Great Lakes Green Pages

Time for the Solar Tour!

2010-09-07T16:48:50Z

October 2-3, 2010 – Annual Ohio Solar Tour.Green Energy Ohio welcomes the annual 2010 Ohio Solar Tour! Green Energy Ohio is the Ohio Chapterof the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), and GEO’s 8th Annual Ohio Solar Tour is part of theNational Solar Tour managed by ASES. This FREE statewide event on October 2 & 3 provides the uniqueopportunity for people to select from 200+ open houses or a few guided tours. Attendees will have theopportunity to talk with owners living and working with clean energy technologies.”The economic benefits of investing in clean energy technologies have never been better. Learn howfriends and neighbors are combating rising energy costs, slashing utility bills, reaping rich cashincentives and big new tax credits. Visit an Ohio farm powered by wind, a home heated and cooled byground source heat pumps, a commercial building supplemented by solar electricity, or a school with a’living-machine’ and LEED certified dorms. Alternative energy solutions can be found in all 88 Ohiocounties…learn about opportunities for all Ohioans to invest in a brighter, cleaner future by joiningGreen Energy Ohio during the 8th annual Ohio Solar Tour, Saturday and Sunday, October 2nd and 3rd.”How to Participate: Visit the Ohio Solar Tour Welcome Page on the GEO website(www.GreenEnergyOhio.org). Read the detailed information on creating a ‘self-guided tour’ to openhouse sites (a few organized guided tours will be available as well). Once directed to the Search Page,you will be able to build your ‘self-guided tour’ by selecting the following criteria you are interested in:location, date & time, type of building, and type of technology. Using Google Maps, you can print amap, directions and description of each site on your ‘self-guided tour.’ Enjoy your clean energy journeyacross the Buckeye State!Sponsors: Green Energy Ohio, The Ohio Department of Development, The Gund Foundation, AmericanElectric Power, The University of Finlay, Third Sun Solar, AstrumSolar, Ameridian, Dovetial Solar & Wind,Extreme Solar and The American Solar Energy Society.Contacts:Northeast/Northwest Ohio: Athan Barkoukis; (216) 526-5545; Athan@GreenEnergyOhio.orgCentral/Southeast Ohio: Sarah Straley; (614) 985-6131; Sarah@GreenEnergyOhio.orgSouthwest Ohio: Jack Clock; (513) 604-7251; Jack.Clock@GreenEnergyOhio.org

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Composting on a large scale with EnviroPure

2010-09-07T21:00:50Z

This is a guest post by a rep from EnviroPure. While I have not used this product, or seen it in action, the company seems to be gaining ground and market share. At one of our recent meetings of the Zero Waste Network, we discussed how food waste is one of the biggest contributors to office waste. That being true, then we know that food waste must be huge at restaurants, food courts and cafeterias. This is a product that could make a huge difference in those areas. Composting can be very difficult in an urban environment, and even in a suburban one. Image a restaurant or food service facility that can compost most or all of its food wast-how much would that help them to achieve a zero waste goal? Could we hope to start seeing these around Cleveland?

I would like to introduce Opus EnviroPure Systems food waste elimination technology. It is essentially a hyper-accelerated composting process which eliminates food waste onsite. Each system is custom-manufactured right here in the Midwest. Food service facilities will no longer need to incur costs collecting and transporting food wastes from the kitchen to loading dock and beyond. Generally food waste is totally disintegrated within 24 hours. The process is simple. Food is placed into an onsite sealed system which prevents access by vermin and insects. The continual feed system eliminates food waste and decomposition odors. Trash and recycling containers stay more sanitary. You can choose either the wet or dry technology which can be located inside near the dining area/kitchen or outside near the loading dock. The wet system converts food waste into grey water which can be collected and used for agricultural purposes such as plant or lawn irrigation. The dry unit utilizes a mulch type medium which only requires changing once or twice annually. This system is ideal for facilities which would like to compost but do not have nearby commercial composting sites. And best of all food is composted within 24 hrs rather than weeks and months.

By diverting the food waste from dumpsters, dumpsters weigh less which equates to fewer waste hauler pickups and lower collection fees. Since the food waste does not end up at local landfills, no deadly methane gas is emitted. This system ultimately saves time, hauling costs, and is socially responsible. When foodwaste is eliminated at its source, there are fewer carbon producing waste trucks on the road (the trucks that would transport this foodwaste to composting sites or landfills). Also when the food waste is eliminated at its source the foodwaste is not dumped in landfills where it emits methane which is 30x more toxic than C02.

Below is a brief video which will help explain the Opus EnviroPure system. We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss how EnviroPure Systems might contribute to your readers green initiatives.

(units now can be sized to eliminate up to 3000 lbs per day)

http://www.youtube.com/user/opusenviro

Linda Basinger EnviroPure Systems, Inc.

2011 West Fulton St. Chicago IL 60612

p. (888) 324-7265 f. (312) 951-9575

lbasinger@enviropuresystems.com

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Get Fresh…the movie

2010-09-07T16:09:42Z

What are you doing this week? Why not visit Visible Voice Books in Tremont?

We are pleased to present Fresh : going local in an urban environment, to take place on Saturday, September, 11 from noon-9. This community outreach event will include three screenings of the new documentary, Fresh (http://www.freshthemovie.com/about/), along with several presentations throughout the day by local foods activists and educators. In addition, there will be several in store promotions, samples from local farms, local wines will be featured in our wine bar and nonprofits will have booths in our Garden Courtyard. $5 suggested donation to benefit City Fresh.

The schedule for the day (subject to change):

Presentations (to be held in the Garden Courtyard, weather permitting)

12:30 – Lynn Rodemann of Devil’s Backbone Market and Educational Herb Farm
3:30 – Ohio City Near West on the Ohio City Farm Project
6:00 – Tim Smith of the Cleveland Greenhouse Project
6:30 – Jody Lathwell of the Tremont Farmers Market and Josh Klein of Gordon Square Farmer’s Market and City Fresh
7:00 – Jonathan Hull from Green Triangle
Q and A

Fresh, The Movie Screenings (to be held in our meeting/performance space)

Film times are 1:00 pm, 4:30 pm (indoors)
and
7:30 pm (outdoors weather permitting)

All screenings are 25 people maximum. Reservations are required (please call the store).

VISIT http://www.visiblevoicebooks.com/ FOR ALL THE DETAILS!!

Also, we are pleased to announce that the Ohio City Fresh Food Collaborative will play host to a wine tasting to benefit the new Ohio City Farm Project on Thursday, September 9 from 7-9pm. Event is $30 and open to the public. Please click visithttp://www.visiblevoicebooks.com/?p=815 for more.

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Farmer’s Market Benefit!

2010-09-07T15:40:36Z

A Taste Of Autumn 2010 Benefit

Monday, October 4, 2010

The Beachland Ballroom 15711 Waterloo Road Cleveland, Ohio
Master of Ceremony
Mr. Fred Griffith
$35.00 / person includes
• Fall harvest dinner buffet featuring ten noted area chefs presenting their take on the harvest with food provided by Coit Road Market farmers.
• Door prizes, a silent auction and an awards presentation recognizing Market supporters past and present.
• Networking with friends, others interested in local food and support of the Coit Road Farmers’ Market

Tickets are available at the The Coit Road Farmers’Market or The Beachland Ballroom ticket outlets
The Coit Road Farmers’ Market
15000 Woodworth Rd. East Cleveland, OH 44110
216-249-5455.

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Yes, you can fix stuff…

2010-09-05T18:26:56Z

My new goal in life is to see how long I can make something last. To that end, I am trying to figure out how to repair my washing machine myself. While this is not what I would call a fun project, it is worthwhile to repair and continue to use things rather than tossing things out. This is a little old fashioned concept, but then much of what I do in life is a matter of going back while moving forward.

Here is some stuff from around the web that might inspire you to think about repairing and reusing rather than tossing out:

My Future Past: How to: repair speakers with blown woofers

Repairing your oven.

Fixing a clock.

I hope you feel inspired!

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The Oil Spill from someone smarter than me.

2010-09-02T14:05:27Z

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10 tips for living greener in the modern age…

2010-09-01T17:29:25Z

This world is a fast moving place these days. Modern convenience and throw away society has made it easy to do almost anything, find anything, consume anything. But all of this technology and convenience comes with a hefty price tag: depleting ozone, greenhouse gases, burgeoning landfills, disappearing resources, and the wars and negotiations that we conduct to preserve this wonderful way of life. But just because you want to live lighter on the earth doesn’t mean that you have to buy an yurt and move to the wilderness or join an ashram in the Himalayas. There are plenty of ways to live a modern life, with its conveniences, and still reduce your impact on the planet. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Turn off the lights. Simple, but effective. Turning off the lights when you are not in the room means less kilowatt hours of energy that you will be using in general. This concept goes to more than just the lights, though. Turn off your television if you are leaving the room. Don’t leave your TV or radio on for your pets while you are at work ( they really don’t want to listen to it anyhow). Just be mindful of obvious waste of electricity. Look for ways that you waste energy and try to find ways to reduce it. Buy a night light instead of leaving the bathroom light on at night,for example.

2. Buy larger packages. While the convenience of individually wrapped items is great for kids lunches and the like, they come with a lot of extra packaging. The 6 pack of individual applesauce cups has a tone of packaging that will likely not be recycled, vs the large jar that has 3 times the amount. The cost savings of buying in larger packing will allow you to invest in reusable containers to put in those lunch bags. For that matter, think about the throw away stuff that you get everyday. Take your own mug for that morning coffee, use reusable bags for your groceries, buy in bulk when you can. We are nearing two years of plastic bag reduction and I have only brought home one plastic bag in that time. All without any inconvenience to me.

3. Buy only what you need. This is a biggie for me. Most American households throw away nearly 500 pounds of food every year. This can take a definite change of habit, but once it becomes a regular thing, you will find it easy to maintain and will save you money. You will need to plan better, create shopping lists and stick to them, and buy perishables in easily usable quantities. After shopping, you may need to break down larger packages and freeze some of your food. Use your freezer as a way to prolong the life of food for short periods, not long term, as this will lead to less food surprises in the back of the box and less food wasted to freezer burn. When it comes to things other than food, buy what you need and invest in better products that will last longer. The more use you get out of products, the more money you will save and a better use is made of the energy put into making them. That $3 T-shirt is not such a bargain if it lasts only one wearing…

4. Drive less. Walk more. Simple enough, but harder to do. Plan ahead, combine trips, and use your legs and bicycle. Take the first spot you see in a parking lot and walk a little more, rather than driving around or idling while you wait for that spot nearer the door. The exercise will do you good. If you are going to a strip mall, park once and walk between stops. Don’t get in your car and drive to the other store that is 100 yards away. Try to do more in your own neighborhood where you can get to by foot-at least when the weather is nice.

5. Recycle. Even if you don’t have curbside recycling, you can drop your plastic bags off at the store, your cans and bottles at a local spot, and many schools and churches take paper to recycle for extra funds. But it really goes farther than that. Try to buy products that use recycled content (or else why bother recycling?) and that use reduced packaging. Furthermore, think about what the packaging is: aluminum cans are likely recycled and back on the shelf in 60-90 days-shoos it over glass or plastic; steel is heavily recycled due to casts and most steel used at all has at least 25% recycled content already; glass bottles are more heavily recycled than plastic; paper is a commodity that is easily recycled-a paper box is better than a plastic container if you are not going to reuse it.

6. Reuse. Simple. Try to reuse anything that you can at least one time before throwing it out. That plastic zipped bag that your food came it can easily be rinsed and reused instead of popping out a new Ziploc. If something comes in a plastic tub, then will work jsut as well as Tupperware.

7. Avoid specialty use items. Why in the world does anyone need a special brush that is just for putting butter on corn when a knife will work just as well. The more specialized a product, the less use it will get and the more resources are wasted in its creation. We have been eating corn on the cob for plenty of years without those special little prong holder things to hold the ears with. Don’t get me wrong, some items have a definite purpose, but most of us don’t need the tools of a butcher or pastry chef, no matter how much we think of our own cooking.

8. Print less. One of the joys of the modern era is the ability to share things digitally. Use technology to your advantage and print things less often.

9. Buy Energy Star. When buying a new appliance always try to buy Energy Star rated appliances. Yes, they will likely cost you a little bit more, but the energy savings will pay for itself in no time. Look for rebates in your area for Energy Star. While in Seattle, my mother had to buy a new refrigerator. By buying Energy Star, she was able to receive 10% off at the store, get a state rebate, get a local utility company rebate, and she had it recycled for an additional rebate. It was actually cheaper to buy Energy Star, before even turning it on.

10. Turn things off at the source when not in use. Many appliances suck up energy even when you are not using them. We have a big TV, but we use a master strip to cut the power when we are not watching it. Same with the DVD player, VCR, etc. It is estimated that over their lifespan, most appliance use 75 % of the energy that they use when they are not in use. Same goes for portable devices: cell phone chargers draw power even when they are not charging anything, and cell phone batteries will last longer if they are not overcharged. Timers and the like are for more than just heating. Make sure that your computer is set to go into stand by mode after a set period. This means that you can easily reduce the energy you use without having to remember to power it down.

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Is there an instrument in your attic?

2010-09-01T16:33:36Z

I was forwarded this email from a friend and thought I would pass it along. As the arts and music departments across the country continue to suffer from reduced funding, more students are attending charter schools. It seems that charter schools are not exempt from budgetary issues, however. So those of you with clarinet in your attic or saxophone in the basement, here is your chance to put it to good use!

I am currently a music teacher at a Charter School on the west side of Cleveland. It is my 3rd year, and I have the wonderful opportunity this year of starting an Instrumental program. I have over 40 students that are VERY interested in learning to play an instrument, but most will be unable to afford renting or buying the instruments.

We are a 501(c)(3) Organization (Madison Community Elementary School, Constellation Schools) and are looking for donated instruments. I am looking for Flutes, Clarinets, Saxophones, Trumpets, Trombones and snare drum/bell kits.

I am looking for generous people to make a Tax-deductible donation to help out under priviliedged students in Cleveland. Please e-mail me personally if you would like to help out!

Thank you for your consideration!
Coralee Skoch

ccskoch@gmail.com

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Yum, Dim Sum, and the Flats…

2010-09-01T16:34:47Z

Cleveland is stretching and growing and trying to reinvent itself. I love the energy and enthusiasm of the young people of this town. They have a definite love of Cleveland and a desire to make it a better place. So many are working hard to breathe new life into the region. For those of you who are feeling that Cleveland has gone stagnant, then you are not paying attention!

Matthew Mytro and Kim Burant

First off, Friday was the latest installment of Yum! at the Mercury Lounge. This is a monthly event put together by Stove Monkeys and Crisp Catering. This event is usually on a weekday, but this month they wrangled a prime Friday evening spot. This month’s menu was a little more dessert heavy with the liquid raviolis being served with trail mix cupcakes, liquid nitrogen milk shakes, Red Bull and sorbet shots, snickers bombs, and some inventive cocktails. I am always eager to support cool ideas and things going on in Cleveland, so I managed to carve out a couple of hours to come down to check it out. In addition, I had mini Ruben sandwiches and gyros from a the Old World Deli (delish!). I ran into my friend Anabel Kouri (formerly of E4S) and was surprised to find out that they were there because of my blog-I guess someone does actually read this thing! Her and her husband are running a small farm and selling their goods at the Lakewood Farmers Market on
Saturday, near the Marc’s. We had a great time discussing local foods and the trials and tribulations of urban farming. I was sad to see Anabel leave E4S, but was happy for the Peace Corps for managing to snag her. Perhaps she will be willing to write a blog post about the Peace Corps and the good work that it does (hint, hint). Kim Burant was telling me about the next edition of Fearless and it looks to be even more exciting than the last one! Watch this space for details! Matthew hinted at the future of Crisp Catering a possible food truck in his future….Read more about Matthew on the Cleveland Magazine website.

Goodies from Old World Deli

Gourmet Cracker Jacks with prizes!

Liquid nitrogen milk shakes....

Speaking of food trucks, Dim and Den Sum is on the radar! If you watch food shows, then you may have seen The Great Food Truck Race. This is a show that pits teams of food trucks against each other as they try to make the most amount of money in a couple of days in a city they are not familiar with. While this is not the greenest show out there (food trucks and cars driving around the country), it is fun and a great insight into the challenges that are particular to food truck chefs. One team is Grill Em All, an LA based burger truck that is run by chefs from Rocky River. So… for next year, the Food Network has called for nominations from around the country. One of them is our very own Dim and Den Sum! You vote you can vote every day for this truck!! Chefs Chris Hodgson and Jeremy Esterly are great guys and would make great advocates for NE Ohio, because the winner of this challenge gets $10,000 and a chance to appear on the next season of the Great Food Truck Race! GO! Vote early and vote often, show the world how Cleveland really is!! Besides, for every vote, you are entered to win a trip to the NY Wine and Food Festival.

I also wanted to clue you in to another fun thing that I have found. It is the Cleveland’s A Plum blog and their fun web series The Flats. If you ever wondered what it is like to be young and having fun in today’s Cleveland, then this is a great blog. I am living vicariously through Alexis Marino and her friends as they show off the fun spots to hang out in Cleveland. Their new web series, the Flats, is a fun parody of the Hills. While I have never actually watched an episode of The Hills, I have seen enough buzz to get most of the humor and I thin it is just plain fun! There are only a couple of episodes so far, but I am waiting patiently for the next installment…

To round out the weekend I worked as back up support for Chef Bob Sferra at the LGBT Center Garden Party. All the sparkling glitteratti of gay society were there as well as a few celebrities. It was a great event, but my feet are killing me. I have to say Kudos to Chef Bob for pulling off another great event for the Center. The food was fantastic ( what little I got to taste) and the presentation was amazing. If you ever need a chef to cater your event, then Bob is your man!! Oh, and check out his new website, and you can follow his blog at Culinary Occasions-I built his new website, so this is a bit of shameless self promotion.

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Thanks Green LA Girl

2010-08-28T23:27:53Z

One of the blogs that I read regularly is the blog from Green LA Girl. Now, I know that Santa Monica is a long way from Cleveland, Ohio, but she still offers plenty of pertinent info about products, lifestyle and food that relates to us in the Great Lakes Region. This article was great, so I am going to reprint a little for you here, but go to Green LA Girl to read the whole thing.

WalkScore — a website that grades neighborhoods on walkability — is beloved by de-car’d environmentalists, traffic-haters, and simple living enthusiasts alike. But now comes a new website that’ll attract frugalistas and economists too. Abogo shows the dollar savings of walkable neighborhoods! (via Switchboard)

I went to this site, and plugged in my address (near west side) and discovered that due to lack of public transportation and not having a dense urban neighborhood, that our average transportation costs would be higher than Santa Monica! And a CO2 transportation impact that is nearly 50% higher! One more reason to be decidedly unhappy with RTA and its services….

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