Green Team Tips

This year for Father's Day, buy your father's favorite fruit, vegetables, and other garden plants and plant a garden for him! This will not only reduce your father's grocery bill but it will provide fresh produce all summer.
6/18/09

Midtown Freshstop, a type of community supported agriculture organized by City Fresh, opens its tables of locally grown produce at Trinity on Tuesdays from 4:30-6:30 p.m. through September 29. Shares may be purchased one week in advance at $24 for a family share (3-4 people) and $12 for a single share (1-2 people). Persons on limited income according the WIC guidelines can purchase their shares at half price and pay on the day of pick-up with Ohio Direct Card. If you haven't already reserved your share, stop by any Tuesday and pay for the share for the following Tuesday. For questions call City Fresh's voice mail at (216) 771-3630 ext. 392; or e-mail midtownfreshstop@gmail.com.
6/4/09

"A Local Apple a Day Keeps Global Warming Away." Next time you reach for those leafy greens or bunch of grapes at the grocery story, check out where they came from and how far they had to travel to get to you. Big trucks and cargo ships increase the carbon footprint of all this shipped in food, plus it is no where near as fresh, tasty or nutritious as local grown food. Support your local farmer's market, or even better become a shareholder of the Midtown Freshstop. Check us out this Tuesday, June 2nd from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. right under the Prospect Avenue portico entrance to Trinity Commons.
5/27/09

Bring your own container. According to the Clean Air Council, packaging accounts for almost 1/3 of the waste generated in the United States. Reduce your trash footprint by bringing your own reusable container to the coffee shop or cafe. When shopping, buy in bulk, opt for products with minimal packaging, and bring reusable shopping bags. Remember, there is no 'away' in which to throw things!
5/21/09

"Reduce" is the most important part of the environmental 3-R's. One way that you can reduce the use of paper napkins at home is to use cloth napkins. Paper napkins are not recyclable themselves so they just end up in the landfill. All members of the family will enjoy having a special napkin ring to hold their napkin for the week...and then just throw them in the washer for fresh clean ones next week.
5/14/09

For Mothers' Day, do something to support local food...buy Mom some herbs for the windowsill or patio planter, or a nice bush tomato plant for a fresh supply of tasty homegrown tomatoes this summer. Better yet, buy a share in the Midtown Fresh Stop community supported agriculture at Trinity Cathedral and have fresh locally grown produce every week starting June 2nd. New shareholder signup starts this Sunday at Trinity at $24/week for a family share (3-4 people) and $12/lweek for a single share (1-2 people).
5/7/09

What do you do with all those batteries when they wear out? First, switch to rechargeable batteries wherever possible. Second, while regular alkaline batteries contain a number of heavy metals that can enter the waste stream, there is no universally available recycling process at this time. They do not pose a health or major environmental risk and so can be disposed of in your regular trash. Remember, though, it is best to convert to rechargeable batteries and then recycle them when they finally wear out!
4/30/09

Purchasing locally grown foods is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and improve your health. Check out Trinity's MidTown Fresh Stop that will provide fresh produce weekly beginning June 2 from farms within a 50-mile radius. The stop will be operated by the Trinity Green Team and the YWCA of Cleveland. Pick up information in the Promenade or talk with Rich Horton or Ben Borns about volunteering some time.
4/23/09

Celebrate Earth Day, April 22nd, and be a part of LightsOut Ohio by taking advantage of natural daylight. Turn off or dim electric lighting when adequate sunlight is available to illuminate interior space. Ensure that outdoor lighting is off during daytime hours. And why not do it every day?
4/16/09

April is computer recycling month in Cuyahoga County and a number of surrounding counties. If you have unused or old computer equipment, you can recycle them right in your own community. For a list of times and places for Cuyahoga County communities go to www.cuyahogaswd.org. Go to the following websites to find out when your county/community is doing computer recycling:
Lake County-www.lakecountyohio.gov/swd/
Summit County - www.saswma.org
Lorain County - www.loraincounty.us/solidwaste.aspx
Geauga-Trumbull Counties - www.startrecycling.com
Medina County, call 330-769-1273, ext. 101
4/9/09

Your Light Switch is your Vote: Vote Earth
Saturday, March 28, 8:30 - 9:30 pm
This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world's first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote - Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. World Wildlife Fund is urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. More information at: www.earthhour.org/about/
3/26/09

Turn electrical appliances off at the wall, rather than leaving them on standby.
3/19/09

Take a bag with you when you go shopping.
3/11/09

When cooking on the stove, match the size of the pan to the size of the burner. If the pan is smaller than the burner, 40% of the electricity is wasted.
3/5/09

Bring in any printer cartridge for recycling, except Epson. These cartridges provide income for the Trinity Community Garden providing fresh produce for Trinity's A Place At the Table program for the homeless. Recycling box will be in the Promenade next to the Green Team Table.
2/19/09

Replace at least one light bulb in your house with a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) and reduce global warming CO2 by a half-ton over life of bulb! Recycle burned out CFL's in the Green Team's CFL recycling box in the Promenade.
2/12/09