New York City Marathon

On a quick personal note best of luck to my friends running in the marathon this Sunday. Most importantly my cousin Kelsey Louie and Shelly Rosser Lee are running. Kelsey is a former President of the NYC Road Runners Club and is running with a group looking to do it in under three hours. I know, can you believe that I said THREE. Shelly is running for the National Autistic Society and is close to her goal. Donate HERE! If your reading this after the marathon contact me and I'll find out where you can donate. I know I'm forgetting a few people so best of luck to all the runners.

Recycle Plastic Caps with AVEDA

I was surprised to find out that plastic bottle caps are often not recycled. In some states it's actually on a "Do not recycle this" list. Why? I'm still looking for answers. But good news, A major makeup manufacturing company such as Aveda has done something green. Aveda realizes that the U.S. does not have an operable system in place to recycle plastic bottle caps. Aveda is asking that you bring in plastic bottle caps to any of their store locations and they will recycle the caps into their makeup packaging. I know, how cool is that? On the page that I am going to give you the link to, HERE, you can find more information about this program and information about organizing your school as well. So now I ask, "What are you gonna do?"

Upcoming NYC recycling events

Just wanted to share an e-mail with you all

As always, a reminder that if you can't find new homes for your old
electronics here, there are many ways to recycle them! Please
consider taking your e-waste to an upcoming FREE collection. Here is
a list of multiple dates and locations in all five boros!

REALLY REALLY FREE MARKET
Sunday, October 26 2008
3:00PM - 11:00PM
St. Mark's Church, 2nd Ave Bet. 10th & 11th St

The Really Really Free Market will feature: live music skillshares
radical literature food and drinks provided by Freegan.info games for
kids and adults psychic readings haircuts, piñatas free clothes books
movies software toys and much more! Bring what you can. Take what you
need.
If you have any q's, please e-mail:
inourhearts@ gmail.com

************ ********* ****
ELECTRONICS RECYCLING FROM THE LOWER EAST SIDE ECOLOGY CENTER
More info and what to bring:
http://ww.lesecolog ycenter.org/ les_frames. html#Ewaste

Saturday, November 1 from 10 am to 4 pm
School yard of PS 29 - Baltic Street between Henry & Clinton Street,
Cobble Hill Brooklyn
We like to thank Councilmember Bill de Blasio, the Cobble Hill
Association and PS 29 PTA for sponsoring this event

Sunday, November 9 from 10 am to 4 pm
Union Square Park - West Plaza E 16th - E 15th Street and Union Square
West
This event is a collaboration with Comedy Central " Address the Mess"(
http://www.addresst hemess.com )

Saturday, December 6 from 10 am to 4 pm
PS 321 Seventh Avenue between 1 & 2nd Streets Park Slope, Brooklyn
We like to thank Councilmember Bill de Blasio and PS 321 PTA for
sponsoring this event
************ ********* ****

ELECTRONICS RECYCLING FROM NYC
Green your routine. Drop off unwanted computers, TVs, cell phones,
radios, cameras, VCRs and other electronics for free at any of the
locations listed below. This small step is an important one to reduce
the estimated 87.5% of e-waste that goes to landfills. Presented by
NBC Universal, WNBC and GREENYC

Saturday and Sunday, November 15–16, 2008
8AM – 2PM, Various locations in all 5 boros

MANHATTAN
+SATURDAY ONLY: Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building Plaza,
W. 126th St. bet. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. and Malcolm X Blvd.
+SUNDAY ONLY: Cooper Square, Cooper Square bet. E. 6th and 7th Sts.

BRONX
+SATURDAY & SUNDAY: Joyce Kilmer Park, Grand Concourse bet. E. 161st
and 163rd Sts.

BROOKLYN
+Saturday and Sunday: McCarren Park, Williamsburg

STATEN ISLAND
+Saturday and Sunday: Staten Island Mall, 2655 Richmond Avenue at
Parking Lot F

QUEENS
+Saturday and Sunday: Cunningham Park, Union Turnpike bet. 196th Place
and 197th Street

FOR MORE INFORMATION, learn more at nbcnewyork.com
(http://www.greenisu niversal. com/greenscreens /) or call 311.

Rachel McAdams is Green and Sexy

I have to admit I saw "The Notebook" liked it very much, Rachel McAdams is very attractive. There I said it, it's out there now I can move on. Rachel McAdams is very green, she bought a house in Canada and she's remodeling with as much eco-improvements as possible. She doesn't own a car and prefers to ride around on a bike. She also has a great smile . . . sorry I'll get back to the topic. Besides that she has a website that discusses living green called www.GreenIsSexy.org that she started with two of her friends. It's a pretty cool site that is very entertaining as well. There is a lot of information there and it's not a in your face, do as I say website. The site just focuses on tips for a greener life. Take a look and I hope you enjoy it.

MTV says: "Urinate in public - Save Water!"

From the realm of "How much is too much?", see here, I now bring you this little tidbit from MTV. Apparently on Europe MTV, they are encouraging people to urinate in public areas to save water by not having to flush a toilet. I kid you not, watch the video. It is all part of their new "Switch" campaign. I really don't think I have more to say on this. What do you think? Would you do this or want people to do this? Let me know, leave a comment.

Starbucks is Green?

A reader sent in a link to an article about the popular coffee chain, Starbucks. Now I've written about the company in the past, it offers coffee at a discount if you bring in your own coffee mug so your morning cup of fancy joe will cost you 5.67 instead of 6.40. I don't know the actual discount because I don't drink coffee. In the article, link here from the BBC News website, it talks about how each of the Starbucks franchises are instructed by corporate to run the cold water faucet during hours of operation to run it's dipping station wasting thousands maybe millions of gallons of water a day. A dipping station, for those of you who don't know, is a area in the sink to "dip" utensils to clean them to be used again and again. By having the running water it cleans out the water in the station and keeps the utensils clean. The reason why I know of this is because I had the unfortunate task of working in an ice cream shop (one of my many jobs in my misguided youth) that had a similar setup. This was back in 86' and even then they knew it was a waste of water and they made changes. Their defense is that it's the only way to ensure proper hygiene of their work stations and the faucets are on "low flow". My response blah, blah, blah. I challenge them to find a better way. It takes about 50 minutes to get your order anyway so take another second or two and turn the faucet and then rinse your utensils. Here is another link to another report of the story, HERE from the ENN website. Do you notice that no US mainstream papers are carrying the story, I wonder why? So Starbucks I ask "what are you gonna do?"

Kate Walsh is Green???

I had a hard time writing this post. Because I'm a fan of Kate Walsh, I think she's a good actress and she's tried to do many things for the environment such as making appearances and donating time and money. I loved her on The Drew Carey Show and honestly didn't really see her on Grey's Anatomy or her spin off Private Practice.
With that said, how can she be a spokesperson for Cadillac. Cadillac is not exactly know for their "green" cars. Do they even have any cars that have a mpg over 25? 20? But Cadillac is a big corporation that has made cars for many years blah, blah, blah. This is not the reason why I'm mad though, I read that in June she flew a private jet to a green sustainable living event. A PRIVATE JET.
When will PEOPLE, not just celebs, realize that what they say and do effect the lives of others. Whether it's thousands or millions of fans or the one or two people around them.
In the past I have forgiven attractive women for many things (being a man and all) but this is hypocrisy to the tenth degree. But then again my thing for redheads . . .

Bette Midler Cares

One of the hardest things to accept when living in the city is the lack of greenery. Unless you live right by Central Park you have a bit to travel for a nice green setting. This is one of the main reasons why Bette Midler founded and created the New York Restoration Project. The NYRP helps by creating, sustain, and restore greenery across the five boros. They organize volunteer projects and also educate people on greener living practices. However one of my favorite things the NYRP does is their creation of community gardens. After creating several gardens in each of the boros, they are opening the Target East Harlem Community Garden. Each garden uses solar power and wind power generators to light the garden. They use rainwater harvesting to collect rainwater, and use local residence compost to maintain the integrity of the soil. Check out the website and visit a garden in your boro or to volunteer. Now you know what Miss Bette has done, what are you gonna do?