Super Bowl in Miami. It was a wet one. Of course, I watched it in the comfort of my own home. However, we did go out looking for trouble and a sense of Super Bowl Weekend Madness the day before. We headed down to South Beach to see what was going on…and we brought our camera!

Welcome to the greenerMIAMI tour of pre-Super Bowl festivities. Surprise, surprise, there were some things we didn’t like. The good news? We have suggestions on how to make the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami even greener.

Attire: I went decked out in my organic tee from ReusableBags.com that says Plastic Bags Blow. If not that day, then when, right? Number of positive comments received = 1. Number of interesting looks = several.

Favorite Publicity: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the most eco-friendly advertising was from Flagler Dog Track. Animal-friendly, not really…but their marketing was carbon neutral!

Worst Publicity: So many planes! What a waste of fuel! Oh, and don’t even get me started on the fliers. Get rich quick idea - create an effective publicity company that doesn’t burn up tons of gas or require mass amounts of paper to be thrown on the ground.

Moment I Was About To Throw Down: When the girl working at the Motorola throw-a-football-through-the -hole-and-get-a-free-inflatable-vinyl-chair-place (we threw, but didn’t want or receive the chair) started putting trash from their stage onto the beach. I said, "You should throw it in the trash can." She said, "We don’t have a trash can, and I don’t want it on the stage." I said, "You should go find a trash can and throw it away." She said, "I didn’t put it there." Argh! Recommendation: Make sure all vendors have trash cans!

Worst Trash Moment: Several companies were giving out free drinks on Ocean Drive - bottles of water, energy drinks, etc. Now, I’m not going to say this shouldn’t happen, because at a mass event like this, it’s just not feasible for everyone to BYOBottle. Plus, free non-alcoholic drinks sounds like a public service. But come on - not enough trash cans and no recycling? If you allow these companies to set up on the street and hand out products, require them to have recycling bins and a plan to get them recycled!

Related Reading:

As you may know, greenerMIAMI is a frequent user of the MetroMover, and an occasional user of the MetroRail. And we had often wondered why there were no trash receptacles available at these mass transit stations.

Later we found the answer: 9/11. You see, trash cans are great places to hide bombs, apparently. But New York fixed this long ago, you say, with clear trash cans and bags…allowing easy viewing of the contents of said receptacle. Why can’t we have that, too?

Well, now we do. In the last month or so, clear trash cans and bags have made an appearance at some, but not all MetroRail & MetroMover stops.

As you see in the pictures, they are really cool looking, however, only seem to work if the trash is left inside the container. Oh well, nothing is perfect!

Related Reading:

St. Lucie County, just about 2.5 hours north of Miami-Dade, has plans in place to vapor their trash. Not incinerate. Vaporize. From the article:

The $425 million facility expected to be built in St. Lucie County will use lightning-like plasma arcs to turn trash into gas and rock-like material. It will be the first such plant in the nation operating on such a massive scale and the largest in the world.

Supporters say the process is cleaner than traditional trash incineration, though skeptics question whether the technology can meet the lofty expectations.

The 100,000-square-foot plant, slated to be operational in two years, is expected to vaporize 3,000 tons of garbage a day. County officials estimate their entire landfill — 4.3 million tons of trash collected since 1978 — will be gone in 18 years.

The vapor that is collected will be sold as energy to the nearby Tropicana Products facility.

Geoplasma, the company running the show, says that the process is completely closed-loop and there are no emissions. The critics disagree:

"We’ve found projects similar to this being misrepresented all over the country," said Monica Wilson of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.

Wilson said there aren’t enough studies yet to prove the company’s claims that emissions will likely be less than from a standard natural-gas power plant.

She also said other companies have tried to produce such results and failed. She cited two similar facilities run by different companies in Australia and Germany that closed after failing to meet emissions standards.

"I think this is the time for the residents of this county to start asking some tough questions," Wilson said.

If the technology does what they say it does, it will be incredible. I do have my doubts on a technology that is touted as "perfect", however. Anyone seen anything about local resident reactions to the project?

Via - Sustainablog

Related Reading:

Go Heat! Wow, what a game! As part of a chillin’ Sunday, my husband and I went down to the AA Arena before the game last night, just to people watch.

It was a really fun atmosphere, with lots and lots of Heat fans dressed in white.

The crowd was excited, the band was playing, and people were dancing. Pictures of David Hasselhoff and variations on "Wade County" were everywhere.

You know what else was everywhere? Fliers. When are advertisers going to learn that people don’t look at fliers? It’s also the one piece of trash that apparently no one has an issue with tossing directly on the ground.

I would like to call out each of the flier advertisers individually, hoping that the public will join me in my disappointment of these companies & individuals. Booo! Holaamerica.com. Booo! Re-election campaign for Judge Karen Mills Francis. Boooo! Ring Warriors: IBF Junior Welterweight World Title. Boooo! Net10.

I would bet that I could count on my fingers how many of these fliers made it home. Again, I would like to encourage our readers: do not accept fliers. Show these advertisers that we don’t want to be reached this way.

And finally, Let’s Go Heat! Game 6, Tuesday in Dallas.

Update 6/19/06: In response to my direct complaint emailed to the campaign mentioned above, Karen Mills Francis replied:

I am in receipt of your email in reference to my campaign literature which was disseminated at one of the Heat Games. It was my realization of this very problem which prompted me to eliminate the use of palm cards at last nights game. The campaign only used persons carrying signs, which we took away from the area once the game began. Please know that I care a lot about the environment. I live on a canal in north Miami and it breaks my heart that people could carelessly throw thrash into the water where fish and other wildlife are trying to survive.I feel the same way about the trash I see in public and national parks.

Please know that I am truly sorry that my campaign overlooked the possibility that litter might be created as a result of distributing palm cards at such a major event and we will make every effort henceforth to be mindful of the environment in the future.

Related Reading:

Go to greenerMIAMI’s complete A-Z Donation & Disposal Guide.

Our A to Z guide is growing, and we owe it all to our readers. Since starting this guide, we’ve received lots of helpful suggestions for donations.

Reader Anne told us about Miami Waste Paper, an industrial style place that doesn’t mind if individuals drop off their cardboard or newspaper. In fact, they pay up to $3 for 100 pounds!

She also pointed us in the direction of the Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE. "The ReStore sells donated building materials, tools, and appliances to the public at discounted prices. The profits help finance Miami Habitat’s housing building efforts."

Reader Gus told us about SoBe Thrifty, and when we forgot to post it, reader Zeb reminded us what a great store it is. It is part of Care Resource, "South Florida’s oldest and largest HIV/AIDS service organization serving both Miami-Dade & Broward Counties."

So please, keep those suggestions coming! We want to make this a really complete resource! Thanks Miami!

Related Reading:

I’ve got a few hot spots when it comes to topics that I like to research and discuss for greenerMIAMI. Buying local, public transportation, and trash (litter & recycling). I guess these topics jump out at me because there is no reason that each individual can’t do something positive in each of these areas. Although I hope that we can affect the governments to make city, county, state & national changes, I like to believe (and encourage) that each individual CAN make a difference.

Earlier this month as I was walking along the bayfront on Brickell Bay Drive, an area that consistently has a litter problem, I started to wonder: Is there a correlation between litter & distance/availability of trash cans?

I can certainly say that there is a correlation for me when it comes to picking up the trash. Yesterday I walked 8 blocks along Brickell Avenue to get from one trash can to the next. My hands were full by the 2nd block. I’m one of very few people with the patience to walk 8 blocks with a ton of dirty litter in their hands.

Vacant lots also prove to be problem areas, which is no surprise.

This will be an area that greenerMIAMI will continue to research, because litter is an issue that both the general public and the government can affect. If we can find conclusive data from other cities and studies on litter correlations, we will recommend them to the local government. Additionally, we’ll be looking into any existing educational programs in the Miami-Dade schools to educate children not to litter.

NEW JERSEY STUDY

Our research is starting with New Jersey, which has significant studies published on this topic. Quick notes from their report: 55% of litter was deliberate, other 45% accidental (falling from a flatbed truck, etc.), with the accidental rates falling when not on a ‘major’ highway. Males were found to be the majority of the litterers, with ages under 30 for deliberate and over 30 for accidental.

Where does the litter go? The NJ study found that 41% is picked up (by individual or garbage collection), 24% bio- or photo-degrades (this is mostly vacant lots), 18% washes into a body of water, and the remainder is covered by soil or other buildup and is buried.

Visible litter was 70% more visible on freeway and rural roads, but urban streets were ranked a higher priority for litter reduction because more people encounter the urban litter.

States with advertising based (anti-litter) programs show 48% lower litter rates. Enforcement programs are also highly effective.

The study DOES address receptacle (trash can) effectiveness. Using studies from Alaska, California, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nebraska & Washington, as well as Richmond, VA and Philadelphia, the data shows that "litter receptacles are fairly effective in reducing litter, averaging 40% lower rates in urban & rural locales."

Related Reading:

This weekend, two comic strips highlighted green issues.

This first one, Baldo, by Cantú and Castellanos, has a girl saying grace. One of her requests is "…make us ever more mindful of the needs of others and the needs of our planet…"

The second, For Better or For Worse, by Lynn Johnston, rang really true to me.

The dad goes out to the landfill and says, "Amazing. You can see how spoiled a society is…by what it throws away."

Related Reading:

Baynanza 2006 was a great experience for my husband and me. Assigned to clean-up Vizcaya, we headed over there at the assigned 9 am. After checking in, with minimal instruction, we were handed a trash bag and sent over to where the bay meets the land.

Entering Vizcaya, you’d think that there is no way that this clean up will be necessary. The grounds are impeccably maintained. But as we neared the water’s edge, we saw what all of the fuss was about.

These first pictures were taken from a small gazebo. It was all just covered in trash. This trash, as compared with another section that we were cleaning, seemed to be "newer"…recently arrived, in my opinion. Amazingly enough, the area was almost completely clean when we finished.

Vizcaya had registered 250 people to participate on Saturday, April 22, but only about 150 showed up. It is hot and exhausting work, and my thighs still hurt from so much bending and squatting, but it was worth it. Very rarely do we get to participate in something that has such rapid results, where we can enjoy the fruits of our labor.

So, what kind of trash was it, you ask? Lots of plastic bottles and bottle caps, straws, pens, plastic bags, styrofoam, milk type containers, shoes, rope, and lumber. At the end, many were joking around that you really couldn’t be surprised about what you would find, be it a human head or buried treasure. Edmundo pulled out half of a big leather chair, which I thought was probably the weirdest and maybe biggest thing that we found. I heard one of the mothers stating that they picked Vizcaya because it has the fewest amount of needles, where as so many other sites are just covered in needles. I did not see any in Vizcaya.

The styrofoam and the white plastic milk jugs were frustrating, because they break off into little pieces, and it’s tough to get it all. Rope and plastic bags are tough because they wrap themselves around the plants and trees, making it tough to remove them without cutters, which we didn’t have.

Finally, I think it’s great that so many children were involved. We had several girl scout and boy scout troops, as well as kids with their parents. It is important for them to be a part of this - it is educational, and anyway they love to get dirty.

Thanks to everyone who organized and participated in this event. It was a great experience, and I hope to have a whole GreenerMiami team next year!

More "before" and "action" photos:

After photo:

Related Reading:

I wanted to remind our GreenerMiami readers that we are seeking 18 more people to pledge to pick up one piece of litter everyday for one month.

It’s a pledge you can find here on PledgeBank - and it will bring us towards a greener, cleaner, Miami.

I was encouraged to read Living Green in LA’s 10 Free Ways to be Green post…#2, when you see litter, pick it up!

Please join our pledge…we set a goal of 20 people, and we are terribly behind. It doesn’t take much to make a difference…every little bit counts!

Related Reading:

It’s time to sign up for Baynanza. Time is running out…registration ends on Monday, April 3 (this coming Monday) for the event that will take place on Saturday, April 22, 9am-12pm.

What it is: Baynanza is a Biscayne Bay Clean Up Day, and this year, it falls exactly on Earth Day! What better way to celebrate Earth Day than picking up trash to clean up the shorelines?

Where it is: Lots of places! Locations in the North, Central, Keys (Virginia, Biscayne), South Central, and South. Check out the map of locations. A couple of the locations have already booked up, but there are still 23 locations available! Sign up sooner for a better chance of getting your top pick.

What you need to bring: Extra water, sunscreen, mosquito repellent, hat with visor, WORK GLOVES, sunglasses, old/ugly closed toed sneakers.

What you’ll get: Water, Free T-Shirt (as long as you register by deadline), a sense of community, a cleaner Biscayne Bay!

How to register: Register online at the county’s DERM/Baynanza website by Monday, April 3, 2006. The event will take place on Saturday, April 22, 2006 from 9 am to 12 noon.

Related Reading: