OaklandGreen

I have been keeping track of what we throw out at my apartment. Three people, me and my two roommates, live in a town home. The apartment has a garbage disposal, which does help us to keep biodegradable material out of landfills. I have concluded that we throw away 19.5 gallons of refuse per week and 43 gallons of recycling per week. I feel very good about these numbers; it takes no extra effort be we simply have two tall kitchen cans – one is white the other is tan. The white one, containing the white bag, is refuse and the tan one, containing the blue bag is recycling. This system is easy and convenient. This also makes it very clear to guests that we recycle; we do not tell people we recycle they just simply ask, “Which color is the recycling?” In this day, most people know that recycling is important; the problem is we need to actually go through the trouble of starting. Once you know the information (what day it goes out, what is recyclable in my community, and how does my community recycle –bins, bags, etc.) then it become easy, convenient, and routine.

Here are some website’s dedicated to helping you consume less one-time-use plastics and other harmful one-time-use materials.  The first is Ecousable.com an online source to purchase great stainless steel water bottles so you never have to consume plastic bottles. They even have a new stainless steel filtered water bottle, “available exclusively from EcoUsable.” The second is Bringyourown.org this site is dedicated to showing how you can reduce your consumption of one-time-use materials that are made to last forever.

The problem that comes from so much consumption is the enormous carbon footprint that it creates. From making the materials, to distribution of them, to trucking them back to a landfill, fossil fuels are burning with no end in sight. And worse the overspill that occurs from the trash and the landfills end up in our oceans. One-time-use materials create an overwhelming problem for our marine life and the junk ends up collecting in the ocean (which is currently the size of Texas).

This problem is so complex, but it is derived from such a simple little item like a plastic bag or bottle.  Therefore please think about what happens to that bottle that you purchase before you actually buy it – make a smart choice for your health, the environment, and your wallet by purchasing reusable items that will last you a long time. Also remember when you are tired of your stainless steel water bottle, and want a new one, your old one is completely recyclable.

Video about water bottles

Video about plastic soup This video actually shows you what plasctic does to the ocean and our marine life!

It is official; starting Monday November 3^rd the expanded and simplified recycling programs is city wide. This means a lot for our residents because this means you do not need to separate your recyclables any longer!

This stuff can be put out at curbside without being separated:

Glass

All Metal

(don’t forget this includes aluminum foil)

Plastics (#1-5)

(don’t forget this includes sandwich bags)

Newspaper

Office paper

Magazines

All Mail

Phonebooks

Paperboard (ceral boxes etc.)

This will help you become a better recycler and this will benefit you and everyone in this city. This is because when the city receives more recyclable materials they receive money. If they receive enough money then that gets put back into the city to help repair streets, parks, and other general fund needs without using more tax dollars. In the long run, if enough money is made, property taxes could be lower or it would prevent a rise in them. This also helps save the city higher costs in landfill fees, which again saves the people money- we are the ones who pay the taxes which pays the landfill fees. Along with saving money, recycling more creates jobs and in a weak economy this will help. Finally, the environment will benefit as well, which helps keep our Earth beautiful and clean for future generations.

Pittsburgh Public Works Recycling

A great way to reduce the consumption of plastic bottles is to stop buying bottles of water.  But if you are not thrilled by the taste of your tap water or worry about health problems attached to tap water then a great solution is to get yourself a trendy reusable bottle, of course, and fill it with filtered water.  The only problem attached to this great solution is that the filters end up in landfills.

Anyway you cut it throwing away a filter is much better than using billions of plastic bottles.  This is because making, distributing, recycling, and disposing the plastic bottles in landfills increases our carbon footprint.  Constantly having to purchases more plastic bottles makes us spend more money and makes us drive to the store more often.  Also the actual recycling process of the plastic adds to the carbon footprint.  Water filters only need to be replaced every few months and some models last up to a year. 

We can make the process of drinking water have such a small impact on the earth buy reducing our consumption of plastic bottled water.  Now we can make sure we are recycling the filters as well.  The filter is the only waste involved when you are using your own filtered water system and container.  I have found a company that has given us the answer to recycling water filters- Zero Water. 

The Zero Water Company is the first to launch a water filter recycling program in the U.S.  According to earth911.com, “This enables users of the ZeroWater® pitchers and bottles to recycle their filters when it comes time to change them out.”

The CEO of Zero Technologies, LLC, Doug Kellam stated, “It is clear to us at ZeroWater® that if we want to reform bottled water users to switch to the more eco-friendly tap water with the help of a water filter, then we need to recycle our water filters to prevent them from ending up in landfills too.”

The company wants people to know their program is simple and low cost to the consumer.  Earth911.com states, “Consumers can ship their used filter cartridges to ZeroWater® in the original product packaging and receive a discount on replacement filters to offset the cost of shipping.”  The way the filter is recycled is as follows:  “Ninety percent of the filter is recycled; the filter materials are used in the treatment of water not intended for human consumption and the plastic components and casing are sent to the normal plastics recycling stream.”

It is important to divert waste from landfills because waste in landfills give off Methane gas but this is not natural methane it is different. According to the Energy Justice Network, landfill gas is about 40-60% methane, with the remainder being mostly carbon dioxide (CO2). Landfill gas also contains varying amounts of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, sulfur and a hundreds of other contaminants – most of which are known as “non-methane organic compounds” or NMOCs. Inorganic contaminants like mercury are also known to be present in landfill gas. Sometimes, even radioactive contaminants such as tritium (radioactive hydrogen) have been found in landfill gas. NMOCs usually make up less than 1% of landfill gas. More exhaustive tests for contaminants in landfill gas have found hundreds of different NMOC contaminants.

These toxins released from the landfill gas can cause health problems. The Energy Justice Network said that women in New York who live in local communities near landfill sites are at a four times higher risk for developing bladder cancer and leukemia.

Companies like SC Johnson are making use of landfill gas to run their factories thus saving natural gas. Currently using landfill gas is viewed by many as “Green” energy. This is controversial because using landfill gas does create more pollution than natural gas does per kilowatt hour, according to the Energy Justice Network.

As more research is being conducted to decide how to deal with landfill gas we can do our part by recycling, reducing, and reusing to avoid putting waste into landfills in the first place.

Recycling is more than just your everyday trash. Recycling can be incorporated into all the things in your life from giving used furniture to charity, to handing down your old clothes to your younger sister. This not only can help people but it is great for the environment. I found a great recycling website that allows people to give away items they do not want or need anymore. The website is called Freecycle; the rules of the site just require the items are free. Also, the area must be close so that pick up can be arranged: no money should be involved. The goal of the site is to help keep things from entering a landfill. The more we involve ourselves in recycling techniques, like trading and reusing, the more we can do to save the environment and help others in the process. There are many ways to recycle items that are in decent condition. You can donate many things to charity, you can hand things down to a family member or friend, and you can also use the internet. Take advantage of the freecycle website; or use sites such as ebay.com, amazon.com, or even the market on facebook to sell your old stuff. Anything that we get rid of without having it end up in a landfill is great for people and the environment.

freecycle network

After interviewing Shawn Wigle I learned about the new Stream line recycling which will be city wide this November. Stream line is a new technology that separates all the recyclable materials at the plant. This allows residents to mix together all the recyclables that can be picked up curbside. Stream line recycling has already been implemented into four sections of the city and has been successful. It has increased recycling in those communities by thirty percent. This new Stream line technology also makes recycling more convenient which makes it easier to educate people about the process. There is a color coded Neighborhood Recycling Participation Rating that shows the percent of residents that set out recycling. Unfortunately, in 2007 there were only 13 neighborhoods out of 73 that were a Blue-Star rating. The Blue-Star rating means that community has 95% participation. Hopefully this increased convenience will bring up recycling participation. So in the other parts of the city where recycling participation is very poor the city should see an increase come this November. If it is easier maybe more people will participate and recycling amounts should also see an increase. Not only will more people begin to participate but the amount of recyclable materials will be put out for recycling pick up rather than be put into the trash.

Recycling plastic, along with many other materials, is extremely important as we have been learning. However, another important thing about plastic is that we need to reduce our consumption of it, period. The reason this is so important is because plastic not only is made of materials that come from oil, which is terrible for the Earth and expensive, but these materials do not close the loop of recycling. Closing the loop is important because it means that the glass bottle that you are drinking juice from can be recycled, and made into another bottle to sell more juice in again, and again, and again. This loop does not occur when recycling plastic. Plastic must be melted down, which can release toxins that can pollute the air and cause cancer. Plastic also loses quality when it is heated, which does not allow the material to be remade into plastic bottles again. Referred to as downcycling, the recycled plastic material is used to make things like carpet or jacket filling, this is still much better than putting it into a landfill, but downcycling is not as amazing as recycling. So choose to forgo the plastics when you can and choose aluminum or glass instead!

Please check out this National Geographic Video that illustrates the problems with plastic bags!

norton-bag-env.html

Here in Oakland, and all of Pittsburgh for that matter, junk mail can not be recycled.  So I have found this great website to help you reduce that unwanted junk mail.  http://www.eurekarecycling.org/PDFS/Reduce_Junk_Mail_Kit.pdf

I have actually found blue bags at a price that might be a little easier to swallow.  I was shopping around at Wal-mart looking for any blue bin that would work for recycling and that I could clearly mark “recycling,” as stated on the Pittsburgh Public Works website, this is another option for putting out your recyclables.  I could not find anything that would work; they had two choices for garbage cans and they were both black. (I was delighted to find that cans made use of recycled materials) So I went searching for blue bags and was surprised to find that Wal-mart carried these special bags.  They actually had choices, which were great, they had the 12 bags for $2.97 but they also had a roll of 75 blue bags for $7.97, yes this is still on the pricey side but it is much better than only 12 bags at a time and for three bucks.  Wal-mart also had a larger gallon choice that had 50 on each roll but I stuck with the higher number of bags that was a 30 gallon normal household sized bag. I still feel that this issue of needing special bags is a problem so I will be working hard toward finding answers and solutions for it. I hope to bring awareness to the idea of blue bins for every resident! I believe that blue bins will not only bring more awareness to recycling but they will make it easier to recycle and not require people to make special purchases.