Attacking the Plastic Waste Epidemic Head On

We were very pleased to discover this organization called the Plastic Bank. 

It’s predicated on the idea that waste plastic, which is one of the world’s most daunting environmental challenges, possesses what they believe to be an “abundance of opportunity”.

Their site, www.plasticbank.org, lays out the argument in very lucid terms and you come away feeling that you are looking at a very well meaning and more importantly, well structured organization.  

We don’t have to tell you just how much plastic wastes is created in the world every single day. But it’s easily in the millions of tons. It’s something that concerns everyone and should. But the vision of this group is to create plastic exchanges all over the world and be able to sort and funnel this waste plastic to wherever it can be most easily re-purposed.

This is an admirable mission. And probably something that would be of great interest to a number of different types of recycling organizations.

The world is changing and it’s big ideas like this that helping that change be a change for the better.

Does Buying a Hybrid Car Make Sense?

This is a cool blog post that came to me courtesy of a Cassie Davis. The argument here is is that the kind of car you drive should reflect your values. They point out that while it costs more to own a hybrid car, there are cost savings, and more importantly much lower carbon emissions. It’s a blog post from an organization called Autopawn.com, located in San Diego. If you’d like to find out more about these folks go to their web site or

http://www.autopawn.com/does-buying-a-hybrid-car-make-sense/

Have a green summer.

Our Standards.

Depending on how many signups we have on our site, I usually sit down on Sunday morning and go through all the listing applicants, separate out the ones that do qualify for listing from those who don’t, assign categories and then post their listings on the site.

As we have grown (about 550 listings), I have started to notice that there are a lot of businesses registering on the site that really do comply with the standards we have set for ourselves. While our standards are not as stringent as most directories of this kind, they are still designed to give our visitors eco friendly options for the products and services they are looking for.

To that end I thought it would be good to restate the standards we have defined for Our Green Directory. This should make it pretty easy for you to understand whether or not you would be qualified for listing on our site. If you’re not, it could save you the hassle of filling out the listing information. If you are qualified, then by all means feel free to list your business.

For those listing their business, please keep in mind that the description of your business in a line listing is limited to 255 characters including spaces. If you enter a description longer than that, the site will cut it off and that will be frustrating to the people reading your listing.

Our Green Directory Standards

Because Our GreenDirectory is a showcase of Green products and services, we should define as what we mean by “Green”.

For purposes of being promoted on this site, a “Green” enterprise or service is one which has the goal of either supporting environmentalism or supporting the preservation of the environment and adheres to any of the following criteria:

Overall, “Green” enterprises are those with a clear commitment to improving the environment in any of a number of ways.

In the Product Area this includes recycled products, fair trade products, organic products or products which are providing either a dramatic reduction in gas emissions or the promotion of alternative low carbon energy sources.

In the Services Area, this includes companies with a defined commitment to energy use reduction, by implementing strict conservation measures, by increasing recycling and reuse and by reducing consumption and waste. This also includes those companies and consultants who teach other companies how to become “Green”.

If your company is described by any of the aforementioned criteria, you may feel free to apply for placement on this site.

NOTE: We evaluate applying companies on an individual basis and reserve the right to deny any listings.

Livclean Homes Services. Dragging Me Into A Greener Home Environment.

By Jim Murray, Creative Director, Our Green Directory.

Part One—The Offer

Yesterday, a rep from LivClean Home Services knocked on my door and asked me if he could inspect my water heater to see if I qualified for a free replacement water heater that would be more energy efficient. Being a green guy, I couldn’t really turn him down. After inspecting my antique water heater, which was 16 years old, he informed me that I might have a couple of feet of calcified sludge in the bottom a that would impact on the amount of water the tank could hold and how long it takes to heat the water itself. He went on to explain the features of the new water heater and how much more efficient it would be…even that I could drain the sediment periodically to keep it running at almost 100% capacity.

It all made sense to me so I signed up to have my water heater rental transferred from Enbridge and have my water heater replaced at no charge by these guys. I have an installation appointment for tomorrow morning.

I did check them out and they seem to be a legitimate organization. I can’t see how they might be scamming me if they are, because $16.95 a month is hardly worth the effort. And they are carrying the Energy Star logo on all their materials.

I believe that the cost of the new water heaters plus a profit margin is being subsidized by some government program and that would be how they are making their money. They apparently also do a range of different home products. If this goes well I might talk to them about replacing my boiler.

But the proof, as they say, is in the pudding, so I’ll finish this post after they have come and gone and let you know what my total experience was like.

Part 2  – The Installation

OK so the first thing that happened was that on Thursday, they called and asked if they could reschedule the morning appointment for the afternoon. That was fine. They did not call first like they said they were going to but who really does these days.

The installers showed up more or less on time and got set up with a minimum of disruption. I do wish they had worn those little plastic booties that most industrial people wear when they are working in other people’s houses. But they were pretty careful. I did have to stand outside and make sure that the runoff from the old water heater, which they pumped out a basement window, didn’t come right back in, which has been known to happen. This helped raise my respect quotient for people who work outside.

The installation went very smoothly. There were only a few very simple instructions re adjusting the heat levels and they were in and out in about an hour and, voila, I had a new water heater, and a more energy efficient way to do one more thing around the house.

All in all it was a very good experience. The product was great. The price (0$) was right and the installers were friendly, outgoing and capable.

Part 3 The Link

LivClean Home Services
1-866-755-9553
www.livcleanhomeservices.ca

Skipso — Powering The Clean Revoluton

I was looking up some information on a client I may be doing a new web site for and found that one of the places they were listed was a site called skipso.com. This site is an excellent receptacle for a lot of things green. This site can help green businesses with access to information, investment assistance and promotion to a global marketplace.

Here’s what they say about themselves:

Skipso is an online platform and business to business marketplace entirely focused on sustainable innovation. 

Skipso leverages the power of the Internet to accelerate the Cleantech Revolution.

In particular, Skipso aims to:

• Accelerate innovation in clean technologies by creating an environment where ideas, best practices and opportunities can be exchanged
• Bridge the gap between industry and research institutions / academia by creating an alternative platform for collaboration and knowledge transfer
• Facilitate interaction and collaboration of talented individuals and experts worldwide, providing them with new professional opportunities and challenging projects to work on
• Support cleantech companies investing in innovation by giving them access to an expert community to outsource their R&D or sponsor cleantech innovation research
• Help entrepreneurs and innovators kick-start their projects by gaining easier access to capital & support services

Toronto Green Tweets- Commons Sense Tweets

Our Green Directory follows almost 2000 green organizations on Twitter. The vast majority of them are in the US, and so a lot of the information and insight they have to offer is relevant primarily to Americans.  But there are several notable Canadian organizations and twitter sites that tweet out good stuff on a regular basis. Over the next few posts I will highlight some of them and provide you with links to their twitter pages and or web sites. Because you can never really have too much green knowledge.

This first one is called Green Tweets TO and it contains a number of really practical tips for living a more eco-friendly, energy conscious lifestyle. It also does a really good job of promoting other green tweeters through Follow Fridays and Eco Mondays.

There is no web site listed, so I can’t really tell you who sponsors the tweets. But there’s a lot of good info here as well as links to good articles. If you’re a tweeter, you might want to follow these people. If you’re not a tweeter (and I really don’t know anyone who isn’t), you may want to get started. It’s not just a way of keeping in touch with your friends. It’s a great way to keep in touch with the world.

Green Tweets TO link:  http://twitter.com/#!/TO_GreenTweets

It’s Called Blowing Where The Wind Is

If you believe that a big part of our sustainable future lies in harnessing the power of the wind, you’re not alone.  In fact, just recently, a company called Deepwater Wind Energy has made a very interesting proposal to the US government.

Personally, I don’t think you can ever get enough wind power. And this one will be the largest renewable energy project ever proposed for the North East US.

http://www.earthtechling.com/2010/12/giant-offshore-wind-proposal-in-atlantic/

Thanks Earth Techling for the story.

http://www.earthtechling.com

The Answer My Friend Is Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob Dylan)

Wind energy today is a booming worldwide industry.

This technology has truly come of age, with higher quality, more reliable machinery and a greater understanding of how and where wind power can be practically applied–from the independent home to a grid-connected utility-wide perspective.

Heightened concerns about our environment mean that this resurgence of interest in wind–a natural and widespread power source–is here to stay.

Wind Power is the completely revised and expanded edition of Paul Gipe’s definitive 1993 book, Wind Power for Home and Business. In addition to expanded sections on gauging wind resources and siting wind turbines, this edition includes new examples and case studies of successful wind systems, international sources for new and used equipment, and hundreds of color photographs and illustrations.

Over the course of his career, Paul Gipe has been a proponent, participant, observer, and critic of the wind industry. His experience with wind power has given rise to two previous books on the subject, Wind Energy Basics and Wind Power for Home and Business, which have sold over 50,000 copies. Wind Power for Home and Business has become a staple for both homeowners and professionals interested in the subject, and now, with energy prices soaring, interest in wind power is hitting an all-time high.

(Adapted from the Amazon.com synopsis, where you can purchase this fine book) http://amzn.to/a9sIzv

You can find out more about this amazing book at http://bit.ly/9ks3np

All The (Green) News That’s Fit to Print (Post)

One of my principal sources for ideas for this blog come from twitter. I have three twitters that I keep going. These include:
http://twitter.com/OurGreenDirctry
http://twitter.com/BuyGreenTO

These two are for tweets related directed to Our Green Directory.

But I have another personal Twitter account (http://twitter.com/JMsJournal) that for some reason also manages to attract fair number of green organizations. Not sure why because most of the tweets I do from this location have to do with sports and entertainment.

Anyway, one of the most interesting green sites on personal twitter is called Green Energy News.

This  site is kind of, but not exclusively geared towards people who are interested in investing in green technology or products and covers off a number of popular areas of the green business world.

I’d encourage you to check out the site and follow them on Twitter. You can find them at:

http://www.renewable-energy-news.info

Green Can Be Fun at Environmentteam.com

One of the best thing about Twitter is getting introduced to people and web sites that you probably wouldn’t stumble upon on your own, by reason of the fact that there are way too many sites out there. So imagine my delight when I saw a tweet from http://www.environmentteam.com.

This site isn’t big on preaching the environmental mantra, but instead operates on the adage that a picture is words a thousand words, maybe more. This site will show you all the coolest new green gadgets, tell you cool green factiods, and connect you to a blog that will allow you to delve deeper into all of the aforementioned and more.

Environment Team is an extremely interesting site, especially if you’re interested in what’s out there on the cutting edge of green technology and where to find it.