Toxins, out of my kitchen!

by Sustainable Kyle on June 16, 2011 · 1 comment

in Miscellaneous Schmidt,Sustainable Building Materials

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Hello! My name is Kyle Graycar.  I just finished my first year at UCLA, and am just finishing up my first day with Sustainable Schmidt.  I have gotten used to “coach” Schmidt these past four or so years from high school cross-country, and am still adjusting to addressing Helmut on a first name basis.  Before I get in to the logistics of what I have been tasked to for the summer, I’d like to wish John, the boss’s second in command, a very happy birthday.

Generally speaking, I have been tasked to compile information on the various components of a sustainable apartment kitchen.  This template should contain  comprehensive lists of different kinds of “green” products for the kitchen.  It will be exciting work, especially when you consider the how essential the kitchen is to home life.  This central hub, where meals are conducted and created, serves as the nexus for interactions at the home – it’s really an obvious decision to make this place devoid of environmental hazards and deteriorative products.  The challenge here lies in finding the middle ground or compromise between environmental-friendliness and cost.

Today I’ve been trying to find a general way to focus my research.  I came across an interesting page on the EPA website that gives a nice, general definition of what Green Building is.  The EPA calls Green Building ”the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction.”  I too hope to find the best products for my compilation that take all these different aspects of its life-cycle into consideration.

Well, looking ahead, I’m excited to be here this summer.  I’m especially excited to see the tangible outcome of my work: Helmut hopes to apply my research into the remodel of a kitchen in a unit on one of his properties.  More posts to come!

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I’m back online

by Sustainable G on June 15, 2011 · 1 comment

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I have been dormant for the past several weeks and I apologize greatly.  Between school, teachers, projects, tests, essays, standardized testing, sleep, finals, friends, family, and non-existent girlfriends, I have been quite busy and have not had the opportunity to sit down and write one of my grand pieces.  Those of you who actually read this may now rest assured because with the dawn of summer comes much free time in which I will have to dedicate myself to informing you, the beloved reader, about what is happening in the world of green.  Now let us begin.

In a recent survey 34% of consumers believe that their houses could be more environmentally friendly.

How does one make their home more environmentally friendly?  I believe it is my job to answer this question (I think, not quite sure) but lucky enough for me (and for you) the New York Times has a list of their favorite eco-friendly laundry products.

Furthermore, for all those who think that green is your passion and you want to find work in the area, the San Francisco Chronicle recently released an article stating that are over 10,000 green jobs out there.

The World Cup in Qatar is still eleven years away ; however, Qatar promises that their stadiums will be eco-friendly.

Now, the beginning of summer (I’m really excited, can’t you tell?) brings with it warm weather (if you’re not stuck in San Francisco) and that usually means lots of cold refreshments being served, like Pepsi.  Speaking of Pepsi, they have recently announced that their Frito-Lay factory in Russia has received LEED certification.  So if you want to kick back and relax this summer while still being environmentally friendly, put down the Coke and find yourself some Pepsi.

And to wrap this week up I bring you another ugly or not ugly.

Click here for more information of this house.

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Damnit Jim, I’m an intern not an accountant!

by Sustainable Nikos on June 15, 2011 · 0 comments

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Hello all,

This week I continue my task of waste management, though through an entirely different light– your friendly neighborhood garbage inspector now moonlights as an accountant. For this week, Helmut has given me the task of searching through the past 11 years of P&L files and creating a spreadsheet to detail the cost of garbage for each building, each month, for the past 11 years. Unfortunately for yours truly, not only are the files woefully lacking in info, they can be pretty disorganized. However, I shall not be deterred by this (as Helmut informs me) temporary roadblock, but will finish the spreadsheet before the week is out.

In other news, I have finally reached someone at the San Francisco Department of the Environment, and will be able to implement a compost bin at our building on Bush Street!! I will be in touch with our contact there and will keep you– our faithful readers– updated on my progress.

Until next time,

Malach

AKA Nikos

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We are what we throw out…

by Sustainable Nikos on June 10, 2011 · 1 comment

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Hello all—as this is my first blog post for Sustainable Schmidt.  I am Nikos Buse, I am the new intern here at SRELP, and I have been working with Helmut for about a week and a half. I love it here—I am working in a field which inspires me, feeling like I can make a difference, and struggling to find my apparently elusive sense of humor. However, my boss, one Mr. Helmut Schmidt, has had no trouble appeasing his humorous inclinations, as evidenced by the work he has given me.
Faced with the youthful eagerness, intelligence, impressive work-ethic, and charm that I bring to work daily, he decided to assign me the task of improving how SRELP manages trash disposal. Doubtless he finds it funny in some sad way. However, as I can only play the cards I am dealt, instead of saving the world’s environmental issues and making Mr. Schmidt millions of dollars, I will instead put all of my talents and energy towards lessening our tenants’ reliance on garbage bins, and increasing their awareness and use of compost and recycling—saving my fortunate boss money in the process.
I need to implement composting at 3 locations (Clay Street, Bush Street, and Guerrero Street) and decrease garbage bin reliance at 4 locations (Pacific Ave, Carl Street, Post Street, and Bush Street).  Unfortunately, this goal is complicated by the fact that all of these buildings are older—meaning that they provide less space for the placement of additional bins (for compost and recycling), and rely upon garbage chutes as the main form of waste removal. The latter problem is especially difficult to tackle, because, as Helmut and his sassy (but funny and amazingly talented) assistant John have informed me, some tenants might just dump all waste down the garbage chute and into the black garbage bin, for the sake of convenience.
Most recently, I have called Steven at SF Environment (to no response… which leaves me feeling like Rodney Dangerfield), with the goal of procuring a new 32 gallon compost bin and individual apartment sized bins for the residents of our building on Bush Street. I will also begin to check the volume of the trash there, to see if we can remove a garbage bin, and save SRELP some money.  I am not sure how it will all work out, but I will keep you posted.

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Spring Planting

by schmidt on April 28, 2011 · 1 comment

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010Well, with spring having arrived it is time to amend our dirt and get to our summer planting.  I did not, under any circumstances, think gardening was at all cool or interesting growing up.  It always seemed the realm of gray haired old people – or at least people who should be old and have gray hair.  Now that I am old and cannot pluck out all my gray hair anymore, gardening seems to make more sense.  Not sure if that is a good thing, but anyways…

As a parent I appreciate what our garden teaches our girls.  They complain about watering of course, and run hot and cold on the whole pulling weeds thing, but they have a good time digging up potatoes and pulling up carrots.  And there is no shriek like that that comes from finding a steamed caterpillar in the broccoli we harvested for dinner.  Damn things are a perfect broccoli shade of green, no matter how carefully I look for them one always seems to slip by.

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