What's Green at 18?

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - You've probably heard about WLFI's Living Green initiative.

Maybe you've even visited our Living Green page , where we offer the community tips on making their lives a little greener, host Stefanie Davis's Living Green Interviews, and highlight green events and organizations.

So many viewers are probably wondering as we encourage others to go greener, what's green at NewsChannel 18?

Earlier this week we launched this interactive Flash map of the station to help show you where we're making an effort. Just click on the different areas and our green tips will pop up.

Many areas are works in progress. Sometimes going green is easy and affordable, other times it takes a little longer. The important thing is to keep taking small steps towards a greener lifestyle--that's what the Living Green Initiative is all about.

With that being said, there are many areas we're proud of. Our videographers have gone tapeless, storing their footage directly to hard drive. Before the switch, our production department used nearly 100 tapes per month, and our news team used as many as 30 tapes per newscast. While these tapes were re-used when possible, there was still a huge amount of electronic waste being generated. Now, the number of tapes used at our station has been drastically reduced.

As the station has undergone construction, we've built using materials that insulate our walls and windows better, to conserve energy when heating and cooling. Much of our lighting,  and many of our video cameras and televisions have been replaced with more energy efficient models as well. Most of our televisions are now LCDs, and many of them even have an Energy Star rating; much better than the energy hog CRTs we used to use.

We've been recycling paper, plastic, and aluminum for a while, but we're looking for ways we can reduce using paper in the first place, such as relying on e-mail and digital copies more.

Do we have a way to go? You bet! But NewsChannel 18 has made a committment to Living Green, and we will continue to improve in years to come.