It’s one of my pet peeves.  Seeing stacks of phone books being delivered to apartments in San Francisco and nationwide, and then seeing those same books, unmoved and now rainsoaked a month later.  What a colossal waste!Most of us are connected online 24/7.  Growing numbers of us, especially younger people, don’t even have a land line.Why on earth are they still producing 540 million directories for U.S. households every year?  Now you can sign up to opt out and stop getting directories!   Check out:  YellowPagesGoesGreen.org    Here are a few of their facts:

• What is the average weight of the 540 million directories printed each year?  3.62 pounds
• How many directories are printed for every American man, woman and child? 1.79 books per person per year
• How many fully developed trees does it take to make a ton of paper?  24 trees
• How many gallons of oil are needed to produce a ton of paper? 380 gallons

Green Event Shop  is dedicated to reducing waste that flows into landfills, is shipped to foreign countries or spills out onto the landscape or our oceans. We recommend that you visit the Yellow Pages Goes Green site and opt out of receiving directories. And, if you are looking to “green” your next event, check out the 100% biodegradable, compostable supplies at Green Event Shop.com.

Somehow videos are more motivating than words.  Check these out and then change things…starting with your own household.    Great Pacific Garbage Patch  (by www.algalita.org)     Garbage Island (a more scientific explanation by vbs.tv)Starting today, use 100% biodegradable, compostable cups, plates and forks. Order here.    Starting today, not one more bottle of water.  Starting today, take Leonardo Dicaprio’s “No Plastic Bags Pledge.”  Join us, NOW!

Thank goodness for the great people at Project Kaisei! They set off this week on their first expedition to the North Pacific Gyre, an area within the Pacific Ocean four times as large as Japan and filled with an estimated 4,000,000 tons of plastic.

Where did the plastic come from? Us. Humans use an estimated 85 million plastic bottles every three minutes. Then there’s the plastic bags, styrofoam cups and every other sort of plastic goods that escape into our waterways, find their way into the ocean and collect in the Plastic Vortex in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Plastic never degrades. It just accumulates and accumulates.

The 151-foot boat will set sail from San Francisco Bay to gather information about the nightmarish Plastic Vortex. Project Kaisei is ultimately determined to find ways to collect, process and recycle the plastic debris choking and killing the Pacific Ocean, all that lives there and all beings that depend on healthy oceans to survive (including us!).

In the first expedition, Project Kaisei will:

—Study and document the marine debris found in this area of the Pacific Ocean;
—Test catch methods for removing the debris;
—Conduct research on the chemical interactions of marine debris in the gyre and select fishes and wildlife related to persistent organic pollutants (POPs);
—Understand the needs required to undertake an eventual large scale clean-up of the waste material; and
—Test technologies for conversion into an economically viable by-product: diesel fuel.

If you go to www.projectkaisei.org you can sign up to receive emails tracking the research expedition. Get involved. Take the No Plastics Pledge. Support the clean up of the Plastic Vortex!

On June 9, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a new law that requires every residence and business in the City to have three, separate color-coded bins for waste: blue for recycling; green for compost; and black for trash.

The ordinance takes effect this fall. Under the new law, households or businesses that fail to properly sort their refuse could face warnings and fines of $100-$500. The ordinance calls for garbage collectors to leave tags on containers when they spot incorrectly sorted material.

The City hopes that the new requirement will prove effective in cutting down on the 618,000 tons of organic waste that was deposited in landfills in 2007. Organic waste in a landfill is not exposed to oxygen. Anaerobic decomposition generates methane gas, which is 25 more potent in trapping heat than carbon dioxide leading to global warming. According to a 2008 report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, cutting organic waste sent to landfills would be like closing 21 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants.

Perhaps the new law will help people better learn where to put their refuse. It’s not really that difficult. Green — food scraps, plant clippings, biodegradable food service products (like those available at Green Event Shop.com), milk cartons, etc. Blue — cans, bottles, cardboard and many plastic containers. Black — Styrofoam, plastic food service products, and other non-organic waste.

Green bin contents are reused locally to nourish local farms and gardens. Blue bin contents are mostly sent to foreign countries to be reused in lieu of raw materials. Black bin contents go to nearby landfills where they stay for hundreds and hundreds of years.

On Earth Day, I happened to be staying at the Venetian in Las Vegas (ironic, I know). Maintenance folks were changing out all the lights in the hallways with CFL light bulbs. (It’s a step, but there are so many more to go. For example, you could not find a place to recycle the prolific water bottles handed out at the pool.)

It occurred to me that this enthusiasm for changing out light bulbs is good, but are we creating an even bigger problem down the line. All these “good” CFL light bulbs save energy and reduce carbon emissions that come from producing energy. They also last a long time, but not forever. When they do go, remember, the bulbs contain mercury. You can’t throw them away. Take them to some place, like Home Depot, so they can be disposed properly.

According to Eco Village Green, there are nine other items that should never go into the landfill, including: lithium-ion batteries (rechargeable batteries); electronics equipment (like mobile phones, stereos, speakers, TV’s); car fluids; and paints.

Best Buy takes lithium-ion batteries and most electronics equipment. Cell phone dealers take mobile phones. As for car fluids and paints, you have to go to your local garbage company or local government.

All these things we all buy and use everyday. Then, there are things that we can avoid buying so they can’t escape into the waterways and oceans and linger there forever, like plastic bags, stryofoam cups, and plastic take out containers. When you need to use “disposables,” buy compostable, biodegradable alternatives.

The faithful among us have know for years about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating mess of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Texas and as deep as 90 feet.  Now, others know about it because Oprah featured it on her Earth Day show.  To see a portion of the video, click here.

Oprah called the Pacific Ocean plastic garbage dump: “the most shocking thing I have seen.”

What made this giant island of plastic debris that kills wildlife and threatens the health of our oceans and planet? Plastic bottles, take out containers, cups, bags, packaging and other plastic products that blows from land into storm drains and waterways that get carried out to sea.

What is the answer?  Stop using plastic.  Use compostable cups, plates, utensils that will degrade quickly if they get washed away.  Made from plants, they will go back into nature.  To learn more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, click here. You can buy compostable, biodegradable tableware at Green Event Shop.com and Go Mega Green.com (for bulk orders).

In the last year, San Francisco’s garbage company has collected 105,000 tons of food scraps, compostable materials and yard trimming and turned the “waste” into 20,000 tons of compost for 10,000 acres, according to a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The source of the compost is organic waste contributed by 2,000 restaurants, 2,080 large apartment buildings and 50,000 single family homes that use their green bins. All of the compostable plates, cups and utensils sold by Green Event Shop and Go Mega Green webstores can be “disposed” in the green bins.

Composting in San Francisco succeeds on many levels. The compost is very high quality and sells like gold at $12 per cubic yard, or $480 per truckload. The compost company, Jepson Prairie Organics adjusts the compost recipe to fit particular local farm needs. The compost helps local farms grow fruits, vegetables and wine that come back into San Francisco’s farmers markets and top-end restaurants.

This successful, local composting loop helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. By removing organic waste from the landfill, there is less methane gas released into the air (methane is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in causing global warming.) Compost enriches soil and good soil is the best tool for fighting global warming, because it’s the largest reservoir of Earth’s carbon.

Rescue squads in 30 major U.S. cities are now available to clean up after your next green meeting, trade show, wedding or party. Special E rescues food, food scraps, recyclables, floral arrangements, decorations, party favors, giveaways, unused hotel amenities, and extra meeting and event supplies.

Over the last year, Special E teams have rescued more than 100,000 pounds of food and drinks, 2,500 floral arrangements and centerpieces and hundreds of tote bags, promotional products and unused event supplies.

What happens to the leftovers? Special E finds organizations that can use them. Food leftovers from a recent multi-day conference in San Francisco were redirected to soup kitchens, missions and homeless shelters. They also offer a program to plant one tree for every 25 guests that attend your event. “Rescue fees” average $1 to $3 per event attendee.

Green Event Shop and Go Mega Green help you plan a green event by providing affordable biodegradable, compostable plates, cups and utensils.  Now you can go even further.  Call in the Special E Rescue Squads to reuse leftovers.

We’re all hurting right now. At Green Event, we’ve taken the initiative to avoid letting the bad economy become an excuse for not buying Green. We have launched a sister site — Go Mega Green.com — that offers our 100% biodegradable, compostable plates, cups, cutlery, utensils, napkins and bags at affordable, bulk prices.

At Go Mega Green, you can order by the thousands rather than the hundreds and save. Both web stores continue to offer high-quality, green products for your office, next big event, or everyday use, including:

• plates and bowls made from sugar cane fiber

• spoons, forks and knives made from potato starch and soy oil

• bioplastic cold cups made from a polymer using field-grade corn

• hot coffee or tea cups made from recycled paper with a bioplastic liner

• unbleached napkins made from post-consumer recycled paper

Shipping is free once the minimum order thresholds are met: $350 in California and $500 nationwide. All products are always in stock. Your orders will generally arrive during the same week you order.

Of course, if you can still order in smaller amounts for your upcoming wedding, picnic, small office or individual event at our original site — Green Event Shop.com

A new study says that composting and recycling can dramatically reduce greenhouse gases. “Along with waste prevention, expanded recycling and composing can have the same climate protection impact as closing 21 percent of the nation’s 417 coal-burning powers plants,” said Brenda Platt of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and a coauthor of the study “Stop Trashing the Climate.” She noted that coal combustion is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. “Recycling is as important for climate stability as improving vehicle fuel efficiency, retrofitting lighting, planting trees and protection forests. By avoiding landfill methane emissions, composting, in particular, is a vital tactic in the battle to stop Arctic ice melting. Biodegradable materials are a liability when buried and burned, but an asset when composted.” The study was reported in BioCycle Magazine.