Viva Verde!

I am sick of junk mail. Under my desk is my paper recycling bin and it is overflowing with mail and office waste from the past week. And it is the constant flow of this junk mail that gets me going. You see, the thing is these junk mailers are being produced, contributing the environmental degradation, and for what?!?!--I don't even want most of the crap they send me! Did you know that 19 billion catalogs are printed per year in the United States. That equals 53 million trees or the equivelant of 2000 Central Parks cut down each year.

If we stop 5 million catalogs from being produced = 225 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water are saved/ year; saves enough energy to power 350,000 homes per year; is = to removing 6,000 cars off the road per year in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Those are GREAT reasons.

Most of the time I am apt to think/feel that the reason for most of the waste on the planet is because humans are over consumers and have created this demand. On a large scale, this is still very much the truth. However, on a personal level and dealing with this problem in particular...it frustrates me. These mailers are being sent to everyone--whether they like it or not which means the good that is produced (in this case, the junk mail) that has also consumed ALL those resources has no purpose at all other than WASTE. Those resources were consumed for no purpose and that frustrates me. People aren't necessarily demanding this service directly (maybe indirectly by being overconsumers, thus creating a general demand across all industry)...instead, the business is trying to create the demand even when it isn't there. Can I completely blame them--no because I know you need marketing tools to stimulate business development....but maybe we can start going the paperless/more eco-friendly route...

Luckily, for me, most of the catalogs and junk mail sent to me can be recycled. But for some, their local recycling facilities don't accept glossy paper or other such materials that this junk mail is often printed on. So I atleast get to recycle it, but the fact still remains that even MORE resources are having to be put into this piece of junkmail just to get a second life that is hopefully more useful than its first life as junk. But what about those who can't recycle it and it just has to go in their trash? The cradle to grave process yielded nothing that was beneficial to the people or planet, rather just contributed to the environmental degradation and frustration of the homeowner.

So instead of just ranting and not giving you an adequate solution to change the overall situation...here ya go. It is a website that you can do to, see all the catalogs you are currently getting and then unsubscribe to them. And, it really is easy and won't take your entire work day to do. Here is the info:
Stop Catalog Sign-up
www.catalogchoice.com

Recently there were some building ordinances passed to beef-up the city of Boulder's Green Points Program and the passed measures are largely focused on energy conservation and offsetting with renewables. The idea behind ordinance 7565 is increased energy efficiency, beyond the IECC (Int'l Energy Conserv. and Insulation Code) and the percentage of increased efficiency is calculated according to structure size. For example, any new construction between 3,001-5,000 sq feet must be 50% more energy efficient than 2006 IECC. Anything 50% energy efficiency increase (so the bigger the house) is going to require the use of renewables for the property: anything under 50% is do-able with modified construction and materials. This is great news--alas, people are being held accountable for having a bigger footprint and hopefully they will start to build for what they actually need and not for what they want.

This trend is catching on across america and it seems to be the latest "fad" within the green movement: increased energy efficiency both commercially and residentially. It is kinda like a continuation of the renewables fad when solar energy caught on: the great Renewables Awakening. Well, this energy audit trend nicely compliments the Renewable Awakening and helps the renewable energy generated go a little further. Increased efficiency means 1 kW goes a lot further and saves a lot of energy production. This means decreased CO2, NOx and SOx emissions because of decreased demand for coal and natural gas fueled power plants. Anyhow, those are the points of energy audits: to increase energy efficiency, concentrate on energy conservation, and renewable energies.

So how is an energy audit conducted. In Boulder, it is recommended/required you get a RESNET accredited HERS rate. Lots of acronyms, lets break them down because I know you'll be hearing a lot more about them: (RESNET: Residential Energy Solutions Network. HERS: Home Energy Rating System). A HERS can be involved in several stages of the process, depending on the certification you are trying to obtain. If it is new construction or a remodel, they can help with the plans to make sure they are maximized efficiency BEFORE install. Secondly, they can be installed at the "pre-drywall" phase. Third, they can conduct energy audits on conventional structures to pin-point target areas. For the second and third, HERS raters perform tests. These include: blower test, sight inspection, insulation assessment and test hot water heater settings. This helps them determine your HERS score and give advice on how to improve your home's energy inefficiency.

If you don't have the ability to get a HERS rater out to your home, here are some basic energy conservation tips for your structure:
1. Insulation
2. Seal cracks
3. Increase window efficiency/ Energy efficient windows
4. High efficiency HVAC (heating, ventilation and air condition) systems
5. Utility Bill Analysis

If you haven't thought about having an energy auditor come out to your house, atleast take some of the initial efforts to make your home more energy efficient and reduce your footprint. Decreasing your energy consumption can be one of the most impactful efforts you make to combat global warming. Residential/commercial energy efficiency coupled with transportation efficiency and a significant improvement in renewables technology....and we're on our way to protecting our future.

My overall goal for 2008 is to become more sustainable. Here is how I plan on doing it...

1. Cut Energy Consumption: use powerstrips, unplug appliances that require "standby" to power a clock (!), use LEDs or CFLs, passively heat my home in the winter, unplug my computer!!, buy Energy Star appliances

2. Reduce Water Consumption: choose native, drought tolerant, xeric plants for my summer garden, don't leave water running while brushing teeth or doing dishes, anytime I have left over water in my water bottle--water my indoor plants with it, take shorter showers, be mindful of laundry

3. Eat Local, Organic: in the winter it is harder to find local, organic fruits and veggies but they are out there! In the summer, there is no excuse with an excellent farmers market! Also buy organic skin care and health products

4. Reduce my Greenhouse gas emissions: Bike everywhere I can, offset vehicle emissions with Terrapass, purchase renewable energy

5. Purchase only environmentally friendly products to protect my indoor air quality

6. ELIMINATE PLASTIC from my consumption: start with plastic bags from the grocery store and the ziploc you store stuff in, then move to products that aren't packaged in plastic , then phase out plastics from your home and replace with alternatives. Certainly don't use plastic water bottles.

7. Organic Pet Food: if I am eating organic, so should my pets!

8. Support local businesses: choose local, small businesses instead of large, national corporations.

9. Give back: volunteer for some environmental clean-up groups

10. Stay informed: keep up to date on current green trends and news

HolidayLEDs.com Christmas Light Recycling Program
November 19, 2007

From now until December 20, 2007, HolidayLEDs.com will accept incandescent Christmas lights for recycling. All lights submitted for recycling must be mailed to HolidayLEDs.com, postage paid, and post-marked no later than December 20, 2007.

The first 100 participants (which shall be determined by the date the packaged is post-marked) will receive one free set of LED Christmas lights. The second 100 participants (which shall be determined by the date the packaged is post-marked) will receive a 10% coupon for any purchase at HolidayLEDs.com.

The first 100 participants shall receive their free set of lights via UPS or first class mail no later than February 15, 2008.
The second 100 participants shall receive their 10% coupon via electronic mail no later than February 15, 2007

All participants should include a note along with their package including: 1) Name; 2) Mailing address; 3) Phone number and 4) Email address.

All packages should be sent to:

HolidayLEDs.com

Attn: Recycling Program

120 W. Michigan Ave., Suite 1403

Jackson, MI 49201

I do a lot of work that entails researching and qualifying green, sustainable businesses. Often, I am asked what criteria I use to do this: I don't have a magical checklist that outlines a,b, and c a business needs to do to be sustainable. Instead, I have to listen to the different elements they incorporate into their models and decide whether or not they are substantially better than industry standards. Depending on the industry and location, the criteria changes (because of what is available). So really, it is up to me to decide and weigh the efforts they are making...which is where I run into a problem!
How do you decide which is better? Let me give you an example....New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins Colorado is quite possibly the leader in sustainable brewers (and corporations). Years ago, they were wind powered, giving employees a bike after 1 year, and pioneering water conserving methods of brewing. Not to mention their HVAC system at their brewery is very impressive, all trucks for distribution are biodiesel and they are active in the local community. Hands down, they are hott stuff. Now a days, though, in the Boulder/Denver/Ft. Collins area, other businesses are on their tails and their identity of a wind-powered facility is no longer anything special and is becomign an industry standard. So here is hte other half of the story....what about the actual BEER? Their ingredients are domestic, but not locally grown and they only have one organic beer. So the actual products they are putting into the hands of the consumers aren't super green, even though the facility and methods of distribution are green.
All that being said, what about a brewery that is wind-powered (nothing too special) and has 3 organic beers and purchase their hops locally, have a water conserving method of brewing (not as supreme as New Belgium's). So which is more important? The organic, local ingredients or the greenness of the building? Is it the embodied energy it takes to transport the ingredients more/less important than the high efficiency HVAC system used to power the facility?
I just don't know! Local conventional vs. organic? Do you throw-out your incandescent light bulbs (that haven't burnt out yet) and replace them with CFLs?--if you throw them away, aren't you just contributing to the waste? Shouldn't goods be used for the life of their good rather than demanding the generation of a new good which also requires energy, material, etc.? Here's a big one....if you don't have that much money, is it okay to shop at the local Safeway (which offers organic goods) or do you have to shop at Whole Foods which is still a HUGE corporation and (quite honestly), I don't agree with their business model and how they have gone about aquiring Wild Oats (which is a local, Boulder-based grocery store--however they have gone national, so are they still "local"?) Ah, so many dilemmas.

That is the thing about going green. No product or company or person is perfect. There are so many elements to going green: I don't know of a single thing that is perfect. Think about all the things it would entail to be green--marketing material printed by a green company (which uses hybrid vehicles for distribution, electronic work orders, etc.) , the compostable cutlery is printed by a green business....etc. You see how it really is a community movement and needs support from every industry? That is why it is important to pick and choose your battles. There might be a restaurant that is zero-waste (awesome) and wind-powered, but their food is not organic or local. So which is more important to you--zero waste or organic?

Always remember that there are so many aspects of being green--so you have to pick adn choose your battles and the things that are most important to you.

I met a man the other day named Nurul at the Scottsdale Green Building Expo. He shared with me his story and involvement with environmental concerns in his home land of Bangladesh. I was impressed by his passion and affinity for his cause and culture and promised I would promote his worthy cause. To learn more about how Nurul is addressing environmental degradation in Bangladesh, please visit his website www.poribesh.org (poribesh=environment)

This is quoted from Paul Hawken, author of "Blessed Unrest..." and "The Ecology of Commerce":
On the same note of how to change the world to a different shade of green....
"I believe one of the challenges writers face is how to bring the "language of sustainability" in from the cold. The issues we face on an environmental level arise from science and the challenges we face on a social level are similarly consigned to disciplines that are not mainstream. You can't talk about entropic pollution and cultural deracination on "Oprah," so the task is to create narratives and stories that engage, the draw people in from where they stand and think."

Truth be told, no plastic safe and should be avoided whenever
possible. However, at Your Guide To Green, we recognize that plastic
is an option some people are not willing to give-up and in that case,
we recommend they use a polycarbonate bottle. In all other case,
stainless steel is the safest and longest-lasting alternative.

Polycarbonate bottles are the least porous of any plastics: it is
because of this property along with their high heat-resistance
capacity that slows the rate of leaching compared to other plastics.
It is suspected that Bishphenol A (an endocrine disruptor) leaches at
a slow-rate from polycarbonate products. The same research also
states that children are a more at-risk population than adults.

All that being said, if you are trying to eliminate plastics from your
lifestyle then I would choose stainless steel. Our New Wave Enviro
stainless steel drinking canteens are all Aluminum free which often is
a concern with other stainless steel bottles.

Those who are active in the green community understand the value and payback in their lifestyle choices. They already have one foot in the door, and when asked to communicate why they do the things they do or why they choose one thing over another, they explain their reasoning--the one that has most compelled them. But in that gap of communication, sometimes there is something lost in the mix and the greenie can't communicate their passionin a way such that the listener understands and feels that same element of passion.

That being said, when I first met Greg (Urban Farm) he shared with me that the key to creating change in our future is not in implementing new programs, rather it is in changing the way people think. (Read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn--for sale on our website).

Thats my goal is to change the way people think. How do you do that? Well, I think the right place to begin is by leading by example. People can hear something and process it, but it doesn't have really substance at that level....people need to SEE so they can relate and picture themselves in that element. Leading by example paired with communicating your reasons behind your decisions has massive power and ability and is how I have chosen to create change. I've always said it, we are the catalyst for change....and the key to positive, green future is changing the way people think.

Saturdays are the blessed for me! A true day of rest that always begins with a trip to the Farmers Market and visiting my Abbo friends, often bringing them delicious treats for breakfast. You see...they work until the wee hours of hte morning (often past midnight) to pick the tastiest vege and bring it fresh to the market. This is heaven for me, being able to pick my own fresh fruits and vegetables and know that my friends and mentors are the ones who cultivated it and gave me this gift. Anyhow, i like to return the favor by bringing them something yummy to start their early morning at the market and in the past I have brought home made blueberry muffins, coffee and always lots of fresh fruit.

Well, a few weeks ago I stopped by Wild Oats (started in Boulder, so it is kinda local) which is right down the street from the market because I needed some toiletries and I figured it would be a great idea to get them some organic produce. I bought some mangoes, Colorado Kokopelli peaches, berries, figs and walnuts. It was a delicious array of organic fruit fit for a king. Now, I want to point out that i AM aware that it is not all local to this region and I am a supporter of the local slow food movement. Anyhow, I bring the Abbo folks the fruit and go on my way to shopping at the market. I got beautiful array of organic flowers from a local grower--this is one of my favorite parts about bringign the market into my home! When I came bcak to the ABbo booth and was chatting with my good friend, he informed me that one of their restaurant-buyers from DEnver had scolded me and them about the fact that they were eating tropical fruit and that they shouldn't eat it because it is not bought from someone at the market. Apparently--for lack of better words--she ripped me a new one about not buying local fruit and my friend communicated to me how upset she was.
At first, I was taken-aback and insulted that someone would criticize my efforts to go green because I think I do a darn good job of living a green life. After I stopped being defensive and taking it personally, I could appreciate what she was saying and she IS right--I have no excuse to not buy local. It is another step that doesn't take much effort and has a huge effect--stimulates local economy, better for your diet to eat what is seasonal, and less food-miles (meaning less transport). She is right and because I am informed and active in the green movement, I could appreciate what she was saying.

After this interaction, a lot of things came to a head. What she said to me stuck with me for a couple of days and I couldn't figure out why. And then I did. What bothered me was the way she went about communicating her point and how greatly it differed from mine (and Yourguidetogreen.com's). I believe that the best way to inspire change is to not tell people what htey are doing wrong and make them feel guilty abotu their ways, rather it is to say, "Here, this is an easy thing you can do that has a huge effect and it saves you money. Give it a shot" I make no judgement of their past ways and I only want to share with them the positive effect they can have. But what this woman did was point out all the wrong and tell them the negative, therefore discouraging the efforts of someone to go green.

That is important to me. And important for me to share. Inspire people to change, don't guilt them to shame.