Green Options » cradle_to_cradle

Sustainability at Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:23:28 +0000

Clint Eastwood’s iconic Dirty Harry character uttered “A man’s got to know his limitations” but can say the same thing about the Green progress of a company? In the case of the smaller and less capitalized Lake Tahoe ski resort Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort we looked at skied, snowboarded, walked, and peeked around at what Green goings on here at this resort. Like all ski reports they should be concerned about their carbon footprint and global warming because with no snow they have no business.

Sierra, unlike some of the larger resorts like Heavenly, don’t have as much capital to spend on LEED certified buildings, high output photovoltaic systems or biodiesal powered snow-cats but then again they have a smaller footprint in terms of actual buildings (LEED or otherwise) or the amount of high energy snow making machines.

San Francisco Carpet Recycling

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:04:46 +0000

The other day when we had some carpet replaced (with Green Label certified of course) in one of our home-offices the carpet installers generously offered to take the old carpet away for only $60. When we asked where they would take the used carpet they unfortunately mentioned something about a dump (or was that landfill?) That didn’t exactly sit well with us. We did a little checking and found SF Carpet Recycling.

This Bayview based collection site for post consumer carpet and carpet pad accepts used carpet for the purpose of recycling. After removing the carpet and padding from our vehicle the friendly employees use a Star Trek looking light spectrometer to determine the material. We just had a few rolls but on a busy day, they recycle 30,000 pounds.

Much of the carpet they collect feeds the “cradle to cradle” process where it eventually becomes new carpet all over again. It’s a no brainer to as recycling post consumer carpet saves money, avoids growing the garbage in the landfill, and reduces the need for virgin oil in the carpet manufacturing process.

Carpet currently makes up between three and five percent of landfill waste and much it remains there for an extremely long time. Not only can we help divert the carpet from the landfill but we are helping the environment. According to the 2006 CARE Annual Report for every 10 million pounds of post-consumer carpet recycled

• 50,000 cubic yards of landfill space is saved

• 70 million pounds of GHG emissions are avoided (CO2 equivalents)

For those of you looking at the bottom line, when you request (or bring yourself) that your old carpet be brought to SF Carpet Recycling, then you will save money too as there prices offer a significant savings as opposed to disposing of unwanted carpet at a refuse facility.

Ab Fab and Green

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:06:42 +0000

Daahling you look fab and Green. That’s what people may be saying after experiencing treatments in San Francisco’s eco-chic Epi Center MedSpa. Yes, the whole concept sounds soooo Los Angeles to me, too. Some of us don’t even get the whole mani-pedi thing so it might take a little coaxing to have some lipo or botox thing, even at this truly green spa. A facial might not be for all of us but we’re positively glowing when it comes to the soon to be certified LEED interior.

The Epi Center MedSpa will open its doors in April to commemorate both its 10th anniversary and Earth Day. We’re impressed with the project and the creative Green help, namely SF-based Organic Architect, Eric Corey Freed, (who’s now part of the literati with the recently released Green Building and Remodeling for Dummies), Eco-Fabulous founder and style guru Zem Joaquin who served as the “green style police,” and lead architect Justin Martinkovic.

Even though the spa isn’t quite finished we can see the Greenness with evidenced by the fact that the construction team lacks the surgeon-looking masks that can be seen on many construction jobs to protect from toxic substances and dust. Why? The air scrubber being used (see photo) maintains the healthy air quality on the site and keeps dusts and dangerous particles, the HEPA filter for tiny particles, and a charcoal filter for fumes and odors. Enough filters for ya?

Besides the whole clean air thing, the spa includes eco-creativity. I like that instead of using wood or bamboo panels the crew utilized recycled newspaper panels that they stained, sanded and cut into the ceiling panels. They went cradle to cradle by using carpet from Bentley Prints and natural tapped rubber for the cushions, which do not offgas and biodegrade. And even though they used marble, the fact they used recycled marble flooring and countertops, gave me reason to smile. Thank goodness that the powers that be decided on water filters versus those annoying unsustainable small plastic water bottles that so many spas offer.

Maybe now I’ll feel a little better about that tuck.