Weekly green topic: Recycle it

This week's eco-topic: Recycle

Recycling is more lucrative than ever in Cali, now that you can get a nickel per small container and a dime per large container. Better yet, since your home is now full of those empty bottles from your holiday parties, you don't even have to dumpster-dive to make a little money to spend in the new year!

So: This week is recyling week, covering everything from holiday trees to motor oil. Unlike other weekly green topics, recycling week starts today, the day after all the xmas parties, to run until New Year's Eve. This way you can properly recycle the post-party detritus from your holiday fun, as well as make informed recycling resolutions for the new year.

Before we begin: A little humor from the Onion, from an article titled "EPA: Recycling Eliminated More Than 50 Million Tons of Guilt In '96"

"A ceramic, reusable mug is the most environmentally sound choice for coffee drinkers," [EPA spokesman Patrick] Toomer said. "But a mug only makes you feel good once—at that moment when you first buy it. On the other hand, using a new disposable cup made from recycled materials every single day will make you feel like you're doing your part to help the environment every single day."

Which is just a cheerful reminder to say that reduce and reuse always come first -- and are much more important -- than recycling. Yes, if you already drank that bottled water, please do throw it in the blue bin. But a pretty reusable bottle is really the way to go.

Previous weekly green topics: de-car-ing, energy, bring your own

Photo by Vaugn Hannon via Flickr

Comments

[James]

Siel,

I'm curious about recycling newspaper. Where I work we seem to amass a lot of yesterday's newspapers. I use as much as I can as packing mat'l for shipping, (much better than styro beads, peanuts, and bubble wrap), but I've got stacks of the stuff left over. I can't find anyplace that buys it, and I don't want to see it go in a landfill.

[Jim Wangsness]

Siel. You mean in Cali, Colombia they're paying that much? I'm moving there!

[Siel]

James -- I take it your work does not have a recycling program in place -- a problem I'll talk about later this week. But in the meantime, is taking it home and putting it in the blue bin an option? It won't pay ya, but it'll be recycled --

Jim -- Once you get over your own snarkiness, I'm sure you'll be smart enough to figure out that Cali, in a blog that's about LA, refers to the state of California.

[James Bean]

Siel,

I'm a bus and bicycle person. I also live close enough to work that I generally walk the seven blocks.

My workplace is, 7th between Olive and Grand. It's an old bldg. ca.1917, it's not full of tenants, and to the owner it's a really just cash cow. The only advantage is cheap rent.

I wonder if another bldg. nearby, that has a recycling program would let me drop it off there?

It sure would be nice if some forward thinking City Council Person would propose creating a bounty for recycling news paper. Considering how many copies of L.A. Times are consumed daily it sure would take a load off the landfills.

[m]

Some Whole Foods stores have large recycling bins that accept recycling for the community, including newspaper.

[Siel]

James -- answered your Q in more detail here :)

Good to know re: the Whole Foods stores, m -- Do you know which stores in particular?

[Dmitriy]

Wow big deal, how is this law going to be enforced? Oh ye it will not. So basically this law is feel good law, aka see we are doing something so you should re-elect us next time.

[James]

Wow Dmitriy!

You really add a nice dose of cynacisim to this discussion. How 'bout we do it because it's the right thing to do? If people like you didn't have to be forced to do the right thing we wouldn't need laws to enforce it, then you piss and moan about the laws.

Thought about my offer of a rail tour?

It's still open. That is if you're not too scared of poor people.

[Siel]

Dmitriy -- I'm actually not sure what law you're referring to, but your sunny comments are always a pleasure to read.