Drove up to Seattle from Olympia around 3 P.M. yesterday and had my first taste of a traffic jam since I killed my commute several years ago. Apparently, Seattle is not immune to urban sprawl or bad rainy weather drivers as traffic snarled from Olympia, through Tacoma and finally relented just short of Seattle.

But this was just in time for me to catch up with a project management team renovating Garfield High School, where Bruce Lee, Jimmy Hendrix and Quincy Jones once schooled. I had a chance to talk with Steven Moore, the Senior Project Manager with Heery International who said that much of the used construction materials from the Garfield project went to reuse yards where other builders could reuse them at a lower price than if they had bought them new! We then talked about how geo-thermal energy technology was being used in lieu of boilers and chillers for the renovation of other schools in the Seattle area.

For a complete explanation of how geothermal energy heating and cooling works, download my interview with Steven Moore onto your I-pod or MP3 player (approx time 5 mins).

 

 Steven Moore Interview [5:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I also had a conversation with Lydia, a resident of North Seattle, who told me the City fines homeowners if they find recycleable items in the trash can! She also told me her garbage bill goes higher if she overfills either the recycle or garbage bins. Wow, that’s like an over-consumption tax! Better make sure to give those recycle guys more than just a six-pack of beer at the end of the year!

Conservationville USA 2007 contender: Seattle, WA.

What else could a city do to incentivize its citizens to consume and waste less?

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I’m in Seattle now but would like to talk a little Portland, OR from two days ago. What a great town! In addition to Powell’s Books, New Renaissance Book Shop at 1338 N.W. 23d Ave. now carries my book, The Casual Conservationist.

I had a chance to visit Hostelling International’s Portland Hawthorne District hostel where they recently put on an ‘Eco-Roof’. I tried to tell them they needed to cut the grass growing on the roof but they actually designed it that way! Apparently, this “living roof” not only soaks up 60% of the rainwater that would have gone into the storm drains and out into the ocean but also absorbs sunlight, playing its part in cooling down inner city summer temperatures. Plus it extends the wear of the roof! While pricing is still pretty spendy for the average homeowner, cities and counties are starting to support such efforts through grants and tax subsidies since it reduces the amount of water municipalities need to filter on its way to the ocean.

For a complete overview of how Talbot, Hostelling International and the City of Portland are playing their part to conserve, download my interview with Talbot onto your I-pod or MP3 player (approx time 20 mins).

 

 Talbot Wallace Interview [18:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Conservationville USA 2007 contender: Portland, OR
For working hard to keep polluted run-off from running off to the sea!

What else can cities do to reduce residential water run-off?

(more…)

Hot-tailed it up to Oregon last night so I could be on time for my first radio interview and catch up with a tour that was supposed to start a week ago. Of course, the delay was 100% mine and my inability to clone three of me to help put this trip together. Don’t get me wrong - I had a lot of help. But The Casual Conservationist paperback book is finally available - on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and fresh out of the oven at Powell’s Books in Portland, OR.

What a beautiful drive last night. The moon was 3/4 full, electrifying this thin layer of wispy clouds and lighting the entire starlit sky. I wish I didn’t have to rush past Redding, Grants Pass, Ashland and Corvallis but promises to keep.

Conservationville USA 2007 Contender: Ashland, OR
Passing by Ashland, OR, I noticed that the state or city was watering the freeway onramp foilage around Midnight. Bravo! Running the sprinklers during the day is a sure way to waste water and starve your garden, especially during the hot summer months. If Ashland can make the contender list after a 2 minute drive-by, I wonder what other conservation goodies they have off-freeway?

Just finished my first radio interview with Tom Park and his show Pathways. Show airs 8:30 Sunday morning (July 1) in:

Portland - 90.7 fm
Corvallis - 100.7
Columbia Gorge - 91.9
Internet - KBOO.FM

And so it begins.

Casually Yours,
Mongo

Here are some great driving tips for improving your auto’s fuel efficiency:

http://www.greenercars.org/drivingtips.htm

Everyone tells you to reuse your supermarket bags but these bags are never where I am, when I need them. One solution is to create your own Bag Packs and to put them in things that will be with you next time you are shopping like purses, brief cases, car glove compartments and so on. Here’s a step-by-step guide for making Bag Packs so you too can take advantage of conservation opportunities when and where they occur. Remember, if you used every bag that touched your hands at least twice, you would be cutting your bag waste in half!

For Bag Packs, start with two paper or plastic bags and a rubber band…

fold the bags in half and then in half again…

roll up the sheet like you would a sleeping bag…

and wrap the whole thing with a rubber band!

Don’t forget to make lots of these and put them in places you will have access the next time you go shopping.

Invented a new way to conserve water, paper, plastic or peace-of-mind in the office? Share the wealth! Let us all know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.

Invented a new way to conserve water, paper, plastic or peace-of-mind in the garden? Share the wealth! Let us all know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.

Invented a new way to conserve water, paper, plastic or peace-of-mind on the road? Share the wealth! Let us all know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.

Invented a new way to conserve water, paper, plastic or peace-of-mind at home? Share the wealth! Let us all know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.

Here is some information for the media about Mongo, his book and his trip.

Excerpts From The Book

Suggested Interview Questions

Press and Events Teaser