Filed under: environmental issues, Food for Thought | Tags: 10 to the 100, change the world, google
Do you have an idea that could change the world for the better and truly make a difference? Google thinks with all the information out there that some of us must. They created a whole project dedicated to that assumption called 10 to the 100th. For their 10th anniversary they have committed to invest $10 million dollars in a winning idea(s). The deadline to submit ideas on this one has passed (unfortunately, it was Oct. 20th), but you can still sign up to vote for the winners. Voting starts Jan. 27th. Google will post the top 100 ideas, the public will narrow it down to 20 projects, and then an advisory board will select up to 5 for funding.
The intent of the project is to take advantage of “crowdsourcing”. That’s the Internet-age idea that the collective wisdom of mass audiences can be leveraged to find solutions to design tasks. Interesting thought… maybe one person can’t change the world, but together we all can.
Rebecca_ SF
Filed under: environmental issues | Tags: carpooling, environment, gas prices
It’s been crazy over the last few weeks with the news being filled with stories about how gas prices are actually declining. This is a day we all probably thought we’d never see again, but here in KC, gas is down to about $1.63 in some parts. With gas below $60 a barrel, we’re likely to see them drop again. This is now my moment to be like Al Gore when he said he invented the Internet, but I really think that I have helped drive down the price. Now, I know I am not alone in this effort and there are many factors that have led to this point, but sometimes I like to take the credit. I can take this credit because I am an official carpooler! I’m not talking just me and someone in shot gun, but a full car! That’s right everyday I ride to work with 3 of my co-workers. We are four proud everyday!
Not only are we saving gas, but maintence costs on our cars as well. I went from driving approximently 50 miles per day (about a thirty minute commute) to 6 miles a day total. That reduces the number of oil changes and scheduled maintence. We drive to a shopping parking lot everyday and one person is in charge of driving for the week. That’s right I drive to work only one week a month. One of my fellow ‘poolers (that’s what I call them) actually said she almost forgot how to get to work the other day because it felt like it had been so long since she had driven.
Of course there are a few drawbacks and that’s convenience. I do add about twenty minutes on my day driving to the meeting place and then home at the end of the day. Also, it isn’t as easy to leave during the day to run errands or grab lunch, but we plan ahead and pack our lunch more. You might also worry about emergencies and what you would do if you had to leave unexpedidly. In KC there is a free service where once you register, you can call for a free taxi ride if your ride has to leave. How cool is that? Now you have no excuse.
All in all, it’s definetly been worth it to my sanity and my pocket book. The drive goes by quicker on days where traffic is bad and I haven’t listened to annoying morning show DJ’s in months. It does take a bit more planning, but I would recommend it to everyone. We’ve been ‘pooling since June and you won’t find any compliants here. Just because gas is cheaper doesn’t mean we have to use more! My carpool has vowed to stick together even if gas continues to drop. Go ‘poolers!!!
-Alison KC, MO
We’ve all heard “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, but what if you can turn your trash into your own treasure? I was recently introduced to a local startup that’s doing just that. It’s called RecycleBank. Their concept is simple. We’re not all motivated to protect our environment, but we’re pretty much all motivated by money. So, they’ve partnered with many major companies to provide coupons and incentives to you for recycling. They work with the local trash collector to have them pick up your recycling that has a sensor attached to it. The weigh the bin before it goes into the truck and the sensor tells them who to allocate that weight to. The more you recycle, the more points you get, and therefore, the more rewards you get. Each pound equals about 2.5 points. Companies like CVS, Bed Bath & Beyond, Coca Cola, Applebees and many many more have all signed on. It’s not available everywhere just yet. They obviously have to get companies working together in each community, but they’re expanding to new places all the time.
And it’s working! Their CEO said,
“We generally see about a 100 percent increase in recycling in mid- to affluent neighborhoods. In lower-income neighborhoods, it can be up to 1,000 percent, because the recycling rates are so low there.
If you think about solar or wind power or buying a hybrid, they’re very important, but today they’re not something that’s accessible to the average person. I look at recycling as the average thing that every person and household can do.”
I think it’s a great idea and I hope they succeed.
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: business, design, environmental issues, savvy tools | Tags: business cards, FSC, green printer, letterhead, recycled paper, soy inks
We’ve crossed a milestone in our “little” endeavor and it’s about time we have our own business cards! We’ve been meeting a lot of new contacts recently and decided that writing our contact info on the back of reciepts found at the bottom of our purses isn’t the most professional. Little did we know, there are so many choices to choose from in the world of business cards…. one sided, 2 sided, inks, papers, colors, and of course the overall aesthetic of the card.
If you haven’t noticed in our previous posts, we all have what one might call a “greener” conscience. This being said, we’ve decided to go with a company called Greener Printer. This is an eco-friendly online printing company that produces everything recycled from business cards, letterhead, brochures, catalogs, posters, etc. They have 8 different papers to choose from, all of which are 100% recycled or post consumer materials and 4 that are Forrest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. They also have the option of printing with soy or vegetable based inks…. This hardly breaks the surface of the company’s capabilites, environmental impact and green business practices.
I wanted to post the designs we’re leaning toward, but I’m not that computer savvy….hopefully we’ll have something for you to see soon!
Kelsey – Vail, CO
Filed under: environmental issues, fun!, san francisco | Tags: parking day, Rebar, the trust for public land
Do you ever get tired of the city life, the concrete jungle as they say? Long for your own little patch of grass? Well, then find a park, or just make your own. That’s what we did last Friday for Parking Day 2008. It was a great success! It’s amazing how people were drawn to the sight of green… or maybe they just thought it was weird to see a park in the middle of cars on a busy road. Either way, it garnered a lot of attention and all the feedback was positive. Some people even ask us if we could make it permanent. That could be a little difficult (grass doesn’t usually grow well on asphalt), but we can always use more green. You can check out all the mini parks around the world here on Flickr. I also saw Method’s park on my way home and wanted to give them some props as well. There was so much creativity involved in all the parks! I already can’t wait for next year!
our bamboo jungle…
lunch break…
They like to spread the love in Philadelphia…
what it’s all about at Method…
a new way to go green with your vehicle…
Special thanks to Rebar who started it all and The Trust for Public Land for organizing it.
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: environmental issues, san francisco | Tags: park, PARK(ing) Day 2008, parking spot, Rebar, san francisco
At the last minute, I decided to throw together a Parking day group at work. For those of you that don’t know, PARK(ing) Day was started by a San Francisco group called Rebar. They’re a group of artists, designers, and activists and they came up with the idea back in 2005. They picked a specific spot in downtown SF that’s under served by public open space and they set up an “intervention”. They fed the meter and set up a small park. The installation garnered a lot of press and quickly turned into a global movement. Since then, more people have joined the efforts each year in cities around the world. Everyone’s invited to join in and create your own park wherever you see the need. This year’s PARK(ing) Day is on Friday, Sept. 19th. The website has a very helpful manual describing exactly how to set everything up and join in the fun. I’ll upload pictures from our park next week. We’ll be at Folsom & Spear if you feel like joining us!
Rebecca_ SF
Filed under: architecture, design, environmental issues | Tags: LEED-H, Margarido house, MdDonald Construction & Development, Medium Plenty, Plumbob Architects, Sally TV
I had the privilege of touring the Margarido Houseon Saturday. It’s Northern California’s first LEED platinum home and the first home in the nation to be both LEED-H certified and GreenPoint Rated. The place is absolutely gorgeous! It’s located in the Oakland hills and has stunning views out over the bay towards San Francisco. I had no problem picturing myself with a glass of wine in the roof top garden watching the sunset over the city.
You can check out a video tour below from Sally TV.
As is to be expected of a LEED platinum home, it has all kinds of sustainable features like:
-Solar panels on the roof providing all heating & hot water, and most of its electricity
-4,000 gallon rainwater cistern that collects all the water on site
-Living roof covered with native grasses and succulents
-Exterior cladding and interior flooring made from Heath Ceramics’ used kiln shelves
-Reflective cool roof
-All LED/ CFL lighting
and much more…
The owner/developer is Mike McDonald with McDonald Construction & Development. He partnered with his brother Tim McDonald from Plumbob architects in Boston and interior designer Ian Read from Medium Plenty. McDonald Construction and Medium Plenty had already partnered on the 24th street house that was featured in Dwell Magazine in their June 2007 issue.
They’ve definitely shown that going green is not a sacrifice. If you ask me, they’re living in the lap of luxury. I’m hoping homes like this will inspire people and we’ll start seeing a lot more green homes around the country!
Rebecca_SF
Filed under: environmental issues, fun! | Tags: Bonnaroo, Brett Dennen, CLIF Green Notes, green music festival, green music tours, Mason Jennings
Rock out and protect the planet?? Who knew you could do both?! Well, now you can by purchasing the new CLIF GreenNotes Protect the Places We Play benefit album. I was ecstatic when I first heard about this album because not only does it involve protecting the planet, it also features some of my favorite musicians! Just to name a few… John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, Gomez, Mason Jennings, Michael Franti & Brett Dennen.
What’s so cool about GreenNotes is that they support emerging musicians who are passionate about the environment. They actually help artists reduce their environmental impact by integrating several eco-friendly touring practices. Such practices include fueling their buses with biodiesel, printing on recycled paper using soy-based ink, selling organic cotton t-shirts at shows, working to provide locally and organically grown foods backstage, and buying renewable wind energy credits to offset their remaining carbon dioxide emissions.
If you’re a music guru like me, you would also like to know that CLIF GreenNotes has partnered with events such as Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, etc. Hope to see you at one of the shows!! Let’s Rock!
Kelsey – Vail, CO 🙂
Filed under: environmental issues | Tags: Green Fair, green homes, Lee's Summit MO, new longview
This weekend my neighborhood is hosting our first local Green Fair. I know many of my recent posts have been about my neighborhood already, but obviously it’s near and dear to me.
This weekend is the grand opening of the first certified green homes in the state of Missouri and they’re right down the street! I am glad to see they are bringing so much attention to something that will hopefully soon become standard. Not only will the homes be showcased, but other local “green” businesses!
If you live in the area, swing by and check it out! I can’t wait!
-Alison, KC, MO
Filed under: architecture, environmental issues, san francisco | Tags: Green Building Ordinance, LEED, san francisco
On August 4th, San Francisco took another huge leap in its effort to lead the world in environmental initiatives by signing into effect a new Green Building Ordinance. The laws were developed over a 6 month period by a Task force on Green Building set up by Mayor Gavin Newsom. After long negotiations these new laws have finally been set in motion and I’m excited about the prospects. New residential, new commercial, and renovation projects will all be affected and the changes will start to take place almost immediately. It’s all part of a 5 year plan for the city. The initial requirements will have to be met starting with projects going for permits after November 1st of this year. The focus is clearly on reducing energy and water use as well as the amount of waste created during demolition and construction. They’ve broken building types down into several categories. Here’s a brief synopsis of some of the new requirements:
– Small & Mid-size Residential projects will have to meet an increasing number of Green Point credits (similar to LEED) each year.
-High Rise Residential projects have to be LEED certified begining Nov. 1st and LEED silver by 2011.
– Mid-size commercial projects (5-25,000 SF) will have to fill out LEED checklists (but not necessarily comply) starting in November of this year, with additional requirements for energy & water conservation as well as waste diversion being added through 2011.
-Large commercial projects (25,000 SF or more) will have to be LEED certified beginning in November and LEED Silver by 2009
-Large commercial interiors projects and renovations (25,000 SF or more) must be LEED certified by November, LEED Silver, by 2009, and LEED Gold by 2012.
This means big changes for architects, developers, and owners. San Francisco is hoping to set an example for cities around the world and inspire others to follow suit with their own regulations. I for one, am very excited to be a part of the efforts.
Rebecca_ SF
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