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Green Star E-News
* Shining Stars ================================== Congratulations to our newest Green Star Award certified organization! Anchorage Economic Development Corporation
Welcome to our new members who enrolled in the Green Star Award certification program in July. Kasuun Elementary School
Green Events in August. Look for recycling opportunities at these events… Southcentral Foundation All-Staff Day – August 5 =================================
Household Electronics Recycling -- Total Reclaim is no longer hosting its regular monthly summer household electronics recycling events but is open for business, accepting household and business electronics, fluorescent lamps and ballasts, batteries, and refrigerators and freezers, weekdays from 8 am to 4:30 pm at its Huffman Business Park location. Call 561-0544 for details. Electronics Recycling in Eagle River -- Tri-Digital Computer Services, at 17034 Eagle River Loop Road (above Trustworthy Hardware) is now accepting household electronics for recycling. Tri-Digital has been working with Total Reclaim in Anchorage and is now an official recycling drop-off location. Hours are 10am - 5pm, Monday through Friday and 10am - 2pm on Saturday. Fees are similar to Total Reclaim's -- $18/monitor and 35¢/lb for all other electronics -- plus a 10% handling fee. The handling fee brings the fees to about $19.80/monitor and 38¢/lb for other items. For more information, call Gordy Banfield at Tri-Digital at 696-7272. Daniel Lerch Talk – Thursday, August 7, 2008, East High Auditorium, 7-9 pm. Renewable Energy Fair – Saturday, August 9th, Memorial Block of the Delaney Park Strip, 11 am - 9 pm. Join the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) for the 4th annual Alaska Renewable Energy Fair. This all-day event is fun for the whole family and includes workshops, children's activities, renewable energy demonstrations, energy efficiency information, alternative vehicles, live music, craft and food vendors, and a beer garden hosted by Organic Oasis. The keynote speaker, Daniel Lerch from the Post Carbon Institute, will be speaking at 5 pm on the topic of his latest book, “Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty.”
================================= Building Operating Management presents a free webinar to about viable, alternative energy sources for your facility. Thursday, August 7, 2008 Energy rates are high and there appears to be no relief in sight. According to a report from the Energy Information Administration, the price of energy will continue to rise at least through 2009. Learn what you can do as a facilities professional to combat this. Presented by Lindsay Audin, President of EnergyWiz, this no-cost, 75-minute Webcast will discuss: * alternative energy options (solar, wind, biomass, etc.) * onsite power installations (and incentive programs) * renewable energy certificates * justifying alternative energy costs ================================= Driven Auto Body, a recently certified Green Star member, took Green Star’s LEEP challenge (Lighting Energy Efficiency Pledge) and upgraded its old high-bay high-pressure sodium lighting with energy-efficient banks of T-5 fluorescent lights and installed ceiling fans. Within eight months, Driven saved more than $13,000 in energy costs, with only a $10,000 investment! Plus Driven’s employees now have a more comfortable work environment with much better light quality. To take the LEEP for your workplace, visit Green Star's LEEP page. Driven Auto Body is one of the few U.S. auto body shops outside of California (where it will be mandatory soon) to use aqueous-based paints. These paints reduce air pollutants significantly from the “area source” sector that produces more hazardous air pollutants than the next 20 largest area sources combined. More than 80 percent of new cars today use water-based paints due to the product’s superior finish and its environmental and health qualities, but the refinishing shops have been slower to make the changes. We can be proud that Alaska has one of the cutting-edge shops that is a progressive early adaptor. Driven Auto Body also hosted a recent Green Star training for auto body painters that will be required of all painters in a few years. Painters from other Green Star member organizations, such as Peak Oilfield Services and the U.S. Army at Fort Richardson, participated in the training and became STAR certified (Spray Technique Analysis and Research) two years ahead of the requirement. Special thanks to the sponsors of this training – Driven Auto Body, CarQuest Automotive Finishes, PPG, the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, and the U.S. EPA. ================================= As recycling efforts at the Alaska State Fair enter their seventh year, the recycling team is gearing up for another fun, festive, and sometimes soggy two weeks of hard, but very satisfying, work. Each year the planning process becomes more streamlined. Fewer planning meetings are needed but that doesn’t mean there’s less work. Recycling at the 12-day event requires hundreds of recycling bins throughout the fairgrounds, planning and labor of State Fair staff and several nonprofit organizations, and about 235 volunteers to make sure it all runs smoothly. Laying the Groundwork In June, the volunteer recruitment begins. Green Star reaches out to the business community, school and home school groups, scouting and church groups, and a loyal group of individual recycling volunteers to fill two shifts per day of up to 12 people each throughout the fair. A handful of groups sign up almost immediately – a strong following of family and business groups that have participated from the very beginning. Next comes soliciting donations for food and beverages to keep all the volunteers energized during their shifts at the fair. Coke and Pepsi provide free beverages each year, and donated Great Harvest cookies are a volunteer favorite. By late summer, Valley Community for Recycling Solutions (VCRS) arranges containers and transportation for the recyclables at the fairgrounds. In mid-August, volunteers begin to clean all the recycling barrels (several hundred), and replace missing and damaged lids and labels. By this time, most of the volunteers are signed up and packets with maps and parking passes are sent out. A day or two before the fair, volunteers and staff place the barrels all over the fairgrounds, and set up the recycling sorting area in one of the internal parking lots. This sorting area will act as the hub for recycling activities, with a tent where volunteers will gather and learn their duties. Recycling roll-off containers are staged near the sorting area and volunteers begin daily rounds collecting hundreds of pounds of cardboard each day from vendors as they set up their booths. At the Fair Volunteer groups gather twice a day in the sorting area where State Fair staff provide introductions, pass out gloves and safety vests and explain the various routes on which they will travel pulling wagons that sport “Recycling Team” signs to empty recycling bins along the way. Volunteer Enthusiasm Over the years, it has happened more than once that a teen or even an adult has participated less enthusiastically than others, sluggishly going along with the rest of the group or volunteering to stay at the snack area. But every one of them is converted to a die-hard recycler after a just few trips out into the fairgrounds to collect bottles and cans. They enjoy the work and are inspired by the many positive comments they hear from both fairgoers and vendors as they empty barrels and pull their full carts of recyclables back to the sorting area. Often it is difficult to round up volunteers at the end of their shifts. “Just one more trip!” is heard as volunteers reluctantly turn in their gloves and vests. The stories, the odd finds, the camaraderie, and the commiserating about some fairgoers’ poor recycling abilities all bring volunteers together. Most volunteers end their shift in a state of satisfied, exhilarated exhaustion and with a promise to do it again next year. The Results Join the Fun ================================= Just fill in five easy fields and you’ll instantly see how much you spend each month on commuting. Just be sure to leave out the dollar signs when filling in all the boxes, not just the one that specifically prohibits dollar sign use, or the calculator will let you know about it! ================================= Green Star could not exist without the generous financial and in-kind support of many individuals and leading local businesses and organizations. 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 2008 sponsors!
Platinum ($10,000+): BP, ConocoPhillips, GCI, Municipal Light & Power, Rasmuson Foundation, Total Reclaim, University of Alaska Anchorage, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gold ($5,000-$9,999): Anchorage Daily News, University Center Silver ($2,500-$4,999): Chugach Electric, Driven Auto Body, Microsoft
Bronze ($1,000-$2,499): Anchorage Media Group, Best Buy, CarQuest Automotive Finishers, Mini-Brute, Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Peak Oilfield Services, PPG, Princess Tours Green ($500-$999): Anchorage School District, Dan Miller Graphics, Frames Etc. Supporter ($250-$499): Alaska Communication Systems, Lynden Transport Contributor (up to $250): Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Interstate Construction, Alutiiq, Inc., Carolyn Foundation, Choffie’s Kitchen, Chugach Electric, Clear Channel Radio, Egan Civic & Convention Center, Food Service Warehouse, Free Spirit Wear, Great Harvest Bread Company, Kroeker Consulting, Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, Odom Corporation, Pacific Environmental Corporation (PENCO), Peppercini’s, Pepsi-Cola Bottling Group, USKH, Within the Wild Adventure Lodge ==================================
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