Merry Christmas from all of us here at GreenGlancy! We hope you are with friends and family during this time and are safe and at peace during this holiday season.

Hopefully our Christmas posts have helped you during this holiday season. Let us know how we are doing and how we can improve in give you useful ideas, tips and tricks to making life greener! Email us at deanna@greenglancy.com or leave comments on one of our posts.

Keep an eye out for some exciting new things from GreenGlancy. We’ll be doing some give-aways, new and interesting material and some great product reviews! Merry Christmas!

The amount of parcels and packages delivered around Christmas time is always astronomical. UPS and other delivery services blitz through the holidays, trying to get presents and treats to families in time to stick them under the tree for the holidays. With all of that transportation, weather, gas, emissions and others costs can effect UPS, effect our environment and raise delivery companies environmental impact.

But they may all be changing with some of the methods UPS has starting using. This video, by Paul over at PacificPedalling, chronicles a new effort by UPS to change the way they do local deliveries and attempt to positively impact our environment and communities. Check it out and let Paul know what you think!

UPS Delivery By Bike! Salem, Oregon from nwduffer on Vimeo.

A few months back, I embarked upon an adventure in my own home, taking thirty days to ‘Go Green’ in various ways around my house and in my life. Since that time, I thought you might like to know what has stuck and what hasn’t.

1. Shaving in the shower is a tip I tried during our ‘minimal water use’ days and found it to save me time and save extra water from running in our sink during our morning routines.

2. I struggled with eating organically. I just really like to eat. But the article on Apples and the amount of pesticides used has changed the apples and many other fruit we eat. While I can’t go organic on everything, I have on our fruit.

3. The lights are on and somebody’s home has helped us be aware of not leaving erroneous lights on in the house. Being aware of the amount of light we need and when we really need it and when we don’t have helped us keep the electric bill down. LED light bulbs have also worked their way into our home.

4. The inspiration of Recycled Lovelies, has encouraged my wife and I to be ‘thrifty’ (pun intended) shoppers and my wife has begun making clothes and purses for Christmas gifts.

And a reminder to all of us, WE CAN STILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Making small choices this winter to help our environment can be the continued and constant commitment we need from this world to change things. Think about check out the Going Green Commitment and incorporating some of these things into your life.

Due to my outgoing and type A personality, I love visiting office and supply stores where I can organize and categorize my home and work materials better and more effectively. But due to my new found love and passion for taking better care of our planet, I have been hesitant to embark on yet another trip to the supply store. I was encouraged and hopeful when I found information about what Office Depot is doing to play their part in going green.

Office Depot has launched a new initiative and promise in their stores throughout the country. A Guide To Buying Green covers each of their categories of products and how Office Depot is taking steps to ensure that there products are environmentally safe. They offer information about their paper and envelopes, providing resources and information about how they are recycled and evaluated. They are promoting Energy Efficient Electronic Signage which, “uses Light Emitting Diodes instead of Neon. LEDs are environmentally preferable since they are extremely efficient, use significantly less energy and help reduce greenhouse gases in comparison to neon.” They even have recycled and post-consumer recycled school supplies and solar-powered calculators.

Hats off to this major business and supply company for taking steps and initiatives to making their products environmentally safe.

Heard of other businesses and companies going green? Leave a comment below.

For most states on election day, the voting stations are going to be filled with long lines, cold weather and rain. Don’t let that stop you…braving the weather and the rain to vote can make a difference and give you pride as an American. But what will the ‘weather’ be like after our President Elect is decided? How will the ‘forecast’ change depending on who America chooses? Will we continue to have ‘rainy skies’ with ‘chances of thunderstorms and hurricanes and tornadoes and earthquakes and everything else crazy weather related’? Or will the clouds part and give us sunny skies and high temperatures?

Here are some breakdowns for you, as you watch the voting results and hopefuly go out and vote yourself (pick up your free starbucks coffee, ben & jerry’s ice cream scoop or krispy kreme donut if you do vote) and in the coming months, what you can expect to see from our President Elect when they take office in the new year.

President-Elect Obama:

Would enact a climate and energy plan that, “centers on a cap-and-trade system that aims for 80 percent emission reductions from 1990 levels by 2050 and calls for auctioning 100 percent of the pollution permits. It also includes a $150 billion investment to boost clean energy and create green jobs, along with fine-grained proposals to boost efficiency, build a smart electricity grid, and encourage public transportation” according to Grist. You can expect to see President-Elect Obama fight to free us from dependency on oil and find alternative energy resources, as well as continue to promote jobs and education about environmental awareness.

President-Elect McCain:

“John McCain believes that we are vested with a sacred duty to be proper stewards of the resources upon which the quality of American life depends. Ensuring clean air, safe and healthy water, sustainable land use, ample greenspace—and the faithful care and management of our natural treasures, including our proud National Park System—is a patriotic responsibility.” Environmental love with a Republican spin, even President-Elect McCain, with the new emphasis and importance needs of our nation and world with respect to global emissions, deforestation and alternative energy, would seek and strive to ensure that our nation moved in a more ‘green’ direction.

We are fortunate that both Presidential candidates have talked about the environment and its issues and that it has been a topic of discussion and debate in this historical election. The truth is that while both candidates believe taking care of the environment and finding new developments in energy and resources is important, they will each go about it in very different ways. That is why you, the voter, hold the power in electing the President you feel will do the most effective and efficient job in promoting a world that is safe, clean and renewable. And then, when that man is elected President, to hold him accountable to his words and to the plans and policies that they have spoken about. Idealistic, I know, but if its time for change, why not be an agent of that change as you vote and live in this great nation?

If you’ve finished painting your house or trimming your gutters for the summer and are looking to clear out your garage for the winter months, make sure that you dispose of your paint products properly.

Disposing of paint improperly can do serious damage to your local environment. Paint is the number one thing that people bring to waste collection sites and there are many other things that can be done with leftover paint that you might have.

1. Save your paint for touch-ups: You never know when you might need to put an extra coat somewhere or realize that you ‘missed a spot’.

2. Ask neighbors, friends and family members if they are in need of paint.

3. Take your paint to a local community or non-profit organization: Some community sites provide swap tables where paint can be left for others to take. Earth 911 has information about sites that give you this opportunity.

4. Contact your local hazardous material resource center which might have additional information on how to recycle the paint.

5. Use the sawdust method. EHow mentions, “As a last option, if you must dispose of latex or water-based paint, fill a paper bag with sawdust, sand or cat litter. Pour remaining latex into the bag. Wait for the paint to be absorbed by the sawdust, sand or cat litter. Dispose of the paper bag with your household trash”.

Paint is an important resource that can become hazardous if we do not take care of it properly. Ask an attendant where you buy the paint about how to efficiently measure how much paint you think you’ll need. You can always come back for more later.

Other ideas on how to dispose of paint in a ‘green’ way? Leave a comment below.

With only one more day left in the ‘Going Green Commitment’ we pause for a moment of reflection. It has been a great month, a life changing one. But we must stay the course. There is too much left to be done. We have had incredible encounters with Superheros (Erasable paper man), have learned about using water effectively in our lawn (and newspaper too) and have grown in organic culinary expertise. The small steps that we have made in our home to improve the way we treat our planet have had an impact in our life. While the changes have been small, that is all that they could have been. For in order to start the gigantic ball of global awareness rolling, you must start with a few small steps. Those small steps can create momentum that, when properly and effectively directed, can start an avalanche of change and good.

On Eco-Statistics, I was blown away by the effect that we each can have on our environment. A constant skeptic of statistics and cautious of over-saturated media about being environmentally friendly, I still pause to logically process the amount of paper or plastic or gas that I have consumed and spent through the course of my life thus far. And now, multiplying that by the amount of people in the world and the amount of people that have the too-busy, too-much-to-do, not-enough-time lifestyle that seems to infiltrate my life, its seem logical to suppose that we could have some of those astronomical effects on our environment.

What is the choice then? What are the options? Is it time to sell everything I own, move to the forest and live off nuts and berries?

Or is there a medium? A balance? A health way to make lifestyle changes that can reduce my carbon footprint on this planet without going completely without necessities in our world? I believe there CAN be a balance and our 30 day ‘Going Green Commitment’ has proved that it is not that difficult. Nothing we did was extremely painful, excessively intrusive. Some took extra time, a little extra money, others saved both time and money.

I believe that we each can examine our lives and determine where WE can make changes in what we eat, use, do and spend so that we can have an IMPACT on our world. If the same people that produce and use everything I have wasted and consumed in my life, make the same small changes I am making in my daily routine, around my home, at my workplace, then maybe we can begin to make a change in a positive way, to form a collective ‘Going Green Commitment’ to move in  a direction that will lead to environment conservation, rather than disastrous destruction or a debilitation of the resources that have been given to us. Together, we really could change the world.

Check back tomorrow as we sign out on the ‘Going Green Commitment’

I was at OHSU, one of the largest hospitals in our area yesterday visiting my father and as we were walking through the halls on our way to the cafeteria I was impressed by the ways in which they had integrated being green into their daily routines.

They started a Farmers Market held every Tuesday, that sells locally grown fruits and veggies inside the hospitals courtyard, with an after hours pick up program for those who cant make it to the Farmers Market during operating hours. They started a Token program to use when buying products in case you don’t have cash or to give as gifts for patients or whoever you would like. They now have a Healthy Convenience Store located in the lobby that sells some of those same Farmers Market items along with wheat and gluten-free items, organic raw nutrition bars and fresh salads.

In the cafeteria they have started a more vigorous recycling program with mixed bins for glass, plastic, tin, and aluminum cans. They put a bucket on top of the garbage for dumping liquids in before recycling.

In 2007, OHSU’s Center for Health and Healing, earned the Leed platinum certification for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, the first medical and research facility to have achieved this distinction.The building is 61% more energy-efficient than required by law.

As for Water and Energy, OHSU has implemented several strategies to become a more efficient operation. Upgrading irrigation controllers, proper maintenance of piping systems, and they replaced lights with high efficiency lamps.

As I was leaving the hospital I saw this sign below and thought about this and what it means to be an organ donor. It is recycling and what a cool way to give back!

Well, our ‘Going Green Commitment’ is coming to an end. Only six more days left until we’ve completed the month long commitment in our house to make small changes in going green. It has been a wonderful experience and changed a lot of the things we have done around our house. One of the most prevalent changes has been the way we look at paper. Such an effective tool at home and at work, we devalue paper and don’t always take care of properly recycling it or using it the way we should.

One daily flow of large amounts of paper in many homes is the newspaper. Important to stay current on daily local and world news, the newspaper is a part of many’s morning and evening routine and yet often gets stacked up in the closet or garage until it just seems too overwhelming to recycle. One of my most dreaded chores growing up was putting the mountainous pile of newspaper we had built up in our garage over the last six months into paper bags, putting them into the car, and taking them to the recycle station at our local high school.

While I was proud to play my part in recycling newspaper growing up, I was equally excited when I came across some NEW ways to use newspaper around the house, making further use of and recycling newspaper that is in our homes. There are some great ideas on reusing newspaper at The Green Guide and NWA News. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Packing supplies–A standard use for old newspaper, but nonetheless, very effective. Wrap your old dishes and plates to put in the garage or wrap breakables when moving. Newspaper will provide an effective covering for your items so that they don’t rub together or crack.

2. Window Cleaner–Surprisingly enough, newspaper can be used to clean your windows, rather than flying through paper towels which are much more expensive. Use a minimal amount of window cleaner, but newspaper will get the job done.

3.Top Soil–Newspaper can also be used in your garden as top soil. Place two or three sheets down, then mulch on top and the newspaper and mulch will decompose together, preventing weeds from springing up AND nourishing your garden.

4. Tablecloths–Especially for those spaghetti dinners or pumpkin carving nights coming up, lay the newspaper down on your table to collect all of the gook, then wrap it up and throw it away, making for easy cleanup.

5. Fireplace logs–A great way to start fires on those cool autumn days, reuse your newspaper as fire starter and send it up in flames.

6. Make it art–A fun family project, let your kids go through the newspaper (exposing them to current events and issues) and let them cut out different pictures or phrases and decorate a board or wall in their rooms or in your house, allowing for healthy (and educational) self-expression.

Other ideas on how to recycle newspaper in your home? Leave a comment or idea below.

Another Monday of the ‘Going Green Commitment’ allows us to further examine situations where Paper is used in our everyday life and how we can better solve the issue of wasted paper and harmful use patterns in the lifestyle that has developed in our home. But another important arena where we find ourselves using massive amounts of paper is in our workplaces. My wife is a fourth grade teacher and her classroom goes through piles of paper everyday: Handwriting practice, spelling tests, art projects, math equations, are all done primarily on paper. Most of her students do not have computers in the classroom or at home either, so the homework she sends home is on paper as well. It is difficult to distribute all of that paper and still keep a tight maintenance on where it gets put and how it is reused or recycled in a classroom with thirty crazy ten year olds.

Similarly, in my work place, large amounts of paper are used each day to print off emails, reports and other information that is mostly used for a single day and then thrown away or recycled. While our office is mindful of our environment and recycles paper, it still must go through the process of being recycled and put back into circulation.

As I was about to take an email I had printed out to show a colleague this morning and then throw it into the local recycling bin, I heard trumpets playing triumphant music and out of nowhere came ‘Super Erasable Paper Man’ to the rescue. He revealed to me one of his top secret projects in eliminating paper waste products: “I am devising a way to create a printed paper that will dissolve in 16-24 hours, leaving you a clean and reusable sheet of paper that you can print your emails and other documents on over and over again without having to throw it away.” He whispered to me in a hushed, yet high pitched tone, probably because his spandex pants were a bit too small. “The technology, which is still in a preliminary state, blurs the line between paper documents and digital displays”

“Brilliant,” I said.

“Of course!” He replied. “I have also developed a prototype “printer” that creates the image on the paper using a light bar that provides a specific wavelength of light as a writing source. The written image fades naturally over time or can be immediately erased by exposing it to heat.”

“Impossible,”I shouted.

“Nothing is impossible for Super Erasable Paper Man,” He exclaimed triumphantly. “I have flown and traveled all over the world and have seen the devastation caused by overused paper and I am resolved to create a solution that can save the world. As as many as two out of every five pages printed in the offices I saw are for what I call “daily” use, like e-mails, Web pages and reference materials that have been printed for a single viewing. Despite our reliance on computers to share and process information, there is still a strong dependence on the printed page for reading and absorbing content. Of course, we’d all like to use less paper, but we know from talking with customers that many people still prefer to work with information on paper. Self-erasing documents for short-term use offers the best of both worlds.”

“I agree,” I said in agreement.

“Of course you do,” he said in his high-pitched voice

“So when will you save the world and free us from our repititive paper processing?” I asked in eager expectation, hoping he could pull out a newly created and ready to use erasable printer and paper somewhere out from behind his spandex and cape.

“Oh my dear normal human,” he replied in a patronizing tone, ” While potential users have shown interest in transient documents, there is still much to be done if the technology is to be commercialized.”

Disappointed, I started to cry. When would there be an answer to the guilt I feel every time I recycle a piece of paper, knowing that I would never see that same piece of paper again?

“But have no fear,” he puffed out his chest and exclaimed, “I will never sleep nor rest until the lonely recycled piece of paper is avenged and rescued” And just like that he flew through the roof of our building, bring debris and damage done into our office area, but at least we had a skylight.

My heart leaped with excitement after our encounter, anticipating and awaiting the day when erasable paper and printers make their way to my office.

–adapted from an article on Experimental Paper from Xerox.–