ECOSiZE Me

Random Acts of Green: Earth Day 2011

We've spent lots of time over the last couple of weeks presenting our landfill program to elementary students and putting garbage in the context of the past, present and future.

Students studied "garbology" by participating in an archeological garbage dig of "garbage past" and "garbage present" to find similarities and differences in what we discard. The most impactful was a trip through the garbage graveyard to see "garbage future". Things like glass and plastic are "eternally ours" even after they reach their final resting place in a landfill. Landfills are designed to isolate garbage from the rest of the environment, limiting the amount of sunlight, moisture and air. Without these elements, decomposition occurs at a much slower rate.

As you celebrate the 41st anniversary of Earth Day, will you make a commitment in the coming year to:

• Reduce the amount of garbage you create.
• Reuse and donate more, giving your discards a second chance.
• Recycle everything you can, everywhere you are (even if it's inconvenient). Speak up and speak out. Ask for more recycling opportunities in places where recycling is not currently available.
• Buy fewer and fewer overpackaged, wasteful products.
• Compost food scraps and yard waste.
• Conserve ALL our natural resources. It's good to be green to keep our Earth clean; it's also important to be blue because our water is important too.
• Close the loop! Support recycling programs and purchase products made from recycled materials.

Are We Too Lazy To Save The Planet?

Standing in the checkout line at a local craft store, a customer ahead of me was considering purchasing one of the store's reusable shopping bags. While she was admiring the whimsical pattern of the shopping bag, she noticed the words "go green" along the outer edge of the bag. I was taken aback by her indignant response...she quickly hung the shopping bag back on the stand and proclaimed that she "was tired of having "that" shoved down her throat". That being the reference to going green.

Perhaps stranger still is that the bags she was considering are so clearly part of the "Go Green" effort so why the surprise and indignation?  As you can tell, the incident truly struck a chord with me and got me thinking deeper about the green movement. 

Is respecting our environment too much to ask? Is taking responsibility for the conservation of the natural resources that this planet provides such a chore? When did we lose sight of the core democratic value of the common good; when we are all working together for the greater benefit of everyone in our community?

Ask not what your planet can do for you, but what you can do to protect your planet.

Earth Hour 2011: Will You Be in the Dark Tonight?

 
This blog is all about changing the environment one small step at a time. What easier way to take a step, make a stand and participate in a sustainability effort that spans the globe, than to turn off your lights (and all non-essential electronics) for ONE HOUR, EARTH HOUR tonight at 8:30 p.m., no matter where you are.

In 2007, Earth Hour started in Australia in an effort to draw awareness to climate change. It quickly turned into a global sustainability movement by its second year, with participants in over 35 countries. Now in its fourth year, Earth Hour 2011 is a phenomenal opportunity to bring awareness to the need for world-wide environmental change. On the heels of the nuclear crisis in Japan, it is imperative that we as individuals learn more about our dependency on non-renewable forms of energy.

Before you turn off your lights and power down your computer, take a look at the U.S. Energy Information Administration's site Energy Kids to learn more about energy sources, conservation and efficiency, consumption and production. Even as a grown-up, this site is invaluable.

Did you know...nuclear power plants generate about 1/5th (or 20%) of the electricity in the United States.

Ecosize Me looks forward to seeing you in the dark tonight at 8:30 p.m!

If for Recyclers

If you can keep your trash when all about you haul theirs out to the curb on pickup day. If you can learn the habit of reusing, instead of simply throwing things away.

If you can smash your cans and stack your papers, and sort out all containers made of glass. If you can take the motor oil to be reclaimed, and compost all your garbage, leaves and grass;

If you can keep recycling more and using less, and find within each thing some added worth; My friend, you might not always save alot of time, but--which is more---you just might save the Earth.

---taken from a Hallmark greeting card years and years ago that was made in the U.S.A. and printed on recycled paper that contained a minimum of 10% post-consumer and 40% pre-consumer content.

Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage

Based on the book of the same name, the documentary Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, addresses recycling, waste generation and disposal in the United States. It provides an insightful historical perspective and addresses how built-in obsolescence has contributed to our increasing garbage dilemma. The 20 minutes out of your day is well worth the time spent.

  

My Frugal Valentine

Since the success of last year's Green Valentine Party, our family has been looking for ways to personally reduce the carbon footprint of each and every holiday. This Valentine's Day was no exception. 

It started with the kids and I reaching a fun compromise for this sweet-nothing filled February 14th. It was a lesson that paired frugality with eco-friendliness. We would forego purchasing the traditional paper valentines in exhange for their choice of treats to share with classmates. We soon realized, however, that the candied treats would be missing the affectionate "to/from" messaging without the accompanying paper valentines. Scouring the house, we soon found that the paperboard packaging, from 12-pack cans of diet coke/coca-cola, when cut into colorful heart-shaped cards, was a fun, reusable and recyclable solution. The kids enjoyed personalizing each unique coca-cola paperboard heart and attaching to it a special treat. Once finished, they placed all the Valentines in their own upcycled target treat bags. (Read on for more details.)

 

 

 

 

Tell you more about the upcycled target treat bags? Being the room parent for my youngest's 1st grade class, I took on the task of creating treat bags for each of 24 students. Putting a slightly different twist on one parent's clever idea from last school year's green valentine party challenge, I fused 2 target bags together, using parchment paper and a hot (dry) iron. After trimming to size, I sewed 2 sets of the fused bags together to form a bag or pouch. The bags are complete with handles (either using ribbon or simply cutting an oblong hole in both sides of the bag). The result is a super-cute, easy, reused, upcycled bag in a red and white bullseye pattern.

 

 

 

 

Start by straightening out plastic shopping bags, and lay them flat, back to back, with patterned sides facing out. Trim off handles. Place the 2 bags between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Fusing 2 bags together gives each side of the bag enough strength. Move a hot, dry iron over one side of the parchment paper, in a back and forth motion. Flip entire stack over, and iron the other side. Remove parchment paper and you will have a fused plastic sheet. Trim plastic sheets to desired size. Stitch together 2 sheets, along 3 sides using a serger or sewing machine, leaving one side "open" as the top of the bag.

 

 

 

 

Each of the finished target treat bags, required a total of 4 reused Target plastic shopping bags. Our project, 24 finished bags, reused and upcycled 96 plastic shopping bags. If you cannot collect enough bags from friends and neighbors, Target stores have a bin where shoppers can deposit used plastic shopping bags for recycling. We used Target store bags because of the design and color. These bags are a good weight and thickness (in mils) for a fused plastic project. You can layer more than 2 bags before fusing for a thicker finished plastic, depending on the type of end product you are creating.

We took plastic shopping bags, most destined for a landfill, and upcycled them into usable treat bags. The project cost nothing more than our time and creativity (with the exception of some ribbon and thread).

Defeating Greenwashers: ECA Software and Carbon Accounting

The following is a guest post from Hunter Richards, accounting market analyst with Software Advice. You can contact him at hunter@softwareadvice.com.

 

 

Greenwash (verb, \ˈgrēn-wȯsh\) - to market a product or service by promoting a deceptive or misleading perception of environmental responsibility.

Companies are increasingly launching ad campaigns for the latest green products. But many of their claims are misleading or downright false. So how can we know who’s telling the truth? “Greenwashing” is eroding the credibility of environmental marketing and turning would-be green consumers into skeptics.

The U.S. is a leader in financial accounting (with the help of sophisticated accounting software), but we need to develop similar infrastructure for new environmental accounting methods to prevent greenwashing. Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software is becoming the foundation of this infrastructure, enabling companies to track and report their carbon emissions. ECA software can also help identify opportunities for cost savings and waste reduction. Now greenwashers are running out of excuses to conceal their carbon footprint.

The ECA market is growing, but we need action in five main categories for environmental accounting adoption to finally defeat greenwashers:

Clear government regulations - like the EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, which requires companies that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases annually to disclose their carbon emissions to the EPA;

Adoption of carbon accounting principles - more required disclosure of corporate emissions would provide a method for examining a company’s environmental record and disproving false ad campaigns;

Expansion of Scope 3 emissions accounting - mandatory inclusion of suppliers’ emissions (Scope 3) in environmental reports would prevent under-reporting of emissions and spread more adoption of carbon accounting throughout the supply chain.

Better green business incentives  - using ECA software to identify new eco-friendly savings opportunities can make it cheaper to go green, making it unneccessary for businesses to greenwash in the first place.

Demanding, informed consumers - consumers who demand the numbers from standardized carbon accounting reports and boycott the liars force businesses with green marketing campaigns to prove their sincerity - after all, fully informed consumers make deception by greenwashing impossible.

To learn more about ECA software and greenwashing prevention, check out Software to Hold "Greenwashers" Accountable.

Does Going Green Matter?

Our friends over at Software Advice dot com conducted a survey a few weeks back, asking consumers if it matters to them whether a company "greens" its supply chain. The results of the survey can be found here, along with the opportunity to contribute your thoughts and comments on the subject.

One key issue, in particular, resonated with me. That is the idea that "every dollar we spend is a vote". This concept is actually the basis for one of our middle-school environmental education programs. "It's All About You" explains and demonstrates to our youngest consumers that even though they aren't 18, they indeed can cast a silent, yet very powerful vote. This vote speaks louder than any words ever could to companies wanting market share. It's a concept, however, that each and every consumer should take to heart as we spend each and every hard-earned dollar.

The consumer survey on Software Advice dot com is a followup to a case-study about lessons from five eco-friendly supply chains and addresses the question: can large companies distributing products to consumers across the globe actually have a positive impact on the environment? IBM, whole Foods, Patagonia, Pepsi and Wal-Mart, identified three key factors necessary to green-up their company...sourcing, packaging and delivery.

This fist-in-a-series about businesses going green, is a thought-provoking, insightful piece from Software Advice. It's worth the time to read, ponder and comment and even learn a little about how large corporations are finding ways to go green.

Whole Foods Making A Whole World of Difference

Have you heard about this? Whole Foods is taking charge and leading the way in greener packaging. Starting with their nutritional supplements and personal care products, Whole Foods store-brand items will be packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled content bottles. They are also requiring new suppliers to meet the greener packaging guidelines before the items will be sold in Whole Food stores.

More information can be found here at the Whole Foods' blog: http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2010/09/leading-the-green-packaging-charge/

Littered with Indifference

At a local Sears store, my daughter and I shopped for school shoes. While we were successful and had a good experience inside, things changed dramatically in the parking lot.

It was closing time and while we approached our car, there was a young employee a distance away gathering shopping carts. It caught my attention because I heard the sound of plastic bottles hitting the ground. When I looked over, the employee was removing pieces of trash that were left behind in the carts. Removing them from the carts and throwing them onto the ground in the parking lot, of the company he worked for.

It was infuriating! But since he was still some distance away, I felt a bit awkward walking across the parking lot to express my disapproval. At the same time, I was conflicted because I wanted to say something and stand up for the environment that I value and that I teach my children to value.

I resorted to getting in the car, keeping my mouth shut and using it as an example of what not to do for my daughter. When we circled around the aisle, the employee, with the carts he had gathered, was now only about 12 feet away. Still infuriated and conflicted, I stopped the car and glanced over at him, pondering my last chance to speak up.

Then it happened...he did it AGAIN! He grabbed another cart and threw whatever piece of trash was left behind onto the ground. This time I did not think twice...I instinctively opened the car window and said to him that he could have just as easily taken the trash to the garbage bins in the store and properly disposed of it instead of throwing it on the ground and littering. Not surprisingly, he looked at me and snottily said "yeah" as if he could not be bothered.

I let the disrespectful, indifferent employee know that I planned on contacting the store manager. Not so much as a threat but really moreso to follow up on inappropriate behavior of the people they employ. Although I am not expecting great outcomes, I am anxious to hear the response of the store manager.

When did our society become so indifferent, so careless, so callous to each other and to our environment? Just like I mentioned in the post Gum on the Bottom of My Shoe, littering is a disgraceful, disrespectful act that reflects in the same manner on the people that do it and results in a reputation that is not so easily reversed.

Ecosize Me wants to know...what do you do when you see someone littering? And, what would you have done in this situation?