Today’s Going Green Workshop: Green Programming has been archived and is now available for anyone to view:

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding this program.  This will unfortunately be our last Going Green program due to the changes in staffing and core services at Alliance.  For more information please see: http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/article.cfm?id=1356 Instead of continuing this as an Alliance Library System blog, I will be able to take this over as my own personal blog.  I will be leaving everything intact, and I hope I will be able to update it in the future.  Future posts may not be geared directly toward libraries, but they will still focus on making your life a little greener.  I will continue to focus on green resources, activities, and ideas that will apply to everyone.  All current posts and materials that are geared toward libraries will remain.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have a suggestion for a post.  Depending on my employment status and career path, I might not have as much time to keep keep the blog updated, so every little bit helps!  Thank you everyone for reading, and I hope you continue to find this blog useful!

Since our most recent Green Workshop focused on Green Buildings,  this article couldn’t have come at a better time.  Each year, Technology Review selects the ten most important emerging technologies.   One of those trends is green concrete.  I was not aware that the process of making cement for concrete generates a lot of carbon dioxide, but conventional cement is the world’s third-largest industrial contributor of CO2, mainly due to the high-temperature kilns required to make traditional cement pastes.  According to this article, “The 2.8 billion metric tons of cement produced worldwide in 2009 contributed about 5 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.”  Several start up companies are trying to reduce the cement’s carbon footprint.  One of these companies, London-based startup Novacem, is trying to eliminate those emissions with a cement that absorbs more carbon dioxide than is released during its manufacture. It locks away as much as 100 kilograms of the greenhouse gas per ton.   It is certainly an interesting idea and a trend worth watching!

For more information:

• watch a video of Novacem’s chief scientist talk about the company’s cement
• read the Technology Review article
• read about a similar company based out of California

ALS will be hosting the first workshop in the Going Green Series:

The workshop will give you ideas to assist you in meeting the 2011”Going Green” Per Capita Grant requirement once it becomes available.  Some suggestions will take very little time and effort, while others will require some planning and budgeting.  You will also get a glimpse into the future of green libraries as we discuss topics like LEED Certification and sustainable development. The content is designed to appeal to libraries of all types and sizes.   For more information on the workshop,  to register, or to get connected to the program,  please see L2.

Make a Stenciled Flower Vase from Recycled Materials.  It is easy and all you need is an empty water bottle, scrap fabric, a brush, paint, scissors, needle and thread, permanent marker, and clear adhesive paper.  You can probably decorate the fabric in other ways, or you may even want to use construction paper instead.   Depending on the audience, this concept can be applied to all ages and skill levels.

If you don’t want to use fabric and paint, you might want to try this idea from Wikihow.  Make a vase out of a plastic bottle with just scissors and some careful folding.  The end result is a pretty vase that looks like crystal.  It is unbreakable and can even be recycled later.  I would love to try this one.

If you do try either of these projects, or any other craft idea, I would love to see pictures!

Today was the kickoff workshop to Alliance Library System’s Going Green series.  It focused on general ways to make your library a little greener.  Upcoming workshops in this series will cover Green Buildings, Green Programming and Activities, and Green Financial Resources.  If you would like to view the archive of today’s program, you may access it through the following URL: http://als.acrobat.com/p29545894/

All resources, links, and tips mentioned in this program are found on this blog!  If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for future workshops, please don’t hesitate to contact me at sbaschieri@alliancelibrarysystem.com.   The next workshop on Green Buildings will be held online on April 26th at 10:00am.  If you would like more information or to register, please see L2.