by Ronna Sweeney, KUAM NewsMonday, May 12, 2008 Subscribe to Ronna's newsfeed
Employees from EA Science and Technology are teaching Guam how to adopt a green lifestyle with some activities you can do with your children. The environmental consulting firm has been on Guam for 14 years assisting the private and public sectors achieve their environmental goals - site remediation, solid waste and water resources management along with information technology are just a few of the things on a daily basis this company deals with.But today employees aren't talking business, they're giving earth-friendly ideas each and every one of us can do at home. So rather than throwing away glass bottles, Christine Pascus says EA employees are giving them a second life in the form of drinking glasses and vases. "You have to buy a glass cutter because ultimately in order to severe them you need to have a cutter. Filing tools are necessary and some sandpaper. A candle to help cut the precise roundness of the vase. That's all. It's that simple," she said.Moving along to soy-based candles, Pascus says they are more earth friendly than typical parafin candles, which are derived from petroleum. "Soy-based candles because they're vegetable based they burn cleaner. They're healthier for you and they are renewable. Soy vegetable is definitely something that's renewable. It can be grown over and over again. Petroleum isn't," she continued.While soy candles may be better for the environment, soy-based wax is hard to find on Guam. Pascus adds that under adult supervision this is a fun and simple activity to do with children and young adults. "To make these we just melt the soy wax in a microwave, we add the coloring which looks like a crayon. There are scented oils to add to it. That's about it," Pascus said.Besides soy based candles and making trash into treasure out of old glass bottles, EA Science and Technology employees have come up with a wealth of other projects. They exhibited shopping bags made out of Kool-Aid Jammers packaging and birdhouses made out of old palates. Pascus said, "We have a tremendous amount of trash we produce everyday and so much of it can be recycled and the idea is that the less that goes into the landfill the better off we are in the long-term."EA Science and Technology employees additionally recycle traditional items around the office like paper, printer cartridges and aluminum cans. And remember, the Internet is a wonderful resource if you're interested in finding ways to make new items out of old materials.