Green Scene

ERIE, Colo. (AP) – The town of Erie is planning to use two landfills to provide power for half of Erie’s 6,700 households.

Waste Connections spokesman Brian Karp says his company’s gas-to-energy project is set to go online next month.

According to the Boulder Daily Camera, Erie spokesman Fred Diehl believes capturing the methane at both landfills is the equivalent of offsetting 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide that might otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

Road projects across Colorado are now testing asphalt shingle mixes in order to achieve environmental and cost benefits. It’s the topic of the City of Colorado Springs next “Green” bag Lunch-n-Learn.

Reusing asphalt roof shingles in asphalt roads is a natural fit, yet road materials are required to meet exacting standards to ensure longevity. A the Lunch-n-Learn next Thursday, Aug. 25, road construction project managers from the Colorado Department of Transportation, Boulder County, and the City of Colorado Springs will join in a panel discussion to share the Recycled Asphalt Shingles specifications they’re using and their results so far.

Colorado Springs has two new businesses that serve the roofing industry and prevent asphalt shingles from entering the landfill. At this event attendees will learn how local sites work with Colorado Springs roofers to collect and processes the shingles for reuse.

The free lunch-n-learn runs over the noon lunch hour, from 12:11 to 12:49 p.m. at the City Administration Building, 30 S. Nevada Ave., in Suite 102. Attendees are encouraged to bring and enjoy their lunches during the presentation. Those who come have the opportunity to win a door prize tote bag made from recycled City banners.

Each month, the City Green Team sponsors a lunch-n-learn topic on environmental issues. Questions? Contact City of Colorado Springs Sustainability Coordinator Carrie McCausland, 719-385-CSGN (2746) or cmccausland@springsgov.com.

The City of Colorado Springs Metro Rides group is offering a free Schoolpool service that can help with transportation needs, this coming school year.

The Metro Rides’ program provides a free carpool matching service for parents. To sign up, just fill out a Schoolpool application by clicking here.

You’ll receive a list of parents in your neighborhood with children who attend the same school You can then contact each other to start a carpool. You can also contact Metro Rides at 385-7433, option 2, to receive an application by mail.

Help plant a tree in Colorado State Parks through the Odwalla Plant-a-Tree program, which gives residents and park visitors the opportunity to help plant a tree in a state park this summer, without sweating or getting dirty.

Here’s how it works:

Odwalla will donate $1 toward the purchase of a tree in a state park when participants “vote” for the state of their choice. Odwalla has designated $100,000 for this program in all 50 states. Click here to vote to plant a tree in Colorado.

Trees donated to Colorado State Parks will reforest areas devastated by the pine beetle epidemic such as Steamboat Lake and Pearl Lake, and will also be used to improve wildlife habitats and create wind breaks at other state parks throughout Colorado.

The Odwalla Plant-a-Tree program launched on May 30, but funds will go quickly so vote early and often. The species of trees donated will vary by region and will be planted in the fall of 2011 and in early 2012.

A free class about how to make non-toxic household cleaners will be held Tuesday, May 24, 12:00 noon and again at 5:30pm at the Pueblo City-County Health Department, 101 W. 9th Street.

PuebloCAREs (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) is hosting this class. They say almost every home contains some form of hazardous chemicals found in the kitchen, bathroom, garden or garage.

In the class they’ll cover how to minimize hazardous chemical use at home, create your own effective household cleaners from common household ingredients, save money by making your own cleaners.

If you attend the class,you’ll get to make and take home a free sample cleaner plus receive many great healthy cleaner recipes.

Space is limited; register by calling PuebloCAREs at (719) 252-6258.

The Pueblo City-County Health Department is hosting a free class for businesses to better understand commercial recycling options in the Pueblo area.

The free class will be held on Thursday, May 26 from 10:00am-noon at the Pueblo City-County Health Department,101 W. 9th Street on the third floor. Attendees will learn about reuse options for businesses and recycling items from batteries and plastic to paint and fluorescent bulbs. All businesses will receive a free recycling kit for 4-foot and 8-foot fluorescent bulbs.

For more information and to RSVP, call the Recycle Hotline, 719-583-4924.

If you’d like to spruce up your own yard this spring, you can get a free tree to plant in front of your home.

Colorado Springs is teaming up with the ”Colorado Tree Coalition” to distribute 70 trees. The trees were purchased through the sale of wood from tree maintenance in the Springs.

To get a tree you must apply and meet some requirements, “You need to be a resident of Colorado Springs, live within the city limits, the tree must be planted in the street right away, so that little planting strip between the street and sidewalk. Also you need to be able to pick-up and plant the trees,” explains forester Becky Lamphear.

If chosen to get a tree, the city will inspect the tree site by your home and give you planting and watering directions. The deadline to apply is April 8th; applications are available on the city’s website, just click here.

A Colorado company is using old billboards to make bags and purses.

There are an estimated 400,000 billboards in the US, covered with giant plastic advertisements. For years these went to a landfill but Denver based, Billboard Ecology, is changing that.

With a few cuts and stitches the billboards become something everyone can use; shopping bags, lunch bags and tote bags. Right now the bags are sold primarily through schools as a fundraiser, the schools get 50% of the profits.

You can also buy a bag through Billboard Ecology’s website, click here.

An art gallery in Colorado Springs has transformed into an eco-art market for the holiday season.

The Smokebrush Gallery and foundation is selling items made from re-used materials. Earrings made out of credit cards, purses made from different types of clothing and even items made from old VHS tape.

By doing some of your holiday shopping at the Eco-Art Market, your not just helping the planet, “When you purchase something from the market, you’re supporting local artists and a local foundation, that’s doing a lot of good things in the community,” says Holly Parker, curator at the gallery.

The market is open Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 5:00 p.m. The items will be on sale at the gallery from now until December 23rd.

For more on the exhibit click here