Washington State going green with electric highways

The state of Washington is turning Highway 2 between Monroe and Peshastin known as Stevens Pass Greenway, into the nation's first electric vehicle friendly National Scenic Byway route, installing 2-3 fast-charging EV stations along the 90-mile route.

As Douglas Reiser writes for the Builder’s Counsel Blog, “the Highway 2 upgrade is only a small part of Washington’s Electric Highway plan. The State’s larger plan includes the installation of EV charging stations all along I-5. After the completion of the two stage construction process, Washington will have a border to border electric highway.”

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/washington-builds-first-electric-vehicle-friendly-highway.html#ixzz1CoUkleYB

Going Green by going underground!

IKEA is Going Green!

IKEA, the assemble-yourself furniture company, continues their environmentally-friendly commitment with solar panels on several of their buildings in the U.S. Solar rooftop installations begin on their New Jersey and Massachusetts stores this month, with completion expected by spring 2011. There are already nine other stores with solar panels and eight California locations are expected to go solar next. IKEA already has solar energy systems operational in Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, and Tempe, AZ as well as solar water heating systems in Charlotte, Draper, Utah, Orlando, and Tampa, FL. The Centennial, CO store under construction will have a geothermal system.

IKEA has also promised to buy more of its wood from sustainably managed forests and to use fewer raw materials in its products. As a part of their going green commitment, IKEA does not offer paper or plastic bags - only reusable bags.

November 15 is America Recycles Day!

Since 1997, communities across the country have come together on November 15 to celebrate America Recycles Day. More than a celebration, America Recycles Day is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to the promotion of recycling programs in the United States. One day to inform and educate. One day to get our neighbors, friends and community leaders excited about what can be accomplished when we all work together. One day to make recycling bigger and better 365 days a year.Small, simple, daily choices and actions make a huge difference.

By pledging to do more to recycle in your daily life, you are part of the solution! Be proud of your commitment, knowing that you stand with millions of others just like you. Be sure to tell your friends, family and coworkers to take the pledge, too!

Celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15th, but do your part EVERY day to reduce, reuse, and recycle!

A few of my favorite things...

Bambu Earth soap. So fresh and so green clean! Handmade soap is superior to the commercial soaps we typically buy because they use a cold process, which enables the soap to retain all of its naturally occurring glycerin - the humectant that draws in moisture. This leaves your skin conditioned and soft.

The other great thing about Bambu Earth's soap is their packaging! Each bar is packaged in a handmade paper label that grows basil or wildflowers. The outer label is made from recycled cereal boxes! Get some Bambu Earth soap from their website.

Go green! Get clean!

Going Green with a push reel mower

A conventional gas powered lawn mower emits on average nearly 90 pounds of carbon dioxide and over 50 pounds of other pollutants into our air every year according to the EPA.

Manual reel mowers are making a comeback and have come a long way in the last few decades. Today's reel mowers are a far cry from the one your grandfather used. "Reel mowers are light, quiet, and virtually maintenance-free," notes L Hundley, Chief Gardening Evangelist at Clean Air Gardening. "The mowers are environmentally friendly, and also better for your grass.

"Rotary mowers tear the grass -- reel mowers cut grass like scissors, leaving a fine spray of clippings as mulch for your yard," he explains. They do take some effort, but they aren't any harder to push than an 80-pound gas mower that isn't self-propelled.

While it does take a bit longer to mow with a manual mower than a power mower, it is a much more pleasant experience. Instead of the roar of a mower, you hear the pleasant mechanical sound of the blades, the chirping of birds and buzzing of insects. Instead of the smell of gas exhaust, you have the smell of fresh air and fresh-cut grass.

With a reel mower, you have a lower purchase price, lower maintenance costs, and much lower environmental costs. And it saves you a trip to the gym.

Going Green at home - saving water

Ever been camping and brushed your teeth with no running water? Why not do it that way at home? That is the reasoning behind Stop The Water While Using Me! toothpaste, shower gel and shampoo based out of Germany.

Even though the earth is 75% covered in water, only 1% is available for human consumption, and of that 70% of that goes to irrigation and 22% goes to industry. That leaves 8% of the 1% available for drinking, dishwashing, and watering your lawn. Spread evenly worldwide, that equates to 2.5 gallons per person per year. Developed countries use more than their share, however - about 100 gallons per person - and about 1 billion people currently lack access to clean drinking water.

Water conservation in developed countries can have very significant positive impacts, so if you can, stop the water!

Going Green with Dyson's new fan

Vacuum cleaner guru Sir James Dyson is inventing another innovative gadget for our home - this one to cool our home without the use of the air conditioner. A/C uses more energy, and thus generates more greenhouse gas emissions, than Dyson's new fan that operates on a modest 40-watt motor.

The fan works like a jet engine, sucking air into a cyclone accelerator, then amplifying it 15-18 times before blowing it out over these cool-looking blade-less airfoil-shapes.

Read more: Dyson's New Bladeless Fans Aim to Replace Air Conditioning

Going Green May Be Easier With New Toxic Chemical Legislation

A while back GoingGreen interviewed Erin Brockovich about her alliance with Seventh Generation and the 'Million Baby Crawl' to push for toxic chemical reform.

The good news is there is currently a bill, the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, in the Senate and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 has been introduced in the House; both intending to drastically overhaul the EPA's current 1976 Toxic Substance Control Act. Under that old act, Companies currently do not have to prove chemicals are safe before putting them on the market; the government must determine when a chemical is dangerous. Both bills aim to change that.

"Industries would have to demonstrate safety rather than the government have to prove harm. That is a key concept there," said Andy Igrejas, director of the environment and health group coalition Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.

There are more than 84,000 chemicals registered in the United States. The government needs to meet a high standard of harm to take action on a chemical, and has been unable to even ban the use of asbestos.

Eliminating toxic chemicals from the home has been a drum beaten by Seventh Generation for over 20 years. Previously refusing to sell products through Walmart, they have recently been working with the consumer giant to make environmentally friendly cleaning products available nationwide and educate customers about healthy product choices. Some of Seventh Generation's non-toxic products will soon be available at more than 1,500 Walmart stores across the U.S., and additional products will be available through on Walmart.com. Best-sellers like laundry detergent, dish soap and cleaning sprays will be in stores while diapers, baby wipes and more will be online.

Going Green in the home will now be easier! Read more here.

Google is so green!

In an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, Google employs goats to mow the grass in their field at their headquarters in Mountain View, provide plug-in hybrid vehicles that get charged with a solar-powered carport to employees who use alternative transportation, and compost their organic waste.

Now they are striving for 100% water recycling from data center cooling systems. On average, two gallons of water is consumed for every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. Google is working on reclaiming dirty water, filtering the water and using it for facility cooling. According to Data Center Knowledge, at least two Google data center have these water filtering plants and a third is employing a rainwater collection system to reduce reliance on the local water supply.

Joe Kava, Google's Director of Operations, said,

“Water consumption isn’t a side thought; it’s part of our larger environmental management policy. In the future this will be at the forefront of data center operations."

GoingGreenTV goes live!

Yes, we will be streaming to you LIVE from the Arts Factory in downtown Las Vegas during the First Friday event this Friday, May 1, from 6pm-10pm.

Tune in as we ask people how they are going green!

Green Outlet in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Goes Green at least once a month at the G3reen Outlet in the Arts Factory downtown Las Vegas for First Friday. Eco-friendly companies showcase their products and services to the thousands of art festival-goers that converge downtown once a month on the first Friday of every month. Jewelry made from other broken jewelry (wastenotwhimsy.etsy.com) and aluminum cans (funkyrecycling.etsy.com), guitar picks made from expired credit cards, Skoy cloth that replaces 15 rolls of papertowels (skoycloth.com), and cute organic bamboo clothing (www.globalghettoorganics.com) are on display. Sandhi Schimmel Gold makes glamorous mosaic portraits from junk mail (www.schimmelart.com), The Body Shop at Home touts green practices and products for your body and Winder Farms delivers organic food to your home!
Check out this highlight video from March. If you are interested in showcasing your green product or company, call (702) 845-9599.

Contessa manufactures green cuisine

Making "green cuisine", the Contessa Manufacturing Plant in California is the world's first and largest environmentally responsible, LEED-certified frozen-food manufacturing plant.

"Until now, the USGBC has never LEED-certified a frozen-food manufacturing facility," said John Z. Blazevich, president and chief executive of Contessa. "As a leader in our industry, we didn't wait for environmental standards to be established. Instead, we collaborated with LEED and decided to raise the bar for the entire industry and to do the right thing for the long-term sustainability of our environment."

Company officials say they use advanced design and technology to reduce Contessa's environmental impact, such as a water preheating system that saves energy by redirecting the heat used in refrigeration coils to the plant's boilers. In addition, a variable frequency drive adjusts the amount of power supplied to motors at specific times or under specific conditions to minimize energy use and an innovative loading dock prevents the loss of refrigerated air, reducing temperature fluctuation and energy use.

The new $35 million plant is expected to produce up to 150 million pounds of food products per year and at the same time reduce its energy use and emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by 65 percent, according a company statement.

In addition to energy savings, Contessa is committed to 'going green' by incorporating recycling in their operations and procedures, using aquaculture and probiotics in their shrimp procurement and contributing to the awareness of turtle-safe fishing practices.

"I am thrilled to be celebrating the commitment of these companies to reducing their carbon footprints,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "They are examples that going green is not only good for the environment but also for business.

Going Green animation