morton tree talk » green practices

Earth Friendly Gift-giving

kjaros — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 23:36:17 +0000

This year . . .

* Give gifts that don’t involve buying anything – time together, a back rub, babysitting, seeds from your garden.

* Give the gift that keeps on growing - a tree!

* Make your gifts. Everyone appreciates a home-cooked meal or delicious baked goodies.

* Create sustainable gift baskets filled with compact fluorescent bulbs, organic snack items, shade-gown coffee, fair trade gifts, etc.

* Always remember to look for items made with recycled content.

Source: www.globalstewards.org

What About Lawn Care?

kjaros — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:55:37 +0000

Small engines are inefficient and dirty, too. Did you know that running a leaf blower for 1 hour is equivalent to driving your car 350 miles! Here are some alternatives:

1. Don’t blow leaves. Rake them. It’s good exercise!

2. Convert to an electric mower. It will cut a better lawn and there are zero emissions.

3. Consider an “old-fashioned” blade mower. They’re brand new again! This solution is not for everyone, but true believers love them.

4. If you can’t convert, mow less. Your lawn doesn’t really need to be at 1.5- 1.75 inches all the time!

Source: www.dailyecotips.com

Keep Warm with Wood

kjaros — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:07:53 +0000

Wood burning stoves are highly energy efficient. They are designed to reduce the amount of soot, smoke and ash produced compared to a standard open fire, and they direct heat out into a room instead of sending all of the heat energy up the flue. The carbon dioxide given off by burning the wood is absorbed by the forests planted to replensih what is burnt.

Source: www.dailyecotips.com

You Can ‘Pre-cycle’

kjaros — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:37:27 +0000

Everybody shops. But not everybody realizes how environmentally important it is to shop consciously. To precycle is to make buying choices that support responsible products and packaging, make recycling easier and reduce the amount of garbage you throw away.

Precycling is a good way to start squaring your personal behavior with your principles. But don’t forget it also sends a signal to manufacturers that responsible products and packaging are good business. The idea is that our behavior can change their behavior.

The following recycling tips focus on supermarket shopping because that’s the kind we do most frequently. But the ideas apply to other forms of shopping, too:

Avoid the paper vs. plastic dilemma.
Buy large single containers.
Pass on styrofoam.
Avoid single- or limited-use items.
Compare the size of the package to the size of the product.
Choose the container that can be easily recycled.
Beware “recyclable.” Beware of the word “recyclable,” which is not the same as “recycled.”
Beware “biodegradable.”
Spread the word.

By careful precycling each of us makes the vital connection between today’s consumerism and tomorrow’s environment. Small changes in everyday behavior can have positive consequences for generations to come.

Source: Adapted from Environmental Defense Fund website. Click here for details on each of the bulleted items above.

Save Energy and Dollars

kjaros — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:17:57 +0000

An Energy Star refrigerator uses 50% less energy and could reduce your bills by $112 anually. Use Energy Star-rated appliances whenever possible.

Energy Star-qualified appliances also use 10% – 50% less energy and water than standard appliance products.

The money you save on your utility bills can more than make up the cost of a more expensive but more efficient Energy Star model.

Source: www.bp.com

Reduce Road Rage

kjaros — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:19:05 +0000

Aggressive driving – speeding, rapid acceleration, heavy braking – wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds and by 5% around town. Aggressive drivers use an extra 125 gallons of gas per year! You can save between $0.02 and $0.76 per gallon by avoiding stress behind the wheel.

Heat People, Not Houses

kjaros — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:14:14 +0000

If you turn down your thermostat by 1 degree, your heating costs will decrease 3%. If you turn down 10%-15% for 8 hours a day, you’ll reduce your heating bills by as much as 10%!

A programmable thermostat can turn on the heat for you 20 minutes before you get home or awake in the morning, ensuring that you spend only what you need.

Source: www.bp.com

Save Wood by Burning Paper Logs

kjaros — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:41:06 +0000

And you can make them yourself. It’s easy!

Tear up your waste newspaper, soak it in a sink of water until it turns mushy, and then squeeze the mulch into a brick using a log-making machine (easy to find and realtively inexpensive).

When made correctly, the logs will burn for hours. This recycling saves wood and even eliminates the need to shred papers containing personal information!

Source: www.dailyecotips.com

Crushed Beer-bottle Pavement Under Evaluation

kjaros — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:35:09 +0000

The Morton Arboretum is testing a unique, new porous pavement made of crushed, recycled beer bottles, other glass and granite fragments. The test is consistent with a decades-long commitment to protecting trees and the environment.

On December 11, ABC Chicago Channel 7 aired this report on their “Live Green” segment at 5 pm.

“We are constantly looking for more sustainable techniques, systems and products. This FilterPave^TM porous pavement may be the way of the future,” says Kris Bachtell, Arboretum Vice President of Collections and Facilities.

In September, area reporters were invited to watch as crews poured the gleaming, multi-colored product on a 1,000 square foot walkway near the Thornhill Education Center. Emerald Site Services of Frankfort donated the material and installation.

Only a handful of Chicago-area locations have installed the cutting-edge material, and the Arboretum is proud to be on the leading edge of efforts to test it, Bachtell says. The glass has been specially processed to round its edges and is “structurally sound and as safe as any traditional surface,” according to manufacturer Presto Geosystems, of Appleton, WI.

Porous materials, such as pavement or certain bricks, help the environment by trapping dirt and other pollutants, thereby keeping them out of the groundwater. On a traditional surface such as asphalt, these pollutants are usually swept away by fast-moving rainwater, and deposited into storm drains, detention areas and streams.

Additionally, porous pavement can actually reduce the “heat island” effect by trapping and mitigating heat, rather than reflecting it, as a blacktop surface does. Such reduced heat in the pavement and surrounding soil is beneficial to tree roots.

Live Green with Sustainable Practices

kjaros — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:42:40 +0000

Since its founding in 1922, the Arboretum has demonstrated sustainable practices to benefit the community. As an outdoor museum, the Arboretum showcases trees as essential elements of livable communities and a healthful environment. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, the major source of greenhouse gas (up to 50 pounds per tree each year), and release oxygen. They shelter and provide nesting habitats for wildlife, retain moisture in soils, hold topsoil in place, and provide shade and cooling.

We will be posting additional ways the Arboretum is working on the three Rs on RECYCLE, REUSE and REDUCE. Check back to see what else is happening. And let us know what you are doing at home or at your place of business.

RECYCLE
• Arboretum employees recycle office waste, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and batteries.
• Cardboard and packing materials are collected for recycling.
• Construction materials such as metals and asphalt are recycled or saved for reuse.
• Tyvec envelopes are collected and recycled into building materials.
• A depository for used Visitor Maps is located outside of the Visitor Center.

REDUCE
• Trees removed from the grounds are reused as lumber for benches or other needed wood materials or shredded into mulch for the trail system.
• Landscape waste is composted for use in planting beds and construction projects.
• New napkin dispensers are on each table in the Ginkgo Restaurant. Studies show that fewer napkins are used if customers have easy access to them.
• The Volunteer Office has gone paperless. Starting in February 2008, the 900+ volunteers access Branches newsletter on the Arboretum website and other information through email.
• 100% recycled paper is used by all departments in printers and copiers.

Arboretum Resource Conservation Committee
The Morton Arboretum’s RCC was formed to develop methods for evaluating the state of resource conservation in our facilities and to recommend methods for improvement. The group, comprised of representative from each department at the Arboretum, meets monthly. Many of the organization’s initiatives are a result of their efforts. An intranet presence has been created for the RCC to educate and further encourage the 3 Rs – Recycle, Reuse, Reduce – and maybe a fourth: RETHINK.

The Morton Arboretum goal: ZERO WASTE by 2017