"Week of Green" - Green Irene

This morning a special guest, Rick Lethbridge our local Green Irene Eco-Consultant, joined us at our office meeting. A great supplement to our week of green!

He spoke with us about simple ways to green your office/home, from turning off the lights (didn’t our parents tell us that?) to products used to conserve water, recycling and cleaning.

The Green Irene company works in helping those who would like to learn more, and do their part to green their lives. Their flagship product is their Green Home/Office Makeovers, in which they do a 60-90 minute walk-through of your home/office and “recommend ways to reduce household bills while creating a healthier home for your family.”

“Greening our world, one home and office at a time.” Green Irene's motto.

A Few Tips on Conserving Energy:

-Use a low power energy setting on your computer
-unplug items not in use (vampire power)
-turn down your water heater from 140 to 120 degrees
-consider a tankless water heater option
-cover your pool or hot tub
-clean the coils on your fridge so the compressor doesn't work so hard
-run your dishwasher and laundry when full
-use energy efficient lighting

Some of these many of us already do, and they are just a few simple ways to conserve energy. Recycling/waste reduction, indoor air quality, water conservation, and toxic-free living were also topics covered during the presentation. All very interesting with simple solutions to help reduce and conserve.
For more information on these topics visit their website www.greenirene.com.

To get in touch with our local Ketchum, Idaho Eco-Consultant, Rick Lethbridge, view his webpage:
www.GreenIrene.com/RickKetchum

Here is a link to their catalog, filled with very cool eco products!

http://www.greenirene.com/catalog.aspx

A couple photos from the meeting this morning, thank you Sunni!

A "Week of Green" in Sun Valley

Green Week Blog #1: Recycling

Let’s be realistic. Recycling is EASY.

I hate to admit it, but I haven’t recycled for that long (I, being the Marketing Director at the Sun Valley Sotheby's International Realty office)… cringe… although once I did get it going, it is now second nature. Everything accepted into our bins, in the Sun Valley/Ketchum area, goes into my designated “recycle bin,” aka, the extra garbage can in the garage. The dogs are too interested in it to leave it inside.

It is then sorted on Tuesday (my trash day is Wednesday) in the Blue Bin supplied by our trash removal service, Clear Creek Disposal, for no additional cost if you have residential trash pick up. Additional stackable bins, to make sorting easier, can be purchased for $10.60 (for a 12 gallon bin). Not too bad and yours to keep!

So, now the question: What can I recycle?

To be recycled:

Glass

Tin/Aluminum

Magazines

Newspaper

#1 & #2 plastic bottles (they are labeled somewhere on the bottle, usually the bottom)

Mixed Paper (this includes junk mail, all office paper, envelopes, file folders, cereal boxes, etc.)

Not to be recycled:

Plastic containers that have #1 or #2, but do not have a threaded neck

Aluminum (tin) foil

Pizza boxes and bags that may or may not have food contaminates

Cardboard milk or juice cartons

Pesticide containers

Chemical cans

Paper such as carbon paper, golden rod, deep tone fluorescent dyed paper, medical files, chip board, dark kraft envelopes, and paper items that are glued together.

As for corrugated cardboard, you cannot leave it with your recycling, but there is a community drop off container for Ketchum located at LDS Church on Sun Valley Road. In Sun Valley there is a drop off location at the Fire Station and at City Hall; Hailey’s drop off is at the corner of Bullion and River Street. All other locations can have a special cardboard pick up; call Clear Creek Disposal 208.726.9600 to set it up.

And for those in the office who have not noticed our Recycle Bins by the back door, we DO have them. Five of them to be exact: Mixed Paper, Newspaper, Plastic, Aluminum, and Magazines... Help us out to do our part as an office!

For more information on recycling services in our area, visit http://www.ccdisposal.com/

As for questions, comments and corrections, please leave them. I am interested to know your creative ways to recycle as well!

How to organize your recycle bin:

33rd Annual USCSA National Skiing and Snowboarding Championships

This week in Sun Valley, the Collegiate National Skiing and Snowboarding Championships have proven to be a great spectator sport! With events in Alpine, Nordic and Snowboarding, there is something for everyone.

If you missed the happenings over the last couple of days, don't fret, there is plenty more to come. With 450 athletes making up the Championship field, the competition is sure to be fierce. Some of the colleges represented are Brown, Stanford, U of O, Ohio State, and Duke, just to name a few.

Here is a video from Day 1 of the Championships:
http://www.youtube.com/sunvalleyresort#p/u/0/D33tR5WW_Kc

On the schedule for tomorrow are Men's Alpine GS on Greyhawk, with Boarder-X and Skier-X on Dollar Mtn. You won't want to miss it!

Check out the entire schedule of events:
http://www.sunvalley.com/assets/files/misc/USCSA_Sun_Valley_2011.pdf

Make sure you get out there and support.... What great energy it has brought to us all in Sun Valley!

A few photos courtesy of alpinfoto, from the Mens Dual Slalom demo at the Opening Ceremonies on Dollar Mountain.

Creating a Vision for Vibrant, Sustainable Future

Join the Conversation!

A Community Cafe.

What will Ketchum, or the broader community for that matter, look like in 2026? That’s what 64 stakeholders, gathered into 8 groups, over the course of 2.5 days attempted to describe.

Fundamental to creating a consensus among the 64 was unanimous agreement on 9 statements of Common Ground… Sustainable Energy, Life Long Learning, Transportation, Governmental Cooperation, Technological Infrastructure, Culture-Nature-Wellness, Local Food, Vitality and Diversity.

How did this happen? A Planning Team of 20 volunteers with a broad range of connections through out the community invited the 64 participants to the Future Search event in late January, based on the following criteria:

 Who has AUTHORITY or RESOURCES to Create and Promote the Vision? (can either advance or block objectives)

..

 Who has EXPERTISE, KNOWLEDGE OR PERSPECTIVE about creating a Vibrant and Sustainable Community?

..

 Who could be MOST AFFECTED by the Outcome?

..

 Who has a genuine level of INTEREST creating vibrant and sustainable community?

..

The focus was on people not organizations. It was important to include a broad, balanced cross section of the community, considering Gender / Age / Work Experience / Time in Valley, and to include the Usual Suspects and the not-so Usual ones.

Now is the time to engage the broader community in the Discussion. There will be NO LECTURES or PRESENTATIONS, just the opportunity to learn more and participate if and where interested.

So much has happened since the Future Search:  many action groups have formed and many connections are being made so to move forward. Please come to the event, share your experience, and find out what the Future Search has stimulated.

It’s important to invite the largest number of interested people as possible. Many hands make light work, and it can be a whole lot of fun too!

Check out the video:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=10150429871635437&comments
Join us at the Jones Building, 4th and Main Street, Ketchum (Above Burger Grille), Thursday March 3, from 3:30pm-7:30pm!

Thank you to Pam Colesworthy for contributing to our office blog!
Check back soon for new and interesting news in the community and our office.

Higher Ground: Healing America's Wounded Veterans in Sun Valley

"Today I found out that what I thought would be a physical barrier, never was a barrier. I didn't find stress. I found release. I found a side of me that was always there but I was never brave enough to look at it."

-Adam Rollins, U.S. Army

Sun Valley Adaptive Sports makes the above a reality.

Their mission: enriching the lives of people with disabilities through sports and recreation.

One of the agents in our office, Bill Norris, is closely associated with this program, and wrote a short piece about his experiences.

"As a former Officer LT JG serving on the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown during the late 50s in southeast Asia, I have always had a heart for the separation of service members and their families, wives and significant others. I was asked to help 5 years ago as a driver for Sun Valley Adaptive Sports during one of our wounded service member programs. I met a young woman in the front passenger seat with me, she was way too young to have a double amputee son wounded in Iraq in the back seat of my car. His artificial legs were in the trunk and he was yahooing in the back seat, ecstatic with joy to have snowboarded down River Run  on our adaptive snowboarding equipment. His 30 something year old mother was his “significant other” and she was equally as ecstatic to see him doing something so amazingly important to his physical and mental recovery with his complicated wounds. Next thing I knew I was serving on the Board of Directors of the organization and personally hosting one of the annual Higher Ground summer watersports camps at our Pettit Lake Cabin with very much “hands on” participation with these incredible brave young men (and their equally brave wives/caretakers ), as they reintegrate into American life with their disabilities and new unexpected challenges. We are now nationally recognized as one of the most sought after campuses in the country for wounded servicemen and their wives/significant others. Typically serving 6 couples at a time, so as to provide intimate physical and mental therapy utilizing adaptive winter and summer sports, including flyfishing, to challenge these men and women to strive once again.
I have so many personal stories I wouldn't know where to start so encourage anyone who wants to be involved to call me at 208.720.0724 and join the Higher Ground program or one of our summer programs serving local Blaine County special needs children, teenagers and young adults…Go Sun Valley Adaptive Sports!"
-Bill

A little bit about the Higher Ground Program:
Higher Ground (HG) utilizes a highly innovative, multidisciplinary approach to therapy that combines sports, family, and coping therapies to restore and rehabilitate men and women of the armed forces who have been severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. HG is recognized as one of the premier rehabilitation programs in the country by the Department of Defense, military medical centers, and veteran service organizations. Often overlooked, a veteran's transition back into civilian life poses challenges that can be as daunting as the physical recovery. Our goal is to give each veteran the physical skills, confidence, and coping strategies necessary for a successful reintegration into their families and communities.

We inspire hope and encourage veterans and their significant others to apply the lessons learned at HG camps to their daily lives. The transformations that take place are truly profound. Veterans leave our program having rediscovered their own potential, committed to not allowing their injuries define who they are.
-Courtesy Sun Valley Adaptive Sports

Please visit the website at www.swasp.org for more information.

Linked are two videos by Mark Oliver
SVASP Wounded Warriors: Segment One and Two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb6suRtHfeM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LcYzfFIu_M&feature=related

Below are photos from this and last years events, as well as the information flyer for this weeks program, Feb 27-March 4.