How big is your Ecological Footprint? August 29, 2008

How’s this for a pick-up line:  Hey baby, I have a small ecological footprint – how about you?

Well, I have a confession to make:  Mine is not as small as it should be.  All the more reason to become a vegetarian bus-rider with an off-the-grid house.  Hmmm…

Created by the Global Footprint Network, the Earth Day Network Ecological Footprint Calculator measures how many planets it would take to sustain your lifestyle.  Unlike other calculators that measure a person’s carbon footprint, an ecological footprint gives you the full picture of human demand on Mother Earth’s resources – and how your choices in diet, housing, transportation, purchasing, and recycling affect the earth.

Plus it’s fun!  Right off the bat, you get to create an avatar in your likeness – or have some fun with pink hair and what not.  Instead of the usual boring survey that you plug numbers into, this calculator is interactive, allowing you to watch your “world” change as you answer questions.  And the questions themselves offer answers in ranges to pick from, instead of forcing you to take a stab at exact numbers.

My results suprised me a little, but in the interest of transparency, here they are:

If everyone lived like me, we would need four Planet Earths to provide enough resources – four!  And to support my lifestyle, it takes 17.7 global acres (19.2 tons of CO2), and the majority of my footprint is in services (44 percent).  I think one thing that dinged me is air travel.  I had to account for my trip to Costa Rica last year and my upcoming trip to Nepal, but in a “normal” year, this would be less of an issue.

This calculator is by no means perfect.  Nowhere did it ask me about how much I commute by bicycle.  But what it does offer are suggestions on how to lower your personal footprint.  And if everyone makes smarter choices, maybe it would only take the one earth we have to sustain our lifestyle.

Here’s a snapshot of my “world”:

From Katie’s blog.

Pedal On, Portland! August 19, 2008

I was so excited to read an article in the Seattle Times Monday that a gym is finally turning pedaling power into energy! Opening September 1st, Portland’s Green Microgym will harness human energy created by the use of fitness bikes and convert it into electricity - with the goal being to have the entire gym eventually run solely off of the electricity it creates.  Although Hong Kong and London have similar spots, this will be the first in the US!

Check out the article in the Seattle Times to read more….

Pedaling for energy at Seattle's Green Festival

You don’t have to be rich, just solar smart August 18, 2008

From the land of furniture in a box and Swedish meatballs will soon come solar panels. Yes, you read that correctly. Solar panels are on the horizon at Ikea.

Ikea recently announced plans to invest $77 million into its GreenTech energy fund that will focus on five areas: solar panels, alternative light sources, product materials, energy efficiency, and water saving and purification.  With Ikea’s global distribution and lower price-point, this marks a huge leap forward in making green technologies accessible and affordable for the masses. Think CFLs at WalMart.

This GreenTech fund was established eight months ago and will likely invest in up to ten startups over the next five years.  Ikea hopes to bring its first wave of green tech products to market within three to four years – plenty of time to think up some impossible-to-pronounce names for its solar panels. With the help of the trusty Swedish Furniture Name Generator, I get Solarvik Panel.

Leaving…On a jet plane August 15, 2008

It’s official.  Pam is leaving the Parsons nest to follow her long-held dream of traveling the world in search of memorable experiences, new friends, diverse cultures, greater appreciation of Mother Earth, and even more so: self discovery.  Her sabbatical takes her around the world for most of a year; she is going to Nepal, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Poland, Guatemala and Costa Rica.  She has a grand master plan, but most of the details she is leaving to fate and in-the-moment inspiration.

Last night, in the sweltering heat, the Parsons gals and friends toasted Pam and wished her well on her most excellent adventure.  She doesn’t leave for another month, but we are all about sending her off in style…and taking our time bidding farewell.  We will miss her terribly, but are abuzz with excitement for her as she embarks on this journey of self-discovery.  We will be keeping tabs on her travels via her blog and are excited to read stories of her crazy adventures, spiritual enlightenment, and maybe even a few love interests…

Here are a few photos of yesterday’s soiree:

Unwanted phone books, no more! August 13, 2008

I am so tired of having pounds and pounds of pesky phone books delivered to my front door.  I understand that not everyone uses the internet but come on! To make matters worse, my neighbors always leave their phone books just sitting around the bottom of the mail boxes, waiting for them to miraculously disappear until I finally get tired of looking at them and throw the soaking wet blobs into my recycling bin.

Is it just me, or does it seem like phone books can be such a waste? I’m not criticizing phone books that are in use, but according to the Product Stewardship Institute, about 660,000 tons of phone books are thrown out each year.

Finally, there’s a solution: Call 877-2-GET-DEX to cancel Qwest phone books and alleviate the frustration of soggy, wet, unwanted mounds of wasted paper.

Seattle stepping it up August 11, 2008

The city of Seattle has been stepping up its green game the last few weeks. New city laws instituting a 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags and banning styrofoam containers, as well as the Mayor’s car-free Sundays experiment, have spurred mixed emotions among Seattle residents.  Readers comments on a July 28 Seattle P-I article about the bag fee total 372, running the gamut of possible opinions.

Starting January 1st, the city of Seattle will impose a 20-cent-per-bag “green fee” on all grocery, drug and convenience store shopping bags.  In an effort to move beyond baby steps to leaps forward in the fight against climate change, the city council’s mission with this fee is to educate consumers about using reusable cloth bags in order to cut down on waste.  To put the environmental problem of plastic bags in perspective, here are some staggering numbers:

 

• 360 million (the number of disposable bags used in Seattle every year)
• 75 (the percentage that come from the city’s 575 grocery, drug and convenience stores)
• 50 (estimated percentage of reduction of disposable bag use with the new fee)

This green fee is expected to raise about $3.5 million each year. Seattle Public Utilities needs about $500,000 to run the program, and the remainder will be used for waste prevention, city cleanup, recycling and environmental education programs. Vague, but hopeful.  For those who re-use their plastic grocery bags as trash liners and the like, this fee is not only an annoyance, but will probably spur a spike in sales of garbage bags.  I, for one, am very good at re-using plastic and paper bags, but I won’t sweat the small stuff. I’m just going to buy everyone on my Christmas list a canvas bag.

Another piece of news that has sparked some heated debate is Mayor Greg Nickels’ car-free Sundays experiement. As part of the city’s “Give Your Car the Summer Off” project to encourage citizens to drive 1,000 fewer miles a year, select neighborhood streets will be closed on consecutive Sundays in August and September.  Here’s the rundown:

• August 24th: 14th Ave. East closed from East Republican to Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill from noon to 6pm
• August 31st: Rainier Ave. South closed between Orcas and Alaska from 3-6pm
• September 7th: Alki Ave. in West Seattle from noon to 6pm

Some business owners, church-goers, car-obsessed people have expressed concerns, but I think all in all it will be an interesting experiment.  Nickels wants to show everyone how livable a city can be when people drive less and walk/bike/skate/skip/board more. Some business owners are taking advantage of the opportunity and planning street events with sidewalk sales and even street performers. Car-free Sundays appear to have well-thought plans, with exceptions for emergencies, and good intentions.  I just have one question: With limited bus service to Alki on Sundays (the 56), how are non-West Seattle residents and not-so super cyclists supposed to get there to reap the benefits of a car-free Alki Avenue?

Shirey Contracting Breaks Ground on Zero Energy Idea House! August 7, 2008

Our long-time client, Shirey Contracting, recently broke ground on an innovative green technology project located at Bass Cove on Lake Sammamish in Bellevue - the Zero Energy Idea House!

The goal is to increase awareness of products and systems that can help inspire homeowners to move toward energy independence, and to demonstrate how lifestyle changes, in addition to home modifications and technologies, can impact a homeowner’s utility bill.

The home will consume significantly less energy due to the use of structural insulated panels (SIPs), which are a highly energy efficient and cost effective alternative to traditional stick framing and fiberglass insulation. This means that the amount of energy used to heat and cool the home will be cut by as much as 50%. 

Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels will provide most of the home’s power, while a 1,200 sq. ft. vegetated “green” roof, ENERGY STAR lighting, windows, and appliances, and in-floor radiant heating will make this residence extremely energy-efficient. The home will also be equipped with an energy monitor that displays energy input and output in real-time, a tool that will be key in helping homeowners to modify their energy consumption habits.

The project has been endorsed by Built Green of King & Snohomish Counties and is receiving technical support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program.  We also have an impressive list of major sponsors including Ambiente European Tile Design, Clinkston Brunner Architects, ecohaus, Frog On A Log Parks, Insulspan, Klip Bio Technologies, Northwest Property Imaging, Triad Associates and Northwest ENERGY STAR Homes. 425 Magazine is also providing media support to the Zero Energy Idea House.

Public tours start in February – make sure you check out the website to sign up for the E-newsletter, and we’ll see you then!

Seeing the Bigger Picture August 5, 2008

A good reminder from today’s Daily Om:

Seeing an image of the planet Earth taken from space inspires awe in many of us, since we can clearly see the connectedness of all of us who live upon this planet. We have created imaginary boundaries, sectioning ourselves into countries and states, forgetting that in reality we are all living together, breathing the same air, drinking from the same water, eating food grown from the same earth. We share everything on this planet, whether we are conscious of it or not, with other people, and those people are our brothers and sisters. Keeping a photograph or painting of the planet Earth in a prominent place in our homes can be a positive way to remember our interconnectedness.

Meditating on the fact that any sense of separation we have from one another is truly an illusion, we will naturally begin to make more conscious choices in our daily lives. The simple act of preparing food, or determining how to dispose of our refuse, can be done with the consciousness that whatever we do will affect all our brothers and sisters, no matter how far away they live, as well as the planet herself. When we foster this kind of awareness in ourselves out of a feeling of awe, it becomes easier to be conscious than to fall back into old habits of thinking of ourselves as separate.

When we contemplate the earth in her wholeness, we attune ourselves to the truth of the bigger picture, which is the Earth, and all of us, every one of us, living on her body. We are connected to one another in the most intimate way, because we literally share our living space. As more people become aware of the reality of our interdependency, things will shift in a positive direction, and much of the discord that we see now will give way to a more cooperative, loving conscious. This is happening already, so as our consciousness grows, we can join with the many other minds working to live in the spirit of togetherness.

Tribal PR 101 August 1, 2008

As part of our Goodworks program, Parsons Public Relations offers a Public Relations 101 seminar to local non-profit organizations.  After quickly reaching capacity for our first seminar, we started talking with Justin over at the Potlatch Fund about the idea of a PR 101 tailored specifically for the Tribes.  We were excited about this opportunity, and I’m happy to say that it worked out!

Kathleen and I recently led this Tribal PR 101, hosted by the Potlatch Fund in downtown Seattle.  We had about 15 attendees for our three-hour seminar that touched on an overview of PR, what PR efforts have worked for them, social media opportunities and blogging how-to, crisis communications, and media training.  We had a talkative, dynamic, inquisitive group who were eager to learn and were appreciative of the valuable information we shared.

One woman pulled me aside after our session to chat.  The issue of differing opinions and communication styles between the older and younger generations of the Tribes had come up.  She shared with me a great analogy that speaks to the importance of Tribes – or any community or organization for that matter – to speak up and speak out through the media:

Tribal members used to mark their trail through the forest so that those following in their footsteps could easily find the way.  Media outreach and blogging, though a different medium, is the same in theory.  By leaving your mark - your trail of stories, public commentary, blog posts - for others to find, they can follow you.  Not only can they get a glimpse of where you are headed, they can also see where you have been.  I dig it!

We look forward to potential future opportunities to share our knowledge with more Northwest Tribes!