The Kentucky Eco-Geek

Bye Bye Becky

2009-10-28T08:44:00.002-05:00

I have to say goodbye to you.

I am leaving our lovely county for the big city of Columbus, Ohio. I like you and I will miss you.

I'm trying not to be maudlin but frankly, I'm a little blue even though my future adventures are calling.

I wrote everything out in my November eco-article below. You can even check out Recorder editor Nancy Daly's blog about it here.

In the meantime, you can always email me at rebeccahaltermon@gmail.com.

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Bye Bye Becky
November 2009

I am going to be honest: This month’s column has actually very little to do with the environment.

I apologize. I’m sure that in the coming months, readers will be regaled with more info on ecology than many can possibly fathom. However, I will not be around to peruse these columns because…

…Because I’m leaving.

Life is so funny. When I was hired to the illustrious Division of Solid Waste, I knew very little about the ways of Kentucky environmentalism. I was simply an English major armed with a little bit of public speaking experience and a whole lot of optimism. And now, after seven eventful years here, I am moving on to another great adventure. My last day serving Boone County is October 30.

And it seems that no matter how excited I am about beginning this new chapter in my memoir, I can’t help but feel a little blue because this job was awesome. Truly. So indulge me in taking a moment to thank those who have made my task of increasing environmental awareness incredibly rewarding.

Thanks to those who have supported me. This includes my family, my refuse mentor Ms. Mary Dickey, our enforcement czar Kelly Chapman, the captain of Public Works Greg Sketch and Judge-Executive Gary Moore. I have tried programs and failed. I have accidentally annoyed people. I have pushed various boundaries – intellectual, comfort, and good taste, to name a few – and no matter what kind of mess I find myself in, there have been a posse of people willing to pick me up. You do not know what this has meant to me.

Thanks to those who have opposed me. Curiously, this also includes my family as well as some unrepentant litterbugs, folks to steal garbage services, individuals who dis what I do, and any number of residents who question their government. I sincerely thank you for making me take responsibility, defend my actions, and push to improve my programs. Constructive criticism is nothing to take for granted.

Finally, thanks to you. Thank you, Boone County. I was lucky enough to be born and raised here and found myself especially blessed with the task of keeping our home beautiful. I hope that the work I’ve done has improved this land I love for everyone. It’s been an honor.

Bye bye, Boone County. Whatever state I live in, whatever employment I happen to land, I will always be at heart a Kentucky girl with a heart of green.

Talk Dirty (Emissions) to Me

2009-09-30T09:12:00.003-05:00

September's Eco Article tackles the topic of "clean coal." Note the quotes around that phrase... They indicate my dubious outlook on the issue.

Not to knock environmental innovation. Well, just check out my article and let me know what you think.

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Dirty Talk About Clean Coal
Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator
September 2009

It’s not often that we Northern Kentucky natives find ourselves on the forefront of an engineering movement. We’re usually not among the first to adopt a fad and if the Rabbit Hash General Store is any indication, we tend to prefer the traditional to the technological.

Now, at the risk of startling readers across Boone County, I must relate that we are on the cutting edge of environmental research. On Tuesday, September 1, Duke Energy hosted a carbon forum and offered to discuss their endeavor to experiment with cleaning up coal powered electricity. They’re planning of having a working model of the latest in greenhouse gas diminishment: Clean coal.

Sounds catchy, no? It’s certainly more mellifluous than “carbon capture, liquefaction, and sequestration,” which is how most would define clean coal. Duke has drilled a well near their East Bend Power Plant and will pump liquefied carbon dioxide into sandstone formations that are around 3,000 feet underground. There, the CO2 will hang out in salt water pockets instead of slipping into the atmosphere where it would contribute to global warming. Not since Daniel Boone watched buffalo at Big Bone Lick has such a pioneering effort been marshaled in our county.

Policy makers ranging from our current president to John McCain have touted clean coal as an antidote to our energy woes because it utilizes fuel that is abundant and local. It’s estimated that the U.S. has 200 years worth of coal reserves with about 85 billion tons of that resting here in our home state. (How we mine that coal is a topic for another day.) Because of this affordability and accessibility, coal fueled power plants are supplying about half of the electricity we in the U.S. use and in turn, they are among the top greenhouse gas spewers. Duke Energy itself, our nation’s third biggest electricity producer, emits 100 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

So clean coal sounds like a perfect dream, right? Well, maybe. If we see carbon sequestration as the ultimate goal then we will have to capture and contain all of the CO2 emissions currently being released. To borrow an image from 60 Minutes, building the infrastructure for such a global carbon sequestration system would be the equivalent of constructing a recreation of the entire oil delivery infrastructure that now exists because all of the oil and coal that is coming out of the ground generates carbon dioxide that would need to go back into the ground. And to have a real impact on climate change, it would have to occur within the next few decades. Oh, and it would cost in the trillions of dollars.

But perhaps for now, just plunging into the wild frontier of carbon mitigation is enough. I just hope that it can help before we go the way of those buffalo that Mr. Boone watched trample through Kentucky all those years ago.

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You can find the episode of 60 Minutes that I reference here.

After I submitted this article to the Recorder, I saw that Sen. John Schickel wrote an article for the paper outlining how important coal is for economic growth in our region. Quite a dialogue topic, no? His article is no longer available online so I copied the text below.

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Coal essential to economic growth
Sen. John Schickel
August 26, 2009

Here in Northern Kentucky, we don't spend much time thinking about coal - but we should constantly be thankful for the role it plays in our economy. I have learned about the coal industry from Jack Wells and Steve Weber, who own the Emerald International Coal Co., headquartered right here in Florence.

I met Jack and Steve at Shakey's Pub & Grub and had several good conversations about their industry over a "cold one."

While the bulk of the coal industry is concentrated in the eastern and western regions of our commonwealth, Emerald Coal is just one of the many coal-related businesses located in Northern Kentucky and the Bluegrass. In fact, Emerald is the largest shipper of coal down the Mississippi River!

Even if you don't work in the energy sector, though, coal plays a tremendous role in our everyday lives. More than 90 percent of all the electricity in Kentucky is produced through coal, giving us some of the cheapest rates in the nation. In fact, our home energy bills are about half that of people living in New York and New England.

Affordable energy is great for consumers, but it also creates jobs. Power costs are one of the biggest expenses for businesses small and large. When a manufacturer decides where to locate their new facility, you better believe energy bills rank right up there with an educated workforce and low taxes. Consider that industrial energy in Kentucky is 16 percent cheaper than in Indiana, and 31 percent cheaper than in Ohio, and you'll see why Northern Kentucky's economy has continued to grow.

And coal has had a major influence in that growth.

Last month, along with my colleagues on the Natural Resources and Environment Committee, I had a chance to visit two mining facilities in Western Kentucky. Coaltek, one of those businesses, is involved in clean coal technology as well as coal-to-gas and coal-to-liquid processes. With the research they are doing, we're discovering new ways to harness our state's natural resources.

Just as coal has led to cheaper electric rates, we may be able to reduce the costs of gasoline for your car, gas to heat your home, even make existing coal-fired plants more energy-efficient - all while becoming better stewards of our natural environment and making the United States more energy independent.

Our visit to Coaltek really showed us some great ideas for the future of the energy economy, not just in the Kentucky but across the nation. At a time when many jobs are being shipped overseas, we have the ability to develop jobs that would be based here at home without the threat of being outsourced.

There's an incredible future in clean coal technology, coal-to-liquid, coal-to-gas, and carbon sequestration, but only if we encourage that research and development. Instead of federal legislation focused on taxing these natural resource-based energy sources, Congress should follow Kentucky's lead and push newer ways to process coal in order to keep energy affordable and economic development sustainable. As a nation, the U.S. gets nearly half its energy from coal. We'd be foolish not to invest in its future.

Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, represents the 11th Senate District which includes Boone and Gallatin Counties and part of Kenton County. He welcomes your concerns or comments toll-free at 800-372-7181.

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Thrills! Chills! SPILLS!

2009-09-14T15:14:00.003-05:00

In our never-ending quest to raise awareness of the sinister hazardous materials lurking in your home, we ladies of Solid Waste have enlisted the help of a local superhero to help spread the word about the evils of ground water contamination.

Enter Haz Man!

A mild-mannered Deputy Director at Emergency Management by day, Bill Fletcher transforms into Haz Man whenever a hapless citizen decides to risk polluting our environment by improperly disposing of hazardous material.

Watch! Him battle motor oil polluters!
Marvel! At his intelligence and brawn!
Learn! Why never to pour anything down a storm drain!

Tomorrow! Tuesday, September 15 at 8:00 p.m. on Channel 9, witness Haz Man’s worldwide television premiere during the “Green Living” program!

Tune in early to watch the five o’clock news and catch a whole phone bank of hazardous waste avengers (featuring me)!

If you just can't wait to watch me on Channel 9, you can find my last absurd collaboration with WCPO here.

Hiking and Camping and Bears, Oh My!

2009-07-30T08:20:00.002-05:00

Okay, so maybe there aren't really any bears involved. But this post is all about celebrating time spent in the great outdoors so in the spirit of environmental adventure, I offer you some photos of my travels in natural settings. My secret hope is to inspire you to take a trip outside. I feel the need to visit a park now, anyway...

March 2006, hiking at Point Pelee National Park, Canada

September 2006, hiking around Put-In-Bay, Ohio

October 2006, hiking at Red River Gorge, Kentucky

September 2006, hiking in the desert outside Casa Grande, Arizona

March 2007, hiking somewhere in Utah

May 2007, camping in Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina

September 2007, hiking with my sister at Lake Cumberland ... Don't worry, she's wearing a bathing suit.

September 2008, hiking at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky

October 2008, hiking in Middle Creek Park, Boone County, Kentucky

May 2009, hiking in Jean Lafitte State Park, Louisiana

June 2009, camping out by the river near Rabbit Hash, Kentucky

Share your own hiking and camping pictures and stories! Please!

Clue In, Camp Out

2009-07-30T07:28:00.002-05:00

August's Eco Article is all about the joys of the great out doors. Stay tuned for some incriminating photos of my various wilderness excursions!

Turn On, Tune In, Camp Out
Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator

I’m not the world’s best camper. I tend to wear impractical little dresses and refuse to commit to buying hideous hiking boots. I drop more (vegetarian) hot dogs in the fire than I actually get to ingest and have created more than my fair share of flaming marshmallow. When I attempt a tent set-up, I end up with a structure closer akin to a Christo artwork than a usable shelter. I get cold and complain. I harbor a deep and abiding fear of bears.

And yet, I love to camp. I love the sounds, the open skies, the rich, incense-like smells, the sweat, the sleeplessness, and the simplicity. I love that making dinner feels like an accomplishment. I love lying on the ground and getting filthy dirty. I love the simultaneous sense of isolation and camaraderie, the realization that we’re all tiny components in a much bigger and more beautiful system.

I could wax poetic on wilderness all day long but perhaps we should let one of the masters on the subject have his say. “Our village life would stagnate,” Henry David Thoreau wrote, “if not for the unexplored forests and meadows which surround it. We need the tonic of wilderness.” (Perhaps in addition to poetry, Thoreau provides fertile marketing language… “Kentucky Parks: One-Stop Stagnation Tonic!”)

Despite my serious lack of outdoor skills, I know the joys to be found while camping but for the dubious, there are myriad studies that show that time spent in the woods offers more benefits than charred food and dirt in your hair. Hanging out in natural settings improves mental focus and attention and aids in overcoming mental fatigue (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Kaplan, 1995). Camping helps ameliorate the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (Faber Taylor et al., 2001; Kuo and Faber Taylor, 2004). Individuals who opt to exercise surrounded by foliage don’t feel as anxious, angry, or depressed as those who jog indoors and they reported feeling better restored (Pretty et al., 2005), (Bodin and Hartig, 2003). Our natural environment can help folks heal faster and experience less pain (Ulrich, 1984), (Diette et al., 2003) and could be helpful in improving heart disease, dementia, psychological disorders, developmental and cognitive disabilities, cancer and other conditions (Wichrowski et al., 2005), (Gigliotti et al. 2004), (Eikenaes et al., 2006; Bettman, 2007), (Berger, 2006) (Epstein 2004), (Easley et al., 1990). Of course, any of these health benefits might be negated by an encounter with a bear.

The benefits to roughing it aren’t just confined to those with serious diseases, either. Exercise, sunshine, squirrels, fresh air, and the landscape of our great state – some of the prettiest scenery ever put down on the earth – can relieve you of stress and imbue you with a new perspective on your life. Trust me.

So let’s agree that the “staycation” is passé and the real prospect for summertime adventure and rejuvenation is to be found on the ground, next to a campfire, with something sugary roasting on a stick.

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Becky Haltermon is the Boone County Solid Waste Education and Litter Abatement Program Coordinator. Contact her at 859-334-3151 or bhaltermon@boonecountyky.org.

Keeping a Chin Up While the Butts are Down

2009-06-05T08:00:00.004-05:00

I need a reason to celebrate. No fear, here is one: June is Great Outdoors Month. Hop in a kayak, go camping, or tackle some rock climbing because, as President Obama says in his presidental proclamation about the event, natural areas "continue to raise the human spirit in those who experience them." And I don't know about you but my human spirit has been a little saggy as of late.

Today, before 9:00 a.m., I had two different unrepentant ciggarette litterers hang up the phone on me. Before I had a chance to explain why we take butts on the side of the road seriously, they preemptively cut off communication. I know that no one likes to be told that their habits are nasty and antisocial - not to mention illegal - but it is so discouraging that litterbugs are disinterested in learning why we care so much. One man hissed, "You guys have got to be kidding about cigarette butts. You guys get carried away with your little powers that be. Thanks." Click.

I'm not on a power trip and frankly, writing dozens of letters to litterbugs (158 so far this year) is not my idea of fun. I take the time to do it because littering is such a thoughtless action that can have a huge impact on the planet. Even something as little as a cigarette butt has major repurcussions down the line because about 4.5 trillion of them are tossed into the environment every year. What that means is our outdoors sees more than 840,000 tons of litter containing potent carcinogens like benzopyrene and formaldehyde; poisons like arsenic, lead, acetone, toluene, cadmium, and benzene; and hazardous chemicals like butane and ammonia. About one fifth of that will be washed into creeks, streams, rivers and the human water supply. (You can find out more in our cigarette litter brochure here.)

Once you learn all of this, it's hard not be get carried away because cigarette litter - and all litter is so easy to prevent. Sigh. Perhaps if we get enough people to go out and enjoy Great Outdoors Month, more will realize what an enormous problem litter can be.

Being Lucky in ... Well, You Know

2009-05-29T10:06:00.003-05:00

You can find May's eco-article online here. Or you could just read it below.

Ready your hankies ... It's a sappy one.

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Kentucky Love and Conservation
Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator
May 2009

I will freely admit that when I hear “My Old Kentucky Home,” it brings a little tear to my eye.

Driving on the back roads with sun gleaming through the green leaves, I recently had an epiphany: I truly love Kentucky.

This stunning scenery, the glowing skyline of rolling hills, our lush land flush with wildlife – These are the reasons to be a Kentucky conservationist. I’ve spent several summer nights laughing with the locals in Rabbit Hash and innumerable spring mornings exploring our several serene parks. I’ve spotted deer, turtles, snakes, turkeys, and rabbits from backyards in Union. I’ve jumped into chilly ponds on hot August nights. I’ve hiked, canoed, climbed rocks, and picnicked in the woods. I grew up here. I kissed a beau at Big Bone State Park. I celebrated my birthday at Giles-Conrad Park.

And I still find myself awed at the unbelievable diversity, history, and natural wonders found in Boone County and across our state.

I’m sure everyone reading these lines has similar stories to share. Anybody who has spent even a weekend outdoors here knows that clearly, our community is worth conserving. That’s why I recycle. It’s why I opt for the preservation of green space. It’s why I make sure to dispose of household wastes in the most ecological way possible and it’s why no one can convince me that littering is ever a decent idea.

We’re a lucky people who get to live in Kentucky. Join me as I show my pride and, like the trite signs say, help keep Kentucky beautiful.

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My Bosses Are Tough

2009-04-23T10:12:00.002-05:00

April's Eco Article tackles the true meaning of "Litter Abatement Coordinator."

Why I Do What I Do

2009-04-13T14:12:00.001-05:00

This is from a letter penned by a sixth grader. With a mandate like that, how could I not keep up the ecological work?

Propigate Planetary Proteges!

2009-04-01T09:26:00.002-05:00

March's Eco-Article is all about our awesome intern, Rosie.

Seriously, she rules.

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Be An Ecological Mentor
Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator
March 2009

We have an intern. It is awesome. It causes me to rewrite the lyrics to the song “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” from the movie A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Any given afternoon, you can find me sitting in my sunny office, quietly humming, “Everybody ought to have an intern. Everybody ought to have a working teen, an enthusiast who’s laboring for absolutely free!”

It’s not just that our high school serf, Rosie, puts in time without taking a dime and it’s not just that she does all the work that no one else wants to do. What really rules is that Rosie has an excitement for the environment that can only be found in those new to the wonders of solid waste.

“What do you think is better for the planet, having a plastic reusable Christmas tree or a getting a live tree every year?” she’ll ask. “Is it better to take one long hot shower every couple of days or a short one every day?” “Is there such a thing as a ‘green’ funeral?”

There are a million studies noting the positive impact time spent in nature can have on kids. The outdoors can nurture self-discipline (A. Faber Taylor, F.E. Kuo, and W.C. Sullivan, “Views of Nature and Self-Discipline: Evidence from Inner City Children”), improve studies (Anne C. Bell and Janet E. Dyment, "Grounds for Action: Promoting Physical Activity through School Ground Greening in Canada"), and pretty much help the youngest among us grow healthier in almost every way (Stephen R. Kellert, "Nature and Childhood Development"). As far as I can tell, however, there’s very little evidence documenting the undeniable fact that kids can have a colossal positive impact on we naturalists. Rosie makes me rethink old suppositions about what can and can’t be accomplished and her inquires drive me to improve my own preconceptions about new subjects in the ecology field. Basically, her lively ideas are sustaining me until spring when I can ditch mandatory and demoralizing wintertime reports for warm weather litter removing programs and recycling presentations to little kids.

As you may have noticed, it’s sometimes a struggle to stay upbeat in the face of several impending environmental crises but hearing the hope espoused by my anti-pollution protégé helps to keep my optimism afloat.

So, here’s my advice: Grab a kid. Go outside. I promise, neither of you will regret it.

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Becky Haltermon is the Boone County Solid Waste Education and Litter Abatement Program Coordinator. Learn more at http://www.boonecountyky.org/BCSWM or contact her at 859-334-3151 or bhaltermon@boonecountyky.org.

Yours, Mine, and Hours

2009-03-17T12:26:00.003-05:00

You've surely heard about Earth Hour, right? On March 28, join millions of people across the globe as they turn off their lights to show their support of stoping global climate change. Just flip off the lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. and you'll be part of one of the biggest environmental movements ever to tackle planetary warming. It couldn't be easier.

If you do the Facebook, feel free to sign up for Cincinnati's Earth Hour, planned by Park and Vine.

Last year, I made a big pot of chili by candle light during Earth Hour. This year, I might just be in Columbus. Hm... Do you have any plans for your hour of abstaining from electrical power?

Fame and Saving Resources

2009-03-03T09:30:00.004-05:00

Check out my official byline!

I wrote an article for the American Public Works Association's national magazine, the APWA Reporter. I know, I know, I'll try not forget the little people as I ascend the heights of solid waste superstardom. Heh heh. Okay, I kid.

This article features the bulk of information that we're hoping to roll out as the Save Green Go Green program. More information on that will be coming shortly but in the meantime, here is the entirety of my APWA article. Enjoy!

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Making a positive impact in Boone County
Forging partnerships, encouraging creativity and choosing to make small changes

Becky Haltermon
Education and Litter Abatement Coordinator
Boone County Public Works
Division of Solid Waste Management
Burlington, Kentucky

You’ve probably noticed that we are currently riding a sinking economic recession. Conserving taxpayer dollars is a priority for every local entity and certainly Boone County, Kentucky is no exception. Wonderfully, we ladies of Boone County Solid Waste work closely with the Public Works Department, creating a reciprocated relationship that pools resources for maximum public service.

We have teamed up with road crews, the Sign Division, the County Engineer, and every hardworking hand at the Department for almost a decade. While we spend our time fine-tuning environmental programs like recycling, community cleanups, enforcement, and public education and outreach, Boone County Public Works has our backs every step of the way. We are given support, advice, and serious aid from the most hard-working folks in Kentucky.

So in the spirit of superior cooperation, we too share our expertise, giving a little something to the Department and County that has made our programs possible. The conservation of fiscal resources begins with environmental conservation which could save taxpayer dollars while spurring us towards a smaller ecological footprint. Many of these suggestions are easy and could be implemented with little or no cost while immediately improving the bottom line.

Fuel

Remarkably, it is simple to cut outrageous fuel costs: common-sense driving practices are the single most effective method of increasing fleet efficiency.

This means squashing aggressive driving. Stomping on the gas, slamming on the brakes, and revving up all lower gas mileage by five percent in city driving and thirty-three percent on the highway. We need merely increase the calm with which we approach driving government vehicles to save bucks. The same goes for speeding: Vehicles are built to run most efficiently at around fifty-five miles per hour so for every five miles above sixty miles per hour, the vehicle is wasting seven to twenty-three percent more fuel. Obviously, idling an engine will get you the worst gas mileage possible: zero miles per gallon. We ask that our coworkers keep an eye out the amount of time spent idling by being wary of running the engine when no one is in the vehicle and by avoiding long drive-thru lines.

Adding excess weight to a truck can also impacts its efficiency. For every one hundred pounds of extra junk on a vehicle, miles per gallon are reduced by two percent. While it is often the norm that County trucks haul heavy stuff, it couldn’t hurt to investigate each vehicle to see if its load can be reduced.

Operating the A/C can also affect fuel economy. For city driving, using the A/C can lower a vehicle’s efficiency by about a mile per gallon. At speeds of fifty-five mile per hour and higher, however, open windows create drag and can actually reduce fuel economy even more than the A/C. Therefore, we can maintain optimum fuel efficiency by using the A/C while highway driving and rolling down the windows when in stop and go traffic.

Other ideas to keep in mind include using the cruise control when covering level land because it keeps speeds constant, using the highest gears possible to lower the vehicle’s engine speed, carpooling when workable, and combining trips.

Sources: The US government’s website on fuel economy, www.fueleconomy.gov; www.cartalk.com; www.edmunds.com; www.npr.org; www.doe.gov; www.epa.gov

Offices

Office spaces are often rife with waste but minute changes can seriously cut costs. For example, by simply changing the margins of Word documents, agencies can cut the amount of paper consumed. The Penn State Green Destiny Council estimated that by changing paper margins to .75” on all sides, there is an estimated 4.75% reduction in paper use. Similarly, paper consumption can be reduced by using both sides of the sheet as some companies have seen a 10% reduction in paper use by setting their copier defaults to print on both sides instead of one. For serious print reduction, move files to a solely electronically-based format and increase employee access to computers. Everyone appreciates fewer printed memos. Also, posting instructions near copiers diminishes paper waste due to mistakes made when copying and reducing the size of a document when copying can turn two pages into one. For a final paper-saving tip, collect paper that has a blank side and then cut and staple it into note pads. In five minutes, employees can save paper from being wasted and save taxpayers a bit of money by not buying new notepads.

Other ideas for office efficiency include repairing, instead of replacing, office furniture and equipment, sharing old office supplies like plastic binders, file holders, clips, etc., keeping reusable kitchen supplies like silverware and ceramic mugs, buying bulk creamer and sugar, taking advantage of water coolers instead of buying bottled water, and cutting water waste by fixing leaky faucets and toilets as fast as possible.

Sources: http://www.changethemargins.com/; Cutting Costs and Preventing Waste in NYC Office Buildings and Institutions: Three Case Studies. http://www.p2pays.org/ref%5C03/02229.pdf; SFU Sustainable Campus Coalition’s Green Practices Guide: Green Practices for the Home and Office, http://www.sfu.ca/~sustain/pdf/green_practices_guide.pdf; Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Greening SEPA: Going Green, http://www.sepa.org.uk/green/guidance.htm

Energy

Reducing the energy bill is a key component of fiscal responsibility. Thirty percent of all energy use in the US goes towards heating and cooling buildings so that thermostat downstairs is a major player in increasing monetary supplies and decreasing pollution. In the winter, open blinds to let the sun inside and warm offices. In the summer, drawn blinds can help cool these rooms. This uses a free natural resource – the sun – as a replacement for an expensive resource – coal-fueled electricity. Keep doors and windows shut to keep in the warm/cool air and avoid heating or cooling to the extreme. Easy.

Lighting a building can suck up electricity so we offer natural light as the best option whenever it is possible. Also, task-specific lighting uses less energy because you end up brightening only the corners of a building that need it. Naturally, it is best to turn out the lights whenever they’re not needed.

Computers are another energy vulture. Allowing a computer to go into standby mode can use as much as 30% the machine’s normal energy expenditure so turning it off is smarter than letting it settle into standby. Just turning off a computer monitor when going to lunch saves electricity as monitors use 60% of the energy devoured by computers. For other energy savings, investigate purchasing Energy Star equipment. These are machines that have been certified by the EPA as preferable because of decreased energy consumption.

Here are some other facts to keep in mind: Laptops use up to 90% less energy than the standard desktop, ink-jet printers use up to 90% less energy than laser printers, Flat screen LCDs use approximately 1/3 the energy required for a CRT monitor, and taking the stairs uses no electricity and costs no money, making it a far better choice than taking the elevator.

Sources: SFU Sustainable Campus Coalition’s Green Practices Guide: Green Practices for the Home and Office, http://www.sfu.ca/~sustain/pdf/green_practices_guide.pdf; Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Greening SEPA: Going Green, http://www.sepa.org.uk/green/guidance.htm

So sure, lean times have come upon many of us in local government. But by forging partnerships, encouraging creativity, choosing to make small changes, and opting for conservation, we can all have a positive impact on our agency’s finances and the environment. I know that we here in Boone County will be banding together to do just that.

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A Potpurri of Eco Ideas

2009-02-24T15:36:00.005-05:00

I've been so busy getting our annual report together that I have been unable to update this, my faithful blog. Here are some of the most fun ideas that have flown by my desk in the past few weeks:

Sanitation District No. 1 has rolled out the rainbarrels. You can conserve the water runoff from your roof to water your flowers and at the same time, reduce your water bill, keep water away from your building foundation, and do your part to cut down on water pollution and flooding. It sounds all-around wonderful.
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Have you heard of Ecofont? Those crafty Dutch have developed a font that uses 20% less ink but looks almost identical to your standard Ariel. The secret? Little empty dots in the letters that are unnoticable at your standard typeface size. See if you can tell which of the quotes below were printed with Ecofont:

Give up? In the top quote, the second was typed with ecofont and in the bottom quote, the first was the environmental verbiage.

It's hard to tell a difference at all...

...Even up-close.

But when you look at it on the computer screen, especially in a large size, it is pretty obvious.
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Finally, on a (somewhat?) lighter note, a short film on the horrendous karma that can result from environmental indifference can be found here: It All Comes Back to You

I know I feel warm.

2009-02-10T15:30:00.004-05:00

I don't often write about global warming but I decided to give it a go after listening to this story on NPR. I was listening to it while getting ready for work and it scared the boogers out of me.

Below you'll find the my eco-article concerning climate change followed by the websites of the news stories I reference. Let's discuss!

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Ideas Driving Climate Change Salvation
Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator
February 2009

I just got back from Columbus.

It’s a solid two hour drive from the Columbus suburb my boyfriend now calls home to my desk here in Burlington and it is a drive I imagine I’ll making quite often in the coming months. Like I said, my boyfriend now officially resides in Columbus. Talk about an inconvenient truth.

Two hours is a lot of time and if you’ve ever piloted a vehicle up I-71, you know that there isn’t a whole lot of landscape to divert your mind while on the road. Perhaps that’s why, after wondering why I drive my loved ones to relocate to remote Ohio towns, I began to ponder the inexorable evil of global warming.

Climate change is not a topic I broach lightly. A Pew Research Center poll in January found that global warming ranks dead last in a list of priorities people want our new president to deal with. We want the leader of the free world to wrangle tax cuts and tackle the deficit before he tries to save the planet and I understand that. It’s hard to worry about the plight of polar bears when your mortgage lender is breathing down your neck.

At the same time, we’re facing a climactic catastrophe that could make the current recession pale by comparison. Under the upbeat headline, “Climate Change is Coming No Matter What We Do,” Steve Graham reports that according to Heinz Center senior scholar Dennis Ojima, Ph.D, “The latest data shows actual carbon emissions exceeding the most extreme scenarios envisioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading world agency on global warming.”

Robert Correll, another Heinz Center bearer of unhappy news told NPR that even if the US and other leading greenhouse gas emitters meet their extremely ambitious goals for pollution reduction, it won’t solve our problems. “Absolutely not so,” Correll intones.

The report goes on to say that to stave off major planetary decimation, we’d need about a five percent reduction in carbon emissions from industrialized countries and a stabilization of the CO2 pollution rates for the rest of the world. Just in case you think that that sounds doable, Correll wants you to know that, “Five percent per year is huge!”

This reduction could cost tens of trillions of dollars over time and would require the cooperation of all of the industrialized world. “This is sort of a wake-up call,” Correll explains. No kidding.

Lest you suggest that I give in to a doom and gloom scenario, I confess that I’m not building an ark just yet. One reason is because our nation’s new energy secretary, Stephen Chu, is also a little upbeat. Last year, he told NPR that he is, “actually optimistic,” about reducing energy consumption in the US. “With new tech coming online,” he says, “and things that one hopes to develop, the goal is not to say: 'OK, everybody uses less energy, don't heat your homes, don't light your homes, don't use AC.'” Don’t drive to Columbus. “That is not the goal. The goal is to have a standard of living that is carbon neutral and works well with the world. And I think it's possible.”

Dan Sarewitz of the Consortium for Science Policy and Outcomes based at Arizona State University also refuses to throw in the towel. "The idea,” he told NPR, “is to take the political heat off of climate change and instead move this into the realm of policy wonkdom where many many small decisions made across many agencies, many types of policies, many domains, set the conditions for moving in the right direction without demanding that people accept that this is the most important problem in the world."

So the next time I hop in my small silver sedan on an extended trek to see my man, maybe I could try to see if those gray clouds crowding the sky above the interstate have a silver lining.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That quote from Secretary of Energy Stehpen Chu was culled from this NPR article.

Climate Change is Coming No Matter What We Do can be found here.

This is the article that features Robert Correll and Dan Sarewitz.

Here is that Pew Research Center poll.

You can learn more about the Heinz Center here.

Whew.

Overlapping Areas of Geekery

2009-01-28T08:57:00.004-05:00

You may have noticed that my latest eco-article mentions televisions switch to digital next month. Okay, on the face of it, this technological event is not very environmental at all. I understand that. But again and again I see people tossing their perfectly usable TV because they've upgraded to a fancy flat-screen out of the misguided notion that after February 17, their old sets will be obsolete.

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

If you're like my boyfriend, you may use this digital switchover as an excuse to sneak out to Best Buy and drool over plasma screens as big as a kitchen table. But if you're into ecology like me, you can keep your old TV. Snag a fancy little converter box and marvel at the wide array of public television stations now available to you.

Of course, if you have cable or a dish, all this is moot. All you need do is continue enjoying the 928,928 channels available to you.

At any rate, it looks like the digital switchover might just be postponed until June. Learn more in this NPR story. But that delay doesn't really matter to you, my dedicated reader, because you are now armed with the facts. Find our more of the official line on DTV here.

So, in addition to the nerdy interests I harbor for environmental awareness and public TV and radio, I am also an amateur radio operator. Oh, yes. I'm a ham. Hawaii has already switched to a digital signal and enlisted the help of local amateur radio operators to aid in the transition and below, I've transcribed a few of the lessons learned by John, K1ER, in Honolulu.

Having worked with the FCC during the FIRST conversion to DTV (Hawaii), here are a few background things you SHOULD KNOW since they'll help you answer questions from the other 49 states.
The conversion was mandated by CONGRESS to free up the present analog TV spectrum for OTHER USERS.
The conversion was DIRECTED by CONGRESS.
The $40 coupon program was run by the former Bureau of Standards now NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The FCC was ordered to deal with the public and broadcasters during the conversion.
For those who can receive it THE DIGITAL PICTURE IS BETTER.
There is NO IMPACT on people using Satellite TV or CABLE.
The $40 coupon is ONLY issued ONE TIME to any address (Becky: In our area, you can have two coupons per address) AND they EXPIRE shortly after issue. MANY!!!!! people ordered the coupon and did not CASH IT! Resulting in the FUNDS for COUPONs being tied up like "outstanding checks" so the NIST STOPPED issuing COUPONS. As the COUPONS expire unused, funds are being applied to NEW COUPONS but the DELAY is over 8 weeks!
The FCC is taking the heat from viewers for problems NOT under their control and NOT caused by the FCC.

I love the expressive way John writes.

If you find yourself intrigued by the idea of amateur radio, you can find our more here. (I know that using Wikipedia isn't the safest bet but I really liked the simple, one-line intro into the world of dorky radio.)

Let's get practical, practical ...

2009-01-27T11:40:00.003-05:00

January's eco-article is all about some practical techie questions...

Steinbeck Says

2009-01-12T14:28:00.000-05:00

I have been reading Travels With Charley byJohn Steinbeck and came across the following quote. Even though the novel was penned in 1962, this passage seemed perfectly prescient:: "American cities are like badger holes, ringed with trash - all of them - surrounded by piles of wrecked and rusting automobiles, and almost smothered with rubbish. Everything we use comes in boxes, cartons, bins, the so-called packaging we love so much. The mountains of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use. In this, if in no other way, we can see the wild and reckless exuberance of our production, and waste seems to be the index. Driving along I thought how in France or Italy every item of these thrown-out things would have been saved and used for something. This is not said in ciriticism of one system or the other but I do wonder whether there will come a time when we can no longer afford our wastefulness - chemical wastes buried deep in the earth or sunk in the sea. When an Indian village became too deep in its own filth, the inhabitants moved. And we have no place to which to move.

Rock on, John.

Happy day, Aldo L.!

2009-01-12T08:59:00.000-05:00

January 11 was the birthday of Aldo Leopold, a rock star among 20th century conservationists.

He said,"There can be no doubt that a society rooted in the soil is more stable than one rooted in pavements."

Just something to ponder this cold morning...

The Problem With Environmentalism

2009-01-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

Stephen Colbert speaks on the Achilles heel of environmentalism: There's no one right way to do something. This makes me laugh and I think you'll enjoy it, too.

If it raises any questions for you, let me know. I'll make up a somewhat humorous and lighthearted answer!

cells for service

2009-01-05T10:54:00.000-05:00

Camp Ernst Middle School is collecting cell phones. Get rid of your old cell, prevent hazardous materials from going to the land fill, and help out Camp Ernst Middle School Youth Service Center - This might just be the perfect rememdy for a post-holiday hangover.

Find out more here.

Holiday Thoughts

2009-01-05T10:50:00.000-05:00

December's eco-article channels the happiness of the holidays.

Newspaper: Boone County Recorder
Column Title: Community Enviro-Line
Column Article Title: Gratitude from an Eco-Geek
By: Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator
Date: December 2008

Pledging allegiance to environmentalism is a funny thing.

You’re reading the beliefs of an eco-geek who can’t sing a Christmas carol without thinking, “Five golden rings? Are you nuts? Don’t you know that twenty tons of mine waste are generated for each simple gold band that gets manufactured?!”

I look at life through green-colored glasses and whatever meets my gaze is greeted with ecological evaluation. Unsurprisingly, when you ogle gloriously gift wrapped packages as just so much future garbage, you might come off as something of a Christmas spirit Scrooge. But this planetary perspective involves much more than criticism for the excesses of the holidays, it also offers a deep sense of understanding for the true meaning of the season.

So in the spirit of a cold month celebrating the best in humanity, I offer my list of Christmas greatest hits, all of the gifts that I am grateful for this year:

Kids – The most enjoyable activity you can get paid to perform is talking to little kids about the planet. I still can’t believe that teachers allow me to approach children and ask them what they really think about this environment we inhabit. Little ones get wide eyes when I read them The Lorax, middle school students inform me they have plans to solve global warming, and teenagers delineate schemes to expand classroom recycling programs. If I find myself feeling blue because some unrepentant litterbug keeps dumping bags of dirty diapers on Boone Aire Road, all I need do is look to our youth for a true sense of hope and excitement about a future improved environment.

Community – I find that the more people I know, the fewer possessions I must own. I joined a bicycle co-op and now have access to tools and experts that are not only motivating me to get my Schwinn together but providing me with a social circle that encourages reuse and recycling. Similarly, my posse of exquisitely dressed lady friends participate in clothes swap parties where we trade our unwanted garments in for those of our buddies. We pass on castoffs, prevent the waste of wearables, and have a ridiculously awesome time. I feel so lucky to connect with these communities and glean insight, encouragement, advice, and even a free dress or two.

Family – Followers of this column may recall that my favorite ecological debater, my little sister, left our lovely County for grad school. I couldn’t be more pleased that she is coming home for the holidays. As she and I dream up handmade crafts like origami ornaments made of sheets from recycled magazines (check ‘em out in my blog), and belittle each other’s ideas for parental presents, I realize that sometimes, what this eco-geek needs more than anything is dialogue and disagreement. “If Mom wants gold rings,” my sister hisses, “then we are going to freaking get her gold rings.” We agree to get them second-hand, satisfying this environmentalist.

I hope your holiday is full of good company, conscientious gifts, local food, and fewer wastes. But most of all, I hope it is bright and happy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Becky Haltermon is the Boone County Solid Waste Education and Litter Abatement Program Coordinator.

You can find the online version of this article here.

Resource Guide for '09!

2009-01-05T10:45:00.000-05:00

We have updated our guide on all things trash in northern Kentucky! You can find it here.

Great Moments in Theatric Envrionmentalism #1

2008-12-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Well, okay, I'm not sure if this will really be a series (are there really so many plays pertaining to ecology?) but I liked the sound of this title so there.

A few weeks ago, I saw a production of Love Song by John Kolvenbach at Playhouse in the Park and it truly moved me. It's an upside-down love story about an isolated young guy who falls in love with a lady who robs him in his apartment. It is sweet but encompasses so much more than your average romantic comedy.

My favorite scene centers on our protagonist, Beane, as he has recently fallen for his burglar and succumbed to the sweet insanity of bliss. He goes on a rant about the ridiculousness of consumption. Since finding love and true fulfillment in his life, he has figured out that he simply doesn't need stuff.

Here goes:

BEANE. (Holding a carton of Chinese noodles.) Can I eat this? Is there a fork? (Then spying the bottle on the counter.) Wine! "I am a Fool for wine, my friends, a Foolish Nit!" Can I drink this? I was talking to somebody the other day about the Redundancy of Glassware, (Offering the bottle.) [Sorry, Does anybody want any? No?] About the Consipracy, really, of the redundancy of just about everything, you know, You buy a glass thing to pour something from a glass thing into, when, there you are with a glass thing, cheers. (Beane drinks from the wine bottle.) Raincoats, You buy a water-resistant thing when you are in fact already a water-resistant thing, like we're gonna make a purchase that's gonna improve on skin, my A--, I will walk naked down the street and I will show you something about Water Repellence! (He then eats noodles from the carton with his hands.) It's a Conspiracy, the G--d--- Oligarchy that insists we Buy things, Look at this: Eat a noodle from a carton, when you already are a noodle eating a noodle from a carton! "It is foolish food, my friends, when a noodle eats a noodle!"

Okay, I realize that some of this is nonsensical. That's okay with me. What really matters is that our young man in love here has started to look at his life through the prism of contendedness and what he sees in our consumptive culture is all its absurdity.

Private Desires, Public Televsion

2008-12-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

I had a public televion station on for noise while wrapping some holiday gifts the other day and I caught a most interesting show. Called Status Anxiety, it delved into the conundrums surrounding consumerism such as: Why doesn't affluence equal happiness?

The host, an interesting Brit named Alaine de Botton, discussed a few intriguing ideas, at one point, making this statement:

"Rousseau believed that there are only two ways to make people richer; give them more money or restrain their desires. Sadly... capitalism depends on creating new desires, so that people want what they have never wanted. The gap between what we want and what we can afford may be necessary to keep markets growing, but in psychological and emotional terms it is a gulf that daily threatens our fragile sense of who we are and what matters."

Since consumerism and conservation are so deeply intertwined, I hope this holiday finds you feeling richer ... Whatever that means for you.

My Mom, Environmental Model

2008-12-16T11:20:00.000-05:00

This is my mom. She is modelling a skein of yarn she bought at Wal-Mart that is comprised of recycled plastic bottles. She is awesome.