Green Living Tips - Reusing and Repurposing

By: Jenilee Rivera


You can often reuse items which will cut down on items that go into our landfills but sometimes it is not possible to reuse the items for their original intent. That is when you have to repurpose them. Here are some ideas for repurposing:

1. Wash plastic storage bags with hot soapy water and use them again. This is one of the biggest areas of waste which could easily be repurposed. of course, do not reuse bags that have contained raw meat.

2. Reuse paper that has been used on only one side. Turn the paper over and print on the back side for rough drafts or use as memo pads or for grocery lists, etc.

3. Use empty glass jars as containers in the garage, workshop, or in your workplace.

4. Use gift bags again and cut down gift cards to use as gift tags.

5. Turn small plastic containers into garden traps by placing them in garden and filling then with beer. This is an excellent way to lure harmful pests like slugs.

6. Cut old worn clothing into dust rags for dusting, cleaning or washing.

7. Use newspapers, magazines or junk mail as liners in your cat litter box instead of purchasing liners from the store.

Cloud Computing Can Save Big Firms Billions in Energy Costs

By: Tilde Herrera

Want to save money while shrinking your company's carbon footprint? Look no further than cloud computing, experts say.

A new report released today by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) makes the case for why technologies such as virtualization and third party-hosted services, applications and websites can save big bucks for big companies while avoiding millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the process.

"The reason I'm so excited about this report is the ICT sector has a decisive role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the accelerating of economic growth," said CDP Executive Chairman Paul Dickinson. "That decoupling is at the heart of what ICT is capable of."

ICT -- information and communication technology -- has long been hailed as a weapon for reducing emissions in many industries, despite the sector's own growing carbon footprint. The report argues that one aspect of ICT -- cloud computing, which relies on a shared pool of computing resources, such as networks, servers and storage -- is more efficient than traditional setups where companies own and manage their own servers, applications and platforms.

Cloud computing may save large companies $12.3 billion a year in energy costs by 2020, the CDP found. That translates to 85.7 million metric tons of carbon emissions that could be avoided annually if these large firms boost cloud computing expenditures from 10 percent now to 69 percent of their IT resources, as they indicated in the report.

"Cloud Computing – The IT Solution for the 21st Century," prepared by research firm Verdantix on behalf of CDP and sponsored by AT&T, included insights from 11 companies with $1 billion-plus revenues that have used cloud computing for at least two years. Among the company highlights:

• Boeing began its cloud initiative in 2008 and now has more than 8,000 servers virtualized, resulting in big gains in process efficiency. "Previously, it could take up to three months to provision and install a new server in the data center," said Jim Rupert, the company's enterprise technical architect. "With the development of a private cloud for the firm’s infrastructure, servers will be provisioned within minutes."

• Novartis' internal private cloud will reduce the total cost of ownership by as much as 50 percent, the company estimates. "Ten to 15 percent of that savings will come from better usage of hardware and the rest from improved operations basically introducing a self-provisioning portal that requires minimal human intervention," said Juergen Basse-Welker, Novartis' Lead Architect, Infrastructure.

• For Citigroup, the primary driver behind its cloud computing push is time to market, not carbon reductions. "Developers used to take 45 days to get new servers, but in our virtualized private cloud environment, it takes just a couple of minutes," said Paul Stemmler of Citigroup.

The main cloud computing challenges cited were concerns over security, reliability and vendor lock-in, as well as confusion over the business case. Some companies are seeking alternatives to outsourcing ICT to cloud computing, as my colleague Matthew Wheeland writes about today in his profile of Vantage Data Centers.

But for companies that migrate to cloud computing, the benefits loom large: The report offers two hypothetical scenarios using a large food and beverage company (chosen because the sector has uniform IT requirements that can be easily modeled), and finds that moving its HR application to a public cloud would yield $12 million in savings over five years, while a private cloud would rack up $5 million in savings.

The report recommends that companies develop an enterprise-wide IT strategy and understand IT costs and business processes. Dickinson advises firms to recognize the "inevitability" of cloud computing and that reducing emissions helps to reduce costs.

"The trend over the next few decades is toward the cloud," he said. "The economic and environmental benefits are so clear and the desire of increased profits and reduced emissions is so strong that there is no alternative. It's just a great solution, not just for this year but for the next decade or two."

Even TxDOT Recycles

By: Terry Shannon

Ever wonder what happens to all the highway materials when a new road comes in and replaces the old one? A lot of it is recycled. In fact, according to Texas Department of Transportation, TxDOT and its contractors reuse and recycle highway materials and products for the construction of a highway, but also for traffic safety and landscaping.

TxDOT works closely with contractors, the Federal Highway Administration, universities and other state agencies, all in an effort to promote the use of recycled products and materials that have financial or engineering advantages in road construction.

For instance, recycled products can be used to relieve material shortages where good quality materials are scarce, to reduce purchasing and transportation costs, and when the recycled products will perform better than newer ones. And, several state and federal statues reinforce TxDOT's interest in using high quality, cost-effective recycled materials and products.

TxDot every year uses thousands of tons of recycled crushed concrete, compost, steel, crumb rubber, glass beads and cellulose fibermulch. Some of the roadway materials they use for recycling include reclaimed asphalt pavement, salvaged pavers, aluminum signs, scrap metal and scrap tire rubber.

FMI: Tom Tagliabue, 361.808.2481

TRASH GAS ANYONE?

BY: GINO FLORES

LOS ANGELES, OFTEN DEPICTED BY ITS SMOGGY BLANKET OF POLLUTION HAS FINALLY PUT THAT YUCKINESS TO GOOD USE. WASTE MANAGEMENT HAS BEGUN FUELING MORE AND MORE OF ITS TRUCKS WITH “TRASH GAS”. TRASH GAS IS LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS FROM THE METHANE GENERATED THROUGH THE DECOMPOSITION OF WASTE. IN OTHER WORDS, THE NASTY SMELL THAT COMES FROM GARBAGE IS BEING USED AS FUEL! WASTE MANAGEMENT IS FUELING ITS 1000^TH TRUCK THIS WEEK WITH THE SO-CALLED “TRASH GAS”. GOOD NEWS, TRASH GAS EMITS UP TO 90% FEWER CARBON EMISSIONS THAN DIESEL- POWERED TRUCKS.  SO I GUESS YOU COULD SAY GARBAGE BURNS…CLEANER? IRONIC ISN’T IT?

Recycling Facts for Kids

While the most important way to save valuable resources is to use as few as possible in the first place, recycling and using recycled products is the next step. Below you’ll find some fascinating Recycling Facts that will give you an idea of how much is used, and how much can be saved by recycling!

Recycling Glass

• Glass can be recycled virtually forever. It never wears out.
• For every 2,000 pounds of glass that is recycled, we save more than 2,000 pounds of other resources (1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar)
• Most bottles and jars that you use contain at least 25% recycled material.
• The energy saved by recycling just one bottle could light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours

Recycling Metals

• Recycling an aluminum can saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore
• In the United States, the amount of steel that is discarded and not recycled every year is enough to build all the new American-made cars

Recycling Paper

• 75% of each tree that is cut down for paper is not used in a paper product
• 98 tons of various resources are required to make one ton of paper
• Paper made from recycled paper uses 70% less energy

Recycling Plastic

• Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour, but only 25% of plastic bottles are recycled.

Thanks to the Washington State Department of Ecology for this valuable information.

Environmental Issues

By: Jonathan Hiatt


As an awareness of environmental issues continues to grow, businesses of all shapes, sizes, and industries are discovering the significance of the green movement.  Incidents involving green washing, a term which refers to “the deceptive use of green PR or green marketing in order to promote a misleading perception that a company's policies or products are environmentally friendly,” certainly indicate that the world of business has cultivated an appreciation for the marketable nature of adopting green practices and of offering green products.  But businesses with a “green sheen” – that is, the ones that falsely tote green values and put more effort into looking green than being green – may be missing out.
Going green really isn’t that difficult, and the chances are that even if it seems expensive to do so now, investing in ways to make your products and operations more eco-friendly could really pay off.  As for the moment, however, whether you’re a business owner or an employee, there’s a real possibility that you could start improving your company’s bottom line immediately by taking small measures to be more environmentally friendly on a day-to-day basis.  You probably already know all of this, but if you take a second to reflect on what these steps involve, the effort required to implement them, and the potential benefits of sticking with them over time, you’ll recognize that going green is money…

1.        Turn off equipment when you aren’t using it. This can reduce the energy used by 25 percent; turning off the computers at the end of the day can save an additional 50 percent.

2.        Communicate by email, but don’t print them unless you absolutely have to.

3.         Reduce fax-related paper waste by using a fax-modem and by using a fax cover sheet only when necessary.   And really, who “faxes” things anymore.

4.        Print double-sided documents whenever possible.  It’s eco-friendly and looks nicer, too, in my opinion)

5.        Don’t let water drip; always close faucets off tightly after use.   One drop per second would collectively waste 10,000 liters of water over the course of a year.

6.        Install displacement toilet dams in toilet reservoirs. Placing one or two plastic containers filled with stones  in the toilet's reservoir will displace about 4 liters of water per flush – that’s a major difference.

7.        Use printer paper with maximum available recycled content

8.        Work with suppliers (if applicable) who also use green practices. Chances are, if they really are green then they, too have “figured it out” and are smarter than the non-green suppliers…

The Next Green Grocery Frontier: Zero Waste?

By Ari Auber

The Texas Tribune

Austin, the birthplace of the largest chain of health food stores in the world, could be growing even greener.

The city already has eco-friendly organic food giant Whole Foods Market, along with the local Wheatsville Food Co-op and Colorado transplant Natural Grocers. Now a trio of brothers and their business partner are hoping to plant their own seed with in.gredients, the first “zero-waste, package-free” grocery store in the nation that will sell all of its goods in bulk.

In other words, don’t forget your Tupperware or empty jam jars.

In return, Christian, Joseph and Patrick Lane — the Brothers Lane, LLC — vow that most of their groceries will be locally produced and organically grown. Want to wash your clothes or slake your thirst? A goat milk soap company in Elgin can turn the leftover shavings into laundry detergent; a farm east of Dallas bottles organic milk.

The Brothers Lane, who are still in the fund-raising stage, say they are entering the market because Austin’s traditional “green” groceries do not go far enough. But many of their concepts are not new. Whole Foods did away with plastic bags on Earth Day 2008, giving shoppers the choice between recycled paper bags and reusable canvas bags. On Earth Day 2009, Natural Grocers went a step further, asking customers to bring in their own bags or use recycled boxes at checkout.  (The store donates a nickel to local nonprofits when a shopper brings a tote from home.) And the Wheatsville Co-op encourages members to shop with their own bags and containers, knocking off 5 cents for each one brought in. All three stores — and many other mainstream groceries — offer bulk food sections.

The novel idea is in.gredients’ “package-free” aspect, which Joseph Lane said sprouted after the brothers, who run two other businesses, became distressed at the level of waste from product packaging. According to the in.gredients page on indiegogo.com, a site that helps projects like the brothers’ launch financing campaigns, 40 percent of the 1.4 billion pounds of trash heading to landfills each day comes from packaging.

“If you go into a regular store, it’s very hard to find a product without packaging," Lane said. "Like your cereal — why does your cereal have to have a box around it? And that’s why bulk is growing.”

So far, there are no signs of an all-out green grocery war in Austin. But Dan Gillotte, general manager of Wheatsville Co-op, cautioned that opening a new grocery store is challenging, especially in a market like Austin. Still, “they might be able to find a niche and make a go of it,” Gillotte said.

So far the brothers, along with Chris Pepe, their business partner, say they have raised more than 60 percent of their goal, but that even without investors, they have the money to finance their dream. If it takes off, and their store draws local vendors to fill the bins with goods, and regular customers to empty them out, Lane said, expansions could be in order.

“We want people all over the place to rethink how they grocery shop,” he said.

Going Green for Your Wedding

By: Diane Garza

Going Green is the healthy kick for our environment and business's across the nation are discovering ways to improve on the green side.

I discovered a fascinating concept on "Going Green" for brides and grooms that are planning a wedding. Couples can take advantage of several options in utilizing the green concept while planning a wedding and the kick is to discover how to have a modern wedding, save money, and continue with a sophisticated look according to the company, "Glo" - Modern minded weddings.

Glo has a few tips that can definitely help to show off a couples' unique personality, easy RSVP access and to share all the information about the wedding through email and online wedding invitations. Couples may save time and trees and as explained a little bit of sanity. The best thing about online invitations is saving time on collecting physical home addresses, no stamps or envelope stuffing and no RSVP replies to coordinate.

The response time is quicker and more importantly no waste involved. Glo's concept was born from a belief that "weddings and wedding planning can be modernized without sacrificing sophistication."

A second tip is finding a web designer or close friend that can help create online invitations and a RSVP wedsite. Having a few back up invitations on paper may be wise for a few family members with limited access to a computer. Family members and friends will love the concept and budget cuts for invitations can now be utilized for other areas of planning, such as food, wine, etc.

The sophistication in designing can go from simple to the most expressive and believed to be a fun project for a couple when creating email wedding invitations, multi-page wedding websites, RSVP's & events leading up to the wedding and more importantly Guestlist management and messaging tools.

Log on to Glo.com, theknot.com and mywedding.com as these websites can get you started with some great wedding ideas while incorporating the green concept.

Turning Over a New LEAF

By: Ashley Gowins

We’ve all heard the phrase “Go Green” and most are trying to do their part.  I recycle, use a reusable grocery bag and clean with environment safe products, but I’ve had a hard time getting into the “green” car.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to not buy gas, but something has just seemed wrong about an electric car.  Recently, though, I test drove the new Nissan Leaf and I’ve made the jump to the other side.  LEAF stands for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car.

I was apprehensive about test driving the car, but a friend convinced me to.  I was quickly amazed; I didn’t even feel like I was driving a car, I felt as if I were in a vehicle from the future.  Instead of a gas gauge, there is a battery monitor telling you how many miles were left until the power ran out.  The Leaf makes very little noise due to no shifting of gears or engine horsepower which takes away the sound of a congested city and rush hour.  The ride was so smooth and peaceful.  You’d think a car with no horsepower backing it wouldn’t move too fast..wrong!  The pick up speed was very impressive.  Since there aren’t gears to shift, it was a straight shot from 0 to 60 without even realizing how fast I was going.  We joked during the test drive that my number of speeding tickets would drastically increase! 

The Nissan Leaf is a 100% electric motor car.  Unlike the other green cars, the Leaf doesn’t even have a gas tank.  It doesn’t give off tailpipe pollution and reduces the dependability on gas.  Think about how much cleaner the air would be if even just half the cars on the road weren’t giving off tailpipe pollution; the air would be healthier for us to breathe, the city wouldn’t look so “smoggy” and it would smell better.  It is powered by a lithium ion battery that stays charged for 100 miles, then it’s time to “fill up”—re-charge the car.  Pretty cheap fill up, huh?  It sure beats my $72 a tank gas bill.  There are two options to re-charge the battery.  You can buy an at home charging station or find your local “fill up” location.  Ed Hicks Nissan here in Corpus Christi allows Leaf owners to charge their car at their dealership.  Cars aren’t invincible and have things break on them but the battery for the Leaf has an average life span of about 10 years.  Impressive; I go through a battery about every 2 years.  There is another battery that charges the computer system, radio, headlights and wind shield wipers that is partly powered by solar panels located on the spoiler.  The headlights on the Leaf are LED lights that consume 50% less energy than the typical halogen lights.

The base retail price of the car is about $32,000.  When I was first told this my first thought was, “well, that’s not really in my price range at the moment” but then after speaking to the gentleman, he explained why it is affordable.  As I mentioned, it costs me $72 a week to fill up, that’s $288 a month on gas alone—that could easily go to a car payment.  You then have to consider that since its 100% electric, there isn’t an engine, alternator, etc. that you have to worry about breaking, and we all know how pricey that can get.  Suddenly the $32,000 didn’t seem so bad, especially when you consider exactly how much just changing cars will help improve the environment.

I’m not looking to a buy a new car instantly, but when it’s time to say bye to my Nissan Xterra, I’ll highly consider doing my part to “Go Green” and give a Leaf a new home—in my parking spot.

8 Ways To Green Your Fourth of July

by Michelle Talsma Everson, Earth911.com

The Fourth of July is arguably summer’s most popular and celebrated holiday. And, like most occasions, you can take steps to make sure you and your fellow party goers remember to keep Mother Nature in mind while you celebrate.

So, whether you’re hosting a backyard barbecue or traveling to see your local fireworks show, remember some of these helpful tips to stay green this 4th of July.

1. Pass on Plastic Party Ware

They’re popular and easy: Plastic, ready-to-go plates, cups and utensils are convenient for parties with a lot of guests. The down side, they’re not so convenient for the environment.
To avoid this, do your best to use normal tableware that can just be washed and reused. If you must go the disposable route, clean them up (they’re often washable) and use them at your next big gathering.
Also, make sure to recycle your plastics when they’re not usable anymore. Check the resin number (#1-#7) to see if it’s accepted by your curbside recycling program. If not, check out our recycling search for drop-off locations near you.  Be aware, if paper plates are more your style, they will have to be thrown out or composted due to food residue.

2. Take the Celebration Outdoors

Even though temperatures might be soaring, most Fourth of July parties don’t get exciting until the evening.  So, take advantage of the cooler evening weather and throw your party outdoors. It’s a great way to enjoy nature and reduce the energy costs of using indoor facilities.

3. Green Your Menu

For barbecue lovers, there’s nothing better (or more traditional) than grilled food on the Fourth of July. But, instead of heading to your traditional meat and veggie aisles, consider using locally grown organic food this holiday.
It might surprise you, but nearly everything on your menu can be replaced with its organic cousin. It’s a great way to introduce family and friends to delicious organic foods while helping the environment by reducing chemicals used in processed foods and the transportation costs that usually come with shipping non-local food products.

4. Save (and Reuse) Your Decorations

If you’ve hosted Independence Day celebrations before, you know the décor is often the same: streamers, party favors and table toppers all in bold red, white and blue. Sadly, most people often use these decorations once and then throw them out. But they can be reused year after year! So, this year, after the party’s over, take the time to store and save your decorations. You or someone you know can use them again next year, which helps to save on a bit of unneeded trash.

5. Eco-Friendly Fireworks

Fireworks are hardly an environmentally friendly activity, but they’re an unwavering Fourth of July tradition. If you’re setting off your own fireworks this year, be sure to use fireworks rich in nitrogen. They often cost a bit more but put out less smoke into the environment.
Another option is to gather your group and go see your local fireworks display. It’s a great way to see a much bigger fireworks show and negates you from harming the environment with your own personal display.

6. Barbecue with Propane

To help reduce your grill’s carbon footprint this Independence Day, make sure to grill with propane – it burns the cleanest, which causes less smoke. It can also help to keep a fire going longer, which is obviously a classic grilling goal.
To be even more earth friendly with your grilling, make sure to recycle your propane tanks once it’s empty.

7. Gather in Large Groups

This may seem like a no-brainer for such a popular holiday, but the larger a group you gather (preferably outdoors), the less energy you use at individual parties that may take place indoors. Plus, the more people to help prepare and purchase food, the less of a cost it is to each individual. Just make sure your fellow party goers know these green tips!

8. Use Large Water Containers

Plastic water bottles are convenient, but like other disposable goods, they can add up fast. In lieu of individual plastic bottles, store water for your family or guests in large containers so they can re-fill their reusable water bottles or reusable cups. If you must use plastic water bottles, be sure to encourage your guests to recycle them.