Show Title: Conserving Energy Begins With You
Producer: Al Williamson
Time: 27:40
Show begins here:
>>> TODAY ON IMPACT... CONSERVING ENERGY BEGINS WITH YOU.
---(In every product that's produced, we're using energy, we're using raw materials, and when we throw the item away, we're consuming landfill space, and ultimately this can cause pollution.) ---
---(If we can take a unit such as this, and put it in a distant area, a distant pasture, or fence in a smaller area, it will greatly benefit us in handling our cattle.
---(If everybody used an electric vehicle like this, there would be no smog in California for one thing and air pollution would be greatly mitigated from what it is now. ) ---
>>> THIS IS IMPACT. A WEEKLY LOOK AT ISSUES AND ANSWERS THAT IMPACT OUR LIVES AND THE WORLD AROUND US. PRODUCED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES.
Produced by Bill Kelsey.
---(music)---
>>>IT'S ALMOST A PULSE OF LIFE, THIS THING CALLED ELECTRICAL POWER. MORE AND MORE WE RELY ON IT TO INCREASE OUR PRODUCTIVITY AND TO MAKE OUR LIVES MORE PLEASANT. BUT WILL THERE BE ENOUGH OF IT TO MEET OUR NEEDS AS WE MOVE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY? SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF FLORIDA RANCHERS HAVE BEEN USING ONE FORM OF WHAT'S NOW CONSIDERED ALTERNATIVE ENERGY. WINDMILLS YOU SEE DOTTING THE LANDSCAPE AREN'T JUST RELICS LEFT FROM AN EARLIER TIME. MOST STILL TURN POWERING GEARS AND SHAFTS THAT PUMP WATER FROM WELLS FOR LIVESTOCK. BUT THE WIND DOESN'T ALWAYS BLOW, AND THEN SOMETIMES IT BLOWS TOO HARD. ONE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM HAD RANCHERS TURNING TO COMMERCIAL POWER COMPANIES FOR THEIR ENERGY NEEDS. BUT USING THE SAME POWER TO RUN PUMPS THAT WE USE TO AIR-CONDITION OUR HOMES ADDS TO WHAT SOME CONSIDER TOO MUCH CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY BY AGRICULTURE. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT WHEN RANCHERS PAY SOME $10,000 PER MILE TO RUN LINES TO DISTANT GRAZING AREAS AND HAVE TO PAY MONTHLY ELECTRICAL BILLS, FOR EACH SITE, THEY HAVE TO PASS ALONG COSTS THAT BECOME PART OF THE PRICE-PER-POUND WE PAY AT THE CHECK-OUT COUNTER. BUT THERE IS RELIEF IN SIGHT THANKS TO A SPACE-AGE SPIN-OFF THAT PRODUCES ELECTRICITY RIGHT WHERE IT'S NEEDED. AT THE 7-11 RANCH IN OSCEOLA COUNTY, IT'S OFTEN THOUGHT OF AS WATER FROM THE SUN.
>>>BILL HAYMAN, 7-11 RANCH: Agriculture needs water. We're not going to get very far unless we have an adequate source of water. And when cattle ranching, our problems here on this ranch have been having an adequate source of good, clean water where we need it. There's going to have to be water availability. And if we can take a unit such as this and put it in a distant area or a distant pasture, or fence in a smaller area. It will greatly benefit us in handling our cattle.
>>>THE 7-11 RANCH IS THE SITE OF A PROJECT TESTING HOW EFFECTIVELY SOLAR ENERGY CAN PROVIDE POWER TO PUMP WATER. OSCEOLA COUNTY EXTENSION DIRECTOR CHARLIE WILLIAMS SAYS SIMPLE DESIGN COULD BRING NEW ECONOMY TO RANCH OPERATION.
>>>CHARLEY WILLIAMS - OSCEOLA COUNTY EXT. DIRECTOR: The well used to be powered by a windmill. But we took the windmill off and now we're pumping the water using photovoltaic generated electricity. The only moving part in this system is in the centrifical pump.
>>>THE PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE FLORIDA ENERGY EXTENSION SERVICE, THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, OSCEOLA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, AND THE OSCEOLA COUNTY EXTENSION OFFICE.
>>>WILLIAMS: We're looking at the photovoltaic array which manufactures the electricity to power our water pump. The photovoltaic array has silicon chips that are chemically treated inside. And the photons from the sun's solar radiation actually causes electrons to move within these chips and moves electricity out through the wiring system down to the pump. The wire that we see coming out of the top of the pump motor goes over to the float switch which is located in the water tank. When the water tank is filled to capacity, the float switch turns off the electricity so that the water doesn't overflow out of the tank and in that manner we conserve water by not pumping out any more than is needed to supply the livestock.
>>>WILLIAMS SAYS THAT'S ALL IT TAKES TO PUMP THE WATER. RECORDING INSTRUMENTS ARE INSTALLED AT THE SITE FOR USE BY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCHERS IN THEIR EVALUATION OF THE SYSTEM.
>>>WILLIAMS: We have a solar radiation device which measures the hours of peak sun. We have an anamometer which measures wind speed, we have a recording thermometer. And all of this, too, is powered by solar energy. And we can actually see the time of day that cattle come in to get a drink.
>>>OR THE TIME OF DAY THAT CLOUD COVER MOVES IN AND KEEPS ELECTRICITY FROM BEING GENERATED AND WATER FROM BEING PUMPED. SO... ONE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY IS TO DETERMINE WHAT SIZE TANK IS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE AN ADEQUATE RESERVOIR FOR THE CATTLE. THERE MAY BE NO SUCH THING AS GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, BUT PHOTOVOLTAICS SEEMS TO COME CLOSE.
>>>HAYMAN: Well, we like the fact that at the end of the month, after you've pumped water for your livestock, that nobody sends you a powerbill. I like that very much. I mean, there's nothing like not getting a bill.
>>>IF THERE IS ANY ARGUMENT AGAINST USING THE SUN TO GENERATE ELECTRIC POWER, IT WILL PROBABLY BE EXPRESSED BY SENTIMENTAL TYPES AS THEY REALIZE A SYMBOL OF FLORIDA AGRICULTURE MAY BE DISAPPEARING FROM THE HORIZON. LANDSCAPE PAINTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS COULD BE LOSING AN OLD FRIEND.
Produced by Erin Easterling.
>>>SAVING ELECTRICITY COSTS ON A RANCH OR FARM IS A GOOD PLACE TO START, BUT TRANSPORTING PRODUCTS FROM THAT PROPERTY TO ANOTHER CAN REQUIRE MORE ENERGY THAN IT TOOK TO PRODUCE THOSE GOODS IN THE FIRST PLACE.
>>>MICKIE SWISHER--UF INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SPECIALIST: ...We don't think about it, we sort of think there are farmers out there and they produce stuff and then I go to the grocery store and I buy it, and we don't think about everything that happens in between. So interestingly enough, only about 18% of all the energy that was used to get the food to this store was actually used on the farm to produce the food. Grocery stores and farmers and all the people involved in our food system are like other businessmen. They're in competition with each other and they're trying to produce a product that you and I want to buy, so pretty much they're going to produce the kinds of things we want. And they're going to package it the way we want it. So I guess the point we want to make today is that when you make a food purchase, your kind of voting, you're making a decision, and you're sending a message all the way back to the farmer about what kind food you want, how you want it prepared and how you want it packaged.
>>>EXPERTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES ARE ENCOURAGING CONSUMERS TO LOWER THEIR IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT BY CONSIDERING THE ENERGY COSTS INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTS THEY'RE PURCHASING. MAKING SIMPLE CHANGES LIKE PUTTING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES INTO YOUR BASKET WITHOUT USING A PLASTIC BAG, OR PUTTING SEVERAL ITEMS ALL IN ONE BAG CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
>>>MARIE HAMMER--UF/IFAS ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALIST: If instead of using throw away packing for packing a lunch, we use a reusable container. If we did this, if a person did this for a year, it would be a $15 savings to that person, for using a reusable container. Now if we want to carry this into a larger scenario, and we talk about first graders, all the first graders in the State of Florida, if they were all to use a reusable container, instead of throwaways, in one year, this would amount to 150,000 gallons of gasoline or energy that would be saved from doing this one action.
>>>LOOK FOR PRODUCTS MADE FROM RECYCLED MATERIALS, OR PACKAGED IN RECYCLABLE CONTAINERS. MANY STORES ARE NOW OFFERING A VARIETY OF RECYCLED PRODUCTS AND CONSUMER SUPPORT FOR THESE GOODS IS IMPORTANT.
>>>HAMMER: We must buy some recycled products in order to keep the recycling programs going, because we're accumulating a lot of materials and we are producing a lot of materials, and unless someone buys those materials, we will not be able to keep that process going.
>>>SIXTY PERCENT OF ALL WOMEN WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME PART OR FULL TIME, ONE OF THE MAJOR FACTORS IN PREPARING MEALS IS CONVENIENCE. BUT OFTEN TIMES, PRODUCTS CREATED FOR CONVENIENCE ARE ACTUALLY CREATING THE MOST WASTE.
>>>HAMMER: ...Another throwaway, another throwaway,and finally to the product, and then the other pieces of packaging. So in every product that's produced, we're using energy, we're using raw materials. And when we throw the item away, we're consuming landfill space and ultimately causing pollution. So there are a lot of aspects to the decisions that we make in the market place, and the products that we buy.
>>>SWISHER: What we're trying to say here is not that there are right things and wrong things to do, or that you as a consumer should be totally aware of all the energy costs and everything else in your food purchases. What we are saying is think about the trade-offs. Think about the cost, the convenience, and the conservation issues involved and make your shopping decisions wisely, because you really are sending a message to the entire food production system about what they should produce for you to buy.
>>>CONSUMERS SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE THAT IN MOST CASES, PRODUCTS THAT USE THE MOST ENERGY BEING MADE, PRODUCE THE MOST WASTE, AND ARE OFTEN THE MOST EXPENSIVE. SO BUYING PRODUCTS WITH LESS PACKAGING SAVES ENERGY AND MONEY, WHILE HAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT. DRIVING TO AND FROM THE GROCERY STORE ALSO REQUIRES ENERGY. WHEN IMPACT RETURNS, WE'LL SEE HOW SOME MOTORISTS CAN STILL MAKE THAT TRIP AND LEAVE HIGH GASOLINE PRICES BEHIND THEM.
Produced by Linda Kubitz.
---(hitting golf ball)---
>>>ON THE GOLF COURSE, YOU CAN'T BE THE BATTERY OPERATED GOLF CART AS AN IDEAL WAY TO GET AROUND. IN THE FUTURE, THAT SAME TECHNOLOGY COULD GET YOU TO WORK AND BACK AS EASILY AS IT NOW TAKES YOU FROM THE FRONT TO THE BACK NINE.
>>>DAVID BRUDERLY-ELECTRIC CAR OWNER: Driving an electric car is just like an automobile, a gasoline vehicle. You get on the road and you start and you stop and you accelerate and you brake just like any other vehicle. It has good performance. It has a lot of pep. It has a lot of vigor but it's quiet. It's clean. When you drive an electric car, you can smell the car next to you. You become very sensitive to the fact that the car next to you or the car in front of you or the truck next to you or in front of you is putting out stuff that doesn't smell very good and doesn't taste very good. ---(It's a beautiful day today and I just like to drive this nice, quiet electric vehicle through this neighborhood and it doesn't distract anybody with the roaring engine noise or anything like that)---
>>>DAVID BRUDERLY OF GAINESVILLE IS LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY TODAY. MOST OF HIS DAILY TRIPS ARE LESS THAN 10 MILES. AS A RESULT, HE CHOOSES TO DRIVE AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY VEHICLE TO SAVE MONEY AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
>>>BRUDERLY: The electrical cost is about 3 cents a mile. We get what you call about 3 miles..3-4 miles per kilowatt hour. And a kilowatt hour of electricity costs you about 6-8 cents depending on where you live in the state. In this community, it works out to about 3 cents a mile. That's about one half to one third the cost of driving a gasoline vehicle in terms of energy costs. ---(O.K., here we're going to a look at the batteries that make this baby go. We've got 20 6-volt lead acid batteries in here and they've been in this vehicle for about a year and a half. We've got about 4-thousand miles on them.
>>>BRUDERLY: The other major cost of the electric vehicle that people...the nay sayers like to attack is the cost of the batteries. And the batteries are expensive. There's no doubt about that and they may or may not last as long as you would like them to depending on how you drive. However, the amortized cost of a battery pack over say a battery lasts 5 years, could be on the order of 300..200-300 dollars per year and if you drive you vehicle 6-7-10-thousand miles...you're getting down there to 10 cents a mile for your battery cost so you add it all up and you're looking at 10-13 cents a mile which is about the same cost you as would put into driving a gasoline vehicle.
>>>ONE THING THAT HAS HELD BACK THE SALES OF ELECTRIC CARS IS THE PRICE BUT EVEN THAT IS FINALLY CHANGING. BARRY MATHES OF OCALA SAYS ALTHOUGH THE COST OF SOME ELECTRIC CARS IS STILL HIGH, HIS CONVERSIONS ARE WITHIN THE REACH OF THE AVERAGE AMERICAN CONSUMER.
>>>BARRY MATHES-MATHES ELECTRIC MOTORCARS: Most electric cars ...the same thing. Who's going to buy an electric car if it's got to be sold for 70-80 thousand dollars which is true. But see, my theory is they're targeting the wrong area. They're targeting the upper class people who can afford to pay that kind of money for an electric car and buy it as a toy so they're still thinking of electric cars as toys. Well, I don't believe they're toys. They're more practical than the kind of toys that people who have a lot of money spend money on. The average person needs these cars so we're keeping our price structure so anybody can afford these can really use one.
>>>ENERGY EXPERTS WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES ARE TAKING A CLOSE LOOK AT THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY VEHICLES WHICH THEY SAY WILL BE MANDATED BY MANY STATES IN THE FUTURE.
>>>GARY COOK-BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SPECIALIST: If everybody used an electric vehicle like this, there would be no smog in California for one thing and air pollution would be greatly mitigated from what it is now. But unfortunately, we have a society built on gasoline engines. California has mandated that 2 % of all its vehicles sold in California must be zero emission vehicles which would be the type of electric car by 1998. By the year 2010, they're going to require 10% of all vehicles sold must be zero emission vehicles. Now what that means is a significant market for electric vehicles. General Motors, BMW, Fujo, a bunch of other automobile dealers are jumping on the bandwagon. They want to get a slice of the market because they see it coming in other states like New York and so forth.
>>>DESPITE THE NUMEROUS ADVANTAGES OF DRIVING AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE, THERE ARE SOME OBVIOUS DISADVANTAGES.
>>>BRUDERLY: This particular vehicle will go up to 70 miles an hour and it will go for about 60-80 miles on a charge. And if you operate the vehicle on a series of short trips and you take advantage of what we call opportunity charging where you have the opportunity every time you stop..you get some place and you can plug the vehicle in and do a fast recharge on the batteries, the effective daily range for the vehicle could be 100-120-150 miles.
>>>RIGHT NOW, ELECTRIC CARS AND TRUCKS ARE CLEARLY THE EXCEPTION RATHER THAN THE RULE, BUT AS STATES CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THEIR EMISSION STANDARDS...DON'T BE SURPRISED IF SOMEDAY THE VEHICLE DRIVING BEHIND YOU, DOESN'T MAKE SOUND AS IT PASSES YOU. THE NEXT STOP FOR THIS ELECTRIC CAR COULD BE THE GARAGE OF A SOLAR POWERED HOUSE.
Produced by Bill Kelsey.
>>>IT MAY NOT BE FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE LOTS OF AIR-CONDITIONING, WHO LIKE TO KEEP THINGS BRIGHT WITH LOTS OF HIGH WATTAGE INCANDESCENT LAMPS, AND WHO BELIEVE THAT EVERY ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE ON THE MARKETIS NEEDED TO RUN A HOME EFFECTIVELY. BUT RUNNING AN ENTIRE HOME ... AND LIVING COMFORTABLY...ON ENERGY PRODUCED BY THE SUN IS POSSIBLE. IFAS ENERGY EXTENSION SPECIALIST DR. GARY COOK SAYS ELECTRICITY FROM THE SUN IS A CLEAN SOURCE OF HOME ENERGY THAT CAN PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE TO BEING "ON THE GRID."
>>>DR. GARY COOK - UF ENERGY SPECIALIST FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION: You can see by, today for example, we're getting plenty of sunshine. Florida's blessed with a lot of sunshine. That's, I guess, why they call it the Sunshine State. And unfortunately, with high technology like this, we can't use it in every application we might want to use it or think we could use it. However, if you live far from the power lines--a practical, traditional method of getting electricity in your house--technology like this is getting less expensive and more practical.
>>>FOR UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PHYSICS PROFESSOR DR. LIZ SEIBERLING AND HUSBAND RANDY CULLOM, DESIGNING A HOME TO MAXIMIZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOLAR POWER RESULTED FROM WHAT THEY DESCRIBE AS A VISION TO LIVE WITH AS SMALL AN IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT AS POSSIBLE. AT THEIR "SOLAR HOUSE," WHICH IS AN ADAPTATION OF A CRACKER DESIGN HOME OUT OF FLORIDA'S FRONTIER DAYS, NO FOSSIL FUELS WILL BE BURNED AND CISTERNS WILL BE USED TO COLLECT RAINWATER FROM FROM THE METAL ROOF, FROM WHICH WATER WILL BE PIPED THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE, ELIMINATING THE NEED TO DRILL A WELL AND PUT ONE MORE DEMAND ON THE FLORIDA AQUIFER. IT'S ALL BEING BUILT ON A WOODED HOME SITE SOME 35 MILES EAST OF GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA THAT IS FAR REMOVED FROM ACCESS TO COMMERCIAL POWER, SO IN ADDITION TO A POWER COMPANY'S BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS, THERE WAS THE ACCESS CONSIDERATION.
>>>DR. LIZ SEIBERLING, UF PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS: In order to bring power lines in, the electric company would have had to mow down a 30-foot wide path of trees and it would have been, cost a few thousand dollars, you know, and while that doesn't sound like a lot of money, the idea of mowing down the big path of trees didn't sit very well with me. And underground cables would have been really expensive, so I started thinking about it because of those practical reasons.
>>>SEIBERLING SAYS THE ENTIRE HOUSE IS BEING BUILT TO BE AS ENERGY EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE, STILL, SHE SAYS, WHAT ARE FOR HER AND CULLOM THE IMPORTANT CREATURE COMFORTS, ARE BEING BUILT IN.
>>>SEIBERLING: When people ask me, you know, how it's powered; "Oh, you're off the grid, how do you power it?" my first answer is, it's powered by conservation becuase this house is designed to use 1/10th of the power that the house that we presently live in, which is kind of a conventional house, will use. So, right there, we've cut our power usage down to 1/10th of sort of a standard house. And then that 1/10th that's left is powered by photovoltaics and solar heaters and so on.
>>>BUT THERE'S NOTHING UNUSUAL ABOUT THE OUTLETS BEING INSTALLED OR THE TYPE OF ELECTRICITY THAT THEY WILL BE CONNECTED TO.
>>>CULLOM: It's the same type of wiring as in a conventional house. It's all AC. We might put a few DC outlets in; we're not sure yet. But for the most part, it's going to be the same type of wiring that you'd have in a conventional house. We do have to have the power box out in the front. And we do want to have it wired in the event that we do sell the house and the new owners want to hook up to the electrical grid. It will be all ready.
>>>IT IS THE SUN, SEIBERLING SAYS, THATWILL SERVE AS A DIRECT SOURCE OF COOKING ENERGY FOR AN OUTDOOR SOLAR OVEN, AND THAT THIS WILL BE AUGMENTED IN COOLER MONTHS BY THE BURNING OF WOOD IN AN INDOOR RANGE TYPE OF STOVE. FOR SUMMER MONTHS, SHE SAYS, MUCH OF THE COOLING WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE ELEVATION OF THE HOUSE; THAT THE AREA BELOW IT WILL PROVIDE A WELL-SHADED LIVING AREA, AND THAT, UP ABOVE, THE ROOFTOP CUPOLAS WILL PROVIDE A DRAFT EFFECT; A PLACE FOR WARM, NATURALLY RISING AIR TO EXIT, WHILE ALSO CATCHING BREEZES NOT EXPERIENCED AT GROUND LEVEL. ONE ROOM OF THE HOUSE IS BEING AIR CONDITIONED.
>>>SEIBERLING: We will have a very small air conditioner, and it's an air conditioner that I designed and am building, and it's based on some solid state chips called thermo-electric chips, and it will only have a cooling power of about 800 watts. So it will barely keep up with the heat generated by human bodies being inside the room.
>>>BUILDING, THEN LIVING IN THEIR SOLAR HOUSE IS BUT A STEPPING STONE FOR SEIBERLING AND CULLOM, WHO ALSO HAVE THOUGHTS OF THE SEA IN MIND, WHERE THEY HOPE ONE DAY TO LIVE IN A CLOSED SYSTEM.
>>>SEIBERLING: We ultimately want to try to outfit a sailboat in as autonomous a way as possible so that we can live aboard, for maybe up to a year without resupplying things like food.
>>>MEANWHILE, SOLAR HOUSE IS ON THE WEB, WHERE INFORMATION ABOUT IT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE ADDRESS SEEN ON YOUR SCREEN.
Produced by Erin Easterling.
>>>SOLAR POWERED HOMES IN THE SUNSHINE STATE ARE DEFINITELY BECOMING MORE AFFORDABLE, BUT TRYING TO SAVE ENERGY ON A LARGER SCALE MIGHT BE NOT BE AS EASY. HOTELS ARE A MAJOR COMPONENT IN FLORIDA'S TOURISM INDUSTRY THAT REQUIRE A LOT OF ENERGY TO FUNCTION AND GENERATE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF GARBAGE EACH YEAR. THAT'S WHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S ENERGY EXTENSION SERVICE HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE HOTEL INDUSTRY TO HELP THEM IN THEIR CONSERVATION EFFORTS.
>>>MARIE HAMMER-- UF/IFAS ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALIST: ...We did a research project down in Orlando where, we checked rooms to see how much waste was actually left, you know it was all the way from 1 pound to 28 pounds left in a room. So you know, there is a lot of waste that is generated in those facilities.
>>>ANOTHER PROJECT WAS A PILOT RECYCLING PROGRAM INVOLVING 6 MAJOR HOTELS IN THE ORLANDO AREA, INCLUDING THE TWIN TOWERS.
>>>JACK HARDIN, MANAGER-TWIN TOWERS: We started our recycling program in the fall of 1990, and since that period of time we averaged on an annual basis, 90 tons a year that we've kept out of the landfill that's gone through the recycling program. The main thing that we realized at the time, was if we're going to push it out the back door and try to get it recycled, you have to be able to buy it at the front door so there has to be a market for it, so that's when we got into the whole issue of eco-purchasing.
>>>HAMMER: Eco-purchasing is actually source reduction and source reduction was established by EPA as one of the 4 alternatives for the management of waste and source reduction is actually the first one, and then there's recycling and land filling and combustion of waste. And so source reduction means trying to reduce the waste that we produce, the manufacturer, the people who transport our goods, and the consumer, through the decisions that they make.
>>>WHEN THE TWIN TOWERS DECIDED TO MAKE A COMMITMENT TO BUY PRODUCTS WITH ECO-PURCHASING IN MIND, THEY HAD TO TAKE A SERIOUS LOOK AT WHAT THEY WERE ALREADY BUYING AND NOT JUST WHAT THEY COULD RECYCLE.
>>>KAREN BROWN--TWIN TOWERS-- PURCHASING: What you bring into the hotel, as far as your packaging, the bottles that they come in, and everything like that should be looked at, and those are the manufacturers, people who distribute to the hotel and so I got involved, I started a letter to the vendors, you know, explaining to them that we were doing the right thing as far as the ecology and I was looking at the packaging and how they would bring the product to me, and that's actually how it started.
>>>SOME OF THE ITEMS LOOKED INTO WERE PRODUCTS MADE FROM RECYCLED PAPER, LIKE TOILET AND FACIAL TISSUE AND PRINTED PAPER...FINDING THEM WAS THE HARD PART.
>>>BROWN: They had recycled paper, but the interest wasn't that great. I think it was part of the portfolio. ïWe have it' The interest wasn't there except for a small minorities, groups that look for it. And so I that's what I'm interested in, and that's what I want, and the number of times I said that's what I want, that's what I want to use. That's what I want to look at, that's when they began thinking well this is a large property and I do buy a large volume of paper from our letterhead to our envelopes.
>>>MARSHA SUTHERLAND-- HORIZON COLOR GRAPHICS: When the hotel decided recycling was an important thing for them, Karen asked me to become involved with her as far as the printing materials that we provide for them, letterhead, envelopes, brochures, menus, pocket folders all different types that the hotel uses so we began to search for a paper that was recycled that would give her the same quality and the same look as the non-recycled stock, and we we're able to locate that and now produce the things for her on recycled paper.
>>>A WIDE VARIETY OF RECYCLED PAPER PRODUCTS CAN BE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE HOTEL AND ESPECIALLY IN THE GUEST ROOMS. MANY GUESTS SAY THAT'S AN ADDED BONUS.
>>>PAT HOLZ - FLORIDA VISITOR: I think I would think of it if I had to choose between places. If the cost wasn't real outstanding I think I would choose a place that recycles, just because I think it's important for Americans to do that.
>>>ECO-PURCHASING IS MORE THAN JUST RECYCLING, IT'S A MANAGEMENT PHILOPOSPHY THAT MUST BE CONSIDERED EVERYDAY.
>>>HARDIN: 90 tons a year, that's quite a pile for one property and we hope the other hotels can do the same. I'm sure they will.
>>>EVERY YEAR, FLORIDA'S HOTEL INDUSTRY HANDLES A TEMPORARILY POPULATION OF ALMOST THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF THE STATE, SO ANY WASTE REDUCTION EFFORT CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE. BY IMPROVING CONSERVATION EFFORTS THROUGH THE SHOPPING DECISIONS WE MAKE, THE TYPES OF VEHICLES WE DRIVE, AND AMOUNT OF ENERGY USED IN THE PLACES WE LIVE, FLORIDA GROWING POPULATION WILL HAVE MORE NATURAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THEM IN THE FUTURE.
>>> IMPACT, A WEEKLY LOOK AT ISSUES AND ANSWERS THAT IMPACT OUR LIVES AND THE WORLD AROUND US. IT'S PRODUCED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES.
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