If you can PLUG it in...Put it In!

Salt Lake City is hosting an electronic waste recycling event (e-waste) this Saturday! If you have electronics sitting around the house, don't throw them out! GRX is the recycler for the event and they are accepting all electronics. This service is free to all Salt Lake City residents. (Other residents may be charged a recycling fee.)

This event is being held on:

Saturday, January 10th
10:00 am - 2:00 pm

In the parking lot on 1300 South and West Temple (across from Franklin Covey Field)

For more information on e-waste recycling, please visit www.grxrecycles.com or if you have any questions about this event, contact Bridget Stuchly at bridget.stuchly@slcgov.com or call (801) 535-6438.

Weekend Extravaganza

There's a reason why people don't typically move into a new apartment in the middle of December. I mean, have any of you moved during that time? I guess usually it's in the middle of the school year and finals week, Christmas break, and all that, but still I don't think I know of anyone that has moved in the middle of the winter...because it's too cold!

Your fingers freeze carrying boxes, you have to keep shoveling the sidewalk, and it's icy. To make it easier to move things in and out, you usually keep the front door open, which makes it cold inside. There are many battles to moving in general, but December is not a good time. Now that I'm not confined by the school schedule, I said, "Hey, this is a great place. I'll take it!" Without thinking this through. I don't recommend moving in the winter if it can be avoided.

But, one things for sure: If your furniture wont make it up the stairs, get a little creative and string it up with your climbing rope and haul it over the balcony!

Switch 'Em Out!

One of the ways to green up your life a little bit (and would make a great New Year's resolution) is to really think about and start saving some electricity. There are many ways to do this. One is to switch out all your light bulbs from incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's). The easiest way to do this is to buy a pack of CFL's and replace your incandescents as they burn out, and then vow to never buy an incandescent light bulb again!

CFL's cost more than incandescent light bulbs do up front, but they also last about ten times longer. And the energy that they consume is about 75% less than incandescents as well. According to livescience.com, replacing one incandescent bulb with a CFL reduces CO2 gas by about 500 lbs. per year. CFL's use the electricty that is pouring into them to produce light, while incandescent light bulbs expound a lot of heat while also producing light. Most of the energy that is used by incandescent light bulbs produces heat, instead of light, which is why CFL's are so much more energy efficient.

The trick with CFL's, however, is how to dispose of them. Never throw them away!! In order for CFL's to be so energy efficient, they must be made with small amounts of mercury. If they are just thrown into the landfill, this murcury can accumulate and seep into the earth and pollute ground water. So use some caution when handling CFL's and when disposing them, always take them to a recycling center. If you live in Salt Lake County, you can take your spent CFL's to these "hot spot" Salt Lake County Libraries:

• Bingham Creek, 4834 W. 9000 South, West Jordan.
• Calvin Smith, 810 E. 3300 South, Millcreek.
• Whitmore, 2197 E. Fort Union Blvd. (about 7000 South), Cottonwood Heights.
• Draper, 1136 E. Pioneer Road (12400 South), Draper.
• Hunter, 4740 W. 4100 South, West Valley City.
  
• Magna, 8339 W. 3500 South, Magna.
• South Jordan, 10673 S. Redwood Road (1700 West), South Jordan.
• R.V. Tyler, 8041 Wood St. (55 West), Midvale.
• or if you don't want to head over to your local library like the ones above, you can recycle them at the Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Management Facility, 6030 W. California Ave, or the Trans-Jordan Cities Landfill, 10873 S. 7200 West, in South Jordan

Another option, and this applies nationally, is to take them down to any Home Depot or Ikea store. Both franchises have the facilities to recycle CFL's properly. To find out where to recycle CFL's in your area, visit the EPA's website. To check out some safety tips on how to clean up broken CFL's and how to recycle them properly, check it out here.

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Christmas Tree Debate

It's that time of year when Christmas trees are going up or, like my family, have been up for weeks. Heated debates about whether fresh-cut trees or artificial trees are more sustainable abound. And, I admit, I'm not sure of the whole thing myself. Everything has its pros and cons.

My coworker, Andree', put up a nice post on my work blog, Green Fork, that offers some intriguing arguments both for and against both Christmas tree options. I encourage you to check it out, and think about it.

I think Andree' sums up a lot of the debate nicely:

"Bottom line... Whatever you choose, remember to keep in mind what is important to you and what is good for the environment. Awareness is key! If you feel strongly to keep on the tradition of the live tree, do it, there are good arguments for it. If you love Aunt Hilda's fake pink tree that was passed on to you, kudos for reusing. If you don't mind being nontraditional, inventory what trees and shrubs you'd like in your yard and have your Christmas Tree serve two purposes."

But I also think that the comment we received at the end of the article includes a nice point. Remember the conversations about paper or plastic bags? Well, as Ron points out to us, the "paper or plastic" debate over the Christmas tree is similar to the paper or plastic debate for grocery bags. At the grocery store, we should really be bringing our own reusable bags every time we shop. So what does that mean for the Christmas tree? Well, you tell me. I'm thinking a little creativity and starting some new traditions might be good places to start, but there are pros and cons for everything.

Turkey-Day

Before the holiday weekend I was thinking about how great it was going to be to get in some extra time to put up some great posts...and well...you can see how that one went. The long weekend got going and I found myself spending a lot of time doing all types of fun things, but not posting. Here is a Turkey-Day recap:

I am a vegetarian. I have been so for about two years. My reasoning is not generally based on animal cruelty (though that is an added benefit) but more on environmental impact. The idea is to eat lower on the food chain. My decision also comes with various health benefits and, as it turns out, is much cheaper too. But for this Thanksgiving my family bought a free-range organic turkey from a farm not too far from where I live as a special treat. So I decided to go for it and honestly, it wasn't as exciting as I was expecting it to be. We did our own brine-ing (a process where the whole turkey is essentially marinated in our own concoction of spices and other good-li-ness) and it was very tasty, but after two years I thought it would be more of a to-do.

As the day went on, though, I remembered that when I did eat meat all of the time, turkey wasn't my favorite on Thanksgiving. Sure, it was good, but I was much more happy eating my grandmother's rolls, my step-father's green bean casserole, and delving into my mom's mashed potatoes. The only thing the turkey was good for was the leftover sandwiches (only made with white bread of course--the only time of year we had white bread) for days to come. And as this Thanksgiving, complete with Turkey, went by with plenty of delicious white bread turkey sandwiches.

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Day 9

So I have been trying to get a little more exercise, get back into shape, and all that jazz. I was talking with a friend of mine who helps out coaching some high school teams around the valley. With beginning athletes he always challenges them to the 100 Day Challenge. And he challenged me. Before even thinking about it, I said, "Sure, okay."

Well, I just completed Day 9. For 100 Days I have to get some type of exercise on my feet. (Running, Elliptical, and I'll probably throw some x-country skiing when there's more snow.) I can't skip any days, or the challenge is over. So today was Day 9 and I'm doing really well. The nice thing about the challenge is that the amount of time doesn't matter. It could be 15 minutes or 4 hours. Every day can't be 15 minutes, but there will be those days where time just doesn't allow for more than that. And if you do a crazy 3 hour work out the day before, it doesn't carry over. The point of the challenge is to teach you that some exercise is always better than none, and that you can always fit in a work out, no matter how busy you are. More often than not, once you get started you will keep on going.

Anyway, the day I complete my 100 Day challenge is February the 22. Awesome! Completely doable and I am very excited to be in better shape so I can crank harder on my bike and pull harder on the rocks up in the mountains next spring and I can't even wait. Anyone else want to join me?

Hooray!

A surprise video message from President-elect Barrack Obama was delivered to the Bi-Partisan Governor's Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles earlier this week. He shared his thoughts about the challenges ahead facing climate change and his plans as president of the changes he is going to make in the face of climate change and the environment when he takes his place in the oval office. His full remarks are:

"Let me begin by thanking the bipartisan group of U.S. governors who convened this meeting.

Few challenges facing America -- and the world -- are more urgent than combating climate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear. Sea levels are rising. Coastlines are shrinking. We've seen record drought, spreading famine and storms that are growing stronger with each passing hurricane season.

Climate change and our dependence on foreign oil, if left unaddressed, will continue to weaken our economy and threaten our national security.

I know many of you are working to confront this challenge. In particular, I want to commend Governor Sebelius, Governor Doyle, Governor Crist, Governor Blagojevich and your host, Governor Schwarzenegger -- all of you have shown true leadership in the fight to combat global warming. And we've also seen a number of businesses doing their part by investing in clean energy technologies.

But too often, Washington has failed to show the same kind of leadership. That will change when I take office. My presidency will mark a new chapter in America's leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process.

That will start with a federal cap and trade system. We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050.

Further, we will invest $15 billion each year to catalyze private sector efforts to build a clean energy future. We will invest in solar power, wind power and next-generation biofuels. We will tap nuclear power, while making sure it's safe. And we will develop clean coal technologies.

This investment will not only help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, making the United States more secure. And it will not only help us bring about a clean energy future, saving our planet. It will also help us transform our industries and steer our country out of this economic crisis by generating 5 million new green jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced.

But the truth is, the United States cannot meet this challenge alone. Solving this problem will require all of us working together. I understand that your meeting is being attended by government officials from over a dozen countries, including the U.K., Canada and Mexico,
Brazil and Chile, Poland and Australia, India and Indonesia. And I look forward to working with all nations to meet this challenge in the coming years.

Let me also say a special word to the delegates from around the world who will gather at Poland next month: Your work is vital to the planet. While I won't be president at the time of your meeting and while the United States has only one president at a time, I've asked members of Congress who are attending the conference as observers to report back to me on what they learn there.

And once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change.

Now is the time to confront this challenge once and for all. Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response. The stakes are too high. The consequences, too serious.

Stopping climate change won't be easy. It won't happen overnight. But I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who's willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that's willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that's willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America. Thank you."
---Barack Obama

I must say, it sure it a breath of fresh air to be hearing this type of language coming from the White House...or at least what will be coming in January. Cheers!

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