Electronics Donation and Recycling

 

Why Recycle Electronic Products

 

Electronic products are made from valuable resources and materials, including metals, plastics, and glass, all of which require energy to mine and manufacture. Donating or recycling consumer electronics conserves our natural resources and avoids air and water pollution, as well as greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by manufacturing virgin materials.

 

For example:

• Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by more than 3,500 US homes in a year.
• For every million cell phones we recycle, 35 thousand pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.

Before Donating or Recycling Your Used Electronics

• For your computer or laptop, consider upgrading the hardware or software instead of buying a brand new product.
• Delete all personal information from your electronics.
• Remove any batteries from your electronics, they may need to be recycled separately.
• Check to see what requirements exist in your state Exit or community. 

Where to Donate or Recycle

Manufacturers and retailers offer several options to donate or recycle electronics. Search below to find programs developed by Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge participants. If you are an original equipment manufacturer or retailer, learn how to join the SMM Electronics Challenge. Participation in the SMM Electronics Challenge is voluntary. EPA does not endorse any of the participants or their products and services.

• Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge

Search by Electronic Device or Company

The following links exit the site Exit

http://www.epa.gov/recycle/electronics-donation-and-recycling

 

 

 

 

Biodegradable Coffee Cups Embedded With Seeds Grow Into Trees When Thrown Away

Image – Reduce.Reuse.Grow.

 

Here’s an amazing idea that really proves to you that anything is possible with the right approach. A small team based in California, USA that goes by the name of Reduce. Reuse. Grow. has devised an ingenious new type of coffee cup with seeds inside the walls. You can plant the cup when you are done and the seeds grow.

 

Some thought has clearly gone into this project: One thing that is clever about this cup is that the seeds included in the cups will be local to the region in which the cups are sold, so that the plants grown are appropriate for the local ecosystem. With ingenuity like this it really might be possible to turn around some of our greatest waste problems. Styrofoam (another common material for hot beverage containers) is something of an ecological nightmare, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces which blow away on the breeze, ending up possibly eaten by animals or causing widespread pollution. I also recently found out that the part of California that I am in does not have general facilities for styrofoam recycling.

 

Billions of beverage containers are discarded each year and we’ve all seen pictures of the terrible mess we are making. So this project – and others like it – are an urgent priority. Ok here’s the full report on the new Biodegradable Coffee Cups Embedded With Seeds Grow Into Trees When Thrown Away: http://www.boredpanda.com/biodegradable-plantable-coffee-cup-reduce-reuse-grow/

 

Here’s another interesting thing you can use for seed planting: Eggshells. The plants get the calcium as the eggshell breaks down! Check it out here How To Plant Seeds Using Eggshells You could also try using home-made newspaper pots.

 

- See more at: http://off-grid.info/blog/biodegradable-coffee-cups-embedded-with-seeds-grow-into-trees-when-thrown-away/#sthash.GeYKpOiU.dpuf

 

 

 

 

Here’s what some hotels do with those barely used bars of soap

 

BY Larisa Epatko  November 3, 2015

 

Erin Zaikis (right) washes her hands with children in Shilonda, India, one of the countries where Sundara promotes the use of soap. Photo by Emily Rose Weinstein

 

Several years ago, Erin Zaikis was working in rural Thailand. She was surprised to see how many children in the village didn't wash their hands with soap, much less know what soap was.

"Just hearing that someone who's 11, 12, 13 and has lived their whole life without something that I took for granted every single day of mine was the catalyst for thinking about a solution to this problem," said Zaikis.

Back in New York she did some research. "Everyone's talking about clean water, but no one's talking about soap," she discovered. "I felt like if I didn't do something, no one would."

In 2013 Zaikis founded Sundara, a nonprofit working to improve hygiene and prevent disease in poor communities in India, Uganda and Myanmar by recycling used bars of hotel soap. Hotels pay a fee to join the program and have used bars of soap and liquid soap taken off their hands, so to speak.

Women in India package soap for Sundara, a nonprofit that teaches underserved communities about the importance of using soap to prevent disease. Photo courtesy of Sundara

Hotels were wary at first, Zaikis said, but after the first few got involved and could see how children and communities benefitted, more were willing to participate based on the testimonials. Diversey/Sealed Air based in Charlotte, N.C., donates the machines and chemicals for the sanitizing process.

Community workers mold the clean scraps into new bars of soap and distribute them to schools, health clinics and community centers, where paid "hygiene ambassadors" teach others the importance of using soap to stay healthy.

Sundara connects with local women's groups to recruit the hygiene ambassadors. The women, many of whom are illiterate and don't have other options for employment, participate in a two-week training course and receive a monthly stipend.

Kanchan Kashyap, one of the "hygiene ambassadors" in Mumbai, India, who is teaching her community to use soap. Photo by Emily Rose Weinstein

Kanchan Kashyap, 32, works as one of the hygiene ambassadors in Mumbai, India. When she and her husband moved there four years ago, they quickly learned they would need to supplement her husband's income as a painter because of their increased living expenses.

Kashyap said when she joined Sundara's team and they started going around the neighborhood touting soap's benefits, people were skeptical about the recycled soap. "They would ask us, 'What is this soap?' and 'How is it different?' But we've explained it to them and proudly say that we use it for ourselves, so now they are interested.

"We each keep a supply of soaps at our houses to hand out when our friends stop over for tea."

Kashyap said she and the other workers visit schools and teach the students to wash their hands before and after eating lunch and using the bathroom. Children who had never used a bar of soap before are not only washing their hands, but their arms, legs, face and feet.

Since its origin in 2013, Sundara, which means "beautiful" in Sanskrit, has reached 4,000 children in India, Uganda and Myanmar, and has a community-wide reach of 6,000.

"I try to bring in the idea of shared responsibility for this problem by involving community members wherever we can," said Zaikis. She leaves decisions, such as whether to deliver more soap to a school or get new schools involved, up to the community members. In that case, the locals chose the former, and this fall they bumped up soap delivery to their existing network of schools from once to twice per month.

"It's more important to see that the children are properly educated, and we're not just dropping off the soap. I want a meaningful and consistent impact within the communities and not just be a handout," she said.

The numbers of those reached might seem small now, but by educating a new generation of hand washers, it will have a multiplying effect, she added.

"Soap recycling is so simple. We're not waiting for some complicated vaccine. The solution to this problem already exists."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/heres-hotels-used-bars-soap/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=newshour

 

 

 

Rotterdam may pave its roads in recycled plastic

© VolkerWessels

 

Lloyd Alter (@lloydalter)
Design / Sustainable Product Design
July 10, 2015

 

Asphalt is not pretty stuff. It emits 27 kilograms of CO2 for every tonne produced; it absorbs heat and contributes to urban heat island effects. Meanwhile, our mountains of plastic are rising faster than they can be downcycled into lawn chairs and plastic lumber.

Perhaps not for too much longer. A Dutch construction firm, VolkerWessels, is proposing a new form of roadbed made from recycled plastic. According to Gordon Darroch in the Guardian,

The plastic roads are lighter, reducing the load on the ground, and hollow, making it easier to install cables and utility pipelines below the surface. Sections can be prefabricated in a factory and transported to where they are needed, reducing on-site construction, while the shorter construction time and low maintenance will mean less congestion caused by roadworks. Lighter materials can also be transported more efficiently.

 

© VolkerWessels

 

They are going to try it out in Rotterdam. Rolf Mars of VolkerWessells' subsidiary KWS Infra, claims that "plastic offers all kinds of advantages compared to current road construction, both in laying the roads and maintenance."

An interesting idea that is probably more logical than paving it in solar cells. It will be interesting to see how this works in cold climates when plastic gets brittle. More in the Guardian.

 

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/rotterdam-may-pave-its-roads-recycled-plastic.html

 

 

 

Sweden Runs Out Of Garbage: Only 1% Ends Up In Landfills

November 26, 2014 by Alanna Ketler

 

 

Something incredible has been taking place in Sweden over the past several years, somewhat of a “recycling revolution,” if you will. Currently less than one percent of the garbage produced in Swedish homes ends up in the landfill today, with the other ninety-nine percent being recycled or composted.

Sweden has been known for years now for the amazing and resourceful waste management system that they have had in place for some time. They have 32 waste-to-energy (WTE) plants and this burned waste powers 20 percent of Sweden’s district heating as well as electricity for about 250,000 Swedish homes.

In fact, Sweden has become so good at recycling their waste; the country now has to import 800,000 tons of trash each year from the U.K., Italy, Ireland and Norway to keep their WTE plants up and running.

According to Swedish Waste Management communications director Anna-Carin Gripwell, “Waste today is a commodity in a different way than it has been. It’s not only waste, it’s a business.”

This is pretty impressive especially when compared to Americans who recycled just thirty-four percent of their waste in 2010 and according to the Environmental Protection Agency more than fifty percent of the average U.S. household waste ended up in landfills, this is about 136 million tons of garbage in total. According to the New York Times there are some trash burning facilities in the United States, but only a small portion of the waste is burned, and most of that burned waste ends up in landfills anyways.

What About The Environmental Effects?

Of course there is some controversy over this method of waste management and energy production. There are fumes that are produced that are toxic, but many argue that this is still a much better alternative to the typical landfills that we see more often in America. On average, more than forty percent of the world’s trash is burned and mostly in open air, this is much different from the regulated, low-emission process that has been adopted by Sweden. This makes Sweden’s method a lot more eco-friendly.

It is unfortunate that at this time the options are to either pollute the air, or pollute the Earth because we are producing so much garbage and it doesn’t just simply disappear without leaving its mark. It doesn’t look like manufacturers are going to stop making products that can’t be recycled anytime soon, so it is up to us to be more conscious with what we are consuming. We need to stop the problem at the source.

How Can We All Be A Bit More Like The Swedish? 

Sweden is an excellent example of a nation of citizens that care for their environment and their ecological footprint. If the Swedish are able to recycle 99% of their waste, why can’t we? Well we certainly can, however it does take a bit more effort. I believe that it is truly worth the effort, soon it will become so natural to us that it won’t even feel effortful, we just have to start taking that step!

There are many people now that are striving to produce zero or at least very minimal waste. You can read one of those stories here, check out the supermarket in Germany that produces zero waste here and read about the American restaurant that managed to not produce any waste in two years and counting here to get inspired on how you to can begin to implement a minimal waste, minimal footprint lifestyle.

 

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/11/26/sweden-runs-out-of-garbage-only-1-ends-up-in-landfills/

 

 

 

 

 

Household Hazardous Waste Drop-off Event - April 11th

 

Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Drop-off Event set for April 11th (click on image below to enlarge)     City of Fort Lauderdale 100 N. Andrews Avenue Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 www.fortlauderdale.gov

 

 

How to Be Green: Make Smarter Purchasing Decisions (or None at All!)

I know it’s the end of March but this article contains advice that’s good for any time of year! – Gene

 

By The Green Divas on January 25, 2015

 

 

It happens every year. You resolve to do something when the calendar turns onto a brand new year. Maybe 2015 can be your greenest year yet—and not just by donating that box in the basement, or your old torn-up clothes…

When we turned the corner in years past, there was a movement called "The Compact", which meant joining this pact to not buy anything new in the new year. Pretty simple, right? Use what you have, or find a way to do without. Well, for most people, this really doesn’t work. It’s an easy idea to get behind—who doesn’t want to spend less?—but we all know that unless you are a super planner and stocked up on every little thing already, there will come a time when you need something.

My resolution is a bit more realistic…

 

Quality matters

For the purchases I will be making, I want them to be the healthiest for my home, and friendliest to the earth. For me, this means splurging on an organic twin mattress (sans flame retardants) for my daughter, even though it costs at least four times as much as a conventional one.

If you truly cannot afford to buy a reasonably good choice for an item, and cannot wait until the time comes that you will, consider buying used—in these days of excess, so many things go barely used, that buying used can be just like buying new, except the item has been aired out a bit. If you need a new sweater, consider paying a bit more for a good quality one, instead of a cheaply made one that isn’t going to hold up past a few washes and wears. When a $50 sweater lasts 8 years without mending, it’s a far better value than having to buy a new $15 sweater every year.

 

Take some time with your trash

Many people donate by filling garbage bags with torn or outdated clothing, knick-knacks they’ve always hated, or chipped dishes. While these things certainly need to be purged from your home, consider a few other things when you want to clear things out: repurposing, rehoming, and recycling.

Repurposing:
If you have an item that works, is good quality, but just doesn’t work for what you wanted it—consider what it might be used for somewhere else. I actually have old tape cartridge storage drawers in my kitchen cabinets to store food cans! Perhaps that old nightstand or entertainment center could be an adorable kitchen for a child in your life, or that knick-knack shelf you took down years ago could be a nice little shoe rack. Broken pots and dishes make cute, whimsical fairy gardens for kids, or a nice new mosaic top for an old table.

Rehoming:
Of course, many of the things we no longer need would serve a much better purpose in another home. This can be achieved by donating, but you may also find a home for things by thinking about them a bit. Perhaps your nephew just moved out for college, and might just love your old futon, or your cousin just lost a ton of weight but might not have a big budget to go shopping for all new right-size-clothing, and she might really appreciate a few gently used items from your closet.

Read more about organic clothing

We all seem to have hesitation when offering people our used things, but you just never know until you ask or offer. When you recognize a specific need that someone may have, the item might be better received than an offer blasted out to all of your friends and family or a plea to take things off your hands. Being a parent, I have tons of children’s clothing and items, and I make a habit of asking around to see if there are friends of a friend who might be in need. I love making care packages with new or gently used clothing, nursing accessories, a cozy blanket and some small toys. Rehoming these things to someone in need certainly makes me feel better than dumping them into a collection box.

Recycling:
I bet most of you already sort your plastics, cardboard and newspapers from your normal trash to recycle them (I surely hope your town offers recycling—but if not, please speak up about it and make it happen!) but did you know that almost everything can be recycled? Baby car seats (which are turned away from donation centers since they cannot verify safety and condition) can be recycled piece by piece, but you do need to work for it. There are recycling centers and companies available for almost everything, from textiles, wood, plastic, foam, metal and glass.

Do you really need a new one? And do you need to buy it?

It’s certainly not a new idea to ask yourself if a purchase is a need or a want, but take it a step further…and think if there is something else you already own, that you can repurpose as in the suggestion above.

Do you really need a new kitchen table, or could you refinish yours, put a tablecloth on it, or maybe even barter with someone for a new one? Do you really need to buy new doll clothes for your daughter’s doll, or could you try to make some with old clothes or scraps of fabric? I made a wrap dress with only two cuts in an old cloth napkin, and about a dozen hand stitches for the strap and closure!

Read more about repurposing and 'upcycling'

I know we discussed buying used above, and I’ll say it again—if you can’t fix it, make it yourself, or make do without, perhaps you can buy it or trade for it with someone else. There are thrift stores just about everywhere (The Salvation Army, Goodwill, Savers, etc) and community yard sale websites like Freecycle, Craigslist, or buy and sell groups/pages on Facebook.

This also goes for food, whether it’s items like produce, which you might just be able to grow yourself, or convenience items like mac and cheese, or other boxed foods. Consider taking a weekend to learn how to make them, and if you happen to have the freezer space—make large batches to make your own convenience items at a much lower cost (not to mention better health.)

How will you make 2015 more green?

 

Written by Green Diva Christine (Christine Zadykovich) for The Green Divas.

 

http://naturallysavvy.com/live/how-to-be-green-make-smarter-purchasing-decisions-or-none-at-all

 

 

 

 

Coffee Horror: Parody Pokes At Environmental Absurdity Of K-Cups

January 28, 2015

Maria Godoy

 

 

 

You want a cup of decaf. Your significant other is craving the fully caffeinated stuff. With the simple push of a button, Keurig's single-serving K-Cup coffee pods can make both of you happy.

But those convenient little plastic pods can pile up quickly, and they're not recyclable. And that's created a monster of an environmental mess, says Mike Hachey. Literally.

 

Link to video

 

Hachey is CEO of Egg Studios, a video production company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Earlier this month, his firm released a 2 1/2-minute mock horror film featuring a giant, Godzilla-like creature constructed entirely of K-Cups.

 

It's a slick little film in the found-footage style of movies like Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project. And it's got the usual Hollywood tropes of the genre: big explosions, pedestrians fleeing in terror, an aerial onslaught of K-Cup projectiles, soldiers shooting blindly at the enemy.

 

The point, says Hachey, is to use cinematic tactics to raise awareness of the waste. Consider this startling statistic: In 2013, Keurig Green Mountain produced 8.3 billion K-Cups — enough to circle the Earth 10.5 times. (In 2014, output shot up to 9.8 billion portion packs.)

 

"To see that stat ... made us think, wow," says Hachey.

 

Hachey began digging into the issue after he bought a Keurig machine for his 22-person office last year. The system was great, he says. The mounds of plastic cups they were tossing out were not. "We basically decided, 'You know what? This is just too wasteful,' " he says.

 

He could have left things at that, but instead, he started investigating K-Cup waste. About 1 in 8 American households now has a single-serving coffee brewer, according to a 2013 survey by the National Coffee Association, and Keurig, which launched in the 1990s, is the market leader.

 

"There were 60 billion K-Cups that have gone into landfills during Keurig's rise so far," he says. "Obviously, Keurig is the machine of choice for many people — 13 million people have this machine."

 

The video is Hachey's attempt to get K-Cup lovers thinking about what their habit means for the planet. "We wanted to do something that looked big and felt big," Hachey says. His team of engineers and animators spent months working on post-production effects — work they squeezed in between paying gigs for clients. "Doing things like this stands out and can create a bigger conversation," he says.

Concerns about the K-Cup's environmental impact have been brewing for several years. "It's a warranted criticism," says Monique Oxender, chief sustainability officer for Keurig Green Mountain. She says the company has been exploring recyclable alternatives since Green Mountain acquired Keurig in 2006.

 

"We're not proud of where we are right now, and we're committed to fixing it," she tells The Salt.

 

Several competing coffee pod makers offer recyclable options. Nespresso, for example, makes its pods out of aluminum. But K-Cups are made from No. 7 composite plastic, which isn't recyclable in most areas.

The company says its newer coffee pod systems are made from recyclable plastic: the Vue, K-Carafe (which holds multiple coffee servings in one pod), and the Bolt (designed for workplaces). But those models are just 5 percent of the beverage packs Keurig Green Mountain produces; the rest are K-Cups.

 

So why not simply adopt those new materials in the far more ubiquitous K-Cups? The sticking point is backward compatibility — there are already millions of Keurig brewing machines out there, Oxender explains. "It has to work on all models," she says.

 

The newer recyclable pods are designed to be punctured once, not twice as with K-Cups, and the overall shape and design are different. And in K-Cups, the filter and coffee grounds are fused to the cup and the lid; in Vue cups, they are attached to the peel-away foil lid.

 

Oxender says the company experimented with a paper K-Cup, but that didn't pan out. One challenge, she says, is that coffee starts to degrade as soon as it is exposed to oxygen. "You have to have the right combination of cup, the filter and the top."

 

"We just haven't hit the right formula," she says.

 

Keurig Green Mountain has set a deadline of 2020 for making all of its beverage pods recyclable.

 

Hachey isn't impressed. He says that's way too far into the future. He launched a website, Kill The K-Cup, that includes a link to a Change.org petition urging the company to move up that deadline.

 

How does Oxender respond? "I would really love to," she says. "And I'm pushing the organization as hard as I can."

 

In the meantime, the new Keurig 2.0 brewing system also has critics steamed. It accepts the greener Vue and K-Carafe pods, as well as K-Cups, but it doesn't work with pods made by Keurig competitors — including some recyclable options. The new system also lacks a reusable filter, which was available for the previous model. Oxender says the company is considering bringing that option back.

 

So what's an eco-minded K-Cup user to do? The company has a program called Grounds to Grow On for workplace K-Cup users to mail back their used pods. These get burned up as fuel — a less than ideal solution, Oxender says, but at least they don't end up in landfills. The company plans to pilot a similar program for residential users in the next few months, she says.

 

Or you could sign up for a service like Terracycle's Zero Waste Box. The company sends you a bin to fill up with your spent pods, and you mail it back for custom recycling. Bins cost $70 to $118, depending on size. That's not cheap — but it might help keep visions of the K-Cup monster at bay.

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/01/28/379395819/coffee-horror-parody-pokes-at-environmental-absurdity-of-k-cups?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150129

 

 

 

 

How to have a 'green' Christmas

 

A little reminder on Cyber Monday! - Gene

 

During the season of celebration we need to show extra care for the environment.  Christmas doesn't have to be a burden on the environment. With a little effort and imagination, we can reduce the environmental impact of the holiday season.  Here are some ideas to help celebrate the season while caring for the earth.

 

Buy Less

Some holiday gifts fill a practical need and need to be bought new. But many gifts are really gestures of thoughtfulness. You can give more while spending less.

• Not all gifts have to be store-bought.
You can give more while spending less by giving gifts that are personal and unique. While young children may favor the bright, shiny store-bought item, moat adults appreciate anything that shows thoughtfulness. Here's a page with some great ideas for meaningful holiday gifts that aren't found on store shelves: Tips for sustainable giving
• Simplify the 'gift-go-round'.

Feeling overwhelmed by a gift list that's just too long? Here's an idea to help shorten your list and simplify the family gift-giving ritual. We tried this in our own family last year and it was appreciated by all.

Before the holiday season begins (Thanksgiving is a good time because the extended family is often together), put the names of all adult family members on separate slips of paper and put the slips in a hat. Take turns picking one name per adult - the name you pick is your gift recipient. Keep your chosen pick a secret, to help maintain an element of surprise.

Your gift list for the adults in your family has just been shortened to one! You can now focus on a special gift for the person whose name you picked, without the dificulty and expense of finding just the right gift for everyone.

If the family's not together on Thanksgiving, ask Grandma or someone else in the family to pick the names from the hat for everyone, by proxy. It works just as well. An agreed on spending limit will also help everyone from feeling they have to go overboard with a fabulous gift for the person whose name they chose.

 

Buy Smart - think 'green'

• look for locally made gifts

Many gifts in today's marketplace come from halfway around the world, and the impact of transportation contributes significantly to greenhouse emissions and global warming. Local craft fairs and artisan shops are a good source for gifts that come without the added costs of transportation. And gifts made locally often have a story which goes with the gift, since the artisan and the origin of the gift are known.

• choose gifts made from recycled sources

Many individuals and small businesses have developed great products using recycled materials. Supporting these businesses helps reduce the waste stream while promoting the concept of making best use of available materials. Here are some examples for you to consider: Gifts from recycled materials

• give 'battery-free' gifts

According to the EPA, about 40% of all battery sales occur during the holiday season. Discarded batteries are an environmental hazard. Even rechargeable batteries find their way into the waste stream eventually. Here are a few examples of gifts that have less of an impact on the environment: Naturally-powered toys

• avoid children's toys that promote violence

There is too much violence in the world, and the new wave of video games for children is disturbing. Remember the theme of Christmas is "Peace on Earth". There are many toys and games that are fun, and nurture childrens creativity and sense of active play. Here are some examples: Educational toys and games

• 're-gifting' is OK

There's much discussion these days about the etiquette behind the trend to 're-gift', that is, to pass on a gift you received but do not need. What's to discuss? Re-gifting makes perfect sense. If you receive something you really don't need, look for ways you can reuse this gift by passing it on to someone who can use it. Of course, re-gifting needs to be done with care so as not to offend the original giver, but keeping a gift you don't need is wasteful.

 

Connect with Nature

Christmas is a time for giving, and a time for family. What a great opportunity to start a family tradition of giving back to the earth and instilling the values of sustainable living to your children, friends and community. Start an annual, earth-friendly Christmas family tradition! It will also get you outdoors for a few hours to build an appetite for the big dinner.

 

·         Annual Christmas Day Bird Count

Take your binoculars, a field guide to local birds, a small pad or journal for each participant and walk a course through your neighborhood, local park or countryside. Try to identify and count every bird you see, and make a note of it in your journal. At the end of the hike, list the species seen and number of birds per species. There's always a surprising discovery, and the activity highlights the presence and value of our feathered friends.

Compare the results from former years and you'll become experts on your local bird population and migration habits. This is a great family activity because even the youngest eyes are just as good at spotting the birds and contributing to the event.

·        Family nature hike

A peaceful walk through nature on Christmas day will be remembered and valued more than the score of the football game. Plan your walk before the holiday meal while everyone still has lots of energy. The walk will also pique appetites and provide a shared topic for conversation during mealtime.

·          Nature restoration activity

Planting a small tree together symbolizes the value of nature and offsets the 'taking' of the Christmas tree. An hour spent cleaning up or enhancing a natural area also enriches the giver and acknowledges nature as the source of our well-being.

·          Decorate a tree for the birds

Place seed bells, suet, pine cones with peanut butter and seed trays on any tree in your yard, preferably a tree in the open where cats can be seen easily by the birds. You’ll attract a wide variety of birds, use varied seed types such as black oil sunflower seed, wild bird mixed seed and nyger seed bells. This is a great activity for kids, and offers an important food source for birds during the winter.

 

Lower the impact of holiday lighting

• Reduce the size of outdoor lighting displays

A smaller presentation of lights can still be attractive, and more appropriate in the 'season of giving'. Saving electricity is also a way of giving, since conserving resources benefits everyone.

• Use LED lights for house and Christmas tree lighting

LED (Light Emitting Diode) holiday lights use up to 95% less energy than larger, traditional holiday bulbs and last up to 100,000 hours when used indoors. LED holiday lights use .04 watts per bulb, 10 times less than mini bulbs and 100 times less than traditional holiday bulbs. Over a 30-day period, lighting 500 traditional holiday lights will cost you about $18.00 while the same number of LED lights costs only $0.19. As an added bonus, if one of the LED lights burns out the rest of the strand will stay lit.

• Outdoor Mini-lights will also save energy

A 100-light string uses only 40 watts. If you're buying a new set of lights, compare based on equal 'lighted lengths'. Some higher priced brands have 100 mini-lights for only 8 1/2 feet of length, while some 100 mini-light strings cover up to 40 feet in length. For the most efficient outdoor holiday lighting, consider the new solar LED strings now available.

• Turn tree lights and outdoor house decorative lighting at bedtime

It's simply a waste of energy to leave the holiday lights on at night after everyone's gone to sleep.

 

Choose a live tree

Although plastic Christmas trees are reusable from year to year, real trees are the more sustainable choice. Plastic trees are made of petroleum products (PVC), and use up resources in both the manufacture and shipping. While artificial trees theoretically last forever, research shows that they are typically discarded when repeated use makes them less attractive. Discarded artificial trees are then sent to landfills, where their plastic content makes them last forever.

Live trees, on the other hand, are a renewable resource grown on tree farms, that are replanted regularly. They contribute to air quality while growing, and almost ninety percent are recycled into mulch. Live trees are usually locally grown and sold, saving both transportation costs and added air pollution. Live trees also smell like Christmas! When buying a live tree, consider:

 

• live potted trees can be used for years

If you buy a small tree in a large pot, you may be able to reuse the tree for 2- 3 years without having to plant or re-pot the tree.

• re-pot the tree for longer use

If your tree becomes root-bound, you can replant it in a larger pot for several years' extended use.

• replant the tree when it becomes too large for your holiday tree

If you have the space, of course, replanting the tree outdoors is an option. Be sure to anticipate the full-grown size of the tree, and avoid planting near foundations or underground services.

• chip and mulch the tree

Many communities now have free chipping services for trees. This is useful since the chips are used as mulch for municipal landscaping or sold at low cost to gardeners. This chipped material makes an excellent mulch for your shrub beds and garden pathways.

 

Alternatives to Wrapping Paper

 Half of the paper America consumes each year is used to wrap and decorate consumer products. (Source: The Recycler's Handbook, 1990)

 

In the US, the annual trash from gift wrap and shopping bags totals over 4 million tons. In Canada, the annual waste from gift wrap and shopping bags equals about 545,00 tons. If everyone wrapped just three gifts in reused paper or fabric gift bags, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks.

 

• Use environmentally friendly wrapping paper

Choose wrapping paper made using fibers such as hemp or paper using recycled content

• Avoid buying glossy foil or metallic wrapping paper

You can do a beautifully wrapping job for your gifts without having to use metallic wrapping paper. This kind of 'paper' is difficult to recycle and it has no value for use as mulch since there are heavy metals used in the foil paper. Foil gift wrap is also harder to reuse, since it wrinkles and creases easily when the gift is being unwrapped.

• Reuse gift wrap where possible

Large wrapped presents usually have large enough uncreased sections to be reused for wrapping smaller gifts. If you open large gift packages with care, the paper can be set aside for re-use for other gift-giving occasions. Fancy ribbons and bows, of course, can be stored in a box till next year when you'll appreciate having them around and not having to buyr new ones.

• Use tape sparingly, or not at all

If you're going to use ribbon to finish off your wrapping, you may not need to use tape. By not using tape, more of the wrapping paper can be reclaimed, and it's easier for the recipient to save the wrapping for reuse.

• Choose alternatives to commercial gift wrap

There are many options which are cost-free, attractive solutions. Gift bags can be made using fabric scraps, or wrapping can be made using comic strips from the paper, old calendars, maps, posters and more. For more ideas, visit our page: Gift-wrapping Alternatives

 

Reuse/Recycle

Each year, 50 million Christmas trees are purchased in the U.S. Of those, about 30 million go to the landfill. And added to this is the carbon cost in transporting all these trees to the landfill. Much of the environmental costs associated with the holidays can be reduced by simple awareness and some pre-planning.

 

• Reuse or recycle gift packing materials

Bubble wrap can be stored for reuse, or recycled. Foam packing chips are not as easily recycled; if you don't want to store this material for reuse, take it to a shipping center like Mailboxes. etc, who will accept it for their own use. Cardboard boxes should be opened flat and set out for recycling; storing and reusing these boxes is even better as no additional energy is used in remanufacturing.

• Save any special gift wrap, ribbons and bows

When unwrapping large gifts, save the paper for reuse; it can often be cut down for smaller presents. Creased wrapping can be ironed flat. Ribbons and bows are easy to save and reuse.

• Recycle old electronics

New flat-screen computer monitors, laptops, cameras, cell phones and other electronic items are common holiday gifts. Older models which are being replaced are usually still in working order, however, and should not be discarded to a landfill. Here is information to help recycle these items: Recycling electronic goods

• Christmas trees can be recycled too

Live trees that have been cut are a useful material for composting. Composting requires a carbon source and Christmas trees are just right for municipal operations which use chippers to shred the material. Look for tree drop-off locations in your neighborhood. Artificial trees which are up for replacement can also be recycled. These trees are usually made from twisted metal which is accepted by most recycling centers.

 

 

http://eartheasy.com/give_sustainchristmas.htm