Posts Tagged ‘green week’

Green Week: Go Organic

May 22nd, 2009

Karen Leano

Our weekly Friday BBQs went green today

Our weekly Friday BBQs went green today

A couple of Fridays a month, we take our lunch outside and the team fires up the grill. To celebrate the end of Green Week, we hosted an eco-friendly BBQ, meaning all of our food was either locally grown and produced or purchased from an organic-lifestyle supporting grocery store. Also, we reduced the amount of beef being grilled because of the large carbon footprint of raising cattle.

How it helps Changing how you eat can make a big impact on all aspects of the environment. Organic farms use natural growing practices that promote sustainable agriculture and provide healthy alternatives to conventional crops grown with pesticides and genetically modified organisms. Cutting down your meat consumption would reduce food-related land use and water pollution problems. Buying fish that are farmed in environmentally friendly ways will drive out other less sustainable practices from the industry.

10 Reasons to Buy Organic
1. Protect the health of future generations.
2. Protech water quality.
3. Nurture soil quality and prevent erosion.
4. Save energy.
5. Keep poisons off your plate.
6. Protect farm worker health.
7. Help small farmers.
8. Promote biodiversity.
9. Expose the hidden environmental and social costs of conventional foods.
10. Enjoy better flavor and greater nourishment.

*Information from Greenopia

Green Week: Go Buy Green

May 21st, 2009

Karen Leano

greenrecycleshoppingbag1We’ve stocked up on environmentally-conscious supplies in the office, and we didn’t stop at notebooks made from recycled materials. Our restrooms now boast environmentally-friendly bathroom and facial tissue so we can GO GREEN in our everyday routine.

We bought these supplies through TheGreenOffice.com, an online retailer that makes green choices not only with the products it offers but in its business practices. Below is a list, by no means exhaustive, of retailers and restaurants we can support because of their comprehensive efforts to GO GREEN on several fronts.

How it helps Some of the biggest problems facing this planet stem from consumer choices. By purchasing products that won’t cause needless or inordinate harm to the world around us and by supporting businesses that are making substantial efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, we are putting our dollars to work for the environment.
green-office-logo


Go to www.betterworldshopper.org and www.greenopia.com for more information on the lists below.

WHERE TO SHOP
Clothing: The fact is that many of the clothes we wear today are made in sweatshops in the developing world. Better companies have either US made clothing or strictly enforced human rights standards that ensure fair wages and safe working conditions.
Patagonia
American Apparel
Levi’s
Liz Claiborne
Gap
Nordstrom
Eddie Bauer
Abercrombie & Fitch
www.cleanclothes.org

Cars
Toyota
Lexus
Scion
Honda
Acura
Subaru
Audi
Volkswagon
Mazda

Cell phones and services
Credo
Working Assets
Earth Tones
Better World Telecom
Apple
Sony
At&T
Cingular
Motorola

Computers & accessories
GreenDisk
HP
Compaq
IBM
Intel
Apple
Cisco
Sony
Toshiba
Canon
Fujitsu
AMD
Dell
Sun
Lucent
Adobe
Motorola
Packard Bell
Lexmark
Lenovo

Cosmetics
Aveda
The Body Shop
Kiss My Face
Avalon
Avon
Johnson & Johnson
Aveeno

See more at www.betterworldshopper.org.

WHERE TO EAT
Natural Soul Food Non-Profit Café
www.naturalsoulfood.org
1444 W. Martin Luther King Blvd. Los Angeles 90062 / 323-298-0005
Some organic produce, grains, and nondairy beverages; organic pultry, wild-caught fish. Nonprofit café; prices are set by customer.

Boa Steakhouse
www.boasteak.com
101 Santa Monica Blvs. Santa Monica 90401 / 310-899-4466
8462 W. Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood 90069 / 323-650-8383
Some organic produce and meats; some wild-caught fish

Let’s Be Frank Dogs
www.letsbefranksdogs.com
Helms Ave. between Washington and Venice Blvds. / 415-515-8084
Hot dog cart. Local, grass-fed beef dogs; heritage pork brats; organic condiments, juices, sodas.

Akasha
www.akasharestaurant.com
9543 Culver Blvd. Culver City 90232 / 310-845-1700
Sustainable ingredients and seafood, free-range and organic pulltry and meats. Organic produce and dairy. Locally roasted, fair trade coffee. Extensive organic and sustainable wine, beer, and spirits selection.

Axe
www.axerestaurant.com
1009 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Venice 90291 / 310-664-9787
Seasonal, market-driven menu; mostly local, organic ingredients. Interior designed with sustainable woods, handmade jute lamps. Composts and participates in biodiesel recycling program.

Sno:la
www.snolayogurt.com
244 N. Beverly Dr. Beverly Hills 90210
Frozen yogurt made with organic milk and natural ingredients; no refined white sugar. Uses biocompostable takeout containers. Counters and benches made from repurposed and recycled materials.

For more earth-friendly restaurants around Los Angeles, visit www.greenopia.com.

Green Week: Go Recycle

May 20th, 2009

Karen Leano

Some of our recyclables

Some of our recyclables


We partnered with the Electronic Waste Center to collect hard-to-recycle items from our team members. The EWC stepped in to properly dispose of our old laptops, cell phones, ink cartridges, used batteries, and televisions and will donate a portion of the proceeds to our friends at the Midnight Mission.
Our permanent e-waste collection area

Our permanent e-waste collection area


How it helps 20 to 50 million metric tons of electronic waste are generated worldwide every year and it is the fastest-growing waste stream worldwide. Americans throw out about 130,000 computers every day, and over 100 million cell phones annually. It is important to properly dispose of these products because they contain parts made from hazardous materials and require special handling. Otherwise, those chemicals can leak into groundwater or get incinerated and create toxic air pollution. For more information, you can read The Green Book.

eWasteCenter Committed to the preservation of the environment, eWaste Center, Inc. (EWC) is dedicated to diverting electronic waste from landfills through recycling electronics in a safe, socially ethical and environmentally friendly process. “E-waste for Friends” is a project created by EWC with the sole purpose of helping people in need. EWC works closely with non-profit organizations such as the Los Angeles Mission, Midnight Mission, and Rescue Mission. To see the History Channel’s coverage of the center (and an amusing look back on the history of television sets), go here

Green Week: Go Metro

May 19th, 2009

Karen Leano

Our team set up carpools, busted out our bicycle shorts or hopped on the bus to get to work today to reduce our carbon footprint. As a way of showing our thanks, we rewarded the green commuters with gift cards to Starbucks. For ways you can be sustainable on the way to your Los Angeles office, check here: Commuter Choice

la-smog How it helps About 33% of U.S carbon dioxide emissions comes from the burning of gasoline in cars. The U.S. consumes the most oil in the world, at 20.7 million barrels per day. By utilizing public transportation, reducing the number of cars on the road or working out your quads by biking to work, you are moving America away from that dreaded #1 spot on the World Energy list.



Why Starbucks? With a commitment to be an environmental leader in all facets of its business, Starbucks has minimized its energy use and utilized renewable sources of energy through rigorous research and innovation. Here are just a few examples of its dedication to environmental stewardship

starbucks-environment-logo

- Starbucks roasting facilities are LEED certified, meaning that the U.S. Green Building Council recognizes the plant’s sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, green materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
- Starbucks stores offer a discount to customers who bring in their own reusable mugs to reduce the amount of disposable cups used every day.
- Each new store built uses 25% less energy.
- Starbucks paper cups used contain 10% post-consumer recycled fiber; the new plastic polypropylene cups released last year contain 15% less plastic
- By 2015, Starbucks hopes to make all cups reusable or recyclable.

Green Week: Go Vegan

May 18th, 2009

Karen Leano

Jamaica’s Cakes made us some delicious vegan desserts for the first day of our Green Week. The team feasted on dairy-free cupcakes, brownies and chocolate cups after lunch. Who knew sustainability could be so tasty?

Below is a simple eating guide from a vegan lifestyle blog.

vegan-pyramid
How it helps Vegans do not eat any foods with animal-derived ingredients, which means no meat or any product which involves animals. Sprinkles, for example, shine because of shellac, derived from the lac insect. The manufacturing process involves keeping thousands of insects under warm lamps so that their resin can be used to coat different candies. But vegan pastries include none of these animal by-products, ensuring that less energy is used, reducing the amount of energy used to produce your food. Support vegan eateries and bakeries, like Jamaica’s Cakes, and cut down your carbon footprint in a delicious way. For more information, check out http://www.vegan.org/about_veganism/environment.html.

Jamaica’s Cakes
11511 W. Pico Blvd
West Los Angeles, Ca 90064
310-478-1971

Celebrate Green Week with the Rubicon Project

May 17th, 2009

Karen Leano

go-greenGreen Week takes over our office again starting tomorrow. Every day, we will introduce our team to ways we can help the environment, whether it be a change in diet or a convenient way to recycle. We challenge everyone to try out each day’s activities and see which ones can be integrateted into everyday life even after Green Week is over. Some practices may not be the right fit for anyone, but this week-long education celebration pushes our team out of its comfort zone and into a more sustainable lifestyle.

You can share in our the eco-loving events by checking the Culture Blog every day this week for updates on our Green Activity of the Day. You might discover some energy-saving practices around the office, learn about emerging sustainable efforts around the world or just have a laugh checking out our pictures. Learn and enjoy!

Rubicon Green Week!

February 13th, 2009

Devan Fearman

The Green Truck @ Rubicon for Friday's activity!

The Green Truck @ Rubicon for Friday's activity!

We’re creatures of habit and unfortunately, sometimes those habits aren’t so good for the world around us. So we instituted Green Week, which is a platform for us to institute new “green” practices into our work week routine. Every day we held a simple activity that helped save the planet. We know every little bit helps so we’re trying to do our part.

Monday: Marwan updated our email signatures to remind everyone to conserve paper. At the bottom of all of our emails you will find

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

What can we say? We love our trees.

Tuesday: We posted “Please remember to turn off the lights” signs above every light switch in the building. Our NYC office was similarly outfitted.

We’re also bringing in a lighting technician to control some of the lights in our LA office that stay on 24/7. We’re turning off our desk lamps when we’re not using them; now we just have to figure out those pesky main lights.

Wednesday: We set up all of our computer monitors to automatically go into sleep mode after 5 minutes of non-use.

Bill took the extra step to challenge everyone to find ways around leaving our computers on 24/7. If your reason to keep your computer on is to avoid the 15-minute boot-up time in the morning, he has the solution: he wrote a script that opens Windows and starts all his programs in 10 seconds flat. And don’t even try to use the excuse that you need to keep your programs continuously running to log the history. “Screen” is a terrific program for running programs on remote machines, allowing you to disconnect from your session and reconnect with no loss of state. Bill has more information on this if you need it.

Thursday: Our team pumped our bike tires, crammed into cars, and reloaded our Metropasses to go green on our way to work. Participants received reusable grocery bags–not to mention, we saved ourselves gas money and years off our lives (traffic can really get to you, sometimes).

Friday: We brought in the Green Truck for lunch, a favorite here at the Rubicon Project. Not only is the food delicious—we depleted their reserves of grilled cheese—but their mission is ambitious. All the trucks are powered on vegetable oil and bio-diesel, naturally and meals are made using local, organic, fresh produce and proteins. See http://www.greentruckonthego.com and try the sweet potato chips. Going green never tasted so good.