Gaia: Three R's

Reduce Paper Use

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:28:46 GMT

Saving paper means saving forests which we need to slow climate change. The Ancient Forest Friendly website, http://www.ancientforestfriendly.com/ , has the following guide to reducing paper use (http://www.ancientforestfriendly.com/paper-efficiency/home).

A Practical Guide to Increasing Paper Efficiencies

In this section you'll find practical ways to make your paper use much more efficient. Paper efficiency means you are acting smart about your environmental and financial resources. We ask this of our signatory companies, but individuals can practice paper efficiency as well.

The three R's of waste reduction are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The first ‘R' is the most resource efficient of them all.

At Home and Work

read newspapers online, read magazines from the library or buy digital magazine subscriptions,
have your name removed from catalogue mail lists,
post a ‘no unaddressed mail' notice on your post box and don't print your emails.

And here are more tips for around the office:

Photocopiers

Set photocopy machines to double-sided by default. Your photocopy technician can perform this simple service.
Introduce codes for use of photocopiers. This will provide everyone with insights to their consumption by tracking the paper consumption of various departments. This is particularly helpful and motivating when working towards increasing efficiencies. Add a little incentive to your paper efficiency drive - set up inter-departmental competitions or annual targets for each department based on the previous quarter/year's consumption.
Adjust photocopy machine for recycled paper to avoid any potential of copier jamming. Your photocopy technician can perform this simple service.
When purchasing new printers and photocopy equipment, ensure they can easily print double sided.

Mail

Wherever possible shift to electronic bills and online application forms. For clients who require hardcopies, print double sided bills and application forms.
Reduce the basis weight of the paper - it will save postage costs.
Where possible, reuse envelopes for correspondence. Use address labels to cover original information.
Use inter-office envelopes which can be re-used multiple times.

Computers and the Paperless Office! Use your computer to reduce paper consumption not increase it!

General Office Use

Reduce the basis weight of the paper used in the office and for promotional use. E.g. switch from a 60lb sheet for general office use to a 50 lb sheet.
Post memos on a central bulletin board.
For editing processes, have several people edit the same document using different colour ink and track changes.
Use single sided waste paper for printing drafts.
Maximize formatting by reducing font size and increasing margins.
Buy 100% post consumer recycled copy paper. Many brands are available and they work well in today's machines.

Company Documents and Reports

Reduce size of printed pieces by working with your designer and printer to try creative formatting to maximize use of parent sheets for printing.
Post reports electronically.
Reduce the basis weight of paper used.

Faxes

Use fax stick it forms rather than cover sheet.
Use plain paper faxes
Program your machine to eliminate printed confirmation sheets
Format fax carefully so that excessive pages are eliminated.

Green Pods at Zaadz

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 02:20:58 GMT

Here is a list of all the green pods on Zaadz. This includes Zaadz pods on topics related to global warming, sustainable, ethical business, activism, alternate energy, Greenpeace, green energy and investing. I will add others as they arise or if I have missed some.

If you are green, on your way there, or wanting to get there, you will find a number of these pods tworthy of exploration. The number of green-related pods seems to have blossomed lately. Let's support these pods by exploring them, adding and reading comments and by joining.

Global warming is THE greatest problem the world has ever faced. By becoming part of the Zaadz green community of pods, we can motivate ourselves to become greener and more knowlegeable, so that we can inspire and influence other Zaadsters and our friends, family and co-workers and worlds outside of those circles to take action and reduce their carbon footprint.

"Act" is the Operative Word in "Act"ivism

Activism: Spiritual/Physical/Psychological

An Inconvenient Truth

Architecture

Blessed Unrest

Carbon Neutral New Year

Charity Central

Clean Energy Cars

Climate Change

Cocoa Pod: Fair Trade Chocolate

Compost Rockstars

Conscious Consumer

Corporate Social Responsibility

Earthships: Affordable Self-Sustaining Ecofriendly Housing!

Eco

Economic Conversion From War Economy to Sustainable Peace

Energy for Our Cities, Energy Within Ourselves

Ethically Hip

Ethics and Life

Environmental Change 101: Let's Show We Care

Farming for the Future

Fearless Eco-Survival

Food Justice

G Living - Living the Green Life While Caring for Our Planet

Gaiapod

Genetically Engineered Food and Pharma Crops

Getting Clear on Nuclear

Global Warming

Go Green

Great Ideas on How to Improve the World!

Green Blogs

Green Business

Green Earth

Green Earth Community

Green Energy

Green Fashion and Beauty

Green Investing

Green Party

Green Real Estate Investing: Profit and Flip Houses the Green Way

Green Real Estate Investing: Up and Coming

Greenpeace

Greenvoice

How to "Be" The Change

How to End Global Warming

How to Save the World

How Will We Save the Planet Before It's Too Late!!

I Am Going to Change the World

Innovative Fuel

Integral Veg*n

Is the Solution to the Current Planetary Situation in Your Hands?

Knowledge for a New Universe

Leonardo DiCaprio's 11th Hour Action

Life After Petroleum

Local - Global

Low Carbon Diet

Movement for a Sane and Progressive Energy Policy

New Earth Council

Organic Food Lovers

One Small Change a Day

Peak Oil the State of Living a New Life

Permaculture, Technology and Ice Cream

Petitions Pod

Projects for Our Planet

Rainforest-Coffee Alliance

Real Change

Recycler-Friendly City Streetcans Project

Replacing Plastics

Searching for the Resources to Build an Eco-Village

Snow Boarders Against Global Warming

Soul Food

Socio-economic Alchemy

Speak Up For Wildlife

Stop Factory Farming

Sustainability

Sustain-a-Bubble

Take Care of Your Share - Let's Be the Tipping Point*

The Antidote

The Cauldron

The Farm Energy Future

The Gaia Community

The Nature Conservancy

The Start of a New Vegan Era

The World's Biggest Problems

There is Only One Way to Save Any Ecosystem/World: Permaculture

Three R's

Transforming the "Capital" in Capitalism: Change the System

Voluntary Simplicity

Volunteerism

Wiser

WS Biofuels

http://www.ridefor/Climate.com/USA

Tooting my own HORN

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:01:17 GMT

www.greenscenetv.com

Today is National BUY LOCAL day!

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:59:00 GMT

Support local artists/business on BUY LOCAL day!

www.etsy.com is a GREAT way to find local artists

Eco-Diva Desiree'

http://monad.gaia.com — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:59:45 GMT

Go, GO OHIO!!!

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 22:07:08 GMT

The highest point in Ohio is said to be "Mount Rumpke," which is a "mountain" made up of trash -- at a sanitary landfill!

Rumpke (http://www.rumpke.com/) is one of the nation's largest waste and recycling companies?!!!

As the Pretenders song states "I WENT BACK TO OHIO BUT MY CITY WAS GONE." Maybe it's under Mount Rumpke Chrissie?!!

Re: Recycling FUN FACTS

http://monad.gaia.com — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 15:03:29 GMT

Ditto!

Contribution not Distraction

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:58:30 GMT

WHAT and/or WHO do you contribute to?

EdgeweaR contributes to these wonderful organizations as part of our dedication to the children of the world.

The International Medical Corps http://www.imcworldwide.org/howyoucanhelp.shtml
help provide medical relief to millions of children all over the world!

The Uniquely ME! and Campaign for Real Beauty http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/
both create and support positive self esteem and growth in girls and boys internationally!

The Children's Environmental Health Network http://www.cehn.org/
helps educate and promote a healthy environment for all children!

We would like to hear from YOU what WHO's and WHAT's YOU contribute to?!

Re: Great GREEN Gobs of Google-y Giggles!

http://Heidi.gaia.com — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:54:30 GMT

Love it! Laughing is good.......thank you.

Heidi

Re: Recycling FUN FACTS

http://Heidi.gaia.com — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:48:44 GMT

I love this kind of info! Thank you so much for posting it........and please keep it comin ;-)

Heidi

Recycling FUN FACTS

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:15:40 GMT

Recycling Glass

Glass can be recycled virtually forever. It never wears out.
For every 2,000 pounds of glass that is recycled, we save more than 2,000 pounds of other resources (1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar)
Most bottles and jars that you use contain at least 25% recycled material.
The energy saved by recycled just one bottle could light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours

Recycling Metals

Recycling an aluminum can saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore
In the United States, the amount of steel that is discarded and not recycled every year is enough to build all the new American-made cars

Recycling Paper

75% of each tree that is cut down for paper is not used in a paper product
98 tons of various resources are required to make one ton of paper
Paper made from recycled paper uses 70% less energy

Recycling Plastic

Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour, but only 25% of plastic bottles are recycled.

Thanks to the Washington State Department of Ecology for this valuable information!

Great GREEN Gobs of Google-y Giggles!

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:22:25 GMT

Check out Chris Madden... and his environmental humor! Funny stuff!

http://www.goma.demon.co.uk/

Re: Three R's meet three L's

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:20:03 GMT

L is everything R! :-)

Three R's meet three L's

http://monad.gaia.com — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 19:22:01 GMT

Live, Love, Laugh!

:) LOVE LOVE LOVE

Re: What about #5

http://monad.gaia.com — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 03:02:51 GMT

I have something really sad to say to all of you! (The 4 peas in the pod)!
The recycling program in South (Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas) is so behind times! Their recycling program is called Arkansas River (Seriously There are so many that ARE DUMPING everything to Arkansas River and no one ever told me how the situation was so critical when I was ilnfiltrating the RED STATES.
#5 is a bitch! Not only in Colorado but thru every State that I ever lived. Don't know any centers that will accept it!

Re: What about #5

http://desireeannetionette.gaia.com — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 16:14:44 GMT

I have yet to understand the exact requirements on recycling plastics myself BUT might have access to such knowledge since the recycling plant I work with is a HARD TO RECYCLE plant. Let me do some research on my end, and if anybody else has ideas to this subject please add your input!

GREAT QUESTION!

What about #5

http://imathinker.gaia.com — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 15:04:11 GMT

Any thoughts on plastic #5? There are a lot of products that are contained in #5 containers. I have yet to find a place to actually recycle these products. I try to avoid the purchase of these items, however, I have to floss! (I have yet to find another way around this product.