When thinking about a topic to do my last blog on, I heard of some students talking about how it was Green Week here at University of Central Arkansas. I could not think of anything better than to see how my own school is going green. I plan on being at school here for the next three years, and look forward to see the environmental changes along the way. It is important for me to see how my school is doing with helping the environment because it is something that I am so passionate about.
First of all, around campus I can see that UCA is taking steps into going green. Wherever there is a regular trash can, there is one next to it labeled recycled. I think it is good to see that MY school is recycling to help the environment.
When I leave my dorm room each day, I have a sign above my door that was there when I moved in. It says help keep our campus clean and it has the recycle “sign”. Three green arrows in the shape of a circle. This reminds me to turn off my lights to save energy and to take my trash to the designated places.
When researching other ways that UCA was going green I found that by using the artificial turf, it is helping campus become more green. According to When Green Isn’t Green, “Conservative cost savings include grounds labor, irrigation, fertilizer, sod, paint and equipment of just over $100,000 per year. Environmental considerations include saving of over 3 million gallons of water per year once used to water the field, along with 300 gallons of paint and multiple fertilizer treatments. The committee was also pleased the product was 100% recyclable, non-hazardous, CA Prop 65 Compliant and Anti-microbial.” By changing the football field, it is a win win situation. The school is saving lots of money and the environment is being helped out.
Back to green week, the whole reason why I wrote this post is green week. After looking on uca.edu I found what this is all about. Green week is something that started in 2010. To me this shows that “going green” is something that is new. Each day during green week, which this year is April 16-20, different things go on around campus. These include presentations from businesses that are green, seeing recycled materials, and showing students ways to be green. According to uca.edu, “The goal of Green Week is to promote awareness and activism regarding green initiatives through student leadership and involvement.” While I may be biased because this is my school, I can see that University of Central Arkansas is doing steps into going green. I could not be more impressed with our campus. By being a student here, it gives me the opportunity to be greener and to have a great support system behind me.
Below is a picture of the trash cans that are around campus:
Last week I was shopping at TJ Maxx and at the counter I saw they had reusable bags for sale. I saw a design that I really liked, so of course I bought it. It then made me think if this company was trying to go green. I actually had the lady put my belongings in my reusable bag so that she could save the paper bags. It was just one less thing for me to throw away and for me to use next time. Above is an image of the exact bag that I bought found on http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=933&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=nYlRKPWIsPKI2M:&imgrefurl=http://mysisterssuitcase.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-egg-hunt-abc-eggs-at-its.html&docid=BGnMbQiAkCdRoM&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnzPKOofRdk1GNU5WfIoAEHkawrBDiuqQPBNtK5t9QXbjRdf_0ckNZ57vA6teUEt7JGOH4ti5023RVQ6IbYixgjZQ7XgrRzCfeJGiiAet5hUi1w1zrlqcJcns_5DP4Gd0RXGnXJJ7eYpw/s1600/TJ%252BMaxx%252Bshopping%252Bbag.jpg&w=678&h=907&ei=WECIT_LXJYfg2AWmgKHLCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=720&vpy=511&dur=1045&hovh=260&hovw=194&tx=96&ty=147&sig=106795500691874847226&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=105&start=0&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:29,s:0,i:132
However, when researching this I found that TJ Maxx and the sister companies of it, Marshall’s, Homegoods, and Bob’s is taking the efforts to green. The main ways they are doing this is by reducing fuel, using better lighting, and recycling cardboard. According to TJX.com, they reduce fuel by loading the trucks to the fullest and also they send their goods sometimes on the railroad. When TJ Maxx sends stuff to stores, their trucks are as full as can be. They do not want one trip to be wasted. According to their research, it saves emissions to send some things via railroad. In the TJ Maxx and sister stores, they use a lighting that uses 50% less energy than non-fluorescent according to How 10 Major Companies Go Green. The last way the company is going green is by recycling the cardboard that the clothes and products come in (How 10 Major Companies Go Green). This is a help instead of throwing it away. TJ Maxx and its sister stores are doing small things that are making our environment become more green.
In my house at home and in my dorm room, I use Glad trash bags. Ever since I can remember we have used these kinds of trash bags. I did not know until I saw a commercial that this company was trying to help the environment. The commercial I believe is new because I can not find it anywhere on the internet. One thing that Glad Trash Bags is doing is making 65% recycled bags. They make them for household trash cans, outdoor, large, and small. I never really thought about how much plastic trash bags actually use. There is so much waste anyways that is thrown out daily, I am glad that Glad is helping to do its part. Something that impresses me about this company is they are charging the same price for the green product, then the regular product. I know that sometimes “Green” products are more expensive. I was so impressed that the New York Times included that information, my respect for the company went higher. According to the New York Times, “The new bags will reduce the use of plastic at Glad Products by 6.5 million pounds a year, Ms. Hagedorn said, or the equivalent of 140 million bags. That is brought to life in the campaign by calling the amount enough plastic “to cover all of Manhattan” or “to fill over 200 garbage trucks.” This just says a lot about the company. I am proud to say that I use Glad bags and will continue to support this company. For more good information about this topic I would recommend reading the article from the New York Times below, the article has some great information.
Click on this link to watch a video about how Glad is helping out even at college sporting events. It would be awesome to see this here at UCA. http://www.glad.com/waste-less/one-bag/
While previously in my blog, the posts have been about companies that are trying to go green. When doing some research, I began to think about if a company was perfectly green, how that would look. I have found some very interesting tips on how a company can make efforts to go green. It would be helpful for all of the companies to look at this list and try to make a change. Some ways that a company can change to become green is by, using hybrid cars, making smart investments, using proper lighting, shipping material, using the internet as much as possible.
According to “Care 2 make a difference”, it is important for companies to go green by making smart investments. The website states, “Changing traditional business habits to more low-impact alternatives, and investing in smart technology that makes this transition smoother and more attractive, is one way many businesses are going green. For example, investing in better communications technology to facilitate conference calls helps a company reduce the impact of traveling to meetings.” I have never thought about that but I agree. If companies are smart with their investments then they will also have more money to buy the more expensive things that make a company “green.” In any corporation, lights are on all of the time. Lighting is something that is critical to be used every day. Companies can go green even by using lights! There are energy efficient light bulbs that can be used. Companies such as Wal-Mart even have a roof so that natural lighting can be an option. In my opinion, natural light is better than electricity anyways. The next way is the way that the company decides to ship products. Mostly all of the corporations ship things daily, and so they could help out the environment while shipping their goods. The best way is to use recycled materials and to use boxes to fit the size of the object, not any larger. The last way is by using the internet as much as possible. By this, I mean for bills and tax returns. Not only is it easier for people to pay for things online, it truly does help out our environment. It saves lots and lots of paper for starters. The less mail means less gas for the postal companies. When people are usually done with looking at their bill, then they throw it away. So by using the internet we save paper, fuel, and waste. These five tips stated about can really help a company to go green and to help with our environment. If only half of the companies would go by the guidelines, the world would be a better, more green place.
I am embarrassed to say, but growing up a lot I would always want a happy meal from McDonalds. I now know why my mother was so hesitant. I am not a fan of the fast food chain, but occasionally I am forced to eat it due to convenience. When researching on how this company is “going green” I honestly was not surprised that the corporation barked a big bark but didn’t bite.
I went to McDonalds website and searched “going green.” The only thing that came up about them helping the environment was their green building in Chicago and in Latin America. Most of the other companies that I have researched however have a section on the website about their efforts going green.
One thing that McDonalds is not doing is offering a recycling program. You would think that with all of the other companies trying to go green, they would at least try to recycle to make their corporation look better. Below is a video of a young teenage boy who is boycotting McDonalds until they offer recycling. I apologize for the poor quality, but the video pas some really good information on it.
I commend the young boy for taking a stand in what he believes.
In my research the only thing that has stood out to me about McDonalds efforts of going green is their one green location in Chicago. In this location they are using different lights, have electic chargers outside for cars ran not by fuel. To me this is about hypocritical. If one McDonalds store did this, why didn’t the other thousands do it. I think the LEAST McDonalds can do is offer recycling. I would be curious to find how much trash that is from McDonalds is on the side of the road. I really think that McDonalds should focus less on their ONE green store in Chicago and focus more on making an impact in the environment in ALL stores. Another thing that McDonalds is attempting to do to help the environment is not using Styrofoam and trying to use recycled milk jugs for booster seats.
Another thing that McDonalds does is destroy some rain forest to help get soy-beans to feed their chickens. Thousands of people drive thru or go eat at McDonalds daily. It would benefit the environment greatly if one of the largest fast food chains would help our environment, even in the smallest way as recycling. It would just help our world become more green one store at a time.
When researching companies that are going green, one that immediately popped into my head was Target. I personally shop at Target a lot, especially when I am at home with my family. I was honestly surprised to see what all Target has done to help our environment. They are doing the things that other companies are doing such as using a different type roof or cutting down on gas. Target is going above and beyond by selling eco-friendly products. With going-green being so new, there are of course some kinks that need to be worked out.
Target stores are using a new kind of eco-friendly roof. This roof is pretty thin and will save the stores $10,000 a year due to water charges. On the new roof, an irrigation system is installed so that the water is recycled. Another thing that the roof helps with is the heating and cooling, which results in lower bills. In the summer the stores should be cooler, and in the winter Target should be warmer.
Target stores are also using different kinds of trucks with the best gas mileage possible. Target is trying to make the least trips possible to have save gas, which in turn helps our environment.
The four main products that Target is selling that is “green” are: Recycled note cards, toys, glassware, and sheets. While it may seem weird or even nasty that some of these things are recycled, it really helps our environment. I know from experience that the Bamboo sheets are comfortable. One of my friends who is all about “going green” has them, and they are comfortable and honestly I did not know they were made of bamboo.
Target is even thinking about offering an incentive to buying the green products. In the near future, if you buy five “green label” products, then you could possibly get a five dollar gift card. This is a way to advertise going green in the Target stores.
The idea of a green roof sounds good, but it is super expensive. As found on GreenSportsenues.com, “ it will take 20 years for the $5.3-million roof to pay for itself in reduced energy bills.” While Target’s ideas may seem good, at the same time it is not realistic.
I think that Target is going great things for our environment, however like other companies, their goals need to be more realistic.
Water is something that is essential in my diet. My water of choice is Aquafina. I usually am not picky about my water, but at University of Central Arkansas and at my high school, Central Arkansas Christian, this is the water that was offered. So, over the past few years I have became an Aquafina fan. I noticed that recently the bottle itself had changed. When I began to research why the change happened, I found that this corporation is trying to go green. According to Girls Gone Green, the new Eco-fina is helping the environment in four ways: using less fuel and petroleum and will save up to 20 million pounds of corrugated cardboard each year. Aquafina is really doing its part of helping our environment.
As found on the Aquafina's website, the name changed to Eco-fina after they released the new bottle that saved 35% plastic. While that number may not seem large, it really is.On Aquafina's website, it said that 75 millions pounds of plastic will be saved yearly. I found an interesting fact on Wikipedia, "As of 2009, Aquafina represented 13.4 percent of domestic bottled water sales in the United States, making it the number 1 bottled water brand as measured by retail sales." So 35% of the number one water brand is pretty good if you ask me.
By using a lighter plastic, it benefits the environment. When the cases of water are being shipped, the load is lighter. The lighter the load, the less gas is used. Everyone knows how expensive gas is and how it effects the environment as we continue to drill the ground for more. According it the U.S. Energy Information Administration, "In 2006, about 331 million barrels of liquid petroleum gases (LPG) and natural gas liquids (NGL) were used to make plastic products in the plastic materials and resins industry in the United States, equal to about 4.6% of total U.S. petroleum consumption. Of the total, 329 million barrels were used as feedstock and 2 million barrels were consumed as fuel." The new Eco-fina water bottles are helping cut down on the use of petroleum when they are being manufactured.
Not only has Eco-fina improved the water bottle to become more environmental friendly, it also has changed the way that the bottles are packaged in cases. They eliminated the use of a cardboard base. Not using this base will save up to 20 million pounds in eight years according to PepsiCo.
Aquafina really has it together in the aspect of going green. I commend them for helping to save our environment. I know that not all water companies are taking this measure. Below is a photograph of the new Eco-fina bottle taken by the author.
