Each year on the 22nd of April, nearly a billion people take part in Earth Day. Spanning the globe, individuals, communities, organizations, businesses and governments acknowledge the amazing planet Earth we call home and take action to protect it.

Climate Change

For many, climate change can often seem remote and hazy – a complex and vague problem far off in the distance that our grandchildren may have to solve. But that’s only because they’re still fortunate enough to be insulated from its mounting consequences. Climate change has very real effects on people, animals, and the ecosystems and natural resources on which we all depend. Left unchecked, they’ll spread like wildfire. Politics has unfortunately played a role in down playing this.

When you do your part to help fix the problem, you are a positive Face of Climate Change: the entrepreneurs who see opportunities in creating new green economies, the activists who organize community action and awareness campaigns, the engineers who design the clean technology of the future, the public servants who fight for climate change laws and for mitigation efforts, the ordinary people who commit to living sustainable lives…

Let’s make an extra effort to inspire our leaders to act and inspire ourselves to redouble our efforts in the fight against climate change.  If not for us, for our future families.

Green In Gwinnett Area

Are you a business owner or employee, that is concerned about the environment, and is looking to make your office more green? Luckily there are a number of options available to you, and an effort to green your office. If you are looking to go green, there are some simple, cheap changes that you can make to your office in order to make this more possible. A few of the things that you should look at doing in an effort to green your office include;

Soy Ink

One thing that many individuals are not aware of, even those that are environmentally friendly, is the fact that ink can be made out of soybeans. This is much better for the environment, and is actually going to be cheaper for your company to utilize as well. It has smaller levels of organic compounds that are volatile, then ink that is made out of other sources, such as petroleum. It also is going to have less toxins as well, and produces a better and sharper overall ink. Paper is actually easy to recycle with soy ink printed on it, because it is much easier to remove in ink removal process, which happens at the recycling company. There are also many soybean crops throughout the USA, which means that you are directly supporting American companies when you purchase soy ink. There are even huge publications, such as newspapers, that you soy ink, because of its clarity when printed.  Another viable and eco-friendly option is to use compatible cartridges that are made from recycled materials.  The best compatible cartridges to use are made in usa and are iso14001 certified.  You can try a toner cartridge company like Print Green USA for high quality made in usa toner cartridges.

Cut Back on Paper Waste

Another easy step that you can take is to cut back on the paperweight. There are many small tips that you can utilize in order to cut back on the amount of paper that you use on a day-to-day basis. Does your company require that employees print hard copies of many different documents and store them? This is a practice that waste a lot of paper, and can make things much more difficult. In this digital world, many of your documents can be stored and backed up online or on a hard drive, without having to waste all of that paper in the process. Documents can be viewed on a computer, and you can actually print on both sides of the paper for documents that do not require their own. Most printers, as well as copiers, are going to come with the setting that will allow you to print on both sides of the paper by default. Of course, you want to teach your employees how to turn this feature off, for more important documents.

Offer Transportation Methods

Another simple idea is to offer alternative transportation methods to your employees. Instead of having all of your employees drive to work themselves, try offering or putting together a carpooling matching service, that employees can utilize to save money on gas. Although many employees will want to drive themselves, some will likely see the benefit in having a carpool system in which to use, that can save them a great deal of money in the long run, while benefiting the environment. Even small changes can help to turn things around.

This is how to go green in your home. Start with the basics. Doing simple things such as buying eco-friendly light bulbs, turning lights off when in rooms that aren’t currently occupied, and being conservative in your use of water, heat, electricity, and air conditioning can save you money on your energy bills and contribute to sustaining the overall environment.

Looking at the larger picture, it is possible for you to act as an individual in promoting and creating a more eco-friendly environment. Recycling is a great thing you can do in this regard. If you recycle plastic bottles, papers, aluminum, and other recyclable products, you can play a major part in making sustaining the environment. Establishing this habit in your place of work and in your everyday life outside of the home is also important, as it not only has a positive impact on the general effort, but may also be emulated by others.

Another way of being eco-friendly is to buy eco-friendly products. This is particularly true for eco-friendly products for your home. To a very large extent the kind of products that corporations produce are determined by the demand for them. If the market for eco-friendly products continues to expand, then companies will invest more money and resources into making them. After a while, eco-friendly products will become main stream, and the costs of making your home eco-friendly will continue to decrease.

Going green in your home also carries with it a certain prestige. You will garner the appreciation and admiration of persons who visit your home regularly. You will also develop the impulse to increase the amount of order and tidiness in your home as you try to find ways of improving its eco-friendliness. This cannot but help you preserve your home and increase its market value—which is another way going green can not only help you reduce your monthly energy costs but can actually help you increase the value of your real estate investment.

Fortunately, there are many ways of learning how to go green in your Gwinnett County home. The place to begin your search is the worldwide web. The web will allow you to bring a number of websites dedicated to eco-friendliness to your computer screen. It will also allow you to compare the content and quality of each website. Using the web will enable you to get specific pointers on the measures you can take to go green in your home and join the movement to protect and preserve the environment—it is a great place to start.

~Green In Gwinnett Making Gwinnett County “Green and Sustainable” one post at a time!

The importance of having efficient eco friendly green home products;

Do you want your home to be idolized, envied, and appreciated? In that case, it is extremely important that you ensure that your home is efficient and eco friendly. The benefits to having eco friendly products in the home is substantial. It shows that you are grabbing the “going green” phenomenon by the reigns and leading by example. Some of the many things that you can do to create a green environment at home, where you are contributing to the world and doing your part to keep society healthy, is to recycle and invest in “green” products.

 Recycling

The biggest thing that you can do to “go green” and ensure that you are doing your part in making the world a better place, is to recycle. Recycling helps create many products around the world by reusing materials. For instance, when you recycle your plastics, a lot of plastic bottles and products that are derived from plastic can then be produced based off your recycled materials. If everyone in the world were to engage in recycling, the world would be a much healthier and eco friendly place. We would not have to drill as much oil and we would be less reliant on minerals that will not be around on the earth for us to use forever. In total, 82,000,000 tons of materials are recycled in the United States. It is also estimated that about 55% of all paper products in the United States are being recycled. Throughout the last decade, thanks to businesses and individuals who are doing their part to “go green,” there has been a 100% increase in the total recycling of the country. Keep in mind that each person in the country produces about 4.6 pounds of trash though, and in total, we only recycle about 32% of our waste. This number could greatly be improved upon, and by more people taking part in recycling, we can improve this number day-by-day around the country.

 Eco friendly products

Have you ever heard anybody say that nothing gets done, until business calls for it? This is actually very true, it is basically saying that in order for the world to “go green” completely, people have to start purchasing eco friendly products over the cheaper alternatives that are available on the shelves of retail stores. This would show businesses that consumers are switching to green products and that we are not going to buy products that are bad for the world. This would force companies involved in many different industries to completely switch up what types of products they are producing, and improve how environment friendly those products truly are. There are many different types of products that you can purchase which have environment friendly options. This includes pens, laundry detergent, bags, drinkware, and much more. Basically, any product on the market today has an environment friendly option available somewhere.  Your home appliances are also an important aspect of “going green”.  For example the type of air conditioner unit you use can have a large impact on energy consumption. By buying these types of products, we can move the world into an entirely new direction and make it a better place to live.

Green In Gwinnett Area

The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and, up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health.

Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.

Read More Here

In a story headlined “Grime Wave,” The Daily reports that thieves from Oregon to Maryland are stealing large quantities of Tide laundry detergent by loading it into shopping carts and pushing it out of the stores, often to waiting getaway cars.  Here’s a TV news report from late last year about Tide thefts in Maryland.

Read more about Tide Crime Here

Wondering where to recycle your Christmas Tree in Gwinnett County?  Look no further.  Here are the Bring One For The Chipper, Keep Georgia Beautiful Christmas Tree recycling locations for Gwinnett County.

Christmas Tree Recycling Locations In Gwinnett County

Buford Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Buford Fire Station 14, 1600 Highway 23, 30518
• Buford Fire Station 24, 2735 Mall of GA Blvd., 30519
• Buford Fire Station 29, 2800 Thompson Mill Rd., 30519

Dacula Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Dacula Fire Station 16, 195 Dacula Rd., 30019
• Dacula Fire Station 17, 2739 Brooks Rd., 30019
• Dacula Fire Station 27, 2825 Old Fountain Rd., 30019

Duluth Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Duluth Fire Station 5, 3001 Old Norcross Rd., 30096
• Duluth Fire Station 7, 3343 Bunton Rd., 30096
• Duluth Fire Station 19, 3275 N. Berkeley Lake Rd., 30096

Grayson Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Fire Station 8, 2295 Brannan Rd., 30017

Hoschton Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Fire Station 18, 1515 Mineral Springs Rd., 30548

Lawrenceville Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Lawrenceville Fire Station 9, 1900 Five Forks-Trickum Rd., 30044
• Lawrenceville Fire Station 15, 275 S. Perry St., 30046
• Lawrenceville Fire Station 20, 1801 Cruse Rd., 30044
• Lawrenceville Fire Station 25, 3575 Lawrenceville Hwy., 30044

Lilburn Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Fire Station 2, 12 Harmony Grove Rd., 30047
• Fire Station 3, 4394 Five Forks-Trickum Rd., 30047
• Fire Station 22, 2180 Stone Dr., 30047
• *City Residents ONLY: 107 Railroad Ave.

Loganville Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Fire Station 28, 3725 Rosebud Rd, 30052
• Fire Station 30, 1052 Ozora Rd., 30052

Norcross Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Norcross Fire Station 1, 165 Lawrenceville St., 30071
• Norcross Fire Station 4, 5550 Spalding Dr., 30092
• Norcross Fire Station 11, 5885 Live Oak Pkwy., 30093
• Norcross Fire Station 23, 4355 Steve Reynolds Blvd., 30093

Snellville Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Fire Station 6, 3890 Johnson Dr., 30039
• Fire Station 12, 2815 Lenora Church Rd., 30078

Sugar Hill Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Fire Station 26, 6075 Suwanee Dam Rd., 30518

Suwanee Christmas Tree Recycling Locations

• Suwanee Fire Station 21, 474 Old Peachtree Rd., 30024
• Suwanee Sims Lake Park, 4600 Suwanee Dam Road, 30024

We encourage you to participate in recycling your Christmas tree.

Bring One For The Chipper Gwinnett!

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