apartment dwellers, how bad is it?

Add comment August 18th, 2008

i’m prompted to ask this question because a co-worker who shall remain namelesss told me she doesn’t have recycling pickup … she lives in a rockford apartment. so i’ve resorted to nagging the poor soul to give me her used diet cokes and tea bottles. she tells me she keeps reusing her orange juice bottle, though!

i know i have to do more digging, but i thought i’d ask you, the go greenies, what you do and know.

i didn’t know my washing machine was dirty!

3 comments August 14th, 2008

i have enough things in my house that don’t get enough cleaning. apparently i can add my ol’ kenmore to the list, according to smellywasher.com.

i haven’t noticed a mold or fungus smell on my clothes, but if you do, this company says it has an eco-friendly way to get the grime out of the washer.

the wrong image of recycling

Add comment August 14th, 2008

the good news? birmingham is recycling and exceeding its expectations.

the bad news? the british city chose a photo of the american city’s skyline for a “thank you” leaflet. or 720,000, to be exact.

funny story. but i ask, why did the city waste all that paper printing that in the first place? there are other ways to communicate these days.

p.s. i spared you the 12 bad headlines i came up with for this blog post.

green for the wallet, green for the planet

Add comment August 14th, 2008

last night, i had the chance to tour fat wallet’s new digs in rockton as part of a 40 leaders under 40 event (the chamber allowed us to get together since we didn’t have much time to talk during the event in may).

because of previous stories about fat wallet, an online deals site, i expected to see the pinball machines, pool table, massage chair, candy dispensers and high-tech gadgetry. it’s famously a fun place to work.

but what i didn’t expect, beyond some nice art on the walls, was tim storm’s passion for the green technology used in building the 30,000-square-foot place.

i wasn’t walking around with a notebook, but the firm storm chose wrote about it here. it’s 99 percent pvc-free, and even though the new headquarters are older, the energy bill is smaller. only a small example: we walked in and out of rooms with light sensors.

too bad i had to leave before i had a chance to try out the segway!

(we’ve written about tim before: here and here and here and here…..)

the bbc stole my idea

3 comments August 13th, 2008

ok, just kidding, but that’s what one of my former co-workers, lil swanson, joked when she sent me a link to a bbc article in which the author is going a whole month without buying plastic.

she’s running into similar conundrums, so i enjoyed reading it. it doesn’t hurt that she uses british lingo like “nappies” and “pong” (which means “to stink,” but i won’t link because there are other meanings and even other slang words that may offend the light of heart).

reminder: the summary of my week without plastic is running in the aug. 22 issue (sept/oct) of rockford woman. more to come on that!

reading, writing and recycling: ‘green’ back to school

Add comment August 13th, 2008

usually when you think of “green” and back to school, you think of notebook colors, pens or the wads of cash it takes to outfit a teenage daughter (my worst fears will come true in no time). 

but no, no, no. these days, there’s a green hook for everything.

1. i got an e-mailed press release touting “eco-friendly families,” a book to help me make eco-conscious decisions … to teach my children that ”the world is their extended family.” sounds pretty cheesy, but amazon’s only got five left.

hmm. maybe i’m warming up to the idea of the book. it preaches that new isn’t necessary, like finding school supplies around home (i found about 12 pencils in a drawer the other day. seriously) or making crayon cupcakes (my kids would love this). we’ll see. i already have two books i haven’t finished in the past six months.

2. i found some general school supply tips here.

3. try as you may, the one thing kids will “burn through” as they grow is tennis shoes. when they just won’t cut it as hand-me-downs (and the smell might kill you), you can donate them to become playground materials at nike’s “let me play” program.

unless you want to drive to aurora or chicago to drop them off, mail your shoes, with your own postage, to:

Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse-A-Shoe
26755 SW 95th Ave.
Wilsonville, OR 97070

*** hey, go greenies: any of you have “green” efforts under way at your schools? let me know!***

endangered species act endangered?

Add comment August 11th, 2008

i don’t claim to be an expert on environmental law, but at a glance, it seems the bush administration is tearing away some protections.

a sampling of headlines (with lots of bad pun lead paragraphs with the word “extinct” or “extinction”):

– msnbc: bush to relax species rule

– l.a.times: bush administration moves to change endangered species law

– parts of endangered act endangered themselves … from fox news. notice how bush isn’t in the headline? interesting how word choices can make a difference.

– from a government point of view… endangered species act changes give agencies more say (ala washington post).

send a flower, save the world?

1 comment August 11th, 2008

thanks to the (lil) green patch application on facebook, i have this “reservoir dogs” soundtrack song in my head — “little green bag.” almost the same words….

at least one person thinks this whole green patch concept is silly window dressing. basically, you send plants to your friends and help them tend their gardens. the more you do, the more you fight global warming and save the rain forest. i think i’m up to 9 square feet. apparently there are more than 4 million users. i guess it can’t hurt.

be a smarty pants: win a teeny, tiny car

5 comments August 8th, 2008

to take a page from applesauce: this just in!

the 2008 clean air green tour will stop in rockford from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. aug. 21 at lowe’s.

the press release says the tour’s centerpiece is a state-of-the-art 40-foot biodiesel motor coach equipped with solar power charging.

ok, cool enough, but you can enter to win a 2009 smartfortwo, the itsy bitsy car that gets 41 mpg on the highway.

also of note, there will be a green model kitchen full of bosch appliances (with a 10 percent discount available) and free samples of salada green tea (one of my faves — logli, why did you stop selling it!?). gee, wonder who is sponsoring this tour? those two, plus indy racing league (danica!) and americans for balanced energy choices (maybe the biggest surprise of all: the coal people).

green budweiser? and more….

Add comment August 7th, 2008

maybe my magazines are really hitting their target demo right in marketing to me, but it seems like every company, even budweiser (which i don’t drink), is running with the green theme.

one great example of editorial and advertising pulling together on the green theme was dropped off for me by hokumboy (thanks!). volume one, an alternative bi-weekly in eau claire/menomonie/chippewa falls, wis., devoted 12 pages to “green means go,” full of recycling resources, quizzes, tips, profiles and products. it was nicely done.

note: the rrs did its own “go green” section this year, too. i hope for future opportunities.