G.G.'s Acting Debut

Today's the only day this week all of the VFg3 reps are in the office and only day prior to their Dec. 10 presentation to the higher powers. Ends are being tied, lines are being rehearsed and G.G. filmed her portion of the program yesterday. It was somewhat simple because the higher powers are away planning next year's events. As the saying goes, while the cats are away, the mice will play!

Fast Company Says Tallahassee is a City on the Verge of Being a Green Leader

The magazine Fast Company published an article in July/August this year listing fast cities - cities moving forward. While Miami made the list for being a cultural hub, Tallahassee, Fla. almost made the list and was recognized as being "on the verge" as a green leader for its Go Green Tallahassee initiative. Tallahassee's Go Green efforts promote environmental responsibility. Let's hope the state's capitol city will set the example for the rest of the Sunshine State.

VFg3: Crunch Time!

Hard to believe less than two weeks is the big presentation by the VFg3 Team to their superiors. While there have been limited days when everyone is in the office together, everyone is pulling their weight to make the presentation happen.

During a recent meeting, results of the in-office survey was revealed (in short, most of the staff support more green efforts within the company) along with a summary of disposable goods purchased last Fiscal Year (July 2006 - June 2007). G.G. found these results most alarming, specifically upon learning 31,000 Styrofoam cups were purchased and consumed during this time. Mind you, 66 employees work in the office, meaning each employee used an average of 470 cups in a YEAR!!!

Also, various destinations throughout the State of Florida were surveyed to understand what they are doing in the ways of going green.

Gathering all this information definitely sets in motion a plan for VFg3's company to set in motion a sustainable plan and become the leader for the Florida tourism industry in reducing carbon emissions.

Still Confuzzeled About Where to Start Being Green?

G.G. realizes it can be overwhelming going green. Surfing the Net is information overload and frustrating figuring out a beginning point to go green.

My tip? Start out small and take small green steps, every effort helps. Here's a great resource with various tips for going green in the home, it's called Going Green. Check out the A to Z tips for going green.

Some small steps you can take to go green include:

• If you live in an area of the country that runs your AC most of the year, place small trash cans underneath the condensation pipe and use that water to water your plants.


• Recycle everything your curbside service will allow.


• Take shorter showers, eliminate soaking in the bath tub, hand wash dishes and do laundry minimally.


• Purchase re-usable canvas grocery bags instead of using the plastic ones stores have.


• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products.


• Pack your lunch in Tupperware/Rubbermaid vs. Ziploc bags (or at least reuse the Ziploc bags).

Here's What You Can Get G.G. for the Holidays

The Internet's been burning up with the Nov. 7 release of Triumph International Japan's environmentally conscious "My Chopstick Bra." Just by hearing the name makes me cringe and do I really want to be carrying around a bowl of rice and bowl of miso soup on my tatas? No, but I love the idea of a place to carry my chopsticks.

Triumph International estimates Japanese toss 25 BILLION pairs of chopsticks annually. Not million but BILLION. That's just insane! And in China, it's estimated 45 BILLION pair of disposable chopsticks are annually used.

If people carry their own chopsticks (I don't understand why the Japanese can't just toss them in a purse and need to develop a bra for the purpose), just think of the landfill reduction.

So does G.G. want her own chopstick bra for the upcoming holidays? Not exactly. She's looking for:
Consumable gifts - such as her fave organic or homemade goodies.
Gift passes - an annual pass to the state parks is nice or to a local museum or movie theatre.
Gift certificates - it's not a cop out giving gift certificates or gift cards, it's a wise choice! Try Starbucks or to the local cooperative market.
As for packaging - make sure wrapping paper is recycled, better yet, use brown paper bag and decorate it yourself. And, G.G. doesn't mind if the ribbon or gift bag has been previously used.

Remember, it's the thought that counts.

For additional tips, check out "Earth Friendly Holiday Season Tips" on Green Living Tips.

How Green is Your Meeting?

G.G.'s alter ego and a couple of the other VFg3 sales reps recently returned from hosting a meeting where they took the first steps to making the event green. Rather than serving bottled water (in plastic bottles which will never decompose in a landfill), pitchers were available with glasses (vs. plastic). Linens, china and silverware were used throughout the meeting, even during the outdoor picnic.

Having a green meeting is easy and can start with small steps. Luckily, the meetings industry has several resources to reference and examples in the industry to follow:

Green Meeting Industry Council - Simply put, this organization provides the tools and information to plan a green meeting. Their 2020 envision of a green meeting includes: green is the new black, er, brown and is an acceptable and standard industry practice along with having a zero net environmental effect. GMIC is a great resource for meeting planners want to plan green meetings.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Green Meetings - There seems to be negative connotation when government gets into the private sector's business but this is good, really. The EPA has adopted the Green Meetings Initiative, which was developed and supported by the organization's Pollution Prevention Division. The initiative provides resources for planning a green meeting.

PCMA - the 51st PCMA Annual Meeting (Jan. 2007 in Toronto) was the organization's first zero-waste annual meeting. The annual meeting usually generates 90,000 cans or bottles, 75,000 cups, 87,5000 napkins and 62,500 plates (that's a heap o' trash!). Through zero-waste efforts, 98.5 % of the potential trash was diverted from landfills. Mucho kudos to the staff at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Hope the 2008 conference will have the same or better results.

Meetings and Conventions magazine - received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which means the recycled paper M&C prints on originates from responsibly managed forests through the paper mill process. Follow M&C's lead and look for the FSC label when purchasing paper products.

BlueGreen Meetings - provides resources for having a green meeting. BlueGreen Meetings is an initiative by Oceans Blue Foundation, an environmental charitable group conserving coastal environments through environmentally responsible tourism. The organization develops best practices for all sectors of the tourism industry.

And these, my friends, are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many, many more resources out there to add a little or boat load of green to your meeting. If it's seems overwhelming, just start with the basics. After all, one eats an elephant piece by piece.

How Green is Your Home?

Happy Monday! Since temperatures are cooling, G.G.'s coming off a fab weekend where I was a homebody for most of the weekend but did get outside to enjoy the fresh air and sparkly Florida sunshine.

All this greening the office talk had me wondering what I could do to green my domicile dwelling. After searching the Net I was surprised to learn from the National Geographic Going Green pages how indoor air can be five times as polluted as the outdoor air! What I found more alarming on the National Geographic (http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/going-green/going-green-home.html) site is that "the average home contributes more to global warming than the average car...because much of the energy we use in our homes comes from power plants that run on fossil fuels."

Conclusion? Having an energy efficient home can reduce carbon emissions (which cause global warming). This includes:

• Using compact fluorescent bulbs


• Energy-efficient appliances (i.e.: fridge, washer and dryer, etc.)


• Weather-stripping and caulking homes (don't let in the cold or hot air!)


• Solar panels to capture energy and get off the grid!


• Of course, do your part to recycle paper, glass, aluminum, plastic and anything else to reduce waste sent to landfills

So my dear tree-hugger wannabees, I hope next weekend will be spent making your domicile dwelling more green.

Are You a Stinky Commuter?

G.G.'s not asking whether you bathe prior to the daily work commute but is wondering how you commute. For awhile, I did my part to make the air a little cleaner, I carpooled. I admit to not carpooling these days but may reconsider since the VFg3 gals just got the results of the office survey. Results will be shared appropriately over the coming months but a little more than half of the organization's employees said they'd carpool to work.

Think of carpooling this way:
1. Let's you bond with your co-workers (so make sure you take that shower in the morning, or at least freshen up).
2. Can save you money. If carpooling properly, you're sharing the rides.
3. Fewer carbon emissions are stinking up the air because fewer people are driving to work.

Other alternatives to carpooling:
1. Public transportation. Bus passes are cheap and if you live in a city with a commuter rail, even better! Just think of all the people you can meet!
2. Ride a bike. G.G. spots a bicyclist each day on the morning commute. Is five miles really that far to ride a bike?
3. Hoof it. Pack the stilettos in a backpack and lace on good ambling shoes to walk to work. Like the bicyclist, G.G. spots a few hikers to and from work each day. Walking does a body and mind good.

And here's something to chew on, according to the Commuter Services of North Florida site, vehicles are the source of 1.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases each year. Now that's a lot of gas making stinky air!

Crist Talks About Florida Trash in Brazil

There's a reason G.G. is a Gov. Charlie Crist fan, he understands the meaning of green. The Florida Govenor's on a trade mission in Brazil this week. On Monday, he announced two new initiatives to make alternative energies (vs. fossil fuels) more accessible in Florida:

1. The capital city (that's Tallahassee) is getting a $182 million garbage-to-electricity plant. This will convert trash into ethanol and will reduce waste sent to landfills.
2. A pledge to encourage Congress to end the import tax on Brazilian Ethanol. While G.G. believes in buying American first, if the import tax was removed, it would be cheaper to import it from Brazil through Port Everglades vs. trucking it in from the Midwest.

To read the complete article, visit The Center for Commodity Research and Training Web site.

Shrek Isn't the Only Green Thing at Universal Orlando Resort

The "mouse" will probably be green with envy over this. The folks over at Universal Orlando Resort announced earlier this week that all service vehicles and mobile equipment will be using "green" fuels (aka: alternative). This announcement coincided with the theme park's "Green Is Universal" week (Nov. 5 - 10) to spotlight environmental awareness. Included in UOR's green initiative is rececyling and energy conservation. Check out the Universal Is Green Web site to see all the other groovy things happening within the NBCUniversal family.

South Florida Going Green

Have you missed me? Well, I'm back. My alter ego has been a bit tied up with projects and school and accessing the Web has been a challenge but I'm back in finding ways to encourage green Florida travel.

I recently read an article in the Miami Herald called, "South Florida Hotels Go Green." It discusses how Gov. Charlie Crist's mandate to hold state-sponsored meetings in green accommodations (whenever possible; beginning Jan. 1, 2008) is sparking competition. Me thinks this is a very good thing.

Right now, only two hotels in Miami-Dade County are green certified, the Four Seasons Hotel Miami and Intercontinental Miami. Monroe County (primarily the Keys) has five but there are no green certified accommodations in Broward County *gasp* but certainly the hoteliers there will join the green movement.

Some lodges are near-green, like the Deer Run Bed & Breakfast on Big Pine Key mentioned in the article. It's a vegetarian, organic B&B, striving to be as eco-friendly as possible.

Green is here to stay, my friends. At least that's what our little poll is indicating. Check out the complete list of green-certified Florida accommodations when planning your next vacation or meeting in the Sunshine State.