A few times a year I travel to far off cities and speak with nonprofits about how social media can help their cause. While on the road, I always keep my green eyes peeled for interesting, innovative, and clever sustainability ideas.

When I visit places like San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver, and Montreal, I always notice how progressive the airports and hotels seem (I’ve blogged about this here and here). The hotels I stay in always have programs promoting the reuse of towels, recycling bins rooms, and CFLs in all the lights.

That got me thinking about Charleston’s hotels, and what sustainable practices they are using. I decided to call around and ask the major Charleston hotels five simple questions – the results are in the Hotel Scorecard below.

>> Continue reading ’2009 Go Green Charleston Hotel Scorecard’

The Sustainability Institute has been chosen as the Whole Foods Market 5% nonprofit recipient for Tuesday, March 31st. The Whole Foods 5% Day project is part of the company’s community giving program, and does a great job supporting local nonprofits around the country.

If you want to support The Sustainability Instititute, be sure to stop by the Mount Pleasant Whole Foods on March 31st. Whether you’re buying lunch, or food for the week, 5% of your purchase will help fund The Sustainability Institute and and all their amazing programs.

On April 18th, The Green Village Tour will once again wind its way through the streets of North Charleston’s Park Circle neighborhood. The 8k race will begin at 8 a.m. sharp, and will end at the after party in the Mixson development. There is also a 5k walk for non-runners, so there’s no reason not to show up!

Registration costs $20/$25 on race day, and kids under 15 can run for free. Participants will get a shirt, a ticket to the Charleston Battery home opener that evening, and a sustainable goodie bag. You can register and get more information at the Sustainability Institute’s website.

Many years ago, while changing my niece’s diaper, my dad asked which type of diaper I would choose for my own children one day. As I gagged and flinched and gagged some more while wiping her bottom, I was convinced I would be doomed to filling landfills for centuries with my children’s diapers. And yet, here I am, a proud user of gDiapers.

Zoe is now two months old, and very busy making wet messes in her diaper. It took about two weeks for the diaper to fit properly. The potty diapers are so easy to flush. Now, the poo-poo’s are an entirely different story. Yes, it can be a very messy ordeal. Yes, sometimes I immediately toss the inserts into a diaper Dekor, which uses biodegradable bags. Yes, the white liners are stained, but rarely a leak outside the liner. Because her poo’s are still so wet, I am looking into using cloth inserts in the gDiaper.

>> Continue reading ‘It’s gDiapers for Zoe’

Last October, College Park Middle School students began an environmental program focusing on conservation and sustainability. The Race to End Waste, launched by Complete Building Corporation, is part of an employee effort to give back to our community.

Homerooms in the Ladson school have been collecting recyclable materials all year — over 60,000 pounds so far — in an effort to win a field trip on the Spirit of South Carolina. Students have also been making recycled paper, donating reusable bags, and creating PSAs for younger kids.

>> Continue reading ‘The Race to End Waste Is On’

Yikes! After we got our last SCE&G bill, our biggest ever, we realized action was needed. If they were going to keep raising the rates, we needed to crank-up the conservation. In the past we’ve measured our usage with a Kill-a-Watt meter, looked into solar hot water, bought LED lights, installed CFLs, but now it was time to do more – especially “these days”.

With that huge bill still in my hand, I quickly scribbled a list of ways to cut back. Some are good habits we’ve been bad at keeping, and others are just common sense. There are plenty of energy conservation lists online (here, here, and here), but I wanted to share the things we are doing in our little world. Here’s the five did right away:

• Hand wash more dishes
• Turn off the entertainment center power strip
• Turn off iMac, even though it likes to be on
• Power down PC, turn off monitor and speakers
• Turn off lights! Turn off lights! Turn off lights!

>> Continue reading ‘Zapped :: Our Out of Control Electric Bill’

Local organizations, businesses, people, growers, and activists are the heart and soul of every green scene. Our Go Green Local Guide is a great place to look for local eco-friendly options (check the sidebar…down and to the right → ↓ )

Here are a six new additions to the Guide:

• EcoBilt - sustainable constuction and retrofitting
• Charleston Green Taxi - local hybrid cab service
• MaidPure - an organic cleaning company
• Green.SC - green portal for South Carolina
• Uniserv - a naturl take on facilities maintenance
• Greenframe Charleston - green building construction

Please support these local businesses. Happy greening everyone!

As part of Kiawah Island’s Earth Day Greenival, there will be a 5K fun beach run on April 19th. Runners will start at 9:30 a.m., and all proceeds will go towards green initiatives on the island. 

Beth says:

2 race options: 1-mile Fun Run & 5K Race. Pre-race registration is $15 per person. Registed participants can pick up bibs & t-shirts on April 17th & 18th at the Heron Park Nature Center between 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. On-site Registration is $20 per person and begins at 8 a.m.  Race start/finish is at Boardwalk #18 on the Beach.

The 7th Annual MESSA 8K for H2O run on Folly Beach is this Saturday, February 21. Proceeds from this race and 5k family fun walk will go towards local efforts to improve the quality of our water. This is a great event with a long track record of supporting local organizations, so all you green runners should really check it out. 

You can still register online for $25 race/$20 walk. If you don’t want to commit, you can always get in on late registration at 8 a.m. the morning of the event, with  the race starting at 9.

Both major green events here in Charleston have announced their dates and other details. So mark those calenders, bust out your walking shoes, and prepare to get your green-on.

Charleston County Earth Day Festival
This year’s event will be back in Park Circle on April 18, and should top the 7,500 attendees and over 70 contributors who participated last year. Just like last year, we’ll have our table set up with some interactive sustainability activities.

Charleston Green Fair
Wow, how awesome was last year’s event?!? The 2nd annual Charleston Green Fair will be on September 27, and promises to be bigger and better than last year. It will feature local businesses, organizations, food vendors, and musicians…we’ll be here too!

I like to keep things positive around here, but sometimes it helps to point out mistakes rather than successes – we learn from our mistakes too, right? One of our first columns was Weekly Trashed, which was a photographic look at poor trash disposal activity.

On a recent trip to a Mount Pleasant recycling drop site, it was clear that people were making just as many mistakes with their recycling as they were their trash. And since 2008 was the year of the Fail meme, which has generated its own blog and Wikipedia entry, I thought it might be time to start  a new column: Recycling Fail!

I mean, we’ve all been to one of Charleston County Recycling‘s drop sites and seen the piles of trash people have left – what are they thinking? I’ve even blogged about the serious problems they are having at one of the Mount Pleasant drop sites.

>> Continue reading ‘Recycling Fail!’

At this month’s Green Drinks Charleston gathering, the topic at hand will be energy efficient mortgages. Daniel Island Realty has become Charleston’s first myEnergyLoan provider, and Jeff Cole and Gary Harwyn will be on hand to speak to their benefits. 

Energy efficient mortgages sound interesting, as they help bundle in sustainable add-ons to the home during the loan process. This allows home buyers to quality for larger loans, which means better, more efficient homes.  If you want to learn more, head down to Yo Burrito on Wednesday, February 11th at 6:30 p.m. for Charleston’s Green Happy Hour™.

Check out this inspiring video featuring Chris Fisher of Fisher Recycling. He is a great example of someone turning their love for sustainable living into a thriving business that is helping us all.

Ahhh, Green 2.0 is alive and well in Charleston!

Social Networking has transformed the way businesses and organizations connect, engage, and converse with their audience. I think connecting online is a natural fit for the sustainability movement, as it has less of an impact on the planet than face-to-face, print, or event-based communication. Plus, an anti-social greenie is hard to find!

Here at Go Green Charleston we’ve been using social web services like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr to do those same things, and have really enjoyed connecting with all of you. Other Charleston-area green organizations and businesses are doing the same thing…

Here’s a roundup of local green Facebook, Twitter, and other social goodness:

>> Continue reading ‘Green Social Networking…Charleston Style’

Local businesses, organizations, people, growers, and movements are the heart and soul of every local green scene. The Go Green Local Guide is a great place to look for local eco-friendly options (check the sidebar…down and to the right → ↓ )

Lately we’ve had local food on the brain, so I was able to add  Legare Farms, Jeremiah Farm and Blue Dog Farms to the guide. If you’re trying to make some changes to your home or office, we’ve added Carolina’s Eco-Unit and SolarTEK Energy of Charleston. Learn to cook slow and natural at Slow Food Charleston, or hire Green Irene to help make your home as green as it can be. We’ve also added MESSA, the C of C’s environmental graduate program that has been doing amazing work locally.

We also want to give a shout out to TheDigitel, the local news site that is pure Charleston. If you like to consume your daily news online, live or die by your smart phone, and appreciate smart enthusiastic reporting, TheDigitel is the local news source you’ve been looking for. And don’t forget, gobbling your news up digitally saves trees! We’re proud to be a bronze sponsor this week…thanks Ken!

Eating locally produced food is a key ingredient to a sustainable future. The authors of Plenty learned that while eating only food from local farmers can be rewarding and delicious, it was also exstremely difficult in our world of Magellean-like meals. 

Lowcountry Local First advocates for all local businesses, and knows that true sustainabilty requires all of us to think before we buy – and buy locally when we can. If you’ve been thinking about going local with your grub, Lowcountry Local First has 10 reasons why you should make the change in 2009:

• Support your local farmers – shop the farmers markets and look and ASK for local produce at the grocers. Most conventional food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it hits the plate!
• Local is FRESHER and TASTIER – there is an abundance of great local produce.
• Eating Locally is Better for the Environment – lower your carbon foot print by eating locally. An Iowa State University study found that people who switched to buying 10% of their produce from local sources produced 5-17 times less CO2 overall. 

>> Continue reading ’10 Reasons to Eat Local this Year’

Things are really picking up on the event front now that the new year has kicked in. We’ve been keeping our Green Events Guide updated, but I wanted to point out a few events in the next couple of weeks:

• Charleston Alt. Energy Meetup - January 21, 7 p.m.
• Charleston Total Health Fair - January 23, 12 p.m.
• Charleston Slow Food’s BYOD Potluck Dinner  - January 24, 4 p.m.
• Green Business Networking - January 27, 5:30 p.m.
• Sustainability Green Fair  - January 29, 11 a.m.
• Francis Marion Forest Cleanup Project  - February 7, 8 a.m.
• 2nd Annual Green Living Festival - February  7, 10 a.m.

There are a lot of workshop schedules being finalized right now, so check our Green Events Guide soon for details.

Santee Cooper wants to build a new coal plant on the Great Pee Dee River, and because they are a state-run utility, you and I have some influence. Coal plants are one of the dirtiest ways to generate electricity, and now is the time to tell our government that we want clean alternatives.

The SC Says NO movement is bringing environmentally-minded organizations, business, and residents together from around the state to advocate for cleaner energy sources. You can help by signing the online petition urging state regulators, the Governer, and the Santee Cooper Board of Directors to exercise their authority and discontinue plans for this coal plant. 

Sign the petition »

Our holiday green poll ending with unsurprising results: A vast majority of Go Green readers were consuming less this holiday season as a way to increase their sustainability. In troubled economic times, it makes as much financial sense as green sense to cut the consumerism cord. But don’t cut all the way – support the local small businesses that help create sustainable economic activity.

How else are you greening up this year? Let us know in our new poll (over to the right), or share something in the comments. We’re looking at green options for some home improvements this year, but have already kicked off the new year by greening up our new baby.

>> Continue reading ‘What’s Your First Green Project of ’09?’

We would like to apologize for not blogging, answering emails, tweeting, or facebooking recently, but we’ve had a very cute distration here at Go Green headquarters. Last week we welcomed Zoe Faye Norman into the world, and have been oooh-ing and aaah-ing instead of writing and posting ever since. We promise, the hiatus is over – we’re officially Go Greening again!

Compared to our two boys, Zoe has been much greener right out of the gate. She was dressed in organic clothing, swaddled in a bamboo blanket, placed in a 6-year-old car seat, and driven home in a Prius. We were ready with eco-friendly baby wipes and extra chlorine-free diapers just in case (the G Diapers don’t fit her yet!) – and the ride home was wonderful. Zoe fell asleep that night in an organic Moses basket full of bamboo bedding, all of which was washed with 7th Generation detergent. By just making a few simple decisions and changes, we’ve reduced Zoe’s impact right off the bat.

Speaking of kids and their environmental impact, have we just contributed to humanity’s overburdening of the planet by having our third child?

>> Continue reading ‘Zoe Says “Hello Green World!”’