May/June 2010
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GETHR
Welcome to Fresh! This new program led by Edmonton’s hospitality industry encourages meeting planners to make their next event green, making a big difference in our city and inspiring our conference guests to do the same in their communities. Check out our Eco Report Card, Green Meetings Guide, Green Itineraries, Green Ideas and more - visit www.edmonton.com/fresh. The smallest act of green can make a difference for the planet. As an industry partner of the FRESH Initiative, you can include information on your industry partner page on what environmental practices your organization is doing. Check out what a few of our partners are doing:  Carbon Environmental Boutique is dedicated to being a super green business. It is so easy to be green! These are the measures that we took within our store that any business or home could easily implement: We switched all our light bulbs to long-lasting LEDs and compact fluorescents. We have a really nifty indoor composter for all our organic waste. We recycle our recyclables. We installed our own little EcoStation in our back room for things like batteries, toner cartridges, light bulbs and paint cans. We only use biodegradable cleaning products free of harsh chemicals. We also use and retail bulk refillable cleaning products which are more economical and more environmentally friendly than buying a new bottle every time. We re-use boxes and packing material for our outgoing shipments. Our computers and telephones were chosen for their lack of heavy metals and Energy Star ratings. The store's energy is completely offset with wind power. We scan more than we fax. When we do use tree fibre to print a document we use Spranq EcoFont (a font which uses far less toner) and we only print on 100% post consumer recycled paper. We only support companies that promote sustainable, ethical and non- toxic products. Because we know that indoor air is usually 6-10 times more polluted that outdoor air we are very careful with the air we breathe. There is clean air paint on the walls. Carbon chose flooring that is zero VOC. One wall is adorned with American Clay, a negative ion releasing plaster. We do not allow chemical fragrances into our space. There is no toxic upholstery in our store - either from the sofas or from the organic mattresses we retail. We purify the air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with our awesome AllerAir and AustinAir machines. We have plants that are known to be air cleaners peppered around the store. Being healthy within your own personal environment and being easy on the planet often go hand in hand. Making choices that are good for your well-being can have green reverberations on a larger scale. Every living thing is carbon based. When trying to create a healthy home and a healthy workplace, choosing things that are easy on you are usually easy on the other carbon based organisms on the planet too - trees, fish, birds, even the soil itself. We chose the name Carbon for our store as a reminder of the larger planetary community that we all share. If you haven’t sent us information on what you’re doing please let us know – email Christine Merrick at cmerrick@edmonton.com, your top three environmental practices and we will include on our website. The following is a short list of ideas that can lessen our impact on the environment:
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