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E-News: Green Star's Electronic, Environmental Newsletter!
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Green Star E-News Vol. 4, No. 3 March 17, 2003 Recognizing Alaska organizations committed to environmental responsibility. In this issue: * Shining Stars * Update on Electronics Reuse and Recycling * Brown Bag Series: March 19 Electronics Recycling Training * Introducing Green Star’s Board Members * ACF Membership Challenge * Eagle River Recycling Gets Easier * Cell Phone Reuse * Air Quality Display Available * This Month’s Hot Link: Green Star’s Electronics Exchange * Thank you 2003 Sponsors ================================== SHINING STARS Welcome to our newest business enrollees, Emerald Alaska, Inc. and Yukon Fuel Company. Both companies are working toward a Green Star award and Emerald Alaska recently took advantage of Green Star’s Site Assessment program by participating in a site visit. Welcome also to the Skagway Traditional Council. Welcome to several nonprofit organizations that have already taken advantage of Alaska Conservation Foundation’s Membership Challenge (see article below for details). Anchorage Waterways Council, Alaska Public Interest Research Group, Denali Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, and World Wildlife Fund have all enrolled. Congratulations to Alaska Pacific University for achieving the Green Star Award. The award was presented to APU president, Dr. Doug North, on March 10th at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce’s “Make It Monday” luncheon. APU has established a comprehensive recycling program and has implemented several innovative methods to reduce paper use, the largest waste stream generated at a university. APU also recognizes staff members for efforts made toward greening the campus. In addition, APU recently converted its swimming pool from a chlorine sanitation system to a salt system, reducing chemical use and creating a much more pleasant environment for swimmers. ================================== UPDATE ON ELECTRONICS REUSE AND RECYCLING Green Star’s Electronics Exchange – www.greenstarinc.org Visit the Electronics Exchange to list your usable electronics equipment or to look for equipment you might need. Online NOW!! Green Star’s Electronics Recycling Days – May 9 & 10, 2003 Drop off your outdated and unusable electronics equipment for recycling. Recyclers will use more than 95% of the materials to make new products. Businesses, organizations, and city agencies can drop off electronics on Friday, May 9th and households can drop off Saturday, May 10th. Drop-off hours on both days are 10 am until 4pm. The location will be the former Carrs store on the corner of Dimond and Old Seward, across from Best Buy. Business Electronics Recycling Training – March 19, 2003 See article below for details. ================================== BROWN BAG SERIES: MARCH 19 ELECTRONICS RECYCLING TRAINING Learn how your business or organization should prepare used electronic equipment for recycling for the May 9th Business Electronics Drop-off Day. Presenters will walk through the steps a business should take to determine if any equipment can be donated for reuse. For computers and other electronic components that are to be recycled, instructions will be provided for packing, palletizing, and transporting. Presenters will discuss the recycling fees and provide a list of materials that will be accepted at the recycling event. If your business has more than a few computers or other electronic components to recycle, consider attending this event to streamline the recycling process. WHEN: Wednesday, March 19th 11:45am – 1pm WHERE: BP Energy Center RSVP: 278-7827 or info@greenstarinc.org (space is limited) Don’t forget, April’s Brown Bag will be a road trip. Visit the Anchorage Regional Landfill, household hazardous waste site, and the new (soon to be opened) recycling area on April 16th. Meet at 11:30 am at the Northway Mall parking lot, near the Hewitt’s Drugs entrance. The bus will leave at 11:45 and return by 1:15pm. The tour will be from noon until 1pm. Please RSVP to ensure a space on the bus. ================================== INTRODUCING GREEN STAR’S BOARD MEMBERS Green Star is more than its staff; it is also a dedicated group of board members. Green Star’s board of directors meets every two months and participates in an annual retreat. Board members work hard to encourage membership, raise funds, and promote Green Star’s mission. Board elections will occur at the May board meeting (see Green Star’s calendar at www.greenstarinc.org for board meeting schedule). Anyone interested in serving on the board should contact the Green Star office or a current board member within the next few weeks. Current board members and their affiliations: Steve Heinle, President Princess Tours Tom Turner, Vice President Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Corrine Eilo, Secretary Denali Commission Vivian Hamilton, Treasurer Hamilton Public Relations Dave Adams AMC Engineers Guy Barton Smurfit-Stone Recycling Company (Anchorage Recycling Center) Mary Fisher ALPAR Craig Gales Anchorage Refuse (A Waste Management Company) Morry Hollowell Anchorage Chamber of Commerce/ Yukon Equipment, Inc. Greg Kellogg U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Chris Kosinsky Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility Colonel Fred Lehman U.S. Army Alaska Tee Little Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Colonel Douglas L Miller U.S. Air Force Cindy Mittlestadt Alaska Support Industry Alliance Alan Schuyler ConocoPhillips Alaska Deborah Williams Alaska Conservation Foundation ================================== ACF MEMBERSHIP CHALLENGE Board Member, Deborah Williams, with Alaska Conservation Foundation, has issued a challenge to the conservation community. If you receive a letter from ACF in the next few weeks, your challenge is to enroll in Green Star. ACF will pay your membership dues and the first ten organizations to achieve the Green Star or Air Quality award will receive an additional $500 contribution from ACF. ================================== EAGLE RIVER RECYCLING GETS EASIER On Thursday, March 27th at 2pm, ALPAR will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to recognize the grand opening of a permanent recycling drop-off site at the Anchorage Regional Landfill in Eagle River. Come out and join Mayor Weurch, among others, to kick off this great step forward for Anchorage-area recycling. Enjoy light refreshments and be the first to see the new site, which will be accepting newspaper, mixed paper, flattened corrugated cardboard, aluminum cans, and glass bottles. The ribbon cutting will be inside the landfill gates, at the new recycling site. Exit Glenn Highway at Eagle River/Hiland Road and go west to the landfill gates, then follow signs. The recycling site will be open during regular landfill hours, Monday through Saturday, 8am – 5pm. ================================== CELL PHONE REUSE Cell phones have become a part of almost everyone’s daily life, but what happens to them when you get a new one? According to a study by INFORM, U.S. residents will have stockpiled 500 million cell phones by 2005, retiring about 130 million per year. With 75% of the retired phones stockpiled, what to do with them is an obvious question. If all of the retired phones were discarded in landfills, they would add 65,000 tons of waste to our annual solid waste stream. But it’s not so much their quantity that is the problem, but their toxicity. Cell phones, like other electronics, contain small amounts of arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, as well as brominated flame retardants. Visit http://www.greenstarinc.org/electronicsinfo.htm#Anchor-The-49425 to learn more about the hazards of these materials when disposed. If you are getting a new phone, here are a few options for you to donate your old phone and prolong its life. The Body Shop Donate your used wireless phones with battery and charger at any of the over 300 The Body Shop locations across the U.S. The Body Shop in Anchorage is located in the 5th Avenue Mall. Donated phones are sold, refurbished, or recycled, with net proceeds benefiting the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and the Wireless Foundation. Additionally, nearly 3,000 wireless phones and airtime will be donated to The Body Shop family violence shelter partners. These wireless phones will be distributed to victims of family violence within our communities. Alaska Women’s Resource Center The Center will accept cell phones as long as youalso include the battery and recharger. Drop off phones, with battery and recharger, at 610 C Street between 8:30am and 4:30pm Monday through Friday. Call 276-0528 for more information. Charitable Recycling Program Mail your cell phones to this organization and they will make a charitable donation. The Charitable Recycling Program 794-A Industrial Court Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 http://www.charitablerecycling.org If all reuse options fail, or if you have a broken phone, it can be included for recycling in Green Star’s May Electronics Recycling Days. Visit http://www.greenstarinc.org for more information. ================================== AIR QUALITY DISPLAY AVAILABLE Green Star and the Municipality of Anchorage have recently developed a portable display containing information about Anchorage’s local air quality issues. Anyone interested in having the display at their workplace for a week, a few weeks, or longer, please contact Green Star. You may have seen the display during the past few months at the airport, Kincaid Park, Loussac Library, or the BP Atrium. Green Star hopes to continue the display’s travels around Anchorage to increase awareness about what has been done to improve Anchorage’s air quality, and what steps we can all take to continue improving the air we breathe. The display is a stand-alone module, measuring almost 8 feet tall, about 3 feet deep, and about 7 feet wide. It contains four panels of information, a snap-on title panel with optional lighting behind the panel, and space for brochures and flyers on one panel. Green Star staff is happy to assemble and disassemble the display according to your schedule. If you know of a good spot for the display, please contact us at 278-7827 or info@greenstarinc.org. ================================== THIS MONTH’S HOT LINK: Green Star’s Electronics Exchange http://www.greenstarinc.org/electronics/index.php List your unwanted, usable electronic equipment on this exchange page or search for computers, printers, copiers, and other equipment you might need. Listing is free and easy. Giving usable electronics a new home is a winning situation for everyone involved. ================================== THANK YOU 2003 SPONSORS Green Star could not exist without the generous financial support of many individuals and leading local businesses. To become a Green Star individual member or corporate sponsor, please call (278-7827) or visit our web site http://www.greenstarinc.org. A huge thank you to our 2003 sponsors! Platinum: BP, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Municipality of Anchorage Solid Waste Services Gold: Alaska Conservation Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, Totem Ocean Trailer Express , Wells Fargo Silver: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Anchorage Refuse (A Waste Management Company), National Association of PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), Princess Tours, The Home Depot Bronze: AT&T Wireless, La Mex, Merrill Lynch, Odom Corporation, One Northwest, Pepsi-Cola Bottling of Anchorage, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart ‘A’ St. Store, Weaver Brothers Green: Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage Recycling Center, Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility, Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Serigraphics, Alaska Textiles, Alaska Wildland Adventures, Bear Tooth Grill and Theater Pub, Café Del Mundo, Chugach Electric Association, Corporate Express Alaska, Denali Commission, Hartig Rhodes Hoge & Lekisch, Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, Nabors Alaska Drilling, Pallet Services of Alaska, R&M Consultants, Recycle Alaska, Side Street Espresso, Snow City Cafe, Tikigaq Corporation, Webb Consulting & Management Services, Yukon Equipment ================================== Past issues of E-News are available on our web site, sorted by topic or date. Please send comments, questions, or suggestions for future E-News topics to us at enews@greenstarinc.org. Forward this newsletter freely. Send us any email addresses you wish to add to our mailing list. Thank you! The staff of Green Star, Anchorage: Sean Skaling, Executive Director Jeanne Carlson, Program Coordinator Special thanks to office volunteer Fiona Graham! |
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