January 2011

January 2011

Topics in this months newsletter

 

Free Green Business Certification Consultation

In an effort to engage local businesses in sustainable practices, GLEE is offering a New Year’s special to all businesses interested in greening operations, saving money and becoming certified in the Green Business Program (GBP).

A free one-hour on-site or phone consultation to help businesses move toward certification will be offered to those who respond by Jan. 15th.  For questions, or to make an appointment, call GLEE Program Coordinator Bridget McDonald at 305-923-1994.

In the 14 months since the program was launched, 14 Keys business operations have become certified through the GBP and many others are in the process. With documented savings of money and resources, these businesses provide working examples of best business practices for sustainability. A baseline for utilities, waste and other expenses helps measure economic and environmental savings, while a waste assessment provides the information needed for successful recycling waste reduction. 

Becoming GBP certified has many benefits, providing publicity, promotion and resource conservation tools for every business environment. The steps for certification are simple and require no major investment. Business Membership is $100 and required for certification. An on-site assessment fee of $50 covers all program benefits.  Florida Keys businesses that have completed or are working toward certification currently include:

Angelic Moon Day Spa, Cudjoe Key

First State Bank of the Florida Keys

  • Big Pine Key
  • Whitehead St.
  • Marathon (pending)

Florida Keys Electric Cooperative , Tavernier

Key West City Marina at Garrison Bight (pending)

Leigh Ann’s Coffee House (pending)

Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, Big Pine Key

Mariners Hospital, Tavernier (pending),

Monroe Association for ReMARCable Citizens, Key West

Pilates in Paradise, Islamorada (pending)

Pribramsky & Zuelch, Key West (pending)

Sheriff Synthetics, Amsoil Dealer, Key Largo

The Banyan Resort, Key West

The Green Turtle Inn Restaurant, Islamorada

The UPS Store - Marathon

Travelers Palm Inn & Guesthouse, Key West

 

Who’s Making Green Resolutions for 2011?

It’s that time of year when many have thoughts for a better New Year. GLEE asked those working on sustainability for their ideas, wishes, and personal pledges for making change on the green front. Here are a few of the responses.

Rosa Washington, Senior Administrator, Monroe County Solid Waste Management 

Step up Monroe County's recycling program, get more businesses involved in recycling and reduce the use of plastic bags by supermarkets and other businesses. Set a good example by carrying my canvas bags when I shop. Help schools kids get more connected to the environment.

Karen Beal, Secretary, GLEE Board of Directors

My resolution itself is recycled, It is to continue learning about new trends in sustainability and applying them to my life. There are new technologies and common sense ideas that can be useful. It is exciting to research and share what works for me.  I resolve to keep my eyes and ears open and my brain engaged for a better world.

Christi Allen, GLEE Board of Directors, Founder & President of EcoWeek Events, Inc.

I am buying a Prius and adding composting as a waste stream.  For my business: I WILL become a certified Green Business Partner!!!  This community has been bounding forward in its sustainability movement!  All together we can create significant change!  It IS greener on the other side!

Shirley Gun, Office Manager, The Nature Conservancy

I wish that the Key West Dept of Transportation would operate more frequent buses and we could ditch our cars and get on the bus.  Or people could carpool just one day/week. With rising gasoline prices and oil demand outweighing supply it makes even more sense now that we change our commuting behaviors.

 

Key West Bicyclists Unite!  

The Key West Bicycle Association (KWBA) had more than 200 participants in the 2nd Annual Lighted Bike Parade, which included a nine-mile ride through Old Town and New Town viewing the lighted houses of Key West. 

Organizers hired two Key West police motorcycle escorts, and KWBA volunteers and members contributed their efforts to organize a safe and memorable evening.  

The newly formed non-profit group’s mission is to promote safe bicycling activities as well as educating bicyclists and automobiles of the laws they must abide for safety reasons.  The group, which has met 8 times since August, also plans to lobby the city and county for safer bike routes and encourage bicycling as a means of safe transportation that will alleviate traffic congestion, parking problems, and promote a healthy lifestyle with lower CO2 emissions.

The official launch date to introduce KWBA and the goals of the organization to the public is Thursday, Feb. 16, at Salute Restaurant from 5 to 8 PM.  There will be food and door prizes, as well as membership info.

If you would like to be added to the KWBA email list for upcoming activities, write to clindley@gmail.com  or call Ty at (305) 395 9363.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Key West Bicycle Association is to promote safe bicycling by:

  • Promoting events for all skill levels and age groups.
  • Providing education on bicycle issues, safe bicycling, rules of the road, bicycle repairs, and extent of bicycle use
  • Advocating on behalf of bicycling in government actions, private developments, and community events
  • Promoting full knowledge and equal enforcement of the rules of the road as they apply to bicycles, pedestrians, and automobiles.
  • Identifying and promoting needed bicycle facilities, routes, and lanes and the elimination of dangerous areas.
  • Informing the community about the benefits of bicycling to the environment, public health, local economy, tourist industry, and reduction of traffic congestion.

 

Mistletoe Madness: A Community Effort for GLEE

A gleeful thanks to all who performed or helped Lenore Troia create a fabulous fundraiser for GLEE last month. This year, Mistletoe Madness featured more than 20 inspired performers, a sprinkling of elected officials and equal measures of hilarious schtick and holiday spirit in a musical review hosted by LaTeDa. 

The line up of performers included Key West Cabaret, Terri White, Gayla Morgan, Mike McCabe, Traci Reynolds, Bruce Moore, Bobby Nesbitt, Michael Thomas, Mark Watson and Cindy Lu, Teri Johnston, Cindy DeRocher, Heather Carruthers, Evie Valdes and Ginny Haller as the Sugar Plum Dancers (formerly the Anti-Depressants). 

A group performance of “The 12 Days of Recycling,” had the audience howling, and so did “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies.”  Erika Biddle, along with her friend and neighbor Kelly Young, organized an ornament donation/sale that was held after the performance. After the spirited warm up, who could resist making donations for holiday ornaments and decorations? Not this audience. More than $600 was raised for GLEE. 

 

Carol Ellis Speaks at Pennekamp

Award-winning environmentalist, gardener and photographer, Carol Ellis, will discuss everyday habits you can develop to lighten your footprint in the Keys and elsewhere on Jan 12. 

Carol received GLEE’s Green Living Award for her sustainable lifestyle in 2009. She grows organic food, drives an electric vehicle powered by a solar battery, and also owns a vehicle that runs on biodiesel. She composts, recycles, refuses plastic bags and practices water conservation measures. Ellis works with youth organizations and wildlife conservation groups to support environmental education and practices.

Join Carol at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Visitor Center, MM 102.5 Oceanside, Overseas Highway at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12 . Admission is free. A cushion is suggested for seating comfort and seating is limited. The park gates open at 7 p.m. For more information on the speaker series, call the Visitors Center at 305-451-9570.

 

Reuse Site Seeks Stuff

The holiday gift season is over, but many people are already realizing that they have either received things they don’t need or now have items they can give away. Instead of storing unwanted items in the closet or tossing them in the trash, a local website urges people to donate them to a non-profit that can really use what they no longer need. 

That website, Keysreuse.com, makes it very easy to locate a local charitable group that could use unwanted or unneeded holiday gifts.

For example, one of the site’s members, Seacamp, could use fishing gear while the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition could certainly put a working television to good use. The Key West Botanical Garden could use gardening tools that are still in good condition. There are groups that need DVD players and bicycles, flat screen monitors or a laptop. It’s a long list. 

Keysreuse.com lists more than 20 local non-profits that need everything from appliances to tools. The site is very easy to use. It lists hundreds of needed items and provides links to the groups that could really use them. The donor then contacts the group directly, via phone or email, and arranges pick up delivery of the item. 

Keep the holiday spirit by donating what you no longer need to a non-profit organization that does. Most donations qualify for end of year tax deductions. For more information, log onto www.keysreuse.com. 

 

GLEE Celebrates Erika Biddle, GLEE’s Unsung Hero for 2011

Key West resident Erika Biddle has been named GLEE’s 2010 Unsung Hero. She will be honored as such at the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys luncheon later this month along with other community volunteers. 

While singing the praises of Erika, a dedicated educator and community activist, GLEE hopes to show gratitude, share with readers Erika’s amazing accomplishments and hopefully inspire others too.

Born in Germany, a country ahead of the curve on sustainable issues, Erika has embraced GLEE and the green agenda in general by helping to create programs, awareness, raising funds and educating the public through collaboration and creative thinking. “I like to connect the green dots,” she says of her work to build a network that benefits from community-driven projects.

Host of the EcoCentric View radio program every Tuesday at 2 pm on KONK 1500 AM, Erika and her guests have helped inform listeners on the state of the environment and all things sustainable for almost 2 years now. With topics ranging from solar cookers that help preserve trees in underdeveloped nations, to local news on recycling issues and covering the BP oil disaster, the program’s focus is protecting the environment through knowledge and action.

Erika takes her support of GLEE to a very personal level. A few years ago, when her friend Lucy Barker hosted a birthday bash for Erika, guests were asked to skip the gifts and instead become GLEE members. Erika’s selfless request combined with Lucy’s gracious hosting brought many new members to GLEE, as well as donations and awareness of GLEE and its mission.

Last December, Erika partnered with performer Lenore Troia to create a holiday fundraiser for GLEE. This year, Mistletoe Madness featured more than 20 talented locals, a sprinkling of elected officials and equal measures of hilarious schtick and holiday spirit in a musical review hosted by LaTeDa in the Crystal Room.  “The 12 Days of Recycling,” had the audience howling, and so did the choreographed rendition of “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies.” Erika, along with her friend and neighbor Kelly Young, also organized an ornament donation/sale that was featured after the performance. After that warm up, who could resist? 

But Erika’s creative fundraising skills are topped only by her genius for publicity. When she initiated the “Trash Talk” campaign in 2008 with funny stickers created for Key West public trashcans, she had hopes the campaign would create a local media buzz. Messages like “Hemingway didn’t litter here,” and other quips designed to educate and entertain caught the attention of the local press and the AP too.  Soon, the entire world could read about Key West’s anti-littering campaign that sent a message with a smile – Key West style. (Unfortunately, many of the stickers went missing to become coveted Key West souvenirs.) 

Erika’s next project was more successful. The 2010 calendar, Women Sustaining the Earth, featured dreamy, sensual images of local earth women hugging trees and being natural in various Keys environments. The project involved several local photographers and coordination of shoots, editing and production, all managed by Erika, took several months. But the end product was worth the wait. The media was thrilled to report on a calendar of women between the ages of 40 and 75 posing in various states of undress and intrigue, all to raise funds for community gardens. The 500 calendars sold out within days, the project raised several thousand dollars for community gardens and…once again, Erika made international news!

Among Erika’s other successes have been organizing “Hands Across the Sand” where hundreds gathered on Smathers Beach to protest offshore oil drilling; participating in mangrove clean-ups; and creating a Fantasy Fest costume from orange plastic newspaper sleeves and then getting the photo published in the Citizen!

For now, Erika is working on developing community garden projects, including one with Florida Keys Community College Environmental Club. If approved, the on-campus organic garden would be maintained by club members, biology students and at risk teens. The garden is still getting the approvals necessary, but it’s expected that the seeds will soon be planted and many benefits reaped.

“It feels good to be part of the Green Evolution and to be committed to something that benefits us all,” says Erika. “ I believe that building and maintaining community are essential parts of green living. It lets us share resources, helps those in need, and joins us together in support, protest and political action.”

Rest assured, Erika Biddle is connecting the green dots in a community near you.