Greening the (918) Green Building Seminar

Greening the (918) is an interactive series of seminars designed to inspire organizations and individuals to take action and to lead the city to be one of the greenest cities in the nation. Each seminar will have a panel of experts and be moderated and graphically facilitated by Sean Griffin. The community will discuss what action steps Tulsa must take to overcome the challenges to become one of the greenest cities in the nation.

*Time: 5:30 to 7:30 .p.m.
Date: November 13, 2008*

*Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa,
11545 East 43rd Street *

Major cities in the United States and around the globe are moving toward building “green.” Find out what “green” means to Tulsa and Tulsa’s plans to be a green city. Panel members will include:

• Rich Bass, COO of the Mill Creek Companies
• Joel Kinsch, owner of Elite Services
• Brandon Perkins, owner of Brandon Perkins Development
• Shelby Navarro, owner of ONE Architecture
• Paul Enix, City of Tulsa Senior Code Official

Presented by: Be Green Tulsa, Mayor Taylor’s Green Team

Sustainable Tulsa

Sponsored by:

Ihloff Salon and Day Spa
Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa

Strategic Partners:

• Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa
• Tulsa Partners’ Millennium Center project for green and safe living

Networking and refreshments will follow each seminar.

For more information
contact Corey at
918-808-6576
corey@sustainabletu lsa.org

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Peats Ridge is the first major event in Australia to run completely on renewable energy and winner of the NSW Government 2008 Green Globe Award for Environmental Sustainability across all industries. A major part of the Peats Ridge experience is finding out how to live more sustainably, and therefore reduce our impact on the beautiful Glenworth Valley, and the planet as a whole - so not only do we have some incredible music and arts to share with you, they also plan on educating you on how to go about doing this.

Now in its fifth year, Peats Ridge will again play host to a line-up of bands you know and love as well as some great bands you’ve yet to discover.

You’ll also have the opportunity to indulge your senses in two venues dedicated to theatre, cabaret, new media, projection and soundscape.

The Festival will still have one of the best children’s festivals around, the Boardi Space for indigenous culture, an Ecoliving area to educate yourself about sustainable living and the Healing Haven offering massages and other types of wellbeing.

Add to this markets, rainforest bush walks, kayaking, horse riding, camping, idyllic swimming holes and you have an unforgettable way to welcome the New Year.

Announcements of artists, performers and activities will be posted over the coming weeks so make sure you visit the Festival website and sign up for the e-news so you’ll be the first to know (and you could win passes for yourself and five friends for signing up!)

What: Peats Ridge Sustainable Arts & Music Festival

When: 29 December 2008 to 1 January 2009

Where: Glenworth Valley, NSW – 1 hour north of Sydney

Tickets: through Moshtix

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Living an eco-friendly lifestyle is rapidly becoming an important goal for a lot of people lately. However, sometimes making those green lifestyle changes are not the easiest on the pocketbook. There are some ways that you can do things differently that will actually save you money and make a huge impact on our world. One of those is to stop buying bottled water.

It seems that having bottled water has almost become a necessity in this country; we buy it like we buy milk and bread. Everywhere you look there are people with bottle in hand. Actually, the United States is the largest consumer of bottled water in the world. Unfortunately, we are also are not doing a very good job of recycling all of those bottles. According to The Container Recycling Institute we are only recycling about 20% of plastic water bottles. Yes, you read that right, only 20% are being recycled! To make matters worse, a lot of the bottles that are deposited for recycling are actually exported, sometimes to as far away as China, which just adds to the resources used by this product.

The manufacturing and transporting of bottled water uses massive amounts of fossil fuels. Most of the bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is derived from crude oil. Just making the bottles for the demand in America requires 17 million barrels of oil annually. That is enough to fuel more than 1 million U.S. cars for a year. The energy used to transport the product to consumers just adds to this number. Nearly a ¼ of all bottled water crosses national borders, transported by boat, train, and truck. The US does produce about 94% of its bottled water domestically, but we do also import some water shipped from faraway places like Fiji simply to satisfy the demand for chic and exotic bottled water. Compared to tap water, which is delivered through an energy-efficient infrastructure, bottled water is an extremely wasteful product.

Let’s just stop and think for a moment, is it really necessary to have water pre-packaged in a bottle? Before the bottled water craze we seemed to get along just fine. A lot of people are under the false belief that it is healthier for you than tap water, when in fact using a water filter removes more contaminants than any other purification system. Many may be quite surprised to learn that about 40% of bottled water actually begins as tap water and usually the only difference is added minerals that have no health benefit anyways. Furthermore, in the U.S., there are more regulations governing the tap water quality than bottled water. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency mandates that local water treatment facilities provide a detailed report to the citizens outlining the water source and any test results, including contaminant level violations. There are no requirements like this in place for bottled water companies. Also, public water systems must test for harmful microbiological content in water multiple times a day while bottled water companies are only required to test for these once a week.

Aside from being better for the planet and for your health, drinking filtered tap water is also much more economical. It is not uncommon for somebody to purchase 1 case of water per week for about $7. That is an annual cost of $364, just to drink water and I’m willing to bet that is a lower figure than most spend. Do any of us spend anywhere near that much per year for our entire household water usage? Many justify the purchase touting the convenience factor, but the same convenience can be achieved by simply purchasing a few reusable water bottles. There are a variety of them on the market and they are specifically designed for this purpose. You will make back the money spent on a reusable bottle in no time once you stop spending money on cases of bottled water.

Do something great for your pocketbook, your health and your world. Get yourself a water filter if you don’t already have one as well as a few reusable water bottles and stop buying bottled water. This is definitely one way everyone can contribute to the future well-being of our planet!

Michele Dupper is Mom to her almost 2 year old son and the owner of Truly Organic Beauty. She lives in sunny FL and has been transitioning to a green lifestyle since starting a family. Michele enjoys educating others about living a more natural lifestyle that is beneficial for the health of our bodies as well as our planet.

Environment

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“Treat the Earth well:  it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.”  This is an ancient Kenyan proverb that really hits home these days as we are becoming more aware of how our past and current actions are affecting our world.  As parents, we all want the very best for our children now and in the future.  And we certainly want to ensure that our beautiful planet is still flourishing well beyond our children’s lifetime.

Most of us now realize that the future of our planet as well as the health of our children depends greatly on changes we need to make in our everyday lives.  However, it can be quite overwhelming and even scary when you begin learning about all of the environmental toxins in the world today.  From food, to bath products, to toys, etc.  Where do you begin?

There is an exceptional non-profit organization called Healthy Child Healthy World that is one of the best resources out there for parents.  It was founded by James & Nancy Chuda in 1991 when they decided to turn their sad story into something positive.  The effects of harmful environmental exposures, unfortunately, became very real to them when their 5 year old daughter, Collette, died of a rare form of cancer.  Years later they learned that her tumor may have been caused by maternal exposure to pesticides before pregnancy.  In honor of their daughter’s bravery, they began the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund, now Healthy Child Healthy World (HCHW), to educate families about the relationship between children’s health and the environment.

HCHW purpose and goals as outlined on their website are to:

•Expand awareness and understanding of environmental hazards to children’s health
•Help the public learn about healthier practices, solutions, and products in the marketplace
•Encourage daily action and informed lifestyle choices
•Create standards and policies for safer products, foods, materials, and chemicals used in the home – promoting safer options and new alternatives
•Advocate for and support corporate policies and governmental legislation that protect children from environmental risks
•Engage communities to make wise choices and responsible decisions so families can flourish

The HCHW website contains a wealth of information to help you in creating an environmentally friendly home for your family.  There are numerous programs outlined for you to follow such as 5 Easy Steps and Healthy Home Parties.  They actually provide you with all the tools necessary to host a Healthy Home Party for your family and friends to educate them about protecting children’s health and development from common contaminants we are exposed to every day.  You can also sign up for a monthly email newsletter that provides age-specific environmental health lessons throughout pregnancy and the first 2 years of your child’s life.

In addition to the programs the site also includes a vast array of environmental resources for you to use.  For example, there are numerous 1-page checklists for almost anything you can imagine, such as, cloth diapering, keeping your child lead-free and feeding children safe food.  There is also a very informative ingredients profile that describes chemicals encountered in our daily lives.  Instead of simply describing the health effects of these chemicals, they also empower you with solutions to exposure.

Another really great area of the site is the marketplace.  It is filled with information on companies that offer products and services for your home and children that are non-toxic and environmentally friendly.  There is a wide variety of green products included such as baby bottles, crib mattresses, organic foods, children’s furniture and paints and stains. No need for you to spend time researching all the eco-friendly product options out there because HCHW only recommends products from companies that have passed their screening.  You can check out the details of their quality standards on the site.

HCHW is definitely an organization that is leading the environmental movement and has children as their top priority.  The amount of information that they have compiled in an easy to navigate website is really impressive.  Visit them today and instead of feeling overwhelmed by the green trend, you may just feel inspired to get involved and begin making changes in your life for the future of your children.

Michele Dupper is Mom to her almost 2 year old son and the owner of Truly Organic Beauty She lives in sunny FL and has been transitioning to a green lifestyle since starting a family. Michele enjoys educating others about living a more natural lifestyle that is beneficial for the health of our bodies as well as our planet.

More information on Sustainable Living

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