“It’s a lovely way for the dead to provide comfort for the living at a difficult time.”
Vernon Marshall, Local Vicar
As you might guess from its name, Holland, Michigan (population 34,053) is mostly known for its annual tulip festival, but it also sits along the scenic shores of Lake Michigan, across from the Big Red Lighthouse, and sports some of the coolest sidewalks around. Actually, the hottest. You see, throughout the winter, which lasts about 9 months according to some, the city pumps warm water from the nearby power plant through pipes laid under the central district’s sidewalks and streets by the town’s forefathers. The warm water keeps the area clear of snow and ice and welcoming to visitors. City leaders credit the Snowmelt Project with keeping shoppers downtown pounding the pavement until it’s time to tiptoe through the tulips.
Read the Article ® Places that work: Holland’s sidewalks
Bonus Link ® Holland, Michigan
The next story breaks most of the rules for getting included in Small Town News in a Nutshell: it’s not about a small town, and the town isn’t even in the United States. But it is a surprising solution to a burning problem, and it was too good to pass up . . .
Hot Tub
Gotta give it to the British. They know how to stretch a buck—excuse me—quid. The Redditch Borough Council recently approved plans to use crematorium furnaces to heat a municipal swimming pool. The move will save £14,500 annually (that’s about $23,500 to you and me) and cut emissions at the same time. A few folks find the idea eerie, but for the most part the response has been positive. In fact, the proposal cut across party lines and got almost unanimous support from the borough council (25 of 27 ayes). But, hard to believe, the British don’t get credit for being the first to come up with the idea of putting their dearly departed to work. In 2009 a suburban mortuary in Taipei converted the heat from its crematorium to power the air conditioning to its rest area, and in 2008 Halmstad, Sweden cut emissions by using the energy from its crematorium to heat homes. This is one smokin’ hot idea for going green.
Read the Articles ® Council dives into crematorium-heated pool and Crematorium to heat council swimming pool
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