The office is a hot bed of opportunity for reducing your environmental footprint. Did you know that the average office worker uses 120-150 pounds of recyclable office paper each year?  Although the heads of many companies have made environmental promises about the company’s performance, it’s up to the employees and you and I to make good on the green office.

Starting the office green team
Perhaps your office already has a dedicated “green team” who are creating programs and communication for a more environmentally friendly office life. If not, congratulations, you’ve just nominated yourself to get it started! Remember to communicate with the boss or office manager so that they can fully support your efforts with their authority.

Where to start greening?
The first thing I would recommend to anyone looking to green their office is to assess your waste. Do you use a lot of paper? Create loads of empty cardboard boxes? What are the places that a change in your office can make the biggest impact?

Need any help?
The next thing I would recommend is to contact Hamilton County to participate in their Recycling At Work program. The county will visit your office for free and provide:

• A customized recycling plan
• Coordination of recycling services with your waste hauler
• Education about recycling or a kick-off event for your employees
• Financial assistance, if necessary
• A decal advertising that your business recycles

Communicate and celebrate
Once you’ve figures out how to get started, fully involve your coworkers.  Once your own the work of a green office plan together, you can also own the success of your green office plan.  You may even be able to save money for the company by reducing the amount of waste you have hauled away each month.

Stay inspired
To stay informed and inspired, get involved.  Join the Hamilton County Go Green Challenge, attend a Green Drinks Event, get networked through our LinkedIn group, and come back to Live Green Cincinnati often for more ideas and news that will keep your progress going strong.

A few weeks ago at Covington’s Maifest, we discovered a retired engineer who had turned recycling into an art form. Shao Lin and Sompit Xia at The Can Do Planes booth transformed used aluminum cans into model airplanes, cars, boats, animals, and so much more.

It’s a pretty incredible idea for material reuse. Making a toy or gift is a great way to reduce the consumption of always buying newly made products. Do you have a crafty reuse idea to share? If so, contact us!

Traffic congestion got you down? Why not slug it out? Slugging is a phenomenon already popular in nightmare traffic cities like Washington D.C. Never heard of it? Neither had I until I watched the G Word on the Planet Green TV channel and read an article on NPR about it in the same week.

Basically slugging is car-pooling with strangers. People form lines at popular bus stations between 5-8am and 3-6pm. The drivers pull up, call out where they’re going, and pick-up passengers going their way. Why do it? In seriously congested cities like D.C., there is a HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane that moves 2-4 times faster than the general interstate traffic. A driver who picks up a slug or two at the bus station can make it to work in 30 minutes instead of 90. A slug who scores a ride makes as good or better time than the bus and rides for free. People are motivated by saving time and money, but little do they all know that they are keeping cars off the road and working to save the environment.

There are some interesting social rules for slugging, like when to talk and what to discuss. I’m sure the drivers take a gamble on what kind of Cracker Jack Prize they pick up, but in the history of slugging, there have been no reports of trouble or crime.

Recently, the Cincinnati metro ranked 33rd for metro traffic congestion, with southbound I-75 at Freeman Ave making the list as the worst traffic problem in Ohio. Cincinnati has experimented with allowing bus traffic only on the highway shoulder during rush hour, maybe it’s time to discuss an HOV lane on the most congested interstates around the city. The Park and Ride stops would make excellent slugging points. The Enquirer reported this week that local Ride Share and public transit ridership are up and that the bus transit system is looking to expand with partnerships. The stars are aligning. There’s no need to drive alone when you can carpool, ride share, take mass transit, or try slugging!

It’s easy math to discern that driving to work 4 days a week instead of 5 will conserve fuel and save you a few bucks. It can be a lot harder trying to justify a change in work schedule with your manager…unless your employer is environmentally-conscious enough to offer you the opportunity or even an incentive to drive less.

Recently, UC announced that they are allowing full-time employees to work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days during the summer quarter in order to reduce the University’s impact on the environment. The flexible summer hours pilot project should reduce vehicle emissions and fuel consumption for commuting by 20%.

Could this be one of those business win-win situations? Save on facility costs by sending everyone home on a Friday and increase your retention rates by giving your employees a flexible work schedule option.

Other companies have offered subsidized bus passes for employees taking public transportation or preferential parking for car-poolers. Technology based companies in the area equip employees with a laptop so that they can work in a home office or co-locate all their interns or out of town visitors in one location so that they can use a shuttle bus to get to the office.

It’s smart to reward people for doing the right thing for the business and the right thing for the planet. Does your place of employment offer any environmentally-considerate employee perks?

The paper versus plastic debate can be superseded when you utilize a reusable bag. Using small “stuffable” tote bags like the ChicoBag and Envirosax (both available at Park+Vine) makes it easier - just stuff one in your purse, bike bag, backpack, briefcase, or glove compartment so you’ll have it when you need it.

I gave my mom two spring colored ChicoBags for mothers’ day in May. A week after, she called me to share a story of her first public ChicoBag experience. With the clever little carabiner that is attached to the ChicoBag, she could clip them to her purse so she’d have them at the ready. After work she made a stop at the drug store to get a few of the things on her shopping list. When she made it to the checkout line, she told the cashier that she didn’t need a bag and proceeded to baffle and amaze both the cashier and everyone in line by unclipping, unstuffing, and right-side-outing her reusable shopping bag like magic. After a stalled pause and an awkward silence she added, “my daughter tells me that I need to reduce my environmental footprint.” Interestingly enough, that stirred nods of understanding from the cashier and the other moms in the checkout line. So the experience was memorable, but not traumatic. Happily for me, she enjoys saving a bag and will continue to use it.

Similarly, I remembered to bring a sackful of reusable bags to the grocery this week. I expected the mixture of bags from my gift with a subscription to Martha Stewart magazine, a Star Wars convention, a small corner store in Montreal, and a few other random places to be received with confusion. Not so!

To my surprise, the cashier at Kroger not only knew to use my bags without asking, she also immediately credited 5 cents per bag to my bill. I saved 30 cents from my food purchase and six bags worth of trees or petroleum. Not bad for one visit.

It just goes to show that local stores are getting used to people bringing their own bag. Two years ago when I brought my own bag to a store, it felt a lot less comfortable to use them and in some instances caused a few stares. Now at some places like Findlay Market, you hardly see anyone accepting a disposable plastic shopping bag from a vendor. Change is happening because of us, keep up the good work!

Carol Coletta of Smart City was recently the guest blogger on the Soapbox Cincinnati website. Her second post mentioned that a huge way to decrease pollution and climate change in a city is to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). The average individual currently drives 12,000 miles per year. Carol suggests that an ideal goal for VMT in a modern city is 3,900 miles per year.

But what can be done to create an adequate incentive to encourage Cincinnatians to reduce their annual automobile driving miles by more than two-thirds?

An effort of this magnitude would have to be powerfully supported and encompass the participation of the entire county. We have a few ideas to start the brainstorming:

1. Massive contests. Perhaps the government can ask individuals to register their current odometer numbers in conjunction with renewing your auto tags. When your annual renewal comes up the next year, turn in your new mileage counter and be entered into a drawing to win a gas card. Any individual who drives 5000 miles or less in that one year is entered to win a new (highly fuel-efficient) car.
2. Tiered individual incentives. Individuals who wish to participate agree to visit an official booth once every 6 months to have their odometer mileage recorded. For each visit that you reduce your annual VMT or stay below the 5000 annual miles threshold, you receive a gift (Reds tickets, gas card, free vanity plate, or a donation made in your name to Ohio Wildlife). If after 3 years you have reduced your VMT by 2/3, you are entered into a drawing to win a major prize (a new fuel efficient car, a $5000 tax credit, or a free bus pass for life).

Any other ideas?

Styrofoam take-out containers got you down? Check out this earth-conscious doggy bag from Marcella’s in Columbus at the Short North District.

This BioPlus Earth container is made from recycled paperboard, endorsed by the Green Restaurant Association, and is recyclable to boot (just make sure you’ve cleaned out any food residue, the paper needs to be clean to be accepted by Rumpke in our curbside bins).

Don’t accept styrofoam for your next doggy-bag. It’s a second rate material that is not recyclable and generally not biodegradable (translation: it will be around in the landfill for a long, long time). Ask your local restaurants to ditch the styrofoam and make the transition to a more environmentally responsible product like the BioPlus Earth containers.

Still using styrofoam cups for your coffee at the office? Quit that and start a win-win program that will support a local business and be kinder to the environment: check out these biodegradable hot drink paper cups made at the Clovernook Center in North College Hill. You can order in bulk from the Clovernook Center, or pick up a small pack for picnic or home use at Park+Vine. Or better yet, bring your own mug to work.

Today’s green tip is a guest post from an experienced blogger, local food expert, and Freecycler: Valerie Taylor. She has great advice to offer, please enjoy her 6 easy ways to have a great Freecycle experience.

Freecycle is a great way to help the environment. Members of local Freecycle groups all over the globe post offers for items they no longer need or requests for items they’re looking for and then freely exchange those items with no strings attached. Items you’re no longer using can instead of being sent to a landfill be given to someone who will use those items.

Items you’re in need of can be requested from other members, keeping you from contributing to wasteful overproduction of material goods. It’s a great idea, a win-win-win situation that is good for the giver, good for the recipient of the gift, and good for the environment.

I’ve been using Freecycle for nearly five years, and the number one complaint of most Freecycle members is NoShows – those irritating people who respond to your offer enthusiastically, agree on a time they’ll be there to pick up your item, and never show. Many never even bother to email to apologize or explain. It’s enough to put you off Freecycle if you let it.

The good news is it’s ridiculously easy to prevent 99% of NoShows with very little extra time or effort on your part. A few small changes in how you word your offer and choose your recipient can eliminate nearly all NoShows.

1. Post your offer only to your most local group first.

If you offer your item on multiple groups, you may be offering it to people who live an hour or more away. Unless your item is very valuable, many people may reconsider the inconvenience and cost of getting there and decide it isn’t worth it. If you post an offer and don’t get a response after a day or so, post it to your next most local group and so on.

2. Always put your location in your offer post.

With gas prices as they are, it doesn’t make sense to drive twenty miles for an item that cost three dollars new even to keep that item out of the landfill. If you let people know where the item is upfront, you’ll get fewer responses from people for whom the drive isn’t reasonable.

3. Always ask for their location in your offer email.

This does two things. First, it tells you how far they’d be traveling for your item. If the item you’re giving away is common or inexpensive and the responder is forty miles from you, you can assume they didn’t bother to figure out how far they’d be traveling and will probably be a NoShow. Second, if they don’t bother to tell you where they’re coming from, you can assume they didn’t bother to read your email carefully or don’t feel compelled to comply with your request. Either way, they’re probably not the most considerate person in the world. People who aren’t considerate are often likely to be NoShows.

4. Never never never just automatically give your item to the first person who responds.

There are any number of “vultures” on every Freecycle list who just sit at their computers all day pouncing on offer after offer without even thinking about whether they really can use the item or even have a way to pick it up. Especially for large or difficult-to-move items, wait a day and collect replies. Then read through all the replies and choose someone who seems like they’ve at least thought about why they want the item and how they’ll get it home. Bonus points to anyone who seems to be also thinking about your convenience instead of their own.

5. Don’t give your item to anyone who responds to your offer with, “I’ll take it. When can I get it?” or something similarly rude.

People who are rude in email are likely to be less-than-considerate in person, too. If you select someone who is polite in email, they are also likely to show up when they say they will or let you know if some conflict has arisen.

6. Don’t give your item to anyone who gives you a sob story about how desperate their need is.

Why? People who give you a hard luck story are trying to play on your sympathies to make themselves seem somehow more ‘deserving’ than others who might respond to your offer. People who try to manipulate you in this way, whether or not their story is true, are also likely to treat you inconsiderately in other ways.

Most members of Freecycle are kind, generous, considerate people.
Don’t have your Freecycle experience spoiled by those few who aren’t.

Valerie Taylor moderates the CinciEast Freecycle group and blogs at CincinnatiLocavore.

Renovating buildings rather than building new can be great for the environment and the community.

If you’ve ever worked on your own remodeling project, you know it can be a lot of work. Most major renovation projects take a lot more manpower hours than new construction. Putting the people to work on a major save to an historic building or doing some cosmetic fix-up on a house in the neighborhood is making an investment in the community. It creates work and improves the look and spirit of the neighborhood.

Renovating also saves resources. Any time you can salvage architectural aspects of the existing building over buying something new, you’re conserving materials and saving the energy used to manufacture new products.

If you’re working on your own renovation project, consider these local resources. There’s more where these came from on the Live Green Cincinnati resources pages.

Need help gathering or parting with building material or furniture?

• Building Value. An excellent place to pick up some unique and worthwhile products for your project. They will also arrange to take any building material donations you have to make during your deconstruction.
• Wooden Nickel. An amazing collection of antiques and architectural salvage.
• Cincinnati Freecycle. A give-and-take of useful seconds. Post any furniture or items you can no longer use or check out the listings to find the perfect chair you’ve been looking for.

Need skills or an extra hand with your project?

• Green City EcoStruction. Professional local service for green building and projects.
• UtiliKris. A skilled handyman located downtown who has experience choosing and working with environmentally friendly materials.

Cincinnati has been called a design center city based on the number and quality of product design and advertising firms in the area. We’re also home to 7 fortune 500 companies.

With all this, a local government pushing for a climate protection plan, and a growing green building movement, Cincinnati should be a leading center for sustainable product design.

Currently, companies like Nike, Herman Miller, Clorox, and Steelcase are leading the industry in sustainable design efforts. Surveys are also showing that individuals are increasingly looking for green products and this market is positioned for growth.

The people are asking for it, the cutting edge companies are doing it, now it’s time for Cincinnati to step in and raise the bar.

• Change business as usual. Look for innovations in design that will streamline processes and use less resources.
• Make a commitment to conserve. Choose to work with materials that are from recycled or renewable resources instead of virgin materials.
• Focus on a triple bottom line. Success isn’t just about income, it’s about a balance of people, the planet, and profits.
• Listen to the next generation. Young professionals, students, and children are being raised to respect the environment and think about consumption and consequences differently than past generations.
• Set goals. Consider reduction, reuse, and recyclability of products instead of only focusing on units sold.
• Consider the lifecycle. Look into products that escape the cradle-to-grave mindset and aim for a cradle-to-cradle lifecycle that encourages a utilized product to become the seed material of a new product.

This is a call to all locally based companies to make the choice to educate themselves about true sustainability and become environmental leaders in the business industry. You can make great change with your large companies by introducing small changes. You can also take advantage of community interest in working for a sustainable future by utilizing the Live Green Cincinnati job board to recruit talented, passionate, and sharp individuals who can make your company better. We can all make small changes in our lives to help live green citywide, but we need the the large local companies to push regional, and even global, environmental change.