Smaller Feet?.... YES!

Beginning of the Quarter:




End of the Quarter:




So for 2 months I have been reducing my energy use by turning off and unplugging my laptop and other small electronics and appliances, as well as rarely charging my phone and when I do, not charging it at night. I have also minimized my car use by taking the bus to evening functions as well as back and forth to school. I have only filled up my gas tank twice, once was to drive home for my Birthday weekend and the other was to drive home for Thanksgiving. I think I have done relatively well with my sustainability goals, some days I had my laptop plugged in longer than usual, but as the homework load got heavier, my laptop was needed more often.

Anyway, I just retook the ecological footprint quiz and surprisingly I have reduced my footprint! My footprint at the beginning of the quarter was 5.17 Earths and now at the end of the quarter its 4.87 Earths. I know this isn't a huge change but the vagueness of some questions and the specificity of others doesn't help my odds much. To view the full results you can go here: http://www.myfootprint.org/en/quiz_results/

4.78 Earths

IS LESS THAN

5.17 Earths!



Apparently, I have increased my carbon footprint from 61.3 to 63.2. That is most likely because of the mileage that was reported, which is all a guestimate. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I have reduced my food footprint from 113.4 to 101.3. Although I am still WAY about the country average this is big progress for me. Part of this is because towards the middle of the quarter I stopped having 3 big meals a day and lived off one big meal and one or two smaller snacks. My days were spent on campus all day, every day and I didn't get a hearty meal until I went home for dinner. My housing footprint decreased from 17.8 to 16.4 and I don't know why that is. My goods and services foot print remained way below the country average at 8.0.



I think this quarter has really opened my eyes as far as simple things I can do to help the environment and reduce my footprint. Taking the bus isn't hard and having to pay $25 a quarter for a bus pass that is already included in tuition makes taking the bus a money saver. I now spend more money to insure my car than I do on gas! I will continue to unplug my electronics and appliances and only charge them when necessary. This quarter has made me think about my food consumption as well, and every time I eat I think about "how many planets I'm using" to do so. My fourth goal was to get my roommates on board and throughout the rest of the year I will definitely still be on their case about turning off lights, minimizing the washer and dryer use as well as only running the dishwasher when it is full. Those small acts can help save the Earth, not to mention it saves us money!

Recycle Apples!

I am a part of the Apple Students group on Facebook and on November 20th, Apple posted a note about recycling iPods. The post said " Did you know you can bring your old iPod to an Apple Retail Store and we'll safely recycle it for free? We'll even give you 10% off your next iPod."There is also a link to get more information at http://www.apple.com/recycling/ipod-cell-phone/

The website says "The Apple Recycling Program offers free and environmentally friendly disposal of your iPod and any manufacturer’s mobile phone." I thought it was interesting that Apple is helping out with e-waste by taking back any mobile phone, not just Apple products.

The site also has a place to search for retail stores close to the consumer so they can bring in the product for recycling.

If there is not a retail store near the consumer there is also a form to fill out online for the consumer to recycle via mail.



On the right hand side of the page, there is a side bar that has "Other Free North American Recycling Programs," "International Recycling Programs," and "Recycling in Cupertino" which is where the Apple headquarters is located.

At the very bottom of the webpage it says, "Apple and the Environment. Bigger picture. Better products. Smaller impact." Then there is a link to get the full story on Apple's environmental impact.

I thought all together this is a good program and gives apple a good image, especially because they take back other manufacturer's phones. The incentive to recycle iPods is a good one because the consumer gets 10% off their next iPod purchase as long as it isn't a shuffle. This is a win-win for Apple and the consumer because Apple gets a repeat customer and the consumer gets a break on their next purchase.

KLM Airlines

I found a cool site called Sustainability Ninja where they had another article about an airline trying to be more environmentally friendly. KLM is testing biofuels on a Boeing 747. The flight will take place on November 23rd. The fuel will be 50% biofuel made from camelina and 50% jet fuel. Camelina is a feedstock that produces 84% less emissions than regular jet fuel. The crop has been chosen because it is low-impact which requires less water and fertilizer and can be grown in areas without taking over food crop space.

I thought that KLM doing this was a really cool idea because I know the mostly fly for long, international flights. I flew KLM for one of my flights to Scotland. They have a relatively small international price tag and I will be looking into them again when I plan my graduation trip to Ireland and Scotland that I will be taking in July 2010. I will check back to see how the test flight actually goes and update this post when I find out.


http://www.sustainabilityninja.com/sustainable-transportation/klm-testing-biofuels-on-747-fleet-93687/

Creativity Sustainability

This week I found an article on GreenerDesign.com The article discussed that the Cooper Hewitt People's Choice Awards was the only category in the Smithsonian Institution's recent National Design Awards to be voted for by the public. A big budget project won first place, but an independent project managed to place in the top three.




The project was called Re-nourish. It is a sustainable design website and according to the article "the design industry's first truly independent online toolkit for sustainable graphic design."
The designers who worked on Re-nourish are thrilled at placing in the final three because it shows public appreciation for their efforts to help designers integrate sustainability into their everyday work. The design team mentions that over 65 billion pieces of unsolicited direct mail, magazines, books, other printed matter, and packaging are created each year, which means designers have a impact on human and ecological health although it's often unnoticed. Re-nourishe's goal is to "move beyond politics, personalities, aesthetics and trends, and embrace a definition of “good design” that addresses -- in real terms -- both social and environmental impacts." That is their first and only goal.




The website helps to accomplish that goal by providing tools such as the project calculator. They are also trying to create standards for greener design. Re-nourish plans to continue to develop tools that allows for graphic designers to track their project's environmental impacts as well as their savings.

If you would like to read the full article you can check it out here:
http://www.greenerdesign.com/blog/2009/11/10/how-second-place-or-third-can-mean-win-designers-everywhere

Xerox - Copying Sustainability Efforts

I found a website called environmentalleader.com. One of the articles this week was about Xerox Corp. and how it has cut the greenhouse gas emissions and other efforts to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable. You can look at the whole article here: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/11/04/xerox-cuts-ghg-emissions-by-20-from-2002/?graph=full

I will cover some major points of the article. The first point is that from 2002 to 2008 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell 20%. Xerox has sustainability goals that focus on climate protection, preserving biodiversity and the world's forests, preserving clean water and air, and preventing and managing waste.

According to the article, 106 million pounds of waste was diverted from the landfills through recycling. This means a total avoidance of 2.2 billion pounds since 1991. Xerox achieved a 92% internal recycling rate during 2008.

The company launched a new multifunction printer this year in May. The ColorQube printer does not use ink cartridges so it produces 90% less office supply waste compared to other laser devices. The printer itself also reduces manufacturing and transportation impacts on the environment.



Overall Xerox has decreased water consumption since 2007 by 15% and energy use since 2002 by 16%.

Need for Speed... or Green for Speed?

This week for the current event I found an article about NASCAR. The article was entitled "NASCAR, rooted in fossil fuels, turning over new, green leaf." This article may seem curious to readers because NASCAR cars guzzle gas continuously as they only get about 5 mpg. The engines used in the cars are internal combustion engines that many find synonymous with global warming. So what is NASCAR doing to achieve this greener image?

The article specifically talks about what the racetracks, not the cars, are doing to become greener. It is mentioned that racetracks are building solar farms to power their air conditioned suites. They are also planting trees to offset their carbon emissions. Race shops are being built in accordance with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. A specific team shop that was mentioned is Roush Fenway Racing.

NASCAR has also focused on reducing its carbon footprint in campgrounds and grandstands at tracks. In order to reduce the footprint, they had to calculate the current carbon footprint. With help from carbonfund.org the 2008 Daytona 500 carbon footprint was calculated at 14,163 tons. Carfax sponsored NASCAR in 2007 and made an environmental donation to offset more than 4,200 tons of emissions for a Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Vehicles in general are trying to go towards the green route. General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Dodge are all producing hybrid automobiles. The president of Toyota Racing Development is interested in following the green look because it make racing more relevant to what consumers are looking for in businesses.

Other efforts include recycling bins at events, oil recycling, and its Green Cleaner Air project. The project will plant 10 trees for every caution flag at 11 races throughout the season and then at all tracks in 2010. In the end, NASCAR says it will offset a race's impact by planting 20 green acres.

If you would like to see the full article that was published in USA Today, visit http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2009-10-28-green-cover_N.htm

Flying Green

"Southwest Airlines Talks Environmentally Friendly Plane" is an article that I found from searching Google. The company is talking about the Boeing 737-700 which is designed to not only use environmentally products but also reduce weight. By reducing the weight on board by five pounds per seat, the plane will use less fuel resulting the the airline saving money and cutting down on carbon emissions. The article says that Southwest always has been and will remain committed to leading the industry in emissions reductions through fuel efficiency. The Boeing plane is a test environment for the other ideas Southwest Airlines wants to try.

http://www.comparecarrentals.com/news/southwest-airlines-talks-environmentally-friendly-plane-53821011.html