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E-News: Green Star's Electronic, Environmental Newsletter!
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| Green Star E-News Vol. 3, No. 1 January 10, 2002 Recognizing businesses committed to environmental responsibility. In this issue: * Shining Stars * NEW! Green Star Makes House Calls * Green Events Updates * Recycling 101: Food Waste * Notice--Eagle River Recycling Meeting * Care About Air! Free Plug In Posters * Last Chance for Christmas Tree Recycling * Membership Reminder: 2002 Renewal Forms *This Month's Hot Link: Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association * Thank You 2001 Sponsors and Granting Agencies * Call to Action SHINING STARS Green Star would like to welcome the following recent awardees to our list of Shining Stars: Alaska Conservation Foundation, Progressive Imaging, Schlumberger Oilfield Services, and Municipal Light and Power. Municipal Light and Power is the first business to receive both the Green Star and Air Quality Awards simultaneously. We would also like to welcome the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel as our newest member. Congratulations to you all! .================================= GREEN STAR MAKES HOUSE CALLS Green Star starts the new year with a new assistance program - and this program will come to you! We have received funding from Alaska Conservation Foundation for our Site Assessment program, a program designed to assist businesses and organizations in determining what improvements can be made to increase efficiency and reduce waste in the workplace. It is more than just the usual general tips, hints, and ideas - it is a house call to your facility to look at what you are doing and to identify specific actions you can take. A site assessment looks at waste generation and disposal habits, energy use, and hazardous materials management, among other things. A site assessment is a perfect way for a new enrollee to start the Award process. Or, if you have been enrolled for a while but aren't sure how to take that next step toward achieving the Green Star Award, a site assessment can help get you there. As part of an assessment, Green Star staff will meet with you to learn about your business or organization. Then we will walk through your facility with you and identify current activities that will bring you closer to earning your Green Star Award. In addition, we will make suggestions for improvements that could be made and provide information about useful resources and practices. We can even help you in determining the costs and benefits of implementing certain suggestions. After the assessment, Green Star will provide a brief written report outlining the results of the site assessment, including current waste preventing activities, suggestions for improvement, and resources. A site assessment not only helps you to meet the Green Star standards, but it can help you to increase efficiencies; decrease energy, waste management, purchasing, and labor costs; improve employee comfort and safety; and enhance your public image. If you are interested in participating in a free Site Assessment, contact Green Star at 278-7839 or Jeanne@greenstarinc.org. ================================ GREEN EVENTS UPDATE Green Events abound in the New Year! That means we also have lots of volunteer opportunities. If you volunteer at a Green Event, you have the opportunity to attend an interesting and fun event and receive one of our handsome natural-colored organic cotton recycling volunteer T-shirts. Extra Bonus!! The first ten people to sign up to help will receive a free vehicle plug-in timer. Even though it’s practically tropical now, we can assure we’ll get more cold weather before spring. Save energy and save yourself the cold morning trip outside to plug in your car! Here are a few of the events we need to staff with recycling volunteers over the next few months: Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival~January 18-19, Friday 5-10pm and Saturday 3-10pm. We will need a few volunteers to help transport boxes of glass bottles to the recycling center after the event each night. This would entail working for about an hour starting at 10pm on Friday and/or Saturday night, and having a car or truck that would fit boxes of bottles. You will receive free entry to the Festival to check out the beers (but not too many!!). We could probably use two or three people each night. Alaska Forum on the Environment~February 4-8, Monday through Friday. We will need volunteers to help transport and set up bins on the first day, monitor bins throughout the conference and help transport materials and bins at the end of the event, as well as periodic trips to the recycling center throughout the week. Details of times are yet to be determined. You will receive free entry to the Forum on the day or days hat you volunteer. Green Star will probably have a booth at the event. The event offers lots of great sessions, speakers, and vendors. We could use 2-4 people per day with a few extras for set-up and break-down. We will most likely arrange 4-hour shifts for volunteers. Having a spacious car or truck always helps. Alaska Hospitality and Food Service Expo~March 5-6, Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am-6pm. We will need assistance in transporting and setting up bins, monitoring bins, and removing materials and bins at the end of the event. Based on volunteer availability, we will determine whether we set up on Monday afternoon or Tuesday early morning. Also, based on volunteer availability, we may try to work on Monday afternoon to collect cardboard from event set-up for recycling. Let me know your interests and availability. You will receive free entry to the event on the day or days that you volunteer. This event is lots of fun with food and beverage samples and lots of interesting demonstrations. Green Star will have a booth at this event, will be conducting a site assessment of the Egan Center throughout the event, and will be giving a presentation on waste prevention for the hospitality industry. We will need 2-4 people per day at this event. If you are interested in helping with any of the events listed above, please contact Green Star at 278-7839 or Jeanne@greenstarinc.org. Volunteers are the heart of the Green Events program and we appreciate your hard work! ================================= RECYCLING 101: FOOD WASTE This is the twelfth in a series of articles about recycling in Anchorage. Although food waste is not easily recyclable in Anchorage, numerous opportunities exist for reducing disposal quantities. The National Picture In 1997, Americans generated almost 22 million tons of food waste. Half of this was generated by residential sources (i.e., you and me at home), while the other half was generated by commercial sources (e.g., restaurants, hotels, food processing facilities, grocery stores etc.). Food waste represents about 10 percent of the total municipal waste stream. Only about 2.6 percent of this food waste was recovered, leaving more than 21 million tons to be disposed. The food waste that is recovered is typically composted, recycled into animal feed, or processed and applied to the land as a fertilizing agent. Food Waste in Anchorage In 1997, Anchorage generated 24, 174 tons of food waste. Only about 23 tons were diverted for recycling (composting), which is less than one percent. How Do I Recycle Food Waste? In Anchorage, options for recovering food waste are limited. Currently there are no commercial opportunities to recycle food waste in Anchorage. The Anchorage Regional Compost Facility at Point Woronzof only accepts yard and wood waste. It is not equipped to handle food waste, which makes the composting process more intensive and requires more monitoring. Food waste recycling may take place on a small scale in the form of feeding it to animals. Other options for reducing disposal of food waste include composting onsite and reducing the quantities of waste generated. Reducing Food Waste Even though there are currently no facilities that take food waste for composting, some food waste items can be composted in small composting units either residentially or commercially. This can reduce the amount of food waste that must be managed off-site through disposal. Depending on your business type, a small composting bin or a vermicomposting system (composting with worms) may be appropriate. Check the resources below for information about establishing a composting system. If you are in the food service, catering, hospitality, or food retail business, several options exist for reducing food waste. The efficiency of your business already dictates that you plan carefully when purchasing and preparing food, but inevitably there will be leftover food. Plan menus that can incorporate excess food items, such as soups that use unserved vegetables or meats. If serving food buffet-style or on a salad bar, consider displaying smaller quantities and replenishing more often so that you are not left with large quantities of leftovers on display that cannot be reused or donated. Only food that has not been served or displayed can be reused or donated to a food bank, shelter, or soup kitchen. Food retailers may wish to consider donating produce that may not meet store standards for sale but are still good quality, edible items. Below is a list of local organizations that accept food items. Contact them individually for details about acceptable items. Composting Resources An instructional video about fish waste composting is available from: National Fisheries Institute 1525 Wilson Blvd., Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22209 Can O’ Worms Alaska 7611 Bethany Circle 552-7753 Contact: Cheryl Paige Sells small worm composting units for composting kitchen scraps. The Compost Resource Page http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/ For Training and Assistance information, contact Peter Crimp, Development Specialist, Division of Energy, Alaska Dept. of Community & Regional Affairs, 333 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 220, Anchorage, AK 99501-2341, 907-269-4631, fax 907-269-4685, PCrimp@Comregaf.state.ak.us Food Donations Bean’s Café 1101 E. 3rd Ave. 274-9595 E-mail: beans@aonline.com http://www.beans.ak.org Accepts nonperishable food items and prepared foods. Brother Francis Shelter 1021 E. 3rd Ave. 277-1731 Serves dinner nightly and accepts nonperishable and perishable foods. Downtown Soup Kitchen (open September through May) 434 E. 4th Ave. 277-4302 Accepts nonperishable, perishable, and prepared foods that can be used to make soup. Food Bank of Alaska 2121 Spar Ave. 272-3663 Accepts professionally packed perishables, canned goods, and packaged dry goods. Will pick up from stores in a refrigerated truck or items can be dropped off. Mother Lawrence Foundation 833 N. Hoyt Street 272-0989 Provides food to the needy. Call to learn what is accepted. ================================= NOTICE – EAGLE RIVER RECYCLING MEETING If you live in the Eagle River, Chugiak, Birchwood or Peters Creek area, or if you just want to see recycling improved in the Eagle River area, join fellow recyclers for a meeting to talk about what can be done. The current Carrs recycling bins (temporarily located at Schuck's) for aluminum and newspaper are in jeopardy due to littering and contamination issues. Losing these bins would be a great setback for Eagle River recycling. Convenient access to recycling bins for more materials is the direction we should be going. Come share your concerns and ideas. Community involvement is the best way to bring convenient and successful recycling to Eagle River. When: Thursday, January 24, 2002 7 - 9pm Where: Eagle River VFW on Eagle River Road behind the new fire station. ================================= CARE ABOUT AIR! FREE PLUG IN POSTERS Did you know it only costs an average of 8 cents an hour to plug your car in? By plugging, in you will reduce wear and tear on your engine and reduce your car’s carbon monoxide emissions by more than 70%. Useful air quality information can be found on the new 2002 Care About Air posters, available for free at the Green Star office. These posters are packed full of information on cold weather vehicle maintenance and plugging in. If you would like to pick up a poster for your office or employees, please visit us today. The first three people to pick up posters will receive free plug-in timers. Our office is located at 880 H Street, Suite 106. Call 278-7827 for more information. ================================= LAST CHANCE FOR CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING This year, start a new tradition and recycle your Christmas tree! All Carrs stores are offering free Christmas tree recycling until January 13th. Remove all lights and ornaments from your tree, then bring the bare tree to any Anchorage, Eagle River, or Palmer Carrs store. There will be clearly marked areas in each parking lot for you to drop off your tree. The recycled trees are processed into wood chips and distributed to local non-profit and government agencies for use in compost and on trails, paths, and gardens. For more information, contact ALPAR at 274-3266. ================================= MEMBERSHIP REMINDER: 2002 ANNUAL RENEWAL FORMS DUE Thank you to all Green Star members who returned the 2002 annual renewal form. The form includes an annual waste assessment to fulfill Standard #6 and keeps your award status current. Forms need to be faxed or sent by mail to the Green Star office. If you need a new copy of the renewal form, please call 278-7827 or email betsy@greenstarinc.org today. ================================= THIS MONTH’S HOT LINK: ALASKA WILDERNESS RECREATION and TOURISM ASSOCIATION The Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association is your link for “business, community, and conservation.” If you are looking for Alaskan travel, recreation, and event information, visit http://www.awrta.org. On February 6, AWRTA is sponsoring a job fair highlighting jobs in tourism, recreation, and conservation. To find out more, go to http://www.awrta.org/jobfair.html. ================================= THANK YOU 2001 SPONSORS and GRANTING AGENCIES Platinum: Alaska Science & Technology Foundation, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Municipality of Anchorage Solid Waste Services, Phillips Alaska Gold: Alaska Conservation Foundation, Anchorage Daily News, AT&T Wireless, BP Exploration, KTUU Channel 2, Wells Fargo Silver: Phone Directories, Inc., The Home Depot Bronze: Anchorage Refuse, Data Pro, Odom Corporation, Sam's Club, Smurfit Stone Recycling, Pepsi Cola Bottling of Anchorage,Walmart ‘A’ St. Store Supporter: ALPAR, Chugach Electric Association, Corporate Express, Nabors Alaska Drilling Contributor: Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Wildland Adventures, Arctic Wire Rope & Supply,Corporate Express Alaska, Green Connection, Shoot-N-Edit, Spenard Builders Supply, The Body Shop, Yukon Equipment ================================= CALL TO ACTION Take the Green Star challenge and get your Green Star Award. Are you one of those businesses that keeps putting off your Green Star application? The Green Star staff is here to help get the ball rolling on your Green Star award, and we are anxious to give you the community recognition that you deserve. Ever wonder how the folks at Green Star provide so many dynamic programs and services? We do it by the generous support of our sponsors. If you would like to help us continue to meet the environmental needs of our community and provide up-to-date information like E-News and our brown bag lunches, become a sponsor today! Visit our secured sponsor page on the web at: http://www.greenstarinc.org/forms/sponsorform.htm. ================================= Please send comments, questions, or suggestions for future E-News topics to us at betsy@greenstarinc.org. Forward this newsletter freely. Send us any e-mail addresses you wish to add to our mailing list. Thank you! The staff of Green Star, Anchorage: Sean Skaling, Executive Director Jeanne Carlson, Recycling Program Coordinator Betsy Goll, Membership & Communications Coordinator If you would like to discontinue receiving E-News, please write betsy@greenstarinc.org. |
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