Tag: green

Recycle this!

I went to my parking lot recycling spot (awesome site, btw, 2004 & 2005 “News” articles) on Saturday to cash in some bottles and cans that had been piling up (why give that money to the County, right?) only to find out that their hours had been dramatically cut recently. Why? It’s good for the bottle, right? It’s good for the can, right? It’s what Oprah wants us to do!

As it turns out, what do you know …

The state has tapped the California Redemption Value fund for $417.7 million in loans to help deal with its budget crisis. Consumers pay about $1.2 billion a year in 5- and 10-cent deposits on most soda, sports drinks, juice, beer and water bottles and cans sold in California.

The parking-lot recycling business operates as a for profit enterprise helping to make it easier for folks to return their recyclables for cash. You know, creating jobs, providing a service to the community. Yawn…

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Sacramento’s Drinking Water Rated Highest in the State

Dec09Food 153The City of Sacramento has the cleanest drinking water of any city in California! It’s time to celebrate by protecting this high-quality resource instead of wasting it needlessly. Let’s all party green together with these helpful tips:

No Impact Week: I Join a Global Experiment in Sustainable Living

NoImpactManInspired by best-selling No Impact Man, on Sunday I joined other world citizens to commit to a week of no-impact living. Over the course of eight days, my husband and I will attempt to follow the project’s guided steps and 1) consume less, 2) create less trash, 3) use less transportation, 4) eat locally, 5) reduce energy use, 6) use less water, 7) get involved with an environmental group, and 8) reflect on it all.

You can get involved, too! I signed up online. After that, the project provided me with an online guide containing detailed instructions for the week—with strict orders that it not be printed, of course. According to the helpful tips, as we progress through the week, we’re supposed to gradually decrease our environmental footprint, eliminating as we go.

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Sacramento Seen in Green: City Voted 7th on Environment

Back in 2002, Sacramento earned an award from Time Magazine for being the most diverse city in the nation. It’s still a badge of honor we wear proudly, and it’s time to add another star to our uniform. Sacramento has officially been ranked the 7th “Smarter City” by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Basically, we’re mean on being green.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) didn’t pass out this honor lightly. Their mission is to “protect wildlife and wild places and to ensure a healthy environment for all life on earth.” Birds, bees, trees, you, and me—the NRDC is trying to protect us all. Their “Smarter City” ranking drew upon a number of environmentally-friendly criteria, breaking down the results by city size. Sacramento was measured in the “large city” grid along with jolly green giants San Francisco, Seattle, and the like.  

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No Impact Man: Film Review

NoImpactManCould you live one year without electricity, toilet paper, toothpaste, or your car? One New York City man embarked on this seemingly impossible journey with his family. The results were filmed for the documentary No Impact Man, which opened at the Crest Theater yesterday. The film compliments the best-selling book by the same name.

Colin Beavan is a history writer with an environmental worldview. When he realizes that his lifestyle doesn’t live up to his own expectations, and that his writing falls short of fully expressing his passions, he embarks on the potentially crazy adventure of becoming No Impact Man: diminishing his environmental footprint. His wife, at first begrudgingly, must join him for the wild ride along with their toddler daughter.

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