April Wellness Focus: The Environment!

Earth Day is April 22, so this month’s wellness program will focus on the environment! From local parks, your own back yard, to the office itself, our environment is a huge part of how we live our day-to-day lives. There are little things you can do to ensure that your environment is healthy and safe, whether it be starting your own garden, pledging to only use reusable bags at stores, carpooling, or even starting a compost bin under your sink. (I promise, it doesn’t smell!) Every little bit helps.

OUR ENVIRONMENT: KISS Cleaning

As Nika mentioned in last week's staff meeting, we have retained KISS Cleaning to provide the cleaning service in the new building. Not only are they locally owned and operated, they use green products and a process that makes our work environment healthier. Read their press release on their philosophy on the expense of Green Cleaning located in the April Wellness Program folder on the company drive.

VOLUNTEER OPORTUNITY: Mayfield Park Clean-Up

When: Saturday April 11th 10am-Noon
Where: Mayfield Park (3505 West 35th Street – next to Austin Museum of Art: Laguna Gloria)
What: Every second Saturday of the month Mayfield Park hosts a workday for volunteers to help preserve the gardens and ponds. If you would like to go, please let me know so I can get you a pair of gloves.
Websites: http://www.mayfieldpark.org and http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/mayfield.htm

SOCIAL EVENT: Austin Earth Day

When: Saturday April 18th 9am-3pm
Where: Republic Park (4th and Guadalupe)
What: Part Famer’s Market, part Expo, part art fair, part concert, all FREE. I’ll be heading down there around 10am that day and I’d love to see a few of you down there as well!
Website: http://www.austinearthday.com

TIPS: IT Freedom Recycling Reminders

• Remember to always rinse your containers, particularly the soda and beer bottles. Just a few tablespoons of water swished around in the empty container can ensure that smells and bugs stay far away!
• After you’ve rinsed your container, leave the lid off! This allows the bottle to dry out and because so it’s less likely to start growing things.
• Plastic bags are a terrible waste of energy and pretty soon grocery stores will be making it easier for you to use reusable bags and there’s a good possibility that Austin will become one of the many cities to ban plastic bags altogether. Good news is those bags are recyclable, but only if they’re clean – this means free of any sort of chemical or food residue. So rather than stick them in the bin with soda bottles and food containers, stick them under the sink!
• Although some Styrofoam packaging has recycle symbols on them, Austin does not yet have the resources to recycle it. But, the packing peanuts are always welcome at mail-stores such as PakMail!

TOOL: earth911.com

Earth911.com is an excellent resource for any question you might have regarding pollution, recycling, and all things “green”. They have an email newsletter that always has handy tips and interesting articles regarding the environment. One of the greatest tools they have is a recycle center finder. You can type in any item you have (i.e. computer parts, batteries, paint) and your zip code and it will give you a place that will recycle that material for you. This is especially useful for those more difficult to get rid of items.

-- Lauren