Florida printer says his industry can go green for not a dime more

Probably not Tico's press, but could be.
Its a visual aid. Live with it please.
I have little to add really except green is not a four letter word.

Like his father and grandfather before him, Gus Casamayor has earned his livelihood in the printing business.

It all started in 1941 when grandfather Augusto Casamayor opened Editorial Guerrero in Cuba. Gus' father, also an Augusto, eventually took over the business and tried to hold onto it despite Fidel Castro's confiscation of the presses in the mid-'60s. Through various twists and turns, the family eventually ended up in Hialeah, opening AC Graphics in the mid-'70s. Gus made his son, Tico, a partner in the business, which employs 18 and prints about 900,000 pounds of material a year.

Then a couple years ago, after a health crisis, Casamayor took a trip to his wife's hometown in Montañita, Ecuador. What ensued carries the tones of magical realism from a Gabriel García Márquez novel: meeting a shaman, seeing the forest more clearly after using eyedrops the healer gave him and promising to watch Al Gore's movie and consider how his own way of life might be destroying the health of the planet.

He cleaned up his own shop, learned the differences between recycled and certified paper, converted from petroleum- to vegetable-based inks, became the first triple-certified printer in Florida and made it his mission to educate others. His message to printers: Being green does not have to cost a dime more.

Don't buy into the green costs green (money) to accomplish bullshit. Often green is very cost affective if not merely neutral.

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EPA lists fuel-efficient cars members of Congress can lease

2008 Lexus hybrid
This is a terrific idea. Its just sort of sad it took three years to get in done.

And no one should be ashamed to drive that Lexus. Or a BMW?

A congressman's campaign to force members of Congress to drive "green" is gassed up and ready to go.

Lincoln Navigators to tool around the old congressional district? Those were the days, my friend.

At a time when gasoline costs more than $4 per gallon, do lawmakers really want to sit behind the wheel of a big honking SUV or some other gas-guzzling symbol of luxury, and on the taxpayer's dime?

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's three-year drive to bring fuel efficiency to the federal vehicle-leasing program finally got some wheels. The EPA finally has compiled a list of what can be leased under Cleaver's 2005 proposal, which requires members of the House of Representatives who lease a vehicle [at] taxpayer expense to pick one with low greenhouse-gas emissions.

"We have been preaching in Washington the importance of escaping from our dependence on foreign oil and reducing our carbon output," the Missouri Democrat said. "Now, each member who uses taxpayer money to lease a vehicle is forced to walk their talk."

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U.S. consumers rank last in world survey of green habits

Not atypical McMansion
It seems the US has a long way to go to challenge the contenders in the "green" race.

For a family of 2-4, the above home is ridiculous.

Americans rank last in a new National Geographic-sponsored survey released Wednesday that compares environmental consumption habits in 14 countries.

Americans were least likely to choose the greener option in three out of four categories — housing, transportation and consumer goods_ according to the assessment. In the fourth category, food, Americans ranked ahead of Japanese consumers, who eat more meat and seafood.

The rankings, called "Greendex," are the first to compare the lifestyles and behaviors of consumers in multiple countries, according to the National Geographic Society.

It plans to conduct the 100-plus question survey annually and considers trends more important than yearly scores, said Terry Garcia, executive vice president of National Geographic's mission programs.

"This is not just a one-time snapshot," Garcia said. "Some of the most important information may yet be revealed."

India and Brazil tied for the highest score — 60 points out of a hundred. U.S. consumers scored 44.9.

In between, China scored 56.1, Mexico 54.2, Hungary 53.2, Russia 52.4, Great Britain 50.2, Germany 50.2, Australia 50.2, Spain 50, Japan 49.1, France 48.7 and Canada 48.5.

Results are based on 1,000 online respondents per country interviewed in January and February by GlobeScan, an international polling firm based in Toronto.

To see how you score, take an abbreviated version of the survey. It's at nationalgeographic.com/greendex.

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