Take Me Out to a Greener Ball Game
The recent news that the U.S. Green Building Council awarded silver-level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification to Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins, has me thinking: If the MLB (Major League Baseball) is trying to make the game greener than the field it is played on, then what can baseball fans do to help?
- Take public transportation to the game. According to Slate, transportation of fans to and from sporting events is usually the largest energy expenditure related to those events. If you must drive, then carpool to the game.
- Bring your own water. Check out the security procedures of the ballpark you are going to determine ahead of time whether you will be allowed to bring in a refillable water bottle. Some stadiums (such as the new Yankee Stadium) only allow “clear, factory-sealed plastic water bottles 1 liter in size or smaller.” Disposable plastic bottles may not be the most environmentally friendly way to drink water, but at least by bringing your own bottle you will not have your cap confiscated (which it what usually happens when you buy a bottle at a concessions stand) and will be able to reuse the bottle before disposing of it in a recycling bin.
- Recycle your beer bottles and programs either in the stadium, in the parking lot, or once you get home.
- Make greener choices. If the stadium offers biodegradable or compostable plastic cups, napkins, and other food-related waste, then opt for them over the more harmful alternatives.
- Support your team in organic cotton. Several environmentally-friendly and stylish fan clothing options have popped up lately and may be found in stadium stores or in the MLB online shop.
For information about the MLB Team Greening Program, check out this link.
The Inspirational Side of FRESH Food: The Movie
The movie Food Inc. has gained increasing press and viewers that documents the serious jeopardy our food system has fallen into over the past three decades. With vast industrialization, synthetic ingredients have replaced what our Grandparents used to call ‘food’. Now as much as I love learning the facts, I also love positive and inspiring messages, which is where I hope the movie FRESH comes into play!
They are hosting Farm to Table dinners across the Nation with a free movie ticket to the showing. Not a bad deal for a meal, a speaker, and a movie all for only the price of the meal!
Here is an example of one City’s events (Minneapolis, MN). Click through to find events for a City near you!
I would like to invite all of you to also attend an event and the screening so we can see how the different cities took on the challenge of fresh Farm to Table dinners! Feel free to post your thoughts on the dinner, the speaker, and the movie as well. I am excited to attend a dinner, speaking event, and the screening over the next two weeks so for those of you unable to attend, I will be happy to share how it all went!
Here is a little snippet about FRESH the movie:
“FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.”
Joel Salatin, a personal hero and any ’soil’ farmer’s advocate will also be speaking at several events and is featured in the movie, just as a little teaser.
Cheers to taking a healthy dose of reality, responsibility, and re-engaging with that simple yet vital thing called f-o-o-d. See you at the screening!
Starbucks: The Big Picture
One day in March, thousands of New Yorkers made the switch from paper cups to reusable mugs. Starbucks would like to promote this movement called The Big Picture by encouraging everybody to use travel mugs instead of paper cups. On April 15th (today), they are giving free coffee to anybody who brings a reusable cup into their store. So instead of of going to a Starbucks empty handed today, bring your travel mug and get it filled with a fresh brewed cup of coffee.
Ban The Phone Book
Just this past week, I received not one or two, but four different phone books. The bag part is that I simply put all of those books right into the recycling bin because I do not use them.
Just to think that over 5 million trees to produce these books that many of us don’t even look at. On top of just the environmental impact, we are spending over $17 million as well as the environmental impact to have those books recycled. Seeing that so many people would rather use online resources instead of a thick, often hard to navigate book, why do we continue to receive them?
Now it’s your turn to do something about it. BanThePhoneBook.org is pushing to make a difference by promoting an opt-in program. Instead of trying to get everybody to opt-out of receiving phone books, they would like to have a program in which individuals have to request to receive a white pages phone. This plan makes so much sense. It still allows individuals who want to receive a phone book, while keep the rest of us from receiving these useless books.
So how can we help? Visit their site to sign their petition to get local governments to institute an opt-in program. You can also support the cause by becoming a fan of their Facebook page. I have done both and hope you do the same.
Get your Run On for Water
What: The 6km Run for Water http://liveearth.org/en/run. 6 km is the average distance women and children walk to get water every day in many countries around the World. The event will have a run/walk as well as concerts and water education activities.
When: April 18th, 2010
Where: Worldwide, literally runs on every continent.
Who: You!
Find a run/walk in your local community and moving this weekend! After the winter months, its nice to get outside, and what better way than to participate in a global fundraiser for our most scarce resource, water?
The event is also hosting awareness activities, resources online, and the option to donate directly to various water fundraisers worldwide. There are also several celebrity athletes that have signed up and other contributing their time, talents, and resources.
So if you are looking for a way to participate in something meaningful around Earth Day, this may be something fun to join!
Save On Ink, Lose On Paper
Dinesh Ramde of the Associated Press reported yesterday that Printer.com, an independent Dutch printer comparison company, has discovered a new way to reduce printing costs: Change your print settings to Century Gothic font. Century Gothic utilizes thinner lines than other popular fonts (such as Arial, Helvetica, and Verdana) and thus requires significantly less ink over the long term than thicker fonts.
According to Ramde, Diane Blohowiak, Coordinator of Information Technology for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, believes that urging computer users at her university to print using Century Gothic will cut down on yearly printing costs by between $5,000 and $10,000.
Critics of this discovery point out that, while Century Gothic may use less ink because it is a thinner font, it is also wider. Because wider fonts fit fewer words per page, using Century Gothic in lieu of a narrower font could ultimately lead to more paper consumption.
As readers of Pays to Live Green know, the best way to save money on ink and paper is by going paperless. When printing is absolutely necessary, consider the following basic ink-, paper-, and money-saving tips:
- Print on the reverse side of old, unnecessary paper that was only printed on one side. Consider giving one-sided junk mail new life by keeping a stack of it near the printer for easy use.
- Print double-sided.
- Better yet, print two or more pages on one side and then print double-sided.
- Print in greyscale to save on color ink.
- Print a lighter, less-ink version in “draft” mode.
- Utilize other green printing techniques.
Reduce, Reuse, Freecycle
Let’s face it: Even the most conscientious consumer ends up owning useless items. If only you could find the perfect home for, say, the cell phone charger you stopped using seven years ago or the Russian linguistics books left behind by an old roommate.
I regularly donate lightly used goods to charitable organizations such as The Salvation Army and Goodwill, but I turn to Freecycling when I have an item (such as the ones listed above) that I fear may not find a home through more conventional means.
According to Wikipedia, “Freecycling … is the act of giving away usable unwanted items to others instead of disposing them in landfills.” What could be greener than reducing trash in landfills and preventing the need for another person’s new purchase?
How Freecycling Works
To find your nearest Freecycling group, simply enter your zip code into the Recycling Group Finder. This is how I found my local group, Freecycle New York City.
In most Freecycle groups, individuals post items under the following headings:
OFFER:
WANTED:
TAKEN:
Throughout the day, a listing of the newest items posted is emailed out to all group members. If you have specific items to share, then you can either wait for someone to request that item in a “WANTED” post or you can list it yourself in an “OFFER” post.
Of course, I urge you to exercise the caution that you use elsewhere on the internet when Freecycling. Be wary of any offers that seem too good to be true. (Example: “Free iPads to the first ten people to meet me in my apartment!” Yeah, right.) Whenever possible, be sure to choose to meet your offeror or taker in a safe public venue. And remember, Freecycling is meant to be FREE, so no money should change hands.
