The purpose of this grant cycle is to assist local governments and not-for-profit agencies in expanding, improving and implementing waste reduction programs in North Carolina including recycling education ideas and school recycling programs if coordinated with help from the local solid waste office. The Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance administers the Community Waste Reduction and Recycling Grants through the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund.
The Request for Proposals can be found here. DPPEA is seeking proposals for the funding of equipment and other items that help initiate or expand waste reduction programs within the state. Applicants should carefully read this entire RFP prior to submitting a proposal. Proposals must be received by DPPEA by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2008. Please address any questions to Jim Hickman at (919) 715-6528 or jim.hickman@ncmail.net.
Remember to recycle your glass champagne bottles, your empty beer cans and your plastic water bottles at your New Year’s festivities. In fact, why not make it your New Year’s resolution to recycle more, or if you are already recycling all you can, resolve to tell more people about recycling and its benefits to the economy and environment. You can make a difference!
Not necessarily relevant for the RE3.org demographic but still very cool. The N.C. DPPEA Recycle Guys Web site has been overhauled. You can now download lots of artwork -- posters -- decals and symbols. Check back often, as we will be continually updating the site with new games, monthly crafts and Recycle Guy sitings. Thank you to S.C. DHEC for all their great work on this campaign!
If you know someone under the age of 15, please have them take our on-line survey about the Recycle Guys campaign.
Also on the left hand side of the Recycle Guys home page, click “School Recycling.” This will take you to a new page with podcasts, a fact sheet and useful links.
In a previous post I talked about Current TV. I love this channel! However, you don’t need to watch it on cable only. All of their podcasts are also on its Web site.
I spent an undisclosed amount of time searching its site for cool environmental/recycling videos to pass along. Check them out below.- Bonnaroo Music and Art festival The second part of this podcast talks about art at the festival made with recycled content material. We have a local gallery in Durham that displays art made with recycled material at The Scrap Exchange.- Sustainable Design in Hawaii This video has good information about green building.- Making Sandals in Africa from Recycled Material All around super human Mathew Meyer started a recycled sandal company in Africa that directly benefits the natives who make them in a cooperative business in Nairobi.- Recycle a Bicycle in NY An organization called the Recyclery (http://www.recyclery.info/) in Carrboro, N.C. also salvages bicycles and donates them to people that can use them.
It’s easy to be green no matter what holiday it is- Waste Reduction-Send holiday e-cards instead of paper greeting cards or make sure the ones you buy have recycled content material. -When shipping, reuse foam peanuts or other packaging materials. -Use reusable grocery and shopping bags and make sure to recycle the non-reusable ones. -Use rechargable batteries for cameras, flashlights, etc. -If you have several events or parties in a short amount of time buy food items in bulk. You will save a trip to the grocery and use less packaging! -Eliminate using disposable plates, cups, napkins and silverware. If you do buy disposable products look for ones with recycled content. -Instead of buying new items (e.g., a dress for a party, more chairs, etc.) consider borrowing or renting things. -Shop at thrift stores for unique gift items or holiday decorations. -Compost your leftover food - it’s easy and a great fertilizer! -Save all gift-wrapping and decorations to reuse later or wrap gifts in old maps, posters, sheet music, fabric scraps or wallpaper scraps. Recycling-Have clearly marked recycling containers at your holiday party. -Cook holiday meals in recyclable and recycled content pans such as aluminum. -If your holiday gifts include new electronic gadgets and you need to discard your older electronics, recycle them instead of throwing them away. Contact your local recycling office or visit http://www.p2pays.org/localgov/PAYT/ncwaste.asp to find out how to recycle your electronics. -Recycle or properly dispose of all cooking grease. Do not put it down the drain. Energy Conservation-Make sure to turn off or unplug holiday decorations when they are not in use. -Be sure holiday decorations are not placed on or obstructing air vents. -When cooking, use your microwave oven as much as possible or plan your oven baking to avoid continuously reheating the oven. -Use LED holiday lights. They use about 99 percent less energy than larger, traditional holiday bulbs and last up to 100,000 hours when used indoors. -Reduce your light display by one or two strands. You may not even notice the subtle change. Water Conservation-Defrost frozen items in the refrigerator, not under running water. -Run only full loads in the washing machine and dishwater. -When washing dishes keep washing soap usage to a minimum. It helps reduce the amount of rinse water needed. -Don’t run the kitchen faucet continuously while washing dishes. -Let pots and pans soak instead of letting the water run while you clean them. -Minimize the number of dishes used at holiday parties.
- Check out this cute dog jacket made from plastic soda bottles. I heard it was purchased at Target but I can’t find it online.- Teva has a new collection of shoes called "curbside" that feature recycled content materials
- Coca-Cola has some recycled PET T-shirts for sale on its Web siteOther Alternative Gift Ideas-Give home-baked goodies in reusable containers like baskets, tins or jars.-Give non-materialistic “green” gifts that do not require wrapping, such as gift certificates for massages, to restaurants, cooking classes, sailing lessons, etc. Theater, sporting event, concert or movie tickets are always appreciated. Experiences are remembered long after other presents wear out.
-Give a gift of time or talent. Take someone to a play, concert or movie. Make gift certificates for a special dinner, pet sitting or house cleaning. Offer your talents at gardening, photography or financial planning — or better yet, teach someone a skill you possess such as knitting, woodworking or playing an instrument.
-Make a charitable donation in the recipient’s name or give a membership to a museum, environmental or other nonprofit organization. -Give fair trade coffee and teas or local and organic fruit and vegetable baskets.-Give a compost bin, can crusher, water timer, programmable thermostat, rain barrel, house plant, bird feeder, light timers or bat house.-When gift giving think durable. Consider how long the item will last before you make a purchase.
Bianca, with the City of Raleigh, and I were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do a radio talk show that aired on all Clear Channel stations last week. What was the topic? Holiday waste reduction and recycling, of course. A podcast of the show has been put on Clear Channel’s Web site. Call your local radio station to see if you can do a short radio show about this issue.
Check out the Holiday Recycling and Waste Reduction information that we have compiled below.-Recycled holiday craftsEach month we put up a new craft idea depending on the holiday. All crafts include a reuse component. So get creative and create!-Recycle Guys Holiday graphicsPrint out these cute Recycle Guy graphics and put them on gift tags.-Holiday Tips posterPut this poster up at your school or place of work to remind others to think about being environmentally friendly at this time of year.-Recycle Guys Holiday Coloring PageFor the kids in the family . . . print out this coloring page, give them some crayons and let them go wild.-Christmas Tree Recycling informationRemember to recycle your greens this holiday. Check out this Web site for tree recycling locations in your community.
I had the privilege of speaking at this year’s National Association of Environmental Educators Conference in Virginia Beach. My topic was viral marketing and how we have used it with RE3.org. My presentation can be found online here.
I also created a handout with various viral marketing resources. Some are shown below.RE3.org Viral Marketing Sites ·
Blog
YouTube
MySpace - 107 million registered users ·
Facebook Group - 73 million registered users ·
Wikipedia
Flikr - 4 million registered users ·
Del.icio.us - Lists RE3.org Internet bookmarksRE3.org Support Sites
Google Analytics - Tracks hits on your blog
Google Alerts - Finds a word or phrase on the Internet and sends you an e-mail when the word is posted
Survey Monkey - Online tool to create and analyze surveys
Constant Contact - Online tool to create e-newsletters and manage contacts (bounce backs, vacation notices, etc.)
Other
Craig’s list - Discussion forums
Virtual reality communities like Second Life
Prizm – My Best Segments - Allows you to get a quick overview of your demographic via a ZIP code
Guest Blogger - HannahEach month you can take a pledge for the Carbon Conscious Consumer campaign. The campaign is devoted to challenging citizens to establish "climate-friendly" daily habits. C3 believes in being part of the solution to climate change by changing your habits and inspiring your friends to do the same.This month’s pledge is: “Bring your own bag - neither paper or plastic when you take part in the new BYOB.” According to the campaign, Americans use more than 100 billion shopping bags each year, which equals 12 million barrels of oil. So this month make it a habit to bring reusable bags when you shop and help reduce your carbon footprint.Visit http://c3.newdream.org/ for more information or to sign this month’s pledge!
