©2004 Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council
P.O. Box 17164, Lansing, Michigan 48901-7164
(517) 214-5684 jessicayorko@sustainablesolutions.biz
Sustainable Practices
Stream monitoring on the
west branch of Red Cedar
Volunteer stream monitoring
training
Bingham walks and bikes to
school
Reducing Consumption:

Plastic Bags
Billions of plastic bags are choking our planet. All of these
"free" bags ultimately cost both consumers and the
environment plenty:

  • Each year billions of bags
    end up as ugly litter.
  • Eventually they break down
    into tiny toxic bits polluting
    our soil, river, lakes and
    oceans
  • Production requires vast
    amounts of oil.
  • Countless animals
    needlessly die each year.
www.chrisjordan.com      

Read more at reusablebags.com

In Lansing and around the world, single-use bags get the
sack -  View the full City Pulse article here!

Where to get reusable bags  

  • Meijer (blue with green leaf) – 99 cents  
  • Wal-Mart (black, with slogan “Paper or Plastic? Neither”)
    $1  
  • Horrock’s (green with store logo) - $1.99  
  • East Lansing Food Co-op and Foods for Living (various
    colors, with slogan “One bag at a time”) - $1.99; cloth
    bags also available at various prices  
  • Felpausch (black with store logo) – 99 cents  
  • Goodrich’s Shop-Rite (green) - $1.50  
  • Kroger (blue with store logo) – 99 cents  
  • Macy’s (Cloth tote with slogan, “Use me again and again
    and again, I’m used to it”) – $20; on sale for $3
  • April 26-27  Westlund’s Apple Market (green with slogan
    “Green Bag”) - $1.29

Where to recycle plastic bags

  • All Wal-Marts in Lansing, Charlotte, St. Johns, and
    Okemos
  • Mulliken Recycling Center, Corner of Main and Railroad
    Streets, Mulliken (7 miles from Portland) (517) 649-8992
    4-7 p.m Mon. and Wed., 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.
  • Recycle Livingston, 170 Catrell St., Howell (517) 548-4439
  • 9 a.m-1 p.m. Saturday, noon-5:30 p.m. Wed.
  • Sunfield Twp. Recycling Center, 126 First St., Sunfield
    (Eaton County) (517) 566-8972 3-6 p.m. Mon., 9 a.m.-
    noon Sat.


Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles pile up as mountains of waste
Americans' thirst for portable water is behind drop in
recycling rate  -Micheal Llanos; MSNBC

    Only about 12 percent of
    "custom" plastic bottles, a
    category dominated by water,
    were recycled in 2003,
    according to industry consultant
    R.W. Beck, Inc. That's 40 million
    bottles a day that went into the
    www.chrisjordan.com       trash or became litter.

View a full article that addresses the many sides of the and
resolutions to the water bottle issue here.


Energy and Recycling Facts

  • One recycled aluminum can saves enough energy to
    power a television or computer for 3 hours or a 100-
    watt light bulb for 20 hours. A six-pack of recycled
    aluminum cans saves enough energy to drive a car 5
    miles.
  • Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to
    light a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours.
  • Recycling a one-gallon plastic milk jug will save
    enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for 11
    hours.
  • Recycling one pound of steel conserves enough
    energy to light a 60-watt bulb for 26 hours.
  • Recycling a one-foot high stack of newspapers saves
    enough electricity to heat a home for 17 hours.
Source: Waste Management


How to Reduce Your Energy Consumption

Tips for conserving electricity and cutting your energy costs.  
From the National Resources Defense Council

Don't forget the basics!  This simple stuff will save energy --
and money -- right now.     

1. Unplug           
  • Unplug seldom-used appliances, like an extra
    refrigerator in the basement or garage that contains
    just a few items. You may save around $10 every
    month on your utility bill.
  • Unplug your chargers when you're not charging. Every
    house is full of little plastic power supplies to charge
    cell phones, PDA's, digital cameras, cordless tools
    and other personal gadgets. Keep them unplugged
    until you need them.
  • Use power strips to switch off televisions, home
    theater equipment, and stereos when you're not using
    them. Even when you think these products are off,
    together, their "standby" consumption can be
    equivalent to that of a 75 or 100 watt light bulb running
    continuously.    
2. Set Computers to Sleep and Hibernate
  • Enable the "sleep mode" feature on your computer,
    allowing it to use less power during periods of
    inactivity. In Windows, the power management
    settings are found on your control panel. Mac users,
    look for energy saving settings under system
    preferences in the apple menu.
  • Configure your computer to "hibernate" automatically
    after 30 minutes or so of inactivity. The "hibernate
    mode" turns the computer off in a way that doesn't
    require you to reload everything when you switch it
    back on. Allowing your computer to hibernate saves
    energy and is more time-efficient than shutting down
    and restarting your computer from scratch. When
    you're done for the day, shut down.    
3. Take Control of Temperature
  • Set your thermostat in winter to 68 degrees or less
    during the daytime, and 55 degrees before going to
    sleep (or when you're away for the day). During the
    summer, set thermostats to 78 degrees or more.
    (Click here for a more detailed summer energy-
    saving tip.)
  • Use sunlight wisely. During the heating season, leave
    shades and blinds open on sunny days, but close
    them at night to reduce the amount of heat lost
    through windows. Close shades and blinds during
    the summer or when the air conditioner is in use or
    will be in use later in the day.
  • Set the thermostat on your water heater between 120
    and 130 degrees. Lower temperatures can save
    more energy, but you might run out of hot water or end
    up using extra electricity to boost the hot water
    temperature in your dishwasher.    
4. Use Appliances Efficiently
  • Set your refrigerator temperature at 38 to 42 degrees
    Fahrenheit; your freezer should be set between 0 and
    5 degrees Fahrenheit. Use the power-save switch if
    your fridge has one, and make sure the door seals
    tightly. You can check this by making sure that a dollar
    bill closed in between the door gaskets is difficult to
    pull out. If it slides easily between the gaskets,
    replace them.
  • Don't preheat or "peek" inside the oven more than
    necessary. Check the seal on the oven door, and use
    a microwave oven for cooking or reheating small
    items.
  • Wash only full loads in your dishwasher, using short
    cycles for all but the dirtiest dishes. This saves water
    and the energy used to pump and heat it. Air-drying, if
    you have the time, can also reduce energy use.           
  • In your clothes washer, set the appropriate water level
    for the size of the load; wash in cold water when
    practical, and always rinse in cold.
  • Clean the lint filter in the dryer after each use. Dry
    heavy and light fabrics separately and don't add wet
    items to a load that's already partly dry. If available,
    use the moisture sensor setting. (A clothesline is the
    most energy-efficient clothes dryer of all!)    
5. Turn Out the Lights
  • Don't forget to flick the switch when you leave a room.
  • Remember this at the office, too. Turn out or dim the
    lights in unused conference rooms, and when you
    step out for lunch. Work by daylight when possible. A
    typical commercial building uses more energy for
    lighting than anything else.

    In Transportation:







   In Business:

    Midland Graphics
    Company is Taking
    Important Steps toward
    Sustainability   

    McKay Communications
    Essentials, a consolidated
    graphics company in Midland,
    continues to expand its
    recycling efforts in support of a
    sustainable future for Michigan.
    McKay is also part of the
    Consolidated Graphics (CGX)
    group, which has 70 different
    print, specialty advertising,
    internet solutions providers
    and language interpreting
    groups in the U.S.  Efforts over
    the past year include: CGX
    recycled 66,633 tons of paper
    in the U.S., equivalent to
    133,266,000 pounds or 3,333
    truckloads of paper, saving
    219,889 cubic yards of landfill
    space in the U.S. McKay Press
    recycled 1,497 tons of paper in
    Michigan, equivalent to
    2,994,000 pounds or 75 trucks
    of paper, saving 4,940 cubic
    yards of landfill space in
    Michigan.

    Learn more about the services
    provided by McKay Press and
    CGX online.


    Architect Goes Green to
    Grow    
    The Detroit News, June 26,
    2008

    Holly Kaiser wants her firm to
    walk the talk when it comes to
    sustainable building and
    leaving smaller carbon
    footprints. So the architect
    invested her green, opened her
    own firm two years ago and
    built an energy-efficient office
    for her Studio 5 firm that
    includes low-voltage lighting,
    sustainable fly ash drywall,
    insulation made from recycled
    blue jeans and other green
    products and technology.   "I
    have a strong desire for
    sustainability in architecture,"
    Kaiser said. "The only way I felt
    I could do this was to go on my
    own." Read more at Green to
    Grow.     
Green Links

Take the Go Green Go
Lansing! Pledge
gogreengolansing.com The
Greater Lansing Go Green!
Initiative is working to
promote environmental and
economic health for all those
who live, work, and play in
Greater Lansing. More info:
theins@ci.lansing.mi.us

Donate to Focus—
Stop Your Junk Mail!
Sign up with 41 Pounds , and
a portion of the income is
donated directly to us here at
Focus the Nation.

Living in a world
without waste
news.bbc.co.
uk/2/hi/science/nature/75
02071.stm

Web Video: The End of
Suburbia
A fascinating 52 minute
documentary on the rise and
fall of suburbia.  In order to
successfully transition
through the global food crisis,
climate change and peak oil,
the new suburbia must
reinvent a sustainable "mom
and pop" localized economy.  
Watch it here.

Rethinking Mass
Consumption and our
“Throw-Away” Economy
Earlier this year Mid-MEAC e-
news included links to a
series of photographs by
Seattle artists Chris Jordan,
portraying a specific quantity
of something: fifteen million
sheets of office paper (five
minutes of paper use);
106,000 aluminum cans
(thirty seconds of can
consumption) etc. Chris now
has a video on Pop Cast!
describing how he created
each photo.  

The Vertical Farm
Project
www.verticalfarm.com
Stormwater drain off the west
branch of the Red Cedar
Reflections in the Red Cedar
River
Volunteers collecting samples
Stream Monitoring on the
west branch of the Red Cedar
Stream monitoring on the
west branch of Red Cedar
Volunteer stream monitoring
training