After today's post, I'm taking a short break from the blogging world to travel in the outside world to Thailand and Cambodia. Check back in early November for more green tips and projects...
Get out your calendars and don't forget to mark off November 15 - It's America Recycles Day and it's time to up the ante and either start recycling or recycle more. Currently, Americans only recycle 30 percent of the waste we create, so there is a lot of room for improvement. To read more about this event and how you can get involved, check out http://www.americarecyclesday.org/home.html
Money talks, or at least that how the saying goes. Ceres is a consortium of environmentalists and business executives striving to make a difference by influencing business practices around the country. With research and "green" pressure for change, Ceres has worked with huge corporations to ensure that they adopt and promote social objectives and an environmental commitment. Making the economic argument for going green sounds good to me too.
Technological advances come in many shapes and sizes and this one is worth leaping about - BASF, a chemical company, has created biodegradable plastic, which can be used in grocery bags, packaging, etc... It's stable for a year and then decomposes over several weeks. Can't wait until it hits the market!
Next time you start a load of laundry, wash your clothes or sheets in cold or warm water. Hot water takes more energy to heat and you can save electricity (as well as up to 500 pounds of carbon dioxide per year for the average American family.)
Just as a low-flow showerhead can save water without impacting your shower experience, a faucet aerator can accomplish the same task at the sink level.
An easy way to save water in your house is to replace your showerheads with low-flow ones, available at most hardware and retail stores. These showerheads can be aerating, which means that air is pumped through with the water, or non-aerating, which pulses the water and keeps it at a higher temperature.
The Grand Rapids Art Musuem in Michigan can lay claim as the world's first LEEDS certified (Gold) art museum, when it opens to the public in October.
In the growing effort among hotels to be more green, the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington D.C. has started with their two-lane pool. Instead of the traditional chlorinated water, laden with chemicals, they switched to natural saltwater. A little ocean in the middle of the city...
Bow down to BioBags and feel guilty no more about all the trash you can't recycle. This company produces a variety of products, including kitchen bags as well as poop bags for your favorite pooch, that are biodegradable.
Hands on educational opportunities about green energy come in many shapes and forms. For example, with assistance from the Renewable Energy Trust through the Denver Foundation, photovoltaic solar panels were mounted to the roof of the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District building in Colorado. Not only will these panels convert solar energy into electricity for the building, but there will also be a bilingual display within the building as an educational resource for members of the community who are interested in learning more.
The latest industry to start making significant changes to go green is the hotel business. Not only do many encourage patrons to reuse towels and sheets (instead of washing them each morning for extended stays), but they are also adding in-room recycling units, installing compact fluorescent lightbulbs and utilizing wind power.