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What’s Green About This Workplace?

“Approximately 18 months ago Sam Levitz Furniture relocated their primary Distribution Center to 2020 West Prince Rd. here in Tucson. At that point in time we set our sites on what we considered to be an aggressive recycle and energy conservation program encompassing 5 Retail store locations and two warehouses.

1) We purchased two bailers for the recycling of our corrugated cardboard, and began. To date we are on target to recycle this year (2010) between 650,000 to 700,000 lbs of corrugated cardboard, 2500 to 4000 lbs of office paper with an additional 1500 lbs of shredded documents and 2500 lbs of plastic.
2) In addition to this we also reuse all copier paper to copy both sides before it is sent to recycle.

3) Within our warehouse facility we do not purchase wrapping material, we re-use original vendor package material such as plastic bags, Styrofoam and boxes etc. Recycling the remainder that we cannot re-use within our
operation.
4) We recycle empty paper tower rolls for use as shipping tubes for our small bottled product.

5) We recycle all company aluminum soda cans.
6) We donate to charity approximately $ 20,000 of furniture annually thus reducing our effect on the landfill locally.
7) Last fall we had our delivery trucks equipped with GPS systems. This allowed us to govern the speed of vehicles in our fleet and limiting idle time to 5 minutes then shutting down vehicle. This has resulted in a savings of almost 10% of previous year’s fuel consumption. We are on track this year to reduce our fuel consumption by approximately 9000 gallons of fuel, thereby significantly reducing our carbon foot print.
Company wide we have 75 plus laser printers scattered among seven facilities. We currently recycle all our laser ink cartridges.

9) We currently are pursuing an energy rebate program that would allow us to change out our metal halite and sodium lighting in our main DC and replace them with energy efficient fluorescent lighting. Though no definite determination yet on this project coming to fruition it has the potential to reduce our utility usage by 490,000 Kwh annually and an annual
reduction of;

• (Carbon Dioxide) CO2 by 785,363 lbs,
• ( Sulfur Dioxide) SO2 by 5807 lbs
• (Sulfur Oxide) SOx by 3068 lbs

This is a summation of what we have done and are doing in our continuing effort to become a more Green friendly Business.”

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What’s Green About This Workplace?

Xeriscape Garden

“The Adobe Rose Inn prides itself on xeriscaping which is watered with drip system irrigation, gray water and run off from rain and evaporative cooler water. We conserve energy by using solar tubes, CFL bulbs, Energy Star appliances and low-flow toilets.

Guests are encouraged to participate in our linen and towel re-use program. Cleaning products are non-toxic, non-irritating, hypoallergenic, biodegradable, plant derived, made with non-animal ingredients, and are not tested on animals.

Floors, both wood and ceramic, are steam cleaned, eliminating the need for chemicals that could transfer to guests’ feet.

The soaps and shampoos in guest rooms are a combination luxury and environmental responsibility. Along with the eco-friendly packaging and product formulas, proceeds of the net sales of BeekindTM support honey bee and sustainable pollination research at the University of California Davis.

We recycle as much as possible and encourage our guests to do the same. Even our gently used soaps and shampoos are recycled to Mexico with the help of a local charity. As a company, we have had an energy audit to help us plan our future capital expenditures. Much of the produce used in breakfast preparation is purchased at local Farmers’ Markets.

We discuss our green status on this web site which is seen world wide.”

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What’s Green About This Workplace?

“Golden Eagle Distributors, Inc. is committed to working green in our facilities, on the road, and at our events. Through our Green Team and several company led initiatives, GED green programs are making an impact.

We recycle aluminum, glass, cardboard, plastic, and paper. So far this year, Golden Eagle has recycled over 4 tons of aluminum, over 62 tons of glass and over 420 cubic yards of cardboard, plastic and paper. Recycling bins for paper and plastic are located throughout our facility.

Our “Green Team” encourages employees to recycle their empty beverage containers, reuse paper, and conserve energy by turning off lights in areas not in use. This team of employees helps keep Green initiatives at the forefront of our minds by rewarding employees who are “caught” recycling, and educating employees on green topics. GED employees helped clean up Kennedy Park in May and are planning another park clean up for October.

In addition, our facilities are receiving upgrades to be more energy efficient. We are installing new lights in our warehouse that will save 656,000 kilowatts per year, the equivalent of planting 121 trees per year. Our HVAC controls were changed earlier this year which resulted in our electric usage dropping 8.7% and our natural gas usage dropping 60%.

Our office is conveniently located on a bus route with a stop immediately in front of our building. We have employees who carpool regularly and we are part of the RideShare program. We actively communicate alternative modes of transportation and encourage carpooling.

GED is a member of the Tucson Regional Clean Cities Coalition. The Clean Cities Coalition promotes the use of clean fuels and clean-fuel vehicles in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program.

At special events throughout Tucson, Golden Eagle provides at no cost, reusable recycling bins so that events can promote recycling of beverage containers. We have started purchasing compostable beverage cups made from corn to be used at special events.

To promote clean waterways, each summer we provide recycling bags to area lakes including Lake Patagonia to encourage boaters to remove their trash and not litter.

Through the use of UPS Logistics software, we have rerouted our delivery vehicles to maximize routing efficiency. Looking forward we are researching alternative fuel methods for our delivery fleet.

What makes this workplace green? Being green is part of the way of life at Golden Eagle. We are always seeking out new ways to be more energy efficient, use less and reuse whenever possible.”

What’s Green About This Workplace?

“The Food Conspiracy Cooperative (Co-op) had its beginning in 1971 as a collective food-buying club. While now a democratically operated member-cooperative, anyone is welcome to shop there.

The Co-op offers 100 percent organic produce and products that do not contain genetically modified organisms. The Co-op seeks to provide access to 1) nutritious foods, 2) safe and healthy products and services, 3) education and information, and 4) locally-produced foods, products and services.

The Co-op composts food wastes as well as offering food waste to others to use for composting or feed for chickens. The Co-op sponsors a small garden which supplies the Co-op deli and demonstrates what grows well locally. Water harvested from Co-op swamp coolers is used to water the garden.”

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What’s Green About This Workplace?

“Old Presidio Traders practices recycling at its best and instructs all of its employees to do the same. All though it is located in Tubac, where there is neither a recycling center nor a recycling pick-up service, owners Garry & Lisa Hembree have managed to find a way during all of their 25 years in business. Garry himself drives all the recyclables produced by the Native American Arts and Crafts store and its employees to the closest facility, several miles away, every week.

A large, homemade recycling bin is used to collect and separate all the glass, metal, paper, and hard and soft plastics to be hauled away. Styrofoam and packing materials, including boxes, are saved and reused to ship merchandise. Breakables are always wrapped in used newspaper, and plastic bags are avoided whenever possible, and recycled whenever not. Recyclable collections bins are even available both inside and outside the store for customers to utilize!

Also, condensation from the swamp cooling system in collected and used to water the surrounding trees. The energy efficient adobe structure was built by Garry and team using green building techniques and the rear of the property is lined with 15 years of planted living Christmas trees. This small business may just be a mom and pop shop, but mom and pop sure do set a great example of how to live and conduct business the green way!”

Are you interested in more eco-friendly, fair trade, sustainabile, healthier food choices for you and your family? Of course!

 The point I am hoping to make is that God, yes, God himself is sending us a message.  I don’t care what you call Him or even Her. Creator, Spirit, Lord. It doesn’t matter.

What really matters is that we have to pay attention to what we eat because our lives depend on it – literally. First it was spinach (not a problem for me), then it was peanut butter and now it’s eggs – LOTS of eggs.  Some of you may be old enough to remember the commercial “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”  My belief has always been if you don’t listen to what God has to say, He just talks louder.  I think He may be screaming.  We are not being nice to Mother Nature nor to all of God’s creatures – especially the chickens.

 WARNING: this information might make you sick to your stomach but you will get over it and if you read it, you might not get salmonella.

 Fact: The USFDA’s report details the filthy conditions that these eggs were produced in. (finally????)

 Fact: Manure piles 8 feet high were blocking doors, manure pits were overflowing

 Fact: flies and maggots were too numerous for them to count

 Fact: the owner of Wright County Egg and Quality Egg, Jack DeCoster, has a long history of being a habitual, chronic offender (and did I say a multi-millionaire chronic offender?). If you can stomach it, click through to this article and see just HOW chronic – very!!!   http://www.cnbc.com/id/38806530

 Fact: the good book says we are to be good stewards of the earth. There weren’t any exceptions noted. 

 Opinion: the horrific, unconscionable ways in which chickens are raised defy description. No one even bothers to debate it. This is an easy one, folks, because there really is just one thing we can do to stop it and it’s easy.

 All you have to do is start buying organic eggs. Period. End of story. The chickens will thank you, Wright County Egg will go out of business, you will be healthier and God will calm down. Phew…It doesn’t matter if they are more expensive because your life depends on it and we all have something else we can give up. Or you can start raising your own chickens.  Thousands of people are starting to.

 End of rant and pretty short. I couldn’t help myself.

This might be the shortest newsletter I have ever written, but the point I am hoping to make is that God (Creator, Spirit, Lord) is sending us a message. We have to pay attention to what we eat because our lives depend on it – literally. First it was spinach (not a problem for me), then it was peanut butter, and now it’s eggs – LOTS of eggs. Some of you may be old enough to remember the commercial “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” My belief has always been if you don’t listen to what God has to say, He just talks louder. I think He may be screaming. We are not being nice to Mother Nature and all of God’s creatures – especially the chickens.

WARNING: this information might make you sick to your stomach but you will get over it and if you read it, you might not get salmonella.

Fact: The USFDA’s report details the filthy conditions that these eggs were produced in. (finally????)

Fact: Manure piles 8 feet high were blocking doors, manure pits were overflowing

Fact: flies and maggots were too numerous for them to count

Fact: the owner of Wright County Egg and Quality Egg, Jack DeCoster, has a long history of being a habitual, chronic offender (and did I say a multi-millionaire chronic offender?). If you can stomach it, click through to this article and see just HOW chronic – very!!!

Fact: the good book says we are to be good stewards of the earth. There weren’t any exceptions noted.

Opinion: the horrific, unconscionable ways in which chickens are raised defy description. No one even bothers to debate it. This is an easy one, folks, because there really is just one thing we can do to stop it and it’s easy. Start buying organic eggs. Period. End of story. The chickens will thank you, Wright County Egg will go out of business, you will be healthier and God will calm down. Phew…It doesn’t matter if they are more expensive because your life depends on it and we all have something else we can give up. Or you can start raising your own chickens. Thousands of people are starting to.

End of rant.

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There are some days when my head spins trying to figure out the real deal on a myriad of issues.  As I have stated before, I am not a scientist nor shall I ever be.  But I do my homework.  The issue of skincare and carcinogens is one near and dear to my heart and I try to stay up to date on this issue.  I visit www.safecosmetics.org on a regular basis and have a great deal of respect for the content. 

I wrote to Skin Authority about some concerns raised to me by people whose opinions I respect (and still do.) But this response from the CEO of Skin Authority blew me away.  Celeste is the CEO of this company and for her to take the time to provide such detail says a great deal.  It is most impressive & talk about doing your homework.  Kudos, Celeste. It’s not ever all black & white in the world of green. Read on please:

I can certainly understand and appreciate your concern to insure your overall health and well being when using products.  Skin Authority and I personally share that concern for all of our customers as well as our own families who use our products.  Because of a commitment to the safety of our consumers, we only use ingredients which have been proven to be safe and non toxic when used on a daily basis.  This is why we painstakingly eliminate fragrances, dyes and parabens from our products.  Formulating skin care products is a very complex process today because many all natural ingredients can be harmful for the skin.  On the same token, when we test ingredients, some synthetic component can be safer and less toxic than the natural alternative.  So the key is testing EACH and EVERY ingredient to insure safety and only using those ingredients which have a substantiated safety record. I hope the following information helps you.  In the case of sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate, there has been a great deal of misinformation circulated on the Internet about sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and the more gentler sodium laureth sulfate. Used primarily as a detergent cleansing agent, SLS can be derived from coconut. Although in concentrations over 2%, it can be drying to the skin,  it is not toxic or dangerous for skin. In concentrations of 2% to 5%, SLS can cause allergic or sensitizing reactions for many people. It is used as a standard in scientific studies to establish irritancy or sensitizing properties of other ingredients (Sources: European Journal of Dermatology, September–October 2001, pages 416–419; American Journal of Contact Dermatitis, March 2001, pages 28–32; and Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, September–October 2000, pages 246–257). Being a skin irritant, however, is not the same as a link to cancer, which is what erroneous warnings on the Internet are falsely claiming about this ingredient!  In Skin Authority’s case, we only apply sodium laureth sulfate at a very low .001 percent in our cleansers which is washed off with water and does not sit on the surface of the skin.  The types of products in which the  irritation factor occurs are household products like Tide or other detergents which imbed in the clothes and sit on the surface of the skin all day or toothpaste where it is actually ingested and hard for the liver to metabolize. 

Further, according to the American Cancer Society’s Web site (www.cancer.org), “Contrary to popular rumors on the Internet, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) do not cause cancer. E-mails have been flying through cyberspace claiming SLS [and SLES] causes cancer … and is proven to cause cancer…. [Yet] A search of recognized medical journals yielded no published articles relating this substance to cancer in humans.”

According to a Health Canada press release (February 12, 1999, www.hc-sc.gc.ca/), “A letter has been circulating [on] the Internet which claims that there is a link between cancer and sodium laureth (or lauryl) sulfate (SLS), an ingredient used in [cosmetics]. Health Canada has looked into the matter and has found no scientific evidence to suggest that SLS causes cancer. It has a history of safe use in Canada. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that this e-mail warning is a hoax. The letter is signed by a person at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and includes a phone number. Health Canada contacted the University of Pennsylvania Health System and found that it is not the author of the sodium laureth sulfate warning and does not endorse any link between SLS and cancer. Health Canada considers SLS safe for use in cosmetics. Therefore, you can continue to use cosmetics containing SLS without worry.”

It is important to realize that many natural ingredients can cause allergies, irritation, and skin sensitivities. Irritation or inflammation of any kind causes collagen breakdown, impairs the skin’s ability to heal, and reduces its ability to defend itself from environmental damage. 

All of the following common natural ingredients can cause similar skin irritation, allergic reactions, skin sensitivity, and/or sun sensitivity as SLS.  So we when or if we choose to use these ingredients, we use them in very low concentrations: 

• Almond extract
• Allspice
• Angelica
• Arnica
• Balm mint oil
• Balsam
• Basil
• Bergamot
• Cinnamon
• Citrus
• Clove
• Clover blossom

• Coriander oil
• Cypress
• Cottonseed oil
• Fennel
• Fir needle
• Geranium oil
• Grapefruit
• Horsetail
• Lavender oil
• Lemon
• Lemon balm
• Lemongrass

• Lime
• Marjoram
• Oak bark
• Papaya
• Peppermint
• Rose
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme
• Witch hazel
• Wintergreen
• Ylang ylang

On our two sunscreens (Age Defying Moisturizer SPF 18  and Suncreen Moisturizer SPF 30) which is what your friend was referring to, the answers are not so clear cut. In truth, all sunscreen agents whether it is those applied by Skin Authority or any other sunscreen, even natural minerals such as nano-particled titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, can be absorbed into the skin. 
Some in vitro studies have indicated that there is a possibility that sunscreen ingredients can be absorbed into skin, and there are a handful of in vivo studies as well. However, there are still many researchers whose studies substantiate that most sunscreen ingredients stay on the surface of skin (where skin cells are dead) and do not penetrate into the lower layers of skin where the real damage occurs. If that’s the case, it means the negative effects seen for surface skin in test tube studies may be irrelevant. Even when absorption has been shown, the related risk has not been demonstrated.  Skin Authority formulates is sunscreens at a very high pH to assure the product sits on the surface of the skin and resists deeper penetration.  In order to prevent all light spectrums (UVA and UVB) from damaging skin cell DNA, effective sunscreens need to combine sunscreen ingredients both chemical and natural to get full coverage protection at all ray lengths.

All these issues are significant and require ongoing research, but with 1 in 4 Americans now experience skin cancer in their lifetime due to lack of sunscreen use, none of the findings indicate that anyone should give up using sunscreen or that the presence of these substances is cancer causing. It is also important to note that no one sunscreen ingredient stands out as more of a potential risk than any other. Finally, it is imperative to recognize what a massive amount of research does show: That not wearing sunscreen, as well as prolonged sun exposure, are both related to lots of serious skin problems and life endangering concerns.

(Sources for the above: Aquatic Toxicology, November 2008, pages 182–187; American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2008, pages 570S–577S; Environmental Health Perspectives, July 2008, pages 893–897; Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, May 2008, pages S155–S159; Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, April 2008, pages 456–461; International Journal of Andrology, April 2008, pages 144–151; Toxicology, July 2007, pages 140–148; Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, July 2007, pages 522–530; Critical Reviews in Toxicology, March 2007, pages 251–277; 2007 CIR Compendium, Cosmetic Ingredient Review, 2007, pages 37–38; www.cosmeticinfo.org; Current Drug Delivery, October 2006, pages 405–415; Toxicology In Vitri, April 2006, 301–307; Toxicological Sciences, April 2006, pages 349–361; Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, July-August 2005, pages 170–174; Toxicology, December 2004, pages 123–130; Journal of Controlled Release, June 2002, pages 225–233; November 2002, pages S131–S155; http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/sccp/docshtml/sccp_out145_en.htm; and Encyclopedia of Pharmaceutical Technology, Second Edition, Volume 1, page 519.)

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