Pictures of Earth Day 2008 at Polliwog Park

Earth Day: 20 Years in the Making

I was about 7 or 8 years old when my father first introduced me to the concept of Earth Day. At first, the thought of celebrating the planet for a full day sounded a bit trivial to me. I remember asking “Do we get to open presents on Earth Day?” Since the answer was a sad “no”, I never made a big deal of it. But not my father. He had been celebrating Earth Day since 1970, when it was first observed, and was into recycling, reusing, even regifting way before they became popular concepts. He also had a huge Earth Day poster hanging from his office wall, which he kept there for many years, even after he took it down, as the poster’s outline was permanently stained on the wall.

Two decades have passed and it wasn’t until this year that I officially celebrated my first Earth Day. You know how the saying goes: better late then never! But the day 20 years in the making couldn’t come at a better time, nor with a better way to celebrate it.

I recently joined Guidance, a Southern California-based developer of e-Commerce and Web 2.0 solutions. Interestingly enough, I was immediately drawn to the company’s Green committee, called Guidance Green, and decided to join. If this is the first time you come across our blog, then you probably don’t know that Guidance Green is a committee formed by Guidance employees who value the importance of living and working in a healthy planet. We seek to spread the word in favor of eco-friendly practices that can be carried out by companies and their employees.

This year, Guidance Green chose to have a booth at a local Earth Day fair. The main goal for attending the event was to inspire the audience to join our movement by employing new techniques to make their work a whole lot eco-friendlier than before. If you are wondering how to do this yourself, then you may want to try talking to your company’s management team and asking them to consider eco-friendly practices like recycling, company-wide carpooling programs, and even buying Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset your company’s carbon footprint. To learn more, check out our Green Toolkit on How to Operate as an Environmentally Aware Organization and Reduce or Eliminate Your Carbon Footprint. You can also try modifying your work routine by following our 10 Tips to Make Your Day-to-Day Work Eco-Friendlier.

To draw people into our booth, we gave away three baskets filled with eco-friendly products, including reusable shopping bags from one of our favorite customers- Bentley Prince Street, gift certificates to The Veggie Grill and Buddha’s Belly, reusable mugs, containers and water bottles, organic snacks, and a lot more. Even the baskets themselves were made of recycled materials and the cellophane used to wrap them up was 100% biodegradable. The three lucky winners were overjoyed with their prizes.

I had a chance to talk to the event organizers, who confirmed that this year’s attendance and sponsorships had significantly surpassed that of previous years. It was a great experience to be part of such a rewarding event.

After what I think was a very successful day, I got home extremely exhausted but very exhilarated. I immediately laid on my couch to take a quick nap, but first I turned on the TV to watch the news. To my surprise, one of the major networks was airing a show called “Greening the Earth”. “What a great way to end my day!” I thought.

And so today we celebrate the real Earth Day, and all I can think of is how twenty years ago I didn’t know -much less care- about Earth Day and how much it matters to me now. So here’s to you, Dad! You never thought you'd hear me saying this, but -- Happy Earth Day! And Happy Earth Day to all of you.


Alejandra Espinosa
Guidance Green

Guidance Green at Polliwog Park April 19

Guidance Green Table at Manhattan Beach Earth Day Fair

Date:
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Time:
11:00am to 4:00pm
Set-up: 8:00am – 11:00am
(cars for unloading won’t be admitted after 10:00am)
Breakdown: 4:00pm
Location:
Polliwog Park
1601 Manhattan Beach Blvd.,
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Parking:
Street parking (there are plenty of side streets near the park)
What to expect:
Your typical town fair; food kiosks, artisans, live music, etc.
Objectives for attending the event:
To incentivize booth visitors to join our movement in favor of eco-friendly practices that can be carried out by companies and individuals.
To get visitors to sign up for our raffle and ask them to check out the links printed on their end of the raffle ticket
To promote Guidance as…
…an environmentally-friendly company committed to serving its community by supporting local events and green initiatives
…a first-class provider of custom eCommerce solutions for companies seeking to dominate their markets
…a great place to work!
Earth Day Fair Schedule of Events:
· 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Stephen Michael Schwartz (Children’s Entertainment)
· 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM Environmental Hero Awards Presentation
· 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM Fab Forever (Beatles Tribute)
· 2:15 PM - 2:30 PM Awards and Raffle
· 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM Pretzel Logic: A Steely Dan Revue

Catherine

Rub a Dub Dub

"I don't make that big of an impact..."
"I can't change it..."
"My carbon footprint isn't that bad..."

If you're like, me those thoughts constantly run through your head when it comes to tackling global warming and caring for our environment. I was in constant denial about the impact my lifestyle has on the environment that my kids are going to inherit! Fortunately, I woke up one day and it hit me like a ton of bricks; too many people think the way I do...that's why our environment is in crisis.

I took a long hard look at my life (note: this is usually the hardest part, actually doing what's right is MUCH easier!). Over my next few posts I will chronicle the small steps I have taken to" lower my carbon footprint, recycle, reuse and save water!

First up: Showering

My showers aren't about just getting squeaky clean, they're cathartic. Wash off the day and time to relax! Unfortunately my showers contribute to 2781 lbs. of CO2 emission a year! And if I were to cut my 10 minute showers (much more if I'm washing my hair) by just one minute I would reduce my CO2 emissions by 278 lbs. It's that simple...and it's that easy. Voila -one giant leap out of denial! More to come...

Calculate your CO2 emissions here

~Francine

GOING GREEN ISN’T ALL ABOUT THE CAR YOU DRIVE

On January 27, 2008, the New York Times ran an eye-opening article titled, “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler.” When we talk about energy consumption, we tend to talk about transportation, but transportation isn’t our only problem when it comes to the environment. We also have to rethink the amount of meat we consume and, more importantly, the way we produce it.

Here are a few quotes from the article that will probably surprise you and you can use the link below to read the whole article.

“… an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.”

“… a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?em&ex=1204606800&en=6823b9a5c8f1c620&ei=5087%0A

Wanda Shapiro

Carbon Atlas

Amazing cartogram on world carbon emissions. Click on the image below to view the full article with downloads and additional images.

How to green your electronics

We all love our electronic devices (for the most part)! There are many ways you can be green with your electronics. The key is to know what tech to get, how to use it best, and what to do with it when its useful life is done.

Here are a few tips:

1. Go rechargeable
Only a fraction of batteries are recycled. Look for electronics that are rechargeable.

2. Kill vampire power
To make sure you aren't wasting energy, pull the plug on devices when not in use. There are also a number of "smart" power strips on the market that sense when electronics are turned off

3. Buy with energy in mind
Doing research on different technologies and their respective energy consumption can save you a lot in the long run. For example, LCD TVs use much less energy than plasmas. The Energy Star site will help you identify energy-saving electronic devices as well.

4. Make it a short circuit
So, you just bought an iPhone. What should you do with the old phone? Whatever you do, don't just throw it in the trash. There are plenty of organizations and charities that recycle and reuse old electronics.

5. Bright idea: The solar charger
There are an increasing number of options for on-the-go solar power. From handheld to backpack power, solar chargers now come in a spectrum of types for juicing up phones, PDAs, Bluetooth headsets, iPods, and laptops.

6. Look for EPEAT
EPEAT (electronic product environmental assessment tool) is a new attempt at environmental certification for computers (CPUs, monitors, and notebooks). Released in early 2006, only a limited number of products have been registered with EPEAT so far, however, look for this certification to pick up steam in the near future.

Tatiane Perazzo