Archive for the ‘General Recycling’ Category

Turn Halloween into HallowGREEN

Monday, October 26th, 2009

I know “green” isn’t exactly the color that you think about when you picture Halloween, but here are a few ideas of how you can be a bit more mindful of the waste and help reuse more items each year.

Instead of letting your kids take plastic bags Trick-Or-Treating, get
them each their own reusable tote. You can even get one and
decorate it for Halloween to use every year! An old pillow case is
great for Trick-Or-Treating.

Reuse and recycle costumes with your friends. Instead of going out
and buying a new costume, save money and resources by getting
creative. Find out what the kids want to be and ask around to see if
anyone you know has it. Don’t forget to look in your closet for some
help!

Host a Halloween party! Didn’t think that would be too “Green”, did ya?
This way, you can provide all of the treats to the kids in your home.
That means that there will be less individually wrapped candy bars
and you can actually monitor what kind of treats everyone is getting.
You can also use items made from recycled materials and try to serve
as much local/organic food as possible.

      • Don’t be one of those parents that follow their kids around in a car as they are Trick- or-Treating. If you are worried about their safety, get out and walk with them.

        Use nature for your decorations. You don’t need to buy plastic and cardboard decorations: Use leaves, branches, pumpkins, hay bales (which can then be used on your garden for the winter) to give your house a pretty fall look. If you do buy plastic Halloween decorations always remember to save them for next year instead of buying new.

      These are just a few ideas of how to keep this fun holiday less wasteful and damaging to the earth. Help by telling your neighbors these tips to make this years Halloween a much more green one!

      Wine Goes Green: From Bottles to Boxes

      Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

      The traditional wine bottle may be in jeopardy after many wineries are going green by boxing their wine instead of bottling it. Imagine walking into a wine cellar and instead of elegant bottles from wall to wall there was just boxes. This idea may not be too far fetched. It may take away from the aesthetic tradition of wine, but when it comes to assimilating to the green way a box makes more sense.

      Wineries are now beginning to offer various amounts of organic wines to deplete their carbon footprint. The wine itself is becoming more environmental friendly, next is the packaging. The battle of glass bottles versus paper boxes may not seem like a big deal. It is hard to believe that packaging wine in boxes instead of glass bottles will be beneficial to the environment. However, that is the case according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The making of glass bottles is a more thorough process than one may think. The production of glass and the cork for the bottle uses a considerable amount of resources, all while releasing green house gas emissions into the environment.

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      Recycling & Reducing: Toilet Paper

      Friday, October 16th, 2009

      One of the ever growing concerns with the environment is how to reduce the use of paper. Now we are all aware of that paper comes from trees and essentially is used just for about everything. Paper is recyclable and one of the more recycled items out there. However, there is one form of paper that no matter what finds itself ending up as waste. This type of paper being toilet paper, one of human’s most hygienic friends. With the “Green” movement knocking down doors and making its way into consumers home, it is only a matter of time before there are campaigns that fight against the overuse of toilet paper.

      Everyone uses toilet paper though, right? These campaigns and efforts won’t be taken serious by people unless they have another viable and just as effective option. This is especially the case with something as important as toilet paper and the collective efforts to maintain a clean hygiene. I mean one can only imagine what a world would be like without toilet paper, but would they be correct? We might find out because whether you are aware of it or not there are campaigns that are heavily against the use of toilet paper. The idea of not using toilet paper is a shocking one, but people around the world are doing it and with newer technologies might not be such a eye opening notion.

      A bidet is a cleaner and healthier option and at the same time will save a lot of water and paper. The production alone of a roll of toilet paper uses 1.5 pounds of wood, 37 gallons of water, and 1.3 KWh of electricity. One of the first downsides to perhaps using a bidet is the perception that these devices are designed and priced for a luxurious living. However, the Blue Bidet is around $70 dollars and can be attached to your toilet in under a half hour. There are different models depending on what you are looking for. One is designed as a cold water model that just streams water from the toilet line and one that uses both hot and cold water but may take a longer time to install.

      It is hard to promote the total elimination of toilet paper. Instead Blue Bidet is trying to reduce the use by 75% and using the remained to dry yourself off. Although, there are drying systems that can come attached to the bidet that would totally eliminate the use of toilet paper.

      The problem of toilet paper is what it is doing to the environment not only with the paper itself but the energy and water that it takes. In one day Americans use 34,000,000 rolls of toilet paper which equals the use of 221,000 trees, 255,000 gallons of water, 88,000,000 pounds of green house gases, and 161,000,000 KWH of electricity.

      That right there alone is enough to understand why we have to figure out a way to reduce the use of toilet paper. Not only do we want to keep it from becoming waste and harming our environment like e-waste. We also have to consider what using so much toilet paper could potentially do to the environment.

      Reuse Stores Rethink Use of Recycled Items

      Thursday, October 15th, 2009

      Reuse stores are popping up everywhere throughout the country. These reuse stores take old items from empty yogurt cartons to old cabinets and allow consumers to come in and buy them at a much lower cost. The reuse centers are products of the ever growing environmental green movement and the economic crisis. It is common sense to be able to get something for free or at a much reduced cost. It is not only helps your budget being able to find certain items at such a low price but it is also just the right thing to do. Hundreds off these reuse centers have formed businesses that allow consumers to come in and go through what once was considered trash and shop through the odds and ends to buy items to be reused, which keeps them out of our landfills.

      Some of these reuse centers operate as businesses to sell reused items for a few dollars to generate revenue but, most are non-profit organizations getting by with grants, government support or income off of sales. No matter the size or vehicle of revenue they are all based on the same idea that for almost every item there is someone that has a use for it.

      Not only are they located across the nation but they also specialize in certain areas.  Reuse centers can come in all different sizes depending what exactly they aspire to accomplish inside their business. Large ones like the Loading Dock, Baltimore, Maryland specialize in building materials such as lumber, cabinets, windows, and almost anything else except broken appliances. Then there are the smaller ones like the Scrap Box, Ann Arbor, Michigan that specializes as an arts and crafts shop to reuse items towards creativity. They provide creativity/art classes for children and families and consider their shop as a way to creatively recycle.

      Much like what Recycling for Charities, these reuse centers strive keep materials that still have value out of our landfills. When it comes to preventing useful materials from entering landfills both the reuse centers and Recycling for Charities have the right idea. Organizations like the Loading Dock, the Scrap Box, and Recycling for Charities continue promote an eco-friendly environment and the green movement in hope to make our planet a better place.

      EcoATM Aims to Decrease E-Waste

      Friday, October 9th, 2009

      The green movement is here and there are efforts on all fronts to make sure it not only stays around but continues to grow. The ideas and creativity behind the Green movement have showed that everyone has the capabilities to recycle. Although, it may be on different levels some more intense than others, the opportunity to recycle now may find you instead of you having to look for it. That is exactly the case in Omaha, Nebraska where the new EcoATM has made its way on to the scene.

      The Nebraska Furniture Mart is the first location to install the EcoAtm, and is serving as a test study for a possible advance in a future release. EcoATM is a San Diego start up company that used to be known as Remobile. The have developed a self-service kiosk, also known as EcoATM which is focused on decreasing the amount of e-waste in the environment along with promoting an easy and convenient way to recycle old cell phones. The e-cycling stations inspects all cell phones and assigns them an up to date secondary market value and then provides an in store payment. If the phone has no monetary value the consumer can assign it to the recycling bin and off it goes.

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