Being Green: At Home & At Work

[My Thu Vo]

The Earth may be old, but Earth Day turned 40 in April 2010. It’s a reminder to think more about climate change, carbon footprints, the Earth’s future and what each of us can do to help save our planet.

In honor of Earth Day—Thursday, April 22—PHI created a contest to get employees to put on their thinking caps about their contributions to the environment. What’s one green thing you (your department, family, or neighborhood) are doing to be more eco friendly?

At the end of the week, two prizes were given; one for the “most creative” idea and one for “the greenest.”

Each idea shared has been valuable, exposing new ways to conserve and help the environment.

Here are some simple green things people at PHI are doing everyday that you could try at home and in the office.

- Eden suggests the following:

Ø Walk to work with a smile (to inspire others)

Ø Unplug and turn off all outlets but your fridge and modem

Ø Filter your water instead of buying bottled

Ø Buy vintage instead of new items (unless socks or cars)

Ø Buy food from local markets and bulk bins (rather than imports or packaged)

- Michelle does the following:

Ø I have installed 2 rain barrels for watering my garden

Ø Removed my lawn to native plants only

Ø Use cloth napkins

Ø Lunch box, no plastic bags

Ø Compost

Ø If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down!!! (to save water)

Ø Reuse my zip lock bags too!

Ø I take a 5 minute shower when I don’t wash my hair

Ø I shop at thrift/recycle stores

- Clean up the environment by cleaning up your aura – unknown

- No car – Lisa

- Let’s bring our own re-usable dishes, mugs, and cups – Maggie & Star

- I take military showers to save water – Baine

- I carry a zero waste lunch box. Reusable sandwich and fruit pouches. No more plastic ending up in the

ocean! I also head up the food scrap/lunch sorting program at my kids public school and garden – MaryD.

- We keep a bucket in the shower and use the water to flush with – Maureen

- One thing we are doing at home is creating our own cleaning products that are more environmentally

friendly (and healthier!) rather than using highly toxic chemical cleaners. On our homesteading forum,

homesteadinganewera.com, we have a whole section devoted to being green – Laura

Take a few moments to think about what green things you (or your company) are doing to protect our planet. Brainstorm and share your ideas. No measures are too big or too small in protecting our plant and are worth exposing.

[My Thu Vo]

Thanks for the sharing information about "green" LEED buildings.

Yes, the Bay Area provides supurb public transportation, great food, and many people who are environmentlly aware of taking care of the Earth. We can carry on this mentality to each and every new place we visit.

Let's celebrate Earth Day, everyday =)

[Margaret Emmott]

I love the green ideas - though wonder what a military shower entails?!

San Francisco is a great city for 'going green'! I learned how to compost, bike to work, and eat local while living here!

Let's keep the competition going well beyond earth day :)

[Farah Sanders]

All these greed ideas are very inspiring. The building that PHI Headquarters is housed in was recently LEED Certified which means that it's designated as a "green" building. Let's hope they keep up their status. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_in_Energy_and_Environmental...