March 2010 Finance Committee Agenda

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.

I have been recycling newspaper for 40 years. Our scout troop used to collect newspaper in a bin behind the church and from nearby neighbors that we took to a place on the east side of downtown. It is hard to make any money on collecting paper in small amounts, but if you can get a ton or more at a time, you can sell it like the M.e.t. does.  We made a penny a pound back then, but goods were cheap enough that it was enough to buy frying pans and tents for the troop.

Some people are under the misperception that paper has to be sorted to take out certain items for recycling. It is not true anymore. The inserts in the Sunday paper are just fine, as are the window envelopes and papers stapled together. It is great to have as clean of paper as possible, but don’t stress over a few non-paper items included.

I recycle every piece of paper possible. I include receipts, business cards, and mistakes from the printer. I do try to use the backs of the paper for notes before they hit the recycle bin and have learned to write real small on even the smallest bit of paper. There are some papers in my life that I can’t recycle, like tissues and paper towels.

It just makes sense to collect paper for recycling instead of throwing it away. We use so much (it represents more trash by weight than all the cans and bottles combined). Why would I want to make paper from trees when I can make it from paper? This week, when you have finished reading all the stories in this issue, take the Tulsa County News to a recycle bin near you.

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.

The half-day workshop will feature information from local businesses and organizations to help event planners and non-profits make their events more environmentally friendly.

The workshop will provide tips on everything from how to recycle to collateral materials, food options and even venue techniques.  Cost is $25 per person to attend, payable by cash or check at the event.  Lunch will be provided.

For information about the workshop or to register to attend, contact Kristin McCormick of Recycling Revolution.   Please register by February 2nd.

Sponsors:

Finance and Management Agenda, February 2010