GIGA’s Suwanee Cinema Under the Stars July 11th!

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA “SUWANEE CINEMA UNDER THE STARS” Family Movie Night At Suwanee Town Center Park, In The City of Suwanee, GA. Come join your Gwinnett Community for an evening under the stars with family and friends to celebrate the summer on the green while learning about “green”. Hosted by GIGA and featuring special guests like the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. Saturday June 13th, 27th, and July 11th. Movies in order are: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Happy Feet, and Wizard of Oz. Free recycling of computers and office electronics. Please bring them to the event! For more information, please email: Green In Gwinnett We would like to thank our Main Event Sponsor for making this possible: Ameriprise Financial at Suwanee Town Center Park “The Practice of Kevin O’Brien” We would also like to thank the Board Member of GIGA for their hard work and dedication to the Green In Gwinnett Area “GIGA” organization and events.

GIGA Board of Directors: James Chronicle – Chairman james@greeningwinnett.org Amy Bray abray@atclawfirm.com Andersen, Tate, and Carr Nancy Martin nancy@greeningwinnett.org Coca-Cola Company Tamela Adkins tamela@greeningwinnett.org Adkins Law Lois Martin lois@loismarketing.com Lois Martin Marketing Robert Mendez rmendez@basisstaffing.com Basis Staffing Mark Thompson mark@greeningwinnett.org Southtrac Bill Rosenberg bill@greeningwinnett.org Ameriprise Financial

-Wizard of OZ Costume contest for the kids(and kids at heart).
- Face painting on site!
- Demonstrations and activities with the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center.
-Free Computer, monitor, and electronics recycling on site.
-Free phonebook recycling on site. Just drop it off!
-Local vendors
-Food and ice cream
-Drawings for refurbished computers, gift certificates to local vendors, and other surprises!
We have had attendance at 3000 people from Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Buford, Duluth, Norcross and all around Gwinnett County!

Green In Gwinnett Area hosts “Suwanee Cinema Under the Stars” June 27th

Green In Gwinnett Area

GIGA

“SUWANEE CINEMA UNDER THE STARS”

Family Movie Night At Suwanee Town Center Park, In The City of Suwanee, GA.

Come join your Gwinnett Community for an evening under the stars with family and friends to celebrate the summer on the green while learning about “green”.  Hosted by GIGA and featuring special guests like the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center.  Saturday June 13th, 27th, and July 11th.  Movies in order are: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Happy Feet, and Wizard of Oz.

Free recycling of computers and office electronics.  Please bring them to the event!

For more information, please email:
Green In Gwinnett

We would like to thank our Main Event Sponsor for making this possible:

Ameriprise Financial at Suwanee Town Center Park

“The Practice of Kevin O’Brien”

We would also like to thank the Board Member of GIGA for their hard work and dedication to the Green In Gwinnett Area “GIGA” organization and events.

GIGA Board of Directors:

James Chronicle – Chairman
james@greeningwinnett.org

Amy Bray
abray@atclawfirm.com
Andersen, Tate, and Carr

Nancy Martin
nancy@greeningwinnett.org
Coca-Cola Company

Tamela Adkins
tamela@greeningwinnett.org
Adkins Law

Lois Martin
lois@loismarketing.com
Lois Martin Marketing

Robert Mendez
rmendez@basisstaffing.com
Basis Staffing

Mark Thompson
mark@greeningwinnett.org
Southtrac

Bill Rosenberg
bill@greeningwinnett.org
Ameriprise Financial

What is Sustainability? Green In Gwinnett Area

Bringing The Green Back To Gwinnett

Sustainability, in a broad sense is the ability to maintain a specific process or state. Today however, it is most commonly used in reference to biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future.

Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost every facet of life on Earth, particularly the many different levels of biological organization, such as; prairies, forests, and wetlands, and is expressed in human organization concepts, such as; eco-municipalities, sustainable cities, and human activities and disciplines, such as; sustainable agriculture, sustainable architecture and renewable energy. Many sustainable practices are being identified as “green” initiatives.  Terming this practice as “green” as we do with GIGA, Green In Gwinnett Area, stems from the forests and environments we are surrounded by.

For the human race to live sustainably or “green”, the Earth’s resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished. However, there is now clear scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably, and that an unprecedented collective effort is needed to return human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits.

Since the 1980s, the idea of human sustainability has become increasingly associated with the integration of economic, social and environmental spheres. In 1989, the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) articulated what has now become a widely accepted definition of sustainability: “[to meet] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  Simply put, we must put the needs of the future as a top priority when using resources.  You wouldn’t want your child or parents or anyone else in your family to suffer.  Our actions now directly impact our families in the future.

We currently have facilities in Gwinnett County such as the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center (Buford), Suwanee City Hall (Suwanee), and Brandsmart which is a commercial building in Buford, Georgia that are striving towards sustainability.  These facilities are all LEED facilities.  We hope to see more of these practices in other areas in Gwinnett County in the immediate future and your voice counts.  What counts more than your voice however, are your actions.

Green In Gwinnett Area and Oil Advertisements…

We live in Gwinnett County.  Many of us drive downtown to Atlanta for work.  We rely on the oil companies for our fuel. We also watch and listen to advertisements from Exxon, BP, Shell, and other about how they are investing hundreds of billions of dollars into renewable energies.  Is that true?

The Obama administration wants to reduce oil consumption, increase renewable energy supplies and cut carbon dioxide emissions in the most ambitious transformation of energy policy in a generation.

But the world’s oil giants are not convinced that it will work. Even as Washington goes into a frenzy over energy, many of the oil companies are staying on the sidelines, balking at investing in new technologies favored by the president, or even straying from commitments they had already made.

Read more here

Getting Out of the House and Greening Up Gwinnett!

Living an eco-friendly life is much more powerful when it is a community mission. This spring, there are plenty of opportunities to get out into the community, promote an eco-friendly lifestyle and learn more about being green. Here are a few events going on, I hope to see you there!

• Native Plant Propagation

March 28, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM, Chattahoochee Nature Center (Roswell, GA)
Not too far from Gwinnett County, the Chattahoochee Nature Center has so many wonderful events going on this summer that I could start a whole blog just about them!  Are you interested in starting a garden, but you want to use plants that are native to the area? This Saturday, budding gardeners can learn about plant propagation with native plants. Also on Saturday, CNC naturalists will be teaching you what to do when you find a baby animal in your yard (2:00 PM).

• Baby Loves Disco Celebrates Earth Day

April 4, 11:00 AM-2:00 PM, Atlanta, GA
A dance party for little kids, celebrating Earth Day? I need to borrow a little kid so I can go! There will also be healthy snacks and an eco-friendly craft project!

• Demeter’s Garden Party, Vegetarian Potluck!

April 18, 1:30-4:30, Duluth, GA
Of course this list would not be complete without my event! I’m sure by now you’ve heard how cutting down on meat consumption can be good for the planet. Think vegetarian food is all cold twigs? Think again! Visit our potluck to see vegetarian done right!

• Earth Day at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center

April 18,  8:00 AM-5:00 PM, Buford, GA
There are a ton of programs going on at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center, so definitely check out their site!

• Celebrating our Earth

April 21 (Five Forks) and 23 (Collins Hill), 7:00 PM, GCPL
Educational program for kids to learn about Rachel Carson and the environment.

• First Annual Gwinnett Sustainability Summit

May 13, 8:00 AM-2:00 PM, Buford, GA
The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce presents their first Sustainability Summit, focused on helping businesses become more energy efficient. If you’re a business owner looking for ways to be green and save money, check this out!

Farmer’s Markets

One way to be a little more green is to buy local food. It takes a lot less fuel to bring peaches from rural Georgia to Suwanee than it does to bring one from Chile. It can be hard to find local produce at your neighborhood grocery store, but luckily Gwinnett County  and the surrounding area has a few summertime farmer’s markets!

• Lawrenceville Farmer’s Market

Saturday Mornings, June 6 – September 26
http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/M22694

• Suwanee Farmer’s Market

Saturday Mornings,  May 2 – October 17 (Except September 19)

http://www.suwanee.com/whatsnew.events.php

• Whistlestop Farmer’s Market of Norcross

Tuesday evenings, June 2 – October 27
http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/M27578

Do you know of any other events going on in the Gwinnett area this spring? Please let us know in the comments!

Maria Rittenhouse

DemetersGarden.com

Green In Gwinnett Area – Tesla Roadster 0-60mph in 3.9, 100% Electric! Available Now.

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA

Ok, so I am a bit of a car freak. That is tough to be and be “green” at the same time. Tesla Motors however has released a car that is 100% electric and can go from 0-60mph in 4.0 seconds. That is about as fast or faster than a Dodge Viper or the quickest of Porsches… I have yet to see one of these electric sustainable supercars in Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Norcross, or anywhere in Gwinnett for that matter. If someone has or knows of someone who has one of these cars, please please let me know… below is a brief overview and press release from Tesla Motors…

James Chronicle – Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA

Tesla to Open Midwest Regional Sales & Service Center in Chicago
Tesla Motors Inc. is opening a Midwest regional sales and service center in Chicago, the first of seven retail facilities the electric vehicle manufacturer plans to launch this year.

The Chicago store — which will open this spring — is at 1053 W. Grand Ave., near the Kennedy Expressway in the River West neighborhood. The site is visible from the Ohio Street off-ramp and offers convenient access from the suburbs and further afield. The location gives prospective customers the opportunity to experience Tesla’s best-in-class performance under a range of driving conditions, including highways and urban streets.

Tesla’s first showrooms opened last summer in Los Angeles and Menlo Park, Calif. After Chicago, Tesla plans to open a store in London, U.K. It is finalizing site selection in Manhattan, Miami and Seattle and is scouting sites in Washington, D.C. and Munich, Germany.

“People in Chicago will soon see how the Tesla retail experience is vastly different from that of a traditional dealership,” said Michael van der Sande, Tesla’s Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing and Service. “Tesla’s cars are unique, and the look and feel of our stores reinforce the close connection we have with our customers.”

Tesla is the only production automaker selling highway-capable EVs in the United States. The Tesla Roadster beats nearly every other car for acceleration yet is twice as energy efficient as a Toyota Prius. With an EPA-estimated range of 244 miles per charge, it costs roughly $4 to refuel and can be completely recharged in as little as 3.5 hours.

The Tesla Roadster has far fewer moving (and breakable) parts and requires less maintenance than an internal combustion engine vehicle. Tesla requests that owners bring in the car – which never needs oil changes or exhaust system tune-ups, among other costly repairs — every 12,000 miles or once a year for a diagnostic check and software upgrade.

Tesla will unveil a prototype sedan March 26. The Model S will be an all-electric, zero-emission four-door with an anticipated base price of $57,400. After a federal tax credit of $7,500, the effective price should be less than $50,000. Because of tax incentives and relatively inexpensive maintenance and refueling, the lifetime ownership cost will be much lower than luxury cars with similar sticker prices.

“Tesla has no intention of being a niche automaker,” said Tesla CEO, Chairman and Product Architect Elon Musk. “The Chicago store will introduce the company to even more people in the United States and position us to launch a more affordable sedan for mainstream drivers.”

About Tesla Motors

San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla Motors Inc. designs and manufactures electric vehicles with exceptional design, performance and efficiency, while conforming to all North American and European safety, environmental and durability standards. The Roadster, which has a 0-to-60 mph acceleration of 3.9 seconds and a base price of $109,000, is the only highway-capable production EV for sale in North America and Europe. Tesla expects to begin producing the all-electric, zero-emission Model S sedan in late 2011. Please visit www.teslamotors.com.

The Gwinnett Chamber and The Green Chamber of the South Presents:

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA would like you to consider attending this event.  If you can’t attend, please at least read about it.

Join the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce & The Green Chamber Of The South for their:

BUSINESS GROWTH AND SUSTAINABILITY FORUM
Presented by E.R. Snell

This forum is comprised of four seminars, the first will take place on March 24, 2009 at the Gwinnett Chamber Of Commerce – 11:30 am – 1:30 pm.

By attending this forum, you will learn about opportunities to green your business operations while growing a profitable business. We will discuss topics such as energy conservation, tax incentives, alternative financing options and tips on communicating your goals internally and externally.

Each program will focus on specific topics and recognized experts who can offer sound legal guidance, financing advice, an overview of tools to help businesses establish baselines and measure improvements, and local case studies. Participants will have an opportunity to network with other environmentally concerned business leaders in the area and learn how they are implementing sustainability measures into their operations.

The theme of the first seminar on March 24th is:

ENERGY CONSERVATION STRATEGIES for BUSINESS

SPEAKERS:
Richard Ross & David Dungan – Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority
Peter Revesz – Global VP Business Development, Metrolight
Dick Harvey – Energy Retrofit Sales Leader, Honeywell
Brenda Bailey – Facilities Manager, Unisource

The cost to attend is:
Gwinnett / Green Chamber Members: $15.00
Non Members: $35.00

For more information and to register, please go to: http://www.gwinnettchamber.org/bugs

The Gwinnett Chamber is located in Duluth, GA at 6500 Sugarloaf Pkwy… Very close to i85 and sugarloaf pkwy exit.

Do Those Laser Toners and Ink Cartridges Get Recycled? Not In Most Cases!

The first chapter into exploring my industry and the massive impact that it has on our environment.

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA encourages turning in your used laser toners and/or ink cartridges to be recycled.  There are many programs available.

Print Green USA, Inc. located in Suwanee, GA has a program available to consumers.

Please email: recycle@printgreenga.com for details on how to recycle your laser toners or ink cartridges.

Please comment and I will explore your questions or your industry as well.

Lexmark and THE PREBATE:

Each quarter, Lexmark releases yet another financial statement reinforcing its “supplies-driven” profitability. It is making more dollars from the sale of cartridges than the sale of printers.

And how environmentally friendly are its programs?

Lexmark’s Prebate program (now known as its environmentally friendly “return” program) gives a discount at the time of sale if the customer agrees to return the cartridge to Lexmark, or at least agrees to not give it to a remanufacturer. So, a customer has already been rewarded for buying this “environmentally friendly” product, and any incentive to recycle it is long forgotten. When the cartridge is spent, the customer may find it inconvenient to return it to Lexmark. Still wanting to do the right thing, the customer attempts to sell or give it to a remanufacturer. The cartridge’s Prebate restrictions forbid its being remanufactured, so the preferable reuse option is foreclosed. Lexmark has testified in its lawsuit with Static Control Components that it gets back 50 percent of its Prebate cartridges, and that those cartridges are then remanufactured or recycled by Lexmark.

This begs the question: Are Lexmark’s recycling partners involved in legitimate recycling?

And what about the other 50 percent of the cartridges sold by Lexmark under the Prebate program?

They are condemned to landfills, as the Prebate restrictions mandate that they cannot be remanufactured by a third party. If a remanufacturer risks legal action by remanufacturing the Prebate cartridge, it runs into the chip problem. The chip acts as the enforcement device for the Prebate restrictions. It will determine if the cartridge has been remanufactured and will shut down the printer. Aftermarket chip solutions have been developed by several aftermarket vendors, one of whom has been sued by Lexmark for their ingenuity.  Think Green Gwinnett!  Start small, recycle, turn off the lights, recycle your laser toners…

To add even more insurance that the cartridge will not be remanufactured, Lexmark frequently changes the firmware in the printers through “upgrades” and during routine service maintenance. The firmware acts like a virus and renders many viable aftermarket solutions worthless.

Therefore, a Lexmark customer wanting to remanufacture the (return program) cartridge is frustrated at every turn.  This is a classic bate and switch scheme.

So I beg all of you in Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Norcross, Buford, Lilburn, Snellville, or any other area of Gwinnett County, please do the right thing and recycle your used laser toners and ink cartridges.

Stay tuned for another chapter in this tail…

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA (Keeping Gwinnett Green and Sustainable)

and sponsor Print Green USA, Inc.

PrintGreenGA.COM

Getting Started Going Green in Gwinnett

You’ve decided you want to live a more eco-friendly life? Great! Are you feeling a little overwhelmed? Maybe you see all of the things you can change to be more green, and you don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’re on a tight budget and you simply don’t have the money to completely revamp your life. That’s okay! There are some simple, inexpensive things you can do to live a little more green. The first step is to decide why you want to go green. What is your main concern? For many people, they are worried about carbon dioxide and climate change, and they want to reduce their carbon footprint. Others are concerned about waste filling up landfills and want to start recycling. Still others are worried about chemicals in their home environment and want to start using green cleaning products or buying organic food. You might be concerned about all of these issues and more, but there is probably one thing in particular that has really convinced you it’s time to go green. Start with that one and you’ll be able to stick with your lifestyle changes easily, because they will be important to you.  Let’s look at some of these green goals and see how to get started.

So you want to reduce your carbon footprint…

With carbon, climate change, greenhouse gas, and “carbon neutral” being such popular buzzwords these days, you can’t help but think about how your lifestyle is affecting the planet. A great place to start is with a Carbon Footprint Calculator. This will estimate how much carbon you personally put into the air each year. There are tons of calculators on the Internet, I like the one at http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/.

Now, that you know your carbon footprint, how do you make it smaller?

• Adjust your thermostat. Is your AC set so low that your family wears sweaters around the house in August? Using less energy to heat and cool your home can definitely change your carbon output, AND save you some money. You can also open blinds in the winter to let the sun heat your home naturally, and close them in the summer to help keep it cool. When it’s nice outside, open windows and screen doors can let in fresh air and nice temperatures. A programmable thermostat is an investment in your home that will pay for itself in energy savings. They are very simple to install yourself.
• Drive less. This one can save you money as well! Remember this summer, when gas was scarce here in Georgia, and we all tried to drive as little as possible? You don’t have to go to those extremes, but being mindful of how much you drive is important. Could you walk to any of your destinations? Can you carpool with anyone? My husband drives from Duluth to Athens for school, carpooling has saved us a ton of money! When you go out to run errands, take a minute to plan the most efficient route. It will save you both time and gas. If you’re lucky, you could even talk to your employer about working from home once or twice a week, and see the gas savings really add up!
• Turn it off. How many lights are on in your house right now, in rooms that no one is occupying? I will admit, I am terrible about leaving lights on! Turning them off can save your electric bill and the planet. Also, you’ve probably heard that some of your electronics use “vampire power”. This means they continue to draw electricity even when they’re switched off. TV’s are notorious for this one. Unplugging these power hogs can save a lot of money. You can also plug them into a surge protector with a switch so you can turn several items off at once (for instance, if you turn off your TV, you can also turn off your DVD player and video game console).
• Recommended reading for footprint reduction: An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore.

What if trash is your main concern…

Landfills take up huge amounts of space, and a lot of perfectly good stuff ends up in them. How can you cut down on the amount of garbage you send to them? The three R’s, of course!

• Reduce. This is really the most important thing you can do to cut down on waste. Think about ways you can create less garbage in the first place. Are you using disposable plates and cups just for the sake of convenience? Using paper towel for household jobs that could be done with a washable, reusable rag? If you don’t make any other green changes, then at least start bringing tote bags to the grocery store instead of getting plastic bags. Trust me, you’ll be glad when you don’t have a giant pile of plastic bags sitting in the garage! Some stores, like Whole Foods, give you a credit for bringing your own bags ($0.10) while other stores like IKEA charge for using plastic bags. Reusable totes are $1.00 at many stores, but I bet you’ve got tote bags sitting around in a closet that would work just fine.
• Reuse. It’s easy to find ways to reuse things around the house. Pasta sauce jars can be washed and used to store rice and pasta. Yogurt tubs and even toilet paper rolls can be used to start seeds. Every time you throw something away, try thinking of a way to reuse it. Remember that if you don’t have a use for something, someone else might. For instance, UPS Stores (in Dacula, Snellville, Lawrenceville and many other places in Gwinnett) will take foam packing peanuts for reuse.
• Recycle. Recycling has never been so easy! Most, if not all, garbage haulers in Gwinnett offer some sort of curbside recycling for items like cans, bottles, and newspaper. The Recycling Bank of Gwinnett should reopen soon, and they accept many items that curbside recycling doesn’t pick up. There are a lot of other places in town that accept various things for recycling. The post office in Duluth, for instance, has dumpsters to recycle phonebooks and magazines. Many groceries stores accept things like plastic grocery bags and egg cartons. Visit http:arth911.com to find out where to recycle near you. You’d be amazed at all the recycling going on in Gwinnett! I found ways to recycle ink cartirdges in Buford, car batteries in Lawrenceville, and newspapers in Grayson.
• Recommended reading for recycling fans: Living Like Ed by Ed Begley Jr.

Are you worried about chemicals all around you…

This seems to be an especially big concern among parents. Folks who never thought about what was in their cleaning products or food realize, when they have children, that they don’t know what most of these chemicals are or how safe they are.

• Switch to green cleaning products. There are so many eco-friendly options out there, and they work just as well as traditional cleaning products. These days there are also plenty of green options that aren’t too expensive either. Detoxing your home can get overwhelming, the trick is not to replace everything at once. Use up the cleaning supplies you have, and gradually replace them with greener options as you restock.
• Organic foods. Organic foods can be pricey, but you can prioritize your purchases. You can find out which foods tend to have the most pesticide residues, and which ones have the least. That way you know which foods it’s more important to buy organic and which ones you can probably stick to conventionally grown. Try this guide for starters http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php .
• Beauty products.  Natural beauty products have gone mainstream, with both Target and Wal-mart selling many brands of bath and beauty items with natural and organic ingredients. Trust me, this stuff will work just as well, if not better than their chemical counterparts, plus you’ll be able to pronounce all the ingredients! I visited the Wal-Mart in Suwanee just this week and I was really impressed by the natural and organic beauty brands they carry.
• Recommended reading for a non-toxic home: Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck.

I hope this guide will give you some good suggestions of easy ways to go green. Do you have anymore easy green tips? Post them in the comments!

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA Supports Earth Hour 2009!

Earth Hour 2009 by WWF – Sign up for Earth Hour!

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA supports the efforts of Earth Hour 2009.  We are encouraging Gwinnett residents to take part in this global effort to impact energy consumption.  Join millions around the world who will turn off their lights on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm during Earth Hour. So tell everyone around you!  Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Duluth, Braselton, Hamilton Mill, Buford, Lilburn, Grayson, Sugar Hill, and all of Gwinnett.  Lets show our support for a green and sustainable future.  Lets be Green In Gwinnett Area.

“Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia with 2.2 million homes and businesses turning their lights off for one hour. Only a year later and this event had become a global sustainability movement with up to 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.”  – Earthhour.org

Earth Hour is a message of hope and a message of action. Everyone can make a difference.