Author |
Message |
Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 12:17 am
Hi all, I've been reading a bit more than I usually do about our environment, and I think it's really important that we talk about ways that the common person can contribute to the health of our earth. I thought I'd start this thread to talk about things WE do to help reduce our impact on the earth, and maybe share ideas and links to information we can all use. My first link that I wanted to share was something I found on the Apple website that I thought was GREAT! They will take your old computer/ipod or cell phone and recycle it for you, free of charge. Here is the link: Apple Recycling Program I'd love to hear some little ideas that other people do, to help reduce our impact on nature. I realize we aren't all building composting bins in our backyard, but every little bit helps. We can't wait for everyone ELSE to start caring about the environment before we do. It starts with us, right?
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Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 12:38 am
Well, every lightbulb in our house has been switched out for incandesent bulbs and we've been doing composting for many years. I know its not much but its a start.
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Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 12:55 am
Oops, I meant to say we switched out the incandescents for florescents.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 1:42 am
Interestingly, I bought the fluorescent bulbs, and they don't FIT in some of my ceiling lights. I live in an old building, and they have those old glass dome things that go over the bulb and are secured with 3 screws. The fluorescent bulbs are longer than their counterparts. My hall light needs a 100W bulb, and the 15W fluorescents are too long. The 60W ones are shorter, but they don't cast enough light for the space. Does anyone else have any good ideas for disposing of toxic things, that maybe some of us don't know about? I know that batteries, electronics, etc. are big offenders. I also take all of my grocery bags back to Safeway, and they have a recycle bin for the bags. I bought a couple of those cloth bags, but I don't always have them with me when I'm getting groceries. But at least I'm giving the bags back. I recycle all plastics, paper, and the standard recyclable stuff. No composting for this apartment dweller though. I have saved ALL of my electronics from the past 10 years (in my basement storage locker). I am going to research where I can take them, so they are disposed of properly. Just looked up the Apple recycling program in Canada, but it doesn't exist. Only in the USA right now. 
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 1:44 am
I'd love to get some projects going, for us TVCHers. Kind of like the projects going on in the reduce clutter thread. Anyone else interested in participating with each other?
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 1:58 am
One of the recycle issues that has always bothered me is the single serving containers that so much juice, fruit cups, etc. come in that people buy and then fill up our landfills with the packaging. Why can't they just buy the big (gallon) jugs and get their kids a thermos for their lunch box and a washable glass to use at home? I try to buy the biggest size of whatever possible and make my own portions in reusable containers. If everyone would just do that one thing, it would make a huge difference.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 6:32 am
I use the CFL bulbs in many of my lights that are on a lot. Does seem to make a difference in the electric bill. Last year I got bought a Fountain Jet from the Soda Club to make carbonated water. No longer have to buy and schlep home the two liter bottles of seltzer water. Fountain Jet comes with heavier duty bottles (that you keep reusing) than bottles in the store. That saves on a lot of plastic.
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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 7:07 am
We use cloth towels instead of paper towels. I have for years. Our garbage company has a monthly recycling program for paints and electronics. You may want to look there Eeyore.
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 9:33 am
Every time I am in Germany and want to throw something in the garbage, I am reminded that they are so much more environmentally conscious and active (not to mention scared of large fines if they don't recycle properly) than we are in North America. The manufacturers delivering their goods in plastics are the ones paying for their recycling. Large stores have bins where you can leave unnecessary packaging. Those selling batteries also accept empty ones for proper disposal. Drinks are generally sold in returnable glass or reuseable plastic bottles in cases of 6/12/24. Large grocery stores have very busy seperate entrances for those large sections of their business. There are centrally located glass receptacles around town where ppl can drop off their non-returnable glass, seperating them into clear, green and brown. Municipalities have special depot drop-offs for electrical and electronic disposal, not to mention hazardous stuff like oils, paints, etc. Hydro, water, oil, gas (heating and pump) prices are very high, ergo forcing the consumer to economise. Yep, it's time we took a page from the Europeans' book and stop wasting our resources. This will only work, though if manufacturers are forced into environmentally friendly packaging, too. Have you ever looked at the *actual* content of your grocery boxes alone? More air than product, right? In Germany, it's called "blarney" packaging and frowned upon. If the consumer demands more considerate packaging, and if they have to pay big bucks for disposing it, manufacturers will follow suit quickly enough if those competitors who comply get the sales. However, someone has to make a start. It looks like the ball is in the consumer's court, since only few politicians are on the environment bandwagon at this point.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 10:50 am
eeyore, try to find someone who does E-waste recycling. We have had several "free dropoff" days for TVs, computers,etc. that I have used. I save up my stuff to! I have a TV down there right now, LOL.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:55 am
Oh I've found a few places here in the city to dispose of my electronics. I'm fine. I just wanted to start a thread that we could help EACH OTHER find new little ways to reduce our impact on the earth. It's almost New Years, and I think that a lot of the "little things" can be made into resolutions, so that we can each do our part in helping our dying environment. For example: I resolve to buy a few more of those enviro/cloth shopping bags, and I will only use those to do grocery shopping from now on. I resolve to take a big duffel bag to the mall, and only use that to take my purchases home, rather than using another plastic bag at every shop. I resolve to buy only stuff that has less packaging. I resolve to write to companies that have ridiculous amounts of packaging, and ask for a more environmentally friendly package. (Every letter helps get the message to the big companies!) Things like that. I'd love to hear ideas of little things everyone ELSE does, and maybe we can adopt each others' practices. Chilli - I don't buy those individual tins, but I know lots of parents who do that for their kids. I like the idea of buying a bigger container of fruit cocktail, and having a reusable jar that you refill. Good idea! Maybe some parents on TVCH could adopt that practice too!!
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 12:07 pm
We have been big grocery shopping with sturdy plastic bins (from Superstore) and their reuseable (for a while) plastic bags for a few years now, but I have to admit, I have let other stores, like Walmart, Zellers and small stores put my purchases in their plastic bags although I do have several cloth bags at home. So in the spirit of Eyeore's intention, I vow to keep a few of those cloth bags in the door of the car, so they'll be handy when I pop in a store for a few items. It will be good practice, since our province intends to ban plastic bags by 2009.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 1:31 pm
I keep forgetting to bring in my canvas bags.. I have a couple I bought from Albertsons and 1 from Ralph's. I have to say that they aren't real keen on using them, yet. But I have brought them in and I do reuse or recycle the bags. Having a cat and a cat litter box, they come in handy. I also use smaller bags for my trash because I just take my trash out whenever I leave the house.. with a dumpster just outside my garage, it is quite easy. I would like to see excessive "packaging" outlawed for sure, especially those hideous hard plastic "shells" that are almost impossible to cut open and watch out if you get a "paper cut" from that thick stuff.. Most of my incandescent bulbs have been replaced. Since I have some non working electrical plugs/switches, I haven't used my fridge in a couple of years or more and let me tell you.. BIG difference in electrical usage! I had been using thermoelectric coolers but finally bought a very small (like you see in a hotel room) fridge, so I'll have to see if the usage goes up a bit. I recycle everything (or the city does). And I have two monitors, one old desktop and several old laptops that I should haul in, but won't dump. Problem with the old monitors.. the oldest 17" iss about sixty pounds.. ack!
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 8:56 pm
You weren't using ANY fridge? I can't imagine that! Sea, there are lots of companies that use the old CRTs for schools. You should Google it for your area. There might be a place to give that old equipment.
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 9:11 pm
Sea, ds has been teaching at a seniors centre. They are using donated computers.
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Oldtex
Member
03-06-2006
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 9:43 pm
I resolved, after my first purchase and use, to NOT buy anymore of those swiffer type dusting cloths, mops covers (they look like disposable diapers to me) and the mop heads. I really don't know how much these items add to our landfills, but I feel like I wasted money on something that can be replaced with a reusable and washable cloth. As light blubs burn out, I'm replacing them with those new fluorscent ones. The prices of these are beginning to come down I've noticed. I also recycle all aluminum cans (actually DH sells them to a center and it's usually enough for us to go out to eat).
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 10:26 pm
E-waste, batteries, paint, oil, etc goes to the trash company when we collect enough to make the trip out their worthwhile (it's quite a drive.) Plastic, paper, cardboard are thrown in the recycle bin. On trash day, any plastic and glass bottles we put in a bag and leave next to the can. One of our neighbors goes around collecting so he can recycle them for cash. We also recycle cans. We've got the twisty light bulbs, I personally hate them (they bug my light sensitive eyes,) but over the long term they are cheaper so I live with them. Recently, we installed low flow aerators on all the faucets and shower head. We water the lawn, now that it's winter, twice a week, and in summer, only four times a week in the middle of the night. I'm bad about the plastic grocery bags, though I do recycle those. I donate some to the school (the kindergarten classes use them,) use them as trash bags, and whats left goes in the recycle bin.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:59 pm
At our fair one year they had a recycle competition and someone had crocheted placemats from the plastic grocery bags. They were pretty neat. I try to remember to ask for paper but sometimes I forget. We use the paper bags for crafts with the kids. Recycling a lot of things in Fairbanks is not economically feasible; therefore, there is no place to take it stuff if you do sort it. I think we can take aluminum to Anchorage (370 miles away) but that's about it. We have what they call "transfer stations" where there are a bunch of dumpsters that are labeled for what the landfill wants in them and then there is a covered cement pad area where you can put stuff that other people may want to take. The borough assembly just tried to make it illegal for people to "dumpster dive" here and I'm not sure what the thinking was behind that proposal but it failed miserably. I guess us Alaskans like our garbage to have the freedom to find a new home if it wants. LOL
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Karen
Member
09-07-2004
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 2:58 am
Good job, Eeyores. I started a similar thread about two or three months ago, but it went the way of Archive Heaven after not many takers. I've always been green -- and Kermit's right, it's not easy, LOL. But in the past couple of years, I've stepped it up about twelve notches. I notice the difference in how little goes in the trash every week, now that I've paid attention to every little thing that could be recycled. I'm still looking into that worm composting that they say is good for us urban dwellers... I've heard they let off a smell, though I've also heard that if you can smell your worm compost, you're doing it wrong. I have three canvas Safeway bags... and I'm one of those 'grocery shop every day' folk. Two of 'em live inside of the 3rd, and I seriously use that as my purse these days. I haven't brought home more than 10 plastic retail bags in over a year. For that, I'm quite pleased. I heard that Vancouver has a by-law on the table to ban plastic bags, as well. I'd be thrilled. I keep seeing those recyle logos on the styrofoam of my to-go containers. How and where can styrofoam be recycled, does anyone know? Oh... and Ee, LD is probably your best bet for recycling batteries, electronics, etc. They're a good corporate citizen, and in Vancouver you can't go ten blocks without finding one.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 3:21 am
My youngest son went to an elementary school that was a 'green school.' One of the things they do is collect used copy paper from some of the local businesses (like our borough offices) and use the unused side to print out their homework assignments, tests, etc. My son was always bringing home school work with something that made no sense on one side.
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Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 3:12 pm
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 10:19 pm
I would love to know where one can recycle styrofoam too! I don't understand WHY they even still MAKE styrofoam egg containers. There are cardboard ones that at least aren't so bad for the environment. I'm going to take my batteries to LD. Thanks for that suggestion. Chilliwilli that's AWESOME about the photocopying. I think that is a GREAT idea! My university has recycle bins EVERYWHERE. I'm happy for that. Professors have us printing notes ALL THE TIME. Personally, I get the notes ahead of time, and put them into a OneNote section, then I type added stuff in between the notes, during lecture. Then, only at midterm time, do I print all of the notes. But at least I can control font and margins, and fit more info on each page, AND I can go double sided.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 10:48 pm
You can use egg cartons for a lot of things but you could never use as many of them as you get with eggs. I've seen them used to start seedlings in for spring garden planting because the paper ones can just be put right into the ground with the seedling as they will disintegrate and they have good drainage because they are paper. I guess if everyone would quit buying the ones in styrofoam then they would get the hint. I haven't seen a styrofoam egg carton in a while but then I buy mine in the 5 dozen box. There is a craft book called "Pak O' Fun" or something like that. It has a lot of crafts in there made from recycling stuff. My mom got it when I was a kid and I finally found it for my kids when they were little. The crafts I can remember off the top of my head is a caterpillar made from egg cartons, a pin cushion made from the plastic spray can lid but today you could probably use the plastic measure cup that comes with the laundry detergent. Then there was a flower pot type thing made with an international coffee container tin. Spiders for halloween made from tuna cans. My mind is a fog right now but check out that magazine if you're into crafty stuff with kids. We had fun with it and my friends' kids loved to come here to be babysat because we always had a project to work on.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 10:53 pm
Chili, that is great about using the computer paper over. LOL.. our company tried that years ago.. they'd take stacks of computer listings and some company actually tapes large segments together and we used them on our slower highspeed printer that was dedicated to the programmers.. but duh.. they were recycling on the back of the same programs we were printing out and the confusion it caused from people looking at obsolete code caused that experiement to be shelved. Of course later we printed out less often because there were some CRTs and we worked on and from them. My old CRT is really really heavy and I don't have some big lug around, just me and my worn out back. But I'm not tossing stuff into the landfills at least. Dumpster diving is illegal here because the city feels that they deserve to get the recyclables and the money from that. Feh.. Going through trash cans, same argument plus so many people would just dump out the trash, leaving a mess. Many years back when I lived in Fullerton one time someone took a big garbage bag that happened to have a stack of newsprint in it.. all I could think was imagine their surprise when they found out that most of this bag contained lots of dog poop from my three labradors! So after that I'd place all of the newspapers on top of the trash can and someone always came through and took them before the trash truck came. I'm sure they appreciated not having the dog poop mixed in. Oh, our local post office (Fountain Valley isn't real large) went to all green vehicles recently, for the postal carriers.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 11:21 pm
It was the 8.5 X 11 white copy paper that they were recycling. When I worked at probation we always recycled the paper because we had to print out so many drafts. We printed on both sides of the paper before it was shredded. The borough delivers their used copy paper to the school and they run their copies on the unused side or give it to the kids for their art projects, etc. They also collected used computer stuff so the kids could take it apart and learn how to work on them. They are offically labeled a "Green School" for doing specific recycling things and following some guidelines. Out of 12 elementary schools in this district, it's depressing to know there are only 2 Green Schools. The landfill does not recycle here as the cost of transporting the stuff is too high so I don't have a problem with the dumpster diving. I think the problem stemmed from someone who lives next door to someone who was stacking up a lot of "recycled" stuff on his property. I don't have a problem with that either. If you own the property it should be your right to stack up whatever you want to. Besides they live 20 miles out of town in the middle of nowhere and it's not like he lives in a swanky neighborhood. I doubt there is even any zoning where the guy lives. My feeling there is it's his property, he's not hurting anybody, he's saving space in the landfill for all those single serving containers and used diapers.
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