Single-stream recycling on the rise March 15, 2008

It seems that most people aren’t opposed to the idea of recycling. What makes them hesitate is the sorting. Depending on where you live, you might have to separate glass from cans, glossy paper from newsprint, and if you’re lucky enough to live in an area where there’s cardboard recycling, corrugated from plain cardboard. Then there are the plastic bags and deposit bottles to take back to the store.

Single-stream publicity for Philadelphia

In some communities, life has become simpler as a result of “single-stream recycling”. And best of all, it appears that in communities where single-stream recycling has been introduced, recycling rates have risen dramatically. From May 2005 when single-stream was introduced in Denver, to January 2006, one recycling company, Waste Management, found that the amount of unsorted recyclables they processed at their facility in northeast Denver increased from 2,000 tons to 8,000 tons per month. Denver Recycles, which manages the recycling program for the city of Denver, saw an 18 percent increase in recyclables collected overall during the same time period. Nationwide, from 2002 to 2006, the volume of material processed in Waste Management’s single-stream recycling facilities nearly tripled, from about 722,000 tons in 2002 to more than 2 million tons in 2006.

Single-stream recycling continues to be rolled out to more and more cities. One of the most recent, in January of this year, is Baltimore and surrounding cities such as Canton, Maryland. Instructions by their Department of Public Works take the “reduce” component of the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) a step further by not even requiring residents to put their cast-offs in a plastic bin. They can use a cardboard box or any other container that is clearly marked as “Recycling”.

Does your community offer single-stream recycling? Has it encouraged you to recycle more? Or, if you don’t have it, do you think it would motivate you? Are there any drawbacks?

So far it sounds good. What I’d like to see now is consistency from town to town in what can be recycled!

Follow-up: hangars March 14, 2008

I was happy to see that there is a company addressing the issue of hangars. According to the Ditto Hangars web site, every year an estimated 8-10 billion unrecyclable plastic/wire hangers end up clogging our municipal landfills, requiring over 1,000 years to break down. That’s 4.6 Empire State Buildings full of plastic hangers–every year. An estimated 3.5 million wire hangers end up in landfills and can take over 100 years to decompose.

They have designed 100% recyclable Ditto Paper Hangars, and 100% Pet Plastic Hangars made of 100% polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the easily recyclable plastic commonly used to produce water bottles.

This certainly is something worth keeping an eye on.

Seen near Cooper Square March 13, 2008

The piles of trash in NYC are huge. I recently passed the following two of many mounds of trash, much of it in black plastic bags, which are made from petroleum.

The good news is that in NYC, there are plenty of people who are interested in reusing things that they find in the street. As you see in the photo on the left, two men are already seeing what they can make use of in the pile of refuse on 9th Street. When I first passed the large pile of trash on the right, it seemed that no one was interested in what really looked like rubbish, including large pieces of broken glass. However, when I walked down the street after class, a man was trying with much determination to secure a couple of the long boards on his bicycle, although he had no rope or bungee cords.

There is no easy way that I know of in my town or in Manhattan to offer unused items to others. Here in Nassau County as in some other parts of the country, we do have freecycle.org, which is run like a newsgroup, where interested parties can post messages about things they want to give away. It’s not exactly difficult, but it does take some effort. There’s also craigslist, where you can list item that are free or post a Curb Alert (see an example). Apparently some regions have a free pile right at their recycling center, which makes a lot of sense. Carocoknits has a blog entry about her latest finds: Why are you frugal?

This morning was trash day in the next town and I was very happy to see someone with a pickup truck scrounging for useful or salable items. The bed of the truck was full. I was torn between being pleased that someone else had the opinion that we shouldn’t be throwing things that could be used into the trash, and yet on the other hand being a bit taken aback at the sight of someone going through garbage right on our suburban streets. It’s not something I’m used to seeing, and I almost wondered if some people might think it illegal or consider it a quality of life crime. I for one, wanted to pull over and talk to the person, find out why he’s doing it, and tell him to keep up the good work!

Update: CRT Monitor March 13, 2008

Bad news this week from The Cristina Foundation:

We regret to inform you that we have been unsuccessful in placing your donated equipment listed below.

Several notices were sent to partner organizations in your area however none were able to accept your equipment at this time.

To dispose of your equipment you can go to Dell Recycling and follow their instructions or to E-cycling Central for information in your state about groups who might be able to recycle your computer equipment.

Aside from the suggestions offered in the email above, there are a couple of other options to try:

• My local Sanitation Department’s electronics recycling day
• Craigslist -probably in the free section

Volunteers in Portland, Oregon, have found their own solution. Free Geek, a not-for-profit community organization, was founded eight years ago to recycle computer technology and provide low and no-cost computing to individuals and not-for-profit and social change organizations. So far Free Geek has recycled over 1,500 tons of electronic scrap and refurbished over 15,000 computer systems that are now in use by individuals and organizations in the community. The computers are loaded with GNU/Linux operationg systems and free software.

Most of the work is done by about 500 active volunteers, and anyone who puts in 24 hours of volunteer time can “adopt” a computer.

Free Geek is in the process of trademarking their name, and nine similar organizations in the US and Canada have been accepted as Free Geeks. If you think you’d like to start a similar program, you can apply.

As time goes on, more and more products will be designed with the end of their lifecycle planned as carefully as the initial use is. Until then, we just have to do the best we can.

Stirring It Up by Gary Hirshberg March 12, 2008

I’ve recently listened to Stirring It Up, by Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farms, on CD. It’s relatively short, but made quite an impression on me and actually made me look differently at my interest in recycling.

Hirshberg makes several interesting points:

• Nature and business are allies, not foes, and Saving the World is Profitable (USA Today)
• There is no such place as “away” as in “throw it away”
• Recycling should be a last resort. Our efforts should be focused on reduced packaging, and sustainable processes to reduce waste and our carbon footprint.
• Human beings have the intelligence and drive to find solutions for our environmental issues, and small efforts, gradually increasing over time, on both an individual and corporate level are worth making.

Hirshberg describes the evolution of green ways of doing business at several companies aside from Stonyfield Farms, including Timberland, Seventh Generation, Honest Tea and Newman’s Own, among others.

Not only is Hirshberg optimistic about the future of the planet, but also about the positive influence that conducting business in an environmentally friendly way will have on company profits, and the psyche of both customers and employees.

Although the estimated global warming gas emissions resulting from the production of the book were offset by an investment in a manure digester at a farm in Pennsylvania, I recommend that you save a tree and get the book or CD from your local library.

What does the future hold for large appliances? March 2, 2008

This week I passed this sad-looking stove that had been replaced and was waiting for the next day’s pick-up by the sanitation truck.

The thought of it just going to a landfill makes me cringe. On the other hand, I can’t fault the former owner, because there is no process in place to deal with durable goods recycling. Other countries and actually some parts of the U.S. have made progress in this area:

There’s an article in today’s New York Times that discusses the point that in order to us to make progress in durable goods recycling, changes have to be made at the design phase. Driven by recent and potential legislation, a few companies are now considering not only the early days of their products, but also what will happen to them when they have outlived their usefulness. BMW tried this on a small scale in 1988 when they introduced a limited edition of a roadster partially constructed with plastic panels that unfastened easily and could be recycled.

There are a few hurdles to be overcome. Often the variety of the different types of plastics used together in one product make recovery and recycling complex, as does a combination of both plastic and metal. However, more and more manufacturers, whether because of the carrot or the stick, are looking for ways to ensure that their products don’t end up at the bottom of a landfill.

Too many old monitors! February 25, 2008

I finally made the switch to a flat-screen monitor this week. I’d inherited it a year ago and never bothered to hook it up. Finally the advantages of saving space and some energy prompted me to make the change. The new monitor is great, only now I have the old CRT monitor sitting on my living room floor. It didn’t seem all that big when it was on my computer stand, but when I look at it now it seems immense:

 

(The wine bottle is just for perspective!)

My problem is bigger than this, however. I actually have 2 other similarly large monitors I’m not using, plus 2 non-working but fixable printers, 2 or 3 keyboards, and a complete desktop system that my mother just replaced and that I volunteered to dispose of for her.

Despite the fact that there is probably a higher concentration of hardware in the NYC metropolitan area, there are surprisingly few options for donating or recycling. Most of my unneeded equipment is in working order, so I would prefer not to take it to my town’s electronic recycling day, which isn’t until April 18th anyway. My preference is that it find a useful purpose somewhere. Staples collects from businesses but not from individuals, and even the apparently helpful Find a Recycling Center at earth911.org didn’t offer any options.

Finally, after many fruitless searches, I came across the National Cristina Foundation, which encourages companies and individuals to donate computers and other technology, which are then matched to charities, schools and public agencies in all 50 states, Canada, and in many countries around the world. The process was easy. I filled in a form with the details of the monitor, and my contact information. Once they have a match they will get in touch. There is an option for 3 levels of detail about the equipment. I chose the most detailed in this case because I knew the make and model number, and had been able to find some of the specs on Amazon. For the IBM I have I don’t have much detail, so when I post that one I’ll choose the “don’t know much about the equipment” option. I could also choose whether I’d ship the item or would prefer to drop it off or have it picked up, which seemed more sensible in this case. They say it takes 2 weeks minimum to hear back, so I’ll have to be patient, and will update the blog once I’ve been contacted.

The take many types of notebooks, desktops, printers, peripherals and even software, so if you have something you don’t need, give it a try. Not only will you be helping someone else, you’ll be keeping potentially dangerous substances out of a landfill.

Encouraging signs February 20, 2008

I started recycling glass bottles and aluminum cans over 30 years ago. They would pile up at my house, sometimes sorted into the three categories of brown/green glass, clear glass and cans. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, or when they threatened to spill out from the area where I kept them and block my front door, I’d load them all into my car and drive them across town to where the tall, ugly dumpsters were. There was something cathartic about slinging them high enough into the air to clear the edge of the big bins, and then hearing the smashing glass when they dropped on the other side. Sometimes in summer I’d have to run from the bees that rose up, disturbed by the intrusion.Things have changed over the years, and now all I have to do is drag my yellow tub out to the curb each week. The great thing is that recycling is a part of my neighbors’ lives, too. It’s something we all take for granted, and when in one of the few parts of the country where I can’t recycle, it seems strange to throw a can or glass bottle into the trash.

I wonder how many cubic yards of glass and cans I’ve saved from the landfills in over 30 years? We can all make a difference!

Plastic cutlery and wire hangars! February 18, 2008

Well, I got confused with the holiday today, and by the time I went for my walk, the garbage had been collected, so I can’t share tales of my neighbors’ refuse. Instead, I will talk about two issues I face on my own: plastic cutlery and wire hangars.

No matter how hard I try not to acquire plastic forks, spoons, and sometimes knives, it seems hopeless. The other night I ordered Chinese takeout, and when I got home I discovered that they had thoughtfully provided me with a plastic fork. That wouldn’t have surprised me at lunch, or if I had been in the city, but here in suburbia, it’s unlikely that I’d be taking my food anywhere but home, where I have plenty of cutlery, and usually use chopsticks anyway for Chinese. I would think that it would be better for the restaurant not to have to hand out forks, etc., when they’re not needed, between the expense and storage issues in a small place. Plus, they already have self-serve bins of mustard, soy and duck sauces, so why not forks? My community will not accept plastic cutlery for recycling, and I already have way too much of that stuff already. (You can put them in the dishwasher and they last forever.)

My other pet peeve is wire hangars. I try not to use dry cleaning much, but even so, the wire hangars I do get seem to multiply like rabbits. Sometimes the clothes are only on them for 24 hours, before I take sweaters, etc. off to fold them and put them in a drawer. Should I just throw the hangars out? Once I took a pile of them back to the dry cleaner and they took them back, but I had a feeling they weren’t going to make it back to the plant where they actually clean the clothes.

I’ve managed to cut down on a lot of other superfluous items that make it into the house, but these two have me stumped. Does anyone have any suggestions?

A notable package and an interesting coincidence February 17, 2008

I didn’t think I’d run across something I wanted to talk about so soon, or so easily. Only hours after I had started my blog, a colleague at work brought over an example of excess packaging. “Hey, Les, I thought you’d be interested in seeing this!” I guess I have a reputation in the office. “Look at the size of the carton they used to mail this little box.” Sure enough, a little gift box measuring about 3″ square and 3/4″ thick was nestled at the top of a carton measuring 10″x10″x11 1/2″. The box didn’t even contain anything fragile

A friend lent me her camera phone. Tale a look:

Now here’s the interesting part -

Although this arrived on Thursday, I hadn’t written about it yet. Then Friday night I was reading Seth Godin’s blog for the first time in quite a while and a few entries down I found that he had written about a similar experience. Take a look at the entry Profligate. At first I was disappointed, thinking that it looked as if I was almost plagiarizing, but then I realized that it’s actually a very encouraging situation, since it shows an example about how people’s consciousness about packaging is changing. Perhaps I shouldn’t use this one blog entry as an indication that the minds of the masses are being swayed, but I was glad to see it.