» sustainable

Changes at Amerlux

Krystal Persaud — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:07:49 +0000

Here are some photos I took of new practices happening around the Amerlux office. I feel like a lot of the employees have made an effort to change their behaviors. No one seems to complain a lot (something I was afraid of).

So far, so good.

The reminder to use a mug

The flyer on the bulletin board

Scrap paper box Jonathan put in the printing/plotting room. This way people can take scrap paper if they need it and all the rest can be recycled.

Temporary recycling bins in the kitchen (until I get permission to buy BIG ones)

Mug hooks that Ron made. It wasn’t even part of the Closed Loop plan, he made them on his own. He felt that employees were hesitant to use the mugs because they were visually hidden in the cabinet. I hope that other employees will start bringing their own ideas to the office like he did.

NPO, LCC, INC, What?

Krystal Persaud — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:27:18 +0000

So over the past few weeks I have been debating where I think Closed Loop can go. My first instinct was it should be an NPO (non-profit organization). However, after talking to my friend Rohit, who works for the ONE campaign, he explained to me that maintaining an NPO takes a lot of money and a lot of man power. Both of which I don’t have. You have to collect some odd thousand and designate it here and there. Have a board of directors, meetings, etc.

But… right now it is just me, one person, with a cause doing some work in my spare time. So he suggested that the best bet for me would to just declare myself a consultant for design sustainability. I can help out companies, homes, schools (like I am with Amerlux), and use that as my consultant-portfolio. Since I need some financial help to get started, I can collect donations now from family and friends explicitly saying “this donation does not apply for any tax exemptions”. Then use that money to pay for marketing materials, website upkeep, and other things that you need to do starting off. Then later on, I can charge clients for consulting services. Then donate a % of the profits to environmental NPOs that I choose.

I think this plan could work…

Proud Daughter Moment.

Krystal Persaud — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:48:49 +0000

My mom started buying cans of iced tea instead of boxes of iced tea. She said that she decided to buy the cans because it seemed like they could recycled easier. Wow! I was so proud. My mom actually listens to me babble on about sustainable habits. Not only does she listen, but she also changed her habits. I have had a lot of people tell me about how they think about their trash output and want to change their behavior… but this is honestly the first time that I have witnessed it. It feels great to see this kind of progress.

btw, this has my favorite brand of iced tea since high school. this is the first time since then, about 4 years, that my mom has bought cans instead of boxes.

Can Garbage Make You Sick?

Krystal Persaud — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:45:53 +0000

I’m sick. For the past couple of days I have been feeling pretty under the weather. Stuffy nose, dry throat, throbbing headache, you know how it is. Could it be because I am living with garbage? Can living with garbage make a person physically ill? Well first let’s define garbage.

So say we define garbage as an “unwanted substance”. Generally this definition rings true, right? It is SO easy as a consumer to get trapped in this “oh well, throw it out” attitude of just throwing everything that seems useless and meaningless in the trash. I have definitely been struggling with that so far. It is so frustrating because sometimes I just want to crumple something up and …. then I remember I should think about a better way to use it if I can or else I will have to look at that crumpled mess for a whiiile. Going a little further… why is “garbage” so unwanted? Is it unwanted because it can no longer serve its purpose (like a broken dish) ? Is it unwanted because it no longer has a purpose to serve (like empty coke can) ? Is it unwanted because it is in excess (like dinner leftovers) ? Obviously, there are many different ways to categorize garbage, none that are very fascinating. To cut to the chase, there are many reasons why consumers feel garbage is unwanted. But let’s have a look past these consumer perspectives on garbage for a bit…

Let’s redefine garbage as an “unwanted substance that no longer serves any purpose”. So, in this definition a broken dish is not garbage if it can be re-used to make a tiled mosaic. An empty coke can is not garbage if it can be recycled. Dinner leftovers (depending on the meal of course) can be compost that can enrich a garden.

Okay… so then what is garbage? From my experiment so far these are the items that I have been collecting that are TRULY garbage:

+ clear plastic packaging that was on food products

+ plastic packaging that held frozen vegetables

+ plastic dishes that held frozen meat

+ a paper bag from a bakery that has powdered sugar inside

Can living with any of these things be harmful? I should do my best to wipe out all of the sugar inside the paperbag and rise it out so there is no more food residue inside because maybe it will attract flies/ants. But other than that products that we live with everyday are made out of plastic and paper, how are these things any different? The lamp above my bed is plastic, am I in danger of sleeping under it? If I compost all my food leftovers as I have been doing then the rest of the trash SHOULD hypothetically be safe. Or just as safe as any other home that has a number of products made of plastics and other fabricated materials.

What do you guys think? I think that physically, my health is totally unaffected by the garbage. Perhaps mentally seeing it and associating it with other things… makes me feel less healthy? Maybe I would start to feel less clean? For example I associate garbage with a bad smell and dirty alleys in cities that have disease-infected rats. So mentally, maybe it could really get to me…

Name that odor…

Krystal Persaud — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:00:16 +0000

So, in addition to the frozen spoiled meat in my freezer…I forgot about this head of cabbage I bought like the second week of the semester. Why did I think I could eat an entire head of cabbage by myself? Why?? When I open the fridge its like I need to sniff everything to figure out what is going bad…

I was telling my boyfriend the other day and I think the overall smell in my room is really improving! Or I am just so used to it by now… one or the other…but honestly, a little odor never hurt anyone.. maybe that’s just the compromise that you have to take to have a sustainable home? Johan, one of my studiomates, said that he does not live so far from me AND he has a compost area outside! I will definitely be contacting him so maybe I can make period trips over to his place to empty out my organic waste.