Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

photo credit: otisarchives3

Hospitals use a lot of energy, and not surprisingly the healthcare sector ranks second in energy intensity.  Hospitals use 836 trillion BTUs of energy annually (over 2.5 times the energy intensity and CO2 emissions of commercial office buildings), produce 28.575 million tons of CO2 and over 30 lbs of CO2 emissions per square foot on an annual basis.  It would logically follow that Hospitals have at their disposal myriad resources to make a change toward sustainability.  Regrettably, this is not the case.

While my approach in trying to make a difference and improve our environment has been deliberately non-partisan, at some point it is necessary to take a definitive stand on something, even if that “something” is mired in controversy.  Working in hospital administration these past six years, I fear that the healthcare system in California today is so dysfunctional that it borders on the edge of cataclysmic failure.  Surprisingly, this systemic problem has not received the necessary attention a crisis of such magnitude should mandate. (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/

For the socially conscious cinephile, the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival has returned to Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre today.  Dedicated to addressing Human Rights, Children’s Advocacy, Environmental Preservation, and Animal Rights, this international film festival will showcase forty films from around the world.  The festival concludes on Sunday with the 2008 Artivist Awards, honoring the winning films of the Artivist Film Festival as well as the work of advocate artists.

Here is a preview of some the festival’s films that focus on environmental issues:

MEAT THE TRUTH (Friday, October 3rd, 6pm) 

Directed by Gertjan Zwanikken; Karen Soeters

MEAT THE TRUTH, presented by Marianne Thieme - leader of the Dutch Party for the Animals, is a climate change film that focuses on factory farming.

ESCAPE FROM SUBURBIA (Saturday, October 4th, 5:45pm)

Directed by Graham Greene

An exploration of how the suburban lifestyle, which is dependent on fossil fuels, is detrimental to the environment.

(more…)

photo credit: d70focus

Growing up literally half-a-mile from Salem, MA, I had mixed feelings regarding witches and witchcraft. On one hand, I had recurring nightmares of coming home from school and finding the Wicked Witch of the West at my house. (I could sometimes tell she was there because her car was parked out front—don’t ask.) On the other, I could barely contain my excitement when Laurie Cabot, the Official Witch of Salem, visited our elementary school. (It was pretty cool.) 

As a pre-teen I frequently saw Cabot walking toward her shop in Salem or around the Commons. And in high school, I was intrigued by, and notably accepting of, a classmate’s announcement that she planned to join Cabot’s circle.

With this “doctor’s kid” kind of knowledge into one branch of the ancient pagan religions, I should mention how misrepresented they are as a group, particularly in popular media. And yet, I must also confess that movies like The Craft and Practical Magic are hopeless guilty pleasures.

While we continue to be fascinated with them, pagans are trying to reclaim their holidays and traditions, as they live pretty ordinary lives. And this month we can celebrate with them.

(more…)

photo credit: orangeacid

When we first moved into our flat in San Francisco, the backyard was so overgrown that we took bets on how many bodies were hidden in the brush. As the yard was slowly cleaned up—blackberry bushes and ivy vines cleared, along with the trees both predators had taken down—the skeleton of a once terraced landscape design started to appear. And that’s where the home improvement project paused.

Now a year and a half later, we are sizing up the options for creating our first “real” backyard. The yard needs to be usable and kid-friendly, but thinking realistically, it should also be pretty low-maintenance.

One obvious component will be grass—probably multiple sections of it. And with water scarcity still commanding the local headlines, one can’t help but consider the option of grass alternatives.

While the thought of Astroturfing our landscape is a bit horrifying, recent developments in synthetic grass tout more realistic products. Some even promise to look, feel and act just like natural grass—without the need for water, fertilizer, pesticides or mowing. 

(more…)

photo credit: charles chan *

When I first moved to Los Angeles from New York City,  I was taken aback by the taste of the tap water.   After being spoiled by the refreshingly crisp taste of NYC tap water, I couldn’t bring myself to drink the water in LA, except under dire circumstances.  I resorted to purchasing bottled water - large jugs that I would refill at the Glacier water stand in front of the local supermarket or 24-packs of bottled water (yes, shame on me).

I’m not proud of the water habit I acquired in my new habitat and have recently opted to use a Brita filtration system at home in lieu of purchasing bottled water.  Little did I know, however, that while I was eliminating a large chunk of plastic bottle waste, I began amassing new plastic waste! 

I was unaware that Brita (owned by Clorox) does not have a recycling program in place in North America as it does in Europe, which means that every used-up filter cartridge across the United States and Canada ends up in landfills.  The amount of waste resulting from this cartridge pile-up seems quite staggering when you consider the fact that Brita has the #1 market share of pour-through filter cartridges in the U.S. and Canada.  It is also the #1 faucet-mount filter in Canada and the #2 faucet-mount filter in the U.S (according to Clorox’s 2007 Annual Report).

Since Brita filters are recycled in Europe through its own private collection and recycling system, it should be possible for Clorox to implement a similar system here, right?  So, what can we do?

For those of you that enjoy Brita-filtered water, but are hesitating to throw your filters away into your trash can, check out this organization I found - TakeBackTheFilter.org - and join their campaign to urge Clorox to develop a take-back recycling program.  You can sign their petition; write a letter to a Clorox executive; or send in your used filter cartridges that they are collecting to deliver to Clorox en masse at some point in the future.  How cool is that!?!

California Coastal Cleanup Day is this Saturday, September 20, 2008.

This Saturday, September 20, 2008, is the 24th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. Cleanup events are taking place throughout the state and it’s not too late to volunteer. For a map of event sites, go to http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd2.html and contact an event coordinator for directions. There are more than four cleanup locations in the San Francisco Bay Area alone (which is good that we have so many volunteers; bad that we have so much trash to clean up!).

Last year, according to organizers, more than 60,000 volunteers collected more than 900,000 pounds of trash and recyclables. For an eye-opening look at the trash that collects in our nation’s waterways, see the San Franciso Chronicle’s excellent photo essay: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/09/18/MN7K12V9PJ.DTL&o=

photo credit: sutefani in orlando

My three-year-old is in the peak of her “Why?” phase. So when she asks why we have to turn off the water after washing our hands or brushing our teeth, I tell her that we don’t waste water. That, of course, prompts another “Why?” which gives me the chance to explain the interconnectedness of our consumption, the environment, and our own personal budget. (The answer, in case you were wondering, is because wasting isn’t good for the planet and because Mom can’t afford it.)

The same line of reasoning goes for food. That’s why I’m a major proponent of making a monthly menu and a grocery shopping list that I veer from only for fun treats that we consume right away. Since I began the menu/list plan, food rarely spoils in our home. I estimate I save about $25 a week (that’s $1,300 a year)–more if you consider what I’d spend eating out if I hadn’t bought wisely.

In an excellent article posted September 9, 2008, MainStreet.com takes this line of thinking one step further. Wasting food wastes more than food and money. It also wastes water:

“In the U.S., we throw away 30% of our food every year, according to the [Stockholm International Water Institute]. That wastes enough water to meet the needs of every household in North America for a year. It also wastes more than $48 billion a year, the report found.”

For the full MainStreet.com article and more money-saving tips, go here:
http://mainstreet.com/article/lifestyle/food-drink/save-money-food-help-save-world

Image courtesy VBS.tv's excellent 12-part video series.

Out in the beautiful deep blue waters of the Pacific Ocean swirls a giant mass of plastic trash. It’s huge, it’s gross, and it’s growing.

Some Say It’s Twice the Size of Texas

This giant plastic trash continent goes by many names: the Pacific Gyre, the Great Garbage Patch, and Garbage Island. And before the real estate speculator in you gets excited about the possibility of a new oceanfront property, you should know it’s not a single cohesive mass of trash, but rather billions and billions of plastic pieces, big and small, that float out to sea and collect in a large, shifting swirl, thanks to ocean currents.

For an eye-opening visual of this floating trash vortex, see VBS.tv’s excellent (but, parents be warned, foul-mouthed) 12-part video series. Each episode is about seven-minutes long: http://www.vbs.tv/shows.php?show=1154

What Goes Around, Comes Around

Unfortunately, the vast majority of plastics manufactured are not biodegradable. That means this patch of old bottles, toothbrushes, straws, nets, shoelace tips, wrappers, packaging, and more is here to stay. The pieces of plastic do, over time, erode into smaller pieces, which are then ingested by birds and fish, which then are ingested by us. Pause here to think not only how disgusting that is, but how harmful to our health it is to ingest known toxins and carcinogens.

What Can You Do to Stop the Great Garbage Patch?

There’s been some talk about cleaning the mess up, though due to the enormity of the task and small pieces, it may not be feasible. Think how hard it is to fish out a single speck of eggshell from a bowl of cracked eggs and multiply that by trillions.

The best way to help is to stop it from growing. And the best way to stop the Great Garbage Patch from growing is to reduce our consumption of plastics, non-biodegradable plastics, in particular.

I, for one, tuck a small shopping bag in my purse when I go out, just in case I make an impulse buy. For planned shopping trips, I bring my own bags. I carry a stainless steel water bottle with me instead of buying bottled water. I don’t use straws. I refill our hand soap dispensers. I avoid products with lots of wrappers. And, of course, I recycle what plastics can be recycled. It’s not the entire solution, but it’s a start. It’s also, honestly, a lot less convenient. But thinking of the huge floating plastic trash heap keeps me in line.

There are millions of ways to make a difference. I’ve heard of people bring their own food containers for takeout and bringing containers back to their neighborhood health food store for refills. If you have more ideas, please post a comment and share them here.

More resources:

Join the Stop the Great Garbage Patch cause on Facebook:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/57731?recruiter_id=10314532

“Giant Plastic Soup Floats Out to Sea,” on frogblog:
http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/02/11/giant-plastic-soup-floats-out-to-sea/

“Is There a Solution to the Continent of Plastic that Pollutes the Pacific?” on Fat Knowledge:
http://fatknowledge.blogspot.com/2008/06/is-there-solution-to-continent-of.html

“Continent-Size Toxic Plastic Stew of Plastic Trash Fouling the Pacific Ocean,” San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/18/SS6JS8RH0.DTL

Environmental issues took center stage in Hollywood when Al Gore’s AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH came out in 2006 and won the Oscar for “Best Documentary” the following year.  It wasn’t the first film to draw attention to the alarming ecological issues our world is facing today and certainly not the last.

For all you eco-enthusiasts who are hungry for more ”green” cinematic fare, here is a glimpse at some of the latest offerings to hit theaters soon:

FLOW

Opening in NY and LA on September 12th (then rolling out into other markets)

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

FLOW Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGd9D4J0lag

FIELDS OF FUEL

Opening this Fall/Winter 2008/2009 (TBD)

This documentary, directed by environmental activist Josh Tickell, exposes the problem of America’s dependence on foreign oil and explores the use of biodiesel as an economical and sustainable alternative fuel as a solution to the looming energy crisis we are facing. 

This highly anticipated film, won the “Audience Award” for Best Documentary at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and is sweeping the film festival circuit across the nation on its way to a theater near you.

FIELDS OF FUEL Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAqmw0cyRco

Also, be on the look out for Participant Media’s FOOD, Inc. which will have its world premiere at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. 

In FOOD, INC., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that’s been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.

Featuring Eric Schlosser (”Fast Food Nation”), Michael Pollan (”The Omnivore’s Dilemma”) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms’ Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms’ Joe Salatin, FOOD, INC. reveals surprising — and often shocking truths — about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.