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Tips for Green Living Dina Barnese Information Technology Services Green – The New Buzz Word Green Living: A lifestyle intended to ensure that one's impact on the environment and personal health is as minimal (or as positive) as possible Because , after all, we only have one Earth
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Tips for Green Living Dina Barnese Information Technology Services
Green – The New Buzz Word Green Living: A lifestyle intended to ensure that one's impact on the environment and personal health is as minimal (or as positive) as possible Because, after all, we only have one Earth
Facts – Junk Mail • 100 million trees • Heat for 250,000 homes with one day’s supply • 4 million tons delivered each year
Tip – Reduce Paper Junk Mail Bust That Junk! • Sign up with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) • Visit Junkbusters to learn how to remove your address from other lists! • Call the catalog company
Benefits of Reducing Junk Mail • Reduce paper demand • Reduce fossil fuel usage and carbon emissions • Paper production • Delivery • Reduce hassle! • Save time!
Facts – Plastic Shopping Bags • 500 billion to 1 trillion per year = one million per minute • 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually = $4 Billion • Animals eat discarded bags. They die. • Plastic bags photodegrade
Tip – Avoid Plastic Shopping Bags • Only getting an item or two? Carry them without a bag • Get some reusable cloth shopping bags • Keep them in the car • A great habit to get the kids into • Reuse plastic shopping bags • Recycle (Albertson’s, New Frontiers)
Benefits of Reducing Plastic Shopping Bag Use • Reduce litter • Reduce animal deaths • Reduce environmental toxins • Reduce fossil fuel usage Save $$ - some stores give a discount if you BYOB!
Facts – Our Food Travels Far! • Average distance is 1500 to 2500 miles • Even further? New Zealand, Chile, Costa Rica
Tip – Buy Local/Regional Foods • Buy as locally as possible (choose a Washington apple over a NZ apple) • Join the Flagstaff Community Supported Agriculture program • Shop at the Flagstaff Community Market during the summer months • Buy regional honey, tortillas, corn products, green chiles, etc.
Benefits of Buying Local Foods • Support local economy $$ • Support local environment • Reduce oil usage • Reduce carbon emissions • Know what you are consuming
Facts – Hazardous Waste • Types of waste • Corrosive • Battery acid • Toxic • Pesticides, cleaning products, paints • Ignitable • charcoal lighter fluid, nail polish remover. • Reactive • Ooooo, scary!
Tip – Use the City of Flagstaff HPC • City of Flagstaff Household Hazardous Waste Program • HPC Drop and Swap
Benefits of the HHWP at the HPC • A safe place to dispose of hazardous products • FREE paint, garden chemicals, household chemicals, etc. • Reduce, reuse, recycle – saves you $$
Facts- Light Bulbs • Incandescent bulbs lose energy through heat • Lighting consumes 22% of the electrical power generated in the U.S.
Tip – Use CFLs or LEDs • Spend the extra $$ for a CFL • Replace with LEDs for even more savings • Replace Holiday lights with LEDs for significant energy savings
Benefits of CFL & LED • CFL • Last 10 times longer and provide equivalent light • Use 75 percent less energy • LED • Low power consumption • Long life span • Both save $$
Facts – Disposables • 64 billion paper cups and plates are thrown away • 73 billion styrofoam cups and plates are thrown away • 190 billion plastic containers & bottles are landfilled or incinerated
Tip – Bring Your Own • Coffee shop? Travel mug. • Keep a plate, bowl, mug and set of utensils at work • Be really radical – bring your own take-home container when you go out to eat
Benefits of Bringing Your Own • Less trash for the landfill • Less use of oil (styrofoam) and trees (paper products) • Save $$ - local coffee shops give a discount when you bring your own mug (Late for the Train, Macys, Campus Coffee Bean)
Facts on Bottled Water • 150 billion liters of bottled water per year • Very high fossil fuel usage • Toxins in the water?
Tips for Bottled Water • Keep a water bottle at work, take to meetings • Traveling? Fill a few water bottles and put them in a cooler. • Check city water quality online Use Your Own
Benefits of Avoiding Bottled H2O • Less plastic usage • Less fossil fuel usage; thus less carbon emissions • Possible health benefits • Save $$ - bottled water is expensive!
Sources • Junk mail stats: http://www.epa.state.oh.us/opp/consumer/junkmail.html • Direct Marketing Association: https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing • Junkbusters: http://www.junkbusters.com/ • Plastic bag stats: http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php • Purchase reusable plastic pags: http://www.reusablebags.com • Food travel stats: http://www.foodroutes.org/ • Flagstaff Community Supported Agriculture program: http://flagcsa.org/ • Flagstaff Community Market: http://www.flagstaffmarket.com/ • Hazardous Waste stats: http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001201-d001300/d001236/d001236.html • City of Flagstaff Hazardous Products Center: http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/index.asp?SID=638 • Light Bulb Stats: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls • One Billion Bulbs: http://www.onebillionbulbs.com/ • Disposables stats- http://www.worldcentric.org/bio/index.htm • Bottled Water stats - http://www.answers.com/topic/bottled-water-2
Other Resources • The Green Guide –www.thegreenguide.com • The 100 Mile Diet - 100milediet.org/home/ • Slow Food USA - www.slowfoodusa.org/index.html • LED Holiday Lights - www.environmentallights.com • Reusable Bags – www.ecobags.com • Earth 911 - www.earth911.org • SIGG Swiss Engineered Water Bottles – www.mysigg.com • Engines Off Campaign - www.enginesoff.org
Thanks • A special thanks to: • NAU Bookstore • New Frontiers Natural Marketplace • City of Flagstaff Hazardous Products Center