Learn more about Ecology’s environmental footprint and sustainability efforts

By Andrew Wineke, communications manager, Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction program

This is Earth Month, so sustainability is the word of the hour.

At Ecology, we think of ourselves as environmental leaders, responsible for protecting and restoring the air, land and water of Washington. As we do that, however, we leave an environmental footprint of our own with the vehicles we drive, the electricity we consume and the waste we generate.

To improve our sustainability, we first need to track that footprint and evaluate how we’re doing and where the best opportunities to improve lie.

One of the ways we do that is through our Sustainability Report. In this report, you’ll find data on Ecology’s energy consumption, greenhouse gas generation, waste and water use. You’ll also find broader categories of sustainability, such as our employee mix, our commuting habits and our budget.

The goal of reporting is to not only improve Ecology’s sustainability but to advance sustainability across the state by providing the data that can inform our strategic planning. Our Sustainability Report uses a framework established by the Global Reporting Initiative, or GRI.

GRI is a nonprofit organization that has introduced standardized language and metrics for sustainability reporting. GRI’s framework is the widely used by companies and organizations across the world.

Using a standard yardstick to measure our performance allows us to set an example for others. Last fall, Ecology hosted a GRI workshop that 85 businesses, governments and organizations attended.

Ecology’s Sustainability Report also advances the charge given to all state agencies by Gov. Jay Inslee to track and improve performance through Results Washington.

Gov. Inslee’s goal is to ensure a faster, smarter and more accountable state government. Sustainability, environmental protection, and the health of our communities are key performance areas for Results Washington.

Want to know more?
www.ecy.wa.gov/about/gri/2014

Save the Earth - and a few bucks - by biking to work

by Heather John, education & community outreach specialist, Nuclear Waste Program

Commuting to work by bicycle is one of my greatest joys. It gets my blood pumping in the morning and it lets me decompress on the ride home each evening. But there is more to biking than the health and social benefits.

In honor of Earth Month, let’s delve into some of the reasons a bike commute is a worthy investment.

Environmental Benefits

Riding a bicycle provides a way to ease the stress on our struggling environment. Biking reduces carbon emissions, raises air quality, and fights global warming and climate change.

Biking to work sustainability stats

• Riding your bike to work rather than driving can cut down on your household emissions by at least 6 percent annually.
• Cars produce about a pound of pollution per mile annually; bikes produce none. Bikes are also up to 50 percent faster than cars during rush hour.
• Bikes take far fewer natural resources to make than cars, the production of which generates 1.2 billion yards of pollution each year.
• Far less rubber is involved in making bikes and their tires, which helps prevent the clearing of forests for rubber plantations.
• Not only does riding a bike help combat noise pollution — which affects wild animals — but it also results in less road kill.
• Twenty bikes can fit in the space of one car, so if more people rode them, we wouldn’t need to clear as much land for parking lots.

Financial Benefits

Commuting by bike saves you money! Not only does biking reduce spending on fuel, repairs and parking, but it also increases your overall health level, so you can potentially save on doctor visits and medications.

Biking to work cost saving stats

• For overweight workers, being physically active one to two days a week lowered healthcare costs by $400 to $500 per year. (Physical activity was defined as at least 20 minutes of exercise that increases heart rate and breathing.)
• The average annual operating expense of a bicycle is just $308, versus more than $8,000 fora car.
• When you ride a bike, you’re more likely to keep your trips shorter while shopping closer to home, which is great for local businesses.

Commute Trip Reduction

I’m proud to work somewhere that values the benefits of alternative transportation. Washington State Department of Ecology proves this with their Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Program. Large businesses in counties with more than 150,000 people are required to have CTR programs, and almost all of Ecology’s offices offer this incentive.

Employees can earn up to $2 a day for qualifying trips, which include not only bicycling, but also public transit, carpooling and walking. This reduces the strain on traffic, so everybody wins! Check to see if your employer offers a similar incentive.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. (I thought of that while riding my bicycle.)” – Albert Einstein

“If constellations had been named in the 20^th century, I suppose we would see bicycles.” – Carl Sagan

Sources:
http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/big-city/187346/infographic-10-ways-riding-bike-can-save-world
http://visual.ly/benefits-commuting-bike-work
http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/
http://dgs.dc.gov/dgs-blog/19-bike-work-day-facts

Recycling in Washington: How are we doing?

By Gretchen Newman, Lead Data Analyst, Waste 2 Resources

In a recent ECOconnect post, we talked about how food is the largest component of our garbage in Washington, at 17 percent (by weight) of what we throw in the trash. Wonder what makes up the rest of the trash? And how much are we recycling in Washington households and businesses?

Garden Talk: Time to Plant!

By Kate Nagel, Food Bank Garden Coordinator, Hazardous Waste and Toxic Reduction Program, Washington Conservation Corps

 

Saturday, May 3rd Planting Event

A flowering winter squash plant
from last season's garden.

Come plant winter squash at the Ecology Food Bank Garden on Saturday, May 3 from 9am-2pm! Lunch and tools provided. All levels of gardening experience are encouraged to join! Bring your family and friends as well as gloves if you have them. Please RSVP.

Lunchtime and after-work gardening parties will also be starting soon. To get on the garden volunteer list or for more information, please contact Kate Nagel.

Need some incentive to get out to the garden? Read about why gardening is good for your health!

The Food Bank Garden is a great way to get volunteer hours and give back to the community. Last year, with the help of hard-working volunteers, the garden donated over 2,000 pounds of produce to the Thurston County Food Bank. The Food Bank hands these vegetables directly to our fellow community members in need!

Ecology's garden is located at the Washington Department of Ecology, 300 Desmond Dr. SE, Lacey(garden located in the meadow near the far parking lot).

Newspaper pots: Tips for saving money and reusing

Because squash have fragile root systems, planting starts directly into the ground without disturbing their roots is helpful. Using peat pots is one option, or if you are interested in saving money and reusing too, newspaper pots are a great alternative.

During a recent lunchtime work party, volunteers made newspaper pots for the garden's winter squash starts. There are hundreds of tutorial videos online if you type "newspaper pots" or "newspaper pots origami" into your search engine. Any newspaper should work great, but don't use the glossy pages or pages that use a lot of color ink. Once created, put pots into a tray to contain water, but be sure to allow for airflow. Roots will begin to grow through the paper if they become too large. At this point (or a little before) you will want to begin hardening your plants; here is a good description of this process. Once hardening is complete, carefully place start into the hole, newspaper and all!

Students water their newly planted squash seeds.

Three classes at a local elementary school volunteered to host several trays of squash seeds. The students learned how to plant the seeds and are now responsible for watering them and watching them grow!

Ecology's garden is hoping to grow about 500 winter squash plants this season. This is the first year the garden is using the newspaper pot method to grow starts, and we are excited to see how they turn out!

---

Garden Talk: Food Bank Garden ends the year with a stunning harvest

By Kate Nagel, Food Bank Garden Coordinator 



Potatoes ready to be cleaned and delivered to the  
Thurston County Food Bank

Volunteers from the Department of Ecology and the community brought in a harvest of almost 1,400 pounds of food during the Saturday, Oct. 5, Garden Harvest. Included in the totals were 1,012 pounds of potatoes, 372 pounds of squash and eight pounds of beets.

This year’s garden reached a stunning total of more than 2,000 pounds of produce.  The crop included lettuce, tomatoes, beets, basil, garlic, leeks, carrots, parsley, squash, potatoes, cosmos, marigolds, and sunflowers.

This is the largest yield in the garden’s three year existence; 2011 brought in 1,690 pounds and 2012 brought in close to 1,000 pounds of food.
All produce is donated to the Thurston County Food Bank for distribution.  Heather Sundean, produce manager at the food bank participated in this year’s harvest.



“The produce donated from Ecology’s garden is always gorgeous – it’s obvious when you see it that a great deal of care went into growing it, packing it, and delivering it to the Food Bank’s doors,” Sundean said.

“This summer Ecology donated some of the biggest heads of romaine lettuce I think I’ve ever seen! This fall’s harvest party was a lot of fun. The staff from Ecology and volunteers were so enthusiastic about helping, and certainly weren’t afraid of getting their hands (and sometimes backsides) in the dirt. We plan to reserve the squash to be included in our Thanksgiving boxes next month.”

The garden is run almost entirely by a group of dedicated volunteers. Starting with preparations and planting in the spring all the way to the fall harvest, Ecology employees volunteer their time on lunch breaks, evenings and weekends.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed in the 2013 garden efforts! And special thanks to Laura Inouye, who volunteers countless hours in the garden, and provides her valuable gardening expertise. She really is the roots that keep the garden growing!

While the 2013 season is coming to a close, there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities starting again in early spring of 2014. To be added to the volunteer update list, send an email to kate.nagel@ecy.wa.gov.

---

Garden Talk: Garden Celebration sparks new interest in Ecology’s garden

Staff volunteer musicians. From the left:
 Laurie Morgan, Josh Grice, Gary Koshi, Diana Olegre, Greg Pelletier

by Marisol Novak, Food Bank Garden coordinator

What started off as a grey morning, turned into the perfect sunny day for a Garden Celebration at the Lacey headquarters Food Bank Garden. The sun perked up right around noon, allowing guests to mingle underneath the large tents, enjoying delectable treats and live music. The Department of Ecology’s Sustainability Team sponsors the Food Bank garden. Team members volunteered to bring in snacks and set up the lunchtime event with the help of additional staff and the garden team.

The Food Bank Garden is run primarily on donations and volunteers. The purpose of the event was to celebrate the large contribution of vegetables produced each season as well as allow Ecology staff members to tour the garden and spark conversation.

In addition to food and music, Michelle Andrews, Ecology employee and master composter, chatted with guests about composting tips. Heather Sundean represented the Thurston County Food Bank and discussed the connection between the department’s organic garden and the clients served at the Food Bank.

All in all, there was great turnout of guests at the Garden Celebration, creating a fun and energetic lunch hour. A big thanks to all the volunteers, guests and musicians for a wonderful afternoon!

Department of Ecology's Garden Celebration

 

Michelle Andrews offering composting tips to guests.

---

Garden Talk: Mid-summer crops are flourishing

by Marisol Novak, Food Bank Garden coordinator

Knee-high broccoli plants

This week at Department of Ecology’s Food Bank garden in Lacey, Washington, the vegetables are maturing rapidly. Last week’s showers followed by warm and sunny weather have allowed the crops to flourish. Broccoli plants are knee-high, while the beets and lettuce have already been harvested.

In case you’re wondering where all the food goes, all the produce grown in the garden is donated to the Thurston County Food Bank. Department of Ecology staff are welcomed to volunteer in the garden on their lunch breaks and after work. Come visit us in the garden on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00-1:00pm.

Here are some vegetable varieties already harvested this summer:

55 pounds of lettuce.

Over 100 pounds of beets.

---

Garden Talk: Volunteers feeding the success of community garden

by Marisol Novak, Ecology's garden coordinator

Volunteers planting potatoes on May 18th, 2013.

Food Bank Garden at the Department of Ecology.

Beginning in 2011, the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Sustainability Team sponsored the development of an organic Food Bank garden. It is located behind the agency’s headquarters building in Lacey, WA in a sprawling meadow. The Washington Conservation Corps and department staff donations continually support this community-style garden. Department staff volunteer on their free time, during the lunch hour and after work. The garden team donates all the food grown to the local Thurston County Food Bank.

In the garden’s first year, potatoes were the sole crop. This year, however, the Food Bank Garden has expanded its crop variety to include a long list of vegetables. Today in the garden you will find lettuce, spinach, beets, squash, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots and a few herbs such as cilantro, basil and rosemary. Generous donators even contributed sunflowers, marigolds and cosmos!

On May 18^th, 2013, 20 volunteers made up of Ecology staff, as well as students from high school and The Evergreen State College, volunteered in the rain to plant potatoes and tomatoes for the season. With so many helping hands we even laid down irrigation for the summer season.


Anyone interested in volunteering in the garden either during the week or on weekends, contact Mari Novak @ mnov461@ecy.wa.gov.

---

Ecology Volunteers Harvest for Families in Need

By Johanna Ofner, Carbon Smart Initiative, Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) intern

On a recent cloudy Saturday, 35 volunteers – Ecology employees, St. Martin’s University students, Evergreen State College students, Kiwanis Club members, and Washington Conservation Corps members – came together to harvest potatoes and winter squash from the food bank garden located on the grounds of Ecology’s Lacey Headquarters.

Almost a ton of food, including 1650 pounds of potatoes and 40 pounds of winter squash, were donated to the Thurston County Food Bank for distribution to families in need!

The day was great fun! Thanks to the large turnout, all the potatoes were out of the ground and in crates by 11:30. After harvesting wrapped up, many folks took a break to enjoy a potluck lunch and get to know one another. A handful of committed volunteers remained after lunch to till the potato field, organize the tool shed and weed the garden fence-line of potentially invasive plants.

Planning for Sustainability

Ecology’s Sustainability Plan has long included “contributing to the economic, social and environmental well-being of the communities that host Ecology facilities” as a goal. The Sustainability Team, inspired by Olympia Kiwanis Club’s Capitol Campus garden, saw a food bank garden at Ecology as a great opportunity for employees to volunteer in support of the community.

It took several tries to find the right fit for Ecology. Charitable activities are carefully regulated to ensure appropriate use of state funds. To remain ethically responsible, employees volunteer at the food bank garden only on their own time. Work parties are held before work, during the lunch hour, after work and on weekends.

The food bank garden is dependent on partnerships. Ecology Administrative Services allowed access to the land and provided water for the garden’s drip irrigation system. Kiwanis provided use of their heavy equipment and best practices advice for starting and maintaining food bank gardens. The Washington Conservation Corps provided support for necessary one-time garden projects, such as the deer fence and drip irrigation system, through AmeriCorps funding that is dedicated to promoting community service.

Employees have generously donated used garden tools, use of their gardening equipment, a beautiful garden sign and more than 400 volunteer hours. All of these partners were vital to the success of the garden’s first growing season!

A big thanks to all the people who helped make the harvest day a success — it was a very enjoyable way to end the food bank garden’s first growing season!

---

Earth Day and Ecology Turn 40!

As Earth Day prepares to celebrate its 40th birthday this year it is important to note that “green” is the new black. It has never been so easy to be “green”. Whether you are an individual, business, school, or government we can connect you with resources you need to become a green leader in Washington.

Here at Ecology we have been striving to integrate environmentally friendly practices in our everyday work. Thanks to our Sustainability Team you can find our eco-actions such as composting, environmentally preferred purchasing, green building and more here.

These eco-actions are no small task, but for this year’s 40th Earth Day Ecology has decided to step it up a notch. You see, Ecology is also turning 40. Now that we are entering our 40’s we have decided that a lower-carbon diet is the best way to healthier Washington. Our agency will be setting the example for a carbon-neutral government.

Rest assured we haven’t been slacking all these years. Ecology is already in the forefront of reducing the state’s carbon footprint.
· We’ve long made it a priority to operate energy-efficient buildings.
· We’ve been early users of hybrid vehicles and reduced our fuel consumption.
· We’ve linked our field offices and headquarters buildings with video conferencing that reduces travel costs and road time.
· We’re one of two agencies (Department of Transportation is the other) that report our carbon emissions to the Climate Registry.

Now, we’re taking the next steps, finding new opportunities to reduce costs and our carbon footprint. We will learn more about what works, and what doesn’t. We’ll take a hard look at how we care for our facilities, our energy use, and how we move around. What we learn, we will share with other public agencies, businesses, and homeowners so they, too, can be part of the solution.

Join us in lowering your carbon diet and celebrating 40 years of environmental awareness and action.

Tell us what you are doing to commemorate 40 years of Earth Day. Is your community, family, or workplace hosting a celebration?

See what's happening around Washington on our Earth Day 2010 Events Page.

Watch our Director's message on our EcologyWA YouTube Channel.

Follow us on Twitter @Ecologywa for some great #EarthDay tips!

---