Talk of Iowa with Bill McAnally: Home Deck Improvement Tips

Summer is just around the corner, inviting us to spend numerous hours on our decks. Our green instructor and long-time advisor Bill McAnally is a monthly guest on Talk of Iowa Radio for Home Improvement Day and this month focuses on home deck improvement tips. With over 40 years of experience in the construction industry, Bill shares his expertise on step-by-step instructions on how to build a deck, who to hire when looking to have someone else build a deck for your home and how to repair an old deck. Bill also give clear direction to listener's questions, so tune in for an informative "How-To" session with Bill McAnally: Home+Improvement

2011 Environmental Impact Awards Ceremony May 18th

2011 Environmental Impact Awards
Luncheon Ceremony
Wednesday, May 18 | 11:30am - 1:00pm
Des Moines Botanical Center

Join us in celebrating 2011 Environmental Impact Award Winners!

• Agriculture’s Clean Water Alliance
• BNIM Architects 
• Brad Gerndt of West Des Moines 
• Iowa Home Crafters, Inc 
• The Principal Financial Group 
• RDG Planning & Design 

Tickets are on sale now at icosc.com. For $25, enjoy lunch at the Des Moines Botanical Center while celebrating the efforts of your peers, networking with others with sustainable priorities, gaining a greater understanding of the opportunities for sustainable practices, and learning how to apply for the 2012 Awards.

Center on Sustainable Communities (COSC), Greater Des Moines Partnership and Metro Waste Authority partnered in creating the Environmental Impact Awards to recognize organizations and leaders demonstrating exemplary sustainable practices.

Please join us for the momentous event Wednesday, May 18th from 11:30am to 1:00pm at the Des Moines Botanical Center located at 909 Robert D Ray Dr, Des Moines, IA 50316. 

The Awards Ceremony is sponsored by Des Moines Water Works. 

Polk County Lawn Mower Exchange

In an effort to reduce the amount of ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter, the Polk County Air Quality department, in collaboration with Metro Waste Authority and Midwest Recovery,  is offering fantastic discounts on electric mowers.

Now through June 15th, 2011, you will have the opportunity to exchange your highly polluting gasoline powered lawn mower for an environmentally friendly, zero-emission producing, light weight, easy to operate, extremely quiet Neuton® cordless ELECTRIC mower. This mower retails for $400, but you can get yours for only $149 (CE5) or $209 (CE6). Supplies are limited.

Go to: http://www.neutonpower.com/polk
Download the program brochure

Talk of Iowa with Bill McAnally: Preparing for Spring Moisture

Our green instructor and long-time advisor Bill McAnally is a monthly guest on Talk of Iowa's Home Improvement Day. This month, he spoke with host Charity Nebbe about how to protect your home from the many ways water can threaten it. Bill's experience provides clear guidance on rain garden location tips, drainage spout reminders and installing sump pumps, along with insightful answers to listener questions on basement wall bracing, gutter system nuances and more. Laugh while you learn with Bill: Listen | Download.

Member Book Review - "Harmony" by Prince Charles

Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World
A book review by COSC Member JoAn van Balen

The Prince Charles of Wales, with Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly, has written Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World. It is a timely read. In November 2010, NBC aired the book’s accompanying documentary by the same title. The program was a huge surprise to me – who knew that Prince Charles loved the land? I certainly didn’t. His love of polo had made the news, but his thirty-year study of Nature hadn’t crossed my radar.

The program pulled me in because here is a person who believes like I do. His story immediately inspired me to go buy the book to give to my grandson for his twenty-third birthday. Because it is an expensive book, I borrowed a copy from the West Des Moines Public Library and began to read.

It’s a big book, covering the long history humans have had with Nature. He leaves no stone unturned as he leads us on the journey of how early civilizations live harmoniously with Nature, honoring her as their touchstone when making decisions about architecture, farming, measuring time, village planning and their many other creative endeavors. It’s impressive Prince Charles has used his talents, resources and privilege, to bring us the message he considers of ultimate importance.