Oklahoma Department of Corrections

GREEN EARTH STRATEGY©

Ideas for Today and Tomorrow

A Recommendation ByMyrna Roberts & Eileen Rentie

Copyright © 2008 by MyrnaRoberts.com. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be used or reproduced by any means without the written permission of the Myrna Roberts except in the case of brief quotations embedded in academic writings, critical articles and reviews

Goals and Objectives• Conserve and generate natural resources and

revenue• Decrease the amount of damage to our

environment • Educate and market green information and

services• Respond positively and aggressively to “the

green” industry• Begin the process of eliminating toxic alternatives

Vision Statement

To be a positive and

progressive agent

of environmental change

Checks & Balances

All ideas express herein will, of course, be subject to and balanced by:

Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ Vision, Mission and Values

All local, state, and federal policies and laws

Our SituationThere are countless indicators that our environment is in danger.

Without a serious commitment to change, our situation seems bleak:

• Global Warming• Limited Natural Resources• Waste and Hazardous Waste Uncontrollable• Chemical, plastics and rubber create toxic pollutants• Animal species disappearing from the earth

How Did We Get Here?Drying your hands

• Manufacturing and maintenance cause minimal damage to the earth

• Disposal causes little damage

• Power used to manufacture, maintain and dispose of is minimal

1000 years ago 50 years agotoday

• Manufactured for convenience but causes greater damage to the earth

• Disposal is convenient but costs are mounting

• Packaging is usually unfriendly to the earth

• Takes more power to manufacture and maintain than the former

• Toxically manufactured, maintained and disposed of strictly for convenience.

• Causes maximum damage to the earth

• Maintenance solvents destroy the earth

• Disposal is very inconvenient, costly and scars the earth

Transportation

1000 years ago 60 years ago

today

• Manufacturing and maintenance cause minimal damage to the earth

• Disposal fertilizes the earth• Power used to manufacture,

maintain and dispose of is minimal

• Manufactured for convenience but causes greater damage to the earth

• Solvents and petroleum products used to maintain destroy the earth

• Disposal is convenient but costs are mounting

• Portions are usually very unfriendly to the earth

• Takes more power to manufacture and maintain than the former

• Toxically manufactured, maintained and disposed.

• Causes maximum damage to the earth

• Solvents and petroleum products used to maintain destroy the earth

• Disposal is very inconvenient, costly and scars the earth

Weapons of War

1000 years ago

70 years ago

today

Pre-historic

• Manufacturing, maintenance and disposal cause minimal damage to the earth

• Power used to manufacture, maintain and dispose of is minimal

• Manufactured for convenience but causes greater damage to the earth

• Disposal is convenient but could be hazardous

• Portions are usually very unfriendly to the earth

• Takes more power to manufacture and maintain than the former

• Toxically manufactured, maintained and disposed.

• Causes maximum damage to the earth

• Solvents and petroleum products used to maintain destroy the earth

• Disposal is very inconvenient, costly and scars the earth

Drinking

1000 years ago

100 years ago

today

Our Plan

• DOC has excellent positioning to be on the cutting edge of green innovation and implementing new technology in a big way.

• Empower employees and inmates, placing competent professionals into the green industry.

• Base our campaign on people, planet and profit.

Our Green Strategy

• Our plan should be implemented in phases. 

• Start small and grow at regular intervals.

• Once we implement and idea, the expectation is that that portion of the campaign will continue for the entire year.

• For example, let’s say we started the campaign in January, 2009.

January

Reusable Coffee Mugs, etc.

• We will encourage employees to bring their own reusable coffee mugs, glasses, dishes, and silverware.

• We will also encourage employees to bring lunch to work in reusable containers

February

Aluminum Collection. • We will individually and collectively collect

aluminum cans.  • We will especially collect the cans used from

vending machines within the agency• We will also ask employees to collect cans

and bring them from home.• We will also encourage employees to collect

and recycle other metals.

March

Clean & Redeem

• We will ask employees to attend a fun event at a local stream or park that needs tender loving care. 

• We will arrange for everyone to meet at a specific time to pick up the trash, weed, perhaps even plant some flowers or trees.

April

Stop-A-Leak.

• We will organize a Stop-A-Leak Month to remind employees and their family members to tighten, insulate, replace, caulk, and whatever else is necessary to make our agency and homes as "tight" as possible.

May

Water conservation. 

• We will encourage employees and their families to turn off the water while brushing teeth, shaving, etc.

• To put things in perspective, we will begin a campaign to watch closely our water bills (not the cost, but the average household consumption).

June

Paper Conservation

• Print on the back side of paper.

• Purchase printers that have 2-sided printing. 

• Encourage the use of recycled papers of all kind.

July

Change A Light Bulb.

• Replace standard bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs

August

Collect Batteries and dispose of them.

• One is by using batteries that can be recharged over and over. 

• We will organize and dispose of our used batteries as hazardous waste.

• In the end, we will ask ourselves whether we really need to use products that require so many batteries.

September

Car Pooling.

• We will encourage employees that live in the same neighborhoods to drive to work together.

• We will assist in this by generating lists of possible car poolers.

October

Plant A Tree.

• Organize another fun event in which we will visit a local nursery to find out what kinds of trees will grow best in our area. 

• If there is a special memorial, we will plant trees in the name of important people in our agency.

November

Letter Writing. 

• We will organize and encourage our employees to write a letter to an elected representatives to tell them that we believe environment issues are important; and that we support the development and implementation of an energy action plan. That would impact our nation’s resource management decisions.

December

Refuse, Reuse, and Recycle. 

• Whatever you buy, wherever you live, the 3R are the most important rules to live by, at least as far as the environment is concerned. 

• We will give a class that encourages all employees to think about the 3R every time they pull a potential purchase off the shelf.

January 2010

Wind Turbines

January, 2011

Solar Panels

January 2012

Extensive Green Roofs

If you don’t believe in going green

Maybe you believe in going green

Gong Green is very lucrative!

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

References

EcoGeek. 2008. On-line retrieval December 11, 2008 from http://www.ecogeek.org/

Jones, J.D., (2008) Consultant.

KGET, Channel 17. 2008. Bakersfield, California.

Planet Green. 2008. on-Line retrieval December 11, 2008 from http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-work/green-work-tips.html

Verke, Paul. 2008. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Public and Employee Communications.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2008. On-Line retrieval December 11, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_roof

OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONSGREEN EARTH STRATEGY ©

The ideas presented here were chiefly created by Myrna Roberts, specifically for Mr. Justin Jones and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Eileen Rentie was also inspiration in this endeavor.

Copyright © 2008 by MyrnaRoberts.comAll rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be used or reproduced by any means without the written permission of the Myrna Roberts except in the case of brief quotations embedded in academic writings, critical articles and reviews.