NATIONAL KIDS TO PARKS DAY Gwinnett

 

NATIONAL KIDS TO PARKS DAY – MAY 21, 2011

The City of Duluth Parks and Recreation Department is celebrating “National Kids to Parks Day” on May 21, 2011. The Duluth Parks and Recreation Department is committed to providing recreational activities for kids and adults to participate in and actively enjoy the park facilities to establish a healthy community. In an effort to bring National recognition to Duluth, the City Recreation Department is asking all families to pledge online at www.BuddyBison.org their participation in this national movement. All kids, families and adults that complete the online pledge will receive a free “Duluth” Frisbee. Participants may claim their Frisbees by bringing their pledge confirmation to the Bunten Road Activity Building, or by visiting the Health Fair on May 21 in downtown Duluth. “National Kids to Parks Day” is sponsored by the National Park Trust, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of our parklands and reconnecting youth to the great outdoors. National Kids to Play is endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, DC), and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.

For more information on Gwinnett County sustainable, park, or environmental news please visit: Green In Gwinnett Area

Gwinnett Relay For Life Partners With Hopeinks.org A Socially Responsible Venture

(

(From Gwinnett Relay For Life’s “Talk Tuesday” publication.)

With Print Green USA it truly is a win‐win situation. To help you and your team, we’re introducing a
new program ‐ one that will help you to raise funds without the need to ask for a donation, and to do
so while saving money for the people you’re talking to! We’ve partnered with Print Green USA, based
right here in Gwinnett and together we have created a program where cartridges made of Environmentally

conscious, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) gradetoner (top quality & 100% Guaranteed) can be

purchased at prices well below OEM prices (savings to you) ‐ and best of all, Ten percent of the
order total will be donated to the Gwinnett Relay For Life ‐ and your team gets the credit for the donation!

It’s easy to get started. Your teams have already been loaded. Simply visit http://www.hopeinks.org, create
your account, select your team and place your order. 10% of the order total will be credited to your
team’s fundraising efforts.

But don’t just place your order ‐ share this information with your family and friends. Why? Everyone
with a computer uses a printer ‐ whether at home or at work. Their orders will create credit for your
Relay Team when they select your team. And every time they re‐order, your team will get the
fundraising credit ‐ which means that your team can be raising funds 365 days a year!

We hope this program will be a great adjunct to your existing fundraising efforts, and make it easier to
surpass your team’s goal for this year ‐ and give you a head start on next year!
Thank you for your commitment to the Gwinnett Relay For Life ‐ you are the lifeblood of our fight
against cancer!

Questions on the Program? Click here http://hopeinks.org/howItWorks.htm
Ready to Log in and Order? Click here https://hopeinks.org:1230/Security/SignIn.aspx

Share this with your family, friends, employers and coworkers ‐ See the “Share” Button at:
www.hopeinks.org

Green In Gwinnett Area is proud to support the American Cancer Society and their Gwinnett Relay For Life Program.  If you have a socially responsible community program and you would like your company considered for feature, please email: giga@greeningwinnett.org

Hope Inks:

The Hope Inks Program is proud to be hosting this Official Fundraiser with the American Cancer Society’s Gwinnett Relay For Life.  Gwinnett has always shown great support for this event and we are proud to be a part of such a worthy cause as the Gwinnett Relay For Life.  The many schools, companies, and residents of Lawrenceville, Duluth, Suwanee, Norcross, Lilburn, Snellville, Decatur, and Grayson will make this 2010 Gwinnett Relay for Life even better and bring many more birthdays to our futures.

Where To Recycle Christmas Trees In Gwinnett, Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Dacula, Sugar Hill, Buford, Norcross and more

Green In Gwinnett Area

PLEASE NOTE: FOR 2010/2011 CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING INFO, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Gwinnett:

Recycle Those Christmas Trees to”Keep Georgia Beautiful“

Bring One for the Chipper is Georgia’s annual Christmas tree recycling program. Each year, Keep Georgia Beautiful works with private sponsors to organize the recycling event. These statewide sponsors included The Home Depot, The Davey Tree Expert Company and WXIA-TV. Numerous local sponsors and volunteers also make contributions and provide in-kind services across the state.

How can you help? Bring your Christmas Tree to one of the fire department locations or other locations listed below.  Make sure your Christmas Tree has all of the lights and decorations removed from it.  Do not bring artificial Christmas Trees.

Dates: December 26 – January 16

Locations in Gwinnett:

Buford

Fire Station 14, 1600 Highway 23, Buford 30518

Fire Station 24, 2735 Mall of GA Blvd., Buford 30519

Dacula

Fire Station 16, 195 Dacula Rd., Dacula 30019

Fire Station 17, 2739 Brooks Rd., Dacula 30019

Fire Station 18, 3600 Braselton Hwy., Dacula 30019

Fire Station 27, 2825 Old Fountain Rd. Dacula 30019

Duluth

The Home Depot, 5950 State Bridge Rd., Duluth, 30097 (January 9th Only)

Fire Station 5, 3001 Old Norcross Rd., Duluth, 30044

Fire Station 7, 3343 Bunton Rd., Duluth 30096

Fire Station 19, 3275 N. Berkeley Lake Rd.,Duluth 30096

Grayson

Fire Station 8, 2295 Brannan Rd.,Grayson 30017

Lawrenceville

Fire Station 9, 1900 Five Forks-Trickum Rd., Lawrenceville 30044

Fire Station 15, 275 S. Perry St.,Lawrenceville 30045

Fire Station 20, 1801 Cruse Rd.,Lawrenceville 30044

Fire Station 25, 3575 Lawrenceville Hwy., Lawrenceville 30044

Lilburn

Fire Station 2, 12 Harmony Grove Rd.,Lilburn 30047

Fire Station 3, 4394 Five Forks-Trickum Rd.,Lilburn 30047

Fire Station 22, 2180 Stone Dr., Lilburn 30047

Loganville

Fire Station 28, 3725 Rosebud Rd. Loganville 30052

Norcross

The Home Depot, 4343 Tilly Mill Rd., Atlanta, 30360 (From 1/1/2010 til 1/10/2010)

Fire Station 1, 165 Lawrenceville St., Norcross, 30071

Fire Station 4, 5550 Spalding Dr., Norcross 30092

Fire Station 11, 5885 Live Oak Pkwy.,Norcross 30093

Fire Station 23, 4355 Steve Reynolds Blvd.,Norcross 30093

Snellville

Fire Station 6, 3890 Johnson Dr.,Snellville 30039

Fire Station 12, 2815 Lenora Church Rd.,Snellville 30078

Sugar Hill

Fire Station 26, 6075 Suwanee Dam Rd.,Sugar Hill 30518

Suwanee

Sims Lake Park, 4600 Suwanee Dam Rd., Suwanee 30024

Fire Station 21, 474 Old Peachtree Rd.,Suwanee 30024

The Chipper program involves hundreds of Georgia communities and thousands of volunteers. Since its inception, the program has recycled over 4.8 million Christmas trees. The mulch from these trees has been used for playgrounds, local government beautification projects, and individual yards. You can support the Chipper program by bringing your cut Christmas tree to a designated drop off site or volunteering with your local coordinator to collect trees.

 

This information was obtained from KeepGeorgiaBeautiful.Org

Think Green In Gwinnett!!!

Green In Gwinnett Tips

Drink filtered water instead of bottled water. Filling and reusing a stainless steel container created for long term use with water is more beneficial to the environment and your pockets than purchasing bottled water. With all of the talk about chemicals used in bottling plastics it may also prove to be even more beneficial to your health.

Recycle! In Gwinnett county (Snellville, Suwanee, Duluth, Centerville, Lawrenceville, Norcross etc) all of the garbage disposal companies (including whoever eventually ends up with the final contract) pick up the little blue bins that take away plastics, aluminum cans and glass. Call your waste disposal provider today. The more you recycle the less you throw away. This cuts down on how often you purchase garbage bags, that saves you money. WalkGreen…and Save!

Join Green In Gwinnett Area on Facebook and LinkedIn! GIGA! Spread the word!

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

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.
Gwinnett! The following is a true account of this unethical field.
Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA encourages turning in your used laser toners and/or ink cartridges to be recycled. The 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.

Who owns those organic companies anyways Gwinnett?

Do you know what companies own the organic food lines that you are currently or may be consuming in the future?  Go to the link at the bottom of this article to find out.  You may be surprised!  You are probably buying one or more of these brands currently.  I would be surprised if you aren’t.

Where are the best deals for organic foods in Gwinnett?  Let us know about organic shopping in Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Lilburn, Duluth, or whatever part of Gwinnett you are from.  Comment on this blog.

Is eating green always the sustainable way?  Look for more information soon from GIGA Green In Gwinnett Area concerning this topic and many others.

Find GIGA Green In Gwinnett Area on Facebook and Linkedin!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Green-In-Gwinnett-Area-GIGA/31363412243?ref=ts

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=119817&trk=hb_side_g

Thanks

James Chronicle

Click here to see who owns these organic companies:

http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/features/009/009buyingorganic.html