Here's a great article over the future of green jobs and the advantages of choosing
a career in Sustainability!
http://www.good.is/post/survey-business-leaders-are-surprised-that-sustainability-actually-pays-off/
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
United Launching Biofuel Flight Today, with Alaska on Its Heels · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader
Here's an awesome article over United, and it's efforts to be more sustainable by launching
its first flights fueled by biofuels!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Eco-Structure: Massachusetts Tops List of Most Energy Efficient States
Here is an interesting article over the top energy effient states in the nation and a fabulous map
to explain the trends across the US
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Mandatory vs. Voluntary : Creating an Environmental Compliance Culture of Value
Here is an interesting Webinar over Sustainability reporting and the issue of mandatory vs. voluntary.
Monday, October 10, 2011
How water bottles create cheap lighting in Philippines
Here is a news story that a good friend of mine shared with me
about how poverty ridden communities are using their resources
to solve some of their biggest problems.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Living Off the Grid (And Without Propane) - Modern Homesteading - MOTHER EARTH NEWS
Here's a interesting article about, living sustainable and even living off the grid
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Texas Discovery Gardens | Green Festival & Exhibit
Come join the cohort group today at the Texas Discovery Gardens!
From 11am-3pm
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Built Environment – High Density Development
Sustainability Issues Course
Blog Presentation
Built Environment – High Density Development
Before we start to investigate high density development in the built environment, we need to define what high density development means. High density development is defined as, having a high concentration of residential and non-residential development within a given area. One the best examples of high density development is New York City. And while many people may view NYC as a crowded city with lots of noise and too many people, the city is actually one of the most sustainable cities in the nation.
This is due to several characteristics of most high density metropolitan areas:
1. The city development is so condensed that most resident do not own vehicles, they simply walk from one destination to another, or utilize the mass transit system such as the subway.
2. Most NYC resident live in smaller, individual dwellings, which do not require copious amount of energy to distribute living utilities such as water and electricity.
3. Most of the common businesses such as grocery stores, post offices, dr. offices, and more, that resident depend on to live, are located within just a few blocks of their homes and can be reached on foot, and do not require a vehicle. Which in turn, dramatically reduces the amount of CO2 being introduced into the environment.
Streetsblog.org
4. Many stores and business are locally owned, therefore any business that is generated there, stay within the local community, thus supporting the local economy.
The graphic below shows the many sustainable aspects of New York City, and the bi-product of those green efforts.
EIA Release Date Information for New York: US Department of Energy
So let’s review the advantages of high density development such as New York City:
1. City residents living in a higher density, use foot, bike, or mass transit systems for transportation, thus reducing the number of vehicles on the road, reducing CO2 admissions.
2. City residents require less energy to distribute their basic utilities such as water, gas, and electricity; because of the short distance those commodities have to travel from the plant to the resident of the city.
3. The majority of local businesses are locally owned, therefore when the resident go to the grocery store, or pharmacy, their money is staying within that community, thus supporting the local economy.
While there are plenty of positives to living in a city such as New York City, many view the negatives before weighing those positives. Living in a large city such as NYC, puts limitations on the way most Americans have come to live.
1. There are limited amounts of green space, outside of parks such as Central Park, which in turn, limit residents in enjoying the outdoor environment. Due to that fact, it is very unappealing for couples with children, families, and retirees.
2. On a physical aspect, due the lack of frequent green spaces, and the domination of concrete and gravel, there is a significant amount of contaminated water runoff from rain and other natural moisture. That in turn, does require an additional attention from local water treatment facilities; however, the local vegetation along the sore lines acts as a natural purification system, thus relieving some of the stress on local treatment plants.
3. The cost of living in such a dense metropolitan area is much higher than it would be in urban areas, and this too becomes a large deterrent for families and other limited budget residents.
Now that we have taken a look at the advantages of high density development, let’s look at the disadvantages.
1. The limited green spaces throughout a high density development, often limits the variation in demographics from singles, families, and retirees.
2. The overwhelming use of concrete, a non-permeable material, creates large amounts of water runoff that is often contaminated with toxic materials from vehicles, people, businesses and even animals.
3. The additional toxic water runoff then requires larger water treatment facilities to meet the demands of the local residents.
4. The cost of living is often higher than that in urban areas, which also limits the variation of demographics among city residents.
While high density development does have its advantages and disadvantages, the numbers speak for themselves. When it comes to teaching by example, New York City is living proof of the advantages of a higher density development. As we move more towards a more sustainable world, city officials have evaluated those sustainable weaknesses and have begun to solve those problems.
New York City is once again leading the way in sustainably planning for the future with forward thinking infrastructure development plans. The New York City Green Infrastructure Plan aims to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) by 40 percent, while reducing energy consumption and the city's carbon footprint through "green infrastructure."
At its heart, the plan is a strategy for dealing with the large amounts of water in the city's sewer systems following heavy rainstorms and the consequent CSO discharge of raw sewage, industrial waste, and polluted run-off into the city's waterways. CSOs are set up to prevent sewage from backing up in an overloaded system by bypassing the treatment plant and discharging directly into overflow areas, which are usually nearby rivers, streams, lakes and shores (here is a map of the main locations of the more than 400 outlet pipes around NYC from a city water quality report [PDF]). A traditional approach to reducing CSOs would be investment in 'gray' infrastructure, such as by building more pipes, storage tanks and treatment plants, which increase the capacity of the sewage system to collect and treat water. New York is investing in a small amount of this, but with the Green Infrastructure Plan the aim is to reduce the amount of water going into the sewers in the first place. This can be achieved by investing in green roofs, planting in public spaces, and the use of more porous surfaces for sidewalks and car parks, amongst other measures.
NYC's Green Infrastructure Plan
Alison Killing, 29 Oct 10
Alison Killing, 29 Oct 10
Resources for this Blog Entry
Wikipedia – Urban Sprawl - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sprawl
Urban Land Institute - http://www.uli.org/sitecore/content/ULI2Home/ResearchAndPublications/Reports/Affordable%20Housing/Content/~/media/Documents/ResearchAndPublications/Reports/Affordable%20Housing/HigherDensity_MythFact.ashx
Streetsblog.org – How clean is your commute? - http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/10/14/how-clean-is-your-commute/
Worldchanging – NYC’s Green Infrastructure Plan - http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011693.html
Waste Reduction – Redevelopment Project – Dallas West End
Sustainability Issues Course
Blog Presentation
Waste Reduction – Redevelopment Project – Dallas West End
Redevelopment, or Re-adaptive Architecture, is a method of recycling existing buildings and turning them into new business, housing, schools, and more. Our very own Fort Worth Campus building is a redevelopment project, taken from the old Sante Fe Railroad building that was built in 1939.
Another well known redevelopment project in the Metroplex is the, now abandoned, West End Marketplace that was built in 1872, that was also established as part of the railroad system through central Texas.
http://www.dallaswestend.org
Redevelopment is defined as, “the act of improving by renewing and restoring; "they are pursuing a general program of renovation to the entire property".1 Re-adaptive architecture is a personal passion of mine. Ever since I was a little girl and visited the West End Marketplace on my first trip to Dallas, I fell in love with not only the idea of reusing existing buildings, but acquiring that character and history that can’t be repeated nor recreated with a new building. Today, as we move more towards a sustainable world, I feel that architects should embrace this practice once again and not only utilize the green principals of redevelopment, but embrace the rich history and uniqueness of buildings built decades, even a century ago. But redevelopment carries another important green aspect that most people don’t think about. An average of 44,000 commercial buildings is demolished in the US each year, and, with that, created over 136 million tons of waste. Right now in our cities, our landfills are comprised of 25% of waste that came from commercial building that were torn down to create a space for a new building. Then, not only is that demolished building waste filling up our landfills and sending toxins into our soil, but it’s introducing that same toxic dust into the air around us! Have you ever seen demolishing companies spraying water on a pile of destroyed building remains? They are introducing the water as an effort to weight down that toxic dust and keep it from contaminating the air around them as they are working. And while that effort may not be futile, that water runoff that is created is introduced into our soil there locally and then goes on to contaminate our waters, via rivers, streams, and drainage systems. Therefore, you can imagine, how much it would benefit us to reuses the existing buildings we have, and redevelop them into facilities we need.
Re-purposing with redevelopment
Another important thing to remember with redevelopment is what is the building made of, what does the building contain, and what can we keep and what has to be discarded? When trying to redevelop a building, and you have had a chance to inspect the buildings construction materials, and you have all your questions above answered, you have to consider, is deconstruction possible. Deconstruction is the process to which a building is slowly disassembled, basically instead of going in with a wrecking ball, you go in with a deconstruction crew and carefully take the building apart, and salvaging what materials you can and possibly reuse those materials in the new redeveloped building. The chart below shows the percentages of waste of various building materials.
http://oikos.com/library/waste/types.html
While there may rarely be an issue with being required to discard certain materials that may now be prohibited, it’s important to make an effort to salvage as much of the original materials as possible, and either restore, refurbish, or refinish those materials. As the chart shows, wood makes up the most percentage of waste by weight, and the second most percentage of waste by volume. Fortunately, wood is also the one to the most salvageable materials. Unfortunately, drywall, concrete, and insulation (listed as other) make up 31% of waste by volume, and 52% of waste by weight, and those materials are not only the most toxic out of all the construction materials used, but are the least salvageable materials in construction. That’s why redevelopment, though can have its complications, is a sustainable way of building in our already congested cities.
As for the West End Marketplace, the district has a rich history and deserves to be preserved as an irreplaceable piece of our North Texas History. What is the history of the West End?
The Historic West End of Dallas is where it all began.
Caddo Indians settled in the area now known as the West End during the early 1800s. By the mid-1800s John Neely Bryan, a Tennessee lawyer purchased their land and opened the first trading post along the Trinity River. A replica of his cabin is now located in the Founder’s Plaza on Elm Street at Market Street.
In July 1872, the Houston & Texas Central Railroad arrived in downtown, attracting manufacturing companies whose warehouses would come to define the architecture of the West End. This railroad crossing made Dallas a major distribution center that led to the development of the downtown business district. The historically preserved buildings in the West End today were once used to support storage and distribution activities for the railroads.
In 1892, the Courthouse, now known as “Old Red,” was built by Dallas County. Newly renovated, the Old Red Museum is a celebration of Dallas history and a premier event facility.
In 1906, the City of Dallas built its first jail in a West End building. Still standing today at 703 Ross Avenue, the original iron bars of the jail cells can still be seen on the windows.
Across the street from the old jail sits the Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse, which itself is steeped in the rich cattle ranching history of Texas.
From these humble beginnings, Dallas would later flourish. While Ft. Worth would be known as “Cowtown,” in Dallas, cotton would become the king only later to give way to the booming Texas oil business.”
http://www.dallaswestend.org/history/
The City of Dallas designated The West End as a Historical District in 1975, and a local developer, Preston Carter Jr., decided to revitalize the area to preserve its history. “Old warehouses and other brick buildings were converted into restaurants and shops. The original Spaghetti Warehouse opened in the West End warehouse district in 1972 and is still one of the most popular restaurants in the West End today.”2
Just 10 years ago, West End Marketplace was a bustling downtown entertainment district for the City of Dallas. For years it brought in jobs, revenue, and revitalization to a once diminished area of Dallas. Crime rates lowered, and local businesses were flourishing. Now, once again, that are has come virtually abandon and only offers the reminiscence of that bustling district during weekend evenings, only utilizing a small portion of time throughout the week. But being a designated Historical District, we can only hope that once again, some day, that building will be redeveloped once again and bring life back to the area.
Hugh Spicer
Resources for this Blog Entry
UTA – Fort Worth Center - http://www.uta.edu/fortworth/about_us/
2. Dallas West End Marketplace - http://www.dallaswestend.org/
1. Wikipedia – Redevelopment - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redevelopment
WordNet Search - http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=redevelopment
Dallas Observer - http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/10/usually_theres_nothing_to_see.php
Oregon Metro - http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=25399
EPA - CHARACTERIZATION OF BUILDING-RELATED CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS IN THE UNITED STATES -- http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/generation/sqg/c%26d-rpt.pdf
Oikos – Focused on Energy Efficient Building and Environmentally Sound Construction - http://oikos.com/library/waste/types.html
EPA – Deconstruction - http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/imr/cdm/pubs/decon_br.pdf
Sarasota County – http://www.scgov.net/environmentalservices/solidwaste/HazardousWaste/documents/CDHazardousWaste.pdf
Rocky Mountain Real Estate Law - http://www.rockymountainrealestatelaw.com/green-building/
Climate & Air Quality – Fairmont Hotel’s Carbon Footprint Analysis
Sustainability Issues Course
Blog Presentation
Climate & Air Quality –
Fairmont Hotel’s Carbon Footprint Analysis
The Fairmont Hotels has worked extremely hard over the past two decades to become one of the most sustainable hotel chains in the world. They launched a program called the Green Partnership Program in 1990, which was a “a comprehensive commitment to minimizing our hotels’ impact on the planet, which was accompanied by a guidebook on sustainable best practices in the lodging industry.”1 They have built upon that philosophy and become well known worldwide for their sustainability efforts. They focus on waste management, energy and water conservation, outreach to local groups, and offer education to the public through tours and providing through example. The Fairmont published this press release with reference to what their goals are when starting their sustainability movement:
“Our Promise
As part of our commitment to addressing Climate Change within the context of our environmental programming, Fairmont partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (“WWF”) to develop a Climate Change Strategy.
As part of our commitment to addressing Climate Change within the context of our environmental programming, Fairmont partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (“WWF”) to develop a Climate Change Strategy.
As part of the WWF’s Climate Savers Program, Fairmont has measured it’s total CO2 footprint according to the UN protocol and has set a corporate wide target to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 20 % below our 2006 levels by 2013.
Reducing our emissions by 20% is the equivalent of removing 19,777 cars from the road annually, avoiding the burning of 174,775 barrels of oil, or avoiding the consumption of 1,004 tanker trucks of gasoline.”
Green Partnership Program
The Fairmont’s sustainability effort not only includes limiting waste but includes:
- purchasing reusable materials
- growing their own organic food and cooking products
- converting waste into energy
- using low wattage fixtures
- increasing recycling rates by 30-40%
- reusing discarded food as compost as natural fertilizer for on site, roof top gardens
- installing energy efficient appliances in the kitchens and laundry facilities
- using underground irrigation systems that make less an in impact on the water supply
- -they even have a property in Newport Beach that is creating sustainable fashions for its employees made of recycled materials.
In 2004, Fairmont Hotels had achieved recycling an average of 1,262 tons of paper, cardboard, cans and glass, dramatically reducing the 65% of the hotel’s waste that was produced by hotel guests. In recent years, the hotel chain has installed water-efficient fixtures that have reduced water usage by 31%. The Fairmont San Jose in California has “installed a cogeneration, or combined, heat and power plant, recycling waste heat generated by conventional power. Cogeneration now produces 60% of the hotel’s electricity and 100% of its hot water.”3 The Fairmont is Orchid in Hawaii, has created a project called, Room to Reef. This project utilizes sustainable principals by cleaning rooms with non-toxic, biodegradable products and incorporates organic landscaping as well.
The Fairmont Hotel has made huge changes in the last 20+ years to improve the environment and make less of a carbon footprint on our earth, and now they are working towards spreading that word by educating their employees, customers, and the local community around them. The Fairmont Resort and Hotels have joined a program called WWF’s Climate Savers Program. This program, developed by the WWF, the World Wildlife Fund, that “is a collaboration among some of the world’s leading corporations and WWF to show leadership in voluntarily reducing emissions and heading off the environmental impacts associated with climate change.”2 They have set high goals and are making the necessary changes to meet those goals.
In 2009, Fairmont stated, with the WWF’s Climate Savers Program, “agreed to a brand wide carbon emissions reduction plan and pledged to reduce operational CO2 emissions from its existing portfolio of hotels by 20% below 2006 levels by 2013”.
- Within this program, the Fairmont pledged to finalize a Green Procurement Policy and Supplier Code of Conduct by 2009, which they achieved.
- They set out to educate and encourage suppliers, which is 25% of the top supply chain, to provide products that meet the Green Procurement Policy by 2010, which they achieved.
- They set to update current construction and design standards to incorporate LEED standards by 2011, which they achieved as well and now includes LEED standards in all Fairmont hotels across the world; and lastly, they set out to relocate the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Corporate offices to Toronto and achieve LEED NC Gold certification by 2011, which they achieved as well.
Over the past 20 years, the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain has become a sustainability pioneer for not only other hospitality chains, but other large companies within our community. It’s important to start by taking a good look at your operations, and ask yourself several questions:
What products do you use in your daily operations?
How do you use them and where are they provided from?
How do you operate your hotel or business on a daily basis?
What is your largest expense, and are those materials,
products, and operations being used, saving energy or wasting it?
It’s possible to take your current methods of living and operating, and make subtle changes to those methods and not only become more sustainable, but safe money and increase profit margins in the long run. Even we, as individuals, are also able to take note, and make chose changes to our own daily lives, and start making a difference for a greener world.
Resources for this Blog Entry
3. Building Strategies and Sustainability Magazine - http://www.bssmagazine.ca/FairmontUnmasksItsOwnTeamofGreenheroes.aspx
The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver - http://www.fairmontmeetings.com/waterfront/location_04.html
1. The Fairmont Hotel Website – Green Partnership Program - http://www.fairmont.com/EN_FA/AboutFairmont/environment/GreenPartnershipProgram/Index.htm
The Fairmont Hotel Website – Greening our Operations –
The Fairmont Hotel Environmental Policy - http://www.fairmont.com/NR/rdonlyres/E5B6682A-668F-4108-A573-2531A530CE62/0/Environmental_Policy.pdf
2. Fairmont Climate Savers Fact Sheet - http://www.fairmont.com/NR/rdonlyres/1C17A8A0-52E0-4FBC-ADD3-9BBF86C10683/0/Fairmont_FactSheet.pdf
The Fairmont Hotels Environmental Stewardship - http://www.fairmont.com/NR/rdonlyres/EAB55F14-A593-4CA8-BB42-CCF963AE4A8E/0/fhr_greenpartnership.pdf
World Wildlife Fund - http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html
Administration and Operation – Innovative Policies for Reducing Waste and Consumption
Sustainability Issues Course
Blog Presentation
Administration and Operation –
Innovative Policies for Reducing Waste and Consumption
Before we can discuss policies on reducing waste and consumption, let’s talk about what administration and operation means. Administration means the performance of business operations or the procedure of laws under a jurisdiction. Operation in business means the continuous activities of running a business for producing value for the stakeholders. When it comes to talking about administration of business operations, one must look at the various aspects of those operations. First, let’s look at a few aspects of business operations such as policies, which are defined as “a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes.”1 Basically, policies aren’t laws, which carry heavy repercussions if not followed; they are simply guidelines for members of the public, a community, or a company to follow. For example, the government has certain policies when it comes to sustainability, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and Toxic Substances Control Act. However, energy consumption and massing amounts of produced waste is a very important topic and one that is often analyzed when it comes to sustainability. As of today, America’s throw away roughly 4.5 million tons of solid waste in one year! While re-purposing and recycling is on the rise, we are still reporting unfortunate lows for products recycled vs. thrown away. The graph below shows the ratio of disposal vs. other more sustainable methods of how Americans are disposing of their used goods.
As you can see, most people are still disposing of their goods instead of recycling. This could be due to the lack of education on sustainability, or a lack of concern for the environment all together. The story is a bit different when it comes to state and local businesses and their efforts reduce the amount of waste they produce. The government regulates what chemicals business can use in their operation, how they dispose of those chemicals, how they use them, and many more. Private companies have policies that keep their operations running smoothly and decrease risk and even protect profit margins in some cases. Governments and companies also have policies that are put in place to reduce waste and consumption in an effort to not only become more sustainable, but reduce risk, and decrease spending and expenses, keeping less waste out of the environment and more money in their pockets.
A private organization based out of California, but located across the country, called the Sierra Club has a zero waste policy that is quite interesting and successful. Who is the Sierra Club? “Since 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to protect communities, wild places, and the planet itself. We are the largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States.”2 The Sierra Club’s Zero Waste policy “addresses not only the quantity of waste we generate, but also its toxicity, its contribution to climate change, and the important links between waste reduction and corporate responsibility.”2 They achieve this goal in several various ways. They reduce the amount of materials and energy used and keep the use of toxic substances to a minimum to not only reducing the amount of waste they are producing, but the amount of toxic waste they are consuming. They repair certain products to the best of their ability instead of purchasing new products and equipment that sends old products and equipment to landfills which introduces toxins into our water and soil. They reuse as much as they can, either repairing or re-purposing materials. In their efforts to repair old materials, they boost the local economy by commissioning local businesses to repair their equipment vs. sending it off to be repaired else ware. Lastly, they recycle any materials that are unable to be repaired or reused. Being that they are extremely conscience of the chemicals used in their purchases products and materials, when they are unable to be repaired or re-purposed, they are safer to recycle when that time comes. The Sierra Club prides themselves in thinking and buying smarter from the beginning, thus achieving a higher success rate of zero waste by “design rather than trying to manage the waste consumption after the fact.”2 The Sierra Club also supports another educational resource called “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard which highlights Ecological Limits. The video below demonstrates the life cycle of our “stuff” and shows how our stuff doesn’t go away after we are finished with it.
Other innovative waste reductions policies are being put into place by state and local agencies. The University of North Carolina has several policies put into place such as emailing all correspondences vs. printing them and sending them via inter-departmental mail. They are purchasing items that require the least amount of packaging and can be reused, refilled, recycled, or repaired. They are using a system of reusable dishes, glasses and flatware throughout the university vs. using disposable items such as plastic and Styrofoam. They have an extensive recycling program campus wide which includes “includes aluminum cans, batteries, cardboard, glass bottles, hard back books, microfiche, news blend, office blend, plastic bottles (#1 and #2 only), Styrofoam and peanuts, toner cartridges, transparencies, videotapes, and additional items as implemented.” Even the facilities management is responsible for recycling items such as “construction/demolition debris, fluorescent light bulbs, motor oil, oil filters, paint, pallets, refrigerants, scrap metal, solvents, tires, yard waste, and additional items as implemented.”3
The EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, is a government agency that is charge of setting national regulations on waste disposal and management. They have policies in place that keep our waters as clean as possible, our air as pollution free as possible and keep hazardous wastes from our waters, air, and soil. They oversee several waste minimization strategies through communities, businesses, and consumers. KAB states:
Communities - The U.S. EPA estimates that over 4,000 communities have "pay-as-you-throw" programs. Residents pay for each bin or bag of trash they set out for disposal rather than a flat fee. When households reduce the amount of trash, they pay less.Businesses - Practicing source reduction helps industries decrease raw material use and cut manufacturing costs. Check out what this means for cans and bottles. Offices can shrink their waste stream, too. Get waste reduction strategies for large and small businesses.
Consumers - Buying in bulk, reusing products, buying products with less packaging, and refillable products all help to reduce consumer costs and the amount of waste going to disposal. Get a laundry list of tips from the National Recycling Coalition.
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
These are simple guidelines that are being implemented throughout the US today. The National Recycling Coalition sources several reduction strategies that can you started today! The KAB states:
The National Recycling Coalition – Reduction Strategies
1. Reduce product use.
2. Rent or lease products or equipment.
3. Purchase rebuilt, remanufactured or refurbished products.
4. Purchase more durable products.
5. Purchase products containing nonhazardous materials.
6. Purchase products that are reusable, refillable, or returnable.
7. Purchase products in bulk.
8. Purchase products with less packaging or reuse packaging.
9. Share or reuse resources.
2. Rent or lease products or equipment.
3. Purchase rebuilt, remanufactured or refurbished products.
4. Purchase more durable products.
5. Purchase products containing nonhazardous materials.
6. Purchase products that are reusable, refillable, or returnable.
7. Purchase products in bulk.
8. Purchase products with less packaging or reuse packaging.
9. Share or reuse resources.
As you can see, there are many recourse available to you and the rest of community that offer guidance and support for a greener earth. While some of these listed may be private policies that companies abide by, I think we can all learn from those efforts and apply them to not only our own business but our own lives as well. As of today, many of these are simply policies and “suggestions” but perhaps with our help and future sustainability efforts, we can turn those policies and suggestions into laws and provide our community with a stronger base of how to be green and enforce those efforts for a more sustainable world.
Resources for this Blog Entry
1. Wikipedia – Administration Law - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administration_%28law%29
Wikipedia – Business operations - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_operations
EPA – Sustainability - http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
Wikipedia – Waste Management - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management
Wikipedia – Waste Hierarchy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waste_hierarchy.svg
2. The Sierra Club - http://www.sierraclub.org/
The Sierra Club – Zero Waste Policy - http://www.sierraclub.org/policy/conservation/ZeroWasteExtendedProducerResponsibilityPolicy.pdf
The Story of Stuff - http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Clean Air.Org - http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html
The Environment – Fact Finder - http://www.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/environment/how-much-solid-waste-generated-annually-united
3. The University of North Carolina – Waste Reduction and Recycling - http://legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-110.html
4. Keep America Beautiful - http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
The National Recycling Coalition - http://nrcrecycles.org/
Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority - http://www.svswa.org/reduce_and_reuse.cfm
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