This Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30pm people around the world will be turning off their lights for an hour to demonstrate concern about climate change. This event is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund. For those of us here in Vegas, we'll get to see the Strip marquee lighting turned off. It's so cool that the hotel casinos have signed on to be a part of this!

So while this is an important environmental event, there's also a lot of opportunity for fun! I'm torn between going to the Springs Preserve or having friends over for a candlelit barbeque. The barbeque would be easy, but the Springs Preserve has a view of the Strip and also has a yummy cafe. They are hosting a viewing party that evening, which will be lit by LED candles.

You can get more information about Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org. Las Vegas is a flagship city and has its own Earth Hour page at www.earthhourlv.org. The Vegas page has links to a variety of events going on at this time around town. Definitely worth checking out! How easy to support the environment here, just turn out your lights!

Note: The focus of this event is not the energy saved during the hour. It's simply a demonstration of concern. Also, they are asking for non-essential lighting to be turned off, so streetlights and casino lighting will still be on.

Zappos is awesome enough to provide us with free soup, salad and sandwiches every day, to which we are truly grateful!!

But, I must admit, sometimes we all get the urge to change it up and head to the nearest fast food joint.

But if your thinking of the environment, it is best to Home cook, Home Girl! (or Homeboy :) )

With fresh food, very little or no processing is involved. This minimizes the energy used to get it to your plate and reduces the cost to the environment.

In the US, it is estimated that as much as 30% of food gets wasted, adding up to 48.2 million pounds of food.

So next time you want to change it up, try home cooking and bringing your lunch to work.....and bring some for me, too!

STAY GREEN, YO!!

I'm sure you all have your friends that are Anti-Coffee, and Im sure they are always telling you that coffee is not good for you. You know those rumors you hear that it stunts your growth, etc, etc... Well, next time you get into a tiff about your cup of Joe, tell your friend to hit the road, Jack!

A study from the University of Madrid found that coffee does not lead to a early death, even drinking 6 cups a day!

The study found that patients experienced lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses because of the antioxidants that coffee contains.

So now you know that drinking coffee can be a good thing, here is how to Green your Coffee:

Select Organic: Its a little more pricey but organic coffee beans eliminate your exposure to hazardous pesticides

Look for Shade Grown Beans: Coffee is a shade loving plant and provides homes to many important birds who are not threatened.

Look for Fair Trade Certification: When you buy coffee that is fair-trade certified, you are insuring that the farmers who grew the beans are paid fair price and giving them assistance to transition to organic growing.

And of course bring your own mug to work :) STAY GREEN YO!

Want to save up to 16,000 gallons of water a year but dont know how???

There is something sooooo simple and easy to do to help you save water at home that a cave man could do it? Ooh.. wait they didn't have toilets back then!!

Ok, so if you own a 1-liter plastic bottle, then you are GOOD TO GO!

Green Tip: Put a plastic water bottle in your toilet

By filling up your water bottle and placing it inside your toilet's water tank, you will use one liter less when you flush, and for a family of 4 that's 16,000 gallons a year!!!

According to the EPA, the average American home uses more water flushing the toilet than running the shower.

BE WATER SMART! AND STAY GREEN YO!

She recycled it OF COURSE!!!!! :D

And so we all can live happily ever after like Cinderella we should do the same with all our glass products.

Green Tip of the Day: Recycle your glass products

Glass is a good item to recycle because there are so many different types of glass to choose from before it can no longer be recycled.

Make sure you separate different colored glass and don't include metal bottle tops or corks that can contaminate the process.

KEEP IT GLASSY!!!... AND STAY GREEN YO!!

Hey My Go-Greeners! Today I must say I was very sad, and maybe a little furious when going into the lunchroom to rinse my mug out this morning.

Did you know that we as Zapponians are not taking being wasteful seriously? Sometimes I see employees take as many as Five styrofoam bowls in a sitting for their lunch break. There are so many ways that we as Zapponians can do our part to help Zappos as a company and the environment just by paying a little more attention to the waste we produce.

For example, if we brought in our own utensils such as bowls, forks, plates, mugs, etc., we would cut down dramatically on the wastes we produce as a company.

If one employee used 3 bowls a day (one for breakfast, maybe soup for lunch, and salad bowl for a snack) that would add up to 1095 bowls a year. If one employee used 2 styrofoam cups a day for coffee, that adds up to 730 cups a year.

Lets say 20 employees followed this trend of using 3 styrofoam bowls a day and 2 Styrofoam cups a day that would add up to 36,500 styrofoam utensils for the year. (and Zappos has over 300 employees)

So the Green Tip today is for employees, both a part and not a part of Zappos, to bring in their own reusable utensils, bowls and plates. Now if that's not going to happen, than at least try to use the same utensils and plates, etc. throughout your day, that way you're cutting back from 5 to 1 a day.

STAY GREEN, YO!!!

Sooo.... Today I carpooled!! And honestly, it felt goooooood. Carpooling is something that I think we take for granted. Facts show that carpooling cuts down on carbon emissions, even by choosing to carpool once a week!

1 car = half the gas

OFFICE CARPOOL ANYONE??

GREEN TIP: SAVE GAS AND MONEY

Did you know that by keeping up with car maintenance can save you both gas and money? ...... YES WAY! According to Green Hacks, you can lose 1/2 mpg if your tires are not at their maximum pressure and keeping your oil changed when needed can give you 20 more mpg!

That's definitely going GREEN! STAY GREEN YO!!!!

Have you heard the craze going on about bringing your own bags (preferably canvas) to the grocery store to stop plastic bag waste? Well, let me break down the importance of B.Y.O.B (BRING YOUR OWN BAG!)

Green Tip: BAG THE BAGS

Plastic bags start as petrochemicals, which are transformed into polymers and are, in turn heated, shaped, cooled, flattened, sealed, punched, and printed on, all of which require energy (1001 Little Ways to Save the Planet)

Still, only 0.6% of plastic bags are recycled, with the USA alone throwing away 100 billion bags a year!

So before you consider "Paper or Plastic", try to bring your own canvas bag which now you can get anywhere for $1!

If you still cant pick up that trend, try recycling or reusing your plastic bags.

When it comes to the planet you have it in the BAG, STAY GREEN YO!

I'm in the market for a new cell phone and cell phone provider, but when I'm ready to throw my current phone away (which is hanging on by a very small wire) I remember that cell phones are better recycled!

Green Tip of the Day : Phone New Home

Over 500 Million cellphones are in landfill site across the planet now, with this year estimating at 125 million!

So this season, if you want to reach out and touch the Earth, donate your phone to charity or recycle it with a phone recycling program.

If you visit http://www.eiae.org/ you can find any electronics recycling center in your area from cellphones to Televisions!

Happy Holidays, Stay Green Yo!

Have you ever had a Acai bowl? Its this Harmonious mixture of Acai berries, granola, bananas and its addicting!!!

I love berries, but it really never occurred to me that all berries have seasons, and though it may seem they are available year round, truth be told it takes alot of energy to keep us eating blueberry pie for the holidays

GREEN TIP OF THE DAY

Buy Seasonal Produce
Next time you reach for the strawberries in the middle of winter, think about whether you really need them.

Keeping food available all year round leads to massive travel costs and pollution.

Buy foods seasonal to your local climate. Summer is Berry season and the best time for : Gooseberries, cloudberries, strawberries, blue berries, black currants, red currants, and raspberries.

Till Next time, Stay Green YO!

Harris Interactive polled 1,569 office workers across the US and Canada and found interesting pet peeves amoung the employees. Pet Peeves were:

Mindless printing (40%),Lack of recycling bins (33%),Co-workers not recycling (27%) Leaving lights on (37%), Excessive air conditioning in summer and heat in winter (29%) Co-workers not printing double-sided when they can (24%)

And that leads me to today's

GREEN TIP OF THE DAY #3

PRINT IN DRAFT MODE AND DOUBLE SIDED

Printing in draft mode, prints lighter than on the regular setting. It saves ink and is still readable.

When you need to print mulitple pages switch to the double sided option to conserve paper.

And always consider the environment when printing an email.

Green never felt sweeter :) STAY GREEN, YO!

HAPPY TUESDAY!!

Soo I stopped to get gas this morning, and as I'm standing at the pump the tv advertisement attached to the pump keeps repeating " Wash your car, go green, give the earth a hand, let us wash your car". The advertisement got a little annoying after a while but the truth is, they are right. Letting a gas station wash my car would be much better for the environment, plus it lead me to my next green tip of the day :)

GREEN TIP OF THE DAY #2

Let The Experts Wash Your Car

According to the trade group International Carwash Association, washing your car all by your lonesome can consume between 80 and 140 gallons of water compared to the 45 gallons per car a commercial car wash will use.

So when its time to get those bugs off the hood, go with the pros!

And if your budget cant afford the experts, try a 2 gallon car wash.

Till Next time... Stay Green ,Yo!

Ok, so what's the deal with everyone going green, right? Now-a-days, you can't walk into a store and buy a product without seeing "organic" this or "eco-friendly" that....and what is "going green" anyway?

At Zappos, we want to do our part to clean this world up a little at a time, and it really comes down to the individual that the actions that you take.

So, I will be giving you some Eco-Friendly advice every couple days on the Zappos blogs to let you know small little ways that you can help the environment. I want to make your transition to the "Eco-friendly New You", as Cheap and Painless as possible!

GREEN TIP FOR THE DAY #1

BRING YOUR MUG TO WORK - The list goes on about the benefits of doing this, plus why have those stainless still mugs that keep your coffee hot if you're not going to use them? Styrofoam is not recyclable, so even if you wanted to you can't. Do the Earth a favor and use that Mug!!

See you next time, and stay Green, yo!

It's not just a color, it's a movement that's hitting Zappos by storm. Zappos is taking the right step in the green direction by handing out Blue, reusable water bottles out to all employees and will no longer carry disposable water bottles in our offices. From here on out, Zapponians will quench their thirst by filling up their water bottles at the several coolers posted around our Headquarters.

Way to demonstrate corporate responsibility Zappos.com. Hopefully more corporate companies will follow in our shoe prints.

FAQs about Bottled water and its effects on the planet and you:

Q. Is Bottle water safer or healthier than Tap Water?
A. Federal regulations are nearly identical to tap water, resulting in equally safe water from the tap or from the bottle. "In fact, roughly 40 percent of bottled water begins as tap water; often the only difference is added minerals that have no marked health benefit". -http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update51.htm

Q. How many gallons of oil go into the manufacturing of Bottled Water?
A. The production of the 28 billion bottles of water Americans buy each year uses 1.1 million barrels of oil and releases one billion pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

Q. Where do my bottles go once I am finished?
A. Of the billions of water bottles Americans buy each year, 80 percent end up in landfills or incinerators, even after getting recycled. Those bottles could take anywhere between 400 and 1,000 years to degrade, the EPI estimates. - insidethebottle.org/us-real-cost-bottled-water

Q. Where should I get my water?
A. Zappos will provide all employees with a reusable water bottle that you can fill up at any of the Sparkletts coolers.

Q. By reusing a bottle, how many bottles are kept out of landfills?
A. By choosing to refill a reusable cup with water from a cooler, you are saving 1900 bottles from ending up in landfills. Each jug (equivalent to 38 bottles of water) is reused 50 times, (Once the Jugs have "retired" from Offices and homes, they are recycled into things like speed bumps, park benches, and other municipal uses.) - sparkletts.com

Q. Are any other companies not using bottled water?
A. Locally, the Levi's distribution Center has completely banned the use of Disposable Bottled Water in their facilities. Cities such as San Francisco and Ann Arbor, Mich., have already acted on the problem by banning bottled water in city buildings. - insidethebottle.org/us-real-cost-bottled-water