Open Green Map

Green living is all around us—not just on Earth Day! As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, perhaps this is a chance to seek out something "green" in our neighborhood.



Using familiar Google map technology, Open Green Map is a collection of 10,235 green living sites around the world. From buildings to local markets to hiking trails, this small but growing database was created by Green Map® System in hopes to "make these places part of your life, and help your community become a greener and healthier place."

Also check out Green Map® System homepage to see their collection sustainable maps.

But celebrations aren't over yet!
Here are some notable Earth Day events on the weekend.

Earth Day at Grand Central Terminal:
featuring the annual The Giant Earth Images, exhibits at Vanderbilt Hall and outdoor celebrations on Vanderbilt Avenue

NY's greenest at Battery Park:
art installation in the World Financial Center and workshops during the day

NYC Grows Festival at Union Square:
gardening and tree-planting workships, organic cooking demonstrations and hands-on urban farming activities



-Julie

TerraCycle at Port Authority

I never thought I'd consider Port Authority a shopping destination, but things are about to change: TerraCycle has opened a popup store in Port Authority. This is so many kinds of awesome. First of all, it's an actual retail location where you can browse a bunch of TerraCycle products all in one place. Second, they'll give you discounts if you bring in materials to upcycle. Third, this may motivate some of us to be not just barely-in-the-nick-of-time, but early for our buses just so that we'll have some time to browse!


Good find, Julie!


-Kaitlen

Film Screening Tonight 3/23: PLASTIC PLANET

Another good reason to check out our recently installed work at Lincoln Center. Plastic Planet is being screened tonight with the following panel discussion:

"In this playful look at a serious subject, Werner Boote exhaustively examines the far-reaching effects of plastics on the environment. Can we curb our love for this ubiquitous material, or do we still need it despite the problems it causes?

Screening followed by a panel discussion with: Elisabeth Royte, author of "Garbage Land and Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It" and Michael Rieser, Staten Island Recycling Outreach Coordinator, Office of Recycling Outreach and Education Council on the Environment of New York City."


- Anna

This Weekend: Go Green Expo

So this is pretty exciting: This Friday through Sunday, the Go Green Expo is happening right here in New York City. (Friday is the business-to-business portion of the expo, but Saturday and Sunday are open to the public.) Admission is complimentary all weekend long for b2b participants, and you can get a discount on general admission with the code GGENYC. I'd love to see Saturday's keynote speaker, Ed Begley, Jr., but I'm unfortunately busy all day, so I'll have to content myself with Mariel Hemingway on Sunday instead. Though, honestly, I'm interested in more than just the keynote address—several of the seminars sound intriguing, and there are more than 200 booths and exhibits to check out. My suggestion? If you decide to go, wear comfy shoes. You might be walking around for a while.


Thanks for the heads-up, Sarah!


-Kaitlen

Origins Takes on Recycling!

Did you know:
• Everyday consumer product packaging accounts for approximately 1/3 of all landfill waste.
• Most community recyclers only take items made from materials that are easily recognized - such as soda and water bottles.
• Cosmetic and toiletry bottles, tubes, caps and jars are among those items not easily recognized and therefore not often recycled.

Now you can bring your empty cosmetic tubes, bottles and jars, etc. - regardless of brand - to your nearest Origins retail store or department store counter nationwide. All returned packaging will be sent back to a central location where products will be recycled or used for energy recovery.

In an industry first, Origins will accept packaging from any cosmetic company regardless of the manufacturer.

Bravo! - Anna

Too Much Stuff

If you are looking to get rid of some of that stuff piling up in your apartment, you can donate, sell, or "free-cycle" it on either of these useful links: NYC Stuff Exchange or Freecycle Network They even have options for getting things for free if you somehow have extra room.


- Anna

The 4th Bin Logo Winner

Remember when we mentioned that 4th Bin competition? Well, good news: we won. Yep, your trusty Two Twelve Green Team designed the winning logo, which will be used on the clever new bin, as well as supplemental materials such as advertising, communications, possibly products, etc.

The blogosphere has taken note, too. Here's a roundup of blogs that mentioned our win:

BusinessWire
Core77
Dexigner
Earth911
The Graffik
Reuters
SEGD Blog
TreeHugger

Pretty awesome, huh?

-Kaitlen

The Green Awards

The cover page of The L Magazine caught my eye this morning; it said, in bold letters on a vivid green background, The Green Awards. Inside was a decent little list of the greatest and greenest spots in NYC.

As an added bonus, The L Magazine website also features a really interesting article about the trend toward eco-friendly burial. It's not something most people think about, but...well, it does happen to everyone sooner or later.

So as to not end on such a morbid note, here's a picture of what has to be one of the world's cutest baby bunnies.

-Kaitlen