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E-News: Green Star's Electronic, Environmental Newsletter!
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| Green Star E-News Vol. 2, No. 12 December 11, 2001 Recognizing businesses committed to environmental responsibility. In this issue: * Shining Star * Christmas Tree Recycling * Holiday Waste Prevention Tips * Recycling 101: Magazines * Cold Weather Vehicle Maintenance * Computer Energy Saving Tips * This Month's Hot Link: Energy Star * Thank You 2001 Sponsors and Granting Agencies * Call to Action SHINING STARS Green Star would like to welcome the following new members to our list of Shining Stars: Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking, Alaska Teamsters Training Center, and Schlumberger Oilfield Services. We’d also like to thank our newest sponsor Webb Consulting & Management Services, Inc. for donating to Green Star at the Contributor level. .================================= CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING This year, start a new tradition and recycle your Christmas tree! Beginning December 26th, all Carrs stores will be offering free Christmas tree recycling. Remove all lights and ornaments from your tree, then bring the bare tree to any Anchorage, Eagle River, or Palmer Carrs store, or the Safeway at Northway Mall. 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. The last day to drop off trees is Sunday, January 13th. For more information, contact ALPAR at 274-3266. ================================ HOLIDAY WASTE PREVENTION TIPS According to "The ULS (Use Less Stuff) Report," (http://www.use-less-stuff.com) Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving-to-New Year's holiday period than any other time of year. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of trash, or about one million extra tons per week. You may think about the changes you can make in your personal life, but there also are opportunities in the workplace during the holidays to help even out this spike in waste generation. Most businesses have some sort of holiday celebration. Whether it is an all-out bash for hundreds of employees, or simply exchanging gifts and eating some cookies with a few other co-workers, you can do your part to reduce waste. Holiday Parties * When planning holiday parties, work with rental halls or facilities that use china and linens to avoid the generation of disposable serviceware waste. * Plan holiday parties wisely so you don't have lots of leftover food. Ask for RSVPs so you have an idea of food quantities needed. As an employee, be courteous and RSVP on time so planning is easier and more accurate. At least 28 billion pounds of edible food are wasted each year in the U.S., or more than 100 pounds per person. * Arrange to have leftover foods donated if possible from holiday parties. Talk with caterers about how this can be done, if any waivers need to be signed etc. Arrange with a specific local organization to take any leftovers, giving them an idea ahead of time of the types of food to expect and how it will arrive, or if they need to pick it up at a specific time. * Ask employees to carpool to holiday parties. This saves gas, reduces pollution, and can provide a designated driver. Office Gift Giving * Give services, such as spa days, tickets to events etc., or give gift certificates so you aren't cluttering up someone's life with unneeded or unwanted items. * Donate to a charity in the person's name or in someone's honor. (Not The Human Fund - Sienfeld joke). * Give gifts that encourage others to conserve resources and think about waste prevention, such as a book about making crafts from reusable items, a reusable place setting with a plate, cup, cloth napkin, and cutlery for use in the office, or a reusable tote bag. * Set a good example by giving homemade food or something you've made yourself from reused items. * Wrap your gifts in recycled-content wrapping paper, reused paper, newspaper, paper grocery sacks, reusable dishtowels (as part of the gift), and other earth-friendly materials. Did you know...if every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet? * Send electronic greeting cards. Approximately 2.65 billion Christmas cards are sold each year in the U.S. These cards could fill a football field 10 stories high. If we each sent one card less, we'd save 50,000 cubic yards of paper. * Supervisors may want to give employees time off or extra vacation days as gifts rather than anything boxed and wrapped. Office Decorations * Use reusable holiday decorations. You can store decorations until next year if they are in good shape rather than purchasing new decorations each year. * Be creative with reusable items that may be headed for the trash. One idea is making snowflakes from used paper. Snowflake-making is not just for kids. What better way to get an office full of Scrooges in the holiday spirit than a snowflake-making contest. Miscellaneous Tips * When photographing your holiday festivities, purchase rolls of 36 exposures instead of 12 exposures. You'll reduce waste by 67%, saving about $4, or 40%. You'll also reduce the amount of waste in the form of the film canisters and cartridges by one-third. ================================= RECYCLING 101: MAGAZINES This is the eleventh in a series of articles about recycling in Anchorage. The holidays bring festive cheer but they also bring mail order catalogs and magazines by the dozens. In Anchorage, glossy magazines and catalogs are collected separately for recycling. So stack them all in a separate pile as they arrive on your doorstep and take them to the recycling center. The National Picture According to the U.S. EPA, the U.S. generated 2.17 million tons of magazines in 1997. Approximately 23% of those were recovered for recycling. Magazines in Anchorage No data exist about past magazine generation and recycling habits in Anchorage. In many communities, magazines are included in the Mixed Paper category. However, Anchorage collects magazines separately to take advantage of their value. Just as office paper is more valuable than mixed paper because it is a higher quality, more consistent product, magazines are a consistent source of clay additive for other recycling processes. The clay coating is what is used to make the magazine and catalog pages glossy. How Do I Recycle Magazines? Magazines can be taken 24 hours a day to the Anchorage Recycling Center, 6161 Rosewood Street, off Dowling. You can include all glossy magazines and catalogs. Other glossy items, such as junk mail inserts, should be included in Mixed Paper. Non-glossy magazines and catalogs should be included in Mixed Paper as well. Reducing Magazines and Catalogs If you would rather not get catalogs at all, the quantity of catalogs you receive can be reduced by calling the individual mail-order companies using the toll free number on each catalog and asking them to stop sending the catalog to you. You also can write to the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service. This free service is good for five years. It works only for national mail, not local mail, and only for residential addresses, not businesses. Send a postcard with your full name and address to the Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008. Be sure to send a separate card for each version of your name that may appear on a list, e.g., if you receive some catalogs addressed to you using your middle initial and some without, these are separate listings that need to be deleted. Web sites are a great resource if you want to order items but don't want the catalog. Many mail-order companies offer their full inventory through their web sites. Remember though that whenever you order something from a catalog or even from the catalog web site, your name goes right back on the mailing list so you need to request "No Catalog" each time. If you really enjoy reading certain magazines or looking through mail-order catalogs, share with a friend or neighbor rather than getting your own. Resources Consumer Research Institute's Stop the Junk Mail at http://www.stopjunk.com offers a printed or online kit to stop junk mail from coming to your house. Direct Marketing Association at http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/offmailinglistdave offers tips for getting off mailing lists. American Forest and Paper Association at http://www.afandpa.org provides information about paper production and recycling. October and November usually bring snow and with the snow comes studded tires. As you switch from regular tires to studded tires to brave the snowy roads, many of you will learn that your tires need to be replaced. Here is some information about scrap tire reuse and recycling. ================================= COLD WEATHER VEHICLE MAINTENANCE A cold engine produces 50 to 100 times more emissions in the first minute of operations than the engine fully warmed. Even if you are plugging in, it is important to maintain your equipment to optimize plug-in time. How can you tell if the block heater is working? A gentleman who owned a service station for years said that the vast number of failures are not due to block heaters, but the electrical cord and the outdoor outlet. Plugging in another appliance, such as a drop light, to your extension cord will tell if you have electricity. Many auto centers carry extension cords with lights to show when they are receiving power. Waiting to hear a pinging under the hood - the sound of metal expanding when it begins to heat - when you plug in is a sign that your heater is on. Also, a service station can use an OHM meter on your block heater to see if it's drawing electricity. If you are using a timer, make sure it is made for outdoor use. Timers used for block heaters need to be more highly rated than those for other purposes. A few things to look for in timers include: * Heavy-duty, outdoor mechanical timer; weather resistant * Rated for 15 Amps (1800 watt) capacity * Grounded plug and cord * Operation to thirty degrees below zero * 24-hour range with at least two on/off settings per day Timers run for about $18.00. Look for them at your local hardware, home center, or auto parts store. For more information on plugging in, contact Green Star at 278-7827 or the Municipality of Anchorage Air Quality Program at 343-4715. Or, visit our web site at http://www.greenstarinc.org/airquality/pluginfo.htm. ================================= COMPUTER ENGERGY SAVING TIPS Today almost everyone uses a computer in the office or at home. And the computers of yesterday are much different from computers today. Some of the things you thought you knew about your computer's energy use may not be so true anymore, so take a look at the myths below and learn the facts to help keep your computer energy use in line. (Adapted from a fact sheet developed by the Tufts Climate Initiative.) Myth #1: Turning off your computer is bad for your computer. Fact: The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory states that modern hard disks are not affected by frequent shut-downs and that equipment may actually last longer because mechanical wear and heat stress are reduced. So, turn off your computer at night or whenever you are out of the office for long periods of time. An added security benefit is that turning off your computer decreases the risk of someone accessing your files or e-mail. Myth #2: Computers don't really need a lot of power if they are on but not used. Fact: During heavy usage (e.g., when you open a new application) your computer draws only slightly more power. The average computer uses about 120 Watts (75 Watts for the screen and 45 Watts for the CPU) whether you're using it or not. Turn off your computer if you are not using it for one hour or more. Myth #3: Screen savers save energy. Fact: Despite the name, screen savers don't save anything, especially not power! They were originally designed so that a permanent imprint of what was on the screen would not form on the monitor. This was accomplished by switching to a continually moving image - the screen saver. Turn off your monitor if you are not using your computer for more than 15 minutes. One computer left on 24 hours a day will cost you $115 to $160 in electricity costs annually, and release 1,500 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. A tree absorbs 3-15 lbs of CO2 each year. That means that 100 to 500 trees would be needed to offset the yearly emissions of one computer left on all the time. Energy-saving Tips * Turn off your computer at night and when you are not using it for several hours. * Enable the Power Management feature for your monitor (see below for step-by-step instructions). * Turn off your monitor when you are not using your computer for 15 minutes or longer. * If you buy a new computer, consider a laptop. Laptops use only 1/4 the energy. * If you buy a new monitor, consider a flat screen. It uses only 1/3 the energy. * If you buy a new computer, monitor, or accessories, look for the ENERGY STAR logo. This ensures that the products have several energy saving features built in to them. Power Management One method of reducing your computer's impact is to enable the Power Management feature on your computer. The instructions differ slightly from system to system but the basics are listed below. On PCs (running Windows) 1. Right-click on your desktop. A dialog box appears. 2. Select Properties. 3. Select Screen Saver tab. 4. Select Energy Saving Features. 5. Select Settings. 6. Select the number of minutes after which you want your screen (and your CPU) to power down. We recommend something between 5-15 minutes. Not all computers let you install Power Management features (e.g. Windows NT). If you have trouble on older machines, disable this feature. On Macs 1. Go to the Apple Icon. 2. Select Control Panels. 3. Select Energy Saver. 4. Select Show Details. 5. Check Separate Timing for Display Sleep. 6. Select the number of minutes after which you want your screen (and your CPU) to power down. We recommend something between 5-15 minutes. ================================= THIS MONTH’S HOT LINK: ALASKA FORUM ON THE ENVIRONMENT Registration has opened for the 2002 Alaska Forum on the Environment conference on February 4-7. AFE is “Alaskans working together to promote a clean, healthy environment through communication and education.” For more info or to register, visit the AFE web site at http://www.akforum.org. ================================= THANK YOU 2001 SPONSORS and GRANTING AGENCIES Platinum: 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 Supporter: ALPAR, Chugach Electric Association, Nabors Alaska Drilling Contributor: 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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