This could be a cool program idea, particularly with teens: http://challenge.greenmusicgroup.org/
Current challenge deadline is coming up fast, July 30, but it looks like there are more challenges to come!
Challenge #8 just asks you to film yourself and your friends outside, not to too tough, particularly for those smart libraries that invested in a Flip Mino.
Pissing Match: Is the World Ready for the Waterless Urinal?
By Joshua Davis, June 22, 2010, WIRED
Check out TreeHugger’s slideshow of cartoons with “Surprisingly Green Messages.”
That’s right Mom, I watch The Simpsons for the environmentalism, not for the many, many bacon references…
So I took the plunge and called a meeting to start a Green Team at work.
Started by having the building manager, financial manager, interim executive director and my assistant meet to talk about the feasibility of moving forward to help our workplace be “greener.”
Luckily they were all on board and willing to play along with me!
We chatted for a bit about things we’ve already done or are doing and realized we needed to benchmark or at least measure where we are now so we can measure success. So the first action item out of the gate was split between the financial manager – Linda and our facilities manager – Chris. They are going to gather info on:
A few years ago we had a NYSERDA energy audit and since our funding situation has been so bad we couldn’t follow up on many of the suggestions so we decided to stop letting ourselves be limited by that so I’m going to dust that off and revisit the recommendations and start looking for incentives/reimbursements/grants or at least add these things to our facility plan.
Chris had heard about a new energy audit program through our electric company so he’s going to schedule that.
We decided we couldn’t just dictate ways to work and be greener so we decided to pool the collective wisdom of our coworkers. So I volunteered to poll the staff. I turned it into a competition. There are three floors to our building so it’s floor against floor. Prizes have been promised but really it’s the bragging rights that motivates!
I’m encouraging ideas related to energy efficiency, waste reduction/recycling, water efficiency, healthier choices. . . whatever they can think of.
I decided after the first submission I got to not pre-judge the ideas just yet. I’m just popping them all into a spreadsheet to count up which floor is in the lead (first floor is way ahead after the first week!)
The Green Team steering committee will meet again at the end of the month to check out the ideas submitted, review the energy audit info and checkout the data Linda and Chris collected.
I’m glad I finally took the plunge, it has been more well received than I expected and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
At our April 2010 Greening Your Library workshop we tested supplying tap water instead of bottled water and guess what, no one said a word. We’re not even sure anyone noticed.
@MHLS our new interim director, Merribeth Advocate (a master at reducing costs), just declared we will no longer purchase bottled water to supply at our workshops. Good for the environment and good for our ever shrinking budget!
Facts about bottled water:
Knitting programs are big in my libraries so I thought I’d share the Knitting Green Challenge from Knitting Daily.
See also: “Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects” (book)
The June 7-June 13, 2010 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek had an article called “A New Meaning for the Phrase “Charge It” alerting the business community to the demands electric cars will have for power:
“Two chargers are needed for each car” – one at home and one at work.”
There’s an iPhone app for drivers of electric cars to locate chargers.
People are reporting “range anxiety” – the fear of being stranded with drained batteries.
As President Obama and the car industry march forward with the push for lessening America’s reliance on foreign oil more and more drivers will be looking for a place to “charge it.”
What if public libraries across the country became known for having charging stations? Not a bad marketing idea eh?
If you are lucky enough to be planning a new building, major expansion or just redoing your parking lot consider integrating a charging station into your plans, your community may (eventually) thank you!
Check out the “Spread the Word at Work” resources from ENERGY STAR. Includes a “Green Team Checklist”
Learn about thin clients – they are a great solution for public access computing/networks in libraries as most patrons are not doing intensive computing, just surfing, typing, social networking, etc.
They are “green” because they:
Just my opinion …