Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

photo credit: striatic

Laptops, Camcorders, Game systems, printers—nearly any electronic product you have lying unused around the house could potentially be traded-in FOR MONEY. Well, technically not everything may qualify for trade-in value, but ecoNEW, the program behind this offer, does promise that items will, at the very least, be properly recycled.

Here’s how it works:

1. You choose a retailer—Sam’s Club, NEX Navy Exchange or Office Depot—and enter info about your product into the “Value Calculator.”

2. A trade in value is determined and a prepaid mailing label is printed so you can send your product to a certified partner. When the product is received, a branded gift card is sent to you in the amount of the trade in value. And if there is no trade in value assessed, you can still send the product for recycling.

3. Your traded in product may be resold or broken down for sale in parts, while the remaining pieces are recycled.

Although the program is administered by N.E.W. Customer Service Companies, Inc, a provider of extended service plans, buyer protection programs and product support for retailers, etc, the end game is undeniably in line with the green goals of Reuse and Recycle. 

For more info and a list of accepted products, check out: http://www.econewonline.com/

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/

E-waste, or electronic waste, consisting of old computers, cell phones, TVs, VCRs and other discarded electronic equipment, has become one of the largest sources of solid waste generated by our high-tech, consumer-driven society.

photo credit: bdunnette

The ever-growing pile of e-waste shows no signs of abating anytime soon. For while we covet the latest electronic equipment on the market, the minute we obtain that new computer or cell phone, it has already become obsolete, soon to be replaced by a newer, sleeker version already being developed. And, when the newer model hits the market, we “throw away” our old equipment and the process begins anew.

The problem with this seemingly endless cycle is that e-waste—which contains valuable metals such as silver and gold as well as toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury and cadmium—is difficult to dispose of efficiently and safely.

Currently, only about 20% of e-waste is recycled. The rest sits in storage and domestic landfills, or it gets shipped off to China, India and other developing nations in Asia and Western Africa where it’s disassembled—often in a very dangerous and crude manner—and its parts sold for scrap.

Efforts to stem the tide of this “noxious clutter” (as National Geographic writer Chris Carroll put it) include the 1989 Basel Convention, a 170 nation-accord mandating that nations must be informed of incoming shipments of hazardous e-waste. In response to criticism that the Basel Convention wasn’t stringent enough, the 1995 Basel Ban was instituted, forbidding shipments of hazardous e-waste entirely.

However, illegal shipments abroad continue. The 2002 documentary Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia showed the harmful effects of e-waste dumping in places like the town of Guiyu in Guangdong Province in China. In Guiyu, both residents and the land tested positive for high levels of the toxic chemicals that leach into the ground and infiltrate the air once electronic equipment is dismantled. In his January 2008 National Geographic article, “High-Tech Trash,” Chris Carroll wrote of e-waste in Ghana being “flushed into the Atlantic” after it’s stripped of its valuable parts. And, in September of this year, a Government Accountability Office report, criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to prevent e-waste exports, particularly those of cathode-ray tubes (CRT) used in computer and TV screens, a responsibility allocated to the organization in January 2007.

Stressing the importance of accountability to combat the export and accumulation of e-waste, electronics manufacturers and governments (especially in Japan and Europe) have instituted “green design” and “take back” initiatives that not only restrict the amount of chemicals that go into electronic equipment to begin with but also promote responsible recycling by establishing e-waste collection points.

In the United States, where the infrastructure for “take back” and “green design” is not federally regulated or mandated, the responsibility for e-waste recycling rests with organizations like the EPA as noted above, as well as with state governments and individual companies.

In initiating and enforcing responsible e-waste recycling, the states of California and Massachusetts—who were the first to ban cathode ray tube monitors (CRT) from landfills—lead the way. Of course, many of the special e-waste recycling programs charge a fee, though a fairly nominal one. For example, in California, depending on the size of the computer or TV screen, the charge is about $6-$10.00.

Creative Solutions is one of a handful of U.S. companies who recycle electronics for a wide variety of “small, mid-size and Fortune 100 companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions and concerned citizens.” ReCellular, Inc., a Michigan-based reseller and recycler of mobile phones, sends its obsolete phones to Sims Recycling Solutions, an Australian firm with branches in the U.S., so that phones can be safely and efficiently recycled. Even the United States Postal Office is developing a free national collection program for small electronic items. The program was tested in select cities throughout the summer with the intention of implementing it nationwide this fall.

To find out more on how you can do your part to curb the e-waste cycle, see

Greenpeace “Guide to Greener Electronics”: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/toxics/hi-tech-highly-toxic/company-report-card

ERecycle.org—a “California partnership between government, manufacturers, retailers, and the environmental community”–offers a wealth of information about where and how Californians can recycle their electronics:

http://www.erecycle.org/search.asp

Earth 911 provides information on what items are recyclable and where they can be recycled:

http://earth911.org/electronics/

photo credit: charles chan *

When I first moved to Los Angeles from New York City,  I was taken aback by the taste of the tap water.   After being spoiled by the refreshingly crisp taste of NYC tap water, I couldn’t bring myself to drink the water in LA, except under dire circumstances.  I resorted to purchasing bottled water - large jugs that I would refill at the Glacier water stand in front of the local supermarket or 24-packs of bottled water (yes, shame on me).

I’m not proud of the water habit I acquired in my new habitat and have recently opted to use a Brita filtration system at home in lieu of purchasing bottled water.  Little did I know, however, that while I was eliminating a large chunk of plastic bottle waste, I began amassing new plastic waste! 

I was unaware that Brita (owned by Clorox) does not have a recycling program in place in North America as it does in Europe, which means that every used-up filter cartridge across the United States and Canada ends up in landfills.  The amount of waste resulting from this cartridge pile-up seems quite staggering when you consider the fact that Brita has the #1 market share of pour-through filter cartridges in the U.S. and Canada.  It is also the #1 faucet-mount filter in Canada and the #2 faucet-mount filter in the U.S (according to Clorox’s 2007 Annual Report).

Since Brita filters are recycled in Europe through its own private collection and recycling system, it should be possible for Clorox to implement a similar system here, right?  So, what can we do?

For those of you that enjoy Brita-filtered water, but are hesitating to throw your filters away into your trash can, check out this organization I found - TakeBackTheFilter.org - and join their campaign to urge Clorox to develop a take-back recycling program.  You can sign their petition; write a letter to a Clorox executive; or send in your used filter cartridges that they are collecting to deliver to Clorox en masse at some point in the future.  How cool is that!?!

photo credit: How can I recycle this

BBC reporter Christine Jeavans swore off plastics for the month of August, chronicling her trials in a riveting blog. Her self-imposed rules allowed her to keep the plastics she already owns, but she gave up buying any new items made of plastic, in plastic containers, or wrapped in plastic.

It wasn’t easy. Or even realistic. Jeavans slipped up occasionally, and kept a tally of items. While she didn’t lead an entirely plastic-free month, she estimates that her family reduced their plastic consumption by 80 percent, compared to an average month in which she tallied their plastic usage.

Critics of her experiment point out that plastic is a highly convenient, economical material, which Jeavans acknowledges. Sometimes, plastic could even be considered environmentally friendly, because it extends the shelf life for many foods, thus reducing food waste, and its lighter weight (compared to paper) means it takes less fuel to transport.

Jeavans maintains the point of her exercise was not to demonize plastic, but to get people thinking about the consequences of mindless waste. It’s a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. As it stands now, most of the responsibility for waste reduction falls upon individual consumers,  even though the majority of packaging waste comes industry, and consumers are often limited in their conservation choices. What are you supposed to do if your recycling center doesn’t accept plastic lids? Keep them in your basement until the neighbors call the fire department on you?

It’s important for consumers to reduce, re-use, recycle as much as possible, but on a macro level, manufacturers and producers should also think about the life cycle of each and every product they make. Otherwise there’s gonna be more junk than our basements or landfill can handle.

Jeavans wrote a BBC piece about the beginning of her journey and posted a short video:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7508321.stm

The BBC published her conclusions here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7591751.stm

The Barkingside 21 blog has a great post regarding “A Month without Plastic” and points us to two articles that suggest rising plastics costs may encourage landfill ming for materials:
http://barkingside21.blogspot.com/2008/08/month-without-plastic.html

Earlier this year Alex Rodriguez signed a $275 Million, ten-year contract with the New York Yankees, cutting short his $252 Million ten-year contract with the Texas Rangers signed in 2001.  On the other side of the country, the Los Angeles Dodgers recently acquired Manny Ramirez in the final year of his $160 Million contract signed with the Boston Red Sox in 2001.

Major League Baseball may not be synonymous with environmental sustainability, but the 2008 season has treated fans to a shade of green separate and apart from the playing field.

Last April, the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles played the first carbon-neutral baseball game in MLB history.  To celebrate Earth Day, the teams partnered with Cedar Grove Composting to offset the game’s energy consumption by funding certain energy-conservation projects.  An estimated 230 tons of carbon dioxide produced by flight travel, electricity and natural gas during the game, disposal or recycling of waste, hotel-related emissions, and team staff and fan transportation was offset by an investment in new methane and wind projects.

To start the 2008 season, the Philadelphia Phillies announced the team would offset the carbon footprint created by the utility power usage at the team’s stadium by purchasing 20 million kilowatt-hours of Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates.  This contribution is the functional equivalent of planting 100,000 trees.

Also this season, MLB partnered with the National Resources Defense Council to provide teams with eco-friendly advice in all areas of operations.  “Using corn starch cups, increasing recycling and installing solar panels and possibly wind turbines at ballparks are among the measures teams will consider as part of a major league-wide effort to reduce baseball’s carbon footprint.”  (USAtoday.com, March 12, 2008.)  Named the “Team Greening Program”, each team received software to provide assistance in energy and water conservation, the purchase of eco-friendly products, how to improve sales from concession areas, recyling and transporatation.

Now, the Los Angeles Angels and Compete to Conserve are working together to promote global sustainability, starting with the fans.  In an effort to promote conservation on an individual and accessible level, Compete to Conserve hopes to increase recycling at Anaheim Stadium while inspiring fans to make positive and practical changes in the way they consume natural resources.

As the season enters its final month, it appears that the Angels are familiar with the principles of long-term energy conservation.  Holding firm to a first place lead of 17 games and only 23 left for the season, the Angels are well positioned to sustain their division lead heading into the playoffs.

For more information please visit:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/359994_greenball22.html

http://greentechnolog.com/2008/05/philadelphia_phillies_go_green.html

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-03-10-MLB-goes-green_N.htm

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52577

photo credit: lumaxart

Paper, plastic, aluminum… sounds simple, right?  The general population has grown accustomed to recycling at home and even at work (hopefully).  But when my boyfriend threw an empty cigarette pack into my bag full of recyclable items that I was gathering for the week, it made me question the common recycling knowledge I thought I had acquired over the years.  The truth is, outside of soda bottles, beer cans, and newspapers, there is a plethora of items are questionable. 

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind the next time you question whether or not something should be dumped with your trash or sent out to a recycling center.  I recommend checking out your city’s guidelines for additional clarification on which items meet the requirements for curbside recycling programs. 

PAPER:

All Clean Dry Paper: computer, ledger, wrapping, arts and craft paper, unwanted mail, flyers, telephone books (separate the spine from the pages), note cards, newspaper, blueprints, magazines, file folders, paper bags, Post-it notes, catalogs; and all envelopes including those with windows.

All Cardboard Boxes and Chipboard: cereal, tissue, dry food, frozen food, shoe, and detergent boxes; paper and toilet rolls; and corrugated boxes broken down and flattened.  These should not be recycled:

1. Pizza boxes (grease contamination) - consider composting methods if you are a Pizza Hut junkie!
2. Boxes that have not been flattened and emptied out
3. Wet Boxes

METALS:

All Aluminum, Tin, Metal, and Bi-Metal Cans: rinsed if possible, soda, juice, soup, vegetables, and pet food cans; pie tins; clean aluminum foils; empty paint and aerosol cans with plastic caps removed, and wire hangers.

GLASS:

All Glass Bottles and Jars: rinsed if possible, soda, wine, beer, spaghetti sauce, pickle jars, broken bottles, and etc.  Note - most recycling programs will only accept glass containers because products such as drinking glasses, light bulbs, mirrors and Pyrex have been treated with contaminants when manufactured.

PLASTICS:

All Clean Plastics 1 Through 7
Empty Plastic Containers: rinsed if possible, soda, juice, detergent, bleach, shampoo, lotion, mouthwash, dish washing liquid bottles, milk jugs, tubs for margarine and yogurt, plastic planters, food and blister packaging.

All Plastic Bags and All Film Bags: grocery bags and dry cleaner bags, and all clean film plastic.

All Clean Polystyrene (Styrofoam®): Styrofoam® cups, containers, and packaging such as Styrofoam®   egg shell cartons, Styrofoam® block packaging, and Styrofoam® clamshell packaging.

Miscellaneous Plastics: Plastic coat hangers, non-electric plastic toys, plastic swimming pools, & plastic laundry baskets.

HAZARDOUS WASTES AND ELECTRONICS:

Automotive Products: motor oil, brake and transmission fluid, antifreeze and car batteries, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, car wax with solvent, and windshield wiper fluid.

Home Improvement Products: paint, varnish, stain, paint thinner, paint stripper, caulk, adhesives, primer, rust remover, turpentine, mineral spirits and glues.

Household Cleaners: drain cleaners, oven cleaners, toilet cleaners, spot removers, silver polishes, furniture polishes, window cleaners, bleach, dyes, tub and tile cleaner, and ammonia.

Pesticides: insecticide and insect repellant, weed killer, rat and mouse poison, pet spray and dip, flea collars, mothballs, ant/roach killer, garden fungicides, slug poison, wood preservative, and banned pesticides.

Other household hazardous products: certain electronics, batteries, aerosol products, air fresheners, smoke detectors, shoe polish, cosmetics, pool chemicals, lighter fluid, prescription medicines, and arts and craft materials.

In addition to donation centers and municipal programs, many manufacturers and retailers have begun their own recycling programs for electronic goods.  The EPA’s website has a ton of resources to assist you with “e-cycling” as well as disposal of hazardous waste.

And for those of you that were wondering if cigarette packs are indeed recyclable, the answer really depends on your local municipal waste center’s regulations.  I did find out that most cities in Rhode Island do not accept cigarette packs in their recycling programs.  The Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation’s website did not specify. 

Additional Resources:

Earth 911 - http://earth911.org/

City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation - http://www.lacity.org/SAN/index.htm

Slow Food Nation '08 in San Francisco.

Slow Food Nation ’08 came to a close in San Francisco yesterday, leaving, organizers hope, very little waste.

Festivals, fairs, amusement parks, and sporting events are notorious for the amount of garbage left in their wake. Along with porta-potties and drunken dudes, trash is an unfortunate reality associated with otherwise joyous county fairs and street fairs. That’s what made Slow Food Nation’s commitment to zero waste such a welcome relief. (”Zero waste” strives to eliminate waste, regarding trash as a resource that can be reused or re-purposed.)

Bins, Staff Made Zero Waste Easy

The weekend-long festival was like Disneyland for foodies with a conscience. Featuring a farmers’ market, a bevy of speakers, a large “Victory Garden” of fruits and vegetables growing outside City Hall, and lots of “slow food” from local restaurants, Slow Food Nation also sported plenty of easy-to-find bins for separating waste into three categories: recyclables, compostables, and landfill. Vendors were careful to offer only items that could be composted or recycled.

The festival also hired a helpful, energetic, friendly staff to help festival-goers place the right items in the right bins. Contamination continues to be the bugaboo of recyclers, so adding a human element no doubt aided organizers’ efforts.

Who Else Is Moving Toward Zero Waste?

Of course, while Slow Food Nation as an organization goes to great pains to not be elitist, the festival was clearly populated by people who already have an interest in sustainability and zero waste practices. More interesting, and maybe even more valuable, would be seeing these efforts in practice at events like the Sonoma County Fair or a 49ers’ game, where larger and more diverse population segments come together.

The Sonoma County Fair did host a “sustainability pavilion” this year, but the fair’s sustainable efforts seemed to end there. When I attended, garbage bins were overflowing with heaps of non-biodegradable utensils and food scraps and food-soiled papers that could have easily been reclaimed and composted.

Still, bit by bit, various festival organizers across the country and trying to make love for a good party compatible with zero waste. Alameda County, across the Bay, employed zero waste practices in its last county fair. Walworth County, Wisconsin, published a case study on their efforts to encourage less waste. And this year’s Silver Lake street fair in Los Angeles worked to get vendors to switch to biodegradable carryout containers and to get people to “think before you toss.”

More resources:

Slow Food Nation ‘08:
http://slowfoodnation.org/

Case Study: Walworth County Fair, Wisconsin:
http://www.besmart.org/publicplacerecycling/Case-studies/Walworth-County-Fair/wc-fair.html

“‘Wasted’ at the County Fair,” on Mom Goes Green:
http://www.momgoesgreen.com/%E2%80%9Cwasted%E2%80%9D-at-the-county-fair/

“The Greening of a Los Angeles Street Festival,” August 24, 2008, The Los Angeles Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-sunsetjunction24-2008aug24,0,1134965.story

“Slow Food Brings Many Issues to the Table,” August 29, 2008, San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/29/MNKQ12K54L.DTL

1. 
   photo credit: cursedthing

   Buying in Bulk Saves Money
   We’re not just talking about buying giant boxes of food a warehouse store. (Although, if you eat that many Cheerios in a month, it can save you money.) We’re talking about the bulk bins at your local grocery store, where you can buy everything from rice, beans, flours, and spices to cereals, nuts, dried fruits, and pastas.
   You can save serious money shopping from these bins—10 to 30 percent off prepackaged prices.

2. Less Trash
   Compare the packaging of 10 cans of kidney beans to one bag. Or three 10-ounce boxes of cereal (three cardboard boxes and three un-recyclable plastic liners) to one bag and a twist tie. You can also reuse your bulk bin bag and twist tie to reduce your waste even more.
   If you’re super-attached to your old cereal boxes, save them and place your reusable bag inside.
3. Less Goes to Waste
   When you buy from the buy bins, you can buy the exact amount you need, so less is likely to spoil and go to waste.
4. Food Often Tastes Better
   Canned beans, for example, are more convenient, but once you get into the rhythm of pre-soaking beans and cooking them the night before, you’ll find beans from the bulk bins taste much better. They harbor none of the metallic aftertaste found in canned beans.
5. A Chemical Found in Most Canned Foods Is Linked to Cancer
   Unbelievable as it sounds, it’s true. Most food and drink cans are lined with a plastic resin that contains a chemical compound called bisphenol A (BPA). Due to a growing concern about the harmful health effects of BPA, it is being banned from baby bottles in Canada and many plastic-bottle manufacturers are voluntarily phasing it out of their products. The makers of cans, however, have not felt the wrath of consumers yet, so most plan to continue using it.

   More resources on BPA in cans, and, if you can’t buy fresh, who offers BPA-free cans:

   “BPA Danger May Be Greater in Tin Cans Than in Water Bottles,” TreeHugger
   http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/bpa-danger-from-cans.php

   A list of companies that use BPA in cans, from Organic Grace
   http://organicgrace.com/node/316

   “Where to Find BPA-free Cans,” Julie’s Health Club
   http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2008/06/where-to-find-b.html

photo credit: Sue Richards

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved an experiment by the city’s Bureau of Sanitation to begin a table scrap collection program within select areas of L.A., giving hope not only to the reduction of landfill waste, but also to the minimization of sewage waste and wasted energy caused by the common practice of disposing food scraps into garbage disposal units.

The experiment will begin with the distribution of 2-gallon kitchen pails to about 5,000 households in the areas of Harbor Gateway, Lincoln Heights, and South Los Angeles.  Once these pails are filled with various food leftovers, its contents are to be dumped into the large green bins outside of each home that are currently collected for various yard trimmings.  The food and green waste combined, would then be delivered to a composting center near Bakersfield.  The program will start next month, following the lead of other regions within the state, including the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to a study conducted by the City of Los Angeles in 2002, single-family homes generated over 230,000 tons of food waste, while multi-family homes contributed almost 149,000 tons, adding up to about 380,000 tons of waste that could be turned into compost.  A  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report indicates that yard trimmings and food waste make up 23 percent of U.S. waste stream.  Although there has been surge in yard waste recovery from 1988 to 2000, only 2.6 percent of food waste was composted in 2000, compared to 56.9 percent of yard trimmings that were recovered for composting, indicating a larger need for food waste programs throughout the country.

While there are an assortment of regional composting programs and educational information available to U.S. residents, the reality is that not enough people are used to or comfortable yet with the idea of food recycling as they are with the recycling of cans, bottles and newspapers.  The benefits of composting food and organic waste cannot be ignored though, when you consider the amount of greenhouse gas that is emitted by its decomposition in a landfill or the amount of money that is wasted on disposal fees, hauling costs, fertilizers and pesticides.

For more information on Composting Programs in your region of the country, visit the EPA’s website: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/composting/live.htm

There is also a really cool website, “Composting 101,” that can provide you with tips to create your own composting program in your own back yard (no pun intended!): http://www.composting101.com/

Additional Resources:

Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-me-scraps13-2008aug13,0,6358339,print.story

City of Los Angeles Solid Waste Planning Background Studies Summary Report:

http://www.lacity.org/san/solid_resources/pdfs/rfp-swirp-appendix-b3.pdf)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/composting/basic.htm

National Resources Defense Council:

http://www.nrdc.org/enterprise/greeningadvisor/wm-composting.asp