Shipping and Handling (it better)

My wife and I recently ordered cheap medicine for our dogs from an online company--(we know, bad local shoppers, but we're looking to make changes in that soon!)  Here's a letter that I wrote to them after we received the packages, today: 

To whom it may concern:

We recently received two products--Frontline and Heartguard--from you (everything is great with the product, by the way).

We did want to write to you about the packaging, though:

1) We received two separate boxes for an order going to the same address, ordered at the same time.  Why?

2) The shipping boxes were 10 times bigger than the items they contained.  Why?

I wanted to let you know this because a) it's a waste of materials and b) it's a waste of your $$$, because you shipped twice what you needed to!

Imagine if you made a simple step to look at each order as a way to save packaging and shipping costs???  You could save tens of thousands of dollars on box material, packaging paper and shipping freight every year!

We hope you take these ideas to heart--and head!

********************************************

We hope you, too, take this to heart--and head!  Our islanders rely heavily shopping online for specialty/cheaper goods.  If each person received an "extra" box each time they ordered something, we will increase the amount of cardboard waste/recyclables in our waste stream by THOUSANDS of boxes every year.  

Remember, even though cardboard is a recyclable, we, as a community, still have to pay for it to be barged/ferried off the island, then long-hauled to a distant destination.  

More important than recycling is an other "R": Reduce.  Let's help spread the word to those who can make a difference in their businesses by taking just a few moments to voice our opinions.

 

Sustainable Nantucket

Anyone ever checked out Nantucket, Mass.?  A very similar community, with similar problems: isolated location, highly seasonal in economy/employment, construction/tourism/retail-driven economy, affordable housing dilemma, preservation issues.  It's a really good "sister-community" to San Juan Island.

I spoke this morning with the Executive Director of their "Sustainable Nantucket" organization and she (Michelle) had some very interesting experiences to report on the growth of their group and the development of their involvement in the community.

If you want to check out their website, it's worth it: www.sustainablenantucket.org.

The most important part of our 30-minute discussion that I took away was the importance of all non-profits, individuals, business, institutions and government agencies in the community working together.  Without a concerted effort, there's little opportunity for a harmonic, community-wide step forward.

What can we do to coalesce our efforts and energies in sustainability?

(This last question is not rhetorical, by the way!)

County Council Update

I received word back from the County Council this afternoon, and it looks like they're going to discuss the importance/priority of their climate change resolution on February 5th.  

We look forward to an update, then!

Green can be Boring

Today I went through 36 hotel rooms and 9 2-bedroom cottages to count the number of different lightbulbs in lighting fixtures.  

Not sexy.  But necessary.

We can learn so much more than not by going through and visually inspecting what it is that we're doing for energy conservation.  You'd be surprised by what you find, I think.

I found that what I thought to be a good move forward in energy-efficient bulb replacement was not going as well as I thought.  We have only 40% installation at this point.  Not good enough.

The good news is that I found a supplier for bulbs at a 70-80% discount off of wholesale pricing.  I discovered this serenditisously, then with some follow through, luck and good karma. 

We look to save thousands of kilowatt hours through this work, 4 hours of my time and $500.  

There's nothing sexy about this, but it's serious work that needs to be done to create real change.

What do you have in your home or business that needs inspection? 

Energy Use Down Significantly

I'm happy to report that this month's electricity usage in Roche Harbor Lodging was 29% less than November 2007--a great example of what concentrated efforts can produce through action!

We did this through three methods: 1) a strategic goal to reduce our usage by 15%.  2) creating practical programs to reduce energy usage by analyzing operations. 3) vigilant inspection of enacted programs.

How much do you think you can reduce your business's or household's usage??

San Juan County Council

Wanted to give an update on the county council and their sustainable efforts this year.  

The council adopted a "climate change" resolution this past February to address sustainable progress in the county government.  They recommended 18 specific ways in which they could become a "model" for the county to follow.  

I went to the council on Tuesday to find out where they were in moving down the path to be a model in the community, and they said that they would get back to me soon.  

There seems to be some earnest progress, so let's hope to hear some good news in the coming days!

Seeking Information

For the first post on the blog, I'd like to start off by thanking a few individuals who have helped provide focused direction on the small-scale work I've done so far at Roche Harbor: The fine men at San Juan Sanitation's recycling program, for a mechanism to accomplish recycling at our resort; Kris Slugg and Troy Casey, for inspiration and action; Brent Snow, for practical advice; Robin Jacobson, for state-wide work on sustainable tourism; Stephanie Buffum Field, for showing me that it could be done anywhere, anytime; Liz Illg, for a background on where we've been and where we are now; and Gerard at Island Paper & Supply, for his dedication to providing a full line of green products to island businesses.  Many more people have helped direct me along my way, and my thanks to them, as well.  

These folks and others are doing wonderful works around the islands.  I hope that in the coming months we can find more islanders who are interested in pushing the dialogue further along.

If you work at a business in the islands or play a role in the community, we'd love to hear about your personal sustainability efforts: recycling, composting, best business practices, energy efficiency programs, local supplier/vendor work, etc.  

If you run a program, we'd love to hear about how businesses and community members/groups can get onboard.

Can't wait to hear what's going on out there!