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Posted at July 13, 2011 by Comments Off

How to turn your vessel into a solar powered boat

Okay, I'm no sailor but we do live in Florida and we have a lot of boats. Inspired by my previous post, Oh no! We missed the World's largest solar powered yacht, I've decided to figure out how we turn all of our floating friends into an ode to solar power and the environment. Greening South Florida's marianas starts with powering our boats in an eco-friendly way. Why not solar? It's benefits include: Fuel savings (gas is getting too expensive!) No more noise (its annoying) Reduced carbon emissions (yay!) Reduced risk of engine failure (i.e. permanently powered hand-helds, no more fears of being stranded at sea) Steps: Figure out how many solar ...

Category : Energy,Enviroment,Technology,Transportation,Uncategorized
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Posted at July 2, 2011 by Comments Off

Big progress on SunRail Project in Central Florida

Governor Rick Scott has approved a public transportation project. On Friday, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced that the Florida governor approved a $1.28-billion rail project in Central Florida after recently rejecting federal money for a Tampa-Orlando high speed rail. So who's paying for it? The major funding partners for the project are FDOT, the Federal Transit Administration, Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties and the city of Orlando. What is it? SunRail is a commuter rail transit project that will run along a 61-mile stretch of ...

Category : Transportation,Uncategorized
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Posted at June 28, 2011 by Comments Off

Virginia Key planned as Port project’s dumping site

Virginia Key Park's North Point is the targeted site for excavated debris drilled from the billion-dollar Port of Miami project. The North Point proposed dumping site is located on the northern stretch of the mostly-undeveloped 1,300-acre barrier island adjacent to a state-designated critical wildlife area. Environmentalists fear that the Port of Miami dumping proposal would undo recent efforts to restore parts of Virginia Key to its natural state. Virginia Key is one of the last remaining condo-less islands with mangrove, wetland, and (recently restored) tropical hardwood hammock habitats in the Miami Downtown area. ...

Category : Enviroment,Uncategorized
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Posted at June 25, 2011 by Comments Off

Roseate Spoonbill nests decrease

This is the third in Quirky Flamingo's series on how Everglades Restoration would change the wildlife and landscape of South Florida's River of Grass: A 2010 study overlooked by the local media shows that the overall number of Roseate Spoonbill nests in the Everglades watershed was more than 60 percent lower than wildlife officials had set as a threshold for the Spoonbill's recovery. A copy of the report can be found here on the Web page for the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (SFERTF).

Category : Enviroment,Uncategorized
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Posted at June 20, 2011 by Comments Off

Hold the line: Fight to preserve our city’s wetlands

Developers are once again lobbying to move the Urban Development Boundary (UBD) in Miami-Dade to accommodate a 961 acre development of about 7,000 cookie cutter homes, Parkaland, 2.5 miles from Everglades National Park. They argue the region is out of build-able land and must make room for future expansion. A fabulous idea. Like a fat kid asking his mother for a bigger pair of pants because he does not have the discipline or goodwill to go on a diet. Unfortunately, the Quirky Flamingo has no sympathy for gluttons. Daily Business Review: In addition to thousands of homes, the proposed community would include 200,000 square feet of retail space, ...

Category : Enviroment,Uncategorized,Urbanism
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Posted at June 20, 2011 by Comments Off

Tri-Rail Breaks All Previous Ridership Records

It seems public transportation has a future in South Florida. On National Dump the Pump Day 2011, Tri-Rail carried more passengers than on any other day in its 22-year history. National Dump the Pump Day was on June 16 and couldn't come at a better time amidst the soaring gas prices and tourist season traffic. It's no wonder South Floridians jumped at the chance, or in this case, on the train, to save a little money and have someone else drive them around. On that day only, riders were permitted to ride the Tri-Rail free of charge. A record ...

Category : Transportation,Uncategorized
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Posted at June 17, 2011 by Comments Off

Steal With Pride (Part 3): Community Gardens

New York Restoration Project (NYRP): Community gardening has a long history in New York City – dating back to the economic depressions of the 1890s and 1930s when many citizens were permitted to grow food on city-owned land to help sustain their struggling families. Two World Wars brought about Liberty and Victory Gardens not only in New York City, but in municipalities throughout the United States. During World War II, American families grew 80 million pounds of food in their Victory Gardens – representing an astounding 44 percent of the country’s entire food ...

Category : Urbanism
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Posted at June 16, 2011 by Comments Off

Q&A with Miami Photographer Selina Roman

"In a way, it asks why can’t a porta-potty be beautiful?" -- Selina Roman talking about her photograph "Waiting." Selina Roman used to consider her photography to be more of a hobby while she worked as a journalist for a daily newspaper. It wasn’t until she left the daily grind of the newsroom and moved to Miami that she started taking her photography more seriously. Six years later, Selina has completed several photo projects, and more are in the works. Some of them include “Ur in or Ur Out,” photos depicting glamorous ...

Category : Arts,Uncategorized
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Posted at June 15, 2011 by Comments Off

Unknown Future: Troubles on horizon for endangered Everglades Snail Kite

This is the second in Quirky Flamingo's series on how Everglades Restoration would change the wildlife and landscape of South Florida's River of Grass: The Everglades Snail Kite population has been declining steadily since 2001, and one scientific model projection puts the species on a track towards near extinction in 2030 if conditions don’t change. That means fewer than 50 Snail Kites by as early as 2030. “The bottom line is the population is not doing well. That is not an overstatement, it is an understatement," said UF Research Ecologist ...

Category : Enviroment,Uncategorized
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Posted at June 13, 2011 by Comments Off

Wynwood Art Walk, a step toward local identity

I spent Saturday night with my loyal and adventurous buddy----Mette----a Danish expatriate, co-worker and resident of Miami Beach. We took  our two-person traveling entourage of polished toe nails and alternative taste to the streets of Wynwood, where we trekked through some of the city's avant-garde art shows and came across some very interesting personalities. Most importantly, we were both beaming with enthusiasm. Our beloved Miami----a place that for Mette, is far from home but worthy of admiration every time you drive across the Julia Tuttle Causeway--is finally showing signs of a burgeoning local identity. It is urbane, youthful, diverse and pleasurably gritty.

Category : Arts,Uncategorized,Urbanism
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More than partying, sunshine and sex. Talking ideas in South Florida.