Lately, all around us more and more cities, universities, companies, and the like are banning bottled water. Time even named ‘the war on bottled water’ #4 on its Top 10 Food Trends. “Once hip, bottled water is now unforgivably ‘90s,” John Cloud writes in the article.

But why you might ask? Well, cost. Bottled water is at least 300 times more expensive than tap water.  Not to mention, about 90% of the bottle is for things like bottling, packaging, shipping, and transportation. There’s also the health risks. Bisphenol-A, or BPA as it’s more commonly known, is a chemical found in most plastic water bottles.  Since it was discovered in 1998, the list of its harmful side effects seems to be continuously growing. Recently it has been strongly linked to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, miscarriage, and childhood asthma, to name a few. Of course, the environment is also a factor.  Just less than 1.3 million tons of plastic PET water bottles were produced in 2006. 76.5% of those water bottles ended up in landfills. This does not even include the energy that is wasted in the production and transportation of bottled water.

These are just some of the reasons why you should turn away from bottled water.  But you might be asking, how can I do this? Saying no to bottled water is more practical than you might think.

• First, understand that bottled water is not any “cleaner” or “more pure” than bottled water. In fact, the Aspen Tap challenge 90% chose the municipal brand over the bottled water brand.  This chart even details the testing required for tap water in contrast to bottled water.
• Get a reusable water bottle.  Stainless steel water bottles are reliable and safe. But, if you are afraid of a ‘tin-y’ taste, look for a BPA-free, plastic bottle.  Many options are available from your favorite color, shape, college or even sports team.  There are even portable water filters available.
• Where can you use your new bottle? Look for hydration stations. If you have a Smartphone may apps are available to now help you hydrate at your convenience, like The Drinking Water and WeTap apps on the Android phone. Even Virgin Atlantic airlines are getting on board as they offering water bottle refill stations at airports.
• Look for restaurants that support the cause.  Many restaurants now will only offer bottled water by request.  Others, like, Mario Batali restaurants in New York and Las Vegas, have banned bottled water in its entirety.
• In your office, replace bottled water coolers with a bottleless water cooler. Bottleless water coolers use point of use, or POU, to eliminate the need for heavy, expensive 5-gallon bottles. Using sophisticated filtration systems, bottleless water coolers purify the tap water already available in your office.

Take a minute to think about if you think you can make these simple changes for your wallet, your health, your coworkers, and your environment.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

How to rid the world of bottled water

The easiest way to reduce office waste is to avoid creating it in the first place. Of course, the advent of electronic communication has helped businesses decrease waste substantially, but there’s always room for improvement.

Stay Up-to-Date

Mailing bulk materials to the wrong address or sending newsletters to people who are no longer customers is a major source of paper waste. Verify customers’ and vendors’ contact information after each transaction will help you stay on top of changes.

Say It Through E-Mail

E-mail and instant messaging make interoffice communications quicker and easier than distributing paper memos. E-mail newsletter distribution means your customers receive information about your business sooner. E-mail is a great way to send coupons as well, since recipients can decide if they want to print them or not. Your company can use social media similarly, by offering promo codes and discounts for mentioning tweets and other messages from your business.

Making Paper Cuts

Print and copy on both sides of the paper whenever possible, and post instructions near the copy machine and printers to eliminate excuses. Or consider making this the default option on office equipment. Use a smaller font to print documents when possible. Reduce junk mail in a variety of ways. Contact Dun & Bradstreet (dnb.com) and Info USA (http://infousa.com/) to be removed from their business marketing lists. Contact individual companies from whom you consistently receive junk mail to find out how to opt out of future offers.

Use It Again

In situations where maintaining your corporate image is not necessary, re-use envelopes. Cover your address with a mailing label, or buy specially designed labels that identify the envelope as “recycled.” This habit may even boost your company’s image as a “green” business. When you receive packages, keep bubble wrap and other packing materials for re-use.

Think Before You Buy

Ask employees to bring in their own mugs instead of stocking the break room with styrofoam cups. Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible, and buy recycled printer ink. Plan carefully when purchasing perishable items, like certain office supplies. Plan similarly when buying kitchen supplies, and even when ordering food for meetings and events. Bulk purchases can save your business money, but wasting supplies is never an efficient use of your company’s funds.

Some of these tips require participation from everyone in the office. Make everyone aware of your company’s efforts to reduce waste, and let them know how they can stay involved on a daily basis. Send an e-mail announcing your plans, and post reminder signs at appropriate places in the office when applicable.

Louise Baker is a freelance writer and blogger who usually does car insurance comparisons over at CarinsuranceComparison.Org. She recently wrote about finding cheap car insurance quotes.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

5 Different Ways to Reduce Waste in an Average Office

Over a year ago I posted about starting a compost pile in my back yard. I started out with several biodegradable lawn bags full of leaves and added kitchen scraps as I went along. Eventually, we made an area for the pile and put it all together. I used an old coffee can to collect the kitchen scraps and dumped it when it was full (or started stinking). I can’t say it was the best system, but it worked.

A few month down the road, I was contacted by BuyGreen.com. BuyGreen.com invited me to try out one of their products and I came across the BioBag MaxAir II Composting Buckets.  This bucket and the BioBags included, stepped up my composting efforts in the kitchen.

Kitchen food waste can build up bacterial odor quickly when collected in a solid plastic or ceramic pail. The reason is food waste creates heat and moisture that can not escape when placed in these closed containers. Many modern collection pails contain charcoal filters or other devices to help mask the odor, but do little to slow the rotting process. The Max Air buckets are ventilated on all sides, including the top and bottom, allowing food waste to breathe.

True to it’s claim, I was able to collect more scraps without stinking up the house. Additionally, it became a cleaner process since the scraps were contained in the mini trash bag. This eliminated the need to gag my way though washing out rotting food from the coffee cans.  Overall, this bucket streamlined my efforts and made it become a habit, rather then a chore. I’m glad I picked this product to check out. A little advice, the Biobags are very thin and start to biodegrade very quickly, don’t let your scraps get too heavy or wait too long, they may break through when you try to remove them.

Over a year later and I have a nice pile started. I recently dug down to the bottom and pulled out some nice dark soil to put around our apple tree.  Composting has been a success in our home. It’s a small effort anyone can do to make a difference.

Do you compost? Comment with any tips and tricks you may have.

In compliance with FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

What’s In Your Trash? A Review

EarthTalk®
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: What are some simple things I could do to green the office I work in?
– James Raskin, Framingham, MA

No matter how green your office may be already, there is surely room for improvement somewhere. Here are 10 suggestions to help get you and your co-workers further along on the path to office sustainability:

1. Take your Office’s Green Footprint: The website TheGreenOffice.com, an online retailer specializing in green office products, makes available a free Office Footprint Calculator to gauge what kind of effect you and your co-workers are having on the environment and identify how to make improvements.
2. Save Trees: The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year. Refrain from printing when you can, use both sides of a sheet, and recycle so that the recycling industry will have raw material.
3. Power Down: Artificial lighting accounts for almost half of all office electricity use. Turn off lights that are not being used. Better yet, install motion sensors that do it automatically when no one is in the room. Also, shut down computers overnight, and set them to go into sleep mode when sitting idle.
4. Minimize E-Waste: Upgrade or repair the office computers instead of junking them. So-called “e-waste”—toxin-leaching computers and electronics—is a huge problem all over the world now.
5. Telecommute: Encourage workers to work at home when possible to save car trips. For those who must come to the office, encourage bicycling if it is safe. Also some firms now subsidize employee public transit costs to discourage driving. And online video tools like Skype can help cut down on business trips.
6. Green Screen Your Suppliers: Ask your vendors how they are greening their operations. Just posing the question can start them thinking, the precursor to action. Demand recycled paper and soy-based inks from your printers, and buy only green office supplies—which are now widely available.
7. Clean Greener: Make sure your cleaning service uses non-toxic, green friendly products—if they don’t, offer to supply them—so that you can breathe easy when you’re trying to get your own work done.
8. Eco-Renovate: If you need to renovate or upgrade anything, greenest options abound, including non-toxic paints, natural fiber carpeting, energy efficient windows and Energy Star-rated office equipment.
9. Drink Tap Water: Having big jugs of water lugged in and out every week by the bottle water company is not only unnecessary but a big waste of energy. Most tap water is safe to drink; if yours isn’t or you’re not sure, put filters on the kitchen spouts or buy filtered water pitchers and keep them in the office fridge.
10. Put Your Heads Together: Form a committee to organize and monitor your office’s green practices, to ensure that your office’s green goals don’t fall away if one or two committed employees move on, and to reinforce the importance of doing the right thing across the organization.

CONTACTS: TheGreenOffice.com, www.thegreenoffice.com.
SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, c/o E – The Environmental
Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. E is a nonprofit publication.
Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Request a Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Earth Talk: Greening the office

In the past, if you wanted to use wood for your green home, you were forced to use reclaimed flooring that was salvaged from old barns and warehouses. Reclaimed flooring really shines in traditional design aesthetics where a more rustic look is desired. What if you’re aiming for a newer look? One that fits in your modern, contemporary, or transitional green home?

Enter Staybull Flooring™. With over 20 species of recycled flooring to choose from, you can install eco-friendly wood and end up with a green floor that also has many benefits.

With the arrival of Staybull Flooring™ up to 98% of a log can be used to create a product that is both eco-friendly and more durable than solid flooring.

Here are the Top 5 Benefits Staybull Flooring provides:

• VOC Free – No formaldehyde’s, benzene, or any other toxic solvents are used
• Eco-Shield™ Floor Finish – offers high abrasion resistance and meets Europe’s REACH standards
• A multi-faceted look – See Brazilian Cherry, Mahogany, Oak, and Maple in a whole new way
• Edge-glued planks ensure that your floor won’t cup, twist, or crown
• Wider planks and longer boards lowers buying cost & decreases install time

How does Staybull compare to other eco-flooring options?

Sure, there’s bamboo, but your colors options are limited and there’s that nagging problem of VOCs many brands are plagued by. There’s FSC wood flooring available, but because of high demand it’s very expensive. Engineered flooring is another option, but ultimately doesn’t solve the problem that no one wants to talk about – the tons of wood left behind by mills that produce any hardwood-based flooring.

You see, typical flooring production uses between 40-60% of usable material. This means that there are literally tons of wood sitting in landfills. Or worse, these piles are doused with gasoline and burned. Clearly, the releasing carbon emissions into our already compromised atmosphere isn’t helping matters.

Help us do our part. With every successful installation of Staybull Flooring™, more wood gets saved being needlessly wasted, or burned.

Check out Staybull Flooring™ today.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gem of the Week: Staybull Flooring™

AusPen White Board Markers Price: 7.95	Kitchen Compost Bin Price: 14.99	Mini Recycling Bin Price: 6.45	Replacement Carbon Filters Price: 5.99
Recycling & Waste Basket Price: 5.99	Recycle Bin Wall Brackets Price: 5.99	Newspaper Bundle Bin Price: 17.99	Stackable Recycling Containers Price: 17.75
Recycle Bin Wheel Kit Price: 11.70	Curbside Recycling Bins Price: 9.99	Hanging Waste Basket Price: 9.99	Personal Document Destruction Container Price: 68.95
Upright Containers Price: 24.75	The Waste Watcher Price: 99.00	Shredinator Price: 139.00	Smart Sort – 22 Gallon Price: 119.00
SuperSorter Series Price: 400.00	Outdoor Container Price: 515.00	HP Ink and Toner Cartridges Price: 10.99	Brother Ink and Toner Cartridges Price: 10.99

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Recycle Bins & More

This morning, I was sent a request to read a post on Software Advice. The topic hit spot on with my own values on paperless, so I am more then happy to share this with my readers!

I’m a Whole Foods regular. Not just any Whole Foods, but the flagship World headquarters in Austin, Texas. I live right across the street and every morning I stop in on my walk to work. I pick up two breakfast tacos and a coffee.

I also pick up a useless paper receipt.

I certainly don’t need a paper receipt – I have no desire to return a taco. Paper receipts represent a wasteful vestige of the last millennium. In fact, there is no reason – legal or otherwise – why consumers or retailers need paper receipts. Electronic receipts are completely valid and they are far more efficient.

Moreover, the production of paper receipts do some real damage to our environment. Here are some stunning factoids that I found at AllEtronic, an interesting business that is working to move receipts to digital format.

Read the full article…

Agree, Agree, Agree! Paper receipts are such a HUGE waste, my purse is always over flowing with debit card receipts from every stop I make during the week.  Then when I try to find that one receipt I actually do need for a return, I never find it and get stuck with a store credit instead of the cash I paid! An inefficient system from beginning to end for sure.

So, what can be done?

First, educate!

Please Kill the Paper Receipt taught me that “thermal receipt paper cannot be recycled”…WHAT? So, all the receipts (first checked for any personal information) I have tossed into my paper recycling… what about those?

Next, motivate!

So, what we really need is a strong incentive to move to electronic receipts. We need incentives – primarily monetary – that motivate consumers and retailers to push toward the vision of paperless retail purchases.

Finally, vote and comment!

After taking the time to read Please Kill the Paper Receipt, take a minute to answer their poll and sharing your thoughts on this in the comments, or post the link on FaceBook , Twitter or other social networks.  This way you can educate others as well. Thank you to Software Advice for sharing this post with me this morning, a Green Gem of the Week for sure!

Cheers!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gem of the Week: Please Kill the Paper Receipt

EarthTalk®
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I work for an office equipment company selling copiers, fax machines, computers and printers. Each year new models come out making old ones obsolete. As a result, we have loads of trade-ins with nowhere to go. What can we do with this old equipment? — Jeff P., Worcester, MA

Electronic waste, or “e-waste” as it’s called, is a growing problem in the United States and abroad, as obsolete or broken computers and other electronic equipment are taking up increasingly precious amounts of landfill space and potentially leaking hazardous substances into surrounding ecosystems.

The nonprofit Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition reports that 70 percent of the heavy metals in U.S. landfills are from discarded electronics—even though the e-waste itself accounts for only two percent of the trash by volume. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that Americans trash two million tons of unwanted electronics each year—six times the amount they recycle. To make matters worse, U.S. companies often ship old equipment to poor nations whose landfills and incinerators are ill equipped, subjecting already struggling populations to lead, cadmium, beryllium, and other contaminants.

So what can be done? If your old units still work but have merely been eclipsed by newer models, then by all means donate them to a needy cause that will either put them to good use or resell them to help fund their programs. You’ll earn a tax deduction for a charitable donation and, by keeping the equipment alive, prevent the manufacture of new units and thus, if ever so slightly, reduce the footprint of your operations.

But not every charity accepts old equipment, and no one wants to spend all day calling around to find one that does. A good place to look, then, is Goodwill, which will accept your equipment and then sell it through any one of its 1,500 retail stores across the country. Proceeds fund programs to help the disabled, illiterate, homeless, and those on welfare by providing job training and placement programs. The Salvation Army runs similar programs and also typically accepts donated old office equipment.

Another option is to donate your equipment to needy schools, either directly or via a service like iLoveSchools.com, which helps teachers find free supplies and equipment for their classrooms. The National Cristina Foundation also matches donated technology with needy schools and nonprofits. Also, the website GreatNonprofits.org maintains a list of charities in need of various types of office equipment. You can also offload equipment via Freecycle, a free service that helps find homes for unwanted stuff.

While finding a new home for your old gear is preferable, recycling is also an option. Recyclers harvest parts from old equipment that can be reused or resold. Several websites, including My Green Electronics, E-cycling Central, and Earth911, list electronics recyclers across the U.S. Some of these vendors will charge a small fee to recycle an item for you; others may do it for free. Also, Office Depot, Staples and some other stores will take back used electronics—even if not purchased there—usually for a small fee.

CONTACTS: Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, www.svtc.org; Goodwill, www.goodwill.org; Salvation Army, www.salvationarmy.org; iLoveSchools.com, www.iloveschools.com; National Cristina Foundation, www.cristina.org; GreatNonprofits.org, www.greatnonprofits.org; Freecycle, www.freecycle.org; E-cycling Central, www.ecyclingcentral.com; Earth911, www.earth911.org; Office Depot, www.officedepot.com; Staples, www.staples.com.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. EarthTalk® is now a book! Details and order information at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalkbook.

Photo credit: George Hotelling, courtesy Flickr.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Earth Talk: Electronic “e-waste.”

Hey everyone!

It’s Monday and I have been trying to get back into posting. A slipped disk in my neck has made it hard to use my right hand … whine.. whine.. whine!

Anyway! Monday means review and giveaway not crying about not feeling my hand for nearly a month now right??? So, lets get to it!  I was introduced to a company called Warmables, quite some time ago (yes it’s been a while since I have done a flaunt it!) and they have these nifty carriers that keep your meals warm with cherry pits. Personally, I love this idea since I am not a huge fan of sandwiches and how boring can the same cold stuff for lunch get?? I REALLY wish I had come across this before the economy crashed and my hubby was doing construction!  I can’t tell you how many times he whined about how sick and tired he was of sandwiches and various types of pasta salads. I just didn’t know what to make him that could stay warm until lunch, so I resorted to things that could be kept cold.

Warmables would have been a perfect solution for my husband and meanwhile waste-free, bpa-free and enviro-friendly:

Please know that all Warmables products are made by us (your Warmables team) in a small sewing studio in Jersey City as the orders come in.
Materials are purchased in the USA and Canada only.
We are totally focused on healthier lunches, our economy and environment.
Warmables will not be produced overseas. Instead of cheap production done in China or elsewhere we are offering work for a handful of us, supporting our economy where we can.
Our Warmables lunch systems are delivered as 3 or 4 piece sets (the Warmables pouch, liner, a BPA-free food container and a cherry pit bag) and do not produce any garbage at all.
Warmables pit bag products are made of natural cotton and filled with real cherry pits.
Packaging materials are kept to a bare minimum for environmental reasons.

Yes, cherry pits keep your food hot… or cold since you can also freeze them. I had learned about the rice sock trick when I had my first c-section, but never thought much of cherry pits (Images of the Witches of Eastwick running through my head!). This is a neat little idea and I’m glad to be able to share it with you! Personally, I think the office size (image above) is a better size for everyone to use, the kids size seemed a little small to me, and once it’s all packed together it has a handle for easy carrying.

So, Want a chance to try a warmable?? You know the routine, let’s do it!

Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit Warmables and comment here on which product you would love to try
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow @ecoofficegals and comment that you did.
• Subscribe to the Warmables newsletter and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Can’t wait to win? Buy anything from Warmables and comment 5 times that you did! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Wednesday 3/3/10 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US and Canadian residents only. Thanks!

Here are your random numbers:

55

Timestamp: 2010-03-06 21:26:19 UTC

Congrats Lily Kwan!!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Flaunt It! Monday – Warmables

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

In honor of America Recycles Day we celebrate a company that make recycling a part of our everyday lives!

Small Steps™ by Marcal® brand products focuses squarely on the company’s green heritage. For over five decades, Marcal has been saving trees and reducing landfill by making its paper products from recycled paper. Marcal uses paper collected from curbs in residential neighborhoods in cities and towns across America; from the small blue baskets in office buildings, unwanted junk mail, and waste from printers; all in an effort to do something good… to produce something that people need.
Marcal is an integral part of the northern New Jersey community. The company uses recyclables from more than 600 municipalities from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and New England. The company is one of the largest employers in New Jersey, employing over 900 people.

This company had a true passion in recycling way before it was the cool thing to do. Yes, since 1950 they have been using paper waste, not trees to bring paper products into our home. After all is “Your Ass Worth A Million Trees A Year?”

So, Marcal sent me some of their Small Steps products to try out.  Now any of my readers that have been with me a while know that I try not to use paper at all, if possible.  One thing I almost never buy is paper towels, I use my Skoy Cloths and washable rags. So, when I received this shipment which included several rolls of paper towels who would know how perfect the timing would be!

I’m not going to get into too much detail in this post, but I will be guest posting about my family’s experience of living without water for many weeks on another blog soon.  Anyway – this was one point in my life when I probably tripled my waste since washing dishes, clothes, the house etc had to be done waterless or at the kindness of neighbors and friends. So, having these “responsibly – disposable” products were a true blessing!

The paper towels helped me keep the house clean as possible with cleaners, they were not linty and held up nicely. Granted they’re not the bleached white, fluffy soft, almost cloth-like paper towels that many people might use, but as far as I’m concerned… if you want cloth-like… use cloth!

My family got to try out the Small Steps toilet paper as well.  This is one area I’m stuck buying paper for life.  No getting around it… at least none I’m willing to try! So, why not at least try to buy a little more responsibly and use TP made from recycled paper instead of virgin forests? Right? Sure it may take a little getting used to – again it lacks the bleach and fluff many of us… this time including myself, are used to. There were no complains from the family, it served it’s purpose. What else can I ask for?

I would definitely use Marcals Small Steps in my attempt to green up my act.  There’s no reason not to! Take a look around at the paper products you are using in your home, can you make a positive change for the environment by switching to Small Steps?

Marcal is hooking up one of my readers with a great package of their Small Steps products: Dinner Napkins, 180ct Napkin Drawstring Bag, Upright-80ct Facial Tissues, 144ct Facial, Single Roll Giant Towel, 1,000ct Bath, 4 ct bath 1000 ct, 3 roll Regular towel! Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Comment here on what Marcal product would help you make a green step – or something you learned from their informative site.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow Marcal Small Steps on Twitter.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Tried a Small Steps product before? Let us know what you think.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.

The deadline for entering is Wednesday 11/18/09 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US residents only. Thanks!

Here are your random numbers:

108

Timestamp: 2009-11-19 16:00:17 UTC

Congrats Jessica!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Flaunt It! Monday: Marcal Small Steps