Green Team

Like the Mother Earth ship calling me home, I am now on my employer’s Green Team! I had no idea this existed, although I had dreamed about greening up the hospital on a large scale. And now I’m working with co-workers who share my passion for saving our planet…and our office!

The Team’s first mission is to plan a green table display for Education Day. We decided on three sections: 1) What the hospital is already doing; 2) How employees can green their office; and 3) What they can do on your own. I volunteered to head up the second area since I had already implemented a green program for my department.

As I walked back to my office, I bumped into one of my co-workers. She was carrying a paper cup. My eyes got wide. She looked away and said, “I know, I know.”

Then I walked into the kitchen and looked in the trash. Paper! I quickly dove into the trashcan and pulled out what I could. I was caught in the act by another co-worker who flashed a look as if to say “she’s lost it.” Then I stood up and hit my head on the cabinet. This was not looking good.

How could I head up the “green your office” sub-committee if my own efforts were failing? I had already bragged to The Team. I told them how I rewarded those doing green deeds with reusable shopping bags. The Team loved it! And now I was crashing and burning.

I had a vision of The Team making a surprise site visit…a tour of my so-called green office while, in slow motion, my co-workers rolled up clean sheets of paper and threw them away. “Noooo!” I heard myself shouting in a creepy slo-mo voice as I got pelted with paper.

How could this happen?

Just then, I noticed that our box for can recycling was full. Not a complete disaster. And my friend came into the pantry and filled up a ceramic mug with water. She even pointed to her mug and said, “This is because of you, you know.”

I looked around and made sure there was nothing to hit my head on. “Thanks,” I said. “I know, I know.”

Paper Bowl XLIII

"All that paper!" I blurted out as twenty tons of confetti showered the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans as they celebrated their non-green victory at the Super Bowl.

This wasn't the first time I've said this.  At Cirque de Soleil's latest production, Wintuk, I watched in dismay as the Canadian circus created winter by blanketing the audience with tissue paper snowflakes.

"I'm pretty sure they recycle this," my friend told me.  I was pretty sure they didn't.  I watched through the faux blizzard as kids and adults grabbed paper flakes as a souvenir.  (Were no two really alike?)  What was this?  Couldn't they buy a t-shirt like everybody else?  

I came home that night, took off my jacket and about 20 "souvenirs" poured out of me.  That's not counting the ones I found on the steps of my apartment building the next day.  At least those got recycled.

Spamalot was another offender.  Somehow you expect better from Monty Python.  But instead of a killer rabbit or a giant foot coming into the audience at the end, there were more paper souvenirs.  Bad enough that they celebrate lumberjacks in The Lumberjack Song.  But this?  

Come on, people!  Do we still not get that we need to start saving trees?  Is falling tissue paper really the symbol we need for celebration?  Can we just scream a lot?  We've done away with ticker tape at parades and rice at weddings.  Why not confetti?

I admit I was rooting for the Cardinals, but I still offer congratulations to the Steelers.  I can only hope that when you return home with your sixth Vince Lombardi trophy, Pittsburgh has the good sense to shower you with something biodegradable.

   

A Green Cup of Coffee

Recently I was in Starbucks getting coffee. OK, a Peppermint Mocha. With whip. But made with soy milk. (I know, I’m really reaching now.) Anyway, the girl in front of me ordered a latte but requested two cups. Two cups? First, they have those cardboard sleeves to protect your hands and second, a latte isn’t even that hot!

I ordered my drink, not proud that I would be using one paper cup, let alone two. I noticed as I was waiting that there was a basket filled with these little green plastic things that looked like toothpicks. Then, little miss two-cupper picked one up and put it in the opening of the plastic lid. It turned out it was a stopper so her coffee wouldn’t spill.

What?! Who came up with this? Do we really need more plastic gizmos? Can’t we make do with lids that have the little flap? Or better yet, we should invest in travel mugs.

So I looked on the shelf and found one. Not only was it really cute, but Starbucks will take 10 cents off my drink if I bring my own mug. Perfect.

The next day, I ordered my drink and proudly handed the barista my new mug. I turned to pay the cashier and went back to the counter to pick up my beverage. I watched as she filled someone else’s drink in the nasty paper cup. Then I couldn’t believe my eyes…that drink was mine!

She made the drink in the wasteful paper and poured it into my nice, green mug!!

“What are you doing?” I screeched. She looked at me like a deer in headlights. “Huh?” she replied. “The whole purpose of handing you my own mug is to avoid the paper cup!” She stared back at me and gave out an uncaring “Oh.”

Feeling defeated, I took my drink and left the store. But my experience wasn’t over. As I took a sip, the coffee leaked all over and down my new winter coat. She didn’t screw the top on right. Now I was pissed.

I went back the next day to try again. This time, I made sure the barista knew to make the drink directly in the travel mug. When she handed me back my drink, I made sure that the top was screwed on tightly. I took a sip of my delicious drink and again, the mug dripped all over me.

I asked around and it turns out there are many other travel mug victims. The green alternative is good for the environment, but tends to leak. Great. Did I have to go back to the paper cup? Or should I do the smarter thing and limit my trips to Starbucks?

Since then, I’ve been on a manhunt for a better travel mug. Now when I get coffee on the go, I ask for it minus the lid and I reuse a cardboard sleeve. I’ve seen people roll their eyes but I don’t care. One less thing in the landfill. And one less stain on my coat.

New Year’s Green Resolutions

Statistically, New Year’s Resolutions are broken within the first week of the new year. This year was no different for me. I popped a Frango Mint about 16 minutes into 2009. So much for no chocolate or sugar.

I decided I needed to change “resolution” to “goal.” This way, I have something more solid and concrete to shoot for. Also, I have a whole year to mess up and correct a goal.

Among the usual career/eating/life goals that I always set for myself, I’ve added a new category…green goals.

On the top of my list is our trash situation. For two people, we generate A LOT of trash. One of our big things is that we drink a lot of seltzer water, so, much of that trash comes in the form of plastic bottles.

The good news is they can be recycled. The bad news is that when a recycling day is cancelled due to a holiday (like on the past two Thursdays), we are swimming in a sea of empty bottles in our tiny apartment.

But the problem isn’t really the cancelled recycling days, it’s our consumption.

Why do we need to be drinking all that seltzer in plastic bottles? Why do we need to buy processed food wrapped in 12 layers of plastic and cardboard? We should be drinking more water from our earth-friendly Brita pitcher or eating locally grown fruits and veggies from the farmers market. It’s not only a smart choice for our health, but will also cut down on the plastic island we’ve created.

And that marks my number one goal…less consumption. Do we really need this? Can we go without it? Can we substitute it for something healthier, less packaged, made locally?

My second goal is my mode of transportation. Thankfully, we live in New York City …the mecca of public transportation. I live on the 1st and 2nd Avenue bus lines but occasionally, I’ve been known to jump in a cab for no better reason than I’m really tired (or cold, hot, or just don’t feel like waiting for the bus).

It’s not only terrible for the environment, it’s also taxing on my purse. The average cab ride home is $12! Try that a couple times a week. I could be using that money to help plant trees or something! What I should be doing is walking my butt to work. Not only would it be friendly to the environment, it would be super friendly to, well, my butt.

My last goal is to do a beach clean-up. I joked earlier about swimming in the sea of plastic bottles and our plastic island, well, there really is a 70 million pound plastic garbage island floating in the Pacific between LA and Hawaii the size of Texas. My own plastic bottle contribution is only adding to it. I’m a huge ocean fanatic, so this is super important to me.

We’re now five days into the new year and I’m doing pretty well. No cabs, two plastic bottles, and I replaced the Frango mints with almonds. If only they weren’t in individually wrapped, plastic bags...well, I have a year to reach this goal.

HAPPY GREEN NEW YEAR!!!

I wish you all a happy, healthy, prosperous, fun, safe, and, of course, green new year!!! The Green, The Bad, and The Ugly will be back on January 5th with my Green Resolutions!!

Green Christmas

Christmas was my mom’s favorite time of year. And boy, did she go all out! Every part of our house was decorated, from the illuminated deer on the front lawn to the animated Mickey and Minnie Mouse under the tree.

Our presents were wrapped in a multitude of papers that she would buy from my niece and nephew’s school fundraiser every year. And every Christmas morning, the paper was torn off and thrown away.

The artificial tree was draped in hundreds of mini-lights, not LED’s, plugged in 24 hours a day for the entire month of December and probably even some of November!

Our turkey was not free-range, the vegetables not local or organic and we’d drive aimlessly to other neighborhoods looking in awe at their non-LED illumination.

So, our holidays weren’t exactly what you’d call eco-friendly. Back then, green was nothing more than her favorite color.

But going green isn’t just about changing your light bulbs, it’s also about making things better for those around us…being a humanitarian…and for that, my mom was very green!

Our church had a giving tree. A tree that was covered with tags listing things that underprivileged children wanted for Christmas. She would always take a bunch of tags and fill the wants of those special kids.

She would cook for those in need with my niece, who was then only a little girl, teaching her the importance of giving to others.

She took care of her grandchildren when my sister had to work, offered a lending hand when a friend or neighbor needed help, advocated for animals (all of our dogs were rescued) and was active in her church.

Both she and my dad set great examples for me and my sister.

I suspect that if mom were around today, she would absolutely be on board with the green movement. She was always incredibly supportive and open-minded.  She would have had a ball finding new ways to decorate eco-style! I know she would have continued, and probably found even more ways of helping others.

While the holidays leave an open space where she once was, I’m still inspired by her Christmas spirit of giving, which will live on forever.

Peace On Earth, Green Will Towards Men

It’s hard to believe we’re in the holiday season again. A time of traditions. Ice skating in Rockefeller Center, the windows in Macy’s, buying a Christmas tree off the sidewalk in front of Duane Reade, and my company’s holiday door decorating contest.

Last year was my first time spearheading my office’s effort to create the prize-winning door. We had never entered before and I wasn’t sure if we were all going to come together on this. The idea had to be more than the “stockings hanging on the fireplace” theme which so many had done before us. But the idea came to me like bees to honey.

“We’re Dreaming of a Green Christmas.”

I was thrilled when we got the whole office to participate. We made a cut-out Christmas tree from old annual reports that were ready for the trash.  Each of my office mates had to make an ornament which incorporated an eco tip they received from me.

Everyone’s creativity was flowing. Our tips were a success! Who wouldn’t want to know that all of that wrapping paper they would tear open on Christmas morning would kill so many trees? Or that if they drank locally made egg nog, they would keep the weight of 237 dairy cows in CO2 out of the air? What about giving “experience gifts” like a massage or a concert ticket that your recipient will remember fondly? And don’t forget to use LED lights on your tree!

The other doors were green with envy! Random people would stand in front of our door reading our tips. We were proud of what we had accomplished and it had gone beyond any of our imaginations. We had come together to spread our green message and holiday cheer.

As we approached judgment day, we were on pins and needles. All of our hard work paid off and we won the coveted pizza party! (Unfortunately the pizza wasn’t organic and, of course, came in cardboard boxes…but that’s another story.)

But something magical happened after our win.

The office began recycling. My co-workers gave coffee mugs as gifts so that we’d stop using paper cups. We started using recycled copy paper. Our weekly delivery of water bottles was stopped and we relied solely on our water cooler.

Our little giving tree spoke loudly.

This week, we have begun the preparations for this year’s contest. Our theme is Peace on Earth, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the peace sign. If we’re half as successful spreading peace as we were promoting our green message, then we can definitely inspire a lot of goodwill toward men (and women)… maybe even 237 dairy cows’ worth.