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                                        Vol. 12, No. 6 June 10, 2011
GREEN STAR E-News

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In This Issue
Shining Stars
Events & Reminders
Bike To Work Day Reaches New Heights
Smurfit-Stone Recycling Becomes Rock-Tenn Recycling
The Greenest Building...
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Green Star AK 

 

Keep up with Green Star's busy schedule; come join us, friend us, like us!

 

 


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 Anchorage Recycles

  

Stay current on what's happening in recycling around Anchorage. Several recycling organizations post regularly.

 

 

 

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Bike to Work Anchorage 

 

Plenty is still happening in the biking community even after Bike to Work Day.  It's summer, after all! 

Thank You to our Sponsors

 

Visit Our Sponsor List  

 

This Month's Hot Link

 

2011 Summer Solstice Celebration 

 

This Anchorage Downtown Partnership event will be a Green Event so look for the recycling bins! 

 

 

Green Star Staff

Kim Kovol 

Executive Director

 

Josh Sherwood  

Technical Assistance

Coordinator

 

Christina Grande 

Community Outreach & Communications

Coordinator

 

Jeanne Carlson 

Web Master

 


What's New

Green Star's new address, as of May 1st, is 333 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 310, Anchorage, AK 99501.  

 

 


Member Benefits

Green Star offers benefits to its members beyond just energy savings and waste reduction.  Many local businesses offer product and service discounts to Green Star members. 

 

Visit our Member Benefits page to learn more.

 

Join Our Mailing List

SHINING STARS  

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Green Star welcomes its latest Green Star Award applicant.  We look forward to working with them to help them achieve Green Star Award certification. 

  • Off the Chain 

EVENTS & REMINDERS
 

Find more events on Green Star's web calendar.

 

dump the pumpSixth Annual National Dump the Pump Day -- June 16

"Dump the Pump. Save Money. Ride Transit."  That's the theme of the sixth annual National Dump the Pump Day. With the return of high gas prices, People Mover is participating in this national event sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association.  The event began in 2006 when gas prices were $3/gallon with the goal of encouraging people to ride public transportation instead of driving.  Now that gas prices are exceeding $4/gallon, saving money is on everyone's mind and public transportation is the quickest way to beat high gas prices.  Check out People Mover's driving cost calculator to see how much you can save by riding the bus.    

   

Surplus Furniture Donation -- June 17

BP is donating surplus furniture and other items to the non-profit community.  There are desks, bookcases, files, lights, a few chairs, small tables, electronics, and more. This event will be Friday, June 17, from 10 a.m. to noon.  Any non-profit organization that wants to take part in this give-away should pre-register by calling 564-5800.  All items must be removed from premises at time of selection.  No items will be held.

 

Green Star logoGreen Star Member Mixer -- June 27

Note the new day and time!  Green Star invites members and anyone interested in Green Star to join us at the Midnight Sun Brewing Company (8111 Dimond Hook Dr.) on Monday, June 27, from 5 to 7pm to mingle, share ideas and partake in free appetizers.  There will be lots of Midnight Sun's famous brews for sale as well.   

 

Lighting Technologies: Now and in the Future - June 28  Registration opens June 14.  

CFL4REI Education Room, 1200 W. Northern Lights Blvd.  Chugach Electric Smart Power and Green Star present a daylong (8:30am - 4:00pm) seminar featuring Jeff Robbins, commercial lighting specialist with Seattle's Lighting Design Lab.  The workshop begins with a review of lighting basics and finishes with in-class lighting application exercises.  Robbins will cover all the recent updates to the newest and hottest technologies, followed by a thorough study of current retrofit practices. Continental breakfast, catered lunch, and light snacks provided. Call 278-7827 or email [email protected] to register.  Registration is $45 and space limited to 50 people so register early.  Registration opens June 14. These lighting workshops always fill up!  Visit www.greenstarinc.org for more details about the workshop.  

 

Quarterly Application Deadline for Green Star Award Achievement Report -- June 30.  Submit your achievement report to Green Star to be considered for a Green Star Award this quarter. Download a copy of the application.  

 

Recycled Paper Shipment.  Get your 100% recycled-content paper. The price is $55.00/box or $5.50/ream. Checks should be made out to "Coal Point Trading Company."  Pick-up is at National Wildlife Federation or Alaska Center for the Environment.  This pilot project is available due to the generosity of Coal Point Trading Company in Homer.  Contact Valerie Connor at the Alaska Center for the Environment, (907)274-3632 or [email protected], to order paper.

 

BIKE TO WORK DAY REACHES NEW HEIGHTS 

 
  • Just a glance at the numbers illustrates the success of this year's Bike to Work Day. More people participated this year than ever before!  Compared to last year's stats, 521 more riders registered, 720 more riders actually rode and 62 more teams participated.  The chart below shows the trend of increased participation since the event began in Anchorage.  
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  •  BIKE TO WORK DAY RIDER HISTORY  

     

    Riders registered with DHHS

    Rider count on BTW Day morning 

    Registered teams

    2005

    167

      
    2006

    330

      
    2007

    530

    1422

    50

    2008

    918

    1884

    112

    2009

    2335

    1797

    198

    2010

    1922

    2567

    155  
    2011

    2443

    3287

    217

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  • The post-Bike To Work Day survey is now closed and many happy survey-takers have already collected prizes. Visit the Muni's Bike to Work web page for a list of the organizations who donated prizes. 

  •  
  • Chain Reaction Cycles not only hosted one of the Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage aid stations on Bike to Work Day, serving refreshments from Kaladi Bros. Coffee and House of Bread, but co-owners Bill Fleming and Jamy Stull also donated a bike to the Bike to Work Day cause.
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  • chain reaction winner
    Bill O'Connell, with Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, was the winner of the Trek bike donated by Chain Reaction Cycles.  Here Bill (left) shows off his new bike with Bill Fleming, co-owner of Chain Reaction. 
     
  • GREEN STAR GOES BILINGUAL

    In an effort to meet the needs of all potential member organizations, Green Star is working toward translating its Award materials and tip sheets into several different languages.  

     

    Visit our Spanish Green Star Award documents web page to see a variety of Award materials, including a summary of the Award certification process and the Achievement report template, in Spanish. Check back for tip sheets in Spanish, coming soon!

     

    If anyone is interested in helping Green Star translate documents into the following languages, please contact us at 278-7827 or [email protected].

     

    • Tagalog
    • Hmong
    • Samoan
    • Chinese
    • Korean
    • Vietnamese
    • Various Alaska Native languages

    SMURFIT-STONE RECYCLING BECOMES ROCK-TENN RECYCLING 

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    At the end of May, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, the company that, until a few weeks ago, owned and operated the Anchorage Recycling Center, was purchased by RockTenn Company, one of North America's leading producers of corrugated and consumer packaging, as well as providers of recycling solutions.  This corporate buy-out should have no effect on the daily operations of the Anchorage Recycling Center but you may see new signs indicating the new ownership.


    THE GREENEST BUILDING... 

    ...is the one that's already built, according to the Trust for Architectural Easements (TAE), one of the largest preservation easement holding organizations in the nation. The organization protects over 800 historical buildings in the U.S. The "greenest building" concept was first described in these terms by Carl Elefante.

     

    But what does this concept mean? Aren't new green buildings the way of the future? 

     

    Read the rest of this article at Earth 911. 



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