As March Madness unfolds, take time to celebrate Mother Earth as well

July 9, 2015By 0 comment

March is upon us. In Kentucky, that can only mean one thing – basketball. I’m a transplant from a state that cares a lot about hockey, baseball, football – pretty much everything but basketball (sorry, Timberwolves) – but I am part of the Big Blue Nation now.

When the Wildcat’s won the NCAA championship for the eighth time in 2012, University of Kentucky students weren’t the only ones celebrating. A Transylvania University student at the time, I noticed that my campus seemed to shift slightly south to take on State Street with the rest of Lexington. Basketball fan or not, I’m sure you were either there or you’ve seen the pictures: riot police, flaming couches, overturned cars…sounds fun, right?

In all seriousness, basketball season is a time that really brings Lexingtonians together. Many people see March Madness celebrations as essential to their identity as Kentuckians. Whether you plan to host viewing parties, catch the game at your favorite local restaurant or take to the streets after a win, there are ways to cheer on the Cats while being careful of unintended environmental consequences.

Snacks are a must when sports are involved. When you’re stocking up on munchies for you and your guests, remember that UK basketball is about celebrating Kentucky! What better way to show your support for the Commonwealth than buying local for your game day eats? The local beer and cheese selection in this state is amazing, not to mention the beer cheese; why would you waste an opportunity to enjoy these delicious items?

Speaking of waste, there are ways to avoid that this basketball season, too. If you go overboard on the snacks, send leftovers home with friends at the end of the night or add some to your lunchbox to take to work the next day. Food waste is a huge issue in the United States. Just because your eyes are bigger than your stomach doesn’t mean you have to be at fault.

Of course, food isn’t the only thing making its way into our landfills this basketball season; social gatherings mean trash of all kinds. Reduce packaging waste by buying in bulk when you can. Making your own chips and dip is another great way to cut back on packaging and a surefire way to impress your guests. It’s a lot easier than it sounds. There are tons of simple game day recipes that don’t require a whole lot of prep time, so don’t let worries of being in the kitchen during tip off keep you from giving it a try.

Make sure to recycle those cans and bottles when celebrating, and avoid disposable plates, cups and cutlery. Lots of websites have electronic brackets, so when challenging your friends and making your picks this year, skip the paper and fill it out on the website you’d be printing it from instead. And for those of you planning on storming campus in a few short weeks as basketball season comes to a close, remember that litter still counts – even during March Madness!

Most importantly, if you’re looking to get rid of a couch any time soon, donate it before it becomes a streetside fire hazard. Destruction of property is never sustainable, especially when what could’ve been reused ends up charred in a landfill. Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore offers free pickup of large items, and your sofa will be put to good use.

1 macy

Macy Gould is the AmeriCorps VISTA member who serves as Bluegrass Greensource’s green jobs coordinator, working with educators to ensure that students are aware of and prepared for the variety of green career paths that await them after high school. Macy hails from Minneapolis but considers Lexington home. She recently graduated from Transylvania University. Outside of work, you could likely find Macy planning for her community radio show or taking a long walk downtown.

This article appeared in KY Forward on March 12, 2015.

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A little clothing TLC can do a lot to keep ‘textile waste’ out of our landfills

November 19, 2014By 0 comment

Confession: I didn’t separate my laundry in college. I didn’t even realize the temperature of the water mattered until my roommate, whose mother had instilled good clothes-washing habits in her, scolded me for washing my jeans on a warm cycle. I could probably fake my way through sewing a button on a shirt, but it might not look very good or last very long. I am a product of my generation – a generation with an overwhelming lack of knowledge about clothing maintenance, according to a recent study by the University of Missouri department of Textile and Apparel Management.

That’s right, we Millennials have a serious problem when it comes to clothing care, and it’s a serious problem for our environment, too. The EPA reports that the U.S. generates about 25 billion pounds of textiles each year, and 85 percent of that ends up in our landfills. Much of this can be attributed to the lack of emphasis being placed on clothing care, repair and recycling to young people. Home economics classes are mostly a thing of the past, and many of us didn’t think to learn these basic skills via other avenues.

The good news is that now that this problem is being brought to light, we can do something about it. Taking the time to learn how to properly care for and responsibly dispose of clothes and accessories can save you the money and hassle of buying new things as often and can dramatically decrease the amount of post-consumer textile waste heading into our landfills each year. Here are a couple of easy ways to keep your things from becoming waste as long as possible:

When you can, spring for higher quality. We’ve all heard it a thousand times: They just don’t make things like they used to. Lots of clothes aren’t manufactured to last more than a season in order to keep costs down and fashion dynamic. This creates a lot of unnecessary waste that would be avoided if we all invested in long-lasting, classic pieces to make up our wardrobes. This may mean more money up front, but reduces future spending and means less being thrown away after just a few uses.

Read care instructions on your clothing’s labels. This one seems obvious, but many people simply don’t know how to wash their clothes. Ignoring the wash directions on one’s tags is a common millennial mistake that can be easily avoided, exponentially increasing the life of the item. If your sweater tells you it needs to be washed cold, it needs to be washed cold. Hand-washing doesn’t take that long, and the gentle cycle is a thing that your delicates appreciate. Your sheets are serious when they say, “tumble dry, low heat.” These things are important.

Learn sewing basics. If your favorite shirt gets a hole in it or last year’s winter jacket loses a button, don’t panic or feel the need to replace it right away; repair it! It may seem like a daunting task if you’ve never mended anything before, but many snags and tears are quite easy to fix. Lots of online tutorials exist to help beginners learning to sew, or ask a friend or family member to help you pick up this new and important skill.

Donate or recycle things when you are done with them. Just because you don’t have use for something doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t. Taking your clothes to a secondhand shop is the perfect way to give them new life, and there are a lot of nonprofits who can benefit from your donations. For example, The Hope Center takes donations of men’s clothing, and if you take things to Goodwill or the Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in the name of Greenhouse 17, they will provide families with vouchers to shop with. If something is irreparable or truly worn out beyond use, recycle it instead of tossing it in the trash. For more information on how to do this, check out the Council for Textile Recycling’s website.

 
1 macyMacy Gould is the AmeriCorps VISTA member who serves as Bluegrass Greensource’s green jobs coordinator, working with educators to ensure that students are aware of and prepared for the variety of green career paths that await them after high school. Macy is originally from Minneapolis but considers Lexington home and enjoys visiting her family in Colorado Springs. She recently graduated from Transylvania University. Outside of work, you could likely find Macy planning for her community radio show or taking a long walk downtown.

This article appeared in KY Forward on November 13, 2014.

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Keep your Halloween green by taking these simple earth-friendly steps

October 9, 2014By 0 comment

October is finally here and with it comes cooler weather, pumpkin everything and the favorite holiday of every sugar-crazed 6-year-old (or 6-year-old at at heart): Halloween. Honestly, who doesn’t love Halloween?

All that aside, Halloween is another one of those days when our choices can cause lots of long-lasting problems for the environment. Most candy is wrapped in a non-recyclable mix of materials that end up heading straight for the landfill or, if we’re not careful, littering our neighborhoods.

Specialty costumes typically don’t have another purpose and find themselves hanging in a closet, unused, year after year. Pumpkin carvings, and eventually the works of art themselves, often end up being thrown in the trash without a second thought as to how they could otherwise be used.

You can avoid these and other environmental pitfalls by keeping the following tips in mind this Hallow(gr)een.

Be creative (aka green) when choosing a costume. Before purchasing a new outfit to wear, check out your closet to see if you can make your own costume this year. Thrift stores are another great place to start the hunt for the perfect costume. If that doesn’t work out, try organizing a costume swap with friends and family; you never know what’s hiding in someone else’s closet that could be exactly what you need.

Keep your celebration local. Take the kids trick-or-treating in your own neighborhood, carpool to the pumpkin patch or bike to this year’s office Halloween party. There are plenty of ways to reduce your transportation footprint this Halloween season.

Hand out responsible treats. Most traditional candy wrappers aren’t recyclable, so you may have to be creative to green this part of the trick-or-treating experience. Look for candy in paper wrappers, and limit your output to one piece per child. Alternatives to candy – stickers, temporary tattoos and small toys – can be fun too, just make sure to pick products with limited packaging and plastic usage. You could even include printed instructions for ways to upcycle candy wrappers to get as much use out of them as possible and keep them out of the landfill. Lots of tutorials exist online for jewelry, pencil cases, even things such as belts and shoes. Encourage kids to be creative!

Use the whole pumpkin. Look up recipes that involve fresh pumpkin filling so that all those carving remnants don’t go to waste; try salting and roasting the seeds for an autumn snack. After Halloween, when those beautiful carved pumpkins start to shrivel up, don’t just toss them in the trash. Instead, add them to your compost pile for rich spring soil.

Help clean up. When taking your kids trick-or-treating, bring an extra bag to pick up trash you may see on the way. Organizing an early November litter cleanup in your neighborhood is another way to keep those candy wrappers off the streets; you could ask an area coffee shop to donate warm beverages to encourage people to come help out even if it’s cold.

 
1 macyMacy Gould is the AmeriCorps VISTA member who serves as Bluegrass Greensource’s green jobs coordinator, working with educators to ensure that students are aware of and prepared for the variety of green career paths that await them after high school. Macy is originally from Minneapolis but considers Lexington home and enjoys visiting her family in Colorado Springs. She recently graduated from Transylvania University. Outside of work, you could likely find Macy planning for her community radio show or taking a long walk downtown.

This article appeared in KY Forward on October 9, 2014.

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