Date: Wednesday, February 3rd
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium, Woodbury University, 7500 N. Glenoaks Blvd. Burbank, CA 91504

*Suggested Donation: $10.00
(Donations and Reservations are not necessary, but always welcome!)


Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home is a feature documentary about how the family household has become one of the most ferocious environmental predators of our time.

Everyday life under a microscope has never been so revealing. By the end of this trashy odyssey, you are truly inspired to revolutionaize your lifestyle for the sake of future generations.


Also featuring: Episodes from EcoDivasTV and a post-film Q/A with the Burbank Recycle Center's Kreigh Hampel and Ferris Kawar about how you can reduce your household or office waste.

If you would like to *RSVP or have questions please email info@burbankgreenalliance.org

*Reservations and Donations are not necessary but always welcome!

For directions to and parking at Woodbury University click here

By Kennetha Jespers
BGA Steering Committee Member
Recycling Coordinator / Community Outreach
Allied Waste / Consolidated Disposal Services, a Republic Services Company

What is the number one material people toss in the trash? PAPER! For every 100 pounds of trash, 35 pounds is paper. Newspapers take up about 14 % of landfill space and paper packaging accounts for 15 to 20 %.

Paper originated in China over 2,000 years ago by grinding plants such as mulberry bark, linen and hemp. Today, paper is made from trees that are cut down and taken to paper mills. Paper mills don’t waste anything - they use every part of the tree to produce paper. The bark and roots are burned and used for energy to run the paper mill and the rest of the tree is chopped into chips for pulping. The pulp is used to create paper. About 50% of the paper mills energy for manufacturing comes from tree wood scraps while the remainder is purchased from local power companies or generated on site by the mill using other energy sources.

Recycling paper saves energy. Paper mills use 40% less energy to produce products made from recycled paper versus fresh lumber. A ton of paper made from recycled fibers conserves 7,000 gallons of water; 17-31 trees; 4,000 KWh of electricity; and 60 pounds of air pollutants.

You may not think that recycling paper has a connection to global warming, but there is one. Not only are pollutants expelled into the air from the manufacturing process, but organic materials (such as paper) which are disposed of at landfills decompose into a bio-gas, containing methane, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming. Fewer trees need to be cut down when people reuse and recycle paper products. Live trees help absorb carbon dioxide, preventing gas from being released into the atmosphere, and reducing the production of greenhouse gases. If we were to increase our national recycling rate by just 5 percent, this could have the same positive effect on greenhouse gas emissions as removing nearly 8 million cars from our roadways for an entire year!

Paper related items commonly used in your home and office can be recycled when you’re ready to dispose of them, by simply placing them in your “BLUE” recycling bin!

http://www.republicservices.com/

1. Buy paper/wood products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Their label will be on the product.

2. Break the paper towel and napkin habit. On average each American consumes 6 napkins per day or almost 2,000 per year. Take fewer napkins and use cloth.

3. Send documents via eMail or eFax.

4. Look into reducing junk mail. For ideas see: www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/

5. When editing reduce the strain on your eyes by using the Zoom feature versus printing the document.

6. Utilize a certified “green” print house for all your print needs.

7. Buy recycled paper with at least 30% (or more) post consumer content.

8. Buy products made or packaged in recycled paper.

9. Forgo paper (or plastic) bags at the grocery store; bring your reusables.

10. Place all Clean and Dry paper in your blue recycle bin.

11. Give back! Volunteer to plant trees at www.TreePeople.org. Also, check out Burbank Water and Power’s Made in the Shade Program.

Burbank Water and Power’s Made in the Shade Program

By Louie Silva
BGA Steering Committee Member
Green1Planet.com

Celebrate the New Year by planting an indoor garden!

Green plants are a wonderful decorating touch but more importantly, they make a considerable contribution to improving the air in a healthy home and they can help us keep the office environment more cheerful throughout the year.

Carpets, paints, adhesives, upholstery fabrics and fillings can all give off chemical gasses. As we build our houses and office buildings to be tighter and better insulated, these gasses build up in the interior spaces where they can cause a number of reactions such as watery eyes, irritation of nose and lungs, nausea, and other allergic responses.

Concern over concentrations of gases, especially formaldehyde, in a closed environment led NASA to conduct controlled experiments in the 1980s to determine the effectiveness of houseplants in cleaning the air in a simulated space capsule habitat. One of the more surprising results of the study was that the potting soil itself absorbed formaldehyde and its ability to do so was continuously renewed by microbes in the soil which metabolized the chemical.

NASA recently updated the study and released a list of plants that do a good job of filtering indoor air. The list was headed by English Ivy, Spider plant, Golden Pothos, Peace Lily, and Chinese Evergreen. Also high on NASA's list are two types of philodendron and four varieties of dracaena.

Houseplants are not a panacea for toxic air. One frequently cited study found that it would take 2.4 houseplants per meter of indoor space to clean the air; however, even a few plants can improve air quality, as well as, make the space more visually attractive.

http://www.green1planet.com

** BGA FILM SERIES
Wednesday, February 3rd @ 7pm
Garbage! The Revolution Begins at Home
Woodbury University - Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
(See above for more information)

** Next BGA Workshop
Wednesday, March 31st
“How To Set Up Recycling Systems for Multi Unit Commercial and Residential Complexes”
Stay Tuned For More Details

Burbank Green Alliance Events

Please note these events are not affiliated with Burbank Green Alliance events. For more information contact the organization.

** City of Burbank Free Composting Workshops - 20th Anniversary
January thru May 2010
To RSVP or for more information contact 818-238-3900.
View composting workshop schedule: www.ci.burbank.ca.us/index.aspx?page=473

** Jan. 22-24th - Go Green Expo (Los Angeles Convention Center) http://www.gogreenexpo.com/

** January 28, 2010 @ 7-9pm - Burbank Green Drinks
(Every 4th Thursday of the Month)
Location: Mindfulnest at 3319 West Magnolia Blvd Burbank, CA 91505

** Jan. 30, 2010 @ 2:00pm - Transition To Green (Local organization that meets every two months and educates attendees on how to transition to a greener way of living.)
Location: Mo’s Restaurant, 4301 W. Riverside Drive Burbank, CA 91505
Contact: www.Transitiontogreen.org

**March 19-21st - The Green Lifestyle Film Festival at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater, www.greenlifestylefilmfestival.com

**Other Green Calendars**
www.gotogreenla.com
www.greenopia.com
www.greenlacoalition.org
www.creec.org

2010 Composting Workshop Schedule

From everyone at the BGA, we wish you a brilliant start to your New Year.

To those who supported the BGA in 2009 as a donor, volunteer, or cheerleader, I would like to personally thank you for your help in building a sustainable community.

Over the past year, the BGA has had many successes. On October 14th, forty BGA friends and family gathered together to celebrate our being selected as a project of Community Partners, which allows us to function as a nonprofit organization under the umbrella of a fiscal sponsor. In 2009, the BGA also hosted two very successful workshops, “Zero Waste Food Service - For Restaurants to Potlucks” and “A Reel Green Workshop - Practical Eco-Solutions for the Entertainment Industry.”

With a handful of new programs in 2010, the BGA is sure to have an exciting new year!

Please join us for our new Environmental Film Series, small business training program with Community Development, and our always popular workshops.

And be sure to befriend us on Facebook.

I look forward to seeing you and your friends at our upcoming BGA events.

Sincerely,

Jessica Aldridge
Executive Director
Burbank Green Alliance

Burbank Green Alliance Facebook Page