Linksploration - Bay Area

May 6 was the Bay Area Bike Swap Festival.  Join us as we talk to participants representing all things bicycle.  There's a lot going on; the variety is astonishing.  We talk to all kinds of folks, and observe our first bunny hop!

Twenty million people showed up for the first Earth Day in 1970.  Its character has evolved over the years.  We discuss its history, meaning, and what it has become in the Bay Area, including a preview of Earth Day Lafayette with Surahbi Konkur of Sustainable Lafayette.  Also check the show notes for links to happenings around the Bay this weekend!

We love waste! In this episode, we tour the sewage processing plant of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District.  But wait - there's more!  It turns out that there are a multiplicity of wastewater districts in the Bay Area, and every one of them treats its sewage a little bit differently.  So we did a little comparison.  Join us as we follow your poop from the flush to the Bay, with a side excursion to see how the various sanitary districts are getting value from it.

Beavers!  They're baaack!  Beavers are amazing animals.  Hear about their incredible physiology,  the story of the Martinez beavers, and what's next for them in the Bay Area.

No solar panels needed to get renewably-sourced electricity!  Go with your community choice aggregator (CCA).  For Contra Costa County, that's Marin Clean Energy, or MCE.  In this episode, MCE's Jenna Tenney explains how CCA works and why choose it.

Where Walnut Creek - the stream, not the town - meets Suisun Bay, it is getting a new life.  After many years as a sad, diked and silted, artificial channel, it is being reborn as a lively mix of revitalized habitat for a wide variety of plants, birds, mammals and fish.  Though it's not yet open to the public, we got a guided tour with Paul Detjens, the project manager.  Join us for a sneak preview of this amazing preserve right on our doorstep.

In our second episode on rooftop solar, we discuss net energy metering and the changes in store, as well as the newly extended federal tax credit and right-sizing the system with our guests Pat Villano & Amit Roy of Your Energy Solutions.

In this, the first of a two-episode series, we dig into the nuts and bolts of rooftop solar, from how the panels work, to financing, to how to find a good installer, and more.

Visit the recycling center and meet Big Blue! Find out where your recycling goes and what actually gets reprocessed. Begin to answer the $64,000 question: Is it worth it?

It's Flood Preparedness Week!  And so we kick off our podcast with a conversation with Eric Simmons, an engineer with FEMA's Flood Mitigation Division.  Eric talks about all things flood risk, and we trace it to Contra Costa County.  Find out how to evaluate your own flood risk, how flood maps are tied to historic flood risk, and why flood insurance premiums vary by city.  (Hint: Unincorporated Contra Costa has the best rates.)