Recycled Plastic Used in T-shirts

Today in the Business section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, there is an article about a new line of T-shirts produced by Coca-Cola called "Drink 2 Wear" that are partially made of recycled plastic bottles. Beginning April 14, 400 Wal-Mart stores plan to sell the Coca-Cola T-shirts and they will also be available online at www.walmart.com. The T-shirts cost $7.50 and come in various sizes, styles and will include one of the phrases such as "Rehash Your Trash" and "Make Your Plastic Fantastic." The T-shirts are composed of a blend of half recycled polyethylene terephthalate and half cotton. Depending on the size of the shirt, about three to five plastic bottles are used to make one shirt. This isn't Coca-Cola's first time selling shirts made of recyclable plastic. Last year, the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta began selling similar T-shirts. The Wal-Mart deal is the first mass-marketed T-shirt for Coca-Cola. During the month of April, Wal-Mart is promoting the shirts alongside its Earth Month program. Next time you're at Wal-Mart, make sure you check out the new shirts!


Jaimie Spetseris

Who knew “Going Green” could be so beneficial to your health. Walking instead of driving not only reduces pollution, but it also has numerous health benefits.

10 reasons to walk instead of drive:

1. Weight management
2. Improves sleep
3. Reduces stress levels
4. Elevates overall mood and sense of well-being
5. Reduces risk of breast cancer
6. Controls blood pressure
7. Prevents depression
8. Lengthens lifespan
9. Decrease risk of heart attack
10. Strengthens muscles, bones and joints

The list goes on… These are only a few reasons why walking is beneficial to your health, but it is an easy step to a "green" lifestyle. Walk to class on a spring afternoon or meet your friends to go on a brisk walk. It doesn't have to be physically demanding or inconvenient. What a great way to be environmentally friendly as well as physically fit!


http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3915
http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/walking/a2004-06-17-walking-numerousbenefits.html

Neeley Odom

Green Living

I am interning in Atlanta right now at a new PR firm called The R Agency. Michael Roberts, the owner of the agency owns a conglomerate of companies, many of which are hotels, homes, and loft apartments. Roberts is very green-minded on his projects. It has been interesting to learn about his philosophy on green living and to watch his visions become reality as many of his projects are built to be environmentally friendly. Here are some ways the Roberts Companies implement green building in projects:

Bamboo flooring and wool carpeting: Materials are rapidly renewable. When glued together, the bamboo produces durable floor planks. The wool is biodegradeable and sheds water naturally.

Fluorescent light fixtures: These light bulbs use 70 percent of electricity required for incandescent light bulbs and last up to eight times longer.

Energy-efficient appliances: Residents at the Mayfair condos have an option to choose "Energy Star" appliances designed to cut down on electricity use.

To learn more about what The Roberts Companies are doing visit:

http://www.paric.com/ParicHome/CorpNav/News/Articles/Roberts+Brothers+Spring+for+Green+Construction.htmhttp://

www.robertsplacehomes.com/greenliving.htm

Katie Raines

Recyclemania Ends Friday

Turn in all of your recyclables this week! Recyclemania, a 10-week recycling contest for colleges and universities across the country, ends Friday.

This year is the first time The University of Georgia has entered the national Recyclemania competition and is currently ranked fourth for the “Gorilla Prize.” The Gorilla Prize honors the school that recycles the highest gross tonnage of materials during the ten-week competition, regardless of campus population. UGA is also ranked fifth for Target Material-Paper.

The Go Green Alliance held "Clean Out Your Files Day" on Friday, March 29. This event was extremely successful and it encouraged recycling since Recyclemania ends April 5.

With only two days left, you can make a difference. Bring all of your recycable products to your nearest recycling bin on the UGA campus. Help UGA win this nation-wide recycling competition!

Top 10 Items to Recycle

1. Aluminum
2. PET Plastic Bottles
3. Newspaper
4. Corrugated Cardboard
5. Steel Cans
6. HDPE Plastic Bottles
7. Glass Containers
8. Magazines
9. Mixed Paper
10. Computers

For more information about Recyclemania, visit http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/.

Neeley Odom

Neither paper nor plastic: cute t-shirt grocery bag

To avoid using disposable bags that are thrown away after one or two uses, many eco-conscious consumers have started bringing their own reusable bags grocery shopping. Several stores, such as Kroger, Publix and Earth Fare sell sturdy reusable bags for a nominal price.

However, you don't need cash to bring your own bag. With an old t-shirt, some scissors, a needle and some thread, you can make your own reusable grocery bag. Not only is this bag sustainable because it's used over and over, but it saves a t-shirt from going in the trash!

This week at Tate Plaza, an Environmental Health Sciences class distributed t-shirt grocery bags that they had made. They gave me a pink one that says, "It's not easy being a princess." With each bag they included instructions on how to make your own, which I'm including below.

1) Turn t-shirt inside out.

2) Sew bottom together 12" below bottom of sleeves.

3) Sew a second seam close to the first one to reinforce the bottom of the bag.

4) Cut excess t-shirt off.

5) Turn t-shirt right side out.

6) Cut sleeves off just outside of seam (to prevent fraying)

7) Cut neck out in a square shape large enough to fit items in but be sure to leave enough fabric for handles.

8) Use and enjoy!

Save a Tree, Clean Out Your Files!

Tomorrow, March 28, is RecycleMania's "Clean Out Your Files Day!" Don't forget to bring your old papers, notes, newspapers and any other recyclable materials to a recycling bin on campus! This will help give UGA a final push on the recycling count for RecycleMania. The last day of the competition is April 5 and we want UGA to win the contest! (And, well let's be honest, it will also help you clean up the clutter in your dorm room or apartment.) To learn more about recycling, stop by RecycleMania’s “Clean Out Your Files Day” booth at Memorial Plaza from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be live music and lots of fun facts about recycling that I'll bet you didn't know!

Earth Hour 2008

I stopped at the gas station to fill up on my way home this weekend and the label on the nozzle was for Earth Hour and said "Fill up and shut down." The message was to encourage everyone in Atlanta to get gas early on Saturday, March 29 and to also partake in Earth Hour, which is a great movement.

Earth Hour is a new social movement that was actually started by Australia last year. The country wanted to make a political statement to show the world that we can stop global warming and other environmental problems by simply cutting down on the amount of energy we use. The entire country of Australia, that is over 2 million people, took part in this movement last year by turning out all nonessential lights and appliances for one hour. The impact was seen from space, actually is wasn't because all of Australia went dark. But the impact was made.

This year the movement has gone global and over 2o cities around the world have endorsed the idea that everyone should turn off as much electricity as possible on Saturday, March 29 from 8 to 9 p.m. local time. The goal of this effort is to show the entire globe how wasteful we are being and to lower our emissions by five percent. America alone can do that by simply turning off all computers at night, only using one television per house to watch the same show, or just turning off the lights when they are not being used. All of these things will help to lower the emissions the U.S. emits (which is the most of any country in the world) and it will save on the energy bill.

So this Saturday night, we encourage everyone to turn off the lights for one hour and see how much you can do. It will save the planet one day. This Saturday, let's make the power of one be the power of the globe!