Hello everyone! I wanted to let everyone know what some of the Green Team members were up to on this spring break!

I am in New Orleans right now and a lot of the Green Team members are with me. Here is an update of what we have done so far!

-saw Brad Pitt's Project make it right. All of the houses he built are covered in solar panels.

-we also went to a model "green home" which is the first sustainable home in a New Orleans neighborhood. They are building 5 more completely sustainable signle family homes and an apartment complex. They will be offered for very affordable prices to family's from the lower 9th ward.

-we went to the musicains village where homes were made for the local musicians who lost their homes. this was in hopes of keeping the New Orleans culture alive.

-spent the day today packaging over 10,000 pounds of food at the first harvest food bank

-we have gone shopping, ate good New Orleans food, met tons of really cool people, learned a lot, and had a great time.


We are going out tonight to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee, and then start our project for Habitat tomorrow.... so I will keep everyone updated!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring break!

-Immie Miles (Green Team Chair)

Six Interesting (and somewhat scary) Facts About Bottled Water

· Buying one gallon’s worth of bottled water is three times more expensive than buying one gallon of gasoline. – emagazine.com

· 30 million water bottles are thrown away every day, and each one of them takes 1000 years to biodegrade. – emagazine.com.

· Nearly 90 percent of [water] bottles are not recycled. – SeattlePI.com

· An estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes further treated, sometimes not treated at all. – Allaboutwater.org

· It takes 15 million barrels of oil per year to make all of the plastic water bottles in America, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Sending those bottles by air and truck uses even more fossil fuel. - emagazine.com.

· Bottled water, because it is defined as a “food” under federal regulations, is under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—under much stricter standards—regulates tap water. Thus, bottled water, depending upon the brand, may actually be less clean and safe than tap water. The EPA mandates that local water treatment plants provide city residents with a detailed account of tap water’s source and the results of any testing, including contaminant level violations. Bottled water companies are under no such directives. - Allaboutwater.org

Now, here are tips for alternatives to buying bottled water:

· Get a filter for your tap (unless your tap water is quite good in the first place). There are many ways to go about doing this, from getting a Brita-filter to go over your faucet spout to installing one right into the sink system.

· Nalgene bottles are great.

· Brita pitchers are also really great for those who can’t get the faucet filters (e.g. college students).

· For barbecues, parties, and other events, use pitchers or water dispensers that you can use over and over again. In conjunction with these, try to also provide reusable cups instead of disposable cups, and if you must use disposables, try to get recyclable disposables.