The Green Frugal

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Two shirts, a pair of pants, pajamas, boots and a warm jacket. Cash4Books employees dedicated their Wednesday evening to Northwest Children’s Outreach, packing care bags teeming with items like those above for children in Portland and the surrounding communities. Each Cash4Books employee had the pleasure of sifting through donated clothing items, to choose outfits for girls and boys. Each child was also gifted with several books and toys. It was particularly fun to reminisce over titles and games of our pasts.

Theresa, our Accounts Payable Specialist, has been volunteering with the Northwest Children’s Outreach over the past year, and brought this wonderful organization to the attention of Cash4Books employees. “I initially volunteered at NW Children’s Outreach to expose my children to doing something for others,” said Theresa of her initial involvement with the organization. “I was shocked to learn how dire the need was for so many children locally, and how my efforts made a direct impact. The organization is 100% volunteer run and all donations go directly to the children.  What a great idea!!”

Northwest Children’s Outreach works with local care providers who identify, meet directly with, and prescreen children in need. Arrangements are then made to acquire supplies through purchase and donations, which are sorted and packed by volunteers weekly.

“The other day I was lucky enough to get a child whose birthday was coming up.  They save the nicest donations for birthday gifts.  Knowing I was preparing a gift for a child that probably wasn’t getting anything else was incredibly rewarding.  This organization is doing so much for those most vulnerable, and I’m so happy to do my part,” recounts Theresa.

As part of their mission, Northwest Children’s Outreach “stands in the gap” between poverty and caring agencies with resources to help children and the needs of their families. Serving children from infants through teenagers, they are always looking for donations of the following items:

• Diapers
• Formula
• New or gently-used clothing (newborns to teens)
• Hygiene Products for Infants, Children and New Moms
• Feeding Products for Infants and Children (bowls, bottles, cups, eating utensils, bibs, etc.)
• Nursery Items (blankets, new cribs, crib sheets, changing pads, changing tables, infant towels, nursery furniture)
• Children’s Safety Products (new car seats, household safety products, childproofing equipment, etc.)
• Gift cards to grocery stores and/or stores with children’s products
• Toys and Books

For more information on the Northwest Children’s Outreach, its mission, or how to get involved, please visit their website at: http://www.northwestchildrensoutreach.org

Volunteer Match is a great resource to find charities and organizations that serve children in your area!

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It has been nearly a year since the Cash4Books Sustainability Committee was formed, and our first year has been a great success. The committee is composed of five employees coming from several different departments throughout the company. While we have a wide range of perspectives and areas of focus on the committee, our main mission is to is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable practices at work.

There were several highlights for us in 2010. As a company, we logged over 110 hours of volunteer community outreach! We volunteered with the Children’s Book Bank, Tualatin Riverkeepers and the Oregon Food Bank. We were also happy to provide year-end donations to these organizations as a way of saying thanks for their hard work and dedication to their causes.

In July, we participated as a company in the Carefree Commuter Challenge. The CCC is a friendly competition between companies and organizations in the Portland, Oregon, metro region to see who has the most sustainable commuting habits. Over the course of the month we logged over 1,600 miles using sustainable transportation (defined as public transportation, carpooling, walking and biking). This saved over 65 gallons of gasoline, and prevented the release of 1,300 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Enhancing our recycling program and reducing waste was another area of emphasis for us. We improved the recycling area in our employee break room, and installed a peg board to eliminate the use of disposable cups. We expanded our recycling list to include items like CDs and batteries.  Additionally, we continued to reuse and recycle the boxes and packing materials that we receive from our customers who send us their books. Over the course of the year, we recycled 40 tons of material that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill.

To finish off the year, we installed lighting occupancy sensors in the employee break room and shipping area of our warehouse. These sensors are anticipated to result in a 5% reduction of our annual electricity consumption. Plus, its really cool to have the lights turn on automatically when you walk by the sensors.

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Every year I find it more and more difficult to know what to do for my hunny on Valentine’s day.  Last year, I thought seeing a movie and dinner would be a safe play. I should have done more research before picking a flick off the marquee. Thinking I had scored by choosing an action film, after 2 ½ grueling hours watching two hikers die a slow death on the side of Eiger, dinner just wasn’t the romantic event I had imagined.

For your convenience, and mine , I have compiled some of my male co-workers’ favorite Valentine’s gestures below. Have fun spoiling your Valentine this year!

Free
Spend time together!
Take a hike. Go window shopping. Check out some live music. Make a Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt.

Cook him dinner …we all know food is the fastest way to your hunny’s heart
Buy a cookbook & let him pick the recipes YOU cook (maybe even for the next week)! or serve him breakfast in bed (mimosas anyone?)
With dinner, open a bottle of wine and explain why the name reminds you of him.

Make him a homemade card or present.
Include the story of how you met, your feelings then and now!
Write a top 10 list of what you adore about him, 10 things you remember about your first year together, 10 most memorable moments of your relationship, etc.  Serve together in your local community

Make a reverse BINGO blackout game.
Cover all the squares and draw  letter (row) – number (column) combinations until he guesses the message you’ve written underneath.

Pick him up at his office for lunch and surprise him with a picnic lunch in the park.

Under $30
Frame a Picture of you or one of your adventures.
Try making a collage or Memory book.  Snapfish has some great resources!

Food again…
Send him some Omaha steaks, new seasonings or specialty sausages.

Make a donation to his favorite non-profit in his name

Get him a subscription to his favorite magazine

Electronics!
Check out this remote control indoor helicopter for less than $30! Really, you can’t go wrong with remote control anything for guys!

Under $75
Pep up his personal computer, organizer or smart phone with fun accessories

Get his car detailed

Buy him a round of golf

Engrave his initials on a new money clip

Outerwear, Outerwear, Outerwear
We all know that boys are going to, and like to, get dirty!

Feed his habit with coffee accessories
Think mugs, grinders, and his favorite grounds

Over $75

Sports/Concert tickets
Buy him tix to go to an event with his FRIENDS (he might think it’s the best surprise…a free night out)!  Adventure gift certificates

Adrenaline is always a safe bet.
Hot air balloon or air glider rides make great gifts!

Rather than just a bottle or flask of their favorite alcohol, give the gift that keeps on giving…wine club memberships or home brew kits

Schedule a couple’s massage….because let’s be honest, he isn’t going without you to some frilly salon

Plan a weekend away to his favorite retreat
These are men. Think cabins/camping/yurts/the ground

I hope these suggestions are helpful! Let us know how you chose to celebrate this year!

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If you are like me, you like to eat out…A LOT! More and more, I am seeing restaurants advertising local, sustainable food sources, and energy-saving practices on their menus. This got me thinking….how do you dine sustainably?

Below are just a few steps to pique your interest in eating environmentally.

1. An important first step in eating out responsibly is choosing a green restaurant.

The Green Restaurant Association is a great start! Through their website, you can locate local eateries that meet green certification standards. Over 300 restaurants in 30 states have met minimum standards in the following areas:

• Water Efficiency
• Waste Reduction and Recycling
• Sustainable Furnishings and Building Materials
• Sustainable Food
• Energy
• Disposables
• Chemical and Pollution Reduction

In addition to sustainable restaurants, several guides exist to help you navigate your way to vegetarian, organic, and local dinner sources.

Happy Cow Compassionate Eating Guide

Local Harvest

VegGuide

2. Remember to eat local.

Try to support restaurants that rely on local farmers, farmers’ markets, and food co-ops to stock their pantries.

3. Be sure to order with a conscience.

Consult the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Guide before ordering seafood. The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides “best choices,” “good alternatives,” and those fish to “avoid” in order to help sustain wild, diverse, and healthy ocean ecosystems for the future.

EarthEasy also has a sustainable seafood list by type.

4. Make responsible water choices.

Only ask for a glass of water if you’ll actually drink it. If the meal is coming to an end, decline last minute fill-ups if you won’t be staying to finish them off.

5. When eating on the go…

Refuse extras like condiments or plastic utensils if taking your food home.  Or, if you know how much ketchup or napkins you’ll need, be specific and request just one or two. Be sure to reuse the bags and cups you get as many times as you can afterward.

6. Doggie Bag?

If you are really hard-core, bring your own reusable container for leftovers. Make doggie bags a thing of the past!

Just a side note – Throughout my childhood, when visiting the buffet, my grandma would hide plastic bags in her purse to bring home “leftovers.” Some may say she was ahead of her time sustainably. But the reality is that she was frugal.  I would politely remind her…although it doesn’t explicitly say, “All you can eat HERE,” it should be implied.

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Sort.  Box.  Pass. Toss. Weigh. Store.

On Saturday, December 11th, ten Cash4Books employees worked with the Oregon Food Bank sorting boxed, canned, and other food items into categories for distribution. Team members served as sorters, tapers, and washers. Some even worked on the conveyor, back line, scale and putting cases away. Together, with other volunteers, our team helped to pack 10,481 pounds of salvaged goods. This amounted to 8,062 meals for people in need, or an individual contribution of 268 meals on the table this week.

Although a ton of fun, the experience was much more physical than our team bargained for.  Everyone was very tired after working with cans and boxes for two hours. Good thing there were bagels and juice after! 

The Oregon Food Bank distributes food to agencies that feed people who are hungry throughout Oregon and Clark County, Washington. According to the OFB “In Oregon and Clark County Washington, an estimated 240,000 people eat from an emergency food box in an average month.“ They also work to address the root causes of hunger through public policy advocacy and education programs. For more information about the Oregon Food Bank, please see their website.