Did you know that most bottle caps that go in the recycling bin do not get recycled? I know, shouldn't all plastic that goes into a recycling cart be recycled? In a perfect world, yes, in the real world there are more types of plastics than are current recycling equipment can handle.
So how can you recycle your bottle caps? Bring them to Aveda, a local beauty salon and salon product manufacturer. They accept all sorts of bottle caps from water bottles, milk bottles, laundry bottles and the list goes on. Aveda stores are in Blaine, Bloomington, Minneapolis, and Edina.
They also have a program for kids to get a cap recycling program at their schools. Kids bring in the caps from home, they fill up a box at school and Aveda pays for the shipping and recycling. Visit http://aveda.aveda.com/aboutaveda/caps.asp for more information on the caps they accept and how to start a program at a school.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Earth Hour
Have you ever heard of Earth Hour? Me either until about 10 minutes ago. Well someone, somewhere (Sydney, Australia to be exact) came up with the idea in 2007 for everyone to turn off their lights for one hour to "vote" for elected officials to take action on climate change. This year you can "vote" by turning off your lights on March 28th at 8:30 p.m. for one hour. There is more information and a sign up to have your vote counted at http://www.earthhour.org/
So, if you choose to participate with over 1 billion people worldwide, go for a walk, go to bed early or do something fun by candlelight!
So, if you choose to participate with over 1 billion people worldwide, go for a walk, go to bed early or do something fun by candlelight!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Driving Gizmos and Gadgets
In my exciting line of work I read popular magazines like Resource Recycling, MSW Management, Waste News, etc. Okay, they don't compare in circulation to People or the National Enquirer, but they do highlight some interesting gizmos and gadgets.
Today I read about a driving device that monitors your driving expense in real-time. It shows how much your trip costs and your cost per day on fuel. Anyone with elementary school math could figure these costs out with a simple calculation or two, but as Americans we like gadgets that talk to us immediately. Here is a link: http://www.fuelefficiencycenters.com/fuel_efficiency_adviser.php
If you get one of these gadgets, let us all know if it works and if you changed your driving habits to save some dough!
Today I read about a driving device that monitors your driving expense in real-time. It shows how much your trip costs and your cost per day on fuel. Anyone with elementary school math could figure these costs out with a simple calculation or two, but as Americans we like gadgets that talk to us immediately. Here is a link: http://www.fuelefficiencycenters.com/fuel_efficiency_adviser.php
If you get one of these gadgets, let us all know if it works and if you changed your driving habits to save some dough!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Free T.V./Computer Recycling - Sat. Apr. 25th
Come join me and 1,400 of your neighbors at our T.V. and computer recycling drop-off event Saturday, April 25th, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00p.m. at the Brooklyn Park Operations & Maintenance facility, 8300 Noble Ave N. Did I mention it is free for residents of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal and New Hope? Try and find anything free nowadays! We recycle many other things for free such as cell phones, radios, monitors, oil, oil filters, antifreeze, bicycles, scrap metal, and vehicle/household batteries.
We also recycle appliances for less than anywhere in town. Appliances are $10/unit and air conditioners are$15/unit. Car tires cost $1/tire and pickup truck tires are $2/unit and up depending on if you're bringing in tires from the farm tractor for recycling. A more comprehensive list of acceptable items is on our website. See you in April!
We also recycle appliances for less than anywhere in town. Appliances are $10/unit and air conditioners are$15/unit. Car tires cost $1/tire and pickup truck tires are $2/unit and up depending on if you're bringing in tires from the farm tractor for recycling. A more comprehensive list of acceptable items is on our website. See you in April!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Top ten reasons your recycling wasn't picked up?
10. The recycling cart was not set out before the truck went by (should be out by 6:30 a.m.)
9. The recycling cart grew arms and rolled itself to Florida for the winter.
8. The cart had unacceptable items in it such as clothes, leaves, wood, t.v.'s, or an album of
Bing Crosby's greatest hits (the cover would have been okay).
7. The cart had aspirations to be a magician and perfected the disappearing act (please contact us for another cart).
6. It was out on the wrong day, recycling is only collected once every other week.
5. It was your significant other's turn to take out the recycling (they may have told you they did it, but they really forgot)
4. One of six holidays (New Years Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas) fell somewhere between Monday and Friday and pushed back your collection by one day
3. Oops!
2. The cart was pulled in before the truck made it through the route (the truck broke down and by the time it was fixed they barely finished the route by 6:30 p.m. to avoid getting fined by the city.
1. Gremlins, they still exist, and they attacked the driver and stole the truck right before they got to your street.
9. The recycling cart grew arms and rolled itself to Florida for the winter.
8. The cart had unacceptable items in it such as clothes, leaves, wood, t.v.'s, or an album of
Bing Crosby's greatest hits (the cover would have been okay).
7. The cart had aspirations to be a magician and perfected the disappearing act (please contact us for another cart).
6. It was out on the wrong day, recycling is only collected once every other week.
5. It was your significant other's turn to take out the recycling (they may have told you they did it, but they really forgot)
4. One of six holidays (New Years Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas) fell somewhere between Monday and Friday and pushed back your collection by one day
3. Oops!
2. The cart was pulled in before the truck made it through the route (the truck broke down and by the time it was fixed they barely finished the route by 6:30 p.m. to avoid getting fined by the city.
1. Gremlins, they still exist, and they attacked the driver and stole the truck right before they got to your street.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Superbowl Boosts Recycling
100 million people (give or take a few) and I watched the Superbowl last night. If they were like me they helped boost recycling with the number of cans and bottles collected for recycling this week. Let's do the math together. To simplify my experiment, say everyone consumes an extra 2 cans of their preferred beverage, which is a conservative estimate for many people that watch the game. Yes, some live it up a bit more with bottled beverages and wine, but let's talk aluminum cans.
100,000,000 people * 2 extra cans/person = 200,000,000 cans. "WikiAnswers" says about 28 empty cans equals a pound. 200,000,000 cans divided by 28 cans/lb. gives us 7.14 million pounds of extra recyclable cans from the Superbowl. Converted to money, at $0.60/lb. that's over $4.28 million dollars in aluminum! Wow, the Superbowl really does boost recycling!
100,000,000 people * 2 extra cans/person = 200,000,000 cans. "WikiAnswers" says about 28 empty cans equals a pound. 200,000,000 cans divided by 28 cans/lb. gives us 7.14 million pounds of extra recyclable cans from the Superbowl. Converted to money, at $0.60/lb. that's over $4.28 million dollars in aluminum! Wow, the Superbowl really does boost recycling!
Friday, January 23, 2009
What's your impact?
In my tangled "green" network I received a link to an interesting website. It has many environmental and home improvement tips, and a calculator that measures your environmental impact. If you would like to try it go to http://www.lowimpactliving.com and click on the "Impact" tab. I gave it a try and found out that I'm about "average" (it hurts to be reminded how average I am). Anyway, I'm taking that as a challenge and plan to use a few of the website tips to save energy such as using power strips to shut off electronics (T.V., stereo, etc.) that use energy even when they are turned off, and try some water conservation tips. In the grand scheme of things I'm not too concerned about my score (by the way it was 104), but I'm looking to improve it. Give it a try and let me know what your score is!!!
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