The Green Athlete

REUSE

REUSE is the second of the 3 R's. I talked a little about Reduce and now about Reuse. It is all first about Reducing what we use, then reusing what you can to eliminate more waste and last will be recycle.

You can "reuse" materials in their original form instead of throwing them away, or pass those materials on to others who could use them too! Remember, one man's trash is another man's treasure! Here are some examples of reuse ...

1. Take along washable cups or travel mugs instead of disposables; a lot of restaurants and convenient stores will be glad to fill or refill your own mug. When you hit Starbucks everyday try to not use a new cup that ends up in the garbage, bring your own mug each day. That little step if everyone did it would save an enormous amount of trash.

2. When you do use disposables like plastic cups, plates, utensils, and plastic food storage bags, don't throw them away! Wash and reuse them -- most of them will last for a long time with many uses. They may not cost much to replace, but it doesn't make any more sense to throw away those things than it does to throw away your bicycle after one use.

3. When you do decide to replace something large and "reusable", be sure to donate the old one to charitable outlets like Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Vietnam Veterans, and the many others that are probably in your area. Most of the time the item can be repaired by those groups, and then redistributed into other homes rather than landfills.

4. Hold a yard sale or give-away. And ask your neighbors to join in too -- this shares the work and increases the number of unused things that can find new homes and new uses. And your local recycling/solid waste office may run a "swap shop" at a recycling centers --

5. When you go to the grocery store bring your own bags. There is no sense in using the plastic or paper bags they supply there. Bring your own cloth bags that you can use over and over again.

These are just a couple simple and easy ways you can make a big difference. When you really think about it these things would not take much effort or energy out of your day, but can save a lot of waste to our environment.

Recycling Car Batteries: It adds up!

One car battery translates into quite a substantial amount of waste: 3 pounds of plastic, 21 pounds of lead and 1 gallon of lead. Don't just get rid of that old worn out battery, recycle it. Over the past seven years, AAA has recycled over two million batteries through their Great Battery Roundup Program. In honor of Earth Day (April 22nd), AAA will recycle your car batteries for free from April 9 through April 19. To find a site near you, call (800) 903-2227 or visit:
www.batteryroundup.com

Carbon Footprint Calculator

Unfortunately, our daily activities contribute to climate change. Greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) blanket the earth and warm the planet. Virtually any time we utilize a conventional source of energy or drive our cars, we are contributing to this warming effect and affecting climate changes.

Your "carbon footprint" is a measure of your impact on the environment, in terms of the carbon dioxide emitted as a result of your daily activity. Use the calculator on this site to see how you measure up.

http://www.pge.com/about/environment/calculator/

REDUCE!!

Trying to be a "Green Athlete" for me is about doing my best to limit what I use. The saying goes: "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" it is not the other way around. The first thing we need to look at as athletes is how can we REDUCE the damage we do or REDUCE the amount of stuff we use or throw away. One simple way that I have been doing is with bottled water. Instead of buying all those small bottles of water from the store buy the gallon or 5 gallon water jugs and just fill a bunch of small bottles for each day. Or even better than that why not save your money and just buy a filter for your tap water. Most tap water is descent and just needs to be filtered with a Brita or PUR filter and it is as clean as the water you buy in the store. They are relatively cheap you can help REDUCE the amount of empty plastic bottles that are filling up our landfills.
Start by doing some of the simple easy things and don't worry about being the perfect "green" person. If everyone one did something little it would make a big change.

"Green" Race Day Photo Frame

Most of us have a collection of race day photos and are definitely into displaying the most recent one. I just found a photo frame made out of a recycled bicycle chain. Way to go!

http://swcoalition.greenhome.com/products/home_furnishing/picture_frames/101117/

Comfortable temperatures....

How about heating and cooling from a single 100% recyclable plastic compact unit? The C2 Climate Control not only improves your comfort level, it filters the air around you. And it uses approximately 90% less energy than a typical space heater. All that and it shuts itself off. For more see:
http://www.dwr.com/cutsheet.cfm?id=12483&sku=

Happy (Green) Valentine's Day

Undoubtedly there is at least one person in your life who would appreciate chocolate for Valentine's Day but did you know there is "green" chocolate? Your "green" chocolate choices might be chocolate farmed, produced using fair-trade practices or sold in eco-friendly packaging. Check out these online purveyors:

www.dagobachocolate.com
www.chocolatebar.com
www.breschocolates.com
www.vosgeschocolate.com

Energy Saving Light-bulb!

What to do with that Christmas Tree

Christmas time has passed and you are left with the mess.

Luckily for everyone, there are a lot of resources around to help you dispose of your Christmas waste most properly.

Perhaps, the most universal element the Christmas tree (hopefully real, local, and organic) can be disposed of in many different ways.

Depending on your living situation, there are a few great ways to re-use your Christmas tree. If you have a wood chipper, Christmas trees make great mulch for landscaping, gardening, and compost. Or, allow a few weeks for your Christmas tree to dry out, it’ll make great firewood. Surprisingly, Christmas trees make great habitats for fish. If you have a pond or stream on your property, toss it in. The fish will find it and thrive. Also, many local conservation groups would be happy to take that tree off your hands. They’ll know where it can best be used. Still, don’t get too excited. You shouldn’t just throw that tree into any public waterway. If you do have land, you should always consider allowing it to decompose in some corner of your property. Allow nature to take hold.

You might also want to consider adorning the tree with bird food (strung cranberries, pine cones covered in peanut butter and bird seed, etc.) from branches. You should, of course, leave the tree in its stand for this option. This is one of my favorite options, because it moves the holiday season forward without the abrupt end that is too often felt. Plus, you can still do all the other options for re-use later. It might be a good way to let that tree dry out a bit before it goes toward a cozy fire.

Oh, and be sure to take off all the ornaments and lights before you turn that tree into mulch, firewood, a marine habitat, or recycle it.

If you do wish to recycle it, don’t fret there are many options for that as well. However, depending upon where you are in the country, your options may very greatly. The best and easiest way to check the recycling program your municipality or local conservation group has in place is to hop on over to Earth 911. There you’ll not only find a fact sheet about Christmas tree production, but also a list of the top ways in which Christmas trees are recycled. Also, if you simply type in “Christmas tree” and your zip code in the Find A Recycling Center bar at the top of the page, Earth 911 will bring up a list of places to bring that tree.

If you have a fake tree, keep on using that thing. In fact, you might as well put it into your will and pass down to your heirs. (Fake trees are made out of non-biodegradable plastics.) Or, maybe you can use for an art project.

Holiday Season

During the Holiday Season there are some things you can do to help the environment.
1. Choose LED lights for your tree and for decorating around your home or office. LED uses 10x's less energy than standard lights.
2. When buying batterries buy batterries that can be recharged. By reusing batterries that can be recharged you will save the landfills from being overwhelmed with all those used up toy and electronic batterries.
3. Buy a real tree instead of a fake tree. A real tree can be used as mulch and biodegrates where a fake tree is made of sinthetic materials and will sit in a landfill for YEARS. Visit www.earth911.org or call 1-800-CLEANUP when it's time to recycle your Christmas tree.

Just a couple simple things to think about during your Holiday Season. Enjoy the Season and always Reuse.