"America Recycles Day" is this Thursday, November 15, nationwide.

 "Ladies' Night Out" is also on Nov. 15 from 5-9 p.m. when twenty participating Concord NH downtown businesses including RGG will have refreshments, product demos, or special offers. See local advertisements for the listing.

"Green Friday" - Join us for our first "Green Friday" for holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving in a relaxing atmosphere with warm refreshments and tasty treats, our alternative to the more conventional "Black Friday". Check out www.greenconcord.org for a list of all the green retailers. Each participating store will have their own raffle. We encourage you to check them all out.

 
"MidnightMerriment" is on Friday December 7th when Downtown Merchants stay open from 5 p.m. until midnight. (Really!) Enjoy Downtown Concord at its festive best.

  
The Events page of our
website lists local and
national green events.

Locally made wooden laundry drying racks now complement our Swiss-made aluminum drying racks. Several sizes and styles of both types are available in our expanding laundry section.

RGG has made-in-Vermont natural wooden toys for babies and all ages.

And, there's a new green group in town: Green Concord Organization is a non-profit business trade association that hopes to bring together like minded businesses, plan events, promote environmental initiatives, and attract green shoppers from all over New England. 

The December issue of "The Atlantic" contains an article, "Scents and Sensibility", by Sarah Chayes, founder of the Arghand Cooperative. A store copy will be on display with the soaps. We are continually selling out and re-ordering these exquisite soaps on our online website. When you visit our store, be sure to see these lovely handmade soaps from Afghanistan, each one containing cold-pressed essential oils hand-molded to resemble a polished river stone. Sarah Chayes is also author of the book, "The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban".

    America Recycles Day is this Thursday, November 15th. Three essential parts make the recycling process work:

1-Don't send recyclables to the landfill

2-Use recycled materials instead of virgin raw materials

3-Close the loop by buying products with recycled content

www.americarecyclesday.org is the place to read more about how all of this works, the Do's and Don'ts of recycling, and more.

   Co-op America lists "21 Things You Didn't Know You Could Recycle", including used tennis shoes, foam packing peanuts, eyeglasses, and oil! We will have the complete list with the contact information at our store, or you can go to 21 Things

    Recycling actually saves energy. Making a product from recycled aluminum uses 95% less energy over manufacturing the virgin product. With regard to stainless steel, 80% less energy is used over manufacturing the virgin product. And for glass, the amount is 50% less energy consumed.

    Other materials do not fare so well with regard to recycling and are "downcycled" instead. You may be astonished to learn that even though all kinds of materials are put into the recycle bins, a lot of it is "downcycled" into a lesser kind of product. Only aluminum, steel, and glass are actually recycled back into cans, bottles, cookware and more.

    The other trash - which includes office paper, newsprint, plastics and plastic bags - is then downcycled for one or more "cycles". Although it may be turned into "fleece" or corrugated cardboard for a while, it still eventually goes to the landfill or incinerator. Plastics #3-7 are rarely recycled or downcycled at all, even if accepted into a recycling program. Instead, these plastics go to the landfill or are incinerated. Most often plastic bags are shipped overseas where they meet this same fate.    

    These are good reasons for buying reusable shopping bags and stainless steel water bottles. And if you are desperate for a drink, buying cans instead of plastic is better because of their ability to be recycled.

    Below are some astonishing facts and surreal images that Seattle artist, Chris Jordan, has managed to visually create that allow us try to begin to grasp our individual and collective impacts to the environment.  In his own words he states, "My underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming."  Through digital imaging, he depicts WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE to see, for example:

-106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.

-15 million sheets of office paper, the amount used in the US every five minutes.

-2 million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

-60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds.

-1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.

-426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day.

-8 million trees, the number of trees harvested in the US every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs

- 11,000 jet trails, the number of commercial flights in the US every eight hours.

Click this link Chris Jordan to view these thought- provoking images. These are very large images that may take a few moments to load.           

    On America Recycles Day, Nov. 15th, please pause for a moment to look around at our beautiful surroundings and cherish the limited landscape. Know that your efforts in recycling will absolutely impact our environment for generations to come. Allow us to re-phrase a well known slogan: "Just Recycle It".

    With winter weather upon us, we would also like to focus attention on energy consumption as it applies to our laundry needs. Water heating comprises 25% of your annual home energy bill, and 25% of that is used for laundry. Clothes that are washed in cold water and hung to dry not only prolong the life of that garment, but will also save you up to 25% of your annual energy costs. We now have a large inventory of both aluminum and wooden drying racks to help reduce energy expenditure at home and therefore in the broader picture.

    "The Pot Watcher" is as simple as it gets while saving energy. Place this glass disk on the bottom of your water-filled pot and starting heating. When the water comes to a simmer the disk starts to clatter, alerting you that the water is ready. Great for those who forget the water is on and boiling away.

Special Note - Bracelets and necklaces made from hand-made paper beads by local Congolese refugee women are for sale at RGG and other local businesses. You may read more about our new neighbors in the article written in the Concord Monitor and the story behind the women refugees and their plight.

Article Link

Thank you for reading and for caring about the environment. And, as we say at Real Green Goods.Have a Green Day!™ 

Sincerely,
All of us from Real Green Goods