|
|
So-called biodegradable or compostable flatware come with their own problems, an L.A. Times article pointed out yesterday. Since most of these only biodegrade in industrial composting facilities that get things really hot -- and since few cities have such facilities, let alone city-wide collection programs for these newfangled disposables, most of the allegedly greener food containers and utensils go to landfills, just like non-recyclable goods.
But if you live in Santa Monica and have a green bin, you're in luck. The city of Santa Monica's green bins now accept compostable food containers and utensils, in addition to yard waste and food scraps. To make sure all the compostable containers break down properly, the collected waste's then taken up to an industrial composting facility in Sun Valley.
Although the city's already trucking all the green bin waste to Sun Valley, public outreach about the program hasn't yet begun -- which, according to Wes Thompson, solid waste supervisor for the city of Santa Monica, means the program hasn't officially launched. "Our fliers are at the graphic designers," Thompson says.
Santa Monica residents don't have to wait for the fliers to hit their mailboxes, however. Start putting their compostable containers and food scraps into your green bins now!
Of course, if you live in an apartment like I do, you don't yet have your own green container. "We're working on that," says Thompson, who says multifamily housing units in Santa Monica tend to be landscaped more -- and thus produce more yard waste -- than similar units in other cities. "If we're going to get to zero waste, [expanding the green bin program] will be the only way."
 Getting a city-wide green bin program in place for multifamily housing units, however, will likely take a couple years, says Thompson. In the meantime, Santa Monica will get a smaller program: Green bins where people can drop off their compostables will be placed in a couple spots around the city. Thompson doesn't have the spots picked out yet, but said the bins will definitely be in place by the end of the summer.
If you don't live in Santa Monica, this green bin program sadly does NOT apply to you. The city of L.A., for example, cannot handle compostable food containers in its green bins -- though vegan food scraps are allowed. You can try to push the city to go the Santa Monica route -- or just get into the habit of using your own, non-disposable utensils.
Top photo by Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times; bottom photo courtesy of reusablebags.com
Your eco-questions answered:
Question: Do you have any sources on recycling in Orange County? We live in an apartment [in Yorba Linda], where there isn't (apparently) recycling available. (Management says that the trash stream gets recycled separately, but I'm way skeptical.) I used to live in Seattle, and I can't get used to not recycling stuff. — Greg
Answer: Your management is actually telling the truth. The city of Yorba Linda contracts with Taormina Industries for trash and recycling services. While homeowners get 3 bins (one for yard waste, one for mixed recyclables, and one for everything else) in Yorba Linda, commercial and apartment trash all goes into one bin, which then gets sorted to fish out the recyclables.
As I mentioned before, this unsorted recycling process (a.k.a. dirty MRF-ing) tends to have lower recovery rates than pre-sorted recycling -- so pushing your local government for apartment recycling bins could still be a good idea.
In the meantime, use Earth911.org to quickly locate the recycling center nearest you.
Photos by concrete cornfields via Flickr
>> Venice boardwalk got 12 new recycling bins! Purchased with proceeds from a tax on private trash haulers, the bins will be emptied and maintained by homeless people working for a local non-profit agency called Chrysalis Enterprises. The recycling program will pay for itself by selling the collected materials to recycling companies. Above is L.A. Council member Bill Rosendahl at the bins' "unveiling" on Thursday.
>> Buy, sell and trade children's clothes at eco-store Eden’s Green Closet, 1423 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice. (via Ideal Bite)
>> Chat about "staycations" -- and the potential half-cent sales tax for L.A. County transit projects and other transportation -- with Metro Board Chair Pam O'Connor tomorrow at noon.
>> Respected eco-blog WorldChanging bans "skeptical" comments on climate change. "We will delete comments which deny the absolutely overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, just as we would delete comments which questioned the reality of the Holocaust or the equal mental capacities and worth of human beings of different ethnic groups."
>> State Republicans are trying to roll back policies that address climate change, such as curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and regulations banning some diesel engines. "None of those laws has any direct connection to the state budget; changing them will do nothing to close California's $15.2-billion deficit."
>> Read an interview with Jane Goodall, best known for her work with chimps. Now, Goodall's working on saving the environment -- and encourages you to do the same.
Wine drinkers: You can now up-cycle your corks! In addition to the juice pouches and cookie wrappers and other detritus from our grab-n-go culture, the eco-company TerraCycle's now accepting wine corks -- both natural and synthetic -- which the company will turn "into cool products that will be available nationally at major retailers."
It's unclear what exactly these products will be, but the illustration provided on TerraCycle's Web page looks like a doormat will be one of the goods produced.
Best part of this dealio: While other TerraCycle programs require you to sign up and are really geared towards groups and organizations, this wine cork program makes up-cycling easy for mere individuals. If you've got fewer than 100 corks, all you have to do is mail them in to TerraCycle, ATTN: Cork Brigade, 121 New York Ave., Trenton, NJ 08638.
Got more than 100 corks? Then go ahead and sign up with TerraCycle to get prepaid return shipping labels.
Image courtesy of TerraCycle
Although Best Buy's recycling page doesn't mention it, you can indeed recycle CDs and DVDs at Best Buy stores!
I first read about this recycling opportunity in Best Buy press release about its new trial e-waste recycling program. So yesterday, I stopped by a Best Buy store for the first time in years -- and found that a three-section recycling bin at the front of the store takes not just the usual cellphones and ink jet cartridges, but CDs and DVDs too.
 So I duly dropped off a big stack of CDs into the bin. The sign on the bin says "drop off or mail" -- but the mail-in option only exists for the cellphones. To get rid of your CDs, you will need to go to your nearest Best Buy.
Find recycling this stuff a hassle? Just keep a little box in your closet or under your bed, and throw in your cartridges, small gadgets, and rechargeable batteries as they become obsolete. Let them collect -- it's not as if the stuff's organic garbage that'll go bad -- and make a recycling trip once or twice a year.
Photo by Siel
 I've covered some very unexpected recycling programs on this blog, ranging from "upcycling" juice pouches to "artcycling" produce stickers. Now here comes another recycling opportunity that'll be beloved by anyone who switched to a Brita filter to reduce plastic waste from all those one-use water bottles. The Take Back the Filter campaign wants your old Brita filters!
The filters won't actually be recycled into new filters or other new products. Instead, they will be used as a visual showcase of sorts in order to persuade Clorox, owner of the Brita Products Co. in the U.S., to provide a recycling option for consumers who use their products. After all, Europeans are able to recycle their filters. According to the Take Back the Filter campaign website, "the original European Brita GmbH company has created a take-back recycling program for its filter cartridges."
 So far, the campaign's attracted many supporters -- including the Bay area chapter of Sierra Club, which wrote a letter to Clorox (PDF) urging a filter recycling program. Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish, who initiated the campaign, even dressed up as a Brita filter to participate in the popular Bay to Breakers event in San Francisco.
There is actually a way for you to reuse at least part of your Brita filter, as this Instructables article -- "How to refill a 'disposable' Brita brand water pitcher filter with activated carbon" -- points out. The process isn't exactly easy, however. "All that you will need is an old cartridge, some activated carbon, a polyethylene plug, a sharp utility knife or Xacto knife," reads the beginning of the article, as if most households have activated carbon laying around. Excepting the old cartridge, I have none of those things, much less the optional 1/2" drill motor and 1/2" drill bit.
So for now, I'll be sending my used Brita filters to the Take Back the Filter campaign. You can mail them to Take Back The Filter, 5245 College Avenue, Box #815, Oakland, CA 94618.
And if you feel so moved, sign the "Take Back the Filter" petition -- and maybe even write a letter to Clorox executives. Filter buyers are, after all, Clorox's repeat customers. Let your consumer demands be known.
Image and photo courtesy of Take Back the Filter
 Recycling odd, small items brings out two camps: The "Why're you wasting time with small meaningless things when we've got big problems" crowd, and the "Finally -- a solution for my mini quandary" crowd. This post's for the people in the latter granola group.
And I mean "granola group" literally, as in people who enjoy eating granola. Sign up for The Energy Bar Wrapper Brigade to get 2 cents per used granola bar wrapper and the peace of mind that those trashy things'll get upcycled into backpacks, purses, and other more permanent products.
That program's sponsored by CLIF bar, which has teamed up with the worm-poop eco-fertilizer company TerraCycle to create this upcycling project. CLIF isn't alone; companies ranging from the Stonyfield Farms yogurt company to the rather biz-as-usual Nabisco are also sponsoring TerraCycle projects. Got a Chips Ahoy or Oreo addiction? Pack your kids Capri Suns every day? Save the trash, earn money, and feel saintly green.
Of course, some die-hard environmentalists will argue that the real problem is not the disposal of the packaging but our addiction to single-serving convenience foods -- especially unhealthy, processed stuff like Oreos. I hear that, but still eat the occasional CLIF and Maya bar. I also get the local Redwood Hill Farm's yogurt sometimes, and once, I bought organic oreos.
The companies selling the food products are the ones paying for the projects, from the shipping costs of the materials to the 2-5 cent incentives. This allows TerraCycle to obtain zero-cost materials. "We don’t make a profit from the funds that [the sponsor companies] provide us with," says James Artis of TerraCycle. "We simply use those funds for operating expenses. Where we as a company look to turn a profit is the affordable eco-friendly products that we make from the garbage."
Unfortunately, unless you know of or have signed up an organization you're involved in with the upcycling program, disposing of all this packaging in an eco-manner still isn't easy. TerraCycle's website puts the recycling program info upfront, but the sponsoring companies' websites don't have anything about the programs in a place where consumers could easily find out about it. In addition, while many organizations have signed up with the program, those organizations aren't listed in any kind of public database that would let would-be upcyclers drop wrappers off at a nearby location.
My guess is that too much publicity -- like installing collection bins at every major supermarket -- might overwhelm TerraCycle's resources. Already, TerraCycle's taking a break from adding "brigades" for energy bar wrappers, yogurt containers or soda bottles.
Still, if your school or other group wants to participate, signing up is pretty easy -- and free. Plus the money collected could be used toward fundraisers. I'm wondering if my favorite grocery store, Co-opportunity, can be talked into getting a collection box.
 A friend asked me if I was going to the National Train Day festivities at Union Station on Saturday, and I rather grumpily said no. What's the point, when I never get to take rail? One day, when the Subway to the Sea finally gets built out to Santa Monica, THEN I'll celebrate trains.
For Santa Monica residents and others feeling similarly left out by our rail-less-ness on the Westside, there's an eco-ish festival for us on Saturday too! Take the bus or bike over to the "Revel with a Cause" Santa Monica Festival to see and hear world music and dance on solar powered stages, participate in art workshops using pre-loved materials, shop from eco-friendly vendors, and sample international cuisine served with biodegradable foodware.
When: Saturday, May 10, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Where: Clover Park, 2600 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica
Cost: Free!
The recycled art workshops sound like they'll be the most fun:
- re:Fashion Workshop: Turn newspapers into wearable fashions, then model it on the re:Fashion Catwalk.
- Scratch Art & Spin Art: Learn to DJ with Scratch Academy -- then turn vintage vinyl into art.
- The Nutty Recycler's Amazing Trash Puppetry Factory: Turn trash into puppets!
- People, Cats, Dogs and Whatever Else: Turn old materials from past Santa Monica Museum of Art programs into a collage about you and your pet.
If you don't want to commit to an entire workshop, you can browse the Eco Zone -- booths with eco orgs and vendors eager to help you reduce your carbon footprint. You can also bring old cellphones and other small electronics to drop off for reuse and recycling.
Throughout the day, there'll be performances from a diverse group of musical acts, from L.A.-based 1960s Cambodian pop band Dengue Fever to Romanian folk music group Fishtank Ensemble.
Cyclists will be able to valet park their bikes; bus riders can hop on the Big Blue Bus #8 to be dropped off right at Clover Park. But if you really enjoy fighting traffic and scrambling for a parking spot, take advantage of the free (but never hassle-free) parking.
 >> Wondering why food prices are so high? The Washington Post has put together a series on the Global Food Crisis -- a more apt name for which would be a Global Food PRICE crisis, as Michael Tobis points out. For a shorter primer, read Tom Philpott's quick rundown in Grist.
>> "Factory farms pose unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and animal welfare," according to a two-year study released by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production.
>> Should organic standards for food serve as the organic standards for shampoos and lotions too? That, essentially, is the debate over which Organic Consumers Assn. and Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps have sued a whole bunch of personal-care product companies. The OCA and Dr. Bronner's feel only products that meet USDA's organic food regulations should be able to use the word "organic" on their packaging. Other companies argue personal-care products shouldn't be held to the same standards as food.
>> U-See-LA Without a Car: UCLA students get a de-car-ing map! (PDF) It's a 6-page guide to popular L.A. destinations, from the Rose Bowl to the Santa Monica Pier. Thanks to reader April for the tip.
>> You know about MillionTreesLA -- and the many critiques surrounding it -- but did you know New York had a similar program? MillionTreesNYC also gives away trees, but the standards appear to be stricter than ours: "individuals and families are limited to adopting one tree per household and required to register their new tree at milliontreesnyc.org."
>> ReShirt Cutting Contest: Revamp your old T-shirt to win a 30-minute style consultation with Barbra Horowitz and a $300 Greenloop Gift Certificate. Unleash your imagination within very strict eco-friendly guidelines. Not only must you reuse a T-shirt you already own, the redesign process must be limited to cutting and tying. No dyeing, silkscreening or sewing.
Photo by Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
I love the handcrafted, one-of-a-kind goods made with recycled materials on Etsy, but to find the good stuff, you usually have to slog through all the crunchy-looking duds. But at Reform School, a cute little eco-store in Silver Lake, the owners have doe the hand-selection for you, collecting together all the artsy, whimsical, pretty eco gems that don't look like the product of a sad home ec project.
Plush pillows are made of everything from organic cotton to reused car seat belts. Journals, calendars, and cards are made with recycled paper -- and look pretty too. Shoes made of recycled materials are all the rage -- including cute teensy shoes for tots.
Find all sorts of green books, from Slow Food Nation to Myspace / Our Planet. Reform School also seems to have a soft spot for recent TED prize winner Dave Eggers' press McSweeney's; you can pick up the latest edition of The Believer or artsy tomes by David Byrne.
You'll find lots of DIY books too, to instruct you on guerilla gardening, guerilla art, and pretty much any type of eco-related guerilla activity.
Reform School's also a one-stop-shop for chic home decorations. Eco-friendly candlesticks, paintings, drawings, and mobiles are all ready for you to take home and get compliments about at your next house party.
I got myself a mousepad, made by Remarkable from a recycled car tire! My mouse feels v. eco atop it now.
Reform School. 4014 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles. (323) 906-8660.
Your eco-questions, answered:
Question: Hi. I am trying to figure out if Los Angeles accepts compostable food scraps in its green bins. I gather from it's website it does not, but i am hoping, perhaps, it is out of date?? Thanks, Tracy
Answer: Yes, you can put food scraps in the green bins -- as long as they come from fruits, veggies, and grains. Don't put any food scraps that contain animal products, even if it's just milk, eggs, or cheese. Your green bin's vegan!
Other things that can go in your green bin: grass, leaves, weeds, tree branches, and clean wood (no nails, etc.).
Unfortunately, compostable food containers, bags, and forks that look like their plastic counterparts cannot go into the green bin, as our composting facilities are not set up to handle these newfangled disposables. Paul Gomez in the L.A. Department of Public Works says plastic-like compostables still need to go in the black bin, though the city is "looking at various aspects" to change that in the future.
And just as an FYI: Here's what goes in the blue bins. Don't have one yet? Get one -- Apartment dwellers can get blue bins too!
Photo by Leo Reynolds via Flickr
 How much more does 100% post-consumer recycled paper cost? Earlier this month, Green Cities California -- which includes L.A. and 10 California cities and counties -- pledged to make a complete switch to 100% post-consumer recycled copy paper -- though with no set date for finalizing the switch. I'm support the initiative, but I started wondering what the financial implications of this green decision would be.
After all, even though making post-consumer recycled paper doesn't kill trees and saves lots of energy, the eco-friendly paper market still hasn't reached the scale to make it cost-competitive with virgin paper, as I found out the hard way through my research on green business cards.
Santa Monica couldn't tell me how much more the switch to 100% post-consumer recycled paper cost the city, partly because they made the switch back in 2004. Getting an accurate number would mean accounting for inflation, paper use reduction programs, structural changes in the city, etc., making calculations difficult.
Luckily -- at least for this numbers-crunching mission -- the city of L.A. hasn't made a full switch yet. Only 30% of the paper the city of L.A. uses is 100% post-consumer recycled. So I was able to find out what the cost difference of switching the rest of that paper would be from Gerald St.Onge, who does environmentally preferred purchasing for the city L.A.
St.Onge said that 100% post-consumer recycled paper would cost about 50% more than virgin paper. In fact, the reason L.A. hasn't gone all post-consumer recycled already is due to budgetary reasons -- not due to lack of availability, the reason Shannon Parry, an environment analyst for Santa Monica's Environmental Programs Division, pointed to.
"Right now we're tying to [make up] the difference in cost by paper reduction," St.Onge said. The higher cost of 100% post-consumer recycled paper is a bit of a chicken or the egg problem. Due to the added expense, government agencies, companies, and individuals don't buy more of it. But because not enough of it is bought, the recycled paper market doesn't grow as fast in scale to bring down those prices.
Although the city of L.A. hasn't set a deadline to complete the switch too all post-consumer recycled paper, Onge said "we're committed and we're doing everything we can to change all the commodities that are being purchased into environmentally-friendly products." There's reason to be hopeful: Along with the Green Cities California initiatives, L.A. City Council approved an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing statement and program last month, committing the city to opting for eco-friendly products whenever possible.
Image courtesy of Fuji Xerox
 Dumping e-waste isn't good for you or the environment -- which is why we should take old computers and TVs to an e-waste collection center. But what happened to reusing things and fixing things when they break? Is it possible to REDUCE the amount of e-waste we create?
While some old appliances just need to be replaced -- old refrigerators, for example, suck up way more energy than newer, energy-efficient ones -- other goods often get tossed simply because they break and we can't find any way to fix them. After all, companies make more money right now selling us new stuff instead of helping us fix existing things.
This is pissing off many environmentalists. Beth of Fake Plastic Fish, for example, discovered her HP monitor couldn't be fixed -- and after complaining to HP, took her rant about "the issue of planned obsolescence of electronics" to the Electronics Take Back Coalition, a group that's trying to get companies to take responsibility for recycling their e-products.
And now, the Electronics Take Back Coalition's collecting "Dead Gadget Stories"! Basically, they're looking for stories "showing clearly how products simply can’t be fixed or upgraded, because of clear choices made by the product designers."
Tried to fix a DVD player, only to be told it was unfixable? Then write up your story and send it to stories@deadgadgets.com with this info:
- Make and model
- Year bought and whether it's under warranty.
- Why it’s dead. (Doesn’t turn on, can’t upgrade it to run certain software, etc.)
- Steps taken to try to fix it, or cost to fix it -- in all their eco-obsessive details.
- Picture of the dead gadget (make sure the manufacturer name / logo's visible) for a soon-to-come dead gadget gallery.
The info'll be compiled to further Electronics Take Back Coalition's e-waste responsibility campaigns. If you send something in, feel free to share it in the comments too!
Extrapolating a bit -- I think there's a growing market for people who can fix electronics. In Wired magazine, Clive Thompson points out how fixing and reusing things can be a political act: "We've lost our Everyman ability to build, maintain, and repair the devices we rely on every day. And that's making it harder to solve the country's nastiest problems, like oil dependence, climate change, and global competitiveness."
While Thompson is referring specifically to personal fix-it skills, the problem goes beyond individuals to encompass our entire communities' inability to fix things. After all, not everyone has to be able to fix a computer monitor -- but it'd be great if every town had someone who could, and who could make a viable living at it. And it'd be even better if our TVs were MADE to be fixed, and if fixing cost less than buying new ...
For now, I try to upgrade electronics only when absolutely necessary. I've decided to keep my old LG flip phone this year, instead of upgrading to a new, sleeker one for free (provided I extend my contract). iPhones look cool, but I really spend enough time mucking around on the Web already, sans an ultra-portable do-everything celly.
I do, BTW, have a great recommendation for a local guy who'll come by to fix your printer, if you have a broken one.
Photo by David J via Flickr
Your eco-questions, answered:
 Question: I am happy that I've been indulging in the organic produce lately and have been frequenting farmers markets mostly except the times I don't I have experienced an annoying abundance of stickers! What to do with them?!
I will get a bunch of tomatoes, already separated in a plastic container at Trader Joe's, yet each individual one has those pesky stickers. And the bananas that are in a bunch, each one of them's stickered. Maybe this is necessary, but can these be recycled, or is there some other repurposing I should know about? Thanks. -- Klara
Answer: At first I was gonna tell you to chill out 'bout this small (in the scheme of things) sticker problem -- but then your question actually introduced me to some fascinating contemporary collage art -- so thank you, Klara, for your sticky conundrum!
So: Let me introduce you to the sticker man, a.k.a. artist Barry Snyder (via curbly). This dude upcycles produce stickers to make 4-ft-sq mosaics -- mostly homages of other famous works of art. Check out his oeuvre by watching this short video:
 Then send the stickers to Barry -- who calls himself an "Almost World Renowned Food Sticker Mosaic Artist" -- to benefit his S.O.S. Foundation (Save Our Stickers). Yep -- All you gotta to is mail them to Barry “Wildman” Snyder, POB 301, Erie, CO 80516. Your stickers will then be reincarnated into pop art. You can even support sticker upcycling by buying one of Barry's pieces, which go for $20-$265 a pop.
To avoid un-eco hassles, try to avoid that over-packaged Trader Joe's stuff, which bugged me so much that I opted for an organic produce delivery service -- until I moved to Santa Monica, within biking distance to my nearest farmers' market. Over time, I hope TJ's will get the message and stop jailing produce in annoying packaging.
Lastly -- In case you were curious about what those weird numbers on the stickers stand for, here's an explanation. Basically, opt for the produce with sticker numbers that begin with 9.
Top photo by C Dozo via Flickr; bottom photo courtesy of stickermanproduceart.wordpress.com
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
Stuffing one-side used paper into the manual feed tray worked for reducing my own paper use in the office, but what about convincing others to reduce and reuse too? Oscar Madrigal, who works at New Economics for Women, has had some great successes reducing paper consumption office-wide. Here, he shares his best paper-saving tips:
___
Put Xs on one side of used paper and pile the sheets into a noticeable stack to let people know they can be reused for office memos and meeting agendas.
Opt -- and encourage others to opt for -- double sided copies. I've been to workshops and conferences with environmental organizations that don't double side copies of things. Don't get called out -- Hit the double sided option on the copy machine.
Turn old letterhead into scratch pads. Minute Print, the company that printed our stationary, would take our old letterhead and make scratch pads of out of them for us to use around the office for notes.
Donate annual old annual reports and brochures to local arts organizations, or to a school teacher. For many companies and nonprofits, annual reports have great pictures of people. Kids can use them to make a collage; it's a great way to recycle."
Convince people to bring their own cups/mugs/bottles for water/coffee/tea. This helped to reduce the consumption of paper cups we use.
Other fun green workplace tips:
BYO flatware. I bring my own utensils to work for lunch time, so as to limit the amount of plastic forks and knives I use. A couple people caught on with this. A friend of mine was able to convince an employer to just buy a couple of sets of metal utensils for the lunch room.
Take public transit to happy hour and fun activities. At my old job, we took a trip to Pershing Square to go ice skating as an office activity after work one year. I and some other co-workers convinced everyone to take public transit to Pershing Square. For many, it was their first trip on the Red Line.
___
Got your own easy-to-implement green tips for the workplace? Share them in the comments.
Photo by Cathy Ma via Flickr
 The Styrofoam ban is here! As of today, polystyrene (a.k.a. Styrofoam) and other non-recyclable plastic food containers are no longer allowed in Santa Monica restaurants.
The ban's been a long time in coming. Work on the ordinance began in July 2006, if not earlier; the Santa Monica City Council voted in the ordinance exactly a year ago.
Got a question about the ban -- including those about "ordinance enforcement" (a.k.a. reporting restaurants that still haven't kicked the Styrofoam habit)? Contact Josephine Miller of the Santa Monica Environmental Programs Division at (310) 458-4925 or josephine.miller@smgov.net.
Celebrate the ban by ditching the to-go habit altogether. Relax in a restaurant and enjoy a good, slow meal.
Image courtesy of smepd.org
Have you asked your landlord about getting recycling bins -- only to be told that everything in the "regular" garbage bin gets recycled? Some trash pickup companies too may also tell would-be recyclers not to fret about getting blue bins, assuring them that all the contents of the big building dumpster will get put through a careful recycling process.
Skeptical apartment-dwellers often have a hard time believing that the newspaper thrown in with the doggie doo will indeed get recycled, perhaps for good reason. So, when a reader living in Fullerton asked me how he could go about recycling in his 'hood, I decided to investigate further. Turns out, the City of Fullerton doesn't offer its residents blue bins, but does assure them that "a processing company (CVT Recycling) makes sure all recyclable materials are taken out before the trash is sent to the landfills."
Fullerton refers to this process as murfing, a.k.a. MRF-ing. However, MRF stands for Materials Recycling Facility, a very generic description. This means that MRF-ing can also refer to the process that pre-sorted (a.k.a. blue-binned) trash is put through. So more accurately, the process Fullerton uses is "dirty MRF-ing" -- sorting out the recyclables WITHOUT pre-sorting them from the other garbage. So:
How effective is dirty MRF-ing? I got some rough statistics from Alexa Kielty from the San Francisco Department of the Environment, who said "the recycling rate is somewhere in the range of 10-15% for dirty-MRFs, whereas the recovery rate for source-separated recycling is more like 40%." Alex Dmitriew, also from the SF Department of the Environment concurred, but pointed out dirty MRF-ing can achieve much higher recycling rates in "recyclables rich" trash loads -- such as those coming from office buildings. He also pointed out that dirty MRF-ing can be a good option for places where pre-sorted recycling programs are difficult to implement. After all, some recycling is better than no recycling.
I'm working on getting more specific comparative stats about MRF-ing. For example, I'd like to find out how the recovery rate for household trash compares between pre-sorted MRF-ing and dirty MRF-ing programs. I also have a call into the City of Fullerton to get stats on the city's recyclables recovery rate; hopefully Fullerton tracks this information. So, more on the fascinating world of MRF-ing soon!
But for now, if your landlord or waste hauler tells you your trash is indeed getting recycled, don't assume they're lying. Your trash may indeed be sent to a dirty MRF-ing program. If it is, some of your recyclables will be recovered, though generally not at as high a rate as in pre-sorted recycling programs.
Of course, I can't vouch for whether or not your specific waste hauler does indeed take your trash to get dirty MRF-ed, or whether your waste hauler's simply found that claiming to recycle is an easy way to get would-be-recyclers off his or her back. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, find out the name of your trash hauler, call them to find out what facility your trash gets taken to, and call that facility to find out if it does indeed have a dirty MRF-ing program.
Earlier: Recycle week!
Photos by concrete cornfields and waltarrrrr via Flickr
What happens to a cellphone tossed? That's a question "The Secret Life of Cell Phones" answers (below). This short educational film shows what happens when you throw a phone into a black bin -- as well as what happens when you take just a few minutes to make sure your phone gets refurbished or recycled.
Recycling and refurbishing phones can actually be lucrative for companies, so disposing of these responsibly is quite easy. In fact, green phone disposal can be financially lucrative for you. Read my previous post, "Make money by keeping old gadgets out of the landfill," to find out how to give your cellphones and other electronics a second life.
"The Secret Life of Cell Phone's" just the first of a series of short "Secret Life" films from INFORM, a NY-based environmental organization. Each "Secret Life" video will look at what happens to everyday products we all use after we throw them "away." After all, "away" is never really that far away.
Loved the "Secret Life" video and want more? For a macro perspective on these issues, watch "The Story of Stuff," a short 20-minute online video that looks at the "underside of our production and consumption patterns." It's a bit shrill, and perhaps a tad long -- but very informative for those who may be new to the environmental and social concern created by all our stuff.
Your eco-questions answered.
Here's one of the most unique -- and longest -- enviro questions I've gotten, from reader m. I found it hilarious, simply due to its detail and length. However, it's a serious question, and I've duly answered it seriously:
 Question: Am I the only person that reuses grocery store plastic bags to haul around recycling? Is there a good "green" alternative for this?
I'd use paper bags, but the recycling I take from work usually has so much soda residue that it leaks out of the cans and with paper bags and carrying the bags on the train for over an hour, they just disintegrate. The paper bags are also prone to tipping over and spilling the contents. (and I have been yelled at on the train for throwing garbage all over the place when this happened...)
I have to carry the recycling to a center since we don't have recycling services at my work or at my apartment right now, so just tossing it into the "blue bins" isn't the work around. I reuse the bags I can, but sometimes the resulting sticky, moldy residue in the bags is difficult to get out and the plastic bags end up ripping.
I would feel stupid and wasteful buying new plastic bags just to carry around recycling. Should I just make myself a 2 week supply of huge hemp bags or try to obtain water proof bulk grain bags or something?
[Siel's note: Here ended that comment, after which reader brooke suggested rinsing out the recyclable containers first. m's conundrum, continued]
I collect all of the recycling for about 50 people that I work with in addition to my own -- getting people to put items in the bins is a task in itself. I think most people would just skip the whole recycling step if I asked them to rinse out things.
From what I have read it is preferable to rinse out the containers so they don't attract insects/stink, but not necessary in Los Angeles - maybe Siel or someone has the correct answer on this though.
I think rinsing out the cans and bottles from 50 other individuals would be incredibly time consuming, makes everything even more wet, which kinda adds to the whole issue of mold (or my recycling program will be put to an end immediately if I leave wet cans and bottles all over the counters and floor of the work-kitchen) and is a waste of water if it is not necessary.
Also, as I mentioned, this stuff isn't going to a blue bin because I don't have one in my apartment building or at my work building. It goes into my car trunk and sits there for 2 weeks until the trunk is full and I can take it away to be recycled (I don't have a garage, porch, yard, balcony, etc).
I don't drive to work though, so there is a step in-between where I carry the recycling from work to home on the train.
At home I use paper bags or newspaper bags to carry my recycling to the center since most of my stuff is small and dry or can easily be left out to dry on my kitchen counter. m
Answer: Let me just say that you have a v. unique situation and conundrum here.
Anyway, to start with the easy question: Recyclables don't have to be squeaky clean. It is a good idea to rinse them out, but the main reason to do this is so that wine / soda / food or whatever doesn't contaminate other things (i.e. paper) in a blue bin, rendering them unrecyclable. Since it sounds like you're taking your stuff to a facility where cans / bottles are sorted separately, it's unlikely that your recycling will cause a problem.
As for the transport of masses of dirty recyclables on the train: I think you mentioned in another comment that you received Envirosax as a holiday gift? Being (unfortunately, but in this case, fortunately) synthetic, those Envirosax are easily cleanable and infinitely reusable -- and more importantly for you, bigger than the average plastic bag.
So -- I suggest using and reusing those bags for this purpose. Leave a little room at the top so you can securely tie the handles together so as to avoid bottle / can spillage on the train.
Got a question? Ask me: greenlagirl@gmail.com.
Top photo by Jennifer Snyder via Flickr; bottom photo courtesy of envirosax.com
 >> Recycle, or else wallow in your trash. Non-recyclers in Westchester County in NY will get a yellow warning sticker. A second offense means a red sticker -- and no trash pickup! Think we can get a similar program started in LA -- or at least Santa Monica?
>> Where retired Metro buses go. Old buses get auctioned off, mostly to scrap dealers. Last month, the going prices fell between $1,900 and $2,900.
>> The Super Bowl's going greenish. Plans include "planting 9,000 trees in the state, though only 3,500 of them are actually expected to survive." Those figures sound somewhat better to me than our own Million Trees LA program, though luckily for Villaraigosa, no one's really keeping a good count.
>> Polar bears: Still not considered an endangered species. "The decision whether or not to list the polar bear as a threatened species, which could require sweeping policy changes affecting oil and gas exploration, as well a fossil fuel combustion, will be delayed by as much as another month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday." Many scientific studies point to polar bears' grave endangerment.
Photo by ClydeHouse via Flickr
Every Sunday, help me turn fugly old stuff into stylish green stuff. Or at least try to.
So Ari Derfel and Dave Chameides save ALL their trash -- but I pick and choose what I save. The idea's that I'll reuse the stuff, but finding reuses sometimes gets so difficult that I wonder why I started collecting the stuff in the first place. At that point though, the stash is generally so big that I can't just give up and throw it out --
The "stuff" in question today: Twisty ties. I can't get away from these damn things! Most of them come from bags of bread, but I even collect some from the farmers' market, where big twisty ties are used to hold large bunches of carrots and and other veggies together.
I know some supermarkets sell this stuff -- and that some people even BUY them -- which is why I thought saving them might come in handy. I also had a little empty slot in my utensil tray -- fairly made with bamboo! -- just waiting to be filled up, and thus twisty ties and rubber bands started collecting there.
The rubber bands, although numerous, are more manageable. At the moment I'm planning to wrap them into a big ball to give away on Freecycle; I'm pretty sure someone could use them. But these twisty ties are another issue. I've used all the ones I can. All my long cords are twisty-tied into neat, unobtrusive bundles, for ex.
What can I do with these old twisty ties? Give me your best creative ideas.
Photo by Siel
Not only did Will Campbell of blogging.la recycle his own Christmas tree, he collected six more "discarded arbors from the disrepute of curbside dereliction and decomposition" and hauled those over to the recycling site at the LA Zoo too.
Wish I could do the same -- I've seen a whole bunch of trees in the alleyways of my Santa Monica neighborhood -- but as you know, I don't drive a truck. There's only so much I can haul in my little bicycle basket....
But if you've got a large vehicle and a tree you plan to recycle, maybe you'll do like Will and bring good will to your 'hood. Or, if you're trying to burn off a few calories after the holidays, just hack up the trees you see and fit them in your nearest green bin (if you're in the city of LA)!
Here's more info about recycling trees in LA and surrounding cities. You can check out each individual tree Will picked up see other discarded trees Will spotted on his Flickr photo set, which reminds me vaguely of Bill Keaggy’s series 50 Sad Chairs --
Photo courtesy of Will Campbell for blogging.la
 Ari Derfel in Berkeley got svelter and healthier last year -- by saving his trash. Yes, the 35-year-old saved ALL his trash -- including the recyclables, in 2007, storing it in his apartment as part of his pet project, dubbed Project Trash Retention.
And when he saw all those soy ice cream containers stacking up, he decided to stop eating the stuff, as well as other food in one-use containers. Voila: Weight loss. According to the San Francisco Chronicle: The project started out as an experiment - to see just how much waste one person generates in a year (in Derfel's case, about 96 cubic feet). But as the months rolled by and Derfel's refuse overflowed from his kitchen pantry and into bins in the living room, the project grew from novelty into an environmental statement, a source of much discussion and debate, and a three-dimensional diary of Derfel's consumption habits (not to mention a source of many, many jokes).
And Derfel plans to save his trash again this year to see if he can reduce it further. He's hoping an artist will turn his 2007 refuse into something pretty -- a not-so-crazy idea, considering that in nearby San Francisco, the dump has an Artist in Residence program doing just that.
Why Derfel is saving even the recyclables: Most recycling, especially that for plastics, is downcycling -- meaning that the "new" product made from recycled materials tends to be a lower-quality product that's then usually difficult to recycle. Plus, most recyclables are shipped all over the place before they're actually recycled -- adding to CO2 emissions.
Saving one's trash -- or at least vastly reducing it -- has become somewhat of a popular pastime -- at least in the green blogosphere. Cases in point:
- Last September, a Pasadena woman named Tess Vigeland carried around her trash around with her for two weeks — and blogged about her experience at Tess’ Trash Challenge for American Public Radio.
- Oakland resident Beth of Fake Plastic Fish notes her weekly plastic trash accumulation, carefully tabulating the results. Envirowoman in Canada also challenged herself to give up plastic for 2007, also keeping tabs on her plastic accumulation.
- In NYC, Colin Beavan, a.k.a. No Impact Man, went a year trying to have NO impact on the planet. The effort included forgoing toilet paper, towing furniture by bike and, of course, reducing trash as much as possible.
- Some hardcore environmentalists in San Francisco started the Compact, a group of people who pledged not to buy anything new for an entire year (except for essentials like undies). This effort both reduces the trash created by the production of new stuff, as well as providing more of a demand for pre-loved stuff.
And of course Derfel himself has started his own blog, titled Save Your Trash. Tagline: Because there's no such thing as away.
I'm not ready to start collecting my trash, though I do my best to reduce it. One practical lesson from the Derfel story: Reduce one-time use containers as much as possible, and when you have a choice, choose a glass container over plastic. Glass is highly recyclable, and often recycled locally; plastic is not.
Photo courtesy of Save Your Trash
 Remember that Green L.A. plan Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced back in May? Los Angeles CityBeat has a detailed report today on what exactly has happened so far -- and the findings are not exactly encouraging, but not altogether depressing either.
To review: The goal of Green L.A. is basically to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions to 35% below 1990 levels by 2030. How? By reducing emissions from the L.A. and Long Beach ports, public and private buildings, the airport, the city-owned Department of Water and Power, and city-owned vehicles. Beyond that, the Green L.A. plan aims to reduce particulate matter emissions and to encourage L.A. residents to go green.
But apparently, the first draft of the plan got tossed out. Since, Villaraigosa's office has been working with an independent consortium of environmental groups, confusingly also named Green L.A., to engage the public about how to live more greenly.
Unfortunately, the plan now seems to be put together in a rushed manner -- and also vastly underfunded. According to LA CityBeat, "The entire budget for city of Los Angeles this year is $6.8 billion, and the budget for the L.A. Environmental Affairs Department is $3.24 million. The mayor has estimated the cost of the Green L.A. plan to be at least $10 billion."
Hmmm.... For now, here are parts of the plan that you can get involved in most directly:
- Plant a tree as part of the Million Trees L.A. initiative if you have a spot of land-- though this initiative has come under attack for distributing trees to people who have no plans to plant or care for the trees (including myself).
- Change two light bulbs -- for free if the mayor comes through with his plan to distribute two CFL bulbs to each household in L.A. Current status: Villaraigosa's office is getting the CFLs via a bidding process.
- Recycle more, especially if you live in an apartment complex, by taking advantage of the free, relatively new multihousehold recycling program. Unfortunately, my readers tell me it takes a long while before you actually get your blue bins....
And you can always put in your two cents on Villaraigosa's Green L.A. program by calling 800-GREEN LA or by using this webform.
(h/t Lisa)
Make a resolution to recycle like a pro in 2008! For the stuff you can't reuse, here's a guide to recycling in the L.A.-area:
Recycling at home
BTW: You can recycle running shoes and printer cartridges too.
 Post-holiday recycling
 Recycling at work
And lastly, a few miscellaneous recycling posts from the week:
Photo, top to bottom, by ClydeHouse, tracy ducasse, and caleb condit, all via Flickr
This week's eco-topic: Recycle
 [Earlier: E-waste, Part 1: The problem]
So you have a DVD player or computer or some other electronic you no longer want. Here's an eco-guide to getting rid of it:
1. If it still works (or even if it doesn't, but you think someone wants it anyway):
- Sell it. Ebay and Craigslist are popular ways to sell, but you can also try list it on LACoMAX, the Countywide online materials exchange.
- Share it. Don't want to haggle over prices? Then give your electronics a new home via Freecycle or Craigslist's "free" section.
- Donate it. Be a do-gooder! Give it to a local school or nonprofit by listing it on LACoMAX. Specify “for schools and nonprofits only." Or donate to National Cristina Foundation, a nonprofit that matches computers and computer-related equipment to charities, schools and public agencies in all 50 states.
2. If it's broken (or it's so old no one wants it):
- Take it to a city e-waste center. Pro: Free. Con: Requires going odd places at mostly inconvenient hours. LA has 6 S.A.F.E. centers that accept e-waste (note that the UCLA location only takes e-waste on Saturdays). Santa Monicans can take their e-waste to the Santa Monica Solid Waste Transfer Station and REcycling Facility at 2411 Delaware Ave. And The Sierra Club's put together a list of centers in LA and Orange County that take e-waste.
- Take it to Staples*. Pro: Many convenient locations, all open convenient hours. Con: It'll cost you $10, and the program doesn't take TVs. Staples' EcoEasy program (PDF) lets you take your computer or other electronics for a $10 charge (small peripherals are free). TVs, floor-model copiers, or similarly large equipment aren't allowed though. The e-waste's disassembled and recycled in the US by Amandi Services.
* Many other for-charge recycling programs exist. For ex, Dell will pick up pretty much any computer or computer equipment from your place for about $36. However, I doubt most people're willing to pay that much to get rid of stuff they no longer want. Staples' deal seems like one of the cheapest and most convenient.
- Find a recycler via the Electronic Industries Alliance. Pro: Many recyclers to choose from. Con: Requires individual research using a crappy search function. Plus, there's no guarantee that the recyclers listed do their work responsibly; you'd have to call them up individually to find that out. (see below))
Lastly, if your organization decides to sponsor an e-waste collection drive, make sure you pick a reputable company. Simply picking the cheapest company means that you might be picking one of those baddies I wrote about in the last post. To get started, check out the list of recycling companies that've taken the Pledge of True Stewardship, courtesy of the Electronics Take Back Coalition.
Concerned about e-waste? Get involved with the Electronics Take Back Colation -- which currently has a Take Back my TV campaign going to get TV manufacturers to take back and recycle their own TVs -- or Basel Action Network.
And if you plan to buy a replacement for that electronic, check out Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics to see what companies' products are least toxic and easiest to recycle.
Top photo by Lief K-Brooks; bottom photo by David J via Flickr
This week's eco-topic: Recycle
Chances are, you have a few old electronics you no longer use hanging out in your storage space. Maybe it's nostalgia for bygone tech, maybe it's a hope that the broken DVD player will somehow fix itself, or maybe it's that you sense throwing a hunk of metal and chemicals into the black bin can't be a good idea -- but don't quite know what else to do with the old electronics.
Many of our neighbors don't seem to have a problem sending their computers to the landfill, where they'll leach toxins into our atmosphere. While throwing e-waste into the black bin's illegal in California, that law isn't very well enforced, as you can imagine. A recent AP article reports that "most of the 2 million tons of old electronics discarded annually by Americans goes to U.S. landfills, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data."
But the problem doesn't stop there. Even some self-described e-waste recyclers aren't concerned about proper recycling, as the AP article points out. Some shady companies will collect e-waste from well-meaning people who bring them to e-waste drives, then these companies will "simply sell the working units and components, then give or sell the remaining scrap to export brokers."
 Those dangerous scraps then end up in countries such as China, India and Nigeria, where workers "use hammers, gas burners and their bare hands to extract metals, glass and other recyclables, exposing themselves and the environment to a cocktail of toxic chemicals."
The problem's become so vast that nonprofits have sprung up to combat the toxic trade created by e-waste. Basel Action Network, an organization that's focused on "confronting the global environmental injustice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade and its devastating impacts," put together a video that shows one place where toxic e-waste ends up:
Next post: How to recycle your electronics, simply, without becoming part of the e-waste problem.
Top photo by David J via Flickr; bottom photo courtesy of Basel Action Network 2006
This week's eco-topic: Recycle
If you're a recycling nerd and fascinated by the nitty-gritties of the recycling process, you'll really want to read Fake Plastic Fish, written by one Beth in Oakland.
To start, Beth has a pretty comprehensive guide to recycling like a pro -- with detailed explanations for those burning recycling questions you have but have been afraid to ask for fear of sounding too nerdy. Wondered if those Tetra Paks your soy milk comes in are recyclable? Puzzled over why that compostable cup isn't biodegrading in your compost heap? Beth has the answers.
In fact, Beth's been visiting different recycling centers and dumps that service San Francisco and Oakland -- and documenting her findings in blog posts illustrated with photos and video. Check out her 2-parter documenting her visit to the Davis Street Transfer Center to see visual proof that unthinking people will indeed throw propane tanks (left) into their recycling bins -- a practice that can mean explosions at the recycling center!
| |
Getting a city-wide green bin program in place for multifamily housing units, however, will likely take a couple years, says Thompson. In the meantime, Santa Monica will get a smaller program: Green bins where people can drop off their compostables will be placed in a couple spots around the city. Thompson doesn't have the spots picked out yet, but said the bins will definitely be in place by the end of the summer. 
