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!

The World is Not Disposable.

We have become so accustomed to living in a seemingly disposable world that the thought of actually reusing products seems foreign to most people. But you wouldn't throw everything away after just one use...



The Power of ONE.

If it rips, it recycles...

Who knew? All this time arguing about which paper can and cannot be recycled, and it's that simple: if it rips, it recycles. Is conserving really that easy? Well yeah, actually it is. A week ago, nearly 150 UGA students gathered for an open discussion of today's hottest topics concerning the environment and sustainable practices. Instead of looking at the big picture, The Power of One forum offered tips directed at college individuals to reduce consumption and reuse materials when possible.



Three panelists expressed the urgency for us all to wake up to the reality of the state of our Earth. Fortunately, the gloom and doom statistics were left out of the conversation as we focused on the positives. The advice, though some of it shocking, was not meant to scare students into being more sustainable, but rather to excite them that they can have such a profound impact! We were reminded that we are fortunate enough to be active participants in UGA's footprint on the environment. UGA can become a national leader in sustainability, but students must lead the way in this transformation. Our small, everyday actions speak volumes.

Jim Hackler, UGA alum and freelance writer on green living, was a featured speaker that evening. He participates in outreach programs promoting effortless, sustainable behaviors that everyone can adopt. An article of his is highlighted in the current issue of Delta Sky magazine. To read more about what you can do, check it out at http://www.deltasky.com/2008_03/greennumbers/.

Go Green Alliance

The theme of last week's forum, The Power of One, touched on different ways that individuals can practice sustainable living. Just as all our individual efforts combined can make a difference to the environment so to can our voices in lobbying for important environmental policies and in coordinating activities and awareness campaigns. While there are so many wonderful and passionate groups on campus whose missions support all aspects of the environment and sustainability, there was no unifying front to coordinate projects or activities...until the GO GREEN ALLIANCE was formed.

The GO GREEN ALLIANCE is a council where representatives from all environmental groups at UGA can establish a unifying voice for the environmental cause.

The complete GO GREEN ALLIANCE fact sheet/mission is posted on the facebook group. Please check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10570536034

As always your comments and questions are welcome to the blog or facebook group. Part of Go Green Alliance's goal is to provide open forums for discussion like this.

Reduce Consumption (and Embarrassment).

The first step towards sustainability is reducing our consumption. Continuing our Power of One campaign, we are proud to debut our first public service announcement focusing on the impact a single individual can have when it comes to conserving valuable resources.

By turning a computer off or placing it in "sleep mode" instead of using a screensaver, an individual can reduce carbon emissions by more than 80%.