This is really cool – I hope it catches on and is a huge success! Free Green Can is a brilliant idea!
June 19, 2009
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com
Chicago already has more than 2,000 bus shelters and sidewalk billboards that carry advertising and generate sorely needed revenue.
How about ad-bearing recycling bins?
City Hall has given Aurora-based Free Green Can the go-ahead to install its free recycling containers at city festivals this summer to test a concept already in place in downtown Oswego and at the Schaumburg Flyers stadium.
Chief Environmental Officer Sadhu Johnston disclosed the summer test after company officials were seen wheeling one of the ad-bearing containers into Johnston’s City Hall office earlier this week.
“It’s intriguing. All good ideas are intriguing,” he said, refusing to reveal the city’s potential share of ad revenue.
Here are some random yet brilliant uses for vinegar and baking soda…
White Vinegar:
Make sure to use good quality white vinegar, some low cost brands are made with petroleum which is a hazardous chemical. Heinz is a good brand making their white vinegar from grain and water.
*Fruit & Veggie wash – removes pesticides. Mix water and white vinegar in a 3:1 ratio in a spray bottle. Spray produce and rinse with water.
*Remove coffee stains on mugs and coffee pots by wiping white vinegar over spots. Rinse clean.
*Remove labels or sticky glue residue – just wipe with vinegar
*Grind vinegar ice cubes in your garbage disposal to deodorize and sharpen blades.
*Pour vinegar into your toilet bowl, let sit for 10 minutes and flush to remove stains and bacteria.
*Boil vinegar and pour down clogged drains to unstop pipes.
Baking Soda:
*Sprinkle a little bit of baking soda on your carpets, let sit for 10 minutes and vacuum. It will deodorize and absorb odors.
*Place an open box of baking soda in your refrigerator and freezer to deodorize. Replace every 3 months.
*Remove scuff marks on linoleum or tile by wiping a damp sponge dipped in baking soda over the spots.
*Give old sponges a second chance by soaking overnight in baking soda and water.
*It wipes away crayon, pencil or scuff marks from your walls – rub gently over spots with a rag.
The Roly Poly at 29 S LaSalle in Chicagois making an effort to be more eco-conscious. Today when I ordered and asked for them not to put it in a bag, the owner quickly showed me the deli paper that they’re switching to. It is bio-degradable! I was so excited to see them make this change. I’m not a fan of the fact that they automatically put the sandwich in a bag without asking if you want one (places like Jimmy John’s always ask me), but hopefully some people reuse or recycle the bag. However, I am so happy they’re switching from non-recyclable deli wrap paper to bio-degradable paper! Great effort on their part!!
If you haven’t already been to Roly Poly, GO! They have fabulous wraps, soup and salads and I love supporting businesses that are making efforts to be GREEN!
I think this is the coolest thing – I don’t have any kids yet but I know that kids get tons of crap that they like for a few months and then it ends up forgotten in the corner. Not only does this help to streamline for your child to get one awesome gift but it also helps to teach them about the importance of giving to charity, while eliminating the gifts that eventually would end up in the landfill.
An ECHOage birthday party is a unique opportunity for you and your child to do something extraordinary – to improve the world – together.
Here’s how: Guests are invited to an ECHOage birthday party online. Instead of bringing a wrapped and packaged present, guests simply RSVP and give a secure online contribution. It’s that easy. ECHOage pools all of the contributions. The birthday child chooses ONE special birthday present from all their friends and makes a donation to the charity of their choice.
ECHOage will arrange everything, so no need for your guests to drive, shop, wrap or even pick up the phone to make a donation.
As you may have noticed from my posts, yesterday was World Refugee Day. If you were so moved to do something to make a difference, here is some advice…
(I thought donating via mobil phone is AWESOME!! I did it – you should too! It will be charged on your monthly cell phone bill – for more info on how it works go to hmgf.org/t)
Donate: Pakistan Emergency Appeal
A large-scale humanitarian crisis is gaining pace in Pakistan. As a result of fighting between government forces and militants in the north-west, about 2.3 million people have become displaced. The situation is worsening by the day.
Make a donation to the Gimme Shelter appeal and help UNHCR provide shelter, water and emergency supplies for people forced to flee their homes in Pakistan.
US$80 provides 20 wool blankets to protect refugees from the cold.
US$100 provides a survival kit to a refugee family, with essentials such as blankets, cooking and heating stove.
US$200 provides an all-season tent to shelter a family of 5.
US$500 sinks two wells to provide clean water for refugees.
US$1,000 provides a therapeutic feeding kit to feed 100 children.
There Are Many Ways You Can Give
using your mobile telephone in the United States Text SWAT to 20222 to donate US$5 to UNHCR and provide tents, clothing, food, and medicine to displaced people in Pakistan.
You can also donate by mail at:
UNHCR Private Sector Fund-Raising
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Switzerland
“On this World Refugee Day, let us remember that refugees too are real people with real needs. Helping them to rebuild their lives and their communities benefits us all.”
– High Commissioner António Gutteres
The Pesticide Action Network just launched an awesome new database with a tool that allows you to search for a particular food, review the pesticide residues that have been found on it and learn what the human health effects are from those pesticides.
I recently received a newsletter from ReusableBags.com – an online store that I love and is a big supporter of the bag fee Seattle is pushing for. Modeled after the PlasTax in Ireland, it is a fabulous way to encourge people to use reusable bags over disposable bags. I thought it would be great to share their newsletter with you – this would be great if Seattle adops this tax – maybe it would encourage other US cities to follow!
Thanks to ResuableBags.com for helping to publicize this issue! Please check them out online – they’re a great company – as of 2009, they’ve donated over $140,000 to environmental organizations. Together, we are making a difference!
In the six years this company has been around, Seattle’s proposed bag fee is the most important piece of legislation we’ve seen to help reduce the consumption of “use-and-toss” bags. It’s the first bag fee of its kind in the U.S. and is based on Ireland’s PlasTax, a proven solution to the plastic bag problem.
“We’re following the lead of Ireland… not just for Seattle, but to provide a model for other cities as well.” – Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Listen to his voicemail to our founder.
A Call for Help
When Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels called us for help in supporting the Seattle bag fee, we jumped on board, donating $5,000 to the Seattle Green Bag Campaign. Check out their eye-opening video in our sidebar. The fee is a simple, proven, market-based solution to over consumption, encouraging consumers to change their habits by reducing and reusing. If the bag fee passes, there’s great potential for this model to take hold in the U.S. It’s important for all of us to help make it happen!
What You Can Do
1. Visit the campaign’s site for more information and donate directly to the campaign.2. Spread the word. If you’re a blogger or reporter, cover the story.3. Help support our efforts so we can continue to support causes like this. Your purchases count!
About the Fee
Based on Ireland’s extremely successful PlasTax, which reduced plastic bag consumption by more than 90%, Seattle’s bag fee is a smart way to reduce consumption of “use-and-toss” bags. Last year, the American Chemistry Council poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into a coalition to stop the fee, which was originally supposed to go into effect on Jan. 1. The measure is now up for vote in August – an urgent opportunity to stand up to big industry.
Quick facts:
$0.20 charge per disposable plastic or paper bag handed out at grocery, drug and convenience store checkout lines.
Stores with profits under $1 million keep 100% of the money generated by the fee. Stores with larger profits must return 75% of fee revenue.
80% of fee revenue will go toward waste prevention, recycling programs and environmental education programs. The remainder will go toward subsidizing reusable bags.
The fee will dramatically reduce the number of resource-consuming bags that would harm wildlife, litter the city or spend eternity in landfills. Just look at the PlasTax, which reduced plastic bag consumption -from 1.2 billion to 230 million- in just one year. We’re talking serious change.
Expected results:
Dramatic reduction in plastic bag consumption by more than 90%
Less unsightly, unhealthy litter
Saves millions of liters of oil used in the production of plastic bags
High-quality reusable shopping bags will become the socially-acceptable option (New York Times)
To learn more, check out our no-nonsense rebuttals to 10 common PlasTax myths.
