Weekly Pink Goes Green Tip

Need a new bag to carry your books in around campus?  Well don't go spend $50 on a bag that you will not even use after college.  Instead, reuse old cloth bags to carry your books in. 

Delta Zeta's on this campus and around the country are using their DZ convention bags and dzdesignbags to carry their books in.  If you are not in a sorority, you could do this with any bag you have laying around your house. 

What happens if they are too old and torn??  Get some materials for $5.00-$10.00 from Jo Anne Fabrics and patch up your bag.  You could also add studs and more colorful fabric and turn your old bag into something new and hip. 

These bags can also be used to carry around your groceries.  This will help the environment because it will allow for plastic and paper bags to not be reused.  So, next time you want to buy a book bag or go to the grocery store, remember you could be more eco-friendly by reusing an older bag.

New Green Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center

Delta Zeta’s national philanthropy, supported by both collegiate and alumnae chapters, is speech and hearing and The Painted Turtle camp.  Delta Zeta's partnerships with and The Painted Turtle and The Starkey Hearing Foundation were announced at the 2006 National Convention. 

All of these important programs provide additional volunteer and giving opportunities for collegiate and alumnae members.

Chapters also support local and national speech and hearing organizations, such as Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the only four-year liberal arts school in the world devoted wholly to the needs, instruction, and training of young people who are deaf, and the House Ear Institute, which is one of the world's foremost research, teaching, and treatment centers in the field of hearing.

To go off of that, our local chapter supports the Cleveland Speech and Hearing Center.  As of October 19, 2010 the USGBC's Green Building Certification Institute completed their final review and officially awarded Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center LEED Silver certification for their new eco-friendly building.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) created LEED as a rating system for green building.  The following points describe the new Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center LEED Highlights for their silver certification:

• Our decision to build on Euclid Avenue in University Circle. This put CHSC on a predeveloped site, with close access to neighborhoods, amenities and public transportation.
• Efficient use of green space - the small amount of landscaping requires no irrigation system.
• Cost-effective plumbing fixtures which use 45% less water than typical fixtures.
• The building is designed to be 27.5% more efficient than required.
• During the construction process, high volumes of construction waste were recycled, with a target minimum of 75% being diverted from landfills.
• Wood used in the construction was FSC certified.
• The interior building materials meet or exceed LEED required Indoor Air Quality standards.

For more information on the new eco-friendly Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center, visit CHSC.

Giant Eagle- Eco-Light Bottle

Have you been to Giant Eagle recently to go grocery shopping?  Did you happen to walk down the beverage aisle or maybe buy a pack of Giant Eagle water?  Notice anything different? 

This happen to me last night at Giant Eagle when I went to buy a pack of water.  I always buy Giant Eagle water because it is cheaper than the rest of the brands.  I know I could swipe water in the vending machines on campus, but why pay $1.40 for one bottle of water when I can buy a whole case for $3.99 or $4.99. 

Well anyways, back to my story.  I picked up a case of Giant Eagle water and noticed that the bottles have changed.  They are now eco-light bottles with 50% less plastic.  I know that everyone is trying to be more environmentally friendly, but I was surprised to see that the cheap Giant Eagle brand has even changed its ways.  Even though I already support the Giant Eagle brand water, this new eco-friendly change will remind me to support them even more.  Below is a description of the new bottle and changes made from the Giant Eagle website.

One of the most environmentally friendly bottles ever!*

Choose a high quality water bottle with approximately 50% less plastic*! Our Eco-Light Bottle^TM is easy to handle — and its contoured shape offers a perfect combination of function, design and environmental consideration.
Since the bottle is lighter, it also requires less energy to produce, so the end result is a reduced carbon footprint. Enjoy the crisp refreshing taste of Giant Eagle^® Purified Water — and feel good knowing the product you are purchasing is 100% recyclable and one of the most environmentally friendly plastic ½ liter bottles ever produced!*
Please join us in our efforts…always recycle.

Weekly Pink Goes Green Tip

Walking around campus do you tend to get lazy and decide to go through the automatic door?  Is it really that hard to open a door yourself?  I see students all the time pushing the button and walking through the these doors, instead of opening a normal door with their own two hands.  Are we really that lazy these days?  I understand it might be more convenient, but seriously, come on here people!!  Next time you go to push the button for an automatic door, stop and think, how does this effect the environment?  I know your probably thinking that these doors can't effect our environment.  But truth of the matter is it does.  By not using an automatic door you can conserve energy.  At one school in New Jersey, every time students use these doors is costs ten cents.  This is money that students tuition goes towards, which could be used in a much more productive way.  Just think, some of our BW tuition money could be going towards the costs of energy used to open an automatic door because people are lazy and cannot open a door their self.  If all the money I spend going to school here is going towards this, I know I would be upset.  BW is supposed to be a green campus, but our students and faculty contradict this issue by using automatic doors.  So my tip for the week is to be more self conscious walking around campus because all of our actions and behaviors do impact the environment. 

Recycle Ink Cartages

Don't you hate it when your ink cartage is low and you have to throw it away?  Well next time you go to take your ink cartage out and toss it in the trash, STOP!  Do not throw your ink cartage away because you can recycle them.  I bet you never knew this and I never did either until I joined Delta Zeta. 

All around BW campus, Delta Zeta sorority distributes recycling ink cartage boxes.  This allows staff and students to recycle their ink cartage's instead of throwing them away.  Below are pictures of the boxes placed around campus.  Next time you see a box, remember to recycle our ink cartage instead of tossing it into your trash can.

Eco-Friendly Homecoming T-shirts

Last year for Homecoming we ordered shirts from a company called Andira International.  This company offers consulting, design, distribution and marketing to companies that want to create products while remaining as eco-conscious as possible.  The company has three different collections called Demano, Artesania, and Rain Tees. 

When our sorority bought our t-shirts from the company we went through The Andira Rain Tee Collection.  This collection saves trees with tees.  Rain Tees is a 100% organic line of apparel for women and children that features designs by youth living in endangered rain forests.  They donate school supplies to the children and ask them to illustrate what they see happening in their world every day. Each Rain Tee features their thoughts, illustrations and names, and for every item sold a child involved in the non-profit Kids Saving the Rain Forest receives a tree they can plant to replace one that has been destroyed.

Since Delta Zeta supports sustainabilty efforts, we thought this would be a great way and opportunity to participate.  Our chapter ended up winning the t-shirt contest during the homecoming pep rally.  On the front the shirt it said, "Delta Zeta is saving the Rain Forest..."  and the back said, "While the Yellow Jackets are destroying the Cardinals."  Below are pictures of all of our girls in our 1st place homecoming shirt.  To look at Andira International main website, visit http://www.andiraintl.com/philosophy.html.  To look at The Andira Rain Tee Collection, visit http://www.raintees.com/. 

Weekly Pink Goes Green Tip

While you are on the search for safer makeup, be careful not to be green washed by the labels.  Here are some labels to watch out for, thanks to Consumer Reports:

Organic:  There are no regulations for using the words "Organic" on a makeup label, unless it is a USDA label
Natural:  Same for "Natural."  It means nothing on the bottle.
Unscented:  "Unscented" does not necessarily mean "Fragrance-free,"  as manufacturers sometimes add fragrance as masking agents.

Here is the a website called Skin Deep, which allows you to search your makeup to see if there are any hazardous ingredients in the product.  I use this website to search the makeup I use to know if I am using eco-friendly makeup or not.  If not, I look at other makeup options on the website that would be better for my health and the environment.