Greening Arizonaand AmericaGreening Arizonaand America

Yesterday, The Arizona Republic began a series about what Arizona is doing to help Mother Earth. The series, with one article appearing online and in print every day this week, takes a look at everything—water, air, food, products, fuel, recycling, construction and so on.

The series was timely for me for several reasons. First, the July issue, which should be landing in your mailbox this week, features two articles on sustainability. In Go Green, we offer eight easy ways to make your facility more Earth-friendly. Another article, Solar Powered, examines how two facilities are using solar power to generate electricity for their buildings.

Plus, I’m in the middle of writing a piece about sustainable building in the self-storage. There are a handful of self-storage builders who are already incorporating sustainable products into their designs and construction practices. And, some of these builders predict, using sustainable products may not be just an option in the future, but mandated by federal, state and city governments.

From A-list celebs to the soccer moms of America, it seems everyone is jumping on the green bandwagon. I’m doing my part, too. I’ve replaced my homes lightbulbs with CFLs. I keep my thermostat at 80—not an easy task when you’re living in 114 degree heat. We turn off lights and unplug appliances and cell phone charger—dubbed energy bandits—when not in use. But I’m not doing nearly enough.

I encourage you to learn more ways you can help the environment. There are so many little changes you can make today that will affect tomorrow. Here are some websites with great ideas.

If you're already taking steps to green facility, we'd love to hear about it. Hit the "Post a Comment" button to share your ideas.