For a restaurant to be designated Guaranteed Green they must be a licensed food service establishment and have successfully achieved the environmental standards set by either the Green Restaurant Association (www.dinegreen.com) or Green Seal (www.greenseal.org), two independent, national not-for-profits.

Dan Rosenthal and Andrew Weithe of the GCRC worked extremely hard to develop the program and are continuing to assist other restaurateurs that want to get certified.  As a member of the steering committee I can attest to their commitment to pursuing sustainability in a comprehensive manner.  All five of Rosenthal’s Sopraffina restaurants, Poag Mahone’s and Trattoria No. 10 have gone through the rigorous certification process and addressed areas such as energy and water efficiency, sustainable food purchasing, non-toxic cleaning products, and waste management.  Other restaurants supporting this mission include Rick Bayless, lifelong champion of the environment and chef/owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, both of which are now Guaranteed Green.  At the press conference on June 22, Rick applauded the program:

“I want people to think about these restaurants not just in terms of food quality and uniqueness but in terms of the way we relate to the environment. And I feel we’re making steps in that direction.”

A complete list of Guaranteed Green restaurants can be viewed here.

While most everyone would like to trade in their car or public  transportation for a bike most days it is not always so easy to make the switch.  I bike to work almost every day but it did take some adjustment in preparing what to ride in, how to pack work clothes, and find a route that was safe and enjoyable.  An easier jump is to start using a bike to make simple trips in the neighborhood to visit friends, go out to dinner, or grocery shopping.  Considering that 40% of the trips in the United States are 2 miles or less in distance the switch to biking those distances is relatively easy.  Not only does it have the ability to save some money on transportation costs there are health benefits and of course the reduction in carbon dioxide and fossil fuel usage.  Trek Bicycles has been developed a really simple way to calculate how cycling can impact your bottom and waist line as well as the environment with this calculator.

If you don’t have a bike to get out on you should visit the B-Cycle bicycle sharing website.  They are rolling out some bike sharing kiosks and partnering with several Bike n’ Role locations in Chicago to bring affordable and convenient access to urban cycling for all residents. Be sure to vote for Chicago in the “Who wants it” section so that we can get support for a full scale implementation of the program.

There are enormous advantages of carpooling – save $4,387.50 annually in a 2-person carpool versus commuting alone (estimated using a 60-mile daily commute), save 18 pounds of CO2 per gallon of gasoline, reduce traffic congestion, and lower commuting stress.

Try searching for carpool matches in your neighborhood – there is even an iphone App for it.

icarpool, nationwide
www.icarpool.com/en/MainPage.aspx

avego, iphone app
www.avego.com

green traveler
www.incog.greenride.com/en-us

matchcommuter, chicago, la
www.matchcommuter.com

erideshare, nationwide
www.erideshare.com

pacerideshare, ne illinois
www.pacerideshare.com/en-US

commuter link, new york
www.commuterLink.com

zimride, college campuses
www.zimride.com

share the ride, phoenix
sharetheride.valleymetro.org/Public/UserSignIn.aspx

smart trips, colorado
www.smarttrips.org/carpool/carpoolJoin.aspx

carpool match, oregon, sw washington
www.carpoolmatchnw.org

The fact is that while many elements of modern society have evolved at a rapid pace and become integrated with technology, buildings have lagged behind this evolution and therefore are relatively inefficient and lack the sophistication to meet the demands of its tenants.  Of interest to me is the fact that 57% of the respondents to this study were in buildings that ranged in age from 10-40 years old.  These buildings represent the majority of buildings in our commercial building stock and they are not that old but only 30% have automatic lighting sensors and only 26% have some form of green cleaning.  With 20% of respondents coming from buildings less than 10 years old it proves that new green buildings only represent a fraction of the market and with no additional capacity being needed for the foreseeable future the focus must be making existing buildings smarter and more efficient.

Not only can this produce a reduction in operation costs for building owners and tenants the productivity can be increased.  As a representation of building inefficiency IBM looked at the time people spend waiting or being stuck in elevators and how this correspondingly impacts productivity.  In Chicago for example office workers collectively spend the equivalent of 9 years waiting for elevators.

In the end the study found that only one third of all participants rated their office buildings as “high” with regards to environmental conservation which leads for a lot of room for improvement.  While I think that some of the criteria for evaluating and rating the “smartness” of buildings is not directly linked with sustainability I agree that when a building operates more efficiently and increases productivity it is better for all parties involved.  It is also interesting to note that while most of the report is focused on the technological components of making buildings smarter in summary it recommends three behavioral steps, all elements that Ecker Green focuses on.

1. Allowing employees to be empowered to make more informed decisions about what they consume and how they contribute to their employer’s carbon footprint.

2. When searching for office or residential, organizations should assess the environmental impact of the building and begin to choose and demand buildings that use energy wisely.

3. Organizations that are not planning to move in the near term can encourage office and building managers to identify ways to conserve energy and implement.

This indicates to me that by making buildings smarter it does not correlate to more environmentally informed tenants and the impetus for improvements must be stimulated by those who use the facility not those who own and manage it.  The human element in sustainability must not be forgotten since just about every action we do in an office has some sort of systemic effect on the environment.

View the complete survey here.

After I watched the video I started wondering how this data could provide insight into areas of research such as the environmental impact of human behaviors or the spread of new technology.

Our bodies are half water. It is ubiquitous, yet mysterious. It is a symbol of creation, a place of worship, a medicinal substance, a source of conflict; we use it to cleanse, heal, pray, drink, play, cook, grow, and sustain life.

National Geographic is embarking on an effort to raise awareness to conserve freshwater.  Their April publication on Water is an incredible compilation of articles and pictures and well worth the $6 (although you may as well go all the way and get the $15 annual subscription).  I think a person’s understanding of water is largely regional. A golf course operator in Las Vegas has a very different perspective than a Kenyan woman walking 5 hours a day to fill up a jerry can. Our location and access to it dictates our perception of its scarcity. Even though water covers the earth, 97% of it is salty, 2% is fresh water locked in ice and snow, leaving less than 1% for us.

It is estimated that 1.8 billion people will live where water is scarce by 2025.  Unfortunately, it is easy to disregard the importance of conserving water when living in a city that borders the Great Lakes, the largest group of fresh water lakes on earth and 21% of the world’s water supply.  It wasn’t until I was traveling on the Sinai coast of Egypt that I discovered it was possible for salt water to come out of the hotel’s bathroom tap. Getting educated is the first step. Once we know the facts it is up to each of us to do our part to conserve.

Some ways to cut back your consumption:
1. Buy less stuff.  Everything takes water to make. So if we buy less, we shrink our water footprint.
2. Install low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators. Because you’re saving hot water, you’ll also reduce your energy bill. (More at Bathroom Revamp: Savings by the Gallon).
3. If you’re in the market for a toilet, buy a low-volume, ultra low-volume, or dual-flush model (EPA Water Sense).
4. Eat a little less meat. A typical hamburger can take 630 gallons to produce (The Hidden Water We Use).
5. Learn how to install and maintain a rain barrel for your backyard (Chicago Backyard Workshops).

For every 1 million cell phone recycled, we can recover 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, 22 pounds of palladium, and 35,274 pounds of copper.

Currently only 10 percent of all cell phones get recycled.  Raising awareness could drastically increase this number and have a huge impact.  So, if you have an unused cell phone sitting in a drawer somewhere, click here to find out how to donate or recycle it.

“What happens after the ribbon cutting, when everyone has moved in and the building starts to be worked and lived in and needs maintenance?” says Kelly Caffarelli.  To help ensure the building’s energy performance meets predicted targets, tenants must be taught how to adopt green strategies, such as turning off the lights and powering down equipment.

Neglecting to engage people within the building could result in missed economic savings and health benefits.  Simple solutions, like those outlined in the article, can lower operating costs, create healthier work environments and start to shift unconscious wasteful behaviors to more aware behaviors that are then taken back to the home and out to the community.