Green Buckeye

Green Buckeye does not sponsor events appearing on the calendar. I provide a link or contact information for the event if I have it. Please contact the sponsoring organization directly for the most up-to-date infomation about any event.

Labels: calendar, events

This week Belgian blogger Ria Baeck points out videos that describe conversations about creating sustainable and affordable healthcare here in Columbus. While her primary interest stems from her practice of hosting and facilitating meaningful conversations, we can directly appreciate the story told by Phil Cass of his journey to develop a better community - our community.

Phil is the CEO of the Columbus Medical Association. The ongoing conversations around healthcare are happening under the banner of Our Optimal Health. If you would like to participate in these conversations, RSVP to attend an upcoming assembly at the Fawcett Center. The next one is August 9.

This is the first in the series of three videos available on YouTube:



Thanks to Ravi Tangri, who uploaded the videos to YouTube.

Labels: healthcare, resources, sustainability

Cleveland blogger Jack Ricchiuto blogs his personal practices for sustainability this week.

I have tried to become more mindful of how much printing I do at work. In the last month I've stopped printing my daily calendar from Lotus Notes. At first I thought it would be hard to live without it, but it turns out I don't need it most days. That's one piece of paper less each workday - it seems small, but year after year and person after person it adds up!

There are so many small things we can practice in our lives to improve and extend our use of resources. What practices have you taken up or built upon recently?

Labels: consumer choices, resources, sustainability

The Ohio Environmental Council is seeking nominations for their 2007 Environmental Achievement Awards. The award categories cover the full range of environmental activity including business innovation, public service, activism, lifetime acheivement, journalism, and student/youth action.

Recipients will be recognized at the Ohio Environmental Council's annual reception on October 27, 2007. For more information, contact OEC at 614-487-7506.

Submit your nominations by July 31!
(Fixed link to nomination form - 7/28/2007)

Labels: awards, leadership

High school students participating in the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge will be stopping in Lancaster around noon tomorrow. (Seems like an odd time to stop rolling in a solar car . . . )

Labels: events, fun, transportation

It's less than 24 hours until Book 7 hits the shelves. The excitement at our house is mounting! Plans are being debated: Do we pick up the book at 12:01 a.m. and stay up all night reading? Or should we pick up the book at 12:01 a.m., hit the sack, and dive into it fresh tomorrow morning?

How green is (or isn't) The Deathly Hallows? You can read a little about the controversy here and here.

Happy reading!

Labels: consumer choices, fun

Columbus Green Drinks hosts Bill Spratley of Green Energy Ohio this Thursday. Apparently Green Drinks is growing so much that organizers had to find a larger venue for the event this month. Meet the Columbus Green Drinks gang after work on the patio at King Avenue Five.

Labels: events, fun, learning

Green Buckeye does not sponsor events appearing on the calendar. I provide a link or contact information for the event if I have it. Please contact the sponsoring organization directly for the most up-to-date infomation about any event.

Labels: calendar, events

The Green Buckeye blog focuses on sustainability in Central Ohio. Tina Kreminski started the blog in November 2006 so that she could both learn more about what was happening around sustainability in this region, and so that she could share what she learned.

This blog represents Tina's personal views. It does not represent or intend to represent the views of Tina's employer or any other organization or individual.

Labels: about greenbuckeye

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) is asking for your help with redesigning their web site. You can provide your assistance by taking the survey, which is available until July 31.

Three of the five questions are freeform text, so you might have to think about what you want to say!

This survey is another indication to me that MORPC seems to have a fresh attitude toward community participation. It's great to see that they asking for input.

Tags: MORPC, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission

Labels: geek, resources, survey

Months ago I listened to a podcast that featured John Mackey of Whole Foods talking to Michael Pollan, the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma.

I was impressed that Mackey reached out to Pollan, who had criticized Whole Foods in the book. Listening to Mackey talk, I thought he sounded sincere in his desire for Whole Foods to do the right thing. He was educated and passionate about organic foods and corporate farming. He seemed self-aware and conflicted about the impact of Whole Foods on the organic food movement.

It's disappointing to learn now that for years Mackey was surreptitiously posting comments on a Yahoo stock-market message-board that bad-mouthed rival Wild Oats. Why? Yeah, the company could potentially gain from such antics, but at what cost? He claims he was "having fun."

It looks like Mackey, aka "rahodeb," and his company will discover the long-term costs in loss of reputation in the coming days, months, and years.

Of course, no one is perfect. We all make mistakes, even (or maybe especially and most publicly and sensationally) CEOs of large corporations. If we're lucky, the mistake is such that we can recover and learn from it. I hope Mackey gets a clue about transparency and integrity and recovers personally. His personal redemption, though, is not the end of the story.

What is most disheartening is that the cynics will say, "I told you so." They'll say that no successful businessperson is truly sincere about transparency, which is an aspect of corporate sustainability and the "triple bottom line." They'll say that people like me are naive about the way the business world really works. They'll say that they're justified in continuing with "business as usual." Because Mackey was a high profile example of someone who was - at least publicly - trying to do the right thing. And his fall from grace will be very expensive in terms of good will and momentum for the sustainable business movement.

Tags: "John Mackey", "Whole Foods"

Labels: business, news, sustainability

Thanks to the "triblogular" and spectacularly prolific blogger Maureen McCabe, we bloggers got a fun lunch today with the Sellsius BlogTour USA guys, Rudy and Joe. We ate, networked, and talked a teeny bit about blogging. The audience was mostly real estate agents who already blog or who are thinking about starting a blog.

I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of Central Ohio bloggers, including:

Alvin of the 270
Andy of Finerepast
Toby of Sadie's Take on Delaware Ohio
Jonathan of dcs-media

I also got to rant about LEED for homes, green building, sustainability, and blogging Central Ohio to anyone who wouldn't glaze over (too quickly). That's always a bonus! One of the poor rantees was Mike Maurer, online editor of ThisWeek News.

Tags: "Blog Tour USA", triblogular, "Maureen McCabe"

Labels: blogging

Green Buckeye does not sponsor events appearing on the calendar. I provide a link or contact information for the event if I have it. Please contact the sponsoring organization directly for the most up-to-date infomation about any event.

Labels: calendar, events

Don't forget about Live Earth today! You can watch it at the Short North Tavern with friends, or online here.

Reading through the mayor's top 10 ways to get green, I noticed this item:

Don’t wash your car in your driveway - The soap goes into the street, then into storm sewers and then into our waterways. Use a commercial car wash, or a gravel or grass area that will keep the wash water contained.

I hadn't heard this before, so I did a little research.

It appears that commercial car washes are required to dispose of the water through the sanitary sewer system. This prevents the dirty water from draining to the stormwater system, which flows (untreated) to our waterways. Washing your car on gravel or grass filters the water before it enters groundwater, storm drains, or creeks.

If you wash the car over grass or gravel, it's recommended that you use cleaners that are biodegradeable and contain no phosphates. I found this one on Amazon called Simple Green.

Labels: consumer choices, water

Today Inhabitat has a nice piece about ways to green your 4th.

Central Ohioans have a Red White & Boom! hangover today. Many more quaint local fireworks displays are scheduled for this evening. Here's hoping that the rain holds off until 11 p.m., or that it blows over before dusk!

This gorgeous image of fireworks by local photographer Ed Kreminski.

Labels: consumer choices, resources

The Live Earth concert is only a few days away. Have you made plans to watch it with your friends?

The Sierra Club is brokering thousands of "house parties" around the country. You can host one yourself, or you can attend someone else's. Folks all over Central Ohio are hosting parties - you can find a list on the Sierra Club Live Earth Columbus web site.

If you feel like something more public, Columbus Green Drinks and the Sierra Club are hosting a party at the Short North Tavern (674 N. High St.) from 12 to 3 p.m.

Labels: climate change, events, fun

Maureen at Columbus Best Blog is inviting all Central Ohio bloggers to a picnic lunch July 13.

I'm going to try to get away from the office to enjoy lunch with Maureen (and maybe some other Central Ohio bloggers?). I missed the lunch that Dave of Dave's Beer arranged awhile ago!

Labels: blogging, events, fun