, 10947 Research, 512/345-7460, www.bicyclesportshop.com
Bicycle Sport Shop, 517 S. Lamar, 512/477-3472, www.bicyclesportshop.com
Bicycle Sport Shop, 9900 W. Parmer, 512/637-6890
Best Food Delivery – Greenling
“Need some beans and bananas and eggs but missing a way to transport your loot? Eight years running, our readers have spoken: This homegrown online delivery service is the way to grocery shop. Their mission reduces the carbon footprint and makes local, organic food more convenient. A huge selection with plenty of options, and you don’t even have to be home when the green bins of wonder arrive at your doorstep.”
512/440-8449, www.greenling.com
Best Vegan/Vegetarian Cafe – Bouldin Creek
Always packed with veggie lovers and coffee drinkers, this cafe serves up a variety of dishes that have evolved over 14 years into some of the tastiest veggie vittles in town. A full breakfast menu – a moment of silence, please, for the Oven Cake Breakfast with Tofu Scram option – plus tacos, sandwiches, salads, and snacks round out the lighter fare, but the restaurant also offers a number of hot plates that could only be described as Central Texas comfort food. So good!
Bouldin Creek Cafe, 1900 S. First, 512/416-1601, www.bouldincreek.com
Best Day Trip (Dry) – Enchanted Rock
Someone once promised us a picnic at Enchanted Rock. Promises unfulfilled, it never happened. That’s all right, the 62-mile batholith is perfectly trekked in solitary contentment. Stargazing, rock climbing, and fairy shrimp all balanced on a pink granite mound, it’s truly a spiritual experience. Charged by the forces of campfires and healing properties, Enchanted Rock remains the quintessential Hill Country day trip.
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, 16710 RR 965, Fredericksburg, 830/685-3636,
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/enchanted-rock
Best Day Trip (Wet) – Hamilton Pool
Holy heaven on Earth, Batman! Just over 20 miles from town this triple-threat winner – a natural swimming hole just off the Pedernales River – offers a rich oasis of vegetation and wildlife with a limestone grotto nestled in a gorgeous protected habitat, the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Pack a lunch, walk the trails down to the beach area, and spend the day at one of Central Texas’ most cherished outdoor adventure spots. When the water levels are copacetic, a 50-foot waterfall rushes down, but even in the heat of summer, there’s plenty of water in which to play. It's ingrained in local folklore and has been featured in films, so you’d better get there early, because this secret Batcave fills up.
Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve, 24300 Hamilton Pool Rd., Dripping Springs, 512/264-2740, www.parks.traviscountytx.gov/find-a-park/hamilton-pool
Best place to camp – Inks Lake
It’s a Colorado River reservoir, so this Hill Country superstar boasts constant water levels and scenic backdrops, including a waterfall. Primitive, hike-in camping sites are awesome and available with a reservation, but there are also air-conditioned accommodations for the more cabin-inclined. Hiking, boating, swimming, and both pier and shoreline fishing are favorite pastimes; special activities like moonlight paddling happen on the regular. Go outside!
Inks Lake State Park, 3630 Park Road 4 W., Inks Lake, 512/793-2223, www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/inks-lake
Best social bike ride – Thursday Night Social Ride
One can hardly sip a martini from a patio on the first day of the weekend without seeing this horde of cyclists whir by. Luckily, you’re invited. Perfect for making new friends or meeting up with the tried-and-trues, the Thursday Night Social Ride is a veritable union of cycling and synergy. Thursday is the new Friday after all.
Best Swimming Pool – Barton Springs
Enjoy howling at the moon? Love a good LARP? How about just a dunk into (what seems like) icy water on a sultry summer night? Okay, fine, this is a great place to go by daylight too. Right across Lady Bird Lake from downtown, this is the spot for that midday swim we wouldn't recommend attempting in the lake. With nearby picnic tables and a toot-toot tour aboard the Zilker Zephyr handy, the springs make for an excellent family outing as well. But when the sun goes down and the admission follows suit, Barton is Austin's nightswim nirvana.
Barton Springs Pool, 2201 Barton Springs Rd., 512/867-3080, www.austintexas.gov/department/barton-springs-pool
Best Yoga/pilates – Yoga Yoga
We hope you know, Austin, that you are spoiled in this category. Yoga Yoga's hook from the very beginning was to offer several styles of yoga under the same roof (something which is now commonplace, but not so in 1997 when Yoga Yoga opened a space on South Lamar). In this way, the kundalini yogi and the hatha yogi can all go to the same studio, connecting through practice and a shared sense of community.
Yoga Yoga, 4477 S. Lamar #420, 512/358-1200, www.yogayoga.com
Yoga Yoga, 1700 S. Lamar, 512/358-1200, www.yogayoga.com
Yoga Yoga, 2167 Anderson, 512/380-9800, www.yogayoga.com
Yoga Yoga, 12001 Burnet, 512/490-1200, www.yogayoga.com
Yoga Yoga, 2501 Capital of TX Hwy S., 512/381-6464, www.yogayoga.com
Best activist – Natalia Lundstedt
Natalia Lundstedt was so moved by the documentary Blackfish that she mounted a persuasive campaign to end her school's annual field trip to Sea World. Oh, and she was in fourth grade at the time. Remember the Petland puppy mill protests in Austin a few years ago? According to her dad's Facebook campaign, Natalia was active in those, too. When most kids are consumed by loom bands and whom they will sit next to on the aforementioned field trips, this shining star was discovering the power of being active. Big change can come in the smallest of packages, and we are proud to recognize this budding activist’s achievement.
Best Grassroots group – AURA
Local advocacy group Austinites for Urban Rail Action was formed to focus on rail expansion in Central Texas, but has broadened their scope to find working solutions for housing and transportation issues facing our rapidly growing urban/suburban sprawl. Now known simply as AURA, the group is still relatively new, but already making headway in fostering inclusiveness across a diverse cross section of the Austin population and tackling even more intersected issues – from urban farms and ride-sharing programs to multifamily dwellings, kid-friendly green spaces, and then some.
AURA, 210 W. Riverside, 512/474-2872, www.aura-atx.org
Best Austin nonprofit – Austin Pets Alive!
It's so easy to anthropomorphize our domesticated mammalian significant others. But Austin Pets Alive! knows what animals need, and has developed a range of programs to meed those needs. Of course, APA! is the nonprof responsible for making Austin a no-kill community, and deserves unending kudos for this alone. But other programs intrigue: Their barn cat program, which takes poorly/undersocialized cats and places them in alternative homes – big, outdoor spaces and barns – is just one example of the many ways APA! puts pets' needs first.
Austin Pets Alive!, 1156 W. Cesar Chavez, 512/961-6519, www.austinpetsalive.org
Best Thrift Store – Goodwill
For those Austinites ready to dig down and pop some tags, Goodwill is thrift heaven. Although this nationwide nonprofit may not strike you as the first trendy choice, it is consistent in its stock of luxe finds for hip hunters and smart shoppers alike. Whether you are looking to sport your unique style, save cash, or accomplish both, this store has it all. So go forth, Polaroid peddlers and book borrowers. Thrift away.
Goodwill, 8965 Research Blvd., 512/832-0004, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, Main Office: 1015 Norwood Park Blvd., 512/637-7100, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, 2800 S. Lamar, 512/442-8802, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, 836 Airport, 512/389-3277, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill Computerworks, 1015 Norwood Park Blvd., 512/637-7501, www.austincomputerworks.org
Goodwill, 13096 Hwy. 183, 512/258-5898, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, 5555 N. Lamar, 512/451-2306, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, 5734 Manchaca, 512/448-4849, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, 9801 Brodie, 512/280-8037, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, 701 Newman, 512/478-6711, www.austingoodwill.org
Goodwill, 7100 W. US Hwy 290, 512/288-7700, www.austingoodwill.org
Critics Picks
Best play on the word “green” – Green is the New Black
This new student organization at Huston-Tillotson University is bringing a much-needed focus on race, culture, and community to environmental action. As it helps make the HT campus more environmentally friendly, it is also working with fellow Eastside organizations to open up a broader dialogue about sustainability, affordability, and environmental justice. In recognizing that communities of color are too often left out of the green conversation, GITNB is not only making Austin more eco-friendly but making it more everybody-friendly.
Green Is the New Black, Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon, 512/505-3000, www.greenisthenewblack.org
Best New Eastside Condo: Dumpster Project
The coolest new living space on Huston-Tillotson’s East Austin campus isn’t a dorm – it’s a Dumpster. Indefatigable HT dean and biological sciences professor Jeffrey Wilson moved into the six-by-six-foot space last February and will remain there a year. Of course, it’s not just any Dumpster. It’s been cleaned, for one thing. Plus it’s an interactive teaching lab and sustainable design experiment engineered to empirically test the bounds of living on less. What it lacks in space, water, waste, and energy, it recoups in data and dreams – dreams of solar panels, telescoping balconies, and the unencumbered life. Hourly Dumpster conditions are available online. Watch the transformation yourself.
Dumpster Project, Professor Dumpster, Huston-Tillotson, 900-D Chicon, www.dumpsterproject.org
Best Improved Entry to the Soul of Austin – Barton Springs Southside
Entering the waters of Barton Springs Pool has always provided a thrilling jolt, whether one inches slowly in from steps or a ramp or plunges in recklessly from the diving board or deep end. Entering the grounds from the South entrance, however, used to be an experience more akin to a revisit to the Dust Bowl than a gateway to paradise. But not any more. The newly landscaped hillside, environmentally sensitive parking lot, and ADA pathway have transformed the Robert E. Lee Road entry into a pastoral setting worthy of the pool it serves. The whole pool experience has been revitalized as a result: The hillside has been extended to include massive trees protected by tended rings of mulch, janky overhead power lines are gone, providing an unobstructed view of the stately Texas sky, and a thoughtfully terraced wheelchair ramp/path provides poolside access where there was once erosion blighted, barren dirt hillside. Friends of Barton Springs take a bow, or better yet: a dip!
Barton Springs Pool, 2201 Barton Springs Rd., 512/867-3080, www.austintexas.gov/department/barton-springs-pool
Friends of Barton Springs Pool, Friends of Barton Springs Pool, www.friendsofbartonspringspool.org
Best New Path Through the Woods – Southern Walnut Creek Trail
Austin’s longest paved hike-and-bike trail opened in August, and it’s a winner. Covering more the seven miles from Govalle Park east of Downtown to Lindell Lane just shy of U.S. 290 in Northeast Austin, it follows the shaded creek bed most of the way. Perfect for all skill levels of bicyclists, walkers, and joggers, the trail has already become a popular way to avoid the traffic-clogged automobile arteries.
Southern Walnut Creek Trail, 512/974-7142, www.austintexas.gov/article/walnut-creek-trail-system
Best New Way to Avoid I-35- The Boardwalk Trail at Lady Bird Lake
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Trail Foundation and Austin Parks & Recreation Department, the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail no longer forces pedestrians and cyclists to meander up the sidewalks of Riverside Drive to cross I-35 at one of the busiest intersections in town for the sake of a jolly jaunt round the lake. Nay, explorers can loop the landmark lake from MoPac to the dam at Pleasant Valley Drive nearly oblivious to the traffic havoc nearby, and the planned eastern pedestrian bridge will pretty much banish sight of the automobile from one's stroll.
Hike & Bike Trail, Austin PARD, 512/499-6700, www.austintexas.gov/department/parks-and-recreation
Best Resort Repurposing – Schlitterbahn’s Bastrop Timber Initiative
Next time you're hanging out at Schlitterbahn's Treehaus Luxury Suites, pick up one of the bar stools. Yeah. So, after you recover from that hernia, we bet you'll say to yourself, "Geeeez, that thing's a tree trunk!" Well, guess what? That thing's a tree trunk. After the decimation of acres and acres of gorgeous Texas timber in the 2011 Bastrop County Complex fire – the largest and most destructive in the state's history – SchlitterJefe Jeff Henry figured the ambitious building projects of his empire of waterparks might be able to put that languishing resource to good use, in the spirit of reclamation, to honor the loss. And what reclamation. And it's not just bar stools. It's siding. It's end tables. It's bar tops. It's support beams. It's now integrated into pretty much everything the Schlitterbrand builds. What's next? Decommissioned oil rigs? Don't get him started….
Best big box widespread energy conservation – Target
Between 3 and 6pm, during the summer months, Austin-area Target stores voluntarily cut half their lights and run their air-conditioning units at half output. Is it uncomfortable to shop under these conditions? Not at all. Does this conservation effort make a difference to the pressure on Austin’s energy grid? Undoubtedly. Could we all take a page out of their book and help reduce the energy strain during the long, cruel summer? Absolutely.
Target, 2300 W. Ben White, 512/445-2266, www.target.com
Target, 5621 N. I-35, 512/651-0202, www.target.com
Target, 5300 S. MoPac, 512/892-5535, www.target.com
Target, 8601 Research, 512/837-5163, www.target.com
Best Way to plug in without frying your brain – Webber Energy Group
Sure, the nexus of energy, food, water, waste, and alternative transportation sounds kind of important, but ouch! Learning about it makes our brains hurt. Luckily, Austin has the Webber Energy Group to make it all better. Led by professor Michael Webber, this UT-based research group hosts monthly Clean Energy Beers events, has developed an innovative Energy 101 MOOC (massive open online course), and recently won a Telly Award for its Energy at the Movies series on PBS. Apparently, at the nexus of the Webber Group's research and the world's most daunting challenges, there's some fun to be had – and you're welcome to join in.
Webber Energy Group, 512/475-6867, www.webberenergygroup.com
Best Box to think outside of : EcoBox
Got a big move coming up? Weighing the cost of buying new boxes (and breaking a tree’s heart) against the sleep you’ll lose collecting free ones from the grocery store at 2am? Here's a third option: EcoBox sells used boxes in standard sizes – already sorted and broken down for easy toting – along with handy supplies like biodegradable packing peanuts and Bio-Bubble wrap. No, their boxes aren’t free like the ones you could scrounge from a back-alley Dumpster, but they’re cheap in bulk and have no weird stains. Your new neighbors will be so impressed.
EcoBox, 115 Sundance Pkwy, Ste 300, Round Rock, 512/218-9888, www.ecobox.com
EcoBox, 10615 Metric, 512/836-7644, www.ecobox.com
EcoBox, 5400 Brodie, 512/899-0009, www.ecobox.com
Best point A to B – The “Bendy” Bus
Everybody needs a flexible friend, and the buses swinging along Capital Metro’s swanky new MetroRapid routes fit the bill. Sure, there’ve been gripes about the schedule. And yes, even a top-end transit option like the 801 Lamar route (and its new baby sibling, the 803 running up Burnet) can’t magically hop over Austin’s abysmal traffic. But with more leg room, bigger windows, WiFi, and the joy of a bus whose back and front go this way and that to distract you on your trip, maybe the bendy bus will wiggle its way into the hearts of the most committed commuter.
Capital Metro, 2910 E. Fifth, 512/474-1200, www.capmetro.org
Best reusables – State Surplus Property Store
If you’re looking for that pocketknife that was confiscated at the airport by Homeland Security, you just might find it, or an exact replica, here at the state surplus property store. Not only does the store have seized objects from airports like knives, wrenches, and the occasional cricket bat, but they also sell unclaimed lost-and-found items among the warehouse of used state equipment ranging from gray metal desks to former police cars all at bargain prices. Police cars! Start your Christmas shopping now.
State Surplus Property Store, 6506 Bolm, 512/463-1990, www.tfc.state.tx.us/divisions/supportserv/prog/statesurplus
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