Can We All Recycle?

[BayCityProgressive]

With news of the vanishing Island today and species going extinct in the last few weeks there is one simple thing we can all do for the environment. RECYCLE. How many here on DU recycle? If you don't recycle can we make DU a 100% recycling community? It is only one step in saving our planet but it is something everyone can do.

[blues90]

1. We recycle

Trouble is now that almost EVERYTHING one can buy is not repairable , everything is cheaper to replace than to repair and this adds to alot of wasted energy and resources .

I realize you are refering to trash tossed out .

[Sherman A1]

2. My city has a superb recycling center

and luckily it is nearby. We recycle as much as possible and our trash reflects it. Down to about one small bag per week for two adults, sometimes a little more, but everything that we can recycle goes to the center in a weekly or bi-weekly trip.

[pitohui]

3. probably not something everyone can do but some alternatives offered

our recycling bin hasn't been picked up in years even tho we are billed for it, and i understand that recycling fraud is the new mafia/organized crime game in town now that legal gambling is widely available throughout the country

my understanding is that a great many items that consumers think are going to be recycled end up in the same landfill w. the rest of the crap

because of my community and situation i find it's better for me to try to avoid the need to recycle in the first place

*don't buy over packaged crap in the first place -- always wait before making a purchase (except for food), because invariably if you put it off, some items won't ever be bought or missed, which is a savings in resources and money right there

*participate in freecycle or the free page on craig's list and give away crap you can't use to somebody who can use it -- and also check if someone is giving away clothes in your size or other items you can use before you buy something -- might not work well for a man as men seem to wear the hell out of their clothes but it works wonderfully well for me as a woman, i've gotten many terrific items that were lightly worn or never worn at all

*compost food waste instead of getting it mixed in with the other stuff

*it's usually easy to recycle books and magazines in decent condition, i can trade or donate books at the used book store, and my library has a free spot where people can pick-up/leave unwanted magazines which can be used for all but porno, i'm afraid the dirty magazines end up as garden mulch since there is no real polite way to swap or recycle them

i'm no hero of the earth but it is at least something more useful than waiting and hoping that one day, some way, my recycling prince will actually start collecting the bins again -- and don't blame katrina, the service in question had already stopped bothering to collect our recycling bins long before the storm, they are just plain bums, i suppose someone is getting paid off somewhere...

[brer cat]

7. Good ideas. Some more....

Know any gardeners? Almost any paper can be used by gardeners. Those who compost might also welcome your coffee grounds, egg shells, and wilted produce.

Notify everyone sending you a catalog that you don't regularly use to remove your name from their list. We are also complaining about to utilities about the amount of junk added in the envelopes with our bills.

Save and recycle water! Do you realize how much is wasted just waiting for the water to get hot enough for a shower or dish washing? Keep a bucket near each sink and save and reuse what was previously going down the drain. We also use water from rinsing dishes in our garden, and save water from cooking pasta, etc. to put in the compost bin.

Do check out thrift stores even if you are opposed to buying used clothes. We often find nwt items very cheap. Recently bought my grands thermal undies still in the original sealed plastic bag for 1/3 original price, and I picked up a new looking pair of slacks made by Lands End for $1.00.

Just a sample of ideas that take very little time.

edit to add: Your comment on avoiding overly packaged items is very timely. We took a huge quantity of packaging from Christmas presents to the dump today, which was overflowing with everyone else's overly packaged stuff. Some parts can be recycled, but a lot can't.

[mia]

4. Miami-Dade County has an excellent recycling program.

They've been picking up recyclable materials, without fail, for at least 15 years. Waste collection is excellent too. They also have places where you can take old electronics and chemicals.

They say that they have "the most technologically advanced waste-to-energy facility in the world."

http://www.miamidade.gov/dswm/

[trixie]

5. We recycle

[Jcrowley]

6. And BioCycle

MAKING THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS TO FOOD LOSS

BioCycle November 2005, Vol. 46, No. 11, p. 4

AN ARTICLE featured in a recent edition of our local newspaper reported on college students demonstrating the importance of cutting campus waste.

These students are specifically targeting food waste from their dining hall - seeking to have Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania purchase a food pulper, which would condense discarded food residuals, drain the liquid and allow the material to be used for composting. A petition was circulated for the request. “It will help make us a more environmentally friendly college,” says Liz Schmitt, a junior and demonstration coordinator. The college effort reflects the growing awareness of the connections among the wastes generated, and how they can be processed into resources for improving soil and water quality, and become feedstocks for renewable energy creation. It also ties in directly with getting the edible food that would normally be discarded to those who need it, and wasting less in the fields where fruits and vegetables are grown. In this issue of BioCycle (page 54), Tim Jones of the University of Arizona continues his series of articles explaining how food losses are having a major negative economic, environmental and societal impact in North America. In his work as an applied researcher in anthropology, Dr. Jones shows how food losses through agricultural practices and discard of reusable resources definitely hurt our economy and environment. That loss adds up to about 15 percent of the waste stream going to landfills - and also prevents great amounts of nutrients from reaching needy persons through food banks and local distribution methods. To make sure his message is reaching more people, Dr. Jones will be a keynote speaker at the BioCycle West Coast Conference: Composting, Organics Recycling and Renewable Energy in Portland, Oregon, March 20-22, 2006. His message will facilitate food recovery and gleaning methods - and drive home the closed circle of the food delivery system that connects residuals to compost production to compost use to grow food crops that starts the process all over again. Equally important, Dr. Jones' message will help launch the theme of the 2006 West Coast conference: The role of organics recyclers in building sustainable cities and communities. Metro, the Portland regional solid waste agency, is a leader in the nation when it comes to the links between food recovery programs with area food banks and community service providers, then capturing the nonedible food for diversion to composting. Other speakers will carry that compost connection into the agricultural community, highlighting the role compost plays in improving crop yields, suppressing plant diseases and reducing irrigation needs. The sustainability theme gains strength as the agenda moves into organics recycling and production of renewable energy and biofuels, and the innovative compost-based technologies that help control erosion and storm water - allowing city funds to be directed away from high cost storm water collection and treatment systems and into public education and public health. And to better fulfill the goals illustrated by the Muhlenberg College students - and many others - BioCycle editors have completed the contents of a new book titled: Food Residuals Composting: Processes, Policies, Profits. From building residential and commercial generator participation, to optimizing collection routes, to selecting which composting and digestion systems work best for your needs, this latest BioCycle guide provides the roadmap to help move your community to sustainability. - J.G.

http://www.jgpress.com/archives/_free/000560.html

Refuse to buy stuff 90% of which is totally unnecessary. I believe Mark Twain warned us about civilization and all it's unnecessary necessaries.

Of course one should at the very least recycle everything and preferably re-use. One problem for some is that they think they are doing their part by recycling and don't get beyond that to dramatically reduce their consumption and in some ways may rationalize their levels of conspicuous consumption by saying, "Well I recycle." It can be mistaken to be some form of eco-confessional and then one gets back to the gluttony.

The situation we are in right now calls for extraordinary measures and sacrifices. And of course their is also a teensy problem in the way, namely our Corporate-Military-Government.

[pansypoo53219]

8. we have good recycling here,

although we have a snaggle toothed woman who smokes and drives a SUV who goes and picks out our aluminum. i save foil and metal to take to the recycling dump. i save any paper and biodegradeable stuff to 'plant' in the back yard area. i compost insanely and if critters eat it, fine. i put out anything briodegradable, or flush it.
i don't buy much new. i recycle/do resale and estate sales.
estate sales are the best form of recycling.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

9. Actually, it's

reduce,

reuse,

recycle

Recycling is great & I try to recycle everything, but the emphasis, IMO, should be on reducing & reusing.

We can be such a throw away society.

[cally]

10. I think we need to push government to adopt better recycling programs

I recycle most everything that's possible where I leave but it's also very easy to do so. I was given a large two sided garbage can. One side is for glass, plastic, and metal and the other side is for paper and cardboard. Once a week, the city picks it up and sends it to a recycling plant.

Many years ago, California enacted a law that required all cities and counties to reduce their waste by 50 percent. They had to adopt better recycling programs to meet that requirement.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

11. reduce, reuse, recycle. in that order.

The recycling company that has a contract with the university I work at is TERRIBLE. If one non-recyclable thing is thrown in a batch, all of it gets pitched. Stuff is collected in many, many individual cans dotted around campus, but if our janitors don't remove the plastic bags before putting that stuff in the recycling dumpsters, the recycling company gets angry and won't pick it up. For weeks, sometimes. So I just have to laugh when the Student Green Action Committee goes into overdrive once a year and honks airhorns at kids who toss their soda can in the regular garbage...because the recyclables are probably NOT actually recycled 9 times out of 10 anyhow.

In contrast, the curbside service in my neighborhood at home is excellent. Go figure.

I try to "at-home" recycle as much as possible. Stained clothes become dustrags, old Christmas cards become new Christmas ornaments, grocery sacks to line small trash cans, etc. This saves you from buying new stuff, too, which helps.

Reducing packaging - buy one item at the smaller, easily useable size and buy the big refills from then on out.

Oh, and www.paperbackswap.com is a GREAT site for recycling books. I'm beyond addicted.



EDIT: fixing html