Club4Climate

Dr. Earth wants you to be environmentally aware, but he sees no reason why environmental awareness and hedonism shouldn't go hand in hand. They are not mutually exclusive. With the profits from the music, the nights and the destination going to Friends of the Earth, all you really have to do is dance to save the world.

Club4Climate has teamed up with the world leaders in environmentally sustainable dance clubs, Rotterdam’s Enviu/Doll and Sustainable Dance Club. Working on the basis that a club should be self sufficient and not a drain on the environment, the organisation has come up with the varied and interesting ways to be eco-friendly. The strangest of which have been reported in the UK press, whereby Amy Winehouse is set to headline at Watt nightclub, Rotterdam in September. Energy will come from urine and sweat from clubbers and toilets will be flushed by rainwater. Projects Abroad, the gap year organisation recently endorsed by BBC Dragon’s Den star James Caan for their forward thinking initiatives, are working with Club4Climate to send young people to create sustainable dance clubs in New York, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro.

Steve Norman, from the 80’s pop sensation, the amazing Spandau Ballet,
is signed to produce the Club4Climate CD due to be released in September
2008. It will be a collection of eclectic chillout and sexy, soulful
house tunes.

Having lived in Ibiza for 12 years, there is nothing that Steve Norman
doesn’t know about chilling out. Steve Norman says “I am very excited to
be working on this project. I can think of no better combination of
having a good time and helping to save the world. It rocks my boat. We
now know that we have to make changes if we’re to make our planet a
better place to live in and secure a safer future for our children. But
how many of us actually make those changes? Club4Climate helps us to
focus on green issues whilst having fun doing it. Being a soulman and
the occassional clubber, I can’t think of a better way. I’m very happy
to be involved.”

Spandau Ballet emerged from London’s underground fashion and club scene
of the late 70’s, they pioneered styles of electronic dance music and
white funk. They had worldwide commercial success with the blue eyed
soul album True. They had 20 hit singles and spent a 500 weeks in the UK
charts, selling 20 million albums worldwide.

In Bellevue the Sidewalks are Paved with...Rubber?

by JOSEPH RICHARDSON

The city of Bellevue has undertaken a project designed to give their streets a little more bounce. Taking cues from cities like Seattle, Olympia and Tacoma, Bellevue city hall launched a pilot project this year that will test the viability of rubber sidewalks in the downtown core.

Starting with a small stretch of sidewalk on NE 10th, just west of 102nd Ave NE, the experimental footpath will help the city evaluate the long term costs and durability of rubber sidewalks as opposed to concrete ones. If the project proves successful, city officials plan to use the rubber pavers in another 700 sidewalk locations throughout the city.

One of the main advantages of the rubber sidewalks is their ability to bend. Though everyone loves a shady, tree lined street - when those gnarly old roots start tearing up the pavement, children trip, wheelchairs get stuck, people sue. When this happens, it's a bit of a showdown: sidewalk vs. tree. Last year, 12 trees lost the battle and had to be cut down. Even when the tree can be spared, if the roots are cut to save the sidewalk the tree can still die. Either way, all the time and money spent on maintenance is costly.

The alternative is to pave the sidewalks with something that can co-exist with the trees, something like rubber that won't crack under pressure. For pedestrians, the rubber is a slightly softer surface to walk on that can put a bit of a spring in the step. Better traction and improved accessibility for people in wheelchairs are other ground-level advantages. But perhaps the most appealing advantage for Bellevue staff and citizens is the fact that the recycled tiles are good for the environment, preserving the trees and turning what would have become landfill into something everyone can be happy about. The rubber sidewalk tiles are made out of recycled tires with about 5 tires compressed into every two inch thick paver.

The rubber sidewalk initiative is just one of many environmentally friendly projects undertaken by the local government in the past year. In an effort to reduce their municipal carbon footprint, Bellevue has also adopted land use patterns that reduce sprawl, sought ways to preserve the city's tree canopy, turned one of their beloved golf courses into a wildlife sanctuary recognized by the Audubon Society and started purchasing hybrid vehicles for the city fleet.