CleanMyCity.org

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:19:00 +0000

Making some changes...

Eat Local - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (ercy) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Lately I've come across more and more articles on eating locally grown food, so I thought I'd share a few of them.

Mother Earth News just posted a new article on eating locally grown food all year long. It includes tips on canning, drying, and extending the growing period. I had a late start with my garden this year, but am getting a lot of tomatoes, peas, and herbs towards the end of this growing season.

The Daily Green published four steps to a local menu and 10 Visionaries Delivering Local, Organic, and Healthy Foods.

For those of you living in Colorado, Kansas City, Michigan, and in the East, check out Door to Door Organics. I plan to sign up for this! You can select boxes of locally grown organic fruits, veggies, or both to be delivered to your home or workplace. Each week's selections vary - I think this is great because, as a friend of mine mentioned, it gives buyers an opportunity to learn how to cook with different ingredients.

Eat Local

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:52:00 +0000

I'm not a Canadian but I thought this was a pretty cool and eye opening video:

Hellmann’s - It’s Time for Real from CRUSH on Vimeo.

SOCRRA Recycling 101 Workshop, July 9, 630p at REI

noreply@blogger.com (ercy) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:01:00 +0000

SOCCRA, the organization which handles the recycling program in Troy and surrounding communities, is holding a "Free Recycling 101 Workshop" tomorrow, Thursday, July 9, 630-730p at REI in Troy, MI. REI is located on the southwest corner of Big Beaver and Rochester (766 E. Big Beaver Road, in the same plaza as Burger King, PetSmart, Nordstrom Rack, & LA Fitness). The workshop will explain what we can recycle, how we can make better decisions before purchasing a product, and how to handle the disposal of items such as paint, pesticides, televisions, old computers, medicine, etc.

SOCRRA RECYCLING 101 WORKSHOP
REI
766 E. Big Beaver Road (west of Rochester Rd)
Thursday, July 9
630-730p
No reservations needed - just show up

* WORKSHOP INFO *
http://www.socrra.org/pdf/Press%20Release%20-%20REI%20Workshop.pdf

* IT PAYS TO RECYCLE *
There are a lot of recyclable items which are being thrown out in the trash and it is actually costing the SOCRRA community (Berkley, Beverly Hills, Birmingham, Clawson, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Lathrup Village, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, and Troy, MI) almost $3 million per year. 37,000 tons (74 million pounds) of recyclable materials are being thrown in the trash which is a huge shame - and a big waste of taxpayer dollars because we are paying a cost to put these items in a landfill. The more you recycle, the more we all save on our taxes. And I agree with a neighbor of mine who sent a note to other neighbors a while back about the papers blowing around our streets - it's much better to retrieve them and put them in your recycling bin than to see them making a mess.

* WHAT TO RECYCLE IN YOUR BIN *
There are so many items we can recycle, including:
Plastic hangers
Drink/Juice boxes
Paper
Cardboard
Newspapers
Magazines
Batteries
Glass bottles & jars
Milk cartons
Paper cups
All plastic containers

For a complete, 2-page list:
http://www.socrra.org/pdf/2009-2010%20Curbside%20Recycling%20Guidelines%20web%20res.pdf

* WHAT TO BRING TO THE SOCRRA DROP OFF CENTER *
http://www.socrra.org/pdf/SOCRRA_Drop_Off-Flyer_web_res.pdf

A few weeks ago, I took my old microwave, old paint cans, old computer monitor, and other potentially hazardous waste to the SOCRRA center on 14 mile and Coolidge. It took less than 10 minutes to drop off the items. And what a relief it was to know that all of those plastic bags I've accumulated will be recycled into other items instead of going into the landfill - and it saves taxpayer dollars. It was wonderful to see children there with their parents dropping off items - they are learning to help save our earth for generations to come.

I hope the workshop and this information will help inspire people to recycle, keep our community clean, and oh, did I mention something about saving taxpayer dollars?

happy earth day!

noreply@blogger.com (ercy) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Happy Earth Day to all!
In celebration of Earth Day 2009, many businesses have green offers available today only. Let's show them that we care by participating in these offers, encouraging the green revolution! Here are a few links a friend sent to me today.

Get a free roll of Reynolds recycled alum foil – today only:

http://reynoldsrecycled.com/rebate.aspx

Free reusable tote at Walgreens with purchase (must print coupon)

http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/onlineoffers/default.html?ban=flh1_earth_day

At the Disney stores, free gift for bringing in three plastic water bottles:

http://disneyshopping.go.com/disney/store/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10002&storeId=10051&categoryId=59503&langId=-1

Free Ecosmart CFL bulb today!

http://www6.homedepot.com/earthday/index.html

Happy Earth Day - and don't forget that Arbor Day is just around the corner.

Happy Earth Day

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:23:00 +0000

Happy Earth day.

Interesting gas use

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:46:00 +0000

I ran across this and had to re-blog it.

Found Here

Bamboo Mountain bike...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:22:00 +0000

So how cool is this:

Craig Calfee designed the bamboo bike as a publicity stunt in 1995, Craig's bamboo errand bike evolves into a well-tested new model for the general public. 12 Bamboo bikes had been built for employees, relatives and friends. The feedback on the smooth ride quality was too good to ignore, so they decided to go into production.

You can check out Craig's site Here.

Talk about making the most out of nature. It is too bad that the price tag is $2700.

Photo: James Merithew/Wired.com

Welcome 2009. A recap of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:01:00 +0000

It is amazing how time eases by us minute after minute, day after day, and year after year. Sometimes if you are not paying close attention to things they can pass right on by. 2008 was a busy year with loads of interesting events happened in our world. Here are a few very cool things that I was able to accomplish in 2008 that were CMC related:

1. I was able to recycle all of my household paper in 2008, including all my mail, all my packaging boxes - from food items to household product packaging - everything cardboard. I also recycled all plastic items, glass items, and aluminum.

2. I was able to set up recycling for both of the offices that I work at. Not only do they now recycle all the paper in the office but all of the cardboard shipping boxes that come in to our warehouse as well. Literally several tons a month of cardboard and paper. I was able to arrange containers and removal and save several hundred dollars a year in waste management costs for the company. Very cool.

3. I was able to cut my electricity usage by almost 20% from the previous year buy unplugging everything when it was not in use. Tv, computer, fax, phone... you would be amazed at home much juice these things can eat up even when they are turned off. I picked one of THESE up and tested everything out in my house. Very cool. If anyone would like to use this just let me know. I would be more than happy to let anyone borrow mine. Only takes a few minutes and you can check out everything in your house.

1 MILLION New TREES!!! How cool.

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:07:00 +0000

I know I am a little behind on this news, it was originally released back in October. But this morning I drove by people planting truck loads of new trees along the high way and drainage canals by my house so I did a little digging and found out what it is all about.

This is an article from Chron.com:

A million new trees will thicken our canopy
By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 6, 2008, 11:23PM

Conceding it never will have mountains nor the Mediterranean, Mayor Bill White on Monday boasted Houston is "a green city that is beautiful to look at from the air and from the ground."

White's comments came as he announced city participation in Million Trees + Houston, a multimillion-dollar public-private partnership to plant more than a million trees in the city in the next five years.

"Our big public goal," said White, "is to plant more trees than we ever have."

Starting with a $750,000 budget, the city plans to plant at least 150,000 trees, starting in September, White said.

Joining in the effort are the Texas Department of Transportation, which has agreed to plant 513,000 trees on highway rights of way; Harris County, planting 275,000-plus trees; Trees for Houston and Texas Forest Service, each planting 10,000-plus trees; and corporate sponsors, management districts and other civic groups, planting more than 150,000 trees.

Other cities do the same.

Launch of the project, modeled after similar efforts in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, coincides with the loss of tens of thousands of trees during Hurricane Ike.

At city parks and golf courses alone, Parks and Recreation Director Joe Turner said, more than 3,500 trees were lost.

Mack Fowler of the Quality of Life Coalition in Houston said the effort would help "put Houston on the map as an extraordinary tree city." The city's goal, he said, is to plant the trees in five years — half the time earmarked for similar projects in the larger cities.

"You're going to see trees in a very near term," Fowler said.

White endorsed trees as boons to the environment because they absorb carbon dioxide, aid in flood prevention, provide shade and serve as buffers against violent winds.

White said he has solicited the participation of large businesses in the program, asking that they give their employees "the gift of trees" in the coming holidays.
"I'm not saying turkeys don't have their place," he said, "but trees are a gift that lasts 70 to 80 years."

This year and next, the city will match one-third of corporate donations of up to $1.5 million. Among the areas the city plans to target for tree plantings are Wayside Drive, Dairy Ashford and Cullen Boulevard. On Cullen, the city intends to plant 4,500 trees on 38 esplanades.

White said a variety of trees in a variety of sizes, from seedlings to trees in 15-gallon containers, will be planted.

"We're going to plant like crazy from mid-September through February," he said.

White lauded the efforts of the Texas Department of Transportation, which has planted more than 600,000 trees along Houston roadways since 1999.

Pagoda Trees

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:40:00 +0000

A few years back (2006) I purchased a packet of 10 Pagoda tree seeds on ebay. I planted them and decided that It would be pretty cool to take photos of their growth. Five of the seeds made it and below is a collection of photographs documenting the growth and life from seed of those Pagoda trees. I started taking photos every day, and then every week, and currently I am taking photos every month. It is pretty amazing how a little tiny seed can transform into a tree in just a matter of time.

The Pagoda Tree (Chinese Scholar, Japanese pagodatree; syn. Sophora japonica), is native to eastern Asia (mainly China; despite the name, it is introduced in Japan), is a popular ornamental tree in Europe and North America, grown for its white flowers, borne in late summer after most other flowering trees have long finished flowering. It makes a broad, spreading tree to 10-20 m tall and as much broad.

The Pagoda Tree is widely used in bonsai gardening. The Guilty Chinese Scholartree was a historic Pagoda Tree in Beijing, on which the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen, hanged himself.

Click below to see all of the Pagoda photos:

How to grow your own, apple.

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:19:00 +0000

It is easier than most people think to plant and grow an apple tree. The biggest part is just patience. If you plant a small apple tree, it will take about three to four years for the tree to mature and start to bear fruit. Growing apple trees from seeds will take upwards of ten years before your trees will produce a edible crop.

Apple seeds need to be started indoors. This can be done in one of two ways: you can place some apple seeds into a paper towel. Fold the paper towel over into a small square. Keep the paper towel wet, and place it in your refrigerator. Keep checking the seeds and keeping them moist. In a week or so, your apple seeds will sprout. They are now ready to plant outside. Or, you can use a paper cup filled with potting soil to start your seeds. Dig a shallow hole in the middle of the potting soil and plant the apple seeds there. Set the container on a sunny windowsill and keep the soil moistened. In a week or so, the apple seeds will sprout. They will then be ready to plant outside.

Once the apple seeds have sprouted, you will be ready to plant them outside. Choose a location that receives a lot of sunlight. Use a shovel or a rototiller to loosen up a fairly good size patch of soil. Rake the rocks, sticks, and other debris from this patch. Dig two shallow holes. Divide your apple seeds and plant them between the two holes. Cover around them with dirt firmly. Keep them watered and keep the ground free of weeds. You can place a clean glass jar upside over each apple tree to help protect it from the elements and from animals. If you are planting several rows of trees, as in an orchard, the rows should be planted approximately thirty to thirty-five feet apart. This will give you plenty of room to spray, prune, and otherwise care for the apple trees after they have matured.

After your apple tree has grown up to a height of about two or three feet, it is now time to stake it up. Simply use a stake or a thin strip of sturdy wood that measures about four feet long. Pound the stake or wood strip into the ground about four inches from the apple tree. Leave about three and a half feet of the stake or wood strip exposed. Use a piece of an old rag, or, a leg of an old pair of pantyhose to loosely tie the tree to the stake or wood strip. The rag, or pantyhose, and the stake will help support the apple tree and help it to grow straight. Wind, heavy rains, et cetera, can bend the young tree over if it doesn't have anything to support it.

20,000 New Trees For Detroit...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:31:00 +0000

Joe Rossiter from the Detroit Free Press writes,

The future of Detroit looks much greener, ecologically speaking, thanks to a budding partnership between the city and the Greening of Detroit announced Wednesday in a park on the city's west side.

The Walter Meyers Nursery, an abandoned 125-acre parcel in Rouge Park that has been dormant for more than three years, is to be used to provide the city with an efficient means of reforesting the landscape. Plans call for the planting of more than 20,000 trees on nursery property in the first eight years. The trees would be grown from young seedlings for three to five years before they are replanted in public places like parks and school grounds.

"Today is a cause for celebration because it presents a great opportunity for a partnership to blossom," said Rebecca Salminen-Witt, president of Greening of Detroit.

The partnership was blocked in July by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union with the largest number of city workers. The union objected to the use of private workers, even if volunteers, to do nursery work once done by city employees.

But an arbitrator ruled against the union, which also is objecting to a plan to have Greening of Detroit plant trees in city-owned rights-of-way.

Greening of Detroit is a nonprofit organization established in 1989 to promote the reforestation of Detroit.

With the help of volunteers and community organizations, the group has been planting nearly 2,000 trees a year in the spring and fall.

Source

Greening of Detroit is a 501 (c)(3) not for profit organization, established in 1989 to guide and inspire the reforestation of Detroit. Our latest strategic plan reflects commitment to a clear sense of direction that will guide the organization's development over the next five years.

A new vision was established, expanding The Greening's mission to guide and inspire others to create a 'greener' Detroit through planting and educational programs environmental leadership, advocacy, and by building community capacity.

Give me some O2

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:56:00 +0000

Air filtration is becoming a huge business today. With the EPA finding indoor air up to 90% more contaminated than the air outside, People are developing asthma and allergies at higher rates than ever before. Here is a very cool way to help the air in your home or office with no electricity needed at all.

Yup. Good ole plants to save the day. Now don't get me wrong, if you can afford to have a powerful air filtration unit in your home or office then by all means go for it, but if your on a budget or just want to green the place up a bit, then pay a visit to your local green house or plant supplier and get some live plants in your place.

NASA has even researched the use of plants for a number of great uses. They have found that living plants are so efficient at absorbing contaminants in the air that some will be launched into space as part of the biological life support system aboard future orbiting space stations. NASA is also looking at using plants to grow food in space for the astronauts to eat. Which brings us to another awesome benefit.

Not only can you have plants in your home for cleaning the air but depending on what your growing, you can spice up your meals as well.

Share your plants with us Here

And you thought LEDs were efficient...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:18:00 +0000

GE leaves behind the old school light bulbs for LEDs and OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes).

GE Has been working on OLEDS for a while now and they hope to have them for sale by 2010. Below is an interesting article about this technology.

OLEDs are thin, organic materials sandwiched between two electrodes, which illuminate when an electrical charge is applied. They represent the next evolution in lighting products. Their widespread design capabilities will provide an entirely different way for people to light their homes or businesses. Moreover, OLEDs have the potential to deliver dramatically improved levels of efficiency and environmental performance, while achieving the same quality of illumination found in traditional products in the marketplace today with less electrical power.

“Researchers have long dreamed of making OLEDs using a newspaper-printing like roll-to-roll process,” said Anil Duggal, manager of GE’s Advanced Technology Program in Organic Electronics. “Now we’ve shown that it is possible. Commercial applications in lighting require low manufacturing costs, and this demonstration is a major milestone on our way to developing low cost OLED lighting devices.”

Duggal continued, “Beyond OLEDs, this technology also could have broader impact in the manufacturing of other organic electronic devices such as organic photovoltaics for solar energy conversion, sensors and roll-up displays.”

“For businesses, architects, lighting designers and anyone interested in pushing the envelope to achieve increasingly energy-efficient lighting — and vastly expanded lighting design capabilities — today marks the day that viable, commercialized OLED lighting solutions are coming into view,” said Michael Petras, GE Consumer & Industrial’s Vice President of Electrical Distribution and Lighting. “We have more work to do before we can give customers access to GE-quality OLED solutions, but it’s now easier to envision OLEDs becoming another high-efficiency GE offering, like LEDs, fluorescent or halogen.”

The demonstration of a low-cost, roll-to-roll process for OLED lighting represents the successful completion of a four-year, $13 million research collaboration among GE Global Research, Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENER) and the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goal of the collaboration was to demonstrate a cost-effective system for the mass production of organic electronics products such as flexible electronic paper displays, portable TV screens the size of posters, solar powered cells and high-efficiency lighting devices.

ECD Senior Vice President Nancy Bacon said, “This program was a major step in developing high volume roll-to-roll manufacturing for OLEDs and other organic semiconductor devices. The success of this program is testimony to the effectiveness of NIST’s advanced technology program model, and our 20-year history of pioneering research in roll-to-roll technology. We currently are utilizing this technology to mass produce our flexible, durable and lightweight UNI-SOLAR brand solar laminates. ECD looks forward to continuing collaboration with GE to further develop this technology for future commercialization.”

GE researchers provided the organic electronics technology and were responsible for developing the roll-to-roll processes, while ECD provided its unique roll-to-roll equipment-building expertise to build the machine that manufactures the OLED devices. The machine is being utilized for further manufacturing research at GE’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna, New York.

The development of this low cost roll-to-roll manufacturing process has the potential to eliminate the manufacturing hurdles that currently exist in preventing a more widespread adoption of high performance organic electronics technologies such as OLED lighting. The unique commercial equipment and technology needed to enable high performance-based organic electronics products does not currently exist. The few organic electronics products on the market today are made with more conventional batch processes and are relatively high cost. A roll-to-roll manufacturing infrastructure that enables high performance and low cost devices will allow a more widespread adoption of organic electronics products.

GE’s OLED Research Program

GE, as part of its ecomagination initiative, has made substantial investments in OLED research that has resulted in world records for OLED lighting device size and efficiency. In 2004, researchers were able to demonstrate an OLED device that was fully functional as a 24-inch by 24-inch panel, which produced 1,200 lumens of light with an efficiency on par with today’s incandescent bulb technology. This was the first demonstration that OLED technology potentially could be used for lighting applications. Since then, GE has more than doubled the level of OLED efficiency using device architectures that are scalable to a large area and can be produced cost-effectively.

The efforts to increase the efficiency and performance of OLED lighting have coincided with the development of a low-cost, roll-to-roll process for manufacturing these devices. The ultimate goal of GE’s research program is to introduce OLED lighting products to market by the year 2010.

About GE Global Research

GE Global Research is one of the world's most diversified industrial research labs, providing innovative technology for all of GE's businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years, developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as medical imaging, energy generation technology, jet engines and lighting. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New York and has facilities in Bangalore, India, Shanghai, China and Munich, Germany. Visit GE Global Research at www.ge.com/research.

About Energy Conversion Devices

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENER) manufactures and sells thin-film solar laminates that convert sunlight to energy using proprietary technology. Distributed globally under the UNI-SOLAR® brand, the company's products are ideally suited for cost-effective solar roofing solutions because they are lightweight, durable, flexible, can be integrated directly with building materials, and generate more energy in real-world conditions. ECD also pioneers other alternative technologies, including a new type of non-volatile digital memory that is significantly faster and less expensive, and is ideal for a variety of applications including cell phones, digital cameras and personal computers. For more information, visit www.ovonic.com.

Source

Act The F*&k Now!

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:41:00 +0000

I saw this and thought it was really well done.

Houston Greens its traffic lights

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:03:00 +0000

I thought this was super cool. Houston has approved changing every single traffic light in the 500 square mile city from the old school 135 watt bulbs to 10 watt LED lights. This is costing the city 16 million to do, but it will save the city 10,000 dollars a day in electricity. What a great investment, within 4 years not only will these wattage savers completely pay for themselves but they will be putting about 3.6 million dollars a year after that back into the cities budget. Now that's smart.

In other cool news for Houston's Green efforts check out this article.

Houston is retrofitting municipal buildings to save not just the greenhouse gasses produced from wasted energy but to create a surplus of money saved in the process.

Good job Houston. Let's hope other cities follow suit. With all the economic issues we face today, it makes sense to do things that SAVE money.

Clean My City Flickr...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:21:00 +0000

Cool new additions to our Flickr group.

recycling paper

noreply@blogger.com (ercy) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:44:00 +0000

It seems that more and more paper recycling program bins are popping up in my neighborhood. It makes me happy to see this because the funds raised are put toward local fundraisers while helping save the earth. Did you know...

...that recycling helps decrease waste disposal by decreasing the volume in landfills?
...that recycling a stack of newspapers just three (3) feet tall will save one tree?

...that one ton of recycled paper used to make newsprint saves: 390 gallons of oil, 4100 kw hours of electricity, 7000 gallons of water, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space?

For information on how the Abitibi paper recycling process works, visit their site here.

Glass Recycling and more...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:35:00 +0000

Since moving to Houston last year I have been keeping all my glass to recycle once I found where to take it all, Thanks to the Recycling link I was able to find a place right down the street from me. 35 pounds of glass in total, and I was surprised that it wasn't more. I do not really use to many things made of glass so it was mostly pasta sauce jars, planter peanut jars, a few bottles of Stubbs, the best BBQ sauce, some beer bottles and some random other glass containers. My favorite part of recycling glass is the sound it makes when you toss it into the bin and it crashes into all the other glass.

Update on Clean My City: There has been a sharp increase in traffic last month and it is continuing into this month. More than triple the unique visitor traffic, which is awesome. I have decided to open this blog up to the public as well. If you would like to have posting rights on this blog feel free to Contact me.

Don't forget to share your photos with us on Flickr too.

"As the Island of the thousand temple, Bali become famous not just because the culture, but also the architectural. This is one of famous temple in Bali called Taman Ayun. Placed in Mengwi, near Denpasar - The capital of Bali Island.

Taman Ayun is a unique place with special cultural and historical significance for Hindus in Bali. It occupies a parcel of about 50,000 square meters, and has three main parts, each with a specific purpose. The most sacred ground is a shrine; the other two areas comprise meeting halls. A river, in places full of lotus and water lilies, runs nearby.

The island of Bali has long been characterized in the world as the last "paradise" on earth, a traditional society insulated from the modern world and its vicissitudes, whose inhabitants have exceptional artistic talents and consecrate a considerable amount of time and wealth to sumptuous ceremonies for their own pleasure and that of their gods. Therefore, the relation between the tangible and intangible aspects is a major aspect of the heritage and culture of Bali. The cultural heritage of the island goes way beyond physical structures and landscapes. More than anywhere else on the Indonesian peninsula an intricate connection exists between the built environment, the natural settings and the social and religious life.

Just come and see the beauty of Bali.
I can't guarantee that we can see more in few years later - many government policies not too good for cultural and nature and environmental life in Bali.
With Canon 400D + 10-22mm lens"

Image and description by Myudistira

Really Cool Website....

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:04:00 +0000

I found this really cool website last night.

Recyclingcenters.org

Not only does it let you enter in your zip code and show you a really cool google map with all of the recycling locations near you, it is LOADED with great info.

Check it out. You can even find recycling centers that handle the hard to recycle items.

Clean My City On Flickr...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:33:00 +0000

I found some cool photos in the Clean My City Flickr Group the other day and it sparked my interest enough to email the flickr member and ask her if she would mind sharing with us what she does to help our environment.

Here is a photo and below is what she had to say.

Theskywatcher

"I'm an environmental scientist, more specifically a hydro-geologist. I monitor groundwater and soil quality by taking samples, analyzing them, and write reports for the department of environmental conservation. My consultant company works only with gas stations, or sites that were previously gas stations. We're specifically looking for contaminants that are traceable to gasoline in the groundwater and soil.

These contaminants get into the ground via cracks in the gas tanks or pump piping and are deemed 'spills', and can be in the water and soil for years. We monitor most 'active spill' sites on a quarterly bases, as most of them show decreasing levels over time. Though if there's a problem at a site, with increasing levels, we are frequently there assessing clean-up and installing systems to help alleviate the contamination in the ground. for this, we work with environmental drillers to install monitoring wells on these sites and off-site in the direction of the groundwater flow to ensure that the contamination isn't moving any further.

That's about the gist of it.. Hopefully I've been able to provide a few interest points amongst the boring geeky details. I'd be glad to answer any questions you have if you need more info."

Cool stuff from cool people, Just sharing photos and ideas about what we do to impact our environment. Have a great weekend everyone.

Recycling Day...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:55:00 +0000

Today was recycling day for me. Two large overflowing bags of plastics. And one huge bag of shredded paper and cardboard. In the time that it took to generate these three bags for recycling I only put two bags of garbage out.

Update on my office. The 8 yard container is in place. 12 mini blue recycling bins are all around the office, see last post, and everyone is participating. It was slow at first because a lot of my coworkers have never recycled before. It became natural once they realized that its no more work to put paper in one bin and garbage in the other. It actually worked so well that our office over filled the container outside and we had to call the recycling company to come make a special pick up. * Which is partly just a nice way to say that we had a few bumps with the removal company, but those are all worked out now. The best part about this recycling is that our office was able to go with a smaller sized garbage dumpster, which has cut our waste removal fees dramatically. Which of course makes management happy. This has been a win win situation for everyone. I encourage anyone reading this post to set up recycling at your place of work. On average 43 percent of household garbage is a paper product that can be recycled and as much as 93% of all office waste is paper! Most of this is recyclable. Imagine if every office building had a recycling program. We need to start thinking how to be more efficient with what we do. Cites all over the planet are starting to implement recycling programs for their administration departments. Lets get the corporate world involved. The easiest way to do this is to show them that it saves money to recycle. I am going to keep track and let every one know how much our offices saves in waste removal fees. Maybe this will help to motivate others to join in.

Clean My City is doing well, this month is only half way through and the site has already had more visitors than in April, which was a high traffic month.

Keep it clean.

"new york city becomes grayer to me as the years go on" theskywatcher

Recycling bins for work...

noreply@blogger.com (CleanMyCity) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:32:00 +0000

Today I went and picked up 12 of these from Office Depot. I took them to my office and put them in everyones offices and in all the meeting rooms. I paid for this out of my own pocket because I want everyone at work to take full advantage of the 8 Yard container that a local company is suppling us for free. I have wrote about this before, but the short of the story is, I found a local company that recycles paper to make insulation material for homes. They are willing to supply us with a container and pick it up every week. This is great because all the waste disposal companies in town want to charge us money to recycle and this local company has agreed to do all of this for free.

Cool stuff. I will be updating my companies website soon to include a We Recycle link.
Feel free to share with us your recycling stories.

happy earth day!

noreply@blogger.com (ercy) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:53:00 +0000

After work today, I finally put together the Earth Day goodie bags. These included a reusable polypropylene tote bag that easily folds into a small zipped rectangle (perfect for stashing in the car or purse for shopping trips), a SIGG water bottle (no more styrofoam cups and plastic containers), local preserves, and a CFC bulb. Oh, and we cannot forget the CMC button to help spread the word.

I didn't have enough scrap paper to create the scratch pads, so I "scrapped" that idea - at least for now. I also needed to forego the bamboo item. Maybe next year.

So, on this Earth Day, I thought I'd share with you a couple links:

Treehugger.com - Information on how to green your home, a green gift guide, and how to get involved.

Polar Bear IQ Test - Beyond being endangered, what else do you know about these creatures? Take the test and find out for yourself.

Have a wonderful Earth Day - make a difference and make a lasting change!