Gwinnett County Farmers’ Markets

Suwanee Farmers’ Market

address:370 Buford Highway  Suwanee, GA 30024

contact:Amy Doherty phone:770-945-8996

website:Suwanee Farmers Market

“Get it fresh in Suwanee! The Suwanee Farmers Market offers in-season produce, herbs and plants, free-range eggs and meat, baked goods, fresh flowers, and jams and jellies. The market is open at Town Center Park from 8 am-noon every Saturday from approximately early May to mid-October (except for the third Saturday in September).

“May-October, Town Center Park Every Saturday, early May – mid October (except third Saturday in September) 8 am – noon”.

Norcross Farmers’ Market

address:72 Park Drive  Norcross, GA 30071

contact:William Shipley phone:404-824-4350

website:Whistle Stop Farmers Market of Historic Norcross

The Whistle Stop Farmer’s Market is a group of organized citizens of Norcross, Georgia whose mission is to bring locally fresh produce, organic produce, meats/cheeses, baked goods, homemade sundries, sauces, spices and other items from across our region as an open air market to the thriving historic area of Norcross.

June-October, Tuesday’s from 4-8PM, June 2nd-Oct 27th 2009.

Located along side Thrasher Park on Buchanan Street in Historic Norcross.

Lawrenceville Farmers’ Market

185 West Crogan Street  Lawrenceville, GA 30045

contact:Rebekah Cline phone:678-226-2639

website:Lawrenceville Farmers’ Market

“The Annual Lawrenceville Farmers’ Market on the Square is held every Saturday from June 6th through September 26th. Each week the Lawrenceville Farmers’ Market will open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in historic downtown Lawrenceville in the parking lot behind the Crogan Street fountain directly across from the Historic Courthouse front entrance. The market draws a host of farmers, home canners, and individuals who grow their own products. Whether you’re coming downtown for your weekly, fresh produce or visiting our historic shopping district, the Lawrenceville market has become a Saturday morning treat to pick up not only fresh fruits, vegetables, grass fed beef, eggs, herbs and flowers but also unique baskets, soaps, honeys, and jams.

“June-September, Every Saturday from June 6th until September 26th 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Historic Downtown Square Lawrenceville, GA (Across from Historic Courthouse behind Crogan St. fountain)”

Dacula Farmers’ Market

2225 Givens Rd. Dacula, GA 30019

Anthony Stokes phone:678-863-9612

website:Dacula Farmer’s Market email:stokesfarm@bellsouth.net

This Farmers’ market takes place on a private farm in Dacula, where local farmers bring their naturally grown vegetables, fruit, and eggs to sell. Several farmers also offer beef, pork and chicken, which you can pickup at the slaughter house or on their farms. The Dacula Natural Buyer’s Club provides boxes of organic produce from around the world to augment what is locally available. The market is also a drop point for Johnston Family Dairy. They graze their cattle on pasture to produce some of the most delicious milk you’ll ever taste. It is un-homogenized and only lightly pasteurized.

Green In Gwinnett Area – Keeping Gwinnett Green and Sustainable

~ James Chronicle

Where To Recycle Christmas Trees In Gwinnett, Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Dacula, Sugar Hill, Buford, Norcross and more

Green In Gwinnett Area

PLEASE NOTE: FOR 2010/2011 CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING INFO, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Gwinnett:

Recycle Those Christmas Trees to”Keep Georgia Beautiful“

Bring One for the Chipper is Georgia’s annual Christmas tree recycling program. Each year, Keep Georgia Beautiful works with private sponsors to organize the recycling event. These statewide sponsors included The Home Depot, The Davey Tree Expert Company and WXIA-TV. Numerous local sponsors and volunteers also make contributions and provide in-kind services across the state.

How can you help? Bring your Christmas Tree to one of the fire department locations or other locations listed below.  Make sure your Christmas Tree has all of the lights and decorations removed from it.  Do not bring artificial Christmas Trees.

Dates: December 26 – January 16

Locations in Gwinnett:

Buford

Fire Station 14, 1600 Highway 23, Buford 30518

Fire Station 24, 2735 Mall of GA Blvd., Buford 30519

Dacula

Fire Station 16, 195 Dacula Rd., Dacula 30019

Fire Station 17, 2739 Brooks Rd., Dacula 30019

Fire Station 18, 3600 Braselton Hwy., Dacula 30019

Fire Station 27, 2825 Old Fountain Rd. Dacula 30019

Duluth

The Home Depot, 5950 State Bridge Rd., Duluth, 30097 (January 9th Only)

Fire Station 5, 3001 Old Norcross Rd., Duluth, 30044

Fire Station 7, 3343 Bunton Rd., Duluth 30096

Fire Station 19, 3275 N. Berkeley Lake Rd.,Duluth 30096

Grayson

Fire Station 8, 2295 Brannan Rd.,Grayson 30017

Lawrenceville

Fire Station 9, 1900 Five Forks-Trickum Rd., Lawrenceville 30044

Fire Station 15, 275 S. Perry St.,Lawrenceville 30045

Fire Station 20, 1801 Cruse Rd.,Lawrenceville 30044

Fire Station 25, 3575 Lawrenceville Hwy., Lawrenceville 30044

Lilburn

Fire Station 2, 12 Harmony Grove Rd.,Lilburn 30047

Fire Station 3, 4394 Five Forks-Trickum Rd.,Lilburn 30047

Fire Station 22, 2180 Stone Dr., Lilburn 30047

Loganville

Fire Station 28, 3725 Rosebud Rd. Loganville 30052

Norcross

The Home Depot, 4343 Tilly Mill Rd., Atlanta, 30360 (From 1/1/2010 til 1/10/2010)

Fire Station 1, 165 Lawrenceville St., Norcross, 30071

Fire Station 4, 5550 Spalding Dr., Norcross 30092

Fire Station 11, 5885 Live Oak Pkwy.,Norcross 30093

Fire Station 23, 4355 Steve Reynolds Blvd.,Norcross 30093

Snellville

Fire Station 6, 3890 Johnson Dr.,Snellville 30039

Fire Station 12, 2815 Lenora Church Rd.,Snellville 30078

Sugar Hill

Fire Station 26, 6075 Suwanee Dam Rd.,Sugar Hill 30518

Suwanee

Sims Lake Park, 4600 Suwanee Dam Rd., Suwanee 30024

Fire Station 21, 474 Old Peachtree Rd.,Suwanee 30024

The Chipper program involves hundreds of Georgia communities and thousands of volunteers. Since its inception, the program has recycled over 4.8 million Christmas trees. The mulch from these trees has been used for playgrounds, local government beautification projects, and individual yards. You can support the Chipper program by bringing your cut Christmas tree to a designated drop off site or volunteering with your local coordinator to collect trees.

 

This information was obtained from KeepGeorgiaBeautiful.Org

Think Green In Gwinnett!!!

Getting Started Going Green in Gwinnett

You’ve decided you want to live a more eco-friendly life? Great! Are you feeling a little overwhelmed? Maybe you see all of the things you can change to be more green, and you don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’re on a tight budget and you simply don’t have the money to completely revamp your life. That’s okay! There are some simple, inexpensive things you can do to live a little more green. The first step is to decide why you want to go green. What is your main concern? For many people, they are worried about carbon dioxide and climate change, and they want to reduce their carbon footprint. Others are concerned about waste filling up landfills and want to start recycling. Still others are worried about chemicals in their home environment and want to start using green cleaning products or buying organic food. You might be concerned about all of these issues and more, but there is probably one thing in particular that has really convinced you it’s time to go green. Start with that one and you’ll be able to stick with your lifestyle changes easily, because they will be important to you.  Let’s look at some of these green goals and see how to get started.

So you want to reduce your carbon footprint…

With carbon, climate change, greenhouse gas, and “carbon neutral” being such popular buzzwords these days, you can’t help but think about how your lifestyle is affecting the planet. A great place to start is with a Carbon Footprint Calculator. This will estimate how much carbon you personally put into the air each year. There are tons of calculators on the Internet, I like the one at http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/.

Now, that you know your carbon footprint, how do you make it smaller?

• Adjust your thermostat. Is your AC set so low that your family wears sweaters around the house in August? Using less energy to heat and cool your home can definitely change your carbon output, AND save you some money. You can also open blinds in the winter to let the sun heat your home naturally, and close them in the summer to help keep it cool. When it’s nice outside, open windows and screen doors can let in fresh air and nice temperatures. A programmable thermostat is an investment in your home that will pay for itself in energy savings. They are very simple to install yourself.
• Drive less. This one can save you money as well! Remember this summer, when gas was scarce here in Georgia, and we all tried to drive as little as possible? You don’t have to go to those extremes, but being mindful of how much you drive is important. Could you walk to any of your destinations? Can you carpool with anyone? My husband drives from Duluth to Athens for school, carpooling has saved us a ton of money! When you go out to run errands, take a minute to plan the most efficient route. It will save you both time and gas. If you’re lucky, you could even talk to your employer about working from home once or twice a week, and see the gas savings really add up!
• Turn it off. How many lights are on in your house right now, in rooms that no one is occupying? I will admit, I am terrible about leaving lights on! Turning them off can save your electric bill and the planet. Also, you’ve probably heard that some of your electronics use “vampire power”. This means they continue to draw electricity even when they’re switched off. TV’s are notorious for this one. Unplugging these power hogs can save a lot of money. You can also plug them into a surge protector with a switch so you can turn several items off at once (for instance, if you turn off your TV, you can also turn off your DVD player and video game console).
• Recommended reading for footprint reduction: An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore.

What if trash is your main concern…

Landfills take up huge amounts of space, and a lot of perfectly good stuff ends up in them. How can you cut down on the amount of garbage you send to them? The three R’s, of course!

• Reduce. This is really the most important thing you can do to cut down on waste. Think about ways you can create less garbage in the first place. Are you using disposable plates and cups just for the sake of convenience? Using paper towel for household jobs that could be done with a washable, reusable rag? If you don’t make any other green changes, then at least start bringing tote bags to the grocery store instead of getting plastic bags. Trust me, you’ll be glad when you don’t have a giant pile of plastic bags sitting in the garage! Some stores, like Whole Foods, give you a credit for bringing your own bags ($0.10) while other stores like IKEA charge for using plastic bags. Reusable totes are $1.00 at many stores, but I bet you’ve got tote bags sitting around in a closet that would work just fine.
• Reuse. It’s easy to find ways to reuse things around the house. Pasta sauce jars can be washed and used to store rice and pasta. Yogurt tubs and even toilet paper rolls can be used to start seeds. Every time you throw something away, try thinking of a way to reuse it. Remember that if you don’t have a use for something, someone else might. For instance, UPS Stores (in Dacula, Snellville, Lawrenceville and many other places in Gwinnett) will take foam packing peanuts for reuse.
• Recycle. Recycling has never been so easy! Most, if not all, garbage haulers in Gwinnett offer some sort of curbside recycling for items like cans, bottles, and newspaper. The Recycling Bank of Gwinnett should reopen soon, and they accept many items that curbside recycling doesn’t pick up. There are a lot of other places in town that accept various things for recycling. The post office in Duluth, for instance, has dumpsters to recycle phonebooks and magazines. Many groceries stores accept things like plastic grocery bags and egg cartons. Visit http:arth911.com to find out where to recycle near you. You’d be amazed at all the recycling going on in Gwinnett! I found ways to recycle ink cartirdges in Buford, car batteries in Lawrenceville, and newspapers in Grayson.
• Recommended reading for recycling fans: Living Like Ed by Ed Begley Jr.

Are you worried about chemicals all around you…

This seems to be an especially big concern among parents. Folks who never thought about what was in their cleaning products or food realize, when they have children, that they don’t know what most of these chemicals are or how safe they are.

• Switch to green cleaning products. There are so many eco-friendly options out there, and they work just as well as traditional cleaning products. These days there are also plenty of green options that aren’t too expensive either. Detoxing your home can get overwhelming, the trick is not to replace everything at once. Use up the cleaning supplies you have, and gradually replace them with greener options as you restock.
• Organic foods. Organic foods can be pricey, but you can prioritize your purchases. You can find out which foods tend to have the most pesticide residues, and which ones have the least. That way you know which foods it’s more important to buy organic and which ones you can probably stick to conventionally grown. Try this guide for starters http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php .
• Beauty products.  Natural beauty products have gone mainstream, with both Target and Wal-mart selling many brands of bath and beauty items with natural and organic ingredients. Trust me, this stuff will work just as well, if not better than their chemical counterparts, plus you’ll be able to pronounce all the ingredients! I visited the Wal-Mart in Suwanee just this week and I was really impressed by the natural and organic beauty brands they carry.
• Recommended reading for a non-toxic home: Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck.

I hope this guide will give you some good suggestions of easy ways to go green. Do you have anymore easy green tips? Post them in the comments!

LEED In Gwinnett. Hamilton Mill Library and Brandsmart USA are both aiming for LEED Cert. Who else?

Fellow Gwinnett County Residents and Business Persons,

Please respond to this blog with information on new or upcoming LEED structures for Gwinnett County.  Suwanee, Duluth, Lawrenceville, Dacula, Buford, Hamilton Mill, Lilburn, Snellville, Norcross and any other cities in Gwinnett please inform us…

We would love to keep abreast of these developments and keep our community informed.

Christmas Tree Recycling

For those of you who want to take your trees in yourself, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful is accepting them (free of lights and decorations) at the following locations:

Christmas Tree Drop-Off Locations

December 26 – January 19

Buford

Fire Station 14, 1600 Highway 23

Fire Station 24, 2735 Mall of GA Blvd.

Dacula

Fire Station 16, 195 Dacula Rd.

Fire Station 17, 2739 Brooks Rd.

Fire Station 18, 3600 Braselton Hwy.

Fire Station 27, 2825 Old Fountain Rd.

Duluth

Fire Station 5, 3001 Old Norcross Rd.

Fire Station 19, 3275 N. Berkeley Lake Rd.

Grayson

Fire Station 8, 2295 Brannan Rd.

Lawrenceville

Fire Station 9, 1900 Five Forks-Trickum Rd.

Fire Station 15, 275 S. Perry St.

Fire Station 20, 1801 Cruse Rd.

Fire Station 25, 3575 Lawrenceville Hwy.

Lilburn

Fire Station 2, 12 Harmony Grove Rd.

Fire Station 3, 4394 Five Forks-Trickum Rd.

Fire Station 22, 2180 Stone Dr.

*City Residents ONLY: 107 Railroad Ave.

Loganville

Fire Station 28, 3725 Rosebud Rd.

Norcross

Fire Station 1, 165 Lawrenceville St.

Fire Station 4, 5550 Spalding Dr.

Fire Station 11, 5885 Live Oak Pkwy.

Fire Station 23, 4355 Steve Reynolds Blvd.

Snellville

Fire Station 6, 3890 Johnson Dr.

Fire Station 12, 2815 Lenora Church Rd.

Sugar Hill

Fire Station 26, 6075 Suwanee Dam Rd.

Suwanee

Fire Station 13, 343 Buford Highway

Fire Station 21, 474 Old Peachtree Rd.