24 Feb Austin’s Wealth of Green Resources

What a Wealth of Green Resources we have here in Austin! 

I am always impressed and amazed by the number of programs and opportunites we as citizens have to make changes on an individual level … and sometimes even get paid incentives to do so! 

As host sponsors, Austin Energy and the City of Austin will be assembling a RESOURCE PAVILION at the Austin Green Living Expo, showcasing the various programs, initiatives, rebates, incentives, and ways we as citizens can get involved and take action to create a greener city.  

I’m not sure how many of you saw the SustainLane.com "most sustainable U.S. cities" rankings that came out October 2008 … but personally — I know Austin is better than #13 … and it’s been one of my goals to try to help us get into the TOP 10!   But that will depend on us as individuals getting taking steps and taking advantage of the resources that are already available to us!

Make plans to visit the Austin Energy/City of Austin Resource Pavilion at the Austin Green Living Expo on April 23-25 and learn about the …

• Austin Energy Green Building, Green Choice, Power Saver, Solar and Refrigerator Recycling Programs
• Austin Climate Protection Program including calculating your Carbon Footprint, learn about Air Quality, Urban Heat Island and the Central Texas Clean Cities programs — and more importantly … the difference you can make with simple changes in YOUR actions.
• The Clean Air Force of Central Texas
• Ozone Action Heroes Program and Commute Solutions
• City of Austin’s Solid Waste Services Single Stream Recycling and proper Hazardous Waste Disposal
• Austin Water Conservation rebates, water quality and the importance of the Wildlands program
• Learn about the new car2go program — a groundbreaking carsharing mobility program that is changing the face of transportation in Austin. 
• Austin Public Library’s programs and Recycled Reads bookstore
• … and so much more!

Today I met with the Austin Convention Center to discuss our waste diversion efforts for the Austin Green Living Expo.  We are working to get the event as close to Zero Waste as possible and will be working closely with the Center, our Decorator, our Exhibitors … and even calling upon our attendees assistance to reach this goal.  Uplift Austin and American Youthworks will be assisting us in facilitating this effort and will weigh and document for us the results.

Interestingly enough, as I spoke with the operations crew I realized the Austin Convention Center has truly implemented several eco-friendly steps recently:

• Implemented a composting program in which ALL food waste is composted
• All cups, plastic ware, napkins and paper products are compostable
• All bottles, cans, cardboard and non-compostable plastic is recycled
• The Exterior lighting was recently replaced with LED lighting
• The lighting fixtures inside the Exhibit halls have been replaced with HID Fluorescent fixtures which are 65% more energy efficient.
• The pre-function (lobby) light fixtures have all been replaced with energy-efficient CFL fixtures
• All the doors and the 3rd floor meeting rooms have been repainted with Green Seal Certified Paint.
• The Lobby carpet as been replaced with Interface Flor carpet tiles which are glueless and made of recycled materials … and by the way they recycled the 300,000 sqft of old carpet they replaced.

Find out ways YOU can make changes in your house and place of business to reduce your impact on the environment, save money and lead a healthier life at the Austin Green Living Expo on April 23-25 at the Austin Convention Center.

Contact Curah Beard at 512-496-3962 or Curah@ShowTechnology.com if you would like to promote your green business at the Austin Green Living Expo.  Booth space is filling fast.

Zip me an email if you know of a business or product that you would like to see represented too.