“McAllen Green” is a program sponsored by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. The program encourages businesses to support environmentally responsible practices. These practices include reducing the amount of waste, water and power used by attractions and their guests.

WHY PARTICIPATE?

• Many of the suggestions will save money
• Most suggestions are free or low cost
• Many large corporations are adding environmental responsibility to their missions
• The program helps support the preservation of our area’s natural resources
• Participation will make McAllen a more “nature tourist-friendly” city and more attractive to all environmentally-conscious businesses and people

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

• Study the list. Mark a minimum of 10 practices your business is participating in already or will commit to institute. You may select any of the suggestions below to participate.
• The McAllen Chamber of Commerce will then recognize your business as a McAllen Green Business.

1. Offer organic and/or local food products. (Organic foods taste better, are higher in the nutritional value and require less washing. Local foods are fresher, support the community and don’t have to travel so far, thus reducing “farm to fork” miles)
2. Switch from paper/plastic/Styrofoam cups to glass ware. If paper cups are absolutely necessary use 100% recycled cups.
3. Use non-toxic cleaning products.
   The following is a list of cleaner brands that are relatively environmentally sound:
   • Ecover All Purpose Cleaner
   • Seventh Generation Natural All Purpose Cleaner
   • Method All Purpose Cleaner
   • Clorox Green Works Natural All Purpose Cleaner
   • Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner
   • Bio Kleen Spray and Wipe All Purpose Cleaner
   • Vermont Soap Organics Liquid Sunshine Spray and Wipe All Purpose Cleaner
   • Shaklee
4. Replace mowed landscaping with ground cover.
5. If possible use candles or lamps for evening events.
6. Replace cocktail napkins with permanent coasters.
7. Replace disposable paper coffee filters with reusable metal or nylon filters.
8. When renovating in restrooms:
   • All new toilets use 1.6 gallons per flush or less. Make sure your toilets meet this standard.
   • Pollution prevention: install hand dryers in bathrooms.
   • Install low-flow faucets.
   • Install hands-free faucets which operate on infrared sensors reducing both water use and the spread of germs.
9. Install occupancy sensors in restrooms and storage areas. Lights will turn off automatically whenever the restrooms aren’t occupied.
10. Install lower-wattage compact fluorescent bulbs.
11. Consider turning lights down or off in lobby area during non-customer hours.
12. Offer “Green” tips page to customers that is appropriate for you business.
13. Ban plastic bags.
14. Recycle office products. Find donation bins at electronic stores – recyclewirelessphones.com.
15. Match company donations to green causes.
16. Switch to native plants in garden areas. Replace mowed landscaping with ground cover.
17. Replace mowed landscaping with ground cover.
18. Buy a mulcher to chop up garden clippings and create your own mulch. The mulcher will pay for itself in just a few months.
19. Provide recycling bins both in public areas (i.e., in the kitchen and in the back office, including one at each desk) to make recycling easy as possible for staff and customers.
20. Offer employees paid time to volunteer for environmental causes.
21. Erect owl, bat, bird, and butterfly houses and feeders in outdoor spaces.
22. Create interpretive signage (naming plants and what birds, butterflies they attract, etc.) in your business landscaping.
23. Use recycled paper and soy ink for printing projects.
24. Ban goldenrod colored paper.
25. Use recycled paper and soy ink for printing projects.
26. Buy recycled paper products.
27. Donate computers to under funded schools.
28. Ban bottled water – 90% of the water bottles are not recycled.
29. There are two prices on an appliance: The price of buying it and the price you pay for the energy to run it. Next time when you purchase appliances, choose ENERGY STAR.
    
    ENERGY STAR qualified products meets tough federal criteria for energy efficiency.
30. Encourage employees to use electronic means to communicate.
31. Use “draft” mode for printing. Saves more than 50% of the ink compared to “normal” mode.
32. Printer cartridges can be traded for discounts. Collecting used ones for recycling can be a profitable fund raiser for groups.
33. Turn off computers at night. By turning off your computers instead of leaving it in sleep mode, you can save 40 watt hours per day. That adds up to 4 cents a day, or $14 per year. If you don’t want to wait for your computer to start up, set it to turn on automatically a few minutes before you get to work, or boot up while you’re pouring your morning cup o’joe!
34. Recycle all office paper, and purchase recycled paper whenever you have the choice. Reduce the default margins in your word processing program to fit more words onto each page. Changing the default margins from 1.25” to 1” can reduce the amount of paper you use by up to 8%.
35. Print and copy double-sided whenever possible. If it’s a document you’re planning to mail, this can save money on postage as well by reducing the weight of the document.
36. Reuse before recycling. If paper has only been printed on one side, use it for taking notes during meetings, for printing drafts, or as the paper in your fax machine.
37. Use “print preview” to make sure your document looks as you expect before hitting print.
38. Avoid printing out emails and web pages unless absolutely necessary.
39. Use outdated letterhead for internal memos or have it cut down and turned into notepads for use as scratch paper.
40. Construction companies should consider joining the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design(LEED), a nationally accepted standard developed by the US green Building Council (USGBC). LEED provides strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, and energy efficiency. The standard promotes elegant design, increases profitability without sacrificing the environment.
41. Home Builders should consider joining the federal Energy Star program, American Institute of Architects and Green Building Council which call for sustainable, efficient, energy saving practices in the construction
42. Appoint a “Green Team” to oversee the business’s participation in the program. The Team will set goals for reducing waste, resource recovery, awareness, providing revenue stream, etc.

Online:

43. Search with www.ecocho.com – A new Yahoo search engine that fights climate change by growing 2 trees for every 1000 searches made.
44. www.earth911.com can help you find recycling resources in your area.

High Tech Trash:

45. Computers can go to under-funded schools
46. Find donation bins at electronics stores – www.recyclewirelessphones.com

Determine Your Impact:

http://green.yahoo.com/calculator/
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/

To be more informed about environmental choices:

• Checkout www.thegreeguide.com
• Location of other recycling organizations www.earth911.org.
• http://greenlivingideas.com
• Take the GreenIQ Quiz www.greeniq.com will plant a tree for you.