10.29.09
Posted in Green Ideas, Plastic Water Bottles at 12:53 am by Administrator
Unlike Reeses peanutbutter cups, these are two great things that don’t necessarily go together yet they came together this week in my life this week. Lets start with the first item, bulk trash Monday.
The primary work on this actually happens on Sundays (the day before based on limitations by the city) where we dedicate the appointed day to load up the curb with tree branches, hedge clippings and “stuff” we have in the house and garage that is generally considered by my wife to be clutter that we don’t need anymore. Nevermind that we apparently needed it previously, these items become like those gadgets on the island of misfit tows from the Santa Claus movie, designated for storage in the garage.
The green side of this deals with recycling. Like clockwork on the Sunday before bulk trash day, groups of trucks and vans cruise the neighborhood looking for items that can be ecocycled into someone else’s home. We make sure that when we put these items out, they are separated from the yard clippings so that anyone can come by and browse. Invariably, 90% of these items get picked up and probably reused in someone else’s home. The key here is make sure that you showcase the items well and give ecocycling a chance.
The second topic is corporate picnics. I attended one this week, employee sponsored, in Miramar, Florida. Great park by the way. I was in charge of the ice and coolers and someone else was in charge of, drum roll please, 27 cases of bottled water. That is 648 plastic bottles the that at least 25 cases were consumed. The park offerd 6 designated recycling bins for these items, hooray, but apparently people just can’t seem to read the label and invariably threw their used paper plates and cups in with the mix creating a mess for the recycling team that works for the city. One thing to add to add for the city, please consider using biodegradable trash bags in the recycling cans. Now the key question on this item. What is a better alternative for a large corporate picnic say 250 – 300 people instead of bottled water, that will allow the participants to enjoy the event and still keep green?
Looking forward to your input.
till next time
david
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10.19.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:24 am by Administrator
Why is this a green spot? Our neighbor Omar invited us to spend a night with a classical guitarrist named Michael A Isla at his home. Green yes, we didn’t drive, had some great food and listened to an excellent guitarrist.
I admit I am not much of a guitar follower outside of my Joe Satriani or others in the rock genre so this was a great opportunity to spend with neighbors rather than drive somewhere. About the guitarrist for the evening, Michael Isla. He has a Bachelors of Music from Duquesne and recently earned his Masters degree from Akron University. His CD Acoustica has been featured on PBS, Columbus Alive Podcasts and on the NEO network Random Acts of Music.
Check him out at www.islaguitar.com or www.myspace.com/islaguitar.com
later
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10.11.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 3:28 pm by Administrator
Saturday mornings in our household are typically filled with a rushing around to various sporting events either practices or games but yesterday was a bit different. These events didn’t start until 11:00 a.m. so the kids slept in a bit as did I since it is truely a rare occurance. At 8:00 I woke up and reminded the girls to walk the dog. We have a King Charles Spaniel that weighs about 15 lbs but for this dog to do her business, she needs a walk. By 9:00 when I asked the kids again about the walk, it hadn’t been done yet and when I checked again at 10:00, the dog truely looked desperate, so I did the activity. I grabbed a biodegradable dog poop bag off the hook in the garage and set out.
It is a familiar walk for the dog and I as we pass the same set of houses heading towards her favorite spot. Funny how dogs are about this. As we neared the designated area, I noticed another dog poop bag laying on the grass, the same brand that we use. Curious I thought since it was unused but didn’t think more about it. Anyway, the dog does her business, a large amount of business I might add for such a small dog and I diligently picked it up and secured the bag. No sooner than me completing my end of the transaction, apparently, there was an addendum to this business transaction which to use a cliche, let me holding the bag with no room to spare.
Now this is where luck comes in. Remember that bag I saw lying on the grass previously. Well it saved the day on this occasion. I was able to retain my integrity as a good neighbor as well as ensure that our little dog didn’t become the pariah of the neighborhood. Chances are, it was my bag from the previous evening which had fallen out of my pocket. Either way, luck save the day on this occasion.
till next time
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10.01.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 11:27 pm by Administrator
My inspiration today is twofold. First, my friends at www.smart2begreen.com posted a newsletter on this topic, please be sure to read when you get a chance. The second, is that I am going to my first official Miami Hurricane game this weekend against Oklahoma. Should be a great game and there is a large group of going with of course and multi-hour tailgate.
So, to complement the sound information from our friends at smart2begreen, I decided to make a little list of things that will make my tailgate eco-friendly.
1. Bring biodegradable trash bags to manage the garbage. We will have a group of about 12 people, so there will be a bit of garbage. Two bags in fact. One for Trash, one to collect recyclables. If Landshark Stadium dosen’t have recycling bins, we can bring the aluminum cans back home with us.
2. Water bottles will be a no-no. It will make much better sense to put a two gallon pitcher of water in the cooler and bring it along. No worries, I have asked everyone to make sure they bring a cup from home just for this reason.
3. We are bringing our small propane grill rather than charcoal. Makes cooking so much cleaner and lets face it, over a couple of hours, we will likely eat several times. Propane makes that easy.
4. Hand wipes. Getting creative here. At a tailgate, with foods such as we normally eat, Earth Friendly Paper towels are a good start, but to cut down on usage a bit, we are bringing along some baby wipes from Seventh Generation.
Did I miss anything?
Till next time.
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