Earth Friendly Shopping

OK  – I gotta admit that this is one post I NEVER expected to write – I certainly never thought I would write that headline

I am from NY, now living in California. If I ever thought about Cleveland at all,  which wasn’t often,  it was simply to dismiss Cleveland as a dirty, old style industrial city.  The worst of the rust belt.

But today, I got an email from Positively Cleveland, and it sounds like things are starting to change.

Consider the starting date, 40 years ago.  In 1969, the Cayuga River was so polluted, that it actually caught fire.  This dramatic event led to the Clean Water Act.  Although there is still work to be done,  our nation’s rivers and lakes are cleaner than they were 40 years ago.  Of that there is no doubt

At the same time,  individual cities, counties, and states have been working to improve the quality of the environment and to reduce their impact.  Chicago has a Climate Change Plan

And now, the Cleveland Visitors and Convention Center has published this list of 75 green things to love about Cleveland.

Here are a couple

6. For business or pleasure. The new RTA HealthLine, opened in October of 2008, connects downtown Cleveland’s Public Square to the arts, culture, education and hospitals of University Circle. The bus line utilizes 21 hybrid-electric vehicles powered by clean diesel engines and electric transmissions with 100 kW motors and 600-volt nickel hydride battery packs. This unique power train reduces particulate emissions while dramatically improving fuel efficiency. (http://www.rtahealthline.com/)

7. Ticket to ride. In conjunction with the new bus line, Euclid Avenue was completely re-done including the planting of 1,500 trees and the addition of dedicated bike lanes providing commuters another green alternative to driving.

8. The power of wind and sun. The Great Lakes Science Center installed solar panels to go along with the first Cleveland lakefront wind turbine, becoming the fourth largest producer of alternative energy in the state. The solar panels and wind turbine bring about greater public awareness of renewable energy and educate visitors to the Science Center of the benefits of alternative energy to this region (http://www.greatscience.com/)

We say Bravo Cleveland

These are Soooo cool!   ScooterBees shoes are made from eco-friendly materials, from top to bottom.

ScooterBees are made of recycled fibers dervied from both post-industrial and post-consumer sources, including PET soda and water bottles.

The little soles are made with the anti-slipping and water-resistant ThermoPlastic Elastomer (TPE) material. TPE is a degradable material made of carbon and hydrogen, it uses no harmful chemicals in its production such as in traditional PVC’s . It is PVC-free, latex-free, and most-importantly, chloride-free, dioxin-free, and phthalate-free.

Two velcro straps let you adjust the shoes to different width feet.  They stay on little feet.

But the coolest thing about ScooterBees is that each shoe tells a story.  As mom or dad is putting the shoe on or taking it off,  the child sees different pictures, and the parent can tell a story.

It is a great opportunity to work a fun learning moment into an every day activity.  We love ScooterBees for a bunch of reasons

When you are running a green business, you never know what the next challenge you will be facing next.  Some are expected:  Finding green suppliers, customer service issues, choosing packaging and shipping,  managing cash flow, etc.

Most of these are pretty much expected.  Some are just part of running any business, green or not.  Others are specific to green businessesm but still pretty much what we would expect.

Then, every so often one hits us from out of nowhere.  This is one of those.  Our business, Kate’s Caring Gifts is a certified Alameda County Green Business.    Last fall, our certification was up for renewal, and that’s when the fun began.

The first step is that they audit our practices.  In our case, it was fairly simple.  We recycle almost everything.  We use recycled packaging every time we can, we have almost no waste, one toilet and one sink.  We don’t have an air conditioner or a furnance in the warehouse.

But, there was one area where we did not pass the audit.  The new requirement for green businesses is that all T-12  style florescent lamps be replaced with more efficient T-8 lamps.  Some estimates are that t8s are up to 40% more efficient

The numbers in T-12 and T-8 refer to the diameter of the tubular lamp, measured in 1/8ths of an inch.  So  a T12 lamp is 1.5 Inches in diameter (12/8) and a T8 is 1 Inch (8/8).  T8 lamps are more efficient,  produce more light for the same or less electricity, and contain less mercury.

Part of the efficiency of T8 lamps is that they use an electronic ballast (transoformer) rather than the magnetic ballast  used by T12 lamps.  That means that you can’t just put a T8 lamp into a T12 fixture.  The lights will flicker very badly.

That means that either the old ballast needs to be removed from the fixture and replaced, or the entire fixture has to be replaced.   We have 10 light fixtures.  8 of them are 17 feet up in the air. The other two are accessible using small ladders.

We called some electricians, and couldn’t find anyone who was even interested enough to come out and give us an estimate.   So, we decided to do it ourselves.

Our first thought was that it would be cheaper and more efficient to change out the ballasts. I figured I would give it a shot on our two accessible fixtures.  So, I went down to the local electrical supply store, and asked for a T8 ballast and lamps that would fit into my T12 fixture.  The Ballast alone was $150.  YIIKES!    Still, I got one,  took apart an old fixture and tried to install it.  The only word I can use for the result was FAIL.  The electronic ballast has a completely different wiring from the magnetic ballast, and when all was said and done, the light didn’t come on.

So, we were back to square one.   I decided to pay a visit to the local Home Depot, and there were complete T8 fixtures for $47.  These fixtures used two 4 foot T8 lamps end to end in place of one 8 foot t12 lamps, but otherwise were the same footprint as our old fixture.

We got a couple,  and installed them successfully in the accessible area.  HUZAH!  So now, it was how to get them installed in our 17 foot ceiling.  One thing was clear, I was NOT going up on a ladder.  I checked into scaffolding, then my neighbor suggested we get a scissor lift from Sunstate Equipment rental (located right down the street from us)

OK  – Now we had to move all our inventory and shelving so that we could put the scissor lift into the right places, and we were off!

Sunstate delivered at 7:00 AM and we were off – We took down an old fixture, put up a new one, tested, and moved on.   Here are a few pictures of us at work.    (sorry about the quality – it was dark, and I had to push the exposure)

So now we just need to put the shelves back where they were, and we are done – The whole project took about 6 months

In January, we wrote about the risks to our water supply from Hydraulic Fracture, the process in which

water and a mix of chemicals are pumped at high pressure into the formation where the gas is stored  At some point, the formation is no longer able to absorb the liquid and fractures.  The gas will flow more easily through the fracture and into the well.

The key problem is that the fracture fluids contain a mix of toxic chemicals that seep into underground water supplies.  Hydraulic fracture has been completely unregulated due to a 2o05 law.  But that might change

Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette of Colorado and Maurice Hinchey of New York plan to reintroduce a bill that would repeal a ban on regulating the process, called hydraulic fracturing, under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The industry is (as you would expect) squealing like stuck  pigs and ramping up the lobbying effort.

Here’s hoping that they get the law through