When the mercury rises this summer, plenty of Indianapolis residents will crank up their air conditioner-and their electricity bill. Fortunately for Indianapolis Power and Light customers, there is CoolCents. The voluntary program works like this: IPL installs a little device on your air conditioner that, only during periods of critical energy demand, will shorten the number of minutes your air conditioner compressor is on. Don’t worry: This typically only occurs during the weekday hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (not on holidays, weekends, or in the evening), so you’ll likely be out of the house.  What’s in it for you? A $5 credit for every month you participate between June and September. What’s in it for IPL? Your participation helps to reduce the amount of expensive peak electricity they need to purchase during the summer. Make cents?
 
To enroll, simply visit IPL online or call 800-305-0982.
 
Piece out,
Renee & Meghan 

Who’s goin’ green? Your MAMA-the Mass Ave Merchants Association. It all began last fall with a tote bag program. Several businesses have begun offering a discount to patrons who use the hip $10 totes - created by Dean Johnson Design and made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles - at their stores. A portion of the proceeds from the bag sales go toward paying for public recycling receptacles in the area.
 
On your next trip to Indy’s downtown arts district, check out these retailers who go the extra mile for the planet.
 
The Best Chocolate In Town

• Produces all of its chocolate on-site and also sells locally-owned and operated Trader’s Point Creamery ice cream
• Uses low-energy lights in its production area
• Recycles junk mail and paper

Global Gifts

• Uses Fair Trade practices
• Sells several products made with organic and earth-friendly materials

Mass Ave Toys

• Recycles plastic, aluminum, and glass
• Is installing a new awning to keep energy costs down

Mass Ave Wine Shoppe

• Sells Fair Trade, organic, and biodynamic wines  
• Recycles junk mail, paper, and glass.
• Replaced 12 light bulbs with CFLs

Out Word Bound Bookstore

• Owners and managers live within two miles of the store and use local companies for office services and supplies
• Recycles books, glass, plastic, and aluminum. 
• Donates books to the Damien Center and Women’s Prison
• Replaced 16 light bulbs with CFLs
• Uses 50 percent green power from IPL

Sakura Urban Studio

• Sells handbags made on location at the shop.
• Recycles paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass
• Replaced 2 light bulbs with CFLs

Silver in the City/At Home in the City

• Sells reclaimed movie billboard totes and handbags, clutches made from reclaimed candy wrappers, blankets made of recycled sweater and garden sculptures made of recycled metal junkyard parts from nearby Louisville, KY.
• Uses 100 percent green power from IPL
• Switched to CFLs in the bright starlights that illuminate the storefront. 
• Provides a staff bicycle for running errands downtown
• Recycles junk mail and cardboard

Teapots and Treasures

• Uses locally sourced teas, herbs, and flowers
• Recycles black ink cartridges

The Frame Shop/Franklin Barry Gallery

• Keeps half the store lights off during the day
• Uses fluorescent bulbs in 50 percent of the gallery
• Recycles paper, junk mail, plastics, aluminum, and cardboard
• Shipping products and note cards are made from recycled materials and shipping containers are reused as well

Piece out,

Meghan & Renee

Everywhere you go, there’s plastic. From milk jugs to yogurt tubs, shower curtains to shampoo bottles, flip-flops to yoga mats and beyond, the stuff is far-reaching. Sadly, so are its effects on the planet. Manufacturing plastic uses tons of energy and natural resources, releases toxic chemicals into the environment, and is mostly derived from petroleum. To top it all off, most of it’s not even biodegradable.Plastic recyclers, we commend you. But before you toss bubble wrap, polystyrene cups, and Tupperware into your recycling bin, know this: Not all plastics can be recycled via curbside pick-up or at the recycling drop-off center-most only accept plastics with a #1 or #2 printed on the bottom of the container. Yet that doesn’t mean you should throw out plastics #3 through #7.

Our advice: Save them and store them until you collect a sizeable load, then transport everything to Rock-Tenn Company (formerly Indianapolis Recycled Fiber), which recycles plastics #1 through #7 at their downtown drop-off facility at 1775 S. West St. or First Friends of Indianapolis.

Go above and beyond by pre-cycling, otherwise known as selecting items packaged in reusable, recyclable, or consumable packaging. Meghan’s favorite consumable packaging is the ice cream cone.

Piece out,

Renee & Meghan

We need mulch. It’s pretty. More important, mulch benefits your flower beds and trees by retaining moisture, preventing weeds and other pests, increasing nutrients, and insulating the soil.The main conundrum of mulch: cutting trees. Products like pine barks and hardwood mulches are processed from the bark and other waste wood produced at sawmills. Even pine needle mulches are raked from pine plantations maintained by the timber industry (and the needles will increase the acidity of your soil-a no-no for many plants). Your worst bet is cypress mulch. According to a recent Mother Jones article, cypress clear-cuts in Louisiana amount to 20,000 acres each year. Save Our Cypress also has a lot of information, including a great video about the industry.

Now the good news: A few new products, such as coco fiber mulch and cocoa shell mulch, are produced from byproducts in other industries. Dyed wood mulches are usually made from wood pallets and other waste wood. Ultimately, these recycled products are not being burned or interred in a landfill. And, of course, measuring your beds and using a mulch calculator to have your mulch delivered will save you many trips to the store.  

Here are a few local companies with eco-friendly mulch options:

• Tiffany Lawn and Garden Supply 
• Indiana Mulch and Stone 
• GreenCycle of Indiana 

Piece out,
Meghan, Renee & Kevin (GPI’s guest tipper of the week!)

We at Green Piece Indy are big fans of lush green grassy lawns (uh, have you seen our logo?). What we don’t love: seeing our neighbors’ sprinklers watering more pavement than grass. Until rock gardens come back in vogue, keep in mind these helpful hints from our friends at Veolia Water.

For automatic sprinkler system owners:

• Position your automatic sprinkler heads properly so they don’t take aim at your driveway, sidewalks, or other such surfaces.
• Move trash cans and other obstructive objects out of the way of your sprinklers. 
• Install an inexpensive rain sensor on your irrigation system so the sprinklers shut off when not needed.

For the rest of us:

• Did you know that healthy grass can survive without water just fine for about 5 to 8 weeks? If you must water, do so early in the morning. 
• Aerate your lawn regularly. (This will improve water penetration.)  
• To reduce strain on the city’s water supply, if you live at an even-numbered address, water on even-numbered calendar days. Odd numbered addresses, water on odd-numbered days.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

We love to see big chain stores encourage reusable totes as an alternative to (ugly, no-good, non-biodegradable) plastic and paper bags—especially when prizes are involved! Now through May 23, Kroger is offering customers ages 13 and older a chance to design the store’s new reusable bag. To enter the contest, visit www.kroger.com/green to create an account, then use the site’s design tool to craft your drawing.

For the winning contestant: a $500 Kroger gift card and a chance to see their bag sold in stores. Finish in the top 5, and you’ll receive a $250 Kroger gift card; $100 Kroger gift cards go to the 6th through 10th place finishers. Even if you don’t place, Kroger is still offering every contestant with a Kroger Plus Card number a digital coupon loaded automatically to their card for a free reusable bag. A coupon that doesn’t come from trees? Now that’s walking the talk.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

If you love Mother Earth almost as much as your own mom, check out some of these planet-friendly Mother’s Day gift ideas from two of our favorite retailers:

Artifacts

• Envirosax 100% bamboo bags are a smart reusable alternative to ugly plastic.
• It’s an oxymoron, but Dirt candles—made of organically grown American soybeans and housed in recycled glass—are clean-burning. And the scents couldn’t smell better. Our pick: Peace of Mind, a calming floral.
• Where do old billboards go to die? Thanks to Revinylized Bags, the giant roadside advertisements get a new lease on life in the form of chic handbags.
• Round Robin Press greeting cards are the gifts that keep on giving: Wildflower seeds are embedded in each handmade recycled paper card. So after mom is done enjoying your lovely words, she can plant the card and wait for her next gifts to arrive.
• Bonus: Check out “Reclaim Reuse Reimagine,” a new exhibit from national and local artists that use recycled materials in their work, beginning May 9 at Artifacts.

Global Gifts

• Oodles of products at this fair trade store, now in its 20th year, are made from recycled materials: metal art made from old oil drums; bowls, trivets, and coasters made from recycled newspaper; jewelry made from recycled glass and aluminum cans; and bracelets made from flip-flops that have washed up on the shores of the Indian Ocean.
• Foodie moms will love Global Gifts’ variety of organic and fair trade coffees, teas, and chocolate.
• No matter whether she likes bamboo, jute, or kaisa grasses, all of these sustainable materials are used in products here. The Earth-conscious retailer also uses nonpolluting natural dyes in materials whenever possible.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

That’s right. Your Green Piece Indy girls are born and raised Hoosiers. But more importantly, so are a lot of plant species. This landscaping season choose native plants like Purple and Yellow Coneflower, Little Bluestem, Carolina Allspice, Skullcap and several other colorful and resilient options. Renee has had great luck with coneflowers, and let’s just say her thumbs aren’t exactly green.

Many native plants tend to require little to no watering. They’re used to hot and humid Indiana summers! Meanwhile, there are several invasive plants, like those listed on the Midwest Invasive Plant Network web site, that can cause severe damage to our native plants and animal species.

Wondering where to find just the right wildflowers, grasses, plants, shrubs and trees for your landscaping? Stop by the Indiana Native Plant and Wildlife Society’s Native Plant Sale and Auction on Saturday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Trinity Church/St. Richard’s School, 3243 N. Meridian Street.

Piece out,
Meghan & Renee

Birds of a feather may flock together, but sadly too many of our feathered friends are ending up on the pavement of downtown Indianapolis streets. During spring and fall migration, most birds migrate at night. The problem: Confused birds are flying into lit-up high rise buildings and meeting their very untimely deaths. In response, the city’s Amos W. Butler Audubon Society is promoting Lights Out Indy, a simple but effective program to reduce this sad trend by asking downtown high rise buildings to turn off their office lights at night. Does this really work, you ask? Chicago implemented this program years ago and estimates that more than 10,000 birds’ lives are spared annually as a result. And, of course, turning out the lights saves energy and money. If you work downtown or know someone who does, please spread the word about this important program. Do it now…after all, the early bird gets the worm.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan