Good Green News

In this months Utne Reader there is an article about ten cities that are leaning green. In the US – the article talks about Portland, Los Angeles and PITTSBURGH!
SustainLane give Pittsburgh the number 1 spot for local food. Pittsburgh ranks #19 overall. I would say that is pretty good for a rusting steel town. Pittsburgh looses points for things like city innovation and a lack of a future plan – so there is still work to do.
A big round of applause for those people supporting farmers markets. The Utne reader reports that Pittbsurgh has 7 farmers markets and 188 community gardens (which is nearly 4 times as many gardens as Seattle has).

Esther’s Sweet Shop

Esther’s Sweet Shop is housed in a 3 story building on Brownsville Road in Carrick.* It’s been a fixture in the neighborhood for as long as I can remember. As kids, we sold Esther’s truffles, eggs, hard candy, gummies and assortments for the marching band and sports clubs.

It is good stuff. (Better than some other name-brand candies you find at drug stores and other fundraising campaigns. ) The ladies that work behind the counter are the nicest people in the world, and if you’re lucky, you may be able to peek at their chocolate-making operation in the back.

So if you’re considering a fundraiser, or just need pounds of chocolate or hard candies whatever reason – check out Esther’s. Their website is pretty awesome – now you can even buy their candy online:

http://www.esthershomemadecandy.com/

* “Where’s Carrick?!,” you may ask. It’s a city neighborhood that lies beyond South Side, Arlington and Mt. Oliver, of course! (For you PAT bus riders, the 51C’ll take you right there. ) Here’s a map!
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Trip Planner

Finally our friend PAT (Port Authority Transit, of course), has introduced an ONLINE TRIP PLANNER. Imagine that!

The link:
http://ridegold.com/ATIS/pgATIS.aspx

The trip planner tells you specific bus routes, stops, departure times, and arrival times you need to get from Point A to Point B anywhere in the Port Authority area.

I played around with it and here is a tip:

Enter only intersections. When I tried to enter an address, the system said, “trip not possible.” That’s annoying. So yes, only intersections!

So now you can get around without asking everyone in your office or your old lady neighbor who’s lived on that same block for 76 years. Yay!