Guidance Recycling & eWaste program

I don't want to toot the Guidance horn, but beep beep! We are doing our best to engage all of the Guidance employees to contribute to our green initiatives. Last week we had a successful e-waste week, where Guidance employees dropped off their e-waste for proper recycling. Here is a sample of items (with their nasty chemicals) that should never be thrown in the trash, but instead recycled properly:

Lead: solder, CRT monitors (lead in glass), lead-acid batteries
Tin: solder
Copper: copper wire, printed circuit board tracks
Cadmium: light-sensitive resistors, corrosion-resistant alloys for marine and aviation environments
Aluminium: nearly all electronic goods using more than a few watts of power (heatsinks)
Iron: steel chassis, cases and fixings
Silicon: glass, transistors, ICs, printed circuit boards.
Nickel and cadmium: nickel-cadmium batteries
Lithium: lithium-ion battery
Zinc: plating for steel parts
Gold: connector plating, primarily in computer equipment
Americium: smoke alarms (radioactive source)
Germanium: 1950s–1960s transistorised electronics (bipolar junction transistors)
Mercury: fluorescent tubes (numerous applications), tilt switches (pinball games, mechanical doorbells, thermostats)
Sulphur: lead-acid batteries
Carbon: steel, plastics, resistors. In almost all electronic equipment. *

*Full Wkipedia entry

This is a great way to engage your own co-workers/peers because it is not only good for the environment, but there were laughs galore at the antiquated laptops, computer monitors, CPUs etc. that people had! It was a fine collection that Old-Computers.com would have been proud to exhibit!

Free ways to help the environment

Unfortunately, going green isn’t always cheap. At least that’s what I’ve noticed in my efforts to live on the green side of things. For example, organic food is better for the environment but it’s usually more expensive. The same goes for the plethora of green products on the market.

Here are a few free things you can do to help the environment today.

1. Stop the catalogs.

Clean out your mailbox by going to http://www.catalogchoice.org/#welcome. This free service lets you say no to all those unwanted catalogs that make their way into your mailbox each week.

2. Inflate your tires.

Consult your owners manual to find the appropriate pressure for your car’s tires. By keeping your tires properly inflated you save a little gas, but more importantly you reduce the wear on your tires. You’ll leave less rubber on the road and your tires will last longer.

3. Switch to online bill payments.

This service, available at most banks, will reduce the number of envelopes being driven around the country and this little tip can actually save you money. Many banks are now offering incentives for online bill payment services.

4. Educate yourself.

If you’re not sure where to start, let me suggest a book called Cradle To Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. This book will change the way you think about green. Even the book itself is constructed with the environment in mind. And you don’t have to spend money to read. This book and many others are available at your local library.

Each of us can effect change one little step at a time. If you’d like more ways to help the world in which we live, visit http://blog.blogactionday.com/environment/50-quick-painless-ways-you-can-help-the-environment-today/. This website offers 50 quick, painless ways you can help the environment today.

Wanda Shapiro

Oak Woodland Restoration at Malibu Creek State Park

Guidance employees teamed up with Culver City
Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in November to plant
Oak trees and native grasses and to pull mustard plant
weeds at Malibu Creek State Park. We drove through
burn areas but were happy to discover that the park itself
was spared in the recent wildfires. Oak Woodland Restoration
volunteers provided all the tools and instructions.

Oak Woodland Restoration volunteer, Jo, demonstrates
native grass planting techniques.

Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts work side by side with
Guidance volunteers.

The Guidance Green Team

Nothing satisfies like a good dibble!

Jon tries his hand, or foot, at dibbling while son, Alex,
admires his technique.

Alex gets to the root of the mustard plant problem.

Steven between two freshly planted Oaks. Job well done
Everyone!

Green IT

Data center energy savings are a huge opportunity. Data centers consume more energy per square foot than any other part of an office building. But they're part of an information and services supply chain that begins with raw materials and ends with the disposal of waste. The chain includes people, the space they occupy, and the cars they drive. Along the way, the chain increasingly gobbles energy and spews greenhouse gases. The it department is in a unique position to change that. And therefore as per Gartner Green IT is in top 10 strategic technologies for 2008.


Please find some recommended resources for Green IT below:

• 5 Steps to Green IT
• Why it matters
• Green IT insight article

Yet Another Green Sighting on Abbot Kinney

Your fellow green commuter here with another report on a sighting in Venice that yet again demonstrates the ever-growing buzz and support amongst the organic and eco-friendly townspeople on the west side.

Smart Car USA just opened up shop on Abbot Kinney, and as seen from the picture below they are making every effort to get noticed and draw in the crowd of the many in this area who want to improve the health of our planet.

In addition to this report, the Venice house we visited just recently has officially been posted on eBay and is up for auction for the highest bidder. With a starting bid of $2.85M, and the recent upset in the housing market, it might be a while before someone picks it up.

In any case, do try and visit the Smart Car store once they officially open up shop... Who knows, you might walk out with one of those pocket-sized vehicles racing up and down the streets of Venice with an organic soy latte in the cup holder and the latest hip and flashy hemp outfit money can buy!

- Patrick

On the way to work...

It's amazing the things you see on the way to work these days... Particularly the multitude of green and organic stores that have cropped up along Main Street and Abbott Kinney in Santa Monica and Venice.

One such store is epOxyGreen. According to their profile on GreenHomeGuide.com - another excellent online resource for green-living:

epOxyGreen offers the highest quality in sustainable building and design products. epOxyGreen has set a mandate within its business philosophy to distribute products that adhere to the standards of a review process by experts in this emerging industry. We are committed to maintaining the integrity within the definition of “sustainability” and “Green,” while helping to create an economy of scale so that these products become more available and affordable to the public. epOxyGreen offers full-service project management to address clients’ specific needs. Each client project is assigned a project manager to ensure clear communication and seamless follow-through of product orders and licensed professionals referred by epOxyGreen. 602 Venice Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291, Phone: 310-578-2123.

So next time you're driving around that area, have a look around... You will be surprised at the number of stores opening up offering eco-friendly services and products.

- Patrick

Programs for Green LA

While browsing the web I came across the web site of “Programs for Green LA". These programs are green initiatives from Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

I found information on this site very useful and thought to share with you. They have a verity of Green initiatives for LA including:

1. Trees for a Green LA
2. Energy Efficiency for a Green LA
3. Solar Energy for a Green LA
4. Electric Vehicles for a Green LA
5. Green Power for a Green LA
6. Recycling for a Green LA
7. Educational Services for a Green LA

I will recommend visiting @ http://www.ladwp.com/library/statichtml/homepage_greenla.html , http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/areaHomeIndex.jsp?contentId=LADWP_GREENLA_SCID

Zia