Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

1. Compost Your Jack-o-Lantern
You can also save, wash, and roast the pumpkin seeds for a treat.

photo credit: tanakawho

2. Buy a Second-Hand Costume (and Donate It or Use It Next Year)
You can pick up high quality next-to-new costumes at Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other second-hand stores for less than $5. Sure beats paying $40, and you’ll conserve resources in the process. Don’t let your costumes’ lifecycle end there: pass them to a friend next year or donate to a retail charity and use your donation as a tax deduction.

3. Buy Less Individually Wrapped Candy
Let’s face facts: are you really going to get 400 trick-or-treaters? If you’re buying candy to satisfy your own sweet tooth, skip the small individually wrapped candies and opt for something with less packaging.

4. Turn Out the Lights
It adds ambiance to the night and saves energy, too.

5. Look for Any Opportunity to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Be mindful of your consumption during holidays when our desire to celebrate often leads to falling off the conservation bandwagon. Reuse costumes and decorations where you can. Recycle plastic cups, use compostable utensils, or use your regular flatware. Question whether you really need the Halloween merchandise that’s pushed at us each year. And just because something’s small doesn’t mean it can’t make a difference–I’ve even recycled tiny cardboard candy boxes from the kids’ treat bags.

More conservation ideas for Halloween from some of our favorite bloggers:

“Turning Halloween into Zero Waste Hallo-green,” My Zero Waste, October 16, 2008:
http://myzerowaste.com/2008/10/turning-halloween-into-a-zero-waste-hallo-green/

“Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Oh My!” Low Impact Home, September 30, 2008: http://lowimpacthome.org/2008/09/30/halloween-thanksgiving-christmasoh-my/

This week, I am blogging from Juneau, Alaska with a special round-up/aggregate of news and videos petaining to the environment on this side of the planet:

• TreeHugger.com reported on the legal settlement between the Secretary of the Interior, the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and the NRDC to designate “critical habitat” for the endangered polar bear by March 31, 2010.

photo credit: jessicafm

• Ecopreneurist.com introduced Toby Foster’s organic vodka, made from locally grown Alaska potatoes and glacier water, marketed under the name Permafrost vodka.
• Yahoo!Green re-posted this time-lapse video from The New York Times’ Dot Earth blog, which documents the erosion of the Alaskan coastline from late June to late July of 2008.

• The Beluga whale was recently added to the list of endangered species in Alaska.  Check out these adorable creatures in a video posted by GreenDaily.com.

photo credit: Harris Graber

It’s come to our attention that a growing number of parents throw out their children’s trick-or-treat bounty when the kids aren’t looking. (Thanks to One Mom’s Musings for tipping us off.)

It’s a troublesome over-consumption paradox. Parents and neighbors buy lots and lots of candy. Children are encouraged to gather as much candy as they can. And then parents throw it out? That’s an enormous waste and a significant addition to overcrowded landfills. At least unwanted Christmas gifts can be returned to the store or schlepped off to Goodwill for reuse.

As a nation, it’s time for us to ask: Won’t somebody please think of the children? And the landfill?

This Halloween, if your children collect more candy than you think they should eat in a year, follow the lead of our forebearers: eat the candy yourself. Or bring it to the office to share with coworkers. It’s the responsible thing to do.

photo credit: Mannequin-

In the spirit of the fast-approaching Election Day 2008, here are a few links to recent election/political chatter across the environmental blogosphere - non-partisan, yet informative - just how we like it!

• TreeHugger highlights Obama and McCain’s discussion on environmental issues from an exclusive interview in Backpacker Magazine.
• Plenty reminds us of the good news that both presidential candidates support science, despite their differing environmental policies.
• Red Green and Blue links to the WWF’s environmental mandate to our candidates entitled, “Greenprint.” Topics covered include Climate Change, Agriculture, Foreign Policy and Conservation, Water and Food.
• The Christian Science Monitor’s “Bright Green Blog” posted an interesting article on “clean coal.”  Just what exactly is it?
• And last, on a lighter note, Planet Green listed “10 Ways to Get Green Tax Breaks.”  Hopefully there will be even more incentives for people to save the planet no matter who gets elected in two weeks!

photo credit: striatic

Laptops, Camcorders, Game systems, printers—nearly any electronic product you have lying unused around the house could potentially be traded-in FOR MONEY. Well, technically not everything may qualify for trade-in value, but ecoNEW, the program behind this offer, does promise that items will, at the very least, be properly recycled.

Here’s how it works:

1. You choose a retailer—Sam’s Club, NEX Navy Exchange or Office Depot—and enter info about your product into the “Value Calculator.”

2. A trade in value is determined and a prepaid mailing label is printed so you can send your product to a certified partner. When the product is received, a branded gift card is sent to you in the amount of the trade in value. And if there is no trade in value assessed, you can still send the product for recycling.

3. Your traded in product may be resold or broken down for sale in parts, while the remaining pieces are recycled.

Although the program is administered by N.E.W. Customer Service Companies, Inc, a provider of extended service plans, buyer protection programs and product support for retailers, etc, the end game is undeniably in line with the green goals of Reuse and Recycle. 

For more info and a list of accepted products, check out: http://www.econewonline.com/

photo credit: patti haskins

Not all turkeys are created equally. And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, more and more retailers are answering the call for alternative holiday bird options. While Butterballs are the standard fare (not to mention perfectly delicious), an increasing number of turkey aficionados are favoring ancestors of the broad-breasted Tom.

Heritage Breeds, like Standard Bronzes, Narragansetts, and Bourbon Reds, are quietly gaining respect and market placement due to their exceptional flavor and biological diversity. According to the Heritage Turkey Foundation, “They are traditional ‘standard’ breeds of turkeys which have not been ‘industrialized’ for efficient factory production at the expense of flavor and the well-being of the turkeys.”

As industrialization took over the turkey industry, these heritage breeds became all but extinct. Meanwhile, the mass production of Broad-breasted whites developed a quick-to-fatten breed that cannot mate on its own, has difficulty walking, and must be slaughtered before it grows too big to carry its own weight.

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and Slow Food have been working together to increase awareness and availability of the traditional heritage varieties. As a result, numerous retailers are offering heritage breeds for this holiday season. Since some require “pre-ordering,” you may want to hop on this option sooner rather than later. Or you could be sizing up the Butterball section in the coming weeks.

As one of the few All-American, nationally celebrated holidays, why not take the route of celebrating like our own ancestors—alongside a harvest of organic fall veggies, of course? To find a retailer that sells heritage breed turkeys near you, check out: http://heritageturkeyfoundation.org/

photo credit: zenera

Because animals like to hug trees too:

• The Altertative Consumer featured artistic sustainable doghouse designs from Sustainable Pet Design.
• TreeHugger linked to the latest issue of Readymade on-line, which gives detailed instructions on how to craft fantastic accessories for your pets, including a jet-set dog bed, scratching post and quilted dog jacket.
• Fig and Sage posted a rave review for Dog on Holiday dog shampoo from Scrub Your Butt Soap Co. (not a joke!).
• Eco Salon listed “Ten Great Tips for Reducing Carbon Paw Prints.”
• Ecorazzi revealed the 2009 Celebrity Pet Calendar, featuring A-list celebrities who have donated their time to help raise money for the Animal Rescue Fund.

photo credit: WTL photos

A recent article published by the Los Angeles Times about Air New Zealand’s new eco-conscious initiatives has gotten me really excited about the future state of air travel and its impact on the environment.  

The carrier has developed new technology and procedures in tandem with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to save fuel and cut down on carbon emissions on each flight.  They are experimenting with various alternative fuel sources and are planning to fly a Boeing 747 partially powered by jet fuel refined from the seed of the jatropha weed plant later this year.  Air New Zealand is aiming to use these alternative “biofuels” including fuel refined from algae for approximately 10% of its needs by 2013.

Air New Zealand has also begun installing electric blow dryers in the ceiling of its planes, enabling the reduction of cabin condensation that can weigh down an aircraft with more than 440 pounds of water, thereby allowing each aircraft to cut down its fuel usage.

While New Zealand may not be on top of your list as a vacation or business trip destination, the airline is raising the bar for other airlines in the battle to cut down on carbon emissions across the aviation industry.  And by the way, Air New Zealand has a service route between Los Angeles and London - something to consider the next time you are booking a flight into Europe, whether you are flying to London or stopping over for a connecting flight.

In the mean time, for those of you that rely on air travel and are worried about your carbon footprint, there are several organizations that you can donate to that invest in “clean energy” projects to off-set carbon emissions:

CarbonFund.org - Calculate your carbon footprint for a particular trip and then donate the specified amount of money needed to offset that amount of carbon emissions.

e-BlueHorizons.com - They will donate 50 percent of the net proceeds from your transaction to The Conservation Fund.

TerraPass.com - In addition to flights, you can purchase carbon offsets for home energy and dorm rooms.

photo credit: pedroelnegro [ in love with dark side ]

Apple’s iPhone is the greatest invention ever.  Apple’s iPhone is destroying modern civilization as we know it. After reading an October 10, 2008, LA Times article about tech publisher Tim O’Reilly (he challenged web entrepreneurs and engineers to “get serious”), I started to think about my iPhone.

I’ve been waiting for its arrival since I started my first real job in 1995. I remember my first few years playing lawyer, going to court, scheduling future hearings, motions and trials – all with a paper calendar.  And then I would return to my office and input that very same information into some computer-based calendaring system. Even after I no longer had to calendar court hearings, my addiction to a paper-based system remained.

But this story really starts in 1988. (more…)

photo credit: nyki_m

According to Newsweek, a four-year-old start-up called RecycleBank is trying to boost recycling rates (and, of course, make money) by rewarding recyclers with points, redeemable for discounts at popular stores and on brand name items.

RecycleBank’s program works much like the frequent-flier programs offered by airlines or reward programs offered by credit card companies. The more you recycle, the more points you earn–up to 450 points a month, worth $45 in discounts at places that include Amazon.com, Starbucks, CVS Pharmacy, Shaw’s Supermarkets, and more.

The company’s main focus is on curbside recycling programs. When the local waste management company comes to pick up the week’s recycling, a device scans the radio-frequency ID (RFID) tag embedded in your recycling bin, weighs your recycling, and then awards points to your account.

While some people express privacy concerns over third-party companies measuring and recording what you throw out, more seem to be swayed by free swag. RecycleBank says recycling rates in Wilmington, Delaware, for example, jumped from 3 to 32 percent in just one year.

Unfortunately, if you live in a community where recycling is a natural routine, you may have to be content with knowing you’re doing your part for the planet. For now at least, RecycleBank is skipping places like San Francisco, where recycling rates remain steady at 69 percent (residential and commercial). Instead, it’s focusing on growth markets, where recycling rates are low.

Read the full story, “Saving the World for a Latte,” here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/161230

More resources:

“Boston Recycling Rates Not So Hot,” The Bostonist, July 30, 2008:
http://bostonist.com/2008/07/29/boston_recycling_rates_not_so_hot.php

“RecycleBank Raises $13M (Recycle Rates 90%),” EcoGeek, March 19, 2008:
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1457/