Archive for the ‘Conservation’ Category
Did you know that the average American office worker uses about 500 disposable cups annually? 25 billion styrofoam cups end up in landfills every year, and the material they’re made from – polystyrene – does not biodegrade. Paper cups, due to the plastic resin liner that keeps them from melting makes them un-recyclable at most recycling facilities. What could be a possible solution? Recyclable cups. Companies such as Pepsi and Starbucks are pushing forward with such cups. Pepsi has announced that it has begun offering five options of eco-friendly, recyclable and compostable cups including clear plastic cups containing 20% post-consumer recycled content, biodegradable paper cups and wax cups made with plant-based materials sourced from sustainably managed forests. These fountain cups, printed with green imagery and environmental statements like “Wow, Our Cups are Fully Recyclable”, are now available at restaurants, stadiums, and theme parks. The cups also come with printed messages encouraging visits to Earth911.com to learn about how to properly dispose of waste. Starbucks aims to make all of its disposable cups, approximately 3 billion per year, fully recyclable by 2012. The company held a ‘Cup Summit’ in 2009, discussing ways in which it can improve those statistics, including sorting recyclable cups from waste that can’t be recycled and potentially turning the cups into pizza boxes. In April 2011, Starbucks kicked off a new coffee cup recycling initiative in British Columbia, placing customized multi-receptacle recycling bins at the front of each of its stores. All parts of each cup, including the lid and sleeve, will be recycled.
Jun
17
Toss with Care
From this emerged her ‘Toss with Care’ campaign and its trash can design. Nicole seeks to turn the act of throwing things away into a form of giving to the homeless. ‘Toss with Care’ seeks to “provide hungry and thirsty individuals with the leftovers that would otherwise have been discarded.” Currently several trash cans with this design has been placed in New York City and Nicole is documenting the reactions to the cans. To follow this project check out: tosswcare.com
Toss With Care from Nicole Howell on Vimeo. It’s that time of the year to throw on your teams’ colors, make a bunch of delicious snacks and cheer on the boys to a football victory. It’s a time for family, friends and [maybe a bit too much] fun. But that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our mission to keep Planet Earth green. Here are some fun tips to ensure your football parties are a success. And environmentally friendly!
You’ve never seen rubber inner tubes look so chic. Kathleen Nowak Tucci of “My Sister’s Art” creates unique, striking, elegant wearable works of art out of recycled rubber. Her sister, Margaret Nowak Dobos, promotes her work and represents it to clients from all over the world. From their website: “She makes all of the jewelry by hand, and her necklaces, earrings, and bracelets are crafted meticulously. For Kathleen, creating is a necessity, not an option. Her line of eco-art rubber jewelry is constantly expanding as her creativity knows no bounds.”
A Gulf Coast resident, My Sister’s Art’s jewelry was featured in an oil spill-themed spread in Italian Vogue in August 2010. Their line of jewelry includes necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.
Every college student knows the feeling of dread when that time of year rolls around again: time to buy another semester’s worth of textbooks. Buying textbooks new often costs hundreds of dollars, hours of your time waiting in lines at crowded bookstores, and frantic nights of catch-up reading because the books that you ordered online arrived late. In short, it’s a nuisance, but there isn’t really a way to get around buying textbooks for class–those 200 page readings are just a part of the college experience. In an attempt to cut down on waste, energy, and publishing costs, Arizona State University is partnering with HP to run an on-demand textbook printing technology, along with only two other schools in the country (The University of Kansas and Portland State University). According to an article from ASU’s website: “HP has developed new technology that can print a perfect-bound book, with a laminated color cover, within minutes, and is rolling out the concept in a pilot program with three universities.” “What we’re excited about is that we’re literally never out of a book if we have the digital file,” Mekelburg noted. And, he added, the “print a textbook on demand” process is very ecologically sound. “The books aren’t printed on the East Coast, stored by the publisher and shipped here.” In the article, Thurman Holder (director of new business for HP’s Imaging and Print Group), states that on-demand printing can reduce the publishing industry’s footprint by an estimated 25%. The cuttings from the printing process are even collected and reused to make note cards. What do you think of this technology?
Sep
3
Konohana Family FarmCheck out this video about a sustainable community farm in Japan, the Konohana Family Farm. The “family” consists of 47 members and the farm is almost 100% self-sustained. They have farmed their land without chemicals or pesticides for over 13 years! They also exist on a completely vegetarian diet. From a Konohana Family Farm brochure: “Over 260 kinds of rice, grain, vegetables and so forth are grown on the fields of 13 hectares.
Aug
19
Sustainable Houses and HomesEver wonder what homes made out of reused/repurposed/recycled materials look like? . Take a look: Ever considered going off the grid? Building a small house with clay or and hay, powering it with renewable energy sources, growing your own food…this recent article from Salon is an interesting read about sustainable lifestyles off-the-grid in America. It’s also an interview with Nick Rosen, who wrote the book “Off The Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America”.
Aug
8
DIY Recycled Home DecorLooking for a little inspiration for spicing up your home? Take a look at Recyclart.org, which is a treasure trove of ideas and inspiration for creating your own recycled home decor items. It’s truly amazing how many forgotten items or things that our first impulse is to throw out can be made into unique, quirky, cute and beautiful decorations for the home.
DIY projects with recycled materials save money and energy, and, best of all, can be tailored exactly to the needs of your home and your vision.
Ever wonder how, exactly, solar energy works? Watch the video for a short but sweet explanation of how the sun’s light is transformed into electricity.
Jul
28
Greening Your Home OfficeIf you get a lot of use out of your home office, chances are it uses up a lot of energy. Here are a few tips and tricks to make your home office more sustainable and eco-friendly.
Use Dropbox to share files and projects. Download the application for free onto your computer and/or smart phone and access your documents and their most recent changes. This is a great way to eliminate unnecessary paper waste! Trade in your planner for a computer or phone organizer. Some great alternatives to paper planners: Google calendar, iCal, Outlook, the Organizer iPhone app, Action Complete for Android. Utilize natural sunlight as much as possible. When you need to turn on a light, screw in an LED lightbulb, which last longer and are much more energy efficient than regular light bulbs. Definitely worth the investment!
If you depend on sticky notes, try the recycled kind. Use biodegradable pens to write on them! Recycle your printer cartridges. Many cartridges come with instructions for recycling on the box. For more information about recycling office supplies, visit Laser-Tone.com. Instead of buying new office furniture, check out used options at cubicledepot.com.
Reduce your energy and your carbon footprint by cutting down on the electricity you use. Keep appliances and electronics that you don’t use often unplugged and only plug them in when you need to use them. When you turn things off, make sure they’re really “off” and not on “standby”–this setting still sucks up energy. Plug your computer and other often-used electronics into a Smart Strip, which monitors energy consumption and cuts off the power supply when your electronics aren’t in use. It’s simple, but effective: keep a receptacle for recyclables in your office. Use Skype or another video-calling service to conduct meetings instead of burning gas to drive to them. Last but not least, eco-friendly and sustainable furniture and accents will complete your space. Don’t forget! There are only a few more days to use the Verde Lifestyles summer coupon code! Use summer2k10 to get 15% off of orders of $100 or more until August 1! |
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