BlueGreen speech 2010

Thank you for asking me to speak at this awards ceremony tonight. I am honored to be in the presence of such a great group of Tulsans in one of my favorite hotels in town. This inaugural event should become an annual event and I hope to be back here next year with each of you.

Before I begin my address, I want to mention the people at the table where I am seated. Three of the people there—my co-workers at the M.e.t.—are Gayle Lewis, Shelly Umezawa, and Daniel Jeffries. They do the real work of our cause. I am just the guy who gives speeches, signs contracts, and rubs elbows to continue to find funding. These three each add something vitally important to our efforts at the M.e.t., a knowledge and willingness to share it and do research for anyone who asks.

The hundreds of phone calls, e-mails and personal conversations they each have each week is staggering. Yes, we operate twelve recycling center businesses and conduct among the largest household hazardous waste collections in the country twice a year, but most importantly, the M.e.t. has become ‘the answer place’. When people find us, these three people know their stuff. I am so honored of their environmental education and teaching to thousands of residents and Tulsa area business people each year.

Also in the audience is local artist Rainbow Girl. I love her colorful awards that will be given out tonight. They share they joy that she feels and I see whenever she does sustainable work. Meeting her a few years ago helped renew my commitment to my work. I have been on the Mayfest Board for around two decades, almost as long as I have been a known green guy in Tulsa. I kept trying to bring my two efforts together by having recycling bins at the biggest arts festival and did for a few years when I was the Chairman of the festival. It was such a struggle to get Oklahomans to start recycling, especially at an outdoor event away from their home. I was exhausted by trying, DTU was fighting the efforts, and making sure I failed at doing it. Along comes Lauren, who tells me, “I will find friends and we will work tirelessly digging through the trash cans to collect the bottles and cans for recycling.” Then she did. Her energy and efforts help inspire me.

Lastly, I want to mention at my table, my wife Anna America. As most of you know, Anna is the top person at Up with Trees and has transformed the non-profit to go beyond planting trees along the highways  to giving away, planting and care for thousands of trees in parks, schools, and yards across our city this year alone. We both are often in the news, on TV or given a chance to speak at these kinds of events.

The two of us get lots of spotlight in Tulsa for our work and, I also realize, for our two successful kids we are raising here in Tulsa.

I believe the fruit and flowers of our lives are a blessing and partly made possible because our roots in Tulsa are so deep and we have found a cause that is such good light.

It is this spotlight that I want to talk about tonight. This gathering is a great example of what I think is needed today in our personal, business and environmental lives. The Tulsa Business Journal is the perfect group to put together such a bright light to truly illuminate the best local efforts of sustainability. This night is our chance to create a Spotlight on sustainability.

Let me say that I believe that light is a magical thing. The light from the sun makes our plants grow to absorb carbon that cleans our air with new oxygen.  They say that the light of day is the best anti-septic in keeping our public officials honest. Well-designed lighting can even lessen our fears at night without adversely affecting our ability to see the stars.

Even light beer is healthier than regular beer with one third less calories and sticking to our theme tonight, blue lights specials are really special at K-Mart and green light means it is safe to go forward.

The light that is shined on these awards winners tonight shares this magic glow. Each of the nominees, from large employers to small two person companies, from the designers to the builders, from the ones who feed and care for us, to the ones who cleanup and handle our waste, all share this light tonight.

It is a highlight of our gathering to honor these sustainable efforts.  Sustainability means so much and its promise affects every part of our life. Each of the nominees has demonstrated a commitment to develop a plan that will help maintain or improve or quality of life with sacrificing the ability of our children to enjoy the same quality of life. The efforts are not temporary in nature, but instead permanent in design. If Sustainability were a garden, we would be planting perennials and not annuals.

It can be a struggle to build a garden in Oklahoma. My wife’s sister brags about her garden in Seattle. I say, “it is easy to grow a garden there, empty residential lots turn into rain forest in Seattle. Come to Oklahoma, where gardening requires an enduring commitment.” In Oklahoma, you have to have a plan, a plan to deal with drought, wind, or even late season snow to be able to succeed in gardening.

We too can enjoy the moment and delight in the fragrance of the rose petal, but only if we plan to properly plant, and prune, and water the entire bush. It is this plan to endure that best captures my idea of sustainability.

Sustainability is to have a plan to endure. It is the enduring of winter, the rebirth of spring, the harvest of summer, and the quilt of color of fall that make living here so special.

For those of us who were lucky enough to get outside a few minutes today, we embraced spring. It snowed just two days ago, yet I saw people outside, everywhere walking to lunch, playing on the playground or with dirty hands from gardening. We each had a great chance to smile and absorb the enriching and necessary vitamin D from the light of the sun.

The last day it snowed, Sunday, was the vernal equinox, one of two days of the day of the year where the amount of daylight is equal to the amount of darkness. The spring equinox begins the cycle where each day of spring means a little bit more of daylight. It is this cycle of light that brings out, in my opinion, the best and most beautiful plants in our world.

This awards ceremony is perfectly timed to create spotlight. Most of us will be too busy in the forty days from the equinox to the end of April… doing the many Earth day related events that serve as our time to shine. This fortieth anniversary of Earth Day will be the best in Tulsa, in part, because it has been spurred on by this event tonight.

I don’t want to talk too long. I tried to time this speech to be eight point three minutes in length, the same time as it takes the sun’s rays of light to reach our earth.

Let us celebrate this spotlight on sustainability tonight. This light, and the people who made it not only possible, but made it lasting in recognition, may it shine forever.

First, you don’t have to give away cut flowers to your sweetheart. Just like I don’t recommend killing a tree to celebrate Christmas, I don’t like killing flowers just for Valentine’s Day. While I have bought roses for my wife, on this special day I plan to buy her actual rose bushes for the yard. There are great varieties on sale right now at local nurseries and home improvement stores. The kids enjoy getting to help plant them each year and I am amazed at how beautiful they are during late spring and summer. A friend also says that they are great to put around windows and porches because the thorns provide a deterrent to burglars.

There are many choices on cards to give your sweetheart and I always try to find ones that are made from recycled paper. Just turn to the back of the card and look for the word “recycled”. I looked at Walgreens, Drug Warehouse, and the dollar store near my home and found about 10% of the cards were made from recycled paper. E-cards are another great option.

Are you thinking about giving chocolates? Skip the big, national brands and buy chocolates make from local chocolatiers and candy shops instead.

Mardis Gras is a fun, but often messy holiday. There is even a parade planned for downtown Tulsa this year. One of the things that always bothers me is the idea that you can throw beads and candy out of the floats like litter. Even though many of these are collected by parade-watchers, if you have ever walked around a parade route an hour later, you would have seen many broken beads and smashed pieces of candy on the ground.  I’m going to be part of the parade this year in Tulsa, but we plan to walk alongside the float and hand the beads and candy out directly to parade-watchers.

I hope that you have someone to celebrate these holidays with this year and hope that you also remember that no matter what the occasion, there is probably a way to enjoy the holidays while keeping them green.

Let’s start with food. We always eat something made with pig (the ball being called pigskin and all). But a die-hard environmentalist doesn’t eat meat. Livestock (pigs, cows and chickens) are a large source of greenhouse gases, accounting for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. They also generate 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of the ecosystem.  I can’t give up meat completely for this meal, so we are taking a baby step by buying a certified organic ham and bacon to serve. The meat market where we shop also has locally raised meats so we can minimize shipping issues.

I wish we had canned or frozen more of the vegetables from the garden to serve, but at least most of the local grocers now offer pesticide-free choices. This has been the most interesting change in the grocery business and the organic aisle and choices keeps growing. We are getting bread baked locally but can’t find any locally made chips and crackers.  The plan is to put out real plates and cloth napkins to avoid disposable choices made with paper (or worse, Styrofoam).  If you must use disposable, the paper ones are at least made from trees (a renewable resource) rather than from petroleum (a non-renewable resource).

We also plan to serve drinks in the bottles and cans and try and avoid using any extra drinking glasses if possible.  There is an environmental trade-off by using energy to run the dishwasher and adding high-phosphate soap and hot water.  I think it is worth it on plates and bowls, but still don’t want to add cups and glasses if possible. Luckily, my friends have no problem drinking straight from the can. The last thing I make sure to have is some storage containers and zip-lock bags to send food home with the guests or save for leftovers for the family.  I have even started keeping a partial box of zip lock bags in the trunk of my car.

I hope it is a good game and your party is as green as it can be.

I also appreciate that aluminum cans can be made into new aluminum cans forever. Paper can only be recycled about five times, at which point the pieces become too small to hold the paper together, but aluminum cans are able to be recycled an infinite number of times. Also, the aluminum industry has invested so much in the nation’s recycling infrastructure that you can recycle cans in almost every city in America. Recycling aluminum is a quick process, too. Within 60 days, a can is recycled, turned into a new can, filled with product, labeled and is back on store shelves.

Many people will never recycle anything they can’t get paid for, and aluminum is the only thing individuals can sell. The price is now about two cents per can, which means you can get back about 10 to 15 percent of your purchase price on soda by taking the cans to a can buyer. For your own calculations, there are 31 soda cans per pound and the current street price is 60 cents per pound. This chance at revenue helps many non-profits like churches and scout troops raise needed money. There are homeless people collecting cans to stay alive and purchase food and drink. For a small office of ten people drinking two cans a business day, recycling revenue is a hundred dollars per year.

I would love for you to donate your aluminum cans to the M.e.t., but in reality, we don’t care where you recycle; we just want you to recycle.  We need the revenue as much as anybody else, and use the can money to subsidize other items like batteries and glass bottles that we lose money on. The important thing to remember is that recycling cans saves energy and can make you or someone else some money.

Let’s start with the car. It is important to wash off the sand and salt, but how you wash your car makes a big difference. I recommend going to a commercial car wash, because the water that runs off is contaminated with salt. The car wash has a drain that goes to the wastewater treatment plant, while washing your car in your driveway lets the water into a creek or the Arkansas River. I follow this advice year round because even in the summer, the runoff can include automotive fluids and even dust from asbestos brakes.

Most of us spent the last few weeks inside our house and we tried to seal it up from the outside weather. As soon as possible, open the windows and curtains and get some fresh and moist air in. Our feet have probably tracked in dirt and salt, so use some soapy hot water to wash the entry areas. Now is a good time to check for leaks in the water pipes and add any insulation or wrap on areas of pipe you can reach. I got behind on recycling and plan to bag up the bottles, cans and jugs from the last two weeks. I take glass bottles to the curb for the city to pick up and take my remaining recyclables to the M.e.t.

My lawn got a good soaking and I won’t do much except to clean up a spot where a neighbor’s car slid off the road. My plan is to repair the tracks by filling in the ruts with compost. The gardens have a thin layer of mulch protecting the plants and I will water them extensively during this warm up. This combination will keep them warm and wet for the next cold snap. Be sure and unfasten the hose from an outdoor faucet before it gets below freezing again.

Winter isn’t over and history says we will get another round or two of snow in the next couple of months. Take the opportunity of mild conditions to do these simple steps to keep your home, your car, and your yard healthy in the New Year.

First of all, trash funds come from distinct ratepayers, as do water, sewer and stormwater services. If it costs the city $14 to provide trash service to a household, the occupants of that house should pay $14. City services should have a goal of charging the true cost of service…no more, no less. The trash bills used to be higher in part because the City had to pay off money borrowed to build the burn plant. When the City of Tulsa stopped taking trash there two and a half years ago, the city lowered trash rates. Although other utilities have had rate increases on an almost yearly basis, it was refreshing to have one utility become cheaper.

The TARE authority has been trying to add new services in response to citizen inquiries for many years, but have been hampered by problems including existing hauling and disposal contracts and lack of full input by elected officials. Some of these changes include adding more recycling, improved wood chipping operations and special collections of things like appliances and electronic waste. One of the reasons why there is a surplus is that TARE was trying to build up enough monies to add these wanted services without raising trash bills.

A second reason I oppose giving away monies to another department is because of the other reason this surplus happened. It wasn’t just over-charging trash customers, but doing a good job of reducing expenses in trash operations. The city and the private contractor had put off buying new trucks, hoping for opportunity when contracts expire. The TARE authority had also rebid disposal services this past year, saving the city another nearly one million dollars per year. The public works department’s refuse employees have lowered their overall payroll slightly each year by becoming more efficient.

The trash department has been putting off equipment purchases, renegotiating contracts, freezing overtimes, and not filling vacant positions for a number of years now. After all that work, to give their savings to a department that has done none of these moves would just be wrong.

The best compost bin I ever saw was one my father made for my mother fifteen years ago. It was composed of four pallets standing on their side and held together with some hinges left over from a remodeling project. He joined three of the sides but left one corner unhinged so he could swing it open and add leaves or take out compost. It was about four feet wide by four feet deep and four feet high. That is a perfect size because it is big enough to generate some heat but not so big that the edges cool off.

I have a nice one at my house that was made from leftover pieces of a chain link fence. I had five posts and about eighteen feet of fence. I sat the posts in the shape of a “C” with the back edge about 10 feet long and four foot sides. It is a double size bin where I stack the fall leaves on one side, the grass from the summer in the other corner and blend them into the middle to speed up the composting process.

We built a very nice compost bin a few years ago as a demonstration project using 48 cinder blocks placed in the same “C” shape. I alternated the side of the blocks to have a solid side with the holes so it would have strength and yet allow for plenty of air holes. On the top row we used the alternating holes to make little planter boxes where we grew flowers and some leaf lettuce in season.

I have seen a really nice compost bin in a friend’s midtown backyard that was chicken wire put in a circle and another friend used a door hole blade to make little circles in an oversized plastic trash bin. I have seen compost made in sideways barrels, horse troughs that won’t hold water and backyard cookers that had seen better days. All these types of homemade compost bins had two things in common: they worked just fine and didn’t cost much money.

My goal is to convince those citizens to stop that wasteful habit. First of all, the bags cost money. Secondly, the trash trucks fill up faster than during the rest of the year which means more trips to the landfill. More truckloads mean more air pollution and wear and tear on our roads plus, filling up the landfill sooner. These two measures combine to cause trash rates to rise, even for those of us who don’t foolishly follow this bad behavior.

But we feel pressure to do something with all those leaves. We can’t just let Mother Nature do her magic because the leaves may cover up and hurt our carefully manicured lawns. What would the neighbors say if our leaves blew into their lawn? We have to do something. Well, there is something you can do with all those leaves that keeps our lawns neat, makes our neighbors happy and doesn’t waste valuable resources.

Just mow over them a few times. Start up that mower and grind them up. If you run over them a couple of times, the leaves will break down into small pieces that will amazingly disappear. You don’t need a special mulching blade on your mower, but it helps. All a mulching blade does is chop them a little more efficiently, but an extra pass with the mower will make up the difference.

If all this sounds like too much work, go ahead and rake into a pile but avoid the plastic bag. Just find a spot near a fence and make a pile. The leaves naturally compost and you will have wonderful new soil to use in the spring. You don’t need any enclosure, but it helps. For compost bin designs that you can make yourself, go to our website at www.metrecycle.com. Our leaves don’t belong in the trash. They are more valuable than trash and can be used by you to make a better lawn, garden and planet.

I titled my speech “Seven Effects of Highly Habitual People”, a play on a similarly titled book from the best seller list a few years ago. I tried to talk about how the habits we have can sometimes lead us to over-extension of our own and our government’s ability to pay.

Two of the examples I used were the garbage service offered to Tulsa residents and my personal household habit of over-purchasing because we think we are saving money.

Most areas of Tulsa have had twice-a-week- trash service for almost three decades while most of the country has once-a-week service. The national average generation is about four and a half pounds of trash per person per day while the Tulsa average is almost six pounds of trash per person per day. The solid waste authority tried to get citizens to switch to once-a-week by offering free recycling and a small price break, but so many people are in the habit of two trash days a week that they rallied city hall and convinced councilors to hold off on making any changes.

The second example I used in the speech was about how my wife buys things on sale. She is a professional, often saving 90% off retail. It reminds me of the old Henny Youngman joke, “My wife will buy anything marked down. Last night, she bought an escalator.” It is hard to complain when she saves so much money, but I now have a garage so full of stuff that I can’t park my vehicle in it. Often we end up just donating the stuff to charity.

These two examples may be minor, but Tulsans have to pay thousands of dollars more each month to collect and dispose of all this extra trash and I have to have a bigger house and garage than necessary to store what is often more than we really need. These choices and the consequences of them could be with us for years to come. They are both habits we can live without.

One of the most common ways that we unknowingly pollute is having a car that drips. Many older cars just leak a little oil, brake or power steering fluid or anti-freeze on the pad where we park. These little drips wash down our roads and directly into the creeks or storm sewers and eventually into our beautiful river.

I also see solid waste entering the river alongside these automotive fluids. Again, most of us don’t throw trash out of our cars while we drive, but can still cause problems to the river. Small pieces of paper can blow out of the back of pickup trucks. Trash that just missed the can at Riverparks can blow in the river. Even unbagged trash can escape the garbage truck during collection or transportation to the disposal site.

Many Tulsans want a lawn free from weeds or a garden free of bugs and apply chemicals, yet fail to properly apply these chemicals. We don’t mix them according to label instructions; apply them on windy days or too near to a rainy day that can lead them to wash off the lawn directly into the storm sewers.

These non-point pollutants are difficult to stop once they enter our urban environment. It is too costly for us to put filters on every pipe or add buffers to catch these from entering the river. Our only hope is to stop pollution from happening in the first place. Please get that auto drip fixed and make sure and bag those wrappers. Please be careful when applying chemicals to our lawns. Don’t unknowingly pollute our greatest natural asset.