Not only is January 1 the first day of the year, it’s also the birthday of several notables who shaped American history: Betsy Ross, Paul Revere, and (you guessed it) Green Piece Indy! Exactly one year ago, we sent out our first Green Piece Indy e-mail to about 200 friends and family with the hope of making Indianapolis a more environmentally friendly place to live.

The response has been phenomenal. In the past year, our readership has grown tenfold, to about 2,000 subscribers. We have increased our presence in the community, often appearing at festivals, trade shows, and speaking engagements. And our fantastic advertisers have continued to support us even in the face of a difficult economy. From the bottom of our green hearts, thank you to everyone who has helped make the past year a successful one for GPI.

But enough about us. What will you do in 2009 to make a difference for the planet? Finally going to start recycling? Buy more local produce? Make less trips in your car and more on your bike?

We would love to hear your green resolutions. E-mail them to tips@greenpieceindy.com.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

With gas prices plummeting as quickly as winter temperatures, you may be tempted to abandon some of the good green habits you’ve adopted this year. While we understand that sitting in your car in the Starbucks drive-thru may be more comfortable, it’s certainly not better for the environment. The next time you’re debating whether to leave the car running, remember the following.

• Don’t warm up your car. It’s bad for the planet and your car’s engine. According to “Car Talk,” a popular program on National Public Radio, modern, fuel-injected cars (anything made in the past 20 years) should not be warmed up; the fuel/air mixture created during idling is not good for maximum engine life. Driving the car gently is the best way to go since it warms up the power train and suspension simultaneously. 

• Avoid drive-thrus. Turn your car off and go inside when visiting fast food restaurants, banks, pharmacies, dry cleaners, and coffee shops.

• Turn off the car when picking up your children from school. More than a dozen IPS schools have already adopted no-idle policies through Improving Kids’ Environment’s “Smart Schools Don’t Idle” program.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

In with the new, out with the old! But try to reuse and recycle the old…deal?

As the presents start pouring in today, think before you toss those gift boxes, old analog TV sets, and especially, your Christmas tree. (For the record, Meghan is especially proud of herself for wrapping all of this year’s gifts with reused bags, ribbons, and tissue paper.)

If you can’t reuse all the boxes left scattered around the tree, head to one of four Indy Parks (Broad Ripple, Ellenberger, Garfield, and Krannert) on January 10, 2009 and recycle them at the Post-Holiday Recycling Event. From 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., you can drop off items like Christmas trees (with ornaments and lights removed, naturally), gift boxes, cardboard boxes, and old electronics (such as cell phones, computer equipment, and TVs no larger than 27”).

Piece on Earth, good will to IN! 

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

In the beginning, you and your Blackberry (ahem, Crackberry) were inseparable. Then came the iPhone, and you swooned for the touch screen. Now you’re thinking of trading up for a G1 (a.k.a. the Google phone). 

By now you know better than to toss your old cell in the trash. But when it finally comes time to part ways, consider recycling it by donating it to an organization that gives back to the Indianapolis community.

The Lawrence Sunrise Kiwanis Club has cell phone collection boxes at National City Bank (E. Washington St. & Mitthoeffer), Credit Union Service Center (near Washington Square Mall), Forum Credit Union (5760 Sunnyside Road), and the Ivy Tech Building (59th St. at Fort Harrison; box located on 1st floor near bookstore). Any money received from the sale of the phones goes to Riley Children’s Hospital. Phones that are no longer of value get properly recycled.

Or, recycle your phone through Keep Indianapolis Beautiful by picking up a special envelope at KIB or downloading a postage-paid shipping label. This year, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful recycled more cell phones than any other Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the country, resulting in an additional grant from Sprint.

TTYL!

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

It’s been quite a year, environmentally speaking, for Indianapolis. We’ve made a list and checked it twice.

Naughty

• At a time when some cities are outlawing plastic bags, the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library keeps offering them to patrons to carry their books home.
• If it were up to us, we would give an automatic detention to Indianapolis Public Schools for swapping out the reusable cafeteria lunch trays for the disposable Styrofoam variety.
• Yeah, we get it. It’s cold outside. What we do not understand is why all the cars on Andy Mohr Toyota’s lot were running the morning Renee got an oil change. We can only guess that other area car dealerships feel the need to warm up all the cars on their lots every morning (and release tons of CO2 in the process) just in case someone shows up for a test drive.  

Nice

• How do we love the new Indianapolis International Airport? Let us count the ways: an energy-efficient structure, shorter taxi times on the runway, recycling bins, low-flow toilets, recycled glass art, native plants, the short-term cell-phone parking lot where people can turn off their engines and wait to pick up their passengers…the list goes on and on.
• Indiana Living Green magazine is one issue away from two full years of spreading the green word in Indiana. They’ve even partnered with The Time Factory, home of Indy’s first 125′ wind turbine, to offer a green calendar with every subscription.
• Those planet-loving Mass Ave merchants upped the ante again. After several businesses implemented CFLs, recycling, and a discount for shoppers who bring their own bags earlier this year, the Avenue recently got another eco-friendly upgrade: public recycling bins.  

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Ah, gift cards. The fast, easy way to say “Happy Holidays” and “I had no idea what to get you” simultaneously. This year, if you’re going to slip another plastic card into the hands of friends and family, make sure there’s a thoughtful (and green) idea behind it-cards that can be used to benefit charities that help the planet and its inhabitants.

FOR KIDDOS
Show the youngsters in your life that there’s more to Christmas than Guitar Hero. Let them feel like the hero when you give them a gift card from Markmakers. Using the card, they can shop the Markmakers online store for goods and services that protect animals and the environment, fight poverty and hunger, prevent disease, and promote peace and justice. A single dollar buys 20 pounds of food, while $100 can be used to purchase a cow for Kenyan kids.

FOR LAST-MINUTE PURCHASES
We Americans know a little something about the power of choice-and about procrastinating. The Good Card is a gift card that can be used for one or more of the 1.5 million charities featured on Network for Good’s website. Save a plastic card by opting for online delivery; an e-mail will be sent to the recipient automatically letting them know you have purchased a card for them. Bonus: Purchasing a Good Card is tax-deductible for you, the buyer.

FOR GLOBETROTTERS, BRIDES, & GROOMS
Is your friend still raving about her recent trip to Chile? Shop Changing the Present, where $50 buys one araucaria tree to plant in Chile’s endangered forests. For $30, you can adopt 15 acres near Yellowstone National Park to help protect wildlife. Engaged? Consider creating a Changing the Present wedding registry page. You can always request that KitchenAid mixer someplace else.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

No one’s expecting chestnuts roasting on an open fire. But unless you got your degree at Martha Stewart U., whipping up the perfect holiday spread-a perfect eco-friendly spread, no less-can be daunting. Before you grab a glass of mulled wine, crawl into a corner, and cry, consider letting one of these local experts assist with your next fete.

• Alan’s Catered Events, an Irvington business, grows much of the food used in their business on their Terre Haute farm. They can make as little or as much of your holiday meal as you’d like. Order soon: Christmas Eve pick-ups must be scheduled by December 22. 
• Local food devotees Katy Jones and Erin Jones-Edds, the sister duo behind Country Mouse City Mouse, now offers party platters and catering. Contact Erin to place your order. 
• Who says pies are just for Thanksgiving? Or just for dessert for that matter? Daina Petite Pies sells breakfast quiches and dinner pies made with local hormone- and antibiotic-free meats, as well as fruit pies made with local produce. Get ‘em online or check out the selection at these Central Indiana stores. Or, try one of BlackBird Pies’ mouthwatering winter varieties: chocolate-oat spice, cranberry crumb, chai apple, peppery sweet potato, or simply pear. Each artisan pie is made with fresh (and when possible) local ingredients. To order, call 259-7108 or e-mail blackbirdpie24@gmail.com.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Your pets know nothing about the recession. To them, a bailout is what happens when their leash gets wound around their legs and you step in to untangle it.

Still, trimming your shopping budget this season doesn’t mean you have to leave Fluffy and Fido off your list - or dig through the bargain bin at big-box retailers. We know a way you can buy locally-made, eco-friendly pet products and still get a discount.

Shop Purrfect Play, a Chesterton, Indiana company that manufactures pet toys constructed of organic, dye-free natural fibers. Renee’s cat Devon loves his catnip carrot and her dog, Miles, throws his new ball around like it’s his job.

Kudos to Purrfect Play for giving back to animals (5% of each sale goes to no-kill shelters and other animal rescue organizations) and to their customers. Throughout the month of December, get free shipping on your Purrfect Play order with this code: 8911220889. You lucky dog!

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

You’ve polished off the turkey leftovers, sent the relatives home (finally), and resumed your busy work schedule. And OMG, here come the holidays!

As you gear up to host your next soiree, be sure to clean green…as in, don’t even think about picking up that mop unless the floor cleaner you’re using is non-toxic and environmentally friendly. We suggest you try a locally made brand: TraceyClean. The line of safe, effective, non-toxic natural cleaning products was developed by McCordsville resident Tracey Hiner and includes everything from laundry detergent and glass cleaner to air freshener and yoga mat wash. Renee loves TraceyClean’s citrus-scented all-purpose cleaner, which she picked up at Greenway Supply and has also seen at the Saturday morning farmer’s market at 25th and Central. Tracey also delivers to Indianapolis, Fishers, Geist, Greenwood, Carmel and Zionsville. 

Not ready to commit to a whole 32-ounce bottle? Tracey, bless her, offers 4-ounce samples of her surface cleaner, glass cleaner, and all-purpose cleaner (both citrus- and spice-scented varieties) for just $2 a pop.

If that isn’t a prime stocking stuffer opportunity, we don’t know what is.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Indiana may have been declared a blue state this year, but with you’re help, we’d like to see it change colors again in 2009-to green! No matter your political affiliation, hopefully we can agree that things like recycling, public transportation, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture are vital if we want to make our state a healthier, safer, more eco-friendly place to live.

Want to know how Indiana is planning to ramp up its green efforts in 2009 and how you can get more involved in the process? RSVP to attend the Hoosier Environmental Council’s Sustainable Indiana 2009 Policy Forum, taking place at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday, December 6, at the Holliday Park Nature Center, 6863 Spring Mill Road.  Four of the state’s leading green organizations will be on hand to discuss a variety of issues and initiatives for next year. HEC’s annual meeting and luncheon will follow the forum.

While the state government may not be ready to enact a ban on plastic bags or start mandating the use of CFLs, we’re hoping that 2009 will prove to be a banner year for Indiana’s environmental progress.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan