Clockwise from top left: “Cold War Monument” (On the cover); “One must garden,” (Community, page 4); Cafe Chat with Atlasta Catering (Food for Thought, page 41); Keb Mo visits Celebrity Theatre, April 30 (On the Town, page 39-40) ; Center: It’s Kitten Season! (Community, page 16)

This month, in honor of Earth Day, April 22, we are focusing on ways to live a more sustainable life. Whether it is through recycling and conservation, shopping local, growing your own food, or locally-owned businesses refocusing on green efforts, “sustainable” is a many-faceted subject.

For this month’s cover stories, I toured the City of Phoenix Materials Recovery Facility to see first-hand the recycling process — and it is fascinating. The city has a goal of “zero waste” by 2050, and the story breaks down what that looks like. I also had the opportunity to see the remnants of a Cold War submarine up-close-and-personal as it awaits its next use as a monument in Steele Indian School Park. The veterans who are spearheading the monument effort explain the project.

I also toured a green space that two residents have been nurturing for the last few years, and whose efforts have inspired their neighbors. Read the story in Community.

In Food for Thought, Marjorie Rice catches up with the owners of Atlasta Catering and Events Concepts, Steve and Kristine Short, who began their company’s focus on sustainability in 2008 and have not looked back.

As always, you will find community, business, dining and school news from around our North Central area, as well as an amazing variety of things to do in the Valley.

We hope that you enjoy and find some inspiration in our April issue!

Kathryn M. Miller
Editor, North Central News
kathryn@northcentralnews.net