Kill-O-Watts

Kill-O-Watts are these handy little machines that you can plug appliances in to and get a reading of how much energy they actually use.

The Canton Public Library (Michigan) checks them out to library patrons for one week at a time.  They are a hugely popular item at the library.  Read more about the Kill-O-Watt project at CPL here:

http://www.cantonpl.org/blog/green/environment/kill-watt-energy-meters-available-check-out-cpl

A Green Themed Teen Activity

And it totally rocks!

I was reading the YALSA listserv over three months ago and couldn’t help but notice an email from Georgia Coleman at the Richland County Public Library in Columbia, SC.

Georgia has had great success with a teen green series that involved making creating crafts from recycled materials.  I was impressed, but skeptical – my idea of being arty is drawing a stick figure with circles for hands and feet.  But Georgia assured me saying, “I’m not a crafty person at all so if I can make them, anyone can!”

There were a total of six events in the series – Georgia was kind enough to provide the descriptions and some images too.

Teen Green – Bottle Caps – Make magnets and jewelry out of bottle caps and a little creativity.

Teen Green – Denim Makeover – See how many ways you can transform an old pair of jeans into something new.

Teen Green – Junk to Jewelry – Make an earth-friendly fashion statement! Learn to create stylish bracelets from recycled materials.

Teen Green – Phonebook Furniture – Build green like your library and help us create environmentally friendly furniture from old telephone books.

Teen Green – Altered Altoid Tins – Create cool art using Altoid tins.

Teen Green – Canned Jewelry – Got soda cans? Turn them into beautiful jewelry at this nouveau-green program.

If you need instructions or want to know more, email me at christine dot ayar at gmail dot com and I’ll put you in touch with Georgia.

Thanks for sharing your awesome craft with us Georgia!  It’s amazing!

Green…it’s not just for grass anymore.

So I was able to meet two** of my very cool blog readers earlier in the week.  We will call them J & C.  J & C are married and live in Lansing, MI and are ultra fab and amazing.  Check it out, J has a background in energy efficient mortgages that help people make efficiency improvements on their homes.  He is also on the board of Urban Options.   C is an interior designer and specializes in sustainable interior design.

Over a great dinner we discussed many “green” type things,  but here are some links and notes from my conversation with them.  Feel free to use them at home or at your library!

Great Carpet: Interface makes carpeting with sustainability in mind.  And if that doesn’t make you happy, it comes in tiles.  Don’t like what Interface has to offer?  Try the Shaw line of floor coverings.

A Whole Lotta Green: I keep getting the names of all the “green” organizations mixed up.  But two goodies are: Green Star and Energy Star.  (lots of stars too…)

Still need ideas? Check out the U.S. Green Building Council and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

And a book of course: You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!): 51 Easy Ways by Jeffrey Langholz

Well, that’s all for now folks.  Have a great day!

**Two of my abundant readership of what, four? six?

Alternative Energy at the Library

I just got a $102.00 library fine.  I’m pissed, but will write about it later, because it will not be pleasant if I write it now.  Instead…

I’m going to tell you how I just pitched to my boss that my library should install vertical wind turbines.  Energy bills are crazy at this campus and interest in alternative energy is ramping up (again).  So, I see a win-win here…1) lower the energy bill and 2) get a bit of news coverage for an attempt to go green in a big way.

Now we certainly couldn’t power the whole place, but giving us a bit of an energy boost would be nice.  And seeing as how my particular library sits on the shore of a lake, there is a nice breeze coming in quite frequently.  Might as well take advantage of it.  (The hot air coming over from administration alone could power us for WEEKS!!! Did I just write that?????)

Other libraries are installing solar panels…like the Medicine Hat, Alberta Public Library, the Boulder, Colorado Public Library (1/3 of their power!  Holy Batteries, BATMAN!!!), and the Tompkins County, New York Library.

In line with this, I was just talking to a librarian who started selling canvas bags for her library.  Now, lots of places do that, but what they did was put very cool designs on the bags, and made their logo visible, but small and unintrusive.  People started buying them not only as book bags, but as cool gifts and totes.  I’m thinking that there have to be green groups that would be willing to provide a bit of cash to help towards the creation of such bags, if it means fewer people will use plastic.  If I can get a pic of their cool bags, I’ll post it.