GreenPepper Blog

Pack it In, Pack it Out

By Trish Taylor, GreenPepper

While at the beach this weekend, I was drinking a can of Fat Tire beer that had a couple of sayings that caught my eye. The first was Wind Powered and Employee Owned. New Belgium, the maker of Fat Tire, sounds like my kind of company. Who knew beer could be so sustainable?

The next saying on the can I noticed was Pack it In, Pack it Out. I said it out loud and then asked, “wonder what that means?” My beachmate said, “You don’t know what that is? That means anything you take with you – hiking, camping, etc, you should take back out with you.” I knew I loved this beer but then I became really intrigued by the company.

New Belgium Brewery, based in Ft. Collins, CO, states on its website that they are alternatively powered. They have been wind powered since 1999; they have a process for treating wastewater to get two byproducts – methane and nutrient-rich sludge. They use that methane to power an onsite heat and power engine to create electricity and heat for the brewery.

They even made their brewery process more efficient by using a brew kettle that heats thin sheets of wort (key beer ingredient) rather than the whole kettle at once. They soon plan to reduce their water usage by 10 percent – hmm, couldn’t they use that to make more beer?

The best part is the culture New Belgium has created among its fans. With its main beer named Fat Tire, you can only guess that many carbon conscious cyclists are big fans. Each year, the company hosts Tour de Fat in various cities celebrating bicycling as a viable form of alternative transportation. They power the stage with solar power and serve beer in compostable cups. Plus, one attendee who donates his/her car gets a New Belgium cruiser.

It just goes to show simple choices, even beer, can lead to a more sustainable way of life.

Traveling? BYOB

By Trish Taylor, GreenPepper

Whenever I travel to a hotel I feel bad for those little bars of soap that get used for just a day or two. I’ve even been to hotels where the hotel staff replaced used soap with a brand new wrapped soap each day. What happens to those bars of soap? I’m guessing they go into the trash. My grandma used to collect her whittled-down bars of soap and once a year boil them making one big, multi-colored, multi-scented soap. I always loved that new, recycled bar of soap.

Then of course there are the bottles the hotels give you. You have the shampoos, conditioners, shower gels and lotions. If I use any of them I take them home and use them until I can recycle the bottle. But even more often, I try to use tiny bottles I refill at home. Again, what happens when someone uses just a small portion of a bottle? Does the hotel staff refill? They likely throw them in the trash.

As I pondered a hotel stay a few weeks ago I thought why don’t they have a soap dispenser at the sink and refillable dispensers in the shower like gyms? Nah, people will steal the dispenser and fill gunk in the shower dispensers. But finally I stayed in a hotel this week that had shower dispensers. It is possible!

The Hotel Carlton in San Francisco was the first hotel in the U.S. to become a LEED EB O&M Gold hotel (not sure what all that means, but it sounds wonderful) and they’re ENERGY STAR certified.  And the key, they have shower dispensers. They can improve on the soap dispenser at the sink, but at least the packaging was biodegradable and small enough that it wasn’t going to last too long.

Next time you travel, besides hanging your towel to reuse at your next shower (another trick from the other grandma), be sure to pack your own bottles. BYOB is still cool after college.

Happy Earth Day!

By Erin Howard, GreenPepper

This morning, while commuting on the PATH to work, Ivoverheard the following conversation:

Man 1: “Hey man its earth day, recycle today. Do something good for the earth.”

Man 2: “Oh really? Today? Yeah, I recycle.”

Man 1: “Yeah. A lot of people they recycle at home but not at work.”

Man 2: “Yeah, at home we recycle.”

Man 1: “Yeah at my home we recycle, but at work they just throw everything into one place. By law they don't have to recycle.  So they just don't want the hassle.”

The conversation left the wheels in my head spinning: was recycling a law? Was it not a law? How did I not know for sure? While we recycle at Peppercom, and we did at my last company as well, I realized I didn’t actually know the state’s laws for businesses. Could this man be right?

Turns out he – and his company – are wrong. This helpful handbook put out by the New York City Department of Sanitation titled “Recycling: It’s Not a Choice, It’s the Law” lays out what’s expected of businesses loud and clear, with pictures to illustrate, instructions on how to recycle, signs to post, and guides on how to avoid getting fined by following the law.

What is interesting, however, is that offices only need (by law) to recycle the following items: corrugated cardboard; office paper; magazines, catalogs and phone books; newspapers; and textiles (if over 10% of your waste stream.) No mention of aluminum cans, bottles or other waste that frequently fills up trash cans and is easily separated out.

For Earth Day, the Greenpepper team has a call to each of you that’s twofold:

1. Make sure your office is following the law. Find your recycling cans; make sure they’re being used properly.

2. Ask your company to go above and beyond. Offer to take the lead in contacting your trash collection provider to see if they will take separated cans/bottles. Chances are, they will. Add a new, clearly-labeled can to a common area and encourage your co-workers to recycle their cans, bottles and aluminum. We – and your mother earth – will congratulate your efforts.

What is your office doing to observe Earth Day? Let us know!

Now Recycling - Viva Las Vegas!

By Trish Taylor, GreenPepper

While in Las Vegas this year on a business trip, I noticed the airport decked out in all sorts of signage like the one shown here. Signs announced, “Recycling Has Arrived,” “Recycling Has Landed” and it definitely caught my eye. But I was dumbfounded. I thought, “Did they just start recycling now?”

During my time in Vegas I took note of trash and how it was collected. In Sin City they go through countless plastic and glass bottles from water to soda to beer to liquor. Nearly every establishment seems to throw very-recyclable items right in the trash along with their patrons’ leftover Kung Pao.

In a city that has to depend on so many others for its resources (it is the desert), you would think they would be a bit more conscious of its fortunate surplus – from the water that’s piped in to the fish that’s flown in to the bottles that can become more bottles. But that is not the case.

Vegas should take note from the state of Michigan. As long as I remember (growing up on the state line), Michigan includes a bottle/can deposit. When standing at the bar, you see all the empty beer cases filling up with empty beer bottles. A 10 cent deposit goes a long way – remember that Seinfeld episode? Newman and Kramer came up with a brilliant plan to take their bottles that are worth 5 cents in New York to Michigan where they are worth double. Of course it doesn’t work out, but the main point of that story is that a deposit is even offered – incentivizing people to recycle.

Although a deposit wouldn’t work as easily in a city that allows patrons to walk between establishments carrying their cocktails, they should be able to have a recycling container right alongside the trash can. Most people will do the right thing. Good for you Las Vegas International Airport, I just wish it hadn’t taken you so long. Those poor, poor bottles and cans in the landfill would have loved to be reincarnated just like all the Elvis jumpsuits out there.

We're Settling For Silver

By Erin Howard, GreenPepper

 There were a few quotes that caught my eye lately, all relating to the United States and its commitment to the environment versus Europe’s. For example:

New York Times, March 2, 2010, Square Feet Column, Seeing the Investor Value in Being Green: “‘We come at things from a bit of a European perspective, and Europe is far ahead of the United States in the environmental movement,’ Mr. Bronfman said.”

New York Times, March 9, 2010, Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun: “’The U.S. is really behind Europe on this, and if we wait until solar is cost-competitive on its own, we may miss the boat and an opportunity to shape the market.’”

I shouldn’t be shocked. It’s a well-known fact that the U.S. lags behind Europe in terms of the environment. It’s a fact I’ve seen with my own eyes, having lived in Germany in the early 1990s, where recycling, turning your car off at long stoplights and using recycled paper were already common place. But seeing it in print over and over again? It’s a little like getting punched in the gut.

What I don’t get is: WHY is this acceptable? Why is it that a country who strives to be number one in every other aspect, seems fine to lag behind when it comes to environmental protection and policy? On the list of our goals for the country’s future, when exactly was it decided that we wouldn’t even try to win Gold on this one – that we’d happily accept Silver?

Being second best isn’t an image our country is comfortable with, and it certainly shouldn’t be. Our country should be leading the charge in creating a more sustainable tomorrow, as it leads in so many other ways. It’s not just a matter of coming in first, but of keeping our planet viable for many more Gold medals to come.