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[Election/Energy] Another outcome of Tuesday's elections was 

that Denton became the first city in Texas to ban hydraulic fracturing. Nearly59 percent of the city's voters approved the ban, although there is already word that it will be challenged in court. Denton is located on the edge of the gas-rich Barnett Shale formation and is home to more than 270 gas wells. To learn more about the ban and the battle leading up to it, check out the Texas Tribune article, "Denton Bans Fracking, But Challenges Almost Certain." 
 

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[Climate Change] The latest IPCC report came out this week and surprise, surprise, the news is not good. The chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, called the report the “strongest, most robust and most comprehensive” to come out of the IPCC, which has been tracking climate change since 1988. To save you the headache of actually reading through the 116-page report, Grist put together a list of "The 10 things you need to know about the new IPCC report." Some of the key points include:

• Much of recent warming has been in the ocean. About 90 percent of the energy that has gone into the climate system since 1971 went into the ocean.
• The ocean is also becoming more acidic.By taking in so much of the carbon dioxide that humans have been spitting out since the industrial revolution, the ocean has become 26 percent more acidic and its pH level is falling.
• Climate change is already happening.Each of the past three decades has been warmer than the last, and warmer than any decade since we started keeping records. 
• We must switch mostly to renewables by 2050, and phase out fossil fuels by 2100. To avoid the most damaging and potentially irreversible impacts of climate change we’ll need to make sure our greenhouse gas emissions are cut severely by the middle of this century.

 

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[Green Design] Winter is coming. Is your home ready? If you 

need help preparing your house for some cooler weather, TreeHouse has put together a helpful list of tips. These include:

• Purchasing an insulating blanket for your hot water heater to help slow the heat transfer between the water in the tank and the outside air
• Reversing the direction that your ceiling fan spins, creating an updraft that will pull the cool air up and away from you
• Investing in more efficient lightbulbs so that you can use less energy despite having to keep your lights on for more hours a day

 

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[Recycling/Zero Waste]Compost Pedallers is expanding to the North Loop and Skyview neighborhoods! If you live in these areas, do not miss out on the chance to utilize this amazing service. For only a small monthly fee, you can reduce your waste by composting, even if you don't have a garden or the space for a compost pile of your own. All you have to do is put your organic waste in a bin and the Compost Pedallers will pick it up. It's so easy! Learn how you can sign up here>> 
 

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[Recycling/Zero Waste] The City of Austin’s Austin Resource Recovery and Economic Development Departments are organizing aroundtable discussion on Social Entrepreneur Opportunities in Reusefocused on the reuse of furniture on November 18th from 1:00-3:30 pm at the Goodwill Resource Center. The goal of the event is to brainstorm ideas tokeep furniture out of the landfill and instead, get it into the hands of non-profits and their clients who need it.

Both those that dispose of furniture and those that need it are invited to this discussion. If you have or need furniture on a regular basis, or work in reuse, your voice is needed at the table! If your organization would like to participate, please contact Natalie Betts.