Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "recycling"

Reduce waste this holiday season

2011-12-22T17:40:50Z

More residential waste is created during the holiday season than any other time of the year, so the cities and counties in the Sacramento area are encouraging residents to recycle as much as possible.

Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year’s holiday period, the California Department of Resources Recovery and Recycling (CalRecycle) reports. This extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons, per week nationwide. With this in mind, local governments are urging residents to reduce, reuse, and recycle during this holiday season.

"The amount of garbage sent to the landfill increases dramatically during the holiday season," said Doug Eubanks of Sacramento County’s Department of Waste Management and Recycling. "We can change the traditional holiday habit of tearing open presents and throwing away wrapping paper and cardboard. We can recover these materials if residents use their curbside recycling program. Recycling holiday paper is a better alternative than burning it or throwing it into the trash.”

In addition, the number of empty bottles and cans soars during the holidays. About 100 million plastic water bottles will end up in the trash statewide during the holiday season. If recycled, those water bottles could be used to make 48,000 sweaters, or 220,000 square feet of carpeting, according to CalRecycle.

“Tons of empty beverage containers are also generated during this time of year and these cans, glass and plastic bottles should also be recycled,” said Eubanks.

Most residents can put holiday waste paper -- greeting cards, gift boxes and wrapping paper -- in their curbside mixed recycling program. Phone books and calendars also are accepted in the mixed recycling container.

All mixed paper -- which includes cardboard, advertising mail, catalogs, paper boxes, newspapers, computer paper, old calendars and other “clean” household paper -- can be recycled in curbside recycling programs.

The paper should be placed in the mixed recycling container and set out on the curb on regular recycling pick-up days. For those who do not have a curbside recycling program, there are drop-off sites located at many grocery stores, schools, and non-profit organizations, which accept most items.

For more information on recycling programs, visit http://www.holidayrecycling.com.

Disclosure: A former journalist, Dell Richards is the principal of Dell Richards Publicity. Richards works with Ross-Campbell, Inc., a marketing and media production firm specializing in cause-related issues. Holiday Recycling is one of their campaigns.

Copper thefts hit city neighborhoods hard

2011-12-09T04:13:12Z

Some thieves steal cars, others rob banks. In Sacramento, the big-ticket item lately is copper wire, and local copper thieves have hit the central city hard.

Why steal copper wire?

“Because it’s easily accessible,” said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit Thursday, “and there is plenty of it.”

With miles of copper wire found in streetlights, electrical boxes, buildings and vacant foreclosed homes – places thieves won’t usually be deterred by watching eyes – copper wiring is easy pickings.

And, at roughly $2.75 per pound, copper theft can be a lucrative business.

According to a recent district letter from City Councilman Rob Fong’s office, copper wire thieves hit more than 175 neighborhood locations throughout the city over the course of the last several months.

Damage has been done to schools, irrigation systems, traffic signals and streetlights – often leaving entire blocks of homes in the dark.

Repairs to a single location can take from one to three days depending on the severity of damage by the thieves, the letter states, and at least three to five new sites are reported weekly.

The city’s Department of Transportation spent nearly $200,000 replacing copper wire so far this year, including $95,000 for contractor costs, $86,000 in copper wire stock and $90,000 in pull box security lids to repair the damage created by the thefts.

“Copper wire isn’t worth anything unless you’re remodeling your house,” Pettit said, “or you have a buyer.”

The most common buyers of copper wire are local recycling centers – collection sites that pay customers per pound for bringing in recyclable materials such as aluminum cans, glass bottles and scrap metal.

Many recycling centers also pay for copper – some take in as much as 2,500 pounds a week, according to Matt Braswell, yard manager at D.C. Metals and Recycling in North Highlands.

“We get (copper) in every day,” Braswell said Thursday.

Because recycling centers are the primary buyer of scrap copper, Pettit said, they are the main line of defense against theft of the valuable metal.

“There are laws in place that (recyclers) have to follow,” Pettit said.” As long as they do, it will go a long way to curb copper theft.”

The state laws Pettit referred to passed in 2008 and spell out fines and penalties for recycling centers that purchase stolen copper – or that allow employees to aid copper thieves.

According to state law, if a recycling center accepts stolen copper, the first offense nets a $1,000 fine. The second offense brings a $2,000 fine and a 30-day closure of the center. A third offense gets a $4,000 fine, and the business is closed for a year.

Any employee involved in any offense is fined $1,000 and gets three years’ probation.

“They are pretty stiff penalties,” Braswell said.

Some of the preventative measures recycle centers are required by law to take include verifying each customer’s current photo I.D., taking customers’ thumbprints and maintaining a detailed database of all transactions.

But the laws are not the real deterrent, Braswell said. Enforcing the laws is what will really make a difference.

“If the police would come out and enforce the laws,” Braswell said, “that would be the end of it. We wouldn’t have a problem.”

Braswell said that, although there are some recycling centers that willingly take stolen copper, there are plenty of centers that work hard to remain in compliance with the law.

If local law enforcement would focus on the centers that flaunt the law, Braswell said, there would be no market for copper and no incentive for copper theft.

“Public opinion is that the recycling yards are the fences. That’s not always the case,” Braswell said. “It only takes a few bad (operators) to make everyone look bad.”

Pettit said it’s not as easy to enforce laws as just showing up and arresting a recycler with a few pounds of copper wire in a bin.

“We have to prove that they knew it was stolen, or should have known it was stolen,” Pettit said. “Without having someone sharing information about the organization, or actually being there to monitor their every transaction, it’s really hard to catch them.”

Copper theft has increasingly become a problem in the city, and city leaders are encouraging residents to be on the lookout for suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.

“It appears that copper thieves are hitting our community hard,” said Luis Sumpter, Alkali Flat/Mansion Flats Neighborhood Association president in an email Sunday.

“If you see anyone/anything suspicious, always call 911 (emergency) or 311 (non-emergency),” Sumpter said.

Pettit affirmed that calling the police is the best course of action when residents think some activity on their street isn’t quite right, such as workers who aren’t wearing uniforms or don’t have a vehicle with the city seal on it.

“Definitely give us a call,” Pettit said. “People are apprehensive to call, but they can remain anonymous. The worst that will happen is the (suspicious) person is doing their job and will confirm (to officers who respond to the call) they are supposed to be there.”

Pettit said the Sacramento Police Department is working with other local agencies to crack down on copper theft throughout the city and county. The effort resulted in at least three arrests in the last three months – the most recent occurred on Nov. 30.

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Sims Recycling Solutions Invites Community to Celebrate "America Recycles Day" by Recycling Old Electronics and Appliances

2011-11-09T14:44:04Z

Sims Recycling Solutions, the global leader in electronics reuse and recycling, is partnering with Sims Metal Management, KCRA-TV and the California Exposition and State Fairgrounds to host a community-wide electronics and appliance recycling event to celebrate “America Recycles Day.” The event will raise money for the Sacramento Habitat for Humanity and will be held on Saturday, Nov.12, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the California Exposition and State Fairgrounds located at 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815. Items for recycling will be accepted at Parking Lot E off of Ethan way across the street from the Century Stadium 14.

“Sims Recycling Solutions is thrilled to participate in an event that not only provides a way for the Sacramento community to divert e-waste from area landfills, but also will raise money to benefit Habitat for Humanity,” stated Steve Skurnac, President, Sims Recycling Solutions, Americas. “Our innovative recycling technologies combined with our comprehensive hazardous materials management policies and certified facilities provide closed-loop protection to the Sacramento community and the world from the risks associated with e-waste disposal.”

The e-waste collection event will be a drive-through and drop-off system, with staff on hand to quickly and conveniently collect items from participants’ vehicles. For those who plan to recycle a computer monitor or television, please print and complete the collection log found at the www.us.simsrecycling.com/AmericaRecyclesDay website prior to the event to ensure faster processing.

Sims Recycling Solutions will accept the following: appliances, televisions, computer monitors, computers, laptops, cell phones, telephones, printers, speakers, keyboards, mice, PDAs, radios, stereos, MP3 players, CD and DVD players, and VCRs. Sims Recycling Solutions cannot accept smoke detectors, ovens, batteries or ink and toner cartridges.

Sims Recycling Solutions

Sims Recycling Solutions (www.us.simsrecycling.com) is the world's largest electrical and electronics recovery and recycling company with 50 sites across the globe.

Sims Recycling Solutions recycles all types of electronic equipment and enables businesses to meet both their social and legal obligations in the treatment of surplus electronics. The company's asset management and recovery service enables businesses and public sector organizations to sustain the value of IT and electronic equipment, in a legally compliant, data secure, fully traceable and environmentally sustainable manner.

In North America, Sims Recycling Solutions operates 14 sites in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Ontario, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Disclosure: This is a press release from Sims Recycling Solutions.

Free paint provides a green service to the community

2011-08-29T06:02:35Z

“Part of being green is dealing with the mess we’ve already made,” said Brittney Dastmalchi, project coordinator and founder of The Paint Co-Op Project, a small business that gives out a variety of green recycled materials every day that are acquired from foreclosure sites around California.

“This is the first time in our economy that something like this has needed to exist – people don’t realize how many foreclosures are sitting on the market,” she said.

The Paint Co-Op was born out of a Sacramento-based company called Nationwide Secure in an effort to recycle reusable full or partially used materials that could be hazardous to the environment if improperly disposed of.

Nationwide Secure is contracted by numerous respective banks to extract the hazardous materials left behind by tenants at foreclosure sites. First a “trash out” crew enters the home and hauls away what’s left in a foreclosed house, leaving behind any hazardous materials.

“Once the “trash-out” is done, we are called in to pick up the hazardous materials,” Dastmalchi said.

A crew from Nationwide Secure is then contracted by the bank to extract any remaining hazardous materials where they are brought back to The Paint Co-Op, sorted through by a team of certified HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response) employees, where they are then dealt with by other waste disposal companies, or given away free to the community from the co-op’s warehouse.

“We are very mindful of what goes in the trash. We do our best to be a zero-landfill company,” Dastmalchi said.

These materials include any household cleaners such as bleach, ammonia, hand soaps, gardening products such as fertilizer, insecticides, and weed killer, automotive products like waxes, coolants and a wide variety of paints, latexes, enamels and other products. Everything given away has to have its original label and safety warning.

“A lot of people do look at it and just see chemical paints and toxic chemicals – we give away things that would otherwise go to a landfill and be improperly disposed of. The safest place for them to be is used,” Dastmalchi said.

“We deal with household hazardous waste because many people don’t realize that you can’t just throw this stuff away.”

She first began the project out of a one-car garage when she would accompany her father, who worked for Nationwide, to “trash-outs”, giving away the partially used or full materials off of Craigslist. When she saw there was a higher demand for the services, she and her significant other set up the small business that led to a warehouse first in West Sacramento and then on North 16th Street, where they have been for about a year now.

Nationwide Secure covers about 350 houses a week, Dastmalchi said, and services all of California. It is certified by CUPA (Certified Unified Program Agencies), a regulatory arm of the Environmental Management Department.

Additionally, each employee at the co-op has gone through a 50-hour HAZWOPER course, designed to train any individual with safety regulations pertaining to the handling and care of hazardous materials and the proper emergency precautions in case any materials are stored improperly.

“It teaches you what can go together and what can’t,” said Joe Delgado, a hazmat delivery service driver and clean-up operative for the co-op. Delgado said he averages about 50-70 jobs over two weeks.

Delgado said it’s his responsibility to know what chemicals can sit together in a box. Even chemicals in different containers must be kept a distance away from each other.

“For example, you can’t have bleach and ammonia in the same box, because it can make a deadly combination,” he said, “And if I don’t know what it is, it’s going to go in a five-gallon bucket by itself.”

Delgado has been working for the co-op since it was based out of West Sacramento.

“I thought it was a pretty cool thing, he said, “Most people can’t find a place to get rid of hazardous materials.”

“You can get rid of these materials without dumping them in the river or an alleyway,” Dastmalchi said, adding that in her neighborhood in Oak Park, it’s done that way too often.

With up to 350 houses done a week, the co-op gets new materials in every day, and the entire stock rotates once a week, Dastmalchi said. “The No. 1 surplus item is paint. There is no limit on how much one can take or how often they can stop by.”

“If you can fit 10 pallets of paint in your car, you can have it,” she said. “The more we can give away, the more we can get to give away.”

Customers for the co-op include first-time homeowners, local artists and many involved in school and art programs. The co-op has also seen customers that have driven from San Francisco, San Jose and Redding to reap the benefits of the service.

“When I first started, I wanted to hit the lower-income demographic. It eases their costs and helps an already downturned economy,” Dastmalchi said.

Joey Jimenez, a local artist, said he has been to the co-op several times and has recommended it to many others as well.

“You can go down there and find a lot of different kinds of paint, enamels, and spray paints,” he said, “though I wish they got more spray paint in more often.”

Dastmalchi said she wants there to be a greater awareness for the proper disposal of hazardous materials since currently there is a general lack of resources available to the public.

“With the paint, they don’t tell you how to get rid of it, they tell you how not to,” Dastmalchi added.

In addition to the free giveaway service it provides, the co-op also accepts broken appliances and recycles e-waste for free.

“We do our best to spread the wealth around, being that we have the luxury to do so,” Dastmalchi said. “We’re creating some good out of a bad situation; that’s really what this place is – damage control.”

She said the co-op would like to reach nonprofit status and get backing from state agencies, though it seems that could be a long way off.

The Paint Co-Op Project is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To visit its Facebook page for more information, click here.

That old refrigerator in the garage is an energy hog, recycle it

2011-07-27T17:24:50Z

Anne Dunlap-Kahren’s old refrigerator was in her kitchen for 13 years. She bought a new one and relegated the old one to a place where a lot of old refrigerators go, the garage.

The problem is these older refrigerators use more household energy than anything else in the home. They use as much as three times the energy of newer models, and can cost up to an additional $125 per year to run.

When Anne heard about SMUD’s Refrigerator Recycling program, she called to make an appointment. Within a few days, JACO Environmental, a SMUD recycling contractor, was at her door to pick up the old one and give her a $35 check for it.

By recycling, Anne is saving money, energy and the environment. “For me, this made total sense,” said Anne. “It was time for a new refrigerator. SMUD gave me $35 and we hear so much about reusing and recycling these days, I don’t have to worry about throwing the old one away in a landfill.”

JACO does the heavy lifting. It deconstructs the old fridge by cutting its power cord and rubber gasket seal, disabling the thermostat and marks the unit with an “X” so it can’t be resold, and hauls it away. JACO then removes all potentially hazardous materials and recycles 95 percent of the remaining unit for other post-recycling products.

“The metal parts can be recycled into rebar for road construction, the plastic can be used in new computers and cell phones, the tempered glass can be used as an aggregate in other materials,” said JACO’s Michael Dunlap. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”

The older refrigerator picked up at Anne Dunlap-Kahren’s home pushed SMUD’s refrigerator and freezer recycling program past the 40,000 mark since the program’s inception 10 years ago. Recycling these refrigerators saves the amount of energy used to power 6,000 homes for a year.

It's easy to recycle your old fridge if you are a residential SMUD customer. Simply contact JACO Environmental at (800) 299-7573 to schedule an appointment. You get a check for $35, save some money on your electric bill, and get to feel good for doing the environment a favor.

For more information on SMUD’s Refrigerator Recycling Program, click here.

Disclosure: Becky Repka is employed by SMUD in Corporate Communications.

Waste collection re-routes impact 75,000 customers

2011-07-20T18:49:25Z

The Department of Waste Management and Recycling (WMR) is making changes to current routes and material collection days, impacting approximately 75,000 residential customers throughout Sacramento county.

“This route change will allow the Department to save over $1 million per year by combining current collection routes,” Paul Philleo, director of Waste Management and Recycling, said in a press release Monday.

The route changes will also reduce the number of collection trucks on the streets, Philleo said, reducing street and vehicle repairs and lessening impact on the environment.

Postcards notifying affected customers of the changes were mailed out last week, and another notice will be sent about July 22, according to WMR.

The new waste collection changes will impact residents’ current service day, a change in the material that they place out for collection with their garbage – recycling or green waste – or both, service day and material collected.

New routes and service changes go into effect on Aug. 1 and specific information for each customer will be provided in the July 22 mailing, according to WMR.

Customers can go to WMR’s website for more route and service information.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follwer her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Nominations sought for Arrow Awards in product stewardship and green design

2011-06-15T20:05:10Z

The California Product Stewardship Council's announced that nominations are being sought for the annual Arrow Awards, recognizing business and industry leaders for outstanding leadership, innovation and partnerships in product stewardship and green design. Any business entity, division or facility located in California is eligible to apply. Third-party stewardship organizations and non-profits are also eligible.

“This is our opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of California businesses with innovative product stewardship programs, outstanding partnerships that make product stewardship possible, and to inspire others to integrate the principles of product stewardship into their businesses” said Heidi Sanborn, Executive Director of the California Production Stewardship Council.

The awards categories are:
• Grand Prize, Golden Arrow Award for Overall Excellence in Product Stewardship
• Green Arrow Award for System and Design Innovations
• Bow and Arrow Award for Coalition Building
• Infinity Arrow Award for Service and Take-Back

Nominations are now open and will close on July 4, 2011. Applications are available at: California Stewardship Arrow Awards or www.Calpsc.org/awards.

Honorees will be selected by a distinguished panel of business, industry and elected officials. The Awards Presentations will take place at the California Resource Recovery Association’s Annual Conference on August 2, 2011 in San Diego. More than six-hundred local and state government representatives, state legislators and industry representatives are expected to attend. The awards are funded by a grant from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)

“Product Stewardship is a policy approach that places a shared responsibility for end-of-life product management on producers and all entities involved in the product chain, instead of solely being a local government responsibility, the costs of which are passed on to the taxpayers and ratepayers,” said Kevin Hendrick, Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority (DNSWMA) and CPSC Board Member.

DNSWMA received a grant from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to develop this awards program.

Disclosure: A former journalist, Dell Richards works with Ross-Campbell, Inc. The California Product Stewardship Council is a client of theirs.

Recycling Right Can Pay Off in Sacramento

2011-04-27T20:06:35Z

The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities will launch the 2011 Recycling Incentive Awards, sponsored by AT&T Real Yellow Pages and the Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station on May 2, 2011. Each week through June 27, the City will randomly select recycling containers in a selected Council District and check it for proper recycling. If the container holds only clean recyclables, the City will award owners of clean recycling bins with $100 and the chance to win an iPad2.

“Recycling right is the right thing to do. Clean, dry and usable recyclables limits waste going to the landfills and is a win for the environment,” said Marty Hanneman, Director of the Department of Utilities. "So make sure your blue bin is filled with recyclables only and put it out on the week we are coming your neighborhood and you could win too!"

The City of Sacramento accepts clean, dry and usable items in its blue recycling containers. These items include:
• Bottles and Cans
• Paper
• Phone Books
• Cardboard
• Glass Jars
• Plastic Containers
• Newspaper
• Metal Cans and Containers
• And more! For more information, please visit www.cityofsacramento.org/recycle.

Common items that are not permitted for collection in blue recycle containers include:
• Items with food waste on them
• Garden hoses
• Clothing
• Foam plastic (Styrofoam)
• Light bulbs
• PVC Piping
• Batteries

The anticipated schedule for recycling bin checks is:

Week of May 2: District 1 (includes Natomas, portions of Downtown Sacramento)
Week of May 9: District 2 (includes Woodlake, Del Paso, North Sacramento, Hagginwood)
Week of May 16: District 3 (includes East Sacramento, Campus Commons, Ben Ali, Midtown)
Week of May 23: District 4 (includes Land Park, Freeport Manor, portions of Downtown Sacramento)
Week of May 30: District 5 (includes Oak Park, Curtis Park, Med Center, Woodbine)
Week of June 6: District 6 (includes College Glen, Tahoe Park, Fruitridge Manor, Glen Elder)
Week of June 13: District 7 (includes Greenhaven/Pocket and Valley Hi)
Week of June 20: District 8 (includes Meadowview, Parkway, Jacinto Creek, North Laguna Creek)

Cash awards will be presented at a future City Council Meeting and one of the eight selected cash winners will also have their name drawn to win an iPad2. All prizes are from AT&T Real Yellow Pages and the Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station and do not use City utility funds.

Holiday Wrap-Up – Be Sure to Dispose of Holiday Waste Properly! Do Your Part to Keep Holiday Left-Overs Out of the Landfill

2010-12-29T16:49:19Z

Now that the gifts have been unwrapped, the holiday parties have been held, and the Christmas tree has come down, do you know how to recycle all the holiday trimmings?

“By properly disposing of all of the trash left over from the holidays, we can help save valuable landfill space and keep our environment clean ,” said Paul Philleo, Director of the Sacramento County Department of Waste Management & Recycling.” We are generally slower this time of year, which means quick turn-around for customers, so it’s easy to be green after the holidays.”

Below are tips for holiday recycling:

Don’t add your Christmas tree to the trash. Bring it to one of the six locations throughout Sacramento County where it can be disposed of properly. You can find a flyer with a list of locations online at www.sacgreenteam.com.
Was a new TV, computer, or cell phone one of your holiday gifts? Do you now need to dispose of the old one? Both the Kiefer Landfill, located at 12701 Kiefer Blvd and Grant Line Road in Sloughhouse and the North Area Recovery Station, located at 4450 Roseville Road in North Highlands, accept e-waste for free! If it’s got a cord and a circuit board, it’s e-waste!
Did you know that an estimated 2.6 billion holiday cards are sold each year in the United States? Or that the 38,000 miles of ribbon purchased to wrap presents could tie a bow around the earth? Between Thanksgiving and the New Year, an extra million tons of waste are generated each week (CalRecycle – formerly the California Integrated Waste Management Board). Learn how to recycle or properly dispose of your holiday decorations and wrappings in Sacramento by visiting http://www.holidayrecycling.com/

To find a list of acceptable materials and fees for both County facilities, please visit the Department of Waste Management & Recycling’s website at www.sacgreenteam.com or call 916-875-5555 for more information.

Annie Parker is a Communication and Media Officer employed by the Sacramento County Municipal Services Agency.

This holiday, don’t give garbage

2010-12-16T16:49:35Z

Give Smart Sacramento promotes waste free experiences in place of traditional holiday gifts

What was your favorite holiday gift of the past? Was it a sweater from J.Crew three years ago? Or maybe it was the CD-Man you got in ’95? I’m guessing it was something that hasn’t gone out of style or become obsolete. My favorite gift in recent memory was a family membership to Fairytale Town. I will always remember the time spent with my children and my family at Fairytale Town, because the memory will never go out of style, be shoved in the back of the closet or go in the "Goodwill" pile.

This year, the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities is challenging you to replace at least one out of every five gifts you plan to give with an experience gift. Using CalRecycle funds, the City has launched Give Smart Sacramento, a program focused on reducing the amount of waste collected this November and December. Our goal is to collect 200 tons less solid waste and 325 tons more recyclables during the holidays.

Local organizations have joined Give Smart by offering discounts towards gifts that don’t produce waste. Promotions include annual passes to California State Railroad Museum, Fairytale Town and Funderland, tickets to “A Christmas Carol”, tickets to Sacramento Kings and more! Sacramento has so many wonderful activities for families to enjoy together. This is the perfect time of year to take advantage of these experiences and support local businesses.

In addition to giving waste free gifts, we can also reduce solid waste by reusing ribbons, bows, and gift bags year after year. Most wrapping paper and packaging material is also recyclable, as are bottles and cans generated at holiday festivities. Styrafoam and packing peanuts are not recyclable.

Visit GiveSmartSacramento.org for a complete list of partners and recycling tips.

Local Green Company Sets Sights on Helping the Gulf Residents Affected by the Oil Spill

2010-08-03T23:49:39Z

Helping the Environment and the Economy All at the Same Time.

Set It Aside is a local curbside recyclables purchasing company who was born as the economy turned south and has helped local efforts raise thousands of dollars through recyclables. Now the fledgling company is on a quest to help thousands of people who have lost their livelihoods in the oil spill.

Set It Aside is the brain child of SIA Professional Services who have been serving the Sacramento area for over a decade and a half. As the market soured the B to B company started looking at a small project that could have major positive effects on the economy. The company began picking up recyclable materials from homes, selling them to local recyclers and splitting the profit with the end consumer.

“Essentially, we formed a partnership,” said Joseph Zeleny, marketer and route driver for the baby company, “we save people time, make them more aware of what is happening to their recyclables, and pay them directly.”

The company has done well and has routes all over Sacramento. Now they see the ability to duplicate the process in the gulf and help thousands of people who are in a major financial crisis in the process. “We know it works even in areas that do not have any kind of redemptive value. So the ability to offer everyone from sorters and haulers, to fishermen and tour guides an opportunity that helps the environment and economy just isn’t something to ignore.” Zeleny went on to say that Set It Aside is now in Pepsi Refresh pushing to be the recipient of one of their $250,000.00 grants and that it would allow them to set up a minimum of ten locations that could each employ dozens of people.

Set It Aside asks that people go to Pepsi’s Refresh special Gulf project and vote for them to help the environment and those who make their livings on it. People can go to http://gulf.refresheverything.com/sia4thegulf and vote daily.

If you would like more information or to schedule an interview with Joseph Zeleny and/or the Set It Aside team, please call SIA at 916-361-0792.

Disclosure: Karen Key is an employee with Set It Aside.

RecycleBank comes to Sacramento

2010-06-10T04:36:48Z

The "City of Trees" just got a little bit greener. RecycleBank, a nationwide recycling incentive program, launched a pilot program May 24 in the South Meadowview neighborhood. Participants earn points for their neighborhoods recycling properly.

Blue recycling containers often line the streets, but Jessica Hess of the Department of Utilities said they're often not used correctly.

"There is a high amount of contamination," she said. "Many residents use the blue (recycling) containers for their extra garbage."

Contamination occurs when nonrecyclable or unclean items are placed in recycling containers. When sorted, these items are taken to a landfill, which costs money and hurts the environment.

To change this, the City of Sacramento joined RecycleBank in an education effort. Months before the launch, recycling ambassadors visited the Meadowview community, informing residents about the program and teaching how to recycle.

Based in New York City, RecycleBank is in more than 300 communities across 26 states, as well as the United Kingdom. Sacramento is the second city in California, after Los Angeles, to adopt the program.

"Everyone knows recycling is good for the Earth," said Jeff Harse of RecycleBank. "But by incentivizing the process, people are more apt to think twice before throwing something away."

Harse noted the program's success in other cities.

"We launched (in Hollywood, Fla.) in February and the city has seen more than 130 percent increase in recycling rates over this time last year."

Rather than awarding individuals with points, RecycleBank rewards entire communities for their green efforts. In other words, all registered residents will earn the same amount of points for their collaborative effort. To register, residents can sign up at www.recyclebank.com or call 866-563-0114.

Redeeming points is similar to shopping online. Local sponsors include Bugambillas Birrieria, a Mexican restaurant, and The Athlete's Foot. National partners include Coca-cola, CVS Pharmacy and Dick's Sporting Goods.

Hess said the program will run in Sacramento for six months and then hopefully expand to the rest of the city.

Sacramento's budding GRAS

2010-06-09T06:31:08Z

The Green Restaurant Alliance of Sacramento has a hand in 10 local restaurants and hopes to reach more with its mission of establishing a sustainable restaurant industry.

GRAS is "dedicated to making Sacramento a leading sustainable food community and a leader in the green-restaurant industry," according to its website. The year-old organization helps restaurants reduce waste by composting food scraps and biodegradable material.

"This is not a brilliant idea, it's being done worldwide," said GRAS co-founder David S. Baker. "Why can't it happen in our town?"

The 10 members of GRAS are Hot Italian, L Wine Lounge and Urban Kitchen, Mulvaney's B & L, One Speed, Selland's, Grange, Ella, Tuli, The Waterboy and The Kitchen.

GRAS was formed by Baker and Jason May. The two, along with a handful of volunteers, work to strengthen and standardize GRAS' programs.

"After reading about (the composting) they do in San Francisco and Santa Barbara, I asked why can't we do that?" Baker said. "There's many reasons to think that Sacramento can be at the forefront of the green-restaurant industry or sustainable-food community."

GRAS has focused on composting. Hot Italian had a composting receptacle called the Earth Tub, which it offered to GRAS.

"Before GRAS came along, we decided we were going to use our kitchen scraps, but it would've taken a long time to fill up," said Andrea Lepore, Hot Italian creative director and development partner. "One of the reasons we decided to do the composting was because, unlike San Francisco, we don't have a citywide system for composting."

Baker said that GRAS has diverted 22,000 pounds of produce scraps since March 1.

"We provide restaurants with a bin inside the kitchen as well as another toter out back as they would for recycling or garbage, and then that gets picked up by Atlas Disposal," Baker said. "Now it's a question of where we go from there. This last week, we requested 400 pounds go to Hot Italian's Earth Tub and the rest was taken to Del Rio Botanical Farms."

The Earth Tub, which has been in use for two months, has "digested" its first batch. Hot Italian worked with the Department of Parks and Recreation to distribute the compost in community gardens, including Fremont Community Garden.

"We're glad to know there's another effort with the GRAS people and Hot Italian," said Bill Maynard, community garden program coordinator for Parks and Recreation. "We're happy to work with everyone to keep the waste from the landfill."

The Earth Tub is produced by Green Mountain Technologies, Inc. The company describes it as a "small scale, in-vessel composting system for recycling organic waste materials at the site where they are generated." The Earth Tub can process 40 to 500 pounds daily. Each tub holds 3,200 pounds when full.

GRAS' programs also include cork recycling, water conservation, supplying bicycle racks through the city, recycling and promoting local agriculture. It hopes to recycle cooking oil for bio-diesel use and work with the Legislature on issues involving the food industry.

"Not too long ago, we were throwing everything into the garbage," Baker said. "Now we do composting, recycling, cork recycling. It's all about keeping things out of the landfill."

Photos:

1) Hot Italian exterior.

2) The Earth Tub.

3) Lepore opens the Earth Tub to show the full batch.

Agnus-Dei Farrant is an intern for The Sacramento Press.

SSF Keynote “Why The Climate Crisis Can Only Be Solved By Citizen Lobbyists” May 20, 2010

2010-05-25T03:36:41Z

"Why the Climate Crisis Can Only be Solved by Citizen Lobbyists”

Sacramento Sustainability Forum is a monthly venue for connecting businesses, non-profits, government and interested citizens in the Sacramento region in order to promote sustainability, share insights and resources, and support movement toward a more sustainable future. The May SSF event was held at SMUD Auditorium Thursday, May 20.

Approximately 65 attendees filled the auditorium, including interested citizens and students as well as members of the business, nonprofit and government communities.

The Keynote topic was called "Why the Climate Crisis Can Only be Solved by Citizen Lobbyists", presented by Mark Reynolds, Executive Director - Citizens Climate Lobby. Mr. Reynolds has been working with organizations and individuals for over thirty-one years to empower them to make a difference in their world. Much of that time was spent in the public and corporate world providing training programs he designed and led on effective communication, leadership, team building and time management.

The purpose of Citizens Climate Lobby is to create the political will for a sustainable climate and to empower individuals to have breakthroughs in exercising their personal and political power. Citizens Climate Lobby is a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization founded in early 2007. It organizes and trains people by congressional district throughout the country how to educate Congress to enact effective climate legislation. The organization is based in Coronado, CA, and can be found on the web at http://citizensclimatelobby.org.

Mr. Noss began the evening by reviewing that this was an extraordinary week on many levels. At the Mayor’s Green Initiative Kickoff, Mayor Johnson, Maria Shriver and the Governor spoke about what they are trying to do here in Sacramento. The authors of Cradle to Cradle were present to launch an institute here in California- The Green Products Innovation Institute (http://gpii.com). The keynote focused on climate change and what citizens can do about it.

There are now over 400 who "like" SSF’s page on Facebook. Jacob Griscom introduced the sponsor program, saying that SSF aims to evolve the collective consciousness of the inside of the community. They want to focus on food, water, green jobs, he said. The community wants our region to be about more than just cleantech. The organic way they approach creating growth has attracted other organizations to help spread the word. They aim to have 250 attendees per month at events.

Griscom says that the keynote speaker has been inspirational to him, as he teaches each of us to influence policy in our community. It’s scary to look into the face of climate change and feel the full magnitude of it is terrifying because it is transformative. You must be accountable for your part in our future.

After Mr. Reynolds is introduced, he gave a very enthusiastic and audience-engaging presentation. He said there are over 2,300 paid energy/climate lobbyists in Washington, four for every one member of the House of Representatives. Most of these lobbyists are paid for by big coal and oil, and even if all of the green organizations in the country pooled their resources it would not match one month's quarterly profit from Exxon. If we leave the future of the planet up to paid lobbying we have a predictably bleak future, he said.

He went on to say that money has enormous influence in Washington DC. North Dakota is afraid to make the transition from coal to something else. 2009 was the first year that there were more wind jobs than coal jobs in the country. There has been a failure of citizens to generate enough will to influence the decisions of the politicians. Mr. Reynolds said that we need to do something useful and he wants to prepare attendees as if they were having a meeting with Senator Boxer to discuss climate change.

For 20 years CCL founder Marshall Saunders had spent time generating micro credit loans in third world countries. He went to the poorest of the poor. He lent women small amounts of money ($100 or less) to buy something to create a business in their village to lift them out of poverty. 99 percent of those loans were repaid. He has only lent to women and it has been extremely successful.

He considered the question “Did you do something useful with your life or do you just take up space?” He saw the movie An Inconvenient Truth. The climate issue always seemed too big to him. He said he tried to ignore the problem. After Marshall saw the movie he decided would have to throw himself into the climate issue the same way he had thrown himself into the poverty issue.

One question that was asked to the audience was, "What something does the person close to you have that has been important?" Reynolds had the audience pair up with someone near them, and discuss this with their “partners” in earnest.

Reynolds says that Citizens Climate Lobby exists to create the political will for a sustainable climate. Whatever they do is based upon whether or not it helps create sustainability. They also want to empower the community.

They create political will by getting as much time as possible with members of Congress, he said. They say you can meet with a staffer. If you consistently do that as a group and you are useful and create a partnership you will eventually get to meet with Senator Boxer. It will take a partnership to get this done.

The first thing a Congressman does each day is read the letters to the editor section of the paper.

“When we go to their office we show them letters to the editor from people who want things to change,” Reynolds said. This is used as a way to reach them. They go to members of every group and train people how to get press, to work to get time with Congressional members, get published regularly, and work to build a coalition of leaders to show Congress that if they do the right thing people will get behind them.

At this event, Reynolds focused only on the face to face time. The website has sample letters to leaders explaining why they should do the right thing and how to get to members of Congress.

Reynolds walked attendees through CCL’s meeting template. They don’t meet with anyone until they know what they admire and respect about them. They’re looking for common ground to work with them. They take the steps they can. They’re always looking for where they can find common ground with everyone. Carbons will kill us guaranteed. Nuclear power might. He says “We want you to research the crap out of people before you meet with them. Find out what is really interesting to them and what they have accomplished”. They practice all the time, and have a conference call once a month to try to expand members knowledge so that when they meet with the member of Congress they are giving them the most current accurate info. They practice how to speak about the issue. Having the facts is not always enough.

There are at least two camps on how you reduce emissions. One camp is “cap and trade”- you can trade your permits to other organizations. This has always included offsets. How are you going to manage that? Instead of setting up a managed system, CCL wants to put a fee at every oil well and coal mine, and keep increasing the price annually. Instead of buying permits you would get a rebate. Under any plan the price of energy has to go up. You can rebate a monthly dividend check that is greater than their increased energy cost. They are for 100 percent recycling of the revenue so all people get a bigger dividend then you pay for energy.

Next Reynolds went through how CCL members conduct meetings. They take the road of respect with the members of Congress: Tell them your purpose is to find out what their priorities are with energy and climate in the U.S. What do they like about it? Reynolds said he looks for where there is common ground and where he can make a few key points. Get a few points in while they are talking inside of what they are committed to doing with common goals.

Reynolds added that you have to be really good at listening. Listen, practice speaking effectively and take a course of options. 10,000 hours is the number of hours needed to be an expert at anything, although Reynolds said he doesn’t expect anyone to put in that amount of time toward this process. Congressmen don’t care about emails. Politicians are most impacted by handwritten letters. It makes a big difference. Ask for face-to-face time.

Reynolds closed by saying the world is looking at California as representative of America’s future. When we have AB 32 on the block, that will speak loudly to the world and the rest of the country. If we can’t hold that down then we’re in trouble, he said.

The 2006 law, known as AB 32, seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California and imposes new requirements on power plants, manufacturers and other businesses. A coalition of business groups headed by Tesoro Cos. and Valero Services have turned in signature petitions for a California Jobs Initiative for the November ballot that asks voters to consider putting the brakes on what the Associated Press calls “the nation's most far-reaching global warming law.”

The evening ended with some final announcements, including that the next Sacramento Sustainability Forum event will be on June 17, and will be held at Hot Italian in Sacramento, with three speakers talking about local food.

****

About Sacramento Sustainability Forum:

Leaders include Jacob Griscom, the Western Regional Manager for BetterWorld Telecom, a nationwide, carbon-neutral, full-service voice and data telecommunications carrier, Richard Noss, who co-founded Sacramento Green Drinks and is CEO of GreenVision, a company that provides environmentally responsible branded presentation packaging, Ben Phillips-Lesenana, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of eGreenItems, an eGreenPlanet, Inc. Company delivering eco-friendly and green solutions, and Jon Haas, the Sacramento Area Farmers' Market Manager for Healthy Gardens, a family run certified organic wholesale nursery.

Supporters include City of Sacramento, Environmental Council of Sacramento, SSB, Green Drinks Sacramento, AEP, Green Capital Alliance, Valley Vision, Sacramento Tree Foundation, Professional Environmental Marketing Association Sacramento Chapter, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, The Green Office, Green Sacramento, SARTA CleanStart, Kenyon/Yeates, Sacramento Business Journal, Solar Power, Michael Brandman Associates, Sacramento State College of Continuing Education, Marketing by Design, Business Council on Climate Change, The Urban Hive, LPA, Uptown Studios, Coalition on Regional Equity, CA Business Alliance for a Green Economy, California Product Stewardship Council, Verde Group, Ubuntu Green, downtowngrid.com Sacramento, Eco-Chic Design, Aztec Solar Inc., Cassia Communications.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM TEDX SACRAMENTO April 16 2010 at Hinde Auditorium, 6000 J Street Sacramento, CA 95819.

2010-04-22T06:06:17Z

April 16 marked the arrival of TEDx in Sacramento, bringing a “TED-like experience” to our area.

What is TED? TED stands for “Technology, Education, Design.” It is a small nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Started in 1984, its purpose has spread to include an annual U.S. conference in Long Beach as well as a TEDGlobal conference in the United Kingdom, a TEDTalks online video site, an annual TED Prize, a nationwide local program called TEDx and more.

Per TEDx Sacramento, “The TEDx Conference provided a license and general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.”

Brandon Weber, TEDx Sacramento curator, said the local team wanted to create a special event to “lay the foundation for a strong TEDx presence in Sacramento…to contribute to the dialogue of ideas and encourage creativity, innovation and action in our beloved city.”

The event was held at the Hinde Auditorium at California State University, Sacramento, to a packed house of several hundred registrants, and the program was recorded for subsequent online viewing.

Weber started the program by saying TEDsters are in a class of their own, that TED conferences are a mix of things and that we would be watching live video from other TEDx conferences in addition to live multimedia presentations.

The first presentation was a video called “Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different?” The focus of the video was that sometimes we have to go to the other side of the world to realize assumptions that we didn’t realize we had. Whatever brilliant ideas you have – the opposite may also be true. An example was shown of how addresses are determined in the United States versus in Japan. U.S. blocks don’t have names, streets have names. In Japan, blocks have names and the streets are the unnamed places between the blocks. Street numbers are based on when the homes were built.

Next was a live presentation titled “David Mogavero: An American Frontier.” Mogavero is senior principal at Mogavero Notestine Associates, with special expertise in the areas of ecological building, environmental planning, infill development, urban design and energy-efficient design.

Mogavero said the suburbs are a unique American institution, generating vast amounts of appreciation and scorn. Suburbs are the most inefficient form of human habitation ever done on earth, and an important place for focusing on environmental change in America, he said.
He started his practice by doing passively heated homes for people moving back to the land, mostly hippies. He realized that if he was going to be an ecoarchitect he had to work in the fabric of the community. He has done infill work in Sacramento and throughout Northern California.

The quantity of issues relative to urban sprawl are immense. People are moving back to urban America in large quantities, mostly in central cities. This has both limitations and opportunities for capturing infill growth.

In Sacramento, we build on average about 10,000 homes per year. Sacramento can only handle 19,000 new units – about two years of growth. The opportunity is tens of thousand of acres of underutilized areas such as parking lots, vacant housing and shopping center spaces, which can be eliminated for hundreds of thousands of houses and apartments.

When you have to design in these kinds of situations, you take the perspective of “do no harm.” You’re trying to instill more density but have an industrial complex that causes you to be creative. As an example, there is a commercial district in Yuba City – an opportunity to put people in a place with a services available now.

For Mogavero this is like jazz, which emerged from a convergence of cultures. Architectural development design is fascinating and fun for him for reasons like this: With a 10- or 15-acre site in the suburbs, you can integrate food into the project through agriculture. A community can be involved in the growing of food. There is also an opportunity for technology, which is more challenging in the city. Holistic integrated systems flowing back and forth continuously are possible in such areas. This is one of the most exciting venues in American building culture.

Next shown was a video titled “David Gallo: Underwater Astonishments.” Diving into the deep sea is a dark black world. We’ve only explored about 3 percent of the oceans. We don’t know much about this planet at all.

We are learning lots from the shallow water, which is full of predators that can change color & texture to match surroundings, but the deeper water still leaves much to be explored.

The Gallo Video proved a good precursor to Sacramento guitarist Ross Hammond, who received the Best Area Jazz Musician award for 2008 and 2009 from “Sacramento News and Review.” Hammond gave a spirited performance that integrated sound system issues that would affect the evening’s musical interludes.

The music was followed by another video, this one titled “Kirk Citron: And Now, the Real News.” The top story of this year was the economy. What kind of stories might make a difference for the future?

Some include the invasion of the nanobees, China’s rising, food shortage, the age of discovery, an ant mega-colony taking over the world or self-directed robots making discoveries. With or without us, life will go on.

For Citron, the top story was that water was found on the moon. In the long run, some stories will be more important than others.

Next was a live presentation titled “Ron Vrilakas: The Great Green City.” Vrilakas is an architect who likes buildings. He is working on what he loves, which is trying to build a great green city. He comes from West Sacramento, a place that has failed to solve how housing and commercial roads should come together. He spent eight or nine years avoiding going to Sacramento. He learned some things along the way about what makes cities exciting and green. We have been out of sync building cities over the past number of years, he said.

Once there was a way – we knew how to build the Great Green City. We used to build communities commonly, but technology got us away from earlier ambition and we turned in another direction. Things were cut off from each other by highways. Simple basic community-oriented buildings were changed. Places to gather and take pride in your city became places like retail with parking lots.

In 50 or 60 years, we’ve lost the ability to build things like McClatchy High School. We couldn’t do now what was done then on six sheets. He showed a picture of a bicyclist who will hopefully survive the Freeport Bakery parking lot.

An urban memory – he tries to find ways to reintroduce these things into our environment. Streets need to be for people. Emptyness in a block is a bad thing. Menacing facades are an embarrassment.

Preserving the past is something Vrialas said he believes strongly in. We need to cherish historic landmarks, adapt for activity, create the unexpected (alleys in Sacramento can become a network of interest within our grid) and resist demolition. Underutilized places need to be identified. Single-use is not good – everything must be a mixed-use environment. Empty spaces need to be change to active places.

History forward – Vrialas said he believes we find the identity of our city in the past. Getting to know oneself is how you make something. San Francisco has its identity, as do Seattle, Berkeley, Boston, Portland and Paris – all of the best of an urban life put together. In Sacramento we have a real history to build upon.

He looks to buildings for stories. We’ve been building cities for thousands of years, but we’ve only been building in a suburban manner for past 60 years, and we’ve been getting it wrong. We don’t have to look for a technological fix. We can have the fix in the way we organize ourselves – an urban design ethic that is important for human civilization.

Next came a video titled “Dean Ornish: Your Genes Are Not Your Fate.” The video offered encouragement for a healthy lifestyle. When you eat better, exercise and love more, the benefits can be measured. Topics covered things to do to grow your blood cells and things to make it worse. You age less quickly when you change your lifestyle. Arteries become notably less clogged, you can stop breast cancer, change prostate growth and even change sexual potency.

You can change genes, turn on the good genes and turn off the disease-promoting genes. We all have genetic profiles, but our genes are not our fate. We can also change how our genes are expressed.

It was now time for another musical performance, this one from Autumn Sky, who said, “My name is Autumn Sky. Really.” She and her guitar ,which she has named Samuel Taylor, performed and sang whimsically.

Next, it was back to the green theme, with a video titled “Catherine Mohr: Building Green.” Mohr explores energy usage depending upon what she uses to wipe up a spill. Sometimes the things you least expect have the greatest effect.

Mohr wanted to know how to achieve a green lifestyle. The average house has 300 megawatts of embodied energy. Some ideas she explored were deconstruction of the house, putting in a rainwater catchment, alternative roofing and framing, if putting aluminum windows will double the energy use and others.

Following that, it was time for another live presentation, “Chris Schuring Recycles Carbon.” Schuring's company, Ternion Bio Industries Inc., grows algae in a controlled environment to reduce carbon.

Schuring asked, “Why do you do what you do? Why do we want to build better cities, to go green?” He said he believes it’s because we inherently want to do better in our lives, be smart and leave a better legacy. There is a sense of camaraderie, of community. It’s me and you in the solutions we come up with. He did it because he thought reducing greenhouse gases and carbon footprints would be great.
Lots of people don’t want to do these things. People won’t care about what you do until you care about why. If we come together as humans, we can bring communities together to effect change.

Schuring has a personal goal to help 100 entrepreneurs start businesses to effect change in the next 18 months.

Next came a very cute video titled “Rives: Mixed Emoticons.” Rives – star of the Bravo special, "Ironic Iconic America," told a typographical fairy tale that was short and bittersweet.

After this short bit of comic relief came another live presentation titled “Robyn Waxman: F.A.R.M.” Waxman is an award-winning designer, activist, farmer, educator and founding member of graphic communication program at Sacramento City College.

Waxman looked at design’s role in the last 10 years. Moving more into letting other people design for themselves as the role of the designer seems to be the direction the industry is headed. She produced a 56-page tabloid on how to make your own farm. Millenial farmers have built Farm Davis on eighth and K streets. They have donated more than 100 pounds of food, or half of their production. The other half they ate. The farm runs on a gift economy without a budget. The space is on a privately owned front yard.

A similar Sacramento farm is coming May 2010 at 13th and C streets in Alkali Flats.

Up next was another video, titled, “Julian Treasure: 4 Ways Sound Affects Us.” Treasure said he wants to transform our relationship with sound, which has become largely unconscious. There are four ways sound affects us:

Physiological – an affect on breathing, heart rate and brainwaves.

Psychological – musical has the greatest effect. Music and bird sounds are reassuring.

Cognitive – you have to choose what to listen to. We have limited bandwith to decide which sound to listen to. People are one third as productive in open rooms as private rooms.

Behaviorally – move away from unpleasant sounds and toward pleasant sounds.

Most retail sound is unpleasant, with retailers losing 30 percent of their business because the sound is so dreadful. Treasure's company has developed a SoundFlow to design soundscapes. Music is powerful. Every brand is making sounds right now. Several well-known brand jingles were used as examples. There are four golden rules for commercial sound:

Make it congruent

Make it appropriate

Make it valuable

Test it, and test it again

We can achieve sound living through good use of sound

Another video followed, titled, “Alan Siegl: Simplifying Legal Jargon.” It takes a blizzard of paperwork to get benefits or a business loan. Siegl has been simplifying things for 35 years. He didn’t see why we couldn’t have a simple one-page consumer credit agreement, so he created one.

He seeks to define terms in plain English. Plain English is about changing the content. An agreement for IBM was received very favorably by businesses. IRS letters are pretty unintelligible, and he proposed changes to the IRS.

We must make clarity, transparency and empathy national priorities. We should not do business with those using unintelligible provisions.

It was then time for another musical interlude, this time from Sacramento musician Julie Ann Bee, titled “Sea of Bees.” Bee’s first full-length album is about to be released by Davis-based Crossbill Records. She performed two songs.

The next live presentation was titled “Scott and Julie Brusaw: Solar Roadways”, and was presented by Scott, an electrical engineer with more than 20 years of experience who hails from northern Idaho. They have spent years working on the concept of a solar-powered roadway system.

The Brusaws spent a lot of time together 30 years ago. His favorite toy then was a slotcar. He thought, “What if we made real roads electric?”

They discussed how there is no easy solution to global warning and other issues, including that 65,000 children die each day because they can’t get clean drinking water.

Couldn’t you make electric roads out of solar panels? Could they make solar panels you can drive on?

They said they believe so. There are some problems, but they aren’t insurmountable. We can’t let snow build on it, so he put heating element on the surface. He put LEDs on there to light it up, a microprocessor so all panels can talk to each other even with cars traveling overhead. The system can even warn drivers of animals on the road.

Storm water spills right into a nearby body of water. What if we could route that to a filtration system and send it for reuse? We can put power cables on the shoulder instead of in the air. We can grind up recyclables to use.

Brusaw started a website, and Treehugger.com picked it up. He received an e-mail from Booz Allen Hamilton – one of the biggest consulting firms in the nation. They now have four sample panels in their lab.

Brusaw has received a research grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and has built a 12-foot-by-12-foot prototype. He said panels could be used in playgrounds and parking lots. See more at solarroadways.com.

Up next was another live presentation, “David Garibaldi: Paints with Passion and Purpose.” Garabaldi throws paint around and sweats profusely. He started about six and a half years ago. It was graffiti, and it was illegal. During his junior year of high school, he was introduced to animation. By senior year he wasn’t able to graduate on time. He was creating art out of the environments he was in.
Garabaldi called his show “Rhythm and Hue.” He created pop icon paintings on blank black canvas. Santana popped up behind him at halftime at a Golden State Warriors game.

In March 2005, he asked if his art could do more than entertain. Can it benefit and inspire others? He has been able to help raise $500,000 for charities and organizations through spending $200 and painting on stage. He changed why he was doing it.

Each of us has passion and purpose. We can be creative, charitable, profitable and grow algae. He said we all need to keep going to put bigger purpose behind our passion.

Finally, a video titled “Derek Sivers: How to start a movement,” was shown. The video made its point showing a group of young adults in action. A leader needs the guts to stand out and show everyone else how to follow. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. Then comes a second follower. New followers emulate the other followers, not the leader. As more people join in, it’s less risky to join in. Eventually, all who don’t join in would be subject to ridicule.

Nurture your first few followers, he advised. Leadership is over-glorified. It was really the first follower who transformed the first nut into a leader. Have the courage to follow, and show others how to follow. TED is the perfect place to do that.

All in all, this was an extremely varied, educational and entertaining multimedia extravaganza. It was also announced that there are plans for another event in November, so stay tuned.

More information about TED can be found at ted.com, and more about TEDx Sacramento can be found at tedxsacramento.com.

PowerSurge highlights clean tech enterprises at McClellan Park

2010-04-09T03:44:44Z

This Tuesday, clean tech players from around the region will gather to discuss the latest industry buzz at CleanStart’s PowerSurge networking mixer at McClellan Park. The event includes a tour of Technikon’s Renewable Energy Testing Center (RETC) as well as several other clean tech businesses located in McClellan Park. Featured speakers include Robert Weisenmiller, who was recently appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger as one of the five commissioners for the California Energy Commission (CEC) and Kristine Mazzei, partner at Valley Vision, a nonprofit association working to secure the social, environmental and economic health of the Sacramento Region.

"The Sacramento Region's clean technology industry sector is experiencing rapid growth. There are now nearly 100 clean tech companies in the region which is far more than the 29 that existed just four years ago," stated Meg Arnold, SARTA CEO. "SARTA's CleanStart program and our partners at Green Capital Alliance find great satisfaction in knowing that our public-private coalition of organizations, by collectively executing on our common set of goals, has helped to make this happen.”

CleanStart chose McClellan Park as the venue for PowerSurge because it is becoming a hotbed of clean tech and green focused companies. Tenant Advanced Data Centers is one of only six LEED Platinum Data centers in the country and was the first to qualify. Solar Power Inc., N Solar Inc. and EPOD Solar Inc. recently announced their intentions to build facilities at McClellan Park.

“McClellan Park has embraced green technology, recycling, and sustainable energy sources. In cooperation with Sacramento County, SHRA, SARTA and SMUD we make every effort to make McClellan as green and clean as possible,” said Larry Kelley, President of McClellan Park. “As a Superfund site we embarked on a program to turn a brown field into a sustainable attractive location that is a model for reuse--the ultimate in recycling and redevelopment. In addition to the cleaning of soil and remediation that has taken place and will take place over the coming years, with the support of the our Congressional Representatives, the US Air Force, the Environmental Protection Agency, Cal EPA, and the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment, we have been able to add new roadways, and infrastructure, remediate and reuse the property. In the process we have recycled concrete pads and buildings into road base, reducing material that would otherwise go to landfills. In the near future we are installing our first covered parking with solar panels. Our commitment to sustainability and green technology is paying off. We are truly the center for green technology in our region.”

McClellan Park clean tech and green focused tenants include Technikon, Renewable Energy Institute International (REII), Ternion Bio Industries, Pacific Renewable Fuels, Sierra Energy Corp., ZETA Communities, Fiberwood LLC, SunEdison, Visions Recycling Inc, Beutler Heating and Air Conditioning and Advanced Data Centers.

“The growing clean tech industry in Sacramento is getting some real traction with a total of 13,000 jobs associated with it,” said Gary Simon, Chairman of SARTA’s CleanStart Program. “McClellan has become a great place for companies to get economical space to grow and expand. There alone, we are expecting to see more than 200 jobs added in the near future.” CleanStart provides coaching and support to clean technology ventures in the region to help them succeed. CleanStart is also the organizer of the annual Sacramento Clean Tech Showcase at Sacramento State, which attracted over 700 attendees last year.

PowerSurge is expected to attract nearly 200 people engaged in the clean tech industry in the Sacramento region.

PowerSurge Event Details
Date: Tuesday April 13 from 5 to 8 pm
Location: McClellan Park, Lions Gate Garden Pavilion, 5640 Dudley Blvd., McClellan, CA 95652
Cost: General Admission: $30, SARTA Member $15, Full-Time Student/Faculty $15
For more information or to register visit www.cleanstart.org

About SARTA
SARTA (Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance) is a tech-focused 501(c)(3) corporation that supports entrepreneurial programs, companies and technology investment throughout Butte, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.
SARTA’s mission is to accelerate the growth and development of technology companies and the technology sector in the Sacramento region. SARTA connects and provides resources for the region’s high-tech entrepreneurs, investors, business, non-profit, economic development and community leaders, supporting its goal to attract $1 billion in investment capital to the region. SARTA also provides high-tech entrepreneurs, executives, and other business and community leaders with connectivity and resources for growth, networking, and educational opportunities.

Green Summit Opens Tuesday

2010-03-17T23:29:43Z

The 2010 Green California Summit and Exposition opened on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 for two days at the Sacramento Community Center. Pre-Summit workshops were held on Monday. This year's theme is Committed to Sustainability and features education programs, awards and over 175 exhibitors. Admission to the exhibits and keynote presentations is free.

Tuesday's expo opened with comments from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and expo co-chair, Linda Adams, Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Senator Fran Pavley, author of AB 32, was the first keynote speaker. Pavley spoke about the current campaign to set aside AB 32 and defended the provisions of the Act with a Top Ten List of reasons to support AB 32.

Senator Fran Pavley, Tuesday keynote speaker

The second keynote speaker was 15-year-old Alec Loorz, founder of the non-profit organization, Kids-vs-Global Warming. Loorz spoke passionately about his generation's interest in fighting global warming. He developed an interest in climate change when he was 12 years old after viewing Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Loorz described his attempts to register as a trainer for Al Gore's organization, only to be turned down because of his age. He eventually met Al Gore and was invited to become an official trainer. Loorz has spoken to over 25,000 people and received a standing ovation from the audience when he finished his presentation.

Alec Loorz, Tuesday keynote speaker

Wednesday's scheduled keynote speakers will be Karen Douglas, Chairperson of the California Energy Commission, and F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10.

The exhibit hall featured booths and demonstrations of a variety of environmental products and services. Some of the technologies on display included electric motorcycles and scooters, fuel cell automobiles, recycling services, electrical and water conservation products and landscaping alternatives.

The Green Expo exhibit hall

Chris White from the California Fuel Cell Partnership shows off a fuel cell vehicle

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the exhibit floor on Tuesday morning, stopping at several booths as he walked around the expo. After his tour, Schwarzenegger defended AB 32 and said green technologies were one of the few areas producing new jobs.

Governor Schwarzenegger greets students from Paradise Intermediate School

A multimedia presentation of the Green California Summit and Expo can be viewed here.

Photos by Ron Nabity

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

2009-12-29T00:19:54Z

The City of Sacramento is proud to offer many options for our customers to recycle their Christmas trees.

Preparing Your Holiday Tree for Recycling

Cut trees longer than 6 feet into 3-foot or shorter pieces.
Remove trees from stands or plastic bags.
Remove ornaments, lights, nails, tinsel and metal rod supports from trees.
Artificial trees will not be accepted.

Containerized Yard Waste Customers

Option 1: After cutting your tree into 3-foot or shorter pieces, place your holiday tree in your yard waste container. Make sure the trimmed pieces fit completely into the container with the lid closed

Option 2: Place your tree out for loose-in-the-street collection by 6:00am on your regular collection day the week of January 11, 2010.

Option 3: Take your holiday tree, free of charge, to one of the drop off events.

Loose-in-the-Street Customers (Does not apply to Containerized Customers)

Place your tree out for loose-in-the-street collection by 6:00am on your regular collection day.

Private Streets and Gated Communities

Residents who do not participate in Lawn and Garden Service are prohibited from placing their holiday tree on any City street. Improper disposal of holiday trees on City streets is considered illegal dumping (a misdemeanor) and is punishable with a fine and jail time.

Option 1: Work with your homeowners association to rent a “debris box” by calling (916) 808-4939. Depending on availability, a debris box may be delivered within two business days (advanced reservations are welcome.).

The debris boxes we have available for rental are:
30 yard: $368.01/week(18’L x 8’W x 6’H)
40 yard: $471.31/week(24’L x 8’W x 6’H)
The debris box will remain on-site for a period of one week. Delivery and collection are included in the cost. It’s that simple!

Option 2: Take your holiday tree, free of charge, to one of the drop off events.

For more information about recycling items from the holiday season, please visit www.cityofsacramento.org/utilities.

City's ill-conceived utility code encourages scavenging, marginalizes Homeless.

2009-12-01T20:30:31Z

Collection day morning in Midtown. Heralded once again by the clatter of shopping cart wheels, arguments over territory rights, and cans and bottles strewn about makeshift recycling centers upon the front yards of residents.

The Police are powerless. Worse, the City of Sacramento’s utility code unwittingly encourages marginalization of the Homeless. By providing residents no choice in how their recyclables are reclaimed, and no alternative to a monthly fee for recycling pick up, Sacramento residents automatically subsidize the burgeoning activity of scavenging. Leaving many recycling bins nearly empty well before pick-up time, and many residents with increasing—and misplaced—animosity toward the Homeless.

It’s time to re-write this city’s utility code and the processes that it supports. And to redirect the average $1.00/week fee that residents are now charged toward social services assisting the Homeless.

Only in this way can we halt the creation of a quasi-legal business that divides the Homeless against themselves, divides residents against those who have none, and encourages violation of the very laws of our city, including those which subsidize scavenging in the first place.

True, a large percentage of the Homeless population falls through the ever-widening tears in our tattered social service safety net. But others fashion tools and contrivances, and keep regular and rigorous schedules, in pursuit of something very different than subsistence: profit outside the system. Most residents have seen ample evidence of this while going about their daily business, while others have actually been approached directly and ‘encouraged’ to form an exclusive scavenging contract between themselves and a scavenger.

Utility code reform is a chance for us to assist everyone in need. Regardless of their gender, age, and—especially—their physical ability to scavenge.

The environment suffers, too, from the current situation. In an effort to reduce scavenging and trespassing, some Midtown residents have ceased recycling entirely and now bury their recyclables in the trash. Others redeem recyclables on their own, but are forced to pay for services unused. Still others, acting primarily on fear of trespassers, hide the bins far from the street, covered in blankets or tucked into dark corners, unused.
Let us now fulfill our responsibility to those less fortunate than ourselves, and do so in a manner that does not directly undermine the laws that we all, the Homeless included, rely upon for our survival.

Let us encourage the City of Sacramento to re-write the utility codes that currently mandate fees for recycling collection, regardless of use, and let us direct those revenues toward immediate support of Homeless social services.

We must now end the perpetuation of ill-conceived and outdated processes that divide—with ever-increasing acrimony—the people against themselves.

Discussion grows over Nestle water bottling plant

2009-10-26T04:53:25Z

Discussion over a Nestlé water-bottling plant appears to be growing in Sacramento, as the Swiss multinational prepares a facility for operation and new hires begin work.

The Sacramento City Council, which was not involved in the decision to approve the plant, will discuss the issue publicly for the first time after a request two weeks ago by council members Kevin McCarty and Lauren Hammond. They asked the council to consider an emergency ordinance requiring a special permit before Nestlé Waters North America begins bottling city tap water and spring water at a plant in South Sacramento.

Such a permit could "trigger" an environmental analysis of this and future facilities, McCarty said Wednesday night at Crest Theatre, where he and 165 others watched "Tapped," a documentary on the bottled water industry.

Save Our Water Sacramento, a group formed last month to oppose the plant, also is seeking a temporary City Council moratorium on beverage bottling plants in Sacramento.

"Ultimately, Save Our Water wants to see the Nestlé plant stopped," said Midtown resident Jenny Esquivel, a leader of the organization.

That group and others have begun raising questions and concerns about the plant and the bottled water industry. Primary concerns include the lack of an environmental impact study and information about the operation, impacts of extracting and bottling a potentially unlimited amount of water, and the commercialization of a natural resource, representatives said.

"Nestlé just got kicked out of McCloud. The final nail in the coffin was when the attorney general sent them that letter demanding they do a proper, more rigorous environmental review," Esquivel said. "Rather than do that, what Nestlé did was pick up that project and move to Sacramento.

"It's not like those environmental issues disappear," she said.

Attorney General Jerry Brown threatened to sue the company in 2008 over an inadequate environmental review of its plan to bottle spring water in McCloud, near Mount Shasta. On Sept. 10, Nestlé Waters Chief Executive Officer Kim Jeffery sent a letter to the McCloud community announcing that the company was abandoning the project.

"Earlier this summer, we were able to secure a new facility in Sacramento to serve our customers in Northern California," he wrote. "As a result, and after conducting a thorough analysis of our business operations in the region, we have determined that the Sacramento plant production will replace the production we expected in McCloud and therefore we do not have a need to build a new facility in McCloud.”

Several companies bottle water in Sacramento, where water is "ridiculously cheaper" than other areas of the country because of the city's location at the confluence of two rivers, McCarty said.

Nestlé continues retrofit, hiring

Supporters point to the financial and economic benefits the plant could bring. Nestlé plans to spend $14 million to retrofit an industrial facility at 8670 Younger Creek Road and to create 40 new jobs, said Jim Rinehart, the city's economic development manager. That doesn't include equipment costs, he added.

In addition, Nestlé is using about 16 construction workers to modify the 214,000-square-foot building and install equipment for two production lines, plus contractors and skilled tradespeople to make the facility operational, according to Rinehart and a company Web site.

The warehouse was nothing more than four walls, a ceiling and a floor when Nestlé's lease began two months ago. Crews are halfway through building warehouse docks, reinforcing concrete flooring to support heavy equipment, and building a front office, lab, and areas for manufacturing, chemical storage and shipping, said Chris Kemp, a project manager who has overseen manufacturing and quality assurance at Nestlé facilities since 2002.

The amount of tap water bottled by Nestlé would not be limited by the city. Nestlé has reported different figures for the amount of water that would be bottled each year. The company has told the city's utilities department that it would "consume" 250 acre feet — nearly 82 million gallons — as well as 78 million to 117 million gallons a year, and bottle that under its Pure Life brand. Consumers would pay about $111 million to $166 million for that amount of Pure Life water.

Nestlé expects to bottle 30 million gallons of Sacramento tap water in 2010, Kemp said. Existing water pipes could bring 250 acre feet of water to the warehouse if operations were run 24 hours a day all year, he said, adding that's expected during peak months, but not the rest of the year.

Nestlé can't say how much Sacramento water it'd use annually after the first year, Kemp said, adding only sales will determine that.

In this state, water isn't just critical to all life. It's also big business.

"California runs on three things: energy, information and water," said Richard Howitt, a UC Davis water economist who said the amount of city water Nestlé wants isn't considered large. "A million gallons sounds like a lot, but in the grand scheme, it's really not."

Globally, the company used 10.82 billion gallons of water in 2006 and sold $10 billion of water under different brand names in 2007, according to a report from Food and Water Watch in Washington, D.C. Nestlé sold at least $997 million of water in this country in 2007, making it the top bottled water company here.

Groups Oppose Water's Commercialization

Food and Water Watch and other organizations are fighting the commercialization of drinking water, which occurs when water that is free or accessible at a very low cost through a government treatment system is instead bottled and sold at market price.

"It's not just happening in Sacramento and California. It's happening all over the country and all over the world: A corporation like Nestlé is beginning to get a stranglehold by setting the price for water," said Ruth Caplan, past chairwoman of the Sierra Club's water privatization task force. "So people who can afford the price will get the water. And people who can't afford the price will have to choose between water and food, and that's really about life and death.

"Many of us believe water is a fundamental right for people and nature," she said.

When asked for Nestlé's response to the concern that access to water is a human right, Kemp said the company doesn't have any water rights in Sacramento.

"The city plans for the growth of residents and businesses. We feel we're part of that growth in the city of Sacramento," he said.

Concerned residents such as the people who formed Save Our Water Sacramento have sought information about the plant since the city and the Sacramento Area Commerce & Trade Organization announced Nestlé's plans in July. Group members said they were given the runaround after asking for specifics about jobs and other logistics, so they began requesting public documents, Esquivel said.

The company has filled 11 of the 40 jobs expected to be created by the plant. Seven hires are local residents, including two plant managers and a lead mechanic, and the other four transferred here, Rinehart said.

The four who already worked for Nestlé include Kemp, who plans to move here permanently to manage the plant; a logistics manager; a controller; and a mechanic with ties to Northern California. Two others on the plant management team — a technical operations manager and a female quality assurance manager — come from cities 30 minutes north or 60 minutes south of Sacramento, Kemp said.

"We can't restrict our hiring search to candidates in a given Zip code or a given city," he said.

The 11 hires will have started working by Monday and will help set up the facility. Nestlé will hire an additional 29 people, whose permanent positions will begin Nov. 30 or Dec. 7.

The plant is targeted to begin operation by January and is expected to require 100 trucks per day in the peak season, generally May through Labor Day. Fifty trucks a day will suffice when there's less demand. Seven to 10 seasonal workers are expected to be hired during peak times, Kemp said.

Neither Nestlé nor the city's Economic Development Department would disclose the rate paid to lease the building from Buzz Oates Real Estate Co. Taxpayers will benefit from possessory interest taxes, a tenant's equivalent to property taxes, and sales tax on the water, because Sacramento is considered the point of sale, Rinehart said.

Groups concerned about the plant and the bottled water industry say the lack of information from Nestlé is one of the company's and industry's primary problems. City Department of Utilities staff did not respond to requests for information about the city's water sources.

But according to the department's Web site, 85 percent of the city's water supply comes from the American and Sacramento rivers. The other 15 percent comes from underground aquifers.

Food and Water Watch is sponsoring a California bottled water bill, AB 301, recently re-introduced by state Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes. The measure would require water-bottling businesses to report the amount of water bottled each year, the source of the water and the location of each extraction point, and for the information to be available to the public through the state Department of Public Health.

Bottling water raises concerns

Water is a natural resource that should be managed sustainably, said Mark Schlosberg, western regional director for Food and Water Watch. Water from aquifers, where rainwater is stored underground, can recharge some streams during dry spells. Aquifers also provide water for springs and wetlands. A limited amount of water can be pumped from aquifers before their levels drop, he said.

Pumping systems take water that falls to the ground in Northern California and distribute that to the Central Valley and Southern California, Schlosberg said.

"In California, water's very connected," he said. "If you have a lot of these little straws coming in and sucking up water, it can add up to a lot. Also, this is a time when we're asking everyone in California to conserve water."

People have a right to know how the extraction of that much water during a continued drought may impact the Sacramento River Valley, Sacramento residents and wildlife, as well as the water rate residents will pay, said Schlosberg and Caplan.

"There has to be CEQA review of these sites," Caplan said, referring to the California Environmental Quality Act.

Nestlé's plans were announced in July. Last week, Mayor Kevin Johnson said he'd prefer to have information on such facilities before they're approved by city staff.

"When Nestlé can take water -- our water -- and sell it at a price, that’s a little bit concerning to me, just in general. What are those parameters in what they can and cannot do?" he asked at a press conference. "And... do they have caps in terms of what their limitations may or may not be? Those are two concerns that the public is bringing forward, and I think they’re very valid."

Nestlé has followed all Sacramento regulations, gotten the required permits and provided the city with requested information, said Kemp, adding that a full environmental impact report was not required.

Mass production of the water bottles that would be required to hold even 50 million gallons of water, transportation of those bottles and the trash they'd create also troubles people alarmed by the growing industry.

Save Our Water Sacramento estimates that 800 million half-litre water bottles would need to be produced to hold 50 million gallons. Kemp and another Nestlé spokesperson disputed that number. After agreeing to provide the company's estimate, they later said that wasn't possible.

More than 400,000 barrels of oil would go into making that many bottles, according to Save Our Water Sacramento. Americans drinking bottled water in 2006 disposed of more than 30 billion bottles in 2006, 86 percent of which go to landfills rather than being recycled, according to Food and Water Watch. That group estimated that 7.86 billion bottles could have come from Nestlé.

The safety of drinking bottled water also is a growing concern, according to these groups.

Tap water is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state and local governments, and is rigorously tested in government-certified labs. There is little to no government testing of bottled water, which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, according to Food and Water Watch.

Researchers are studying chemicals used to make water bottles and other products. Phthalate, often used in soft plastic bottles, has been shown to leach into bottle contents and to increase the risk of cancer and to cause liver and reproductive problems, according to these groups. Often used in hard plastics to make five-gallon water jugs for offices, Bisphenol-A, or BPA, is an estrogenlike chemical which studies are linking to a host of problems in children and adults, including decreased sperm counts, accelerated puberty, aggression, hyperactivity, and increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Bottled water consumption has increased in the last decade but there hasn't been the political pressure to ensure enough federal funding to maintain municipal water treatment systems, said Caplan and Schlosberg. Nestlé executives have said projected problems with the breakdown of the water infrastructure have led to a very positive climate for bottled water, Caplan said.

"They're banking on people not wanting to drink tap water. That's their whole business plan, as far as I can tell," Caplan said. "People have been brainwashed into thinking bottled water is safer."

Photo by Eric Whalen. Sacramento Press reporter Kathleen Haley contributed to this report. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Ask Officer Michelle - One Man's Garbage is Another's Treasure

2009-06-29T01:50:57Z

Posted by R.G. Angel

Dear Officer Michelle,

I like to sleep with the windows slightly open in my room to allow fresh air in when I am sleeping. However, on garbage and recycle collection nights, I have been woken by the sounds of someone going through the recycle cans and collecting the cans and glass bottles.

I am wondering if there is someone I can call to report this or someway to have this issue looked into to.

Thanks,
~Angel

Dear R.G. Angel,

This is a common problem. If you live in the city limits, you can call the Police Department’s non-emergency number at 264-5471 and request an officer be dispatched. There is an ordinance that makes it illegal to rummage through recyclables. If you live in the county, call 874-5115 for their non-emergency number. Let the dispatcher know what is occurring. Try to get a description of the subject, whether he/she is on foot or riding a bike, etc. The responding officer will stop and contact the subject. Some of the people are harmless and are only there to collect your recyclables to make money. There are others, however, who use the opportunity to look further onto your porch, in your vehicles and anywhere else an opportunity presents itself.

On a side note, be mindful of open windows. If it is the window in your room, that is one thing, but I would caution you about leaving other windows in your house open while you are sleeping. We have had cases of “cat burglars” who could make their way into homes through an open window. There are window locks you can install that allow you to open your windows a few inches so that you can still enjoy the delta breezes.

Take care,

Officer Michelle

Company processes recyclables at "Willy Wonka-like" facility

2009-05-12T02:26:25Z

The newspaper you just threw in your recycling bin begins a wild new life if it’s processed at a recycling center on Fruitridge Road in Sacramento.

That’s because newspapers, soda cans, cardboard boxes and all kinds of recyclable goods move through a huge, mechanical system at the Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station owned by BLT Enterprises.

Midtown businessman and environmentalist Scott Smithline describes BLT’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) system as a “Willy Wonka-like” process for recyclables.

At the end of their journey at the MRF, the recyclables are combined by type.

General Manager Kurt Standen explained that the materials are “squashed into these rectangular bales that weigh about 1,300 pounds a piece.”

While chocolate and magic are not part of the mix at BLT’s center, the MRF is a little bit like Roald Dahl’s chocolate factory because it takes materials through many twists and turns and spits them out into something new.

Each day, the MRF turns about 500 tons of your recyclables into massive bundles that are then sold to paper mills, metal recycling companies, and other firms, Standen said.

BLT Enterprises is a privately owned company that contracts with the city, county and other clients to collect and sell recyclables, noted Standen.

The facility takes in recyclables such as cardboard, paper, aluminum, plastics, tin cans and glass.

During a tour of the recycling facility last week, staffers from The Sacramento Press observed some out-of-the-ordinary transformations of ordinary household items.

Editorial staffer Jonathan Mendick saw a recyclable item create a pink cloud as it was processed through a machine. The cloud appeared to come from a pink wiry rope that got stuck on its way through the machine, Mendick said.

The MRF includes machines called “screens” that sift recyclables into groups. Standen explained that the screens consist of discs attached to rotating shafts. Visitors to the site can watch the materials jump into the air.

“Larger pieces of paper and cardboard kind of walk up (the screen),” he said, “and that’s what you’re seeing popping up there; it looks like popcorn in a sense.”

The screened recyclables are moved onto conveyor belts. Workers staff the conveyors and remove trash, contaminated materials, and any recyclables that don’t belong in the screened group, Standen explained.

Another striking feature of the MRF is a large magnet that gathers metal items.

Geoff Samek, editor-in-chief of The Sacramento Press, was amused at the sight of a can of beans moving toward the magnet.

The recession has caused BLT some headaches with its inventory and sales. “It’s been very rough, but we do have people that work constantly trying to make deals for material,” Standen said. “And we’ve been able to sell it.”

At the end of October and November, BLT’s facility became crowded with inventory that wasn’t selling, he said.

After the facility became full, BLT moved inventory to offsite locations in December and January. The company’s inventory filled about 40,000 square feet of space in two offsite locations.

“Things were rough,” Standen said, and the company needed to sell more of its materials. With so much excess inventory, the facility faced difficulties with space restraints and aging materials.

The company was able to sell all of its stored materials by dramatically lowering its prices, which Standen described as “very depressed.”

The sign of an improving economy will be when demand goes up, Standen said.

Still, the company was able to sell its stored materials, even though prices were low. BLT no longer has any material stored offsite, Standen noted.

“It’s still not where we want it, obviously, but it is getting better,” Standen said, adding that the company sells paper and cardboard to mills in China.

Some of the company’s other clients include Georgia-Pacific, a paper manufacturer, and JC Horizon LTD, an exporter of recyclables. Local companies, including Ming’s Recycling Company, also purchase recyclables from BLT.

BLT Enterprises offers tours of its recycling center. Call the company at 379-0500 to make an appointment.

*Photos by Anthony Bento

Unsustainable Waste Disposal Practices

2009-01-31T01:40:23Z

On January 15th, during a technical workshop that was poorly attended by the public and local media, the Sacramento City Council voted on a proposal that could wind up affecting the citizens of Sacramento for many years to come. The Council voted to table the City’s yearlong effort to replace the costly and environmentally detrimental practice of trucking Sacramento’s non-recyclable municipal solid waste (MSW) over the mountains to a landfill east of Reno, Nevada with a sustainable, less costly and more environmentally friendly waste-to-energy (WTE) approach.

Our Sacramento-based company, U.S. Science & Technology, submitted a proposal that was ultimately selected from among 11 responses to the city’s request for proposals. We were obviously disappointed in the Council’s decision to table any further action on this matter for the time being due to their concerns with the City’s handling of the vetting process. However, we remain committed to helping the City find alternative solutions to trucking and landfilling 400 tons of garbage each day. We also believe this can be done in a way that delivers significant economic benefits to Sacramento in the form of hundreds of jobs, substantial corporate tax revenues and millions of dollars in savings to ratepayers. Not a bad “green” deal in the midst of an economic crisis.

As many readers likely recall, over a year ago the City Council requested alternative proposals to the current unsustainable arrangement of shipping our non-recyclable trash to landfills. Understanding the city’s environmental and economic objectives, USST responded to the request with a proposal to implement a WTE facility using a state-of-the-art high-temperature gasification technology. This environmentally friendly and sustainable approach for disposing of the City’s municipal solid waste was approved time and time again by the City Council.

However, as the process unfolded, it became clear that some were unhappy with the process itself and there were a litany of city political concerns at play behind the scenes. All of this eventually led to the unfortunate tabling of the proposal.

We are engineers and scientists, not politicians, so it’s difficult for us to be certain exactly how and why this effort became so politicized and eventually got derailed. However, as a Sacramento-based company and as private citizens of this great city, we are concerned about what hasn’t been derailed: the trucking of this massive amount of non-recyclable waste to landfills over the mountains. We’ve presented an approach that would end this practice, to the benefit of the City, ratepayers and the environment. A high-temperature gasification WTE facility represents a scalable integration of proven technologies that, taken together, represents a practicable, safe, and efficient solution. The high-temperature gasification technology proposed by USST is proven, offers no financial risk to Sacramento, and is now being touted by many experts around the world as the best available technology for 100% conversion of garbage to commercial products like electricity and transportation fuels.

In fact, in an uncertain economic climate and in the midst of California’s unprecedented budget crisis, the proposed WTE facility would afford many benefits to the City:

A savings of millions of dollars for Sacramento citizens, notably on the trucking costs to Nevada;
The potential generation of substantial amounts of tax revenue for the city;
The creation of hundreds of new jobs throughout the conception, construction, and operation of the facility;
Assistance in helping the City meet its stated “green initiative” objectives; and
Quantifiable reduction of green house gas emissions and waste.

We are a local company of engineers, scientists and business leaders committed to environmental solutions in the waste-to-energy sector. We continue to offer a solution that we sincerely believe would be effective, environmentally and economically beneficial, and would present absolutely no financial risk to the City of Sacramento.

But regardless of the solution, Sacramento and its residents should not and cannot ignore the issue at hand. We hope the City Council puts this issue back at the forefront of the City agenda. In the meantime, we will continue exploring ways to help the city meet its environmental and economic standards while also developing and delivering a feasible solution to the unsustainable practice of landfilling 400 tons of Sacramento’s non-recyclable waste each and every day.

A brush with death.

2009-01-24T00:37:24Z

Yesterday it rained in Sacramento. Yesterday I didn’t pay close enough attention to the weather forecast in Sacramento. Rather than parking near my office, I decided to park about a mile or so away and ride my skateboard in to work. It’s fun and gets me a little exercise. The ride in to work was quite pleasant. The ride back to my truck wasn’t so much, and the rain was not the worst part.

I left my office around 5 PM, at which point a steady rain was falling. Skateboarding in the rain sucks. Getting wet sucks, having your wheels get super slippery sucks. That would’ve been plenty to spoil what’s usually an enjoyable ride. Not only did I have to endure getting soaked and trying not to fall and bust my ass on the pavement, but I also dodged what could have been a quite unpleasant encounter.

I work in a building in downtown Sacramento. It’s also very near the river and Old Sacramento. These three elements make it prime territory for homeless people and crazy people… and often people that are a 1-2 punch of both. To skate from my building to my truck, I have to go along the river walk alongside the river. The river walk has lots of benches and open electrical sockets. This is practically a luxurious hotel to the homeless. They can sit on a bench and stare at the river and also plug in their stereos and listen to music. This is usually fine. I skate past homeless people every day who are just admiring the view and talking to their imaginary friends, no problem. I used to talk to myself too, but I was only 3 and tried not to do it in public or in a manner that made it appear I was arguing with myself.

So back to yesterday. As I said, it was rainy pretty steadily and I was skating down the river walk. On rainy days, the usual homeless folks are taking cover somewhere sheltered rather than hanging out getting rained on. This was the case as I started my way down. The river walk is probably about the length of two football fields and fairly slender. As I got about halfway down, I noticed that indeed not all the homeless folk had headed for cover. At the end of the river walk, I spotted one. This would usually not register as being anything of consequence; however, this gentleman was standing out in the rain wearing only a pair of denim pants. No shoes, no socks, no shirt of any kind, and due to his pants being drenched and sagging with water, I had a pretty good idea of the fact that he probably was going commando as well.

Perhaps it’s just me being a Nervous Ned, but when I spot a shirtless, shoeless man hanging out in the rain after the sun has gone down, it raises a bit of a red flag. You don’t hear many stories of a shoeless, shirtless man out in the rain changing your grandma’s flat tire on the side of the road. I spotted the dude quite a ways away and at first thought that perhaps he was just a highly fashionable gentleman wearing a skin tight ostrich leather coat and Italian leather shoes. As you now know, that wasn’t the case. When I got about 30 yards away, he had done a sufficient amount of pacing and turning to and fro for me to be able to conclude that he was indeed just a guy standing out in the rain looking like a lunatic. This then got me thinking of the multitude of possibilities that I should be prepared for when I passed him by. Here are a few examples of what my brain was envisioning happening (in order of likelihood) as I gingerly floated by on my skateboard like a prey waiting to feed the predator:

1) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, pounce on me like a hungry leopard, smash me across the face with my own skateboard, throw me over the river walk wall on to the bank and sodomize my unconscious body.
2) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, pounce on me like a crazy shirtless guy and bite my nose off of my face.
3) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, Liu Kang Mortal Kombat karate style kick me off of my skateboard, smash me across the face with it and skate away with my property.
4) Crazy guy would wait until the last second, turn to face me and compliment me on my excellent taste in shoe wear.

Now that my brain had cooked up it’s top 4 logical responses from the crazy guy, I was prepared to pass by in defense mode. I approached, keeping him in my sites and as I got about 10 feet away, as expected, crazy guy turned and faced me. As he turned, he made direct eye contact. In order to try to diffuse what I had concluded would most likely be a very uncool situation, I politely nodded to the man and said hello to which he responded by saying, “You’re gay” as I cautiously floated by continuing on to my truck and eventually back home.

My feelings were so hurt by his assumptions about my sexual proclivity that as he turned back around to face the river, I quickly jumped off my board and proceeded to option 1 his unconscious body. That’s not true.

What IS true is that I have a solution to Sacramento’s ongoing homeless problem. Two words. BROKEN BLUETOOTHS. Think about it. The problem with homeless people isn’t necessarily that they don’t sleep in a house at night. The problem is that they make me uncomfortable when they’re shouting at nobody (yes, that is the real problem). If we took all our broken bluetooths and forced homeless people to wear them at all times, it would just look like a bunch of dirty, smelly businessmen having heated business discussions on their wireless head sets. It’s genius!

Building a new world with broken bikes

2009-01-17T19:17:33Z

The Sacramento Bike Kitchen (SBK) has been open for a week and the buzz is all over town. A DIY bike workshop that spreads bike culture with its unique approach to getting 'er done. Volunteers help YOU know your bike by showing you how to fix and maintain it. The result is that you are much more at cause over your 2 wheeled friend NOT the effect. Your affinity skyrockets for all things bicycling and simply cannot go anywhere unless it's on a bike. Well alright thats a little over the top but I hope you get my point.

At the kitchen we have a theory that most entry level bicyclists have had their hearts broken with the box store variety of bicycles that are not long for the dumpster. Poorly fitted and ill advised in keeping their bikes in working condition, most bikes from Walmart, Kmart etc. end up given away or even abandoned on the street. A once promising idea of going green filed away in the bad idea category of our memory banks.

We highly recommend one find a local bike shop and let them earn your business with their great service. Many come to mind like Steve Loebach from Carmichael cycles, Whit Brooks from the Bicycle Chef and Terry Cox from College Cyclery, just to name a few. These tireless experts can assist you in making your cycling goals come true. Others like Steve Rex can build a bike that's so beautiful you will never want to drive a car again.

The SBK is a nonprofit organization built on the goodwill of area bike enthusiasts. Our shop subsists or thrives on the donations of like minded folks that want to spread the idea that the bike is the most genius from for moving the body from A to B. We here have plans shoulder to shoulder with the local bicycle shops to increase the numbers of commuters that will make Sacramento the place it should be, a great place to live, work and play. A place free from noise polution, congestion, bad air and most importantly the disconnection from our fellow man. You see, a cyclist is more likely to wave at complete strangers on the road. He has so much fun he or she must share it with someone else!

Here at SBK our natural enemies are pollution, obesity, body apathy and doing nothing for the greater good. Our friends are all people who want to make a difference including those here at Sacpress who have given us the chance to blow our horn.

Please join us in making Sacramento the greatest biking city in California and then who knows what other goals we can tackle.

Portland and Amsterdam watch out!

John Boyer

SBK donations
1915 I street
(916)-442-3177

Donations gladly accepted 8-10am M-F and Wed,Thurs and Friday evenings 6-9PM

E-Waste Recycling in the City is as Easy as 1... 2... 3... and 4!

2009-01-13T00:13:06Z

Did you get a new gadget for the holidays and need to get rid of the old one? Considering buying a new TV for the DTV conversion next month? Electronic waste (E-Waste), such as televisions, VCRs, computers, and iPods cannot be just thrown out in the garbage. There are four easy ways to properly recycle your E-Waste devices in the City of Sacramento.

1) Neighborhood Clean-Up Program: Residential rate payers are entitled to one free clean-up day per year to dispose of bulky waste. This includes E-Waste. To learn more or to schedule an appointment call Customer Service by dialing 311or (916) 264-5011.

2) The City of Sacramento Household Hazardous Waste Facility accepts E-Waste. CRT’s (televisions and computer monitors) are free. There is a $5-$10 fee for other small or large devices such as printers, stereos, microwave ovens, etc.

3) Check local calendars for free E-Waste drop off events. Many of these also serve as fundraising events for local non-profit groups and schools.

4) There are several businesses you can contact for E-Waste Recycling
• Appliance Distribution, Inc.
915 North B Street
916-497-0274
They offer free pick up within 10 miles of their facility or you can drop-off at their business. This company recycles E-Waste and appliances.

• Advanced Computer Recycling Inc.
8535 Morrison Creek Drive, Suite B
916-387-9988
Call for pick up information. This company recycles E-Waste.

Drop Off Only
• HMR
8301 Belvedere Ave
916-381-5504
This company recycles E-Waste.

• CEAR
3678 LeMay Street
Mather, CA 95655
916-388-1777
This company recycles E-Waste.

For more information contact the City of Sacramento Customer Serviceby dialing 311 or (916) 264-5011 or by visiting us at www.cityofsacramento.org/utilities

Waste not want not

2008-12-30T02:13:27Z

Have you ever wondered what the proper way to recycle something was but then instead of looking it up, you just put it in your garbage can, closed the lid and forgot about it?

How would one recycle carpet? Pesticides? Wheelchairs? Cooking oil?

On the Sacramento Regional Solid Waste Authority's Waste Management & Recycling Web site, there's a whole section titled "How Do I Recycle?" with over 30 different types of common waste products that can be recycled.

For example, metal crutches and canes, walkers and non-motorized wheelchairs can be donated to the North Area Recovery Station in North Highlands. Inmates in correctional facilities restore these items to like-new condition and they are then given to people with disabilities, who may not have the funds or access to such devices.

Motorized wheelchairs can be reused and should be donated to organizations such as Resources for Independent Living (RIL) which is located at 1211 H Street, Suite B.

Carpet can be recycled locally at the Sacramento Habitat for Humanity, which is located at 8351 Umbria Ave, Bldg 5, Bay 1.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs can be recycled at various Sacramento Home Depot stores or at the Sacramento County North Area Recovery Station or Sacramento Transfer & Recycling Station.

There are three local hazardous waste drop off locations for recycling batteries. You can also go to Earth911.com, click on the "Hazardous" tab, choose "Single Use Batteries," and type your zip code on the right side bar. It will list the various locations in your area where you can recycle batteries.

The site also provides info on where and how to recycle cell phones, computers, CDs, DVDs, video and audio tapes, VCRs, televisions, and printer or copier cartridges.

You can learn how to earn a $250 reward for reporting illegal dumping if it leads to an arrest or citation.

The Web site offers a wealth of information on recycling, waste and proper disposal of harmful chemicals, toxins, etc.

There's even a Kid's Connection with activities and tips for kids to help reduce their ecological footprint.

For more savvy tips on waste management and recycling, visit www.sacgreenteam.com.