I fly for my job - a lot. And almost always on Northwest Airlines.

This week I was on four Northwest flights (New York and Chicago [and back]), and on my outbound flight to Chicago yesterday morning I heard something completely new and foreign to me during the in-flight announcements:

Something to the effect: “As part of Northwest Airlines’ commitment to the environment, we will be coming through to collect aluminum cans, newspapers and plastic for recycling…” The flight attendant read a whole little speech about it.

Apparently this is part of a bigger environmental program called EarthCares.

However, during my three other NWA flights this week, the cans and papers were thrown into the same garbage sack with all the other trash — just like always. Maybe it’s an effort in-progress.

The University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is holding it’s Auxiliary Spring Plant Sale this weekend. Hours are 9am-3pm Saturday, May 10, and 10am-3pm Sunday, May 11.

On sale for the first time ever will be three new rose bush varieties named after the Scandinavian caricatures Sven, Ole, and Lena.

According to [Arboretum Director of Operations Peter] Moe, Ole is a pale pink rose and Lena is a frilly pink and white flower, while Sven features fragrant mauve-to-violet-colored blooms.

That sounds much more enjoyable than an actual Sven and Ole joke.

• twin_cities: ISO grassy metro parks for a guinea pig festival! “The grass has to be chemical free as dozens of hungry guinea pigs will be snacking on and simultaneously fertilizing it.” OMG SO KYOOT!
• MPR: College of St. Catherine to become a university. “The new name hasn’t been determined, but will include ‘St. Catherine’s’ and ‘university.’”
• Minneapolis Issues Forum: Do Idaho’s bike safety statutes make more sense?
• MinnPost: How we’re doing so far. Joel Kramer reports in on the first six months of MinnPost. “MinnPost.com has more than 100,000 absolute monthly unique visitors, as measured by Google Analytics. This makes us the most-visited local-news website in Minnesota that is not driving traffic to itself from a legacy medium, like TV, radio or print.”
• Minnesota Monitor: Congress studies wrong city for RNC disaster preparedness. “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center did not have sufficient capacity to handle a terrorist attack. The committee completely overlooked St. Paul’s Regions Hospital, which would be the first responder in the unlikely event of a terrorist attack on the RNC.”
• Southwest Journal: Neighborhood organizations are adjusting their fundraising strategies in preparation for the loss of NRP funding. They mention Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association; Elliot Park Neighborhood, Inc.; and East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood Association.
• City of Minneapolis: Sustainability Initiatives
• City of St Paul: Sustainable Saint Paul
• The Deets: Ed looks at recent reports on the link between local food environments (i.e., stores/restaurants in your neighborhood) and obesity and diabetes. Ed’s theory: “The distance you drive to buy groceries effects how you shop.”

The National Governors Association’s Greening State Capitols program has selected 20 participating capitol complexes. Considering Tim Pawlenty is the NGA Chair that’d be some shit if we weren’t on the list.

From Wal-Mart’s press release:

During the next year, engineering experts will visit the 20 capitol facilities to examine the lighting, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, as well as refrigeration equipment and building structures. Each governor will then receive recommendations on how to improve the energy efficiency of his or her capitol complex. The recommendations will be based on technologies that have proven successful in Wal-Mart stores, Sam’s Clubs and supplier facilities around the world. According to its engineering analysis, Wal-Mart, through its Supplier Energy Efficiency Program, has already helped participating organizations save between 20 and 50 percent on their energy bills.

More on Wal-Mart’s role, from the Greening State Capitols program announcement (pdf):

Wal-Mart will only recommend technologies that give the state a return on investment within five years, unless a state specifically asks for a different time frame. At the state’s request, Wal-Mart will use its procurement skills to attract bids from interested companies and facilitate installation of the recommended technologies.

Each state will provide personnel to help conduct the audit, implement recommendations, and track results.

It makes some sense when you consider what Wal-Mart has done to make their stores more energy efficient. And it jibes with the fact that real change on a large scale only happens when it becomes a business incentive to do so.

I still wonder about conflicts of interest, though. Wal-Mart can’t just be doing this out of the goodness of the VP of Sustainability’s heart. PR? While it’s not guaranteed, they’re obviously going to get further business when the states implement their recommendations.

(via Maria Energia)

• Downtown Journal - Three arrested in Downtown BASE jumping attempt. BASE jumping is illegal in Minneapolis. And most cities.
• Behind the Mortgage - Condo for sale in doomed development includes Adult Entertainment room, complete with mirrors, couches, and poles. BTM is offering a bounty for photos.
• Metro Independent Business Association - The MetroIBA members featured in City Pages’ 2008 Best of the Twin Cities.
• MPR - Rural Renewable Energy Alliance donating solar home heating systems to low-income families.
• St Paul Issues Forum - On 24-hour health clubs. The city is trying to close them down because they don’t keep a CPR-trained staff person onsite round-the-clock. This is supposedly overly restrictive and a remnant of sex-club crackdowns from the ’80s.
• 76th Street - “Does Richfield have too much senior housing but not enough affordable senior housing?” If you even have to ask…
• Longfellow Nokomis Real Estate Guide - Foreclosures in their neighborhood. There are LOTS.
• Northstar Commuter Rail - Construction begins on Coon Rapids station.
• District del Sol - This weekend’s Cinco de Mayo activities in St Paul. (pdf) The lowrider car show is Friday from 4-9 on Wabasha.

The Star Tribune has a story about how our state legislature likes the idea of a regional cap-and-trade system.

I fully endorse the idea. If you’re unfamiliar with how it all works, the Twin Cities Daily Planet has a good primer:

Cap and trade systems are appealing for two main reasons. First, unlike traditional regulatory schemes, they are market-based. Cap and trade systems allow economic forces to dictate where emissions cuts will occur, rather than relying on government mandates. The U.S. has had a cap and trade system to deal with acid rain-causing pollutants since the 1980s, and has achieved deep reductions at far lower costs than had been anticipated. Second, cap and trade is more palatable politically than a direct carbon tax, which would have roughly the same effect.

Arguments against such a system (and global warming in general) are in the comments of the Strib article. Here’s one that raises a relevant point:

Does anyone think that the cost of purchasing the carbon credits won’t be passed along in the form of higher prices and then the carbon producing entities shifted to India or China which already have signnificant cost advantages? This is the dumbest idea to come down the pike in a long time. All in the name of eliminating a problem that doesn’t exist.

This is a fair question. Slave labor, child labor, cheap labor, all of it was outlawed in the United States and then moved elsewhere. While a cap and trade system will have the intended local outcome (due to the free market and a craving in the business community for clear regulation—if regulation is necessary—as opposed to governmental hemming and hawing, which is when businesses pick up and leave), there is a fear it will simply shift the problem out of sight.

And I’m not going to say some pollution won’t go overseas. But in most cases, if they’re not already making it overseas, they’re not likely to start. It’s generally cheaper for a company to produce close to the raw materials and end users, both of which are generally in the United States, if not the Midwest specifically. Add to that the cost of scouting new locations overseas, buying land, building new facilities, and all the other work that goes into off-shoring, and compare that with the relatively easy task of retrofitting current facilities. The off-shoring argument falls flat, I think.

So, while I disagree with our Republican governor and our DLF legislature on many issues, I’m glad they’re moving forward with this system. I really do think the clear regulations will attract business (and obviously our pro-business governor must as well), and we can add green jobs and green living to the long list of what makes our state so wonderful.

When was the last time you used a printed phonebook for its intended use?

When was the last time you bought a phonebook? The last time you called your phone company and requested one be dropped on your front step?

Odds are, since you’re reading a “blog” right now, you haven’t done any of these three things in the last couple of years, at least.

According to the Strib:

“…85 percent of the telephone directories are dumped into the regular trash, even though it has been illegal to do so since 1992. State pollution officials call it one of Minnesota’s biggest solid-waste problems…. A 1992 Minnesota law prohibits putting phone directories in landfills or incinerators, and requires directory publishers to provide and publicize drop-off collection bins, make arrangements with recycling firms and report annually on recycling rates.”

I think the bigger issue is what’s causing the trash build-up — phone book spam.

The article goes on to talk about proposed legislation that would require each telephone directory publisher to establish a “do not receive registry,” but shouldn’t it be the other way around? The new generation isn’t ever going to use printed phonebooks that are outdated before they leave the publisher’s warehouse.

Fear not, dear readers, I have the solution…

The Internet.

Phone numbers, addresses and business directories can all be found on the Internet. It’s faster than flipping pages, can sort populated data in all sorts of format and if you have Skype, you click on the number and are connected instantly. Try to see dead trees mimic that sweet technology.

Of course, everyone has tables in need of leveling, toddlers for propping up and fireplaces that need kindling, but unless you’ve crown accustomed to your annual phonebook spam, may I suggest we dump phonebooks for good?

(photo from funkeemunkeeland’s Flickr stream)

I love how ex-UnitedHealth CEO William McGuire can’t even build a park without pulling some shady shit.

Trash Lady chimes in again on the Minneapolis Public Issues Forum to tell you everything you need to know about what to do with your plastic garbage bags. The next time I go to Ikea I’m totally buying one of those giant blue bags and then stashing it in my car.

Minneapolis City Councilmember Robert Lilligren says the reopening of Nicollet at Lake Street is a question of when, not if.

The natives are getting restless over municipal wi-fi.

About.com’s Minneapolis/St. Paul site appears to have a new guide (i.e., person who writes it). Anybody have any idea who Clara James is? Looks like a redesign in the last few months, too (it’s now web 2.0-ish). I had noticed as of the end of last year it hadn’t been updated in about a month. If you want to placeblog for pay, that was an opportunity, but I have to say that writing for About.com carries little to no street cred with me (and I hate myself a little bit for using the word “placeblog”). Just sayin’.

The City of Minneapolis will observe Earth Hour by shutting off all non-essential lights from 7-8pm on Saturday, March 29.

I’m sure some of those big office buildings will see a (teeny, tiny) bit of a dip in their Xcel bill. It is significant in that 7-8pm on a Saturday is a pretty busy time for downtown what with all the bar-goers, dinner-goers, theater-goers, etc. So it’ll certainly be noticed.

But what do we really get out of this? The idea is that everyone else in the city will follow suit. So we all bust out the batteries, sit in the quiet, and sketch out our personal conservation plans by candlelight? Do we get to hear back how much energy was saved by the city in the effort?

The Earth Hour movement encourages you to sign up, thus triggering the flow of information-packed email to your inbox. (Strangely, they link to a Facebook application for an environmental footprint calculator. Try the original source.) If the city is making a show of its participation, how about spending the money they save on energy on citizen education? Or funnel it to non-profits that provide such education.

I’m not opposed to energy conservation, but I think Earth Hour ends up being more of an inconvience than a learning opportunity or an awareness raiser. Wouldn’t kill anyone to put down the internet and read a book for an hour, though.

(via Maria Energia)

• MN Daily on Minneapolis and St Paul PD’s citizen academies. “Business, civic and religious leaders have priority when it comes to selecting class participants, but all people are open to apply.”
• Free tasting tonight at Common Roots. Fair-trade coffee and wine paired with local cheese and desserts from their bakery. 5:30-7:30.
• 10,000 Takes - The Pioneer Press Redesign: Your Thoughts? “If you’re younger than 30 you may skip the rest of this post and return to perusing TwinCities.com or StarTribune.com.” “It looks like something that a high school newspaper in Arkansas would use.”
• Uptown Mpls Blog - Photos of the new Victoria’s Secret in Uptown. I don’t know how I feel about all that neon pink.
• Mill City Museum - “Pat Siebenaler, Production Manger of Franklin Street Bakery will present 30-minute artisan bread baking demonstrations and tasting. Learn tips and tricks of the trade, including the ins and outs of commercial bread production.” Saturday (3/22) at 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm. $10 for adults, discounts for students and seniors.
• In Gopher sports news, men’s hockey forward suffers skull fracture in playoff game, women’s basketball makes the NCAA tournament (if they win in the first round, they will not get past UConn in the second round).
• Minnov8 - Newly launched site focusing on technology innovation in the State of Minnesota.
• Least Dangerous Game status update Wanna sponsor LDG?
• MN Daily - “So you want to build a music and arts community? First, contact your system administrator.” (via east-lake)
• DNR’s calendar of maple syrup events. (via doodledee)
• Wellness Center coming to MSP this fall. “The 5,000-square-foot center will offer spa and beauty services, such as hair cuts and manicures. It also will feature a walk-in health clinic and a full-service pharmacy.” I think it’s pitiful that people spend enough time in the airport to use some of these services.