For my fellow Californians...

I just wanted to share some information that might have fallen through the cracks in the midst of this economy crisis. Treehugger posted an article today that there are several renewable energy propositions on the ballots for a few states. In California, Proposition 7 "requires government-owned utilities to generate 20% of their electricity from renewable energy by 2010, a standard currently applicable to private electrical corporations." Proposition 10 "authorizes $5 billion in bonds paid from state's General Fund, to help consumers and others purchase certain vehicles and to fund research in renewable energy and alternative fuel vehicles." But there are actually several environmental organizations opposed to both propositions that are seemingly beneficial to the environmental cause. For further information, please check this out. The Union of Concerned Scientists also provides interesting insight into both propositions.

Recycle Your Media Waste

I am adding two sites to the Resources list today that you should definitely keep on file: CD Recycling Center of America and GreenDisk.com. Both are excellent resources for properly and securely disposing your unwanted cds and dvds.

I recommend using CD Recycling center for personal use in addition to office use, since they do not charge you for their services. The facility takes cds, dvds, and any of the packaging that goes along with it. The only costs to you are shipping and the time it takes to sort your items. However, you must register with their site and notify them of your upcoming shipment.

Got a PA twiddling their thumbs in the corner of the office? You may also download graphics to properly label your recycling bins.

Greendisk is a useful resource for production and post production offices and film festivals that generate or collect mutiple and various types of media waste. For a fee, they take the following items:
-All forms of electronic media and their cases: diskettes, zip disks, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs et al, video tape (i.e. VHS), audio tape, game cartridges, DAT, DLT, Beta or Digibeta, and virtually all other type of computer tapes.
-Hard drives, Zip and Jazz drives, jump drives, etc.
-All forms of printer cartridges including both inkjet and toner.
-All types of cell phones, pagers, PDAs and their chargers, cables, and headset accessories.
-All types of rechargeable batteries (not regular alkaline ones) and their chargers.
-All of the cords, cables, boards, chips, etc. attached to or removed from a computer.

They also take small computer accessories such as Ipods, digital cameras and laptops, but you must use their specific shipping materials. You can purchase boxes that can be used for collection and shipment, as well, for your office's workstations. If you purchase your boxes through them, they also include postage, processing and an audit report with a Certificate of Destruction. Greendisk helps to complete the cycle by selling recycled CDs and cases. You can also include one of these companies' links printed on the artwork of your new dvd cases to pass on the good word.

One last note: if you're sending off "obsolete" unused media, such as blank DV tapes, DVCAMs, or Betacams, try donating it to a local film school that is probably still using such stocks.

don't vote...

...or do.

Please embed this onto your site or send it to your friends.

Have a good weekend!

AltCar Expo

This weekend I rode my bike over to the Alternative Energy and Transportation Expo in Santa Monica. It was one of the events in which Green Jobs Now was participating. I have gone to a couple of the big car conventions that they hold at the LA Convention Center. So, it was very interesting to see the "alternatives."

A couple of the things that jumped out at me were the electric trucks and the waterless car wash.
Electrorides are releasing a line of vehicles recharged by solar or wind by using the latest technology and exclusive partnerships with industry leaders. The company has developed a "Patent Pending" carbon neutral charging system for electric vehicles. I am hoping that it is only a matter of time before these trucks are available for the renting community, trickling down to the camera and grip truck variety. Their trucks have an 80 -100 mile range. So, obviously it takes some pre-planning if you decide to use these trucks for production. But it's definitely a step in the right direction.
Lucky Earth is company with a line of cleaners for the "waterless" car wash. The stuff boasts of being eco-friendly, hypo-allergenic, AND also protects your car from the elements. One bottle is $16.99 and contains between 7 to 10 washes. Considering how much the local car wash costs, and how much water is wasted, it sounds like a pretty good deal. Keep an eye out on ecopix for a review of the product.

I also spoke with the Union of Concerned Scientists. They were asking people to sign their petition to pass a California regulation that would require truck drivers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To do so, they would either have to purchase an entirely new efficient truck or install aerodynamic devices and more efficient tires to their existing truck. I imagine that this is a pretty hard sale amongst truck drivers. Even though trucks contribute to 20% of California's Global Warming Emissions, and that less exposure to these emissions not only saves the earth but saves everyone's lungs, specifcally the truck drivers'. Believe me I understand the importance of the regulation, but convincing the drivers who pay for their own gas and are struggling as it is.... It's the whole dilemma again of having to spend money in order to save money in the long run. Except in this case we're talking about thousands of dollars. I told them that my solution would be to get a few female volunteers to help out with the campaign. (But that's just my humble opinion.)

Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. You can read more about their campaign in California on their site. In the meantime, I'm going to keep researching.