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Buy Nothing Day? How about Buy Responsibly Month?
I’d be a hypocrite if I advocated for Buy Nothing Day (this Friday in the US and Saturday internationally). For one, I just got done compiling and editing some green gift lists.
Granted, this consumer boycott being advocated by AdBusters has its appeal. It says no to what has become an embarassing grab-fest of shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
I like the concept of the boycott: Send a message to those corporations that want to hijack your wallet this holiday season. Refuse to shop. We really do need to cool it on the consumerism to help re-chill our warming planet. It’s painfully obvious now that our rabid consumption of limited natural resources coupled with our willingness to trash stuff is destroying our planet. Here in the U.S., we’ve got a TV or computer in every room in many households, and they’ll be in the landfill soon because tech wizards come up with the next gen of electronics about 28 minutes after we’ve purchased the very latest “thing”. We’ve got food, and clothing and large houses enough to sustain multiple families. And it’s not just us. Asia’s got a taste for luxury. Sharks are being killed for their fins. Really?
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Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Fair Trade, green shopping, No Shopping Day, organic, re-gifting, Recycle & Reuse, responsible shopping, reusing, sustainable shopping
What goes around gets broken; fix it affordably at a bike co-op
By Chris Reinolds
Green Right Now
Isn’t it great when you can save green and go green at the same time?
[caption id="attachment_5826" align="alignright" width="284" caption="Sopo Bike Shop"]  [/caption]
For serious and recreational bicyclists, bike cooperatives across the country are meeting that need. They offer tools to fix your bike, volunteers to teach you how and the support to keep riding. Cooperatives are located in nearly every major city and supported by volunteers, grants and donations.
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Tags: · bicycles for commuting, bike cooperatives, Biking, DIY bike repair, green community groups, International Bicycle Fund, Recycle & Reuse, reusing, saving money by biking, Sopo Bicycle Cooperative
Give your shoes a new life
By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
[caption id="attachment_5704" align="alignright" width="206" caption="Photo: Nike"]  [/caption]
In just one year, 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away. These shoes end up in landfills across the US. Not only do these shoes not easily break down, the glue that holds a shoe together is toxic. So instead of adding to the growing trash problem, give your shoes a new life. What’s old to you, could be a playground for someone else thanks to Nike.
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Tags: · Container Recycling Institute, Nike, Nike Grind Rubber, Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program, Recycle & Reuse, recycled athletic surfaces, recycled shoes
The scoop on poop: Dairy operations power themselves
By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now
Okay, here’s the poop on cow power: Dairy farmers from Wisconsin to Vermont are learning that they – and their bovine partners – can produce more than milk and manure. By converting the methane from cow patties  into electricity, rural farms can provide their community with power – and in the process, eliminate the odors associated with dairy farming.
“The neighbors like it,” quips Steve Costello of the Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS)’s Cow Power program, which supplies 4,000 customers with the help of 6,000 cows. “You can have a barbecue on the Fourth of July without worrying the dairy farm next door is going spread some manure and wipe everyone out!”
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Tags: · biogas, biogas from manure, cow power, Cow Power program, Crave farms, Dairy, dairy farms, digester, Electricity, Farming, Farmstead Classics cheeses, livestock waste, manure, manure digesters, manure fertilizer, manure recapture, Recycle & Reuse, Vermont, Wisconsin
Las Vegas does green glam with new City Center project
By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now
Las Vegas, that city of celebrated excess, is going green?
In a word, yes – at least, in one concentrated area.
The soon-to-debut CityCenter, a seven-building luxury development created by MGM Mirage and Infinity World Development Corps, a subsidiary of Dubai World is slated to open in stages from early December 2009 into [...]
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Tags: · City Center, Dubai World, energy efficiency, Las Vegas, LEED certified, MGM Mirage, Recycle & Reuse, sustainable development, urban density
Aeonian brick – ‘Legos’ for people who want greener, hurricane-safe homes
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
While people scurry to devise new green components for homes, Don Blalock is in the enviable position of launching one that he’s been nursing along for the last six years.
 His Aeonian brick will build houses that are significantly more energy efficient than conventional homes; help them qualify for LEED platinum certification and withstand hurricane force winds up to 240 mph. They’ll also resist heat, mold, mildew and termites, says Blalock whose goal is to build “the most structurally sound house that’s livable that will last for a very long time.”
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Tags: · Aeonian Brick Homes, building material, Charleston, Don Blalock, energy efficiency, energy savings, green building, hurricane-resistant, LEED certification, low-energy homes, Recycle & Reuse, repurposing, zero energy homes
Texas governor rejects TV recycling bill
By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
Texas Gov. Rick Perry surprised environmentalists, among others, when he recently vetoed the TV Take Back Bill (HB 821), would would have allowed Texans to recycle their outdated televisions for free as part of the necessary switch away from analog to digital TV.
It was a defeat for Texas environmentalists who not only had the support of local governments but TV manufacturers as well.
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Tags: · analog TV, computer recycling, digital TV, Electronics, Recycle & Reuse, Texas, Texas Campaign for the Environment, TV Take Back
Schools go net-zero in Kentucky and win national award
By Diane Porter
Green Right Now
There’s a shiny green report card out in Warren County, Kentucky this month.
The county’s school district won the Alliance to Save Energy’s 2009 Andromeda Award for its programs, which include $4 million in energy savings over the last five years, a 28 percent energy use reduction, a daily curriculum that focuses on energy efficiency and Energy Star ratings on four buildings. But the star of their show undoubtedly is the new Richardsville Elementary, a Warren County School on target to become the nation’s first net zero energy public school when it opens in fall of 2010 (see photo above).
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Tags: · 2009 Andromeda Award, Alliance to Save Energy, energy efficiency in schools, Energy Star, geothermal power, Green Schools, Kentucky, LEED certification, net zero school, Recycle & Reuse, Richardsville Elementary, Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects, Solar Power, Warren County
Reuse Warehouse opening in Houston
By Laura Elizabeth May
Green Right Now
Count the city of Houston among the growing number of municipalities and groups gathering up old stuff — to keep it out of the landfill and recycle it for new uses.
 In this case, Houston is now accepting donations of construction and home materials, which will be made available to any nonprofit organization at no charge.
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Tags: · building materials, Building Materials Reuse Warehouse, Houston, landfill, non-profits, Recycle & Reuse, sustainability
Half Price Books and Hurricane Ike
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Used books — what a great and cheap way to cultivate green practices. My eldest son and I visited the flagship Half Price books in Dallas over the weekend, prowling for music, plays and health books. (We didn’t have time to roam for literature.) I shed about two dozen used paperbacks, garnering a $4 credit, and we found, well, a bit of this and that to take back home.
The Half Price in near North Dallas is an awesome place the size of at least two gymnasiums. On a Saturday, the parking lot is packed, the indoor coffee shop overflows, the massage chair is occupied and there’s a continual line at the intake desk where workers decide what they’ll pay for your trade-ins. There’s an abundance of good cheer and you can always strike up a chat with someone in “History” or “Drama” or especially in the children’s section, where recommendations fly. And you’ll always fit in, somewhere in there, whether you’ve got a beard, a cane, a dozen tattoos, a half dozen kids, a passion for Henry James or Lemony Snicket.
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Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Caribbean Islands, Galveston, Half Price Books, Hurricane Ike, Recycle & Reuse, tree planting, used books
Green jobs — Stories of hope
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
With unemployment at a 25-year peak, it’s sometimes difficult to find the good news. The silver lining.
You have to look for it. Sometimes you have to pull up a curtain, or crawl behind the scenes, but we believe it’s there: a green jobs revolution.
OK. Maybe the revolution is more of a restless assemblage, a loose gathering on the horizon than a storming of the palace. But we’ll take it. When we started looking into it, we discovered that green jobs are bubbling up in so many sectors. They’re rewarding, forward-looking and surprisingly well-paying.
The people we’ve been talking to about their planet-preserving employment are beyond enthused. Whether they’re in recycling, home building, organic baking, new energy or water conservation, so many green-collar workers in these new (and some old) jobs see a bright future. Just read their stories, which begin today on GreenRightNow in our Business section.
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Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Energy Conservation, Green jobs, Home/Commercial Building, new energy, Organics, Recycle & Reuse, Water Conservation
My Green Job: Susan Casias, manager of shredding
Susan Casias, 47, Houston, Texas
Area Shred Manager for Houston’s Greenstar Security Destruction
What I do: I oversee the shredding operations for Greenstar Security Destruction, a division of Greenstar Recycling, North America.
How it helps:
Greenstar is a recycling plant. I handle sales and operations for the document destruction (shredding) division which is AAA certified by the National Association for Information Destruction to destroy hard drives and paper. Our certification requires us to recycle the shredded paper through mills that use a bleaching and hydro-pulping process. So, basically, we prevent crime and save the planet. (I tell my employees they’re superheroes.)
How I got here:
I’ve been in sales since I’m 17 years old. I’ve been in sales management for the last 20 years. I stumbled upon this opportunity when I was laid off from my previous job about 2 years ago. I originally applied for the Recycle Sales position. When the General Manager saw my resume and I told him how I was a victim of identity theft, we both agreed that the shredding division is where I belong.
Where I’m going:
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Tags: · Green jobs, Greenstar Security Destruction, My Green Job, Recycle & Reuse, shredding, Susan Casias
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