My “Free Style” Blog :)

Good morning everyone 🙂

I am a morning person and going to school at night was at first Very challenging for me, but as I got to know all my wonderful classmates and teachers more intimately I looked forward to going to class and interacting with them no matter what time of day it is :).

I thank you all for being on this journey with me and hope that you continue to blog and that we all find our perfect careers that we are passionate about! We can all make a difference and I will always cherish this time we have spent together.

Thanks for everything thus far!

Gwen Stone

Jobs I May Pursue In The Green Industry

Good Morning All 🙂

After taking my first two courses at IVC in resource Management and Zero Waste I am not sure which direction I will go with this knowledge.

We have successfully run a “social marketing” campaign on the IVC Campus and have helped to get all signatures needed to apply for a grant to get a recycling program started on the campus early next year!!

I enjoyed doing the campaign as I got to work outside and with people, which are two of my favorite things.

I would really like to do something that pertains to rivers or wilderness areas, so I will keep my options open and see what the next 8 week courses have to offer.

Thanks for reading,

Gwen Stone

What I Personally Learned From The First 7 Weeks of Class

Hello Everyone 🙂

It’s already the end of the 7th week of my zero waste/sustainability class and I have really learned a lot.

I will list the top 10 things that I have learned:

1. I learned how to blog 🙂

2. I learned the value of networking

3. I learned the difference between a “dirty: MRF and a “clean” MRF

4. I learned how to do a recycle audit on a business or facility

5. I learned how to research green companies and find jobs in the green industry

6. I learned about various laws and legislation pertaining to “green” issues

7. I have learned about the 12 categories of recyclables

8. I learned what zero waste means

9. I learned I am a sapphire in the “Dani Johnson” Gems

10. I learned to “Trust but Verify”

I also read 2 wonderful books Dale Carnegie’s book “How to win friends and Influence People” and “From Green to Gold”

Green to Gold

Spreading-Sustainability-From-the-Fortune-500-to-the-Next-5000Green to Gold playbook

The Principles of “How to Win Friends and Influence People”

 Hi Everyone 🙂

I have listed below the “principles” from the book by Dale Carnegie “How to win friends and influence people 🙂

So very important and tried, true,  and simple!! Enjoy 🙂

PRINCIPLES FROM “HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE.”

 “How to win Friends and Influence people”, and “How to stop worrying and start living.”

 

BECOME A FRIENDLIER PERSON

 

 

1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. 2. Give honest, sincere appreciation. 3. Arouse in the other person an eager want. 4. Become genuinely interested in other people. 5. Smile. 6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the most important sound in any language. 7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. 8. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. 9. Make the other person feel important – and do so sincerely. 10 The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

 

 

WIN PEOPLE TO YOUR WAY OF THINKING

 

 

11. Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.” 12. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically. 13. Begin in a friendly way. 14. Get the other person saying, “Yes, yes” immediately. 15. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking. 16. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers. 17. Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view. 18. Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires. 19. Appeal to the nobler motives. 20. Dramatize your ideas.

 

 

BE A LEADER

 

 

21. Throw down a challenge. 22. Begin with praise and honest appreciation. 23. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly. 24. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person. 25. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders. 26. Let the other person save face. 27. Praise the slightest and every improvement. Be “lavish in your praise.” 28. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to. 29. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct. 30. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

 

Green to gold, ecodesign

Hello everyone 🙂

In reading Green to Gold this week I was intrigued by the description of “ecodesign”. In short, it means “the item was developed in a way that reduces environmental impacts for someone somewhere in it’s life cycle journey from supplier to product to end-of-life disposal”.
In implementing “ecodesign” companies have learned that they need to follow these rules to be successful:
1. Meet a need that actually exists.
2. Don’t ignore other needs of the customer.
3. Pay attention to your own costs.

The bottom line is still price, quality and performance.

Thanks for reading my blog,
Gwen

Green Campuses

Hello 🙂

This week in one of our classes at IVC we are working on getting a Recycle Program started. It is quite exciting to think that we could actually get something in place before our program is finished this winter.

We would like to have a program as involved in zero waste and sustainability as Orange Coast College has in place, but must take “baby steps” to get there!

Some of the barriers we are facing for our project are:

1.We have No Bins 2. We have No Plan (as of yet) 3. Our Administration is not on board

Our class believes there are significant Benefits to starting this plan and they are:

1. Revenue  2. Fostering Sustainable Behavior  3. Less cost for Waste Disposal  4. Good for the environment.

I’ve attached a few links to OCC’s programs that they have in place and would appreciate Any feedback on how to move closer to this goal of getting IVC to becoming a much “Greener” school.

Thanks Gwen

 

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  If Not Zero Waste, Then How Much?

  www.aviewfromtheedge.net/…/if-not-zero–waste-then-how-much/ – Cached

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  Feb 17, 2011 – If Not Zero Waste, Then How Much? … The first thing I plan to do is start separating my recycling. … So I found a recycling center (the one at Orange Coast College here in Costa Mesa) and, starting this week, we’re sorting our …

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  Orange Coast College – Gallery

• www.orangecoastcollege.edu › … › Facilities › Recycling Center – Cached

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  Campus Mulch Program. OCC Recycling Center. OCC Art Center Display. Zero Waste Picnic. Compostable Diningware … OCC Mulch Program. On-Campus Recycling …

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  Orange Coast College – Full Story

  www.orangecoastcollege.edu › About OCC › News – Cached

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  Aug 28, 2008 – To help celebrate OCC’s “zero waste” efforts, the …

Green to Gold continued

This week in the book “Green to Gold” I am touched by the fact that some executives are shy about profiting from doing the right thing as far as the environment goes. Is our society so used to undermining and backstabbing that to get kudos for doing something good is foriegn? I hope not! I choose to think that as more companies step up their environmental programs and get closer to zero waste it will become a competition amongst companies to be the “greenest” of them all.

Thanks for reading

Gwen

We live on such a precious planet

Our beautiful desert

Water is life

Pacific Ocean

Everywhere you look should be this beautiful! Lets all work together to keep our planet pristine!

All of these photos were taken right here in S California. When was the last time you took a day to explore our beautiful home? Turn off your TV for a week and see how many wonderful adventures you can discover in your own backyard.

Thanks Gwenny

Who bought Toms of Maine?

As a 18 year old teenager, newly out on my own, I started dating a man who lived on a 40 acre commune in rural Southern Oregon. He had a beautiful solar cabin and grew a huge organic garden. I was very impressionable and took to this lifestyle quite quickly.
This was in the Early 80’s and my life has changed so much since that time. I am still a vegetarian, but I no longer live In a rural community, nor do I grow my own food 😦 I do however buy natural products and “Toms of Maine” is one of the products that has been in every household I have occupied since the age of 18 ( there have been several).
I learned in reading Green to Gold that Toms of Maine was bought by Colgate in 2008 for $100 Million dollars! Wow! I bet the “hippies” that started that company all those years ago are amazed what happened just by following a dream! I hope Colgate treats the company with as much pride as the people who started it did.
What a great success story!!
Gwen