Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

1. Compost Your Jack-o-Lantern
You can also save, wash, and roast the pumpkin seeds for a treat.

photo credit: tanakawho

2. Buy a Second-Hand Costume (and Donate It or Use It Next Year)
You can pick up high quality next-to-new costumes at Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other second-hand stores for less than $5. Sure beats paying $40, and you’ll conserve resources in the process. Don’t let your costumes’ lifecycle end there: pass them to a friend next year or donate to a retail charity and use your donation as a tax deduction.

3. Buy Less Individually Wrapped Candy
Let’s face facts: are you really going to get 400 trick-or-treaters? If you’re buying candy to satisfy your own sweet tooth, skip the small individually wrapped candies and opt for something with less packaging.

4. Turn Out the Lights
It adds ambiance to the night and saves energy, too.

5. Look for Any Opportunity to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Be mindful of your consumption during holidays when our desire to celebrate often leads to falling off the conservation bandwagon. Reuse costumes and decorations where you can. Recycle plastic cups, use compostable utensils, or use your regular flatware. Question whether you really need the Halloween merchandise that’s pushed at us each year. And just because something’s small doesn’t mean it can’t make a difference–I’ve even recycled tiny cardboard candy boxes from the kids’ treat bags.

More conservation ideas for Halloween from some of our favorite bloggers:

“Turning Halloween into Zero Waste Hallo-green,” My Zero Waste, October 16, 2008:
http://myzerowaste.com/2008/10/turning-halloween-into-a-zero-waste-hallo-green/

“Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Oh My!” Low Impact Home, September 30, 2008: http://lowimpacthome.org/2008/09/30/halloween-thanksgiving-christmasoh-my/

photo credit: Harris Graber

It’s come to our attention that a growing number of parents throw out their children’s trick-or-treat bounty when the kids aren’t looking. (Thanks to One Mom’s Musings for tipping us off.)

It’s a troublesome over-consumption paradox. Parents and neighbors buy lots and lots of candy. Children are encouraged to gather as much candy as they can. And then parents throw it out? That’s an enormous waste and a significant addition to overcrowded landfills. At least unwanted Christmas gifts can be returned to the store or schlepped off to Goodwill for reuse.

As a nation, it’s time for us to ask: Won’t somebody please think of the children? And the landfill?

This Halloween, if your children collect more candy than you think they should eat in a year, follow the lead of our forebearers: eat the candy yourself. Or bring it to the office to share with coworkers. It’s the responsible thing to do.

photo credit: :: Suwaif ::

MPG, or miles per gallon, is a major selling point for cars, but as the website RealClimate pointed out recently, there’s a lot of confusion as to what MPG really means for consumers and for public policy.

Take RealClimate’s example:

Which driver will reduce fuel usage and emissions more?

A. The driver swapping an old 12 MPG SUV for a hybrid 18 MPG SUV

B. The driver swapping a 25 MPG compact for a new 46 MPG Prius

I subtracted 12 from 18 and got 6; then subtracted 25 from 46 and got 21 and compared the two. I assumed the correct answer is A. WRONG! The correct answer is B, the driver swapping the old SUV for a hybrid. (Of course, a driver who swaps a gas-guzzling SUV for a compact hybrid would reduce his/her own fuel usage and emissions the most.)

The mistake, which the writers assure me is common, arises because most people think of numbers linearly and assume that a reduction in MPG has a similar impact on fuel usage. It doesn’t. Assuming a driving distance of 100 miles, example B saves just 1.8 gallons (100/25 - 100/46 = 1.8), while example A saves 2.8 gallons (100/12 - 100/18 = 2.8).

This is an important point, because it demonstrates that efficiencies gained at the low end of the scale can have a much bigger impact than efficiencies gained at the higher end.

Read RealClimate’s column at: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/09/the-mpg-confusion/

photo credit: nyki_m

According to Newsweek, a four-year-old start-up called RecycleBank is trying to boost recycling rates (and, of course, make money) by rewarding recyclers with points, redeemable for discounts at popular stores and on brand name items.

RecycleBank’s program works much like the frequent-flier programs offered by airlines or reward programs offered by credit card companies. The more you recycle, the more points you earn–up to 450 points a month, worth $45 in discounts at places that include Amazon.com, Starbucks, CVS Pharmacy, Shaw’s Supermarkets, and more.

The company’s main focus is on curbside recycling programs. When the local waste management company comes to pick up the week’s recycling, a device scans the radio-frequency ID (RFID) tag embedded in your recycling bin, weighs your recycling, and then awards points to your account.

While some people express privacy concerns over third-party companies measuring and recording what you throw out, more seem to be swayed by free swag. RecycleBank says recycling rates in Wilmington, Delaware, for example, jumped from 3 to 32 percent in just one year.

Unfortunately, if you live in a community where recycling is a natural routine, you may have to be content with knowing you’re doing your part for the planet. For now at least, RecycleBank is skipping places like San Francisco, where recycling rates remain steady at 69 percent (residential and commercial). Instead, it’s focusing on growth markets, where recycling rates are low.

Read the full story, “Saving the World for a Latte,” here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/161230

More resources:

“Boston Recycling Rates Not So Hot,” The Bostonist, July 30, 2008:
http://bostonist.com/2008/07/29/boston_recycling_rates_not_so_hot.php

“RecycleBank Raises $13M (Recycle Rates 90%),” EcoGeek, March 19, 2008:
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1457/

photo credit: Davichi

It’s not your imagination. You are getting less for your money. A new Consumer Reports reader survey found that a growing number of products are being downsized by manufacturers to cut costs (theirs not yours), while package sizes are remaining the same, and, in some cases, are growing.

Companies say customers prefer downsized products to price hikes. And Consumer Reports’ own survey suggests consumers are split, with half saying they prefer paying more to getting less. One thing is certain: more packaging means more waste–not just in terms of trash, but also greater quantities of raw materials, fuel, and energy consumed while producing and shipping larger containers.

Unfortunately, this common industry practice is more than just deceitful. It makes it even harder for the average consumer to follow the first and most important of the three conservation Rs: “reduce.”

A sampling of recently shrunk packages: Hershey’s special dark chocolate bar, Hellman’s mayonnaise, Iam’s cat food, Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal, and Dial bar soap.

Read the full story at: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/news/2008/10/the-lowdown-on-downsized-products/overview/downsizing-ov.htm

photo credit: Rob!

Prepare to be mad, elated, or maybe a little of both. HybridCars.com reports that last week’s controversial $700 billion Wall Street bailout also includes tax credits up to $7,500 for U.S. buyers of electric cars and hybrid plug-in vehicles.

Read the full story at: http://www.hybridcars.com/incentives-laws/congress-throws-cash-plug-hybrids-25093.html

photo credit: clownfish

Bleak economic news may be grabbing the headlines, but according to the National Retail Federation, U.S. consumers are set to spend more than ever this Halloween: $5.77 billion, a modest increase from last year’s $5.07 billion.

Sixty-five percent of us are planning to celebrate Halloween by buying candy, wearing a costume, hosting/attending a party, or decorating the house, which gives a good indication of what the nation’s trash collectors will be picking up Monday after the holiday weekend.

The most money will be spent on costumes (net average of $24.17 per person), followed by candy ($20.39), decorations ($18.25), and then somewhat surprisingly, greeting cards ($3.73). (I have to confess, I have bought Halloween cards in the past. If you sell it, they will come, I suppose.)

Here are some more estimates according to the NRF’s Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey published September 30, 2008:

• Average per person spending (2001): $41.77
• Average per person spending (2008 estimated): $66.54
• Biggest spenders by age: 18-24-year-olds at $86.59 per person
• Biggest spenders by region: Northeast at $70.84 per person
• Least likely to party: Only 30% of those in the West plan to attend/host a party

photo credit: hfb

Given that you can’t enter a store between August and October without seeing an array of fake plastic spiders, severed rubber fingers, sexy angel/devil/cat/nurse leotards, and cheek-pinchingly-cute baby costumes, it’s not surprising that many American consumers believe Halloween is the second biggest retail spending holiday of the year. It is not. The National Retail Federation, an industry trade organization, says:

“Though growing, Halloween remains the sixth-largest spending holiday after: Winter Holidays ($457.4 billion estimated), Valentine’s Day ($13.70 billion), Easter ($12.63 billion), Mother’s Day ($13.80 billion), and Father’s Day ($9.01 billion). Because it is not a gift-giving holiday or an apparel holiday, it ranks lower than other annual holidays in terms of spending.”

The retail industry does not measure holidays in terms of waste, but I think it’s safe to say Halloween can earn a second place title in that category. Overall, consumers are making more purchases (costumes, candy, decorations, food and beverage, etc.) in smaller dollar amounts than they typically make for Mother’s Day (flowers, a gift). Collectively, that adds up to lots more trash.

photo credit: salsaboy

“Can’t we just throw away these banana peels?” my exasperated husband asks as I point him to our new compost container. “Do we really have to keep our trash in the fridge?”

Composting doesn’t come easily in our household. While it’s a natural circle-of-life for people living off the land, for most apartment dwellers and urbanites, composting is like de-feathering our own poultry. Messy, smelly, and hard. We know our great-great-great grandparents did it on the farm, but they probably would have preferred the convenience of plastic sacks and trash chutes, too.

“All this stuff is biodegradable, so what difference does it make?” my resident conservation skeptic presses. Now I love the idea of composting as much as the next person, but I don’t think it should be done at the expense of one’s relationships. So I wave off the occasional eco-transgression for the benefit of family harmony.

Still, I’d like to participate our our city’s composting program more, so I’ve created quick cheat sheet to help convince even the most stubborn of skeptics. Please feel free to share with your own:

10 Reasons Why Composting Matters

1. Composting diverts valuable materials that would go wasted in landfill. According to the EPA, 23% of the U.S. waste stream is food and yard waste.
2. We’re running out of safe places to stash our trash–whatever is diverted for re-use or recycle is good.
3. Biodegradation occurs slowly, if at all, in most landfills.*
4. Burning trash creates air pollution and is illegal in many municipalities.
5. Building a new landfill is expensive, up to $10 million, according the the U.S. Department of Energy.
6. Food and yard waste are the largest producers of landfill methane emissions. These emissions are toxic and can explode if not managed properly. Reducing landfill means reducing these emissions.
7. Compost adds nutrients to soil and helps it retain water, helping growers conserve water.
8. Compost can prevent soil erosion.
9. Compost can clean contaminated soil by absorbing hazardous materials like volatile organic compounds, heating fuels, heavy metals, and more.
10. Compost can reduce or eliminate the need for fertilizers and pesticides that are costly and harmful to people and the environment.

*Landfills are tightly packed places, designed to prevent harmful waste from seeping into ground water. In landfill, biodegradable materials do not get the conditions they need to biodegrade: air, moisture, and helpful living organisms. In landfill excavations between 1987-1995, University of Arizona researchers found still-readable newspapers dating back to the 1940s and intact hot dogs and heads of lettuce from the 1960s!

More resources:

An easy-to-understand primer on landfills on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Kids site:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/landfiller.html

The EPA on composting’s environmental benefits:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/composting/benefits.htm

photo credit: psd

There is a lot of talk about how much energy a typical consumer uses, but how much do you use? After all, if you’re a Compete to Conserve member you’re probably already trying to cut back. That’s why the energy calculator on myGreenElectronics by the Consumer Electronics Association is so handy–and engrossing.

On one easy page, you fill out how many hours each day your electronic devices and appliances are on, idle, or completely off the grid. The calculator then estimates how much energy you use and what your costs per month and per year are. Neat!

The site also provides resources for donating used consumer devices and recycling:
http://www.mygreenelectronics.com/home.aspx