Greening Up Your Graduation



Dreamstime Stock Photos / Graduation Robe © Uciekinier  ID: 5257063

Congratulations graduates! Graduation is here and so are the graduation celebrations. There are many things you, your family and friends can do to green up your festivities!

 

Whether you are graduating from high school or college, jobs are probably one of the things you’re thinking about. Did you know that your bottle really means jobs? Recently, the Carolina Plastics Recycling Council created the Your Bottle Means Jobs campaign which was launched in the Carolinas. The goal is to capture more of the 3 billion plastic bottles thrown in the trash each year. By recycling only two more bottles a week you’ll help create jobs, grow the economy, support local businesses, reduce energy and other natural resources, and save valuable landfill space right here in your own backyard.

Chances are you might be wearing some of the fruits of your recycling efforts to your graduation. North Carolina based company Unifi Incorporated, creator of REPREVE ® recycled fiber, in partnership with Oak HallCap & Gown have created green graduation gowns. Each Oak Hall GreenWeaver® and NuHorizon® gown is made from about 27 post-consumer plastic bottles. As of today, over 87.7 million plastic bottles were recycled and made into new, recyclable graduation gowns. Now that’s getting off to a green start for your next journey!

Don’t stop there! Greening up your graduation festivities starts with the invitations and announcements. Consider emailing...not only will it save you on postage, it will save money from ordering the paper invitations as well. Do you still want to go the paper route? That’s ok! Be sure to ask everyone to recycle the announcements and invitations when they no longer need them.

Dreamstime Stock Photos | Wild Flowers Including Daisies And Corn Flowers

ID: 82988084 | © creativecommonsstockphotos

Decorating can be beautiful and environmentally friendly. Instead of buying new decorations, ask family or friends if they have any you could reuse. If they don’t, try incorporating nature into your decorations with greenery, flowers, shells or other natural materials.

Dreamstime Stock Photos Free Picture | Fruit Market

ID: 4369081 | © Michael Zysman 

A little preparation can go a long way! When you are planning the meal, first get a list together. Then try incorporating local foods into the menu. Local farmer’s markets are a great source of local food. Once the meal is over, don’t throw away those leftovers, reinvent them into other meals or compost them.

Dreamstime Stock Photos | Festive Table Setting

ID: 84940824 | © creativecommonsstockphotos 

Take steps to reduce the waste from your celebration. At your party, consider reusable dining ware and cloth napkins and table cloths. Can’t get away from using disposable items? Use one-time use items made from biodegradable or compostable materials where possible. Recycle all other materials such as plastic, aluminum, paper, and if possible try to avoid using Styrofoam.

Whew! Now that the festivities are over it’s time to clean it all up. Clean post-graduation messes with environmentally friendly cleaning products. Carefully pack away any decorations and excess supplies that may be used again.

 

As always, Reduce-Reuse-Recycle as much as possible. Now got get ‘em graduates: the world is your [recyclable] oyster! 

Dreamstime Stock Photos | Graduates Throwing Graduation Caps

ID: 84994878 | © creativecommonsstockphotos 

 

Home Improvement Tips

My husband and I are making some updates to our kitchen. The room has not been updated since its construction in 1984, so we thought it was time to replace some of the features. As we are undergoing the DIY renovation, I have thought of some environmental sustainability tips you may want to consider when planning your own home improvements. These suggestions are meant to help you save money and reduce waste.

• First, I must acknowledge that the most environmentally sustainable thing to do is keep using what you already have. If the only thing wrong with your old linoleum floor is its visual appeal, then is replacing it really necessary?

• If you decide that certain things in your house simply have to be updated, try to replace them with secondhand materials. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore is the first place I browse when I am updating anything in my house. You can find great-looking kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, ceiling fans, light fixtures, doors and windows. My friend even found enough hardwood flooring at the ReStore to redo her whole downstairs. You may have to go and look around a few times to find what you are looking for because new materials are donated to Habitat every day. You’ll save a lot of money by not buying first-hand retail. For instance, I just bought a light fixture to go above my kitchen sink. I got it in good shape from the ReStore for $25. The last time I was at a large hardware store, I found the exact same light fixture for $100. I think a 75 percent savings is pretty good.

• One of the kitchen updates my husband and I are undertaking is replacing the cabinets. When you are removing your existing cabinets or any installed feature, resist the temptation to demolish them with a sledgehammer. No matter how ugly and outdated the cabinets, countertops or bathtub may be, take the time to unscrew, cut the caulk seals and remove them carefully so they can be donated to places like Habitat for Humanity. You may be able to make some money by selling the items to a neighbor or placing them on Craigslist. My husband and I put an ad on Craigslist advertising that we had kitchen cabinets for free for anyone who would haul them away. The man who ended up taking them said he was going to install them in his garage to store his tools. If we had busted the cabinets apart during extraction, the only place the cabinets could go is the landfill. The landfill should always be your last resort.

• Most items you buy new, like cabinets, vanities, windows or microwaves will most likely come packaged in lots of cardboard and Styrofoam. The way in which you dispose of these materials is important. Take the time to cut the cardboard down to the size that is accepted by your community’s recycling program. If your community does not accept Styrofoam for recycling, be sure to bag it all up and secure it in your outside trashcan. Don’t let any of it blow out and become litter. Or, instead of throwing them out, you could store the cardboard and Styrofoam in your attic to avoid having to buy as many expensive packing materials when you move.

• When I am picking out features that are expensive and have to be installed, like kitchen cabinets, sinks, light fixtures or faucets, I choose designs that are less trendy and are more neutral, timeless designs. My thinking is that the trendier something is, the sooner I or the next owner will want to replace it. To avoid dull and uninteresting rooms, I add interest by accenting with eye-catching pillows, artwork or curtains. As styles change, these items are less expensive to switch out, they can easily be donated to a place like Goodwill, and the likelihood of unintentionally destroying them during extraction is minimal.

As the weather begins to cool down, it is a great time to start a home renovation. Go ahead and make your home a place you are proud of, but make the renovations as environmentally sustainable as you can.

Reusable Gift Wrapping

Gifts are given to celebrate special occasions throughout the year. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations and religious holidays are all special occasions that are enhanced by gift-giving. Each of these gifts is carefully wrapped in all types of materials, with paper being the most popular. Once the wrapping paper is ripped open to reveal the gift inside, most often, the paper is discarded in the trash can. Even the beautiful bow is frequently thrown away. Gift wrapping materials are, for the most part, considered to be disposable. But with our landfills growing, our natural resources waning and the cost of everything increasing, the concept of reusable wrapping is very appealing.

Recycle Now offers a great idea for reusable wrapping. Furoshiki is a Japanese style of wrapping. As recyclenow.com explains, “Furoshiki is a fun and creative style of gift wrapping using a large piece of cloth to create elegant looking presents. The good news is, when the present is unwrapped, there’s nothing to be thrown away!”

Watch the video so you can start Furoshiki wrapping for your next special occasion!

Tell us what you think!

Fast Facts on Waste Generation

Source: RE3.org “The Facts” http://www.re3.org/facts.htm

Here are some facts about materials all of us use every day. As we approach Earth Day April 22^nd, think of ways you can reduce your consumption of these materials.

Aluminum

• North Carolinians throw away more than $74,072,000 in aluminum cans each year.
• Recycling an aluminum can saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from virgin materials.

Glass

• North Carolinians throw away enough glass each year to fill up more than 11,800 tractor-trailers. If you put those tractor-trailers end -to –end, they’d stretch from Asheville to Greensboro.
• Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from crushed, used glass.

Paper

• North Carolinians throw away more than $164,375,460 in mixed paper each year.
• Producing recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp.
• One ton of paper made from recycled scrap paper saves 7,000 gallons of water.

Plastic

• Every week, North Carolinians throw away enough plastic bottles to line the Outer Banks 28 times.
• North Carolinians throw away more than $41,411,600 in plastic each year.
• Producing new plastic from recycled material uses only two-thirds of the energy required to manufacture it from raw materials.

SOURCES: NC DWM and NC DEAO

FOR MORE INFO:

American Chemistry Council
Aluminium Association
Glass Packaging Institute
American Forest & Paper Association

Conclusion to My Alabama Waste Disposal Adventure

Kristen Aubut

After an exhausting and amusing week, we had my grandmother’s whole house cleaned out. With Dad and Jill driving the moving truck and Ellen, Shane and I in the Subaru, we made our way back to Raleigh. If I had more time, I would tell you about the 12-hour uncomfortable journey home and the challenges we faced as we unpacked everything back in Raleigh. But, I don’t have time, so I am at the end of my packing adventure tale.

From this story, I hope you were able to uncover the many waste disposal themes and lessons. Just in case you weren’t, here they are:

· Disposing of junk properly can be a pain, but making the effort is important.

· Hold onto things so they can be used again. But, be organized so you don’t drive your family crazy.

· Make sure you know what is recyclable in your community.

· Donate belongings you no longer want. Maybe someone else can use them.

· Not every piece of junk you have in your house can be donated to Goodwill.

· Soup kitchens are always in need of food donations.

· Don’t try to eat steak that has been in the freezer for an unknown amount of time.

· Make sure you know how to properly dispose of household hazardous waste in your community.

· Know the operating procedures of your local landfill before going there.

· Don’t wear flip flops if you plan on going to the top of a landfill.

· Don’t put so many pesticides and fertilizers on your lawn.

· Read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

· Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

My Alabama Waste Disposal Adventure

Kristen Aubut

This past summer, my two sisters Ellen and Jill, my father, my brother-in-law Shane and I drove down to Alabama to clean out our 88-year-old grandmother’s house.

Our grandmother now lives in an assisted living home here in Raleigh. So, after 50 years of residence in her home in Huntsville, it was time to put the house on the market.

The contents of her 1,600 square-foot home, 400 square-foot garage, 100 square-foot utility shed and 1.5 acre yard were going to be cleaned out, packed up and trucked up to Raleigh in the span of seven days. We had no moving company, so my sisters’ twiggy arms, my father’s old back, my brother-in-law’s limited patience and my waning energy were the tools we used to complete this enormous task.

The theme that threaded itself through the spine of our seven-day packing adventure was proper waste disposal. “What in the world should we do with this?” was the question we continuously asked and had to answer as we packed up the house. If you stick with it, by the end of this story, you will be able to identify the many waste disposal themes and lessons that we ourselves discovered during our seven-day packing adventure.

A large contributor to the enormity of the task of packing up my grandmother’s house was my dear grandmother’s lifelong tendency to keep everything. Shoe sole inserts, laundry detergent caps, plastic cereal bags and shoe strings are just a few of the items she held onto. You may now have visions of a house full of mountains of junk like the houses you may have seen on A&E’s Hoarders.

But, the situation is not like that at all. As long as I have been alive, my grandmother’s house has been the tidiest, cleanest, most organized abode I have ever stepped foot in. Her house was neatly filled with every possession she, my grandfather (may he rest in peace), my dad and my aunt had ever owned. You would never know it though, because all of these accumulated possessions were precisely placed in labeled boxes and bins and stored behind closet and cabinet doors.

My grandparents lived by an unspoken philosophy of Waste Not, Want Not and Buy Only What You Need that they likely developed during their childhoods living on farms during the Depression. Nothing should be thrown out because every item could be used again for a different purpose. You never know when that scrap piece of wood will come in handy.

Without knowing it, my grandparents lived by the three Rs- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The first R- Reduce, played out in the fact that they would not purchase anything unless it was absolutely necessary. My grandmother decorated her formal living room in 1965, and the living room has remained the same since then. The quilts she spread on each of the beds in 1970 are the same quilts we took off the beds and packed up in 2010.

The second R- Reuse, played out in the fact that they gave a second life to every item they owned. Of anything that passed through their hands, they asked the question, “Could this item be of use in the future?” An example of this reuse is their pecan bayonet. To collect the thousands of pecans that fell from the tree in the backyard, my grandfather fashioned the perfect tool by strapping an ice pick to the end of a broken broom handle. Without bending over, one could jab the sharp point into the pecan and then drop it into a basket.

The third R- Recycle, played out in the fact that since curbside recycling collection came to her neighborhood, any material that was recyclable in Huntsville was rinsed out and placed into the blue bin. Once a week, she would drag it out to the curb for collection.

Holding onto things so they can be used again in the future is a great way to reduce the amount of trash that piles up in landfills. The key is to be very organized like my grandmother so that you do not drive your family crazy with your Waste Not, Want Not philosophy.

Check back next week as I begin the tale of our packing adventure during which we find ourselves in unexpected places, we face unexpected dangers and we experience unexpected rejections.

Reduce the Risk of Oil Spills by Reducing Waste

Bloggers – Kristen and Kelley

The recent BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a reminder that our dependence on oil has devastating effects on our Earth. Consuming less oil would result in the need for fewer oil wells. Fewer oil wells would result in a lowered risk of oil spills. So, what can you do today to decrease your dependence on the oil that is choking our oceans at this very moment?

Reduce, reuse and recycle. Let’s explain the connection. It takes oil to make, transport and dispose of goods. As an example, take a virgin plastic bottle and count how many times oil is mentioned. Plastic is made from petroleum (that’s 1). Factories use oil in production (2). Oil/gas is used to transport the bottles to stores (3). Then, the consumer uses oil to drive to the store to buy the plastic bottle (4). Oil is used by the collection trucks that take the used bottle to the recycling facility or the landfill (5).

How can you help decrease these steps?
1. Buy bottles made with recycled content. The less virgin plastic we use, the more oil you save.
2. Bike, walk or take public transportation to shop for your plastic goods.
3. When recycling at the curb, make sure to maximize your recycling program. When the collection truck uses oil/gas to drive down your street, make sure it isn’t a wasted trip. Include all that you can into your bin and get your neighbors to participate.

The consumption of oil can be found in the production and distribution of just about any product out there, from a refrigerator to a package of cookies. ULTIMATELY - Reducing how much you consume, reusing the stuff you already have, and recycling the materials accepted by your city are actions you can take today to reduce your dependence on oil and help to lessen the likelihood of future oil spills.

Waste Reduction for the Office, Home and On-the-Go, Part III

Guest Blogger - Kristen

Reducing, reusing and recycling our waste are important steps in creating a more livable Earth. Therefore, it’s important to consider how waste reduction can fit into our lives inside and outside the home.

Follow these waste reduction tips and you’ll do your part to create a more livable Earth, whether you’re in the office, at home or on-the-go!

Waste Reduction Tips for On-the-Go
-Taking your lunch from home tomorrow? Don’t pack your PB&J in a disposable plastic bag; put it in a reusable container.

-Have you seen those stainless steel drink bottles? Drink from those on-the-go instead of using single-serve bottles.

-Did you notice how much packaging came with your last take-out order? Heavy plastic bowls with plastic lids, plastic utensils and a paper bag with a plastic handle? Dine-in, when you can, to reduce your consumption of this packaging.

-Next time you’re at the grocery store, buy some reusable fabric shopping bags instead of using plastic grocery bags.

-At the grocery store, make an effort to buy brands that use less packaging.

-Next time you buy a large item, decline a bag and just carry it out of the store.

-At your child’s next game, tie a bag labeled “Recycling” to the bleachers. Eventually, the other parents will catch on and start throwing in their bottles and cans. At the end of the game, toss the bag in your trunk, and empty it into your curbside recycling bin.

Tell us what you think.
Do you use fabric shopping bags at the grocery store?
Do your kids’ sporting events offer recycling?

Waste Reduction For the Office, Home and On-the-Go, Part II

Guest Blogger – Kristen

Reducing, reusing and recycling our waste are important steps in creating a more livable Earth. Therefore, it’s important to consider how waste reduction can fit into our lives inside and outside the home.

Follow these waste reduction tips and you’ll do your part to create a more livable environment, whether you’re in the office, at home or on-the-go!

Waste Reduction Tips for the Home
• Eat dinner with your dinnerware and silverware, instead of with disposable plates and utensils.

• If you have plastic grocery bags lying around, use them for Spot’s cat litter or take them back to the store for recycling.

• Next time you’re wrapping a birthday gift, use wrapping that can be recycled; like bows, ribbons and wrapping made out of paper (instead of foil or plastic).

• Those pesky metal hangers cluttering your closet don’t have to be thrown in the trash. Take them to the dry cleaners, put them in your box going to a charitable clothing store or take them to a metal recycler.

• When you clean out your closets during spring cleaning, send your unwanted clothes, kids’ toys, books and other useful items to a donation center.

• The next time you do home renovations, send the unwanted materials you tear out, such as kitchen cabinets, doors, ceilings fans or faucets to Habitat for Humanity or another reuse facility. Find out how to donate at http://www.habitat.org/.

• Start a compost pile to divert your food scraps from the landfill and to avoid having to buy expensive topsoil this spring. To find out how, visit http://www.p2pays.org/compost/.

• Live in an apartment complex that doesn’t offer recycling? You can make a big impact by letting your complex manager know you want to have recycling.

• You may be surprised at how much of what you view as trash is actually wanted by other people or businesses. Before you throw it away, check out http://ncwastetrader.org/home.aspx.

Waste reduction tips for on-the-go will be coming soon!

Tell us what you think.
Do you have a compost pile at your house?
Does your apartment complex offer recycling?

Waste Reduction for the Office, Home and On-the-Go, Part I

Guest Blogger – Kristen

Reducing, reusing and recycling our waste are important steps in creating a more livable Earth. Therefore, it’s important to consider how waste reduction can fit into our lives inside and outside the home.

Follow these waste reduction tips and you’ll do your part to create a more livable Earth, whether you’re in the office, at home or on-the-go!



Waste Reduction Tips for the Office
- Print documents double-sided to save paper.

- Don’t print e-mails. If your e-mail program has a “folders” feature, just organize your e-mails into folders, and print only when necessary.

- Use refillable ink cartridges for your printer. That way, when they run out, you can just have them refilled.

- When your computer, printer, scanner or any other electronic device dies, don’t trash it. Take it to a recycling center. For a center near you, visit www.earth911.com.

- When your pen runs out of ink, don’t buy a whole new one. Instead, simply insert a new ink cartridge into the pen.

- Don’t know what to do with those out-of-date CDs, DVDs and floppy disks? To find out how they can be recycled, go to http://ncwastetrader.org/home.aspx

- Just got a new cell phone? Don’t trash your old one. Instead, send it to “Cell Phones For Soldiers” or another cell phone donation program. To find out how, visit http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

- Looking for a new office chair, or looking to get rid of an old one? Buy or sell used office furniture on Craigslist or Ebay.

- If your workplace doesn’t offer recycling, consider being a hero by taking on the task yourself. Bring in some type of bin, basket or box marked “Recycling.” Encourage coworkers to toss in their paper, bottles and cans. Each week, take it to a near-by recycling drop-off center. To find a drop-off location near you, visit http://nc.myecoville.com/ecosearch.

Waste reduction tips for the home and on-the-go will be coming soon!

Tell us what you think.
Who empties the recycling bins at your workplace?
Do you use refillable ink cartridges in your printer?

Recycling Can Help Reduce Climate Change

Guest blogger – Jessica

Learn more about how recycling can reduce climate change via our webinar being held on Friday, April 9. Register here.

According to many scientists and environmentalists, climate change is occurring at a dangerous pace. Whereas we cannot refute the hard evidence gathered to support this claim, the real debate is whether human activity has played a key role in the rise of global warming.

Since the Industrial Revolution, we have relied on the burning of fossil fuels for energy, releasing many harsh chemicals into the atmosphere. The widespread use of automobiles, the extraction of oil for fuel and the burning of refined gas have been a high source of extra carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air.

These are commonly-known human contributions to the rise of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. What many do not know is that municipal solid waste is also a culprit in the case of climate change, and recycling can help.

In 2007, 97% of CO2 emissions, 35% of methane, and 14% of nitrous oxide emissions came from energy production. Recycling can save energy by:
1. Reducing the amount of energy used in the four stages of product development:
-Extraction of raw materials,
-Manufacture of these materials into products,
-Product use by consumers, and
-Product disposal.
2. Consuming 95% less energy using recycled aluminum scrap to make new aluminum cans instead of extracting its raw material, bauxite ore.
3. Consuming 75% less energy to make recycled steel into new products, rather than using steel produced from its raw material, iron ore.

When energy is saved, less greenhouse gas will be produced in the process.

Other ways recycling and composting reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help decrease our contribution to climate change are:
- Through composting, methane (a greenhouse gas 72 times more potent than CO2 ) is decreased, by reducing the release of this greenhouse gas through anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfills.
- By reducing methane buildup in landfills we can decrease the need for flaring, the process of burning methane as it is released into the atmosphere, which creates CO2 as a byproduct.

While climate change may not be a tangible or immediate threat, it has the potential to negatively impact our planet. Rising temperatures can cause changes in ecosystems and disease patterns, sea level rise and increased extreme weather events, among other effects.

Now is the time to be proactive and do our part to limit our waste production and energy consumption by recycling, and as a result we can limit our contribution to climate change.

Waste Reduction For Kids and Parents

Guest Blogger - Kristen

It’s never too early to adopt an environmentally sustainable lifestyle. In fact, learning at an early age how to take care of our planet is a key step in making a difference. Get on track with a greener lifestyle by adopting the three Rs of waste reduction- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
-Reduce- buy less stuff in the first place.
-Reuse- find other uses for items instead of throwing them away.
-Recycle- find out which materials are accepted for recycling in your community.

Share these tips with your kids and you’ll be surprised how enthusiastic they can get about the three Rs.
-Kids outgrow things quickly! Their clothes, toys and other gear don’t have to be thrown in the trash. Instead, sell them at a consignment sale or on Craigslist. Buying second-hand is also a good way to save money and the environment. You can always donate them to a charity.

-When packing your kids’ lunch tomorrow, fill their lunch box with reusable containers instead of throw-away bags.

-When eating lunch at home, even if you’re having a simple PB&J, use a washable plate instead of a throw-away plate.

-When planning your child’s birthday party, keep your green commitment in mind by using reusable plates and utensils instead of throw-away plastic.

-If your child’s school cafeteria doesn’t have recycling containers, get together with some other parents and work with the principal and school to get some.

-Set up a compost pile in your backyard and get your kids involved in maintaining it.

-Set up a competition among your children to see who can generate the least amount of trash in a week.

-Find out what happens beyond your kitchen trashcan. Schedule a trip for the whole family to your local landfill.

-Take your kids with you to the grocery store, and make a game out of picking products with the least amount of packaging.

-Find out from your child’s teacher if a waste reduction unit is in the year’s lesson plans. If it’s not, encourage the teacher to include one. Volunteer to help with the unit.

Remember, children watch what their parents do. Follow waste reduction tips yourself and your kids will too.

Tell us what you think. Does your child’s school offer recycling?
Have you and your kids ever visited your local landfill?

College students can make an impact – Part 4

Guest Blogger - Kristen

Make an impact. You can help reduce waste in your community with these ideas.
-Live in an apartment complex that doesn’t offer recycling? You can make a big impact by letting your complex manager know you want to have recycling.

-Are you frustrated that your university doesn’t have recycling bins in classrooms, the dining hall, the library, parking lots, along sidewalks or at sporting events? Try asking your chancellor about it. If enough students show interest, a change might be made.

-Spread the three Rs message! When you go back home, encourage your family to reduce, reuse and recycle. Or, when you study abroad, find out about your host city’s waste reduction and recycling efforts, and tell your host family what you do to reduce waste.

Tell us what you think.
Are recycling bins easy to find around your campus?
Do you find it difficult to convince your roommates to recycle?

Recycling Ideas for the College Lifestyle – Part 3

Guest Blogger - Kristen

The final step (last week’s blogs included steps one and two) is to toss the materials that are accepted by your community into a recycling bin so that they can be remanufactured into new (and sometimes different) products. Each community accepts different materials for recycling, so find out what can be recycled in your community by visiting this link.

Party recycling ideas:
-When you’re setting up for your next tailgate, tie a trash bag to your bumper for all your recyclable bottles and cans.

-At the bar this weekend, take a second to scope out the recycling bin for your bottles and cans.

-At your next party, make sure to put out a recycling bin (or laundry basket marked “Recycle”) for bottles and cans. Make it into a game; every time someone throws a bottle in the recycling bin, they get a point.

Other recycling Ideas:
-Are your sneakers worn out from last semester’s gym class? Don’t throw them away, find out how they can be recycled by going to Nike’s Reuse a Shoe.

-Next time you’re wrapping a friend’s birthday gift, use wrapping that can be recycled (or reused); like bows, ribbons and wrapping made out of paper (instead of foil or plastic).

-Don’t know what to do with those out-of-date CDs, DVDs and floppy disks? To find out how they can be recycled, go to http://www.greendisk.com/.

-Those pesky metal hangers cluttering your closet don’t have to be thrown in the trash. Take them back to the dry cleaners, put them in your box going to the thrift store or take them to a metal recycler.

-When your computer, printer, scanner or any other electronic device dies, don’t trash it. Take it to a recycling center. Find out where by going to Earth 911.

-Live in a sorority or fraternity house? Have your housemates collect their food scraps and begin a compost pile in your backyard. Compete with other houses to see who can generate the most compost tonnage. Use the freshly-made mulch to plant a garden! Learn more about composting here.

-At the end of the semester, you don’t have to throw your notebook in the trash. If it has a recyclable chipboard cover, just pull out the wire binding and put your whole notebook in the recycling bin. If it has a plastic cover, just tear it off and put the paper in the recycling bin.

-Got a bunch of packaging peanuts from the box your Mom sent you? Dumping them in the trash isn’t the only option. To find out how they can be recycled, go to http://www.loosefillpackaging.com/.

-Love omelets for breakfast? Buy eggs in cardboard containers instead of plastic containers.

Reuse Ideas for the College Lifestyle – Part 2

Guest Blogger - Kristen

The next step is to reuse the stuff we already have. This means actions like selling the couch you no longer want on Craigslist or refilling a plastic drink bottle a few times.

Here are some ideas that should fit into your life as a college student:
-You don’t have to buy a new three-ring notebook every semester. Just reuse last semester’s and put new paper in it.

-Is your living room furniture wrecked from your last party? Don’t waste money on brand new furniture, find used furniture on Craigslist.

-Just got a new cell phone? Don’t trash your old one; send it to “Cell Phones For Soldiers” or another cell phone donation program. www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

-The bookstore won’t buy back your textbook? Instead of throwing it away, sell it online, donate it or, if it’s paperback, toss it in the recycling bin.

-Don’t look as good in those jeans as you thought you did in the dressing room? Don’t trash them, give them to a non-profit organization, consignment store or sell them on Craigslist.

-If you do have plastic grocery bags lying around, use them for Spot’s cat litter or take them back to the store for recycling.

Waste Reduction for the College Lifestyle – Part 1

Remember back in elementary school when you learned about the three Rs? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Well, the three Rs still apply even though you’re in college now! Let me remind you why these three concepts are so important. Americans consume three times more stuff now than they did in 1960. This consumption rate would require 1.3 Earths to keep up with the demand (World Watch Institute). Well, since we have only one Earth, we need to get better about reducing, reusing and recycling our waste.

The first step is to reduce how much stuff we consume in the first place. This means actions like not buying a new cell phone every time a new design comes out or buying groceries with less packaging.

Below are some ideas that should fit into your life as a college student.
Schoolwork waste reduction ideas:
-When your pen runs out from all your note-taking, don’t buy a whole new pen. Just buy a new ink cartridge.

-Use refillable ink cartridges for your printer. That way, when it runs out, you can just go back to the store and have it refilled.

-Don’t print e-mails. If your e-mail program has a “folders” feature, just organize your e-mails into folders and print only when necessary.

-When you need to print off class notes or research, print double-sided to save paper.

-At the beginning of the semester, ask your professor if the papers you hand in can be printed double-sided.

Kitchen waste reduction ideas:
-Have you seen those stainless steel drink bottles? Drink from those on-the-go instead of using single serve plastic bottles.

-Did you notice how much packaging your last take-out order came with? Heavy plastic bowls with plastic lids, plastic utensils and a paper bag with a plastic handle? Dine-in, when you can, to reduce your consumption of this packaging.

-Next time you’re at the grocery store, buy some reusable fabric shopping bags instead of using plastic grocery bags.

-Taking your lunch from home tomorrow? Don’t pack your PB&J in a throw-away plastic bag, put it in a reusable container.

-Ask your dining hall if it can start offering fewer disposable food containers (like Styrofoam trays and throw-away plates) and more reusable containers (like hard plastic trays and plates).

Reducing Unwanted Junk Mail

Guest Blogger - Mary

Junk Mail seems to be a pervasive and persistent problem. Often times more than half of the materials that come through the mail are addressed to the “current resident” and land up immediately in the recycle bin. Here at RE3.org we recently learned about a way to significantly reduce this unwanted material and thought we would pass it along to you.

Credit card offers are one of the most prevalent issues when it comes to junk mail. There is a way to contact all the major credit bureaus at once to get your name removed from their mailing lists. You can stop those pesky offers by simply calling this number – (888) 567-8688, or through visiting this Web site - www.optoutprescreen.com

Then for all those unwanted catalogs that are sent to your doorstep a Web site has been set up to help consumers filter and select the mail that they wish to receive. www.catalogchoice.org was formulated to allow individuals to essentially choose the items which they would like to receive in the mail and opt out of others they consider to be unnecessary. A similar service is aimed at stopping the delivery of free papers that might be dropped off at your residence. www.stopfreepapers.org has been set up to allow people to remove themselves from these automated mailing lists so they don’t receive unwanted material.

Phone books also are items that seem to consistently pile up in households across the country. Although not as consistent as the daily dose of junk mail, many households are content with the present phone book they have and do not desire additional copies. www.yellowpagesoptout.com is a Web site that allows consumers to quickly and effortlessly either adjust the number of copies desired or cancel delivery of phone books to their residence.

So if you’re looking for ways to reduce the amount of paper arriving at your doorstop – feel free to check out these sites. Do something good for the environment and yourself at the same time!

Junk Mail Cards Outdated

Guest Blogger – Tom

Due to ongoing and frequent changes in the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service, DPPEA has decided to stop producing “Stop the Junk Mail Cards.” Any Junk Mail Cards that you may have are now out of date and contain erroneous information and should be recycled. Options still exist for the quantity of junk mail received. In lieu of junk mail cards, we recommend sending residents to the Direct Marketing Association’s Consumer Information Web site: www.dmachoice.org.

More junk mail posts can be found here.

ARTICLE - "Precycle" new green buzzword

Yea for Precyclers, the best kind of trendsetters we could have.

According to a recent Brandweek Magazine article, New York’s market research and trend consulting firm The Intelligence Group has published information on a new trend: precycling.

Published within a recent issue of the company's Cassandra Report, officials stated that precycling is becoming more popular with individuals who want to do more than "just toss cans and bottles in the recycle bin and let waste management sort it out." According to the report, precyclers avoid products that create excessive waste, such as plastic water bottles and polyethylene shopping bags. For example, The Intelligence Group reported that, over the last six months, 45 percent of trendsetters and 14 percent of mainstream consumers lessened their purchases of bottled water, while 49 percent and 16 percent, respectively, diminished their use of plastic carryout bags during the same period.

Additionally, the report noted that precyclers look for ways to reduce or repurpose packaging, donate or resell electronic gadgets, plus they remove themselves from junk mail lists in hopes of lessening paper waste.

Going trayless (not topless)

Have you heard about this new trend on college campuses? School cafeterias are doing away with trays. Thus saving water and energy and reducing food waste. I know this guy in college who used to just use his skateboard as his tray. How’s that for thinking outside the tray?

Read about it here.
See a video here.



Are there any colleges in NC doing this you ask? Well some. See the list here.
-North Carolina A&T State
-North Carolina Central University
-North Carolina Wesleyan-Café
-Presbyterian College-Greenville (maybe Greenville, SC?)
-Saint Mary’s College
-Warren Wilson College