Green Options » Robin Shreeves http://greenoptions.com/author/robinshreeves/ Post archive of Robin Shreeves Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:00:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en http://greenoptions.com/author/robinshreeves/ http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/7984cc247b754ce5f78e79a85f6e47b1?s=65&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D32 Green Options » Robin Shreeves Cash for Clunkers: What Will They Do with all Those Old Cars? http://sustainablog.org/2009/04/06/cash-for-clunkers-what-will-they-do-with-all-those-old-cars/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/04/06/cash-for-clunkers-what-will-they-do-with-all-those-old-cars/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:00:53 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/04/06/cash-for-clunkers-what-will-they-do-with-all-those-old-cars/ old carTwo years ago when we bought our Prius, my then second grader had an idea. He thought that everyone should have to give up their old cars and buy a hybrid. That, he believed, would solve the global warming problem that he was so worried about. Someone in Washington has stolen my son’s idea.

The New York Times reported last week that President Obama embraces “cash for clunkers” a government sponsored incentive program that would offer Americans cash for trading in their old, inefficient vehicles for new fuel efficient cars. The program would help both the environment and the ailing auto industry.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of the reasons that we bought our Prius was because my husband’s company was offering a $5000 bonus to anyone who bought a vehicle that got 35 miles a gallon or better at the time. There was also a tax rebate - I believe it was $1800, don’t quote me on that figure, but we didn’t know about that when we made the decision.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/04/06/cash-for-clunkers-what-will-they-do-with-all-those-old-cars/feed/ Recycled Plastic: Boats, Greenhouses, and More http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/26/recycled-plastic-boats-greenhouses-and-more/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/26/recycled-plastic-boats-greenhouses-and-more/#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:00:09 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/26/recycled-plastic-boats-greenhouses-and-more/ A couple of weeks ago, I ran the book fair at my boys’ school. This is the fifth year I’ve been in charge of the fair, and the fifth year that I’ve brought home the plastic table cloths that are part of the fair kit I’m sent. They are in perfectly good condition, and I bring them home to use to cover table tops when the kids paint and find lots of other uses for them.

I’ve been seeing a lot of clever uses around the internet for used plastic lately, particularly plastic bottles. Have you seen any of these?

The Recycled Plastic Boat. David de Rothschild is trying to promote the importance of recycling. He’s constructing a 60 foot catamaran and planning to sail it across the Pacific in April. The aim of The Plastiki is to

captivate, inspire and activate tomorrow’s environmental thinkers and doers to take positive action for our Planet and to be smart with waste, ultimately we hope to inspire people to rethink waste as a valuable resource. One person’s waste could be another person’s treasure.

The Plastic Bottle Greenhouse. A public school group from Australia, ECO (Environmental Care Organisation) built an entire greenhouse out of 1,652 plastic bottles. A steel frame supports the structure and the bottles are threaded on pvc pipes. The greenhouse will help to enhance the school’s environmental education program.

The school won the Make a Difference competition run by radio station C91.3, which supported the project.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/26/recycled-plastic-boats-greenhouses-and-more/feed/ Making the Most of Earth Hour 2009 http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/23/making-the-most-of-earth-hour-2009/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/23/making-the-most-of-earth-hour-2009/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:10:54 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/23/making-the-most-of-earth-hour-2009/ Earth HourEarth Hour is Saturday, March 28th. Are you participating? Are you planning? If you’ve already signed up for Earth Hour, you’ve got two things left to do. Prepare to power down and plan what you’ll be doing from 8:30 to 9:30 PM.

Powering Down

Earth Hour is about turning off the lights for one hour. It may seem like just a little thing, but when everyone does it at once, the results are impressive. Look at a few statistics from 2008’s Earth Hour.

  • Chicago kept 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
  • In Toronto, there was an 8.7% reduction in energy.
  • A 10.1% energy drop occurred in energy usage.

Those numbers can be even more impressive if we do more than just turn off the lights. Powering down everything non-essential in your home can reduce your energy usage even further.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/23/making-the-most-of-earth-hour-2009/feed/ The Pain of Getting on the Train http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/16/the-pain-of-getting-on-the-train/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/16/the-pain-of-getting-on-the-train/#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:40:02 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/16/the-pain-of-getting-on-the-train/ train tracksLast year, I practically waxed poetic about my public transportation trip into Philadelphia for GreenFest Philly. Yesterday, I again took the same public transportation into the Philadelphia, this time for the Go Green Expo, and there is no waxing poetic. Just a bunch of frustration.

I pulled into the parking lot of my local Patco station to find that parking is no longer free on weekends. Most of the lots require a Freedom Pass to enter - something that someone who has never ridden the train or rides very infrequently would not have. There were signs pointing me to other lots where you could use coins or cash to pay. I drove to one of them. There was no cash option - just an exact change option that I didn’t have.

I finally found off street parking and hoofed it over to the train station.

I went to buy my ticket. I could only use a credit card to purchase one of their Freedom Passes or to put more money on the Freedom Pass. For a one-time round trip ticket, I had to use cash. The directions on the machine were very confusing. I was given my change in $1 coins (I had used a $20 for a $4.65 ticket - that’s a lot of $1 coins). I was also not offered a receipt - something that I need for tax purposes.

Just as I grabbed the last coin out of the machine, I heard my train pull up and leave! I had given myself plenty of time to catch it, but the parking problem made me late. I had to wait 25 minutes for the next train.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/16/the-pain-of-getting-on-the-train/feed/ High School Senior Promotes Alternative Fuels with Green Machine http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/04/high-school-senior-promotes-alternative-fuels-with-green-machine/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/04/high-school-senior-promotes-alternative-fuels-with-green-machine/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:58:14 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/04/high-school-senior-promotes-alternative-fuels-with-green-machine/ I really want to talk to Colin Coon’s parents. I want to know what they did to raise a kid who would take on a project like this. I want to learn from them. I want my boys to learn from Colin.

Colin Coon is high school senior at New Gate School in Sarasota, Florida. He’s converted a diesel powered vehicle to run on Waste Vegetable Oil and began a two month cross country trip in his Green Machine that he’s named Norm. He wants to show people that alternative fuels work and that anyone can use them.

He’s also documenting the whole thing on ColinsGreenMachine.com with a blog. As of today, Colin is on day four of his trip and on the first three days, he’s done a blog entry at the end of the day. I like the entries because he’s being honest about how it’s going (not always so great) and it’s so obviously written by a teenager. “I look to where the plug goes in to the blcok and sure enough it is arcing and spewing flames and sparks everywhere.  Poo.”

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/03/04/high-school-senior-promotes-alternative-fuels-with-green-machine/feed/ Next Stop for Go Green Expo: Philadelphia http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/26/next-stop-for-go-green-expo-philadelphia/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/26/next-stop-for-go-green-expo-philadelphia/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:40:11 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/26/next-stop-for-go-green-expo-philadelphia/ go greenThe producers of Go Green Expo have planned 4 expos across the country for this year. The first one already took place in LA back in Janurary. The next expo is planned for March 13-15 in Philadelphia.

What’s the expo all about? Here’s what the event’s website has to say:

A truly unique event from the ground up, Go Green Expo will change not only the public’s perception of environmentalism but also how events like this are produced and managed. Inviting companies large and small to showcase what they are doing to reduce their respective carbon footprint, consumers will have hands on experiences with “eco-friendly” alternatives to current everyday products and services.

Even the event itself is environmentally friendly utilizing a ZERO Carbon footprint approach to event production. Biodegradable trash bags, eco-friendly printing, table coverings, recycled signs, compostable sponsor banners and more. Event waste will be separated and sorted to ensure the least amount of refuse going to the landfills. Staff travel and a portion of every ticket that is purchased will be carbon offset.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/26/next-stop-for-go-green-expo-philadelphia/feed/ Captain Planet Returns Just in Time http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/25/captain-planet-returns-just-in-time/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/25/captain-planet-returns-just-in-time/#comments Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:18:44 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/25/captain-planet-returns-just-in-time/ captain planetBack in 1990, Ted Turner decided that TBS needed to create the world’s first eco-hero, and Captain Planet and the Planeteers were born. The cartoon ran for 6 seasons and has been largely unavailable since then. Until now. Even more so than in 1990, the world really needs an eco-hero now, and Captain Planet is back.

The very first episode of Captain Planet and the Planeteers is now available on Mother Nature Network, and the environmental news network plans to unveil twenty episodes of the eco-cartoon over the next year.

Here’s a recap of the first episode:

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/25/captain-planet-returns-just-in-time/feed/ Is Miracle, Safe Sanitizer Too Good to be True? http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/24/is-miracle-safe-sanitizer-too-good-to-be-true/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/24/is-miracle-safe-sanitizer-too-good-to-be-true/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:44:34 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/24/is-miracle-safe-sanitizer-too-good-to-be-true/ drop of waterDid you know that by mixing tap water and table salt you can create a substance that degreases, kills bacteria, cleans and costs less than a penny a gallon? Too good to be true, right? But for decades, this method has been used in Russia and Japan, and it’s slowly gaining acceptance in the U.S.

The thing is, you can’t just pour some salt in a container of water and shake it up. You have to scramble the ions in the salted water with an electric current and create electrolyzed water. Most of us don’t have electrolysis machines in our home, but some U.S. businesses are buying them and finding the results favorable.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Sheraton Delfina in Santa Montica is using the electrolyzed water for cleaning rooms and disenfecting produce in the kitchen and the staff, the workers who actually use the stuff, are calling it “el liquido milagroso - the miracle liquid.”

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/24/is-miracle-safe-sanitizer-too-good-to-be-true/feed/ Idling: Why Do We Do It? http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/18/idling-why-do-we-do-it/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/18/idling-why-do-we-do-it/#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:31:14 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/18/idling-why-do-we-do-it/ no idlingA recently passed New York City law cuts down the acceptable limit of vehicle idling time in school zones from 3 minutes to 1 minute. According to an AP report, the law also gives additional city agencies the ability to issue violations and creates a way for officials to track those violations.

Idling in school zones is not a city problem, only. Take a look at any suburban grammar school, like the one my sons attend, and you’ll see an after school mess of idling cars and school buses. What does this say about our culture?

  • We aren’t concerned about the waste of our natural resources?
  • We’ve got money to burn in our gas tanks?
  • We don’t care about the pollution we’re creating, even when it’s harming our children?
  • We’re too darn lazy to turn our car engines off?

Yep, all of the above.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/18/idling-why-do-we-do-it/feed/ Standardized Cell Phone Chargers are on Their Way http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/17/standardized-cell-phone-chargers-are-on-their-way/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/17/standardized-cell-phone-chargers-are-on-their-way/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:10:23 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/17/standardized-cell-phone-chargers-are-on-their-way/ cell chargersGet a new cell phone. Get a new cell phone charger. And probably a new car charger, too, right?

It’s always seemed silly to me that all cell phones can’t use the same charger. Silly and wasteful. That may be changing. Bloomberg reports that mobile phone manufacturers and operators “will develop a standardized handset charger to save money and energy.”

The new chargers will use 50 percent less energy and cut the number made each year by half, lowering greenhouse gases from making and transporting them by 13.6 million tonnes to 21.8 million tonnes. So far, 17 companies are involved, including Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.’s 3 Group, AT&T Inc., Motorola Inc., France Telecom SA’s Orange, Qualcomm Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Telefonica SA and Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile.

Why has it taken so long for this idea to get implemented? It’s so simple. It’s so smart. It makes so much sense.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/17/standardized-cell-phone-chargers-are-on-their-way/feed/ Is Climate Change Making Us Mental? http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/11/is-climate-change-making-us-mental/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/11/is-climate-change-making-us-mental/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:12:54 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/11/is-climate-change-making-us-mental/

droughtIf you were to click on my bio here for Sustainablog, you’d see that I started down this green path because my son who was six at the time had read about global warming and gave us the “what for” over the SUV we owned. We joke now with him that he was the one that got this whole thing started for our family, yet at times he seems, at almost ten years old, the least interested in the environment. In a way, that may be a good thing.

The Boston Globe reported that Climate change takes a mental toll, and that children and adults alike are starting to have “psychosis or anxiety disorders focused on climate change.” Children especially “are having nightmares about global-warming-related natural disasters.”

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/11/is-climate-change-making-us-mental/feed/ X-Prize Foundation Announces Winner of “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?” Contest http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/10/x-prize-foundation-announces-winner-of-crazy-green-idea-contest/ http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/10/x-prize-foundation-announces-winner-of-crazy-green-idea-contest/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:00:06 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/10/x-prize-foundation-announces-winner-of-crazy-green-idea-contest/ Back in the fall, I told you about the finalists in the X-Prize “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?” contest, and urged you to go vote for one of the three finalists who were competing for the $25,000 prize. The X-Prize Foundation has announced the winners. They are Bryan Le and Kyle Good from Irvine, CA.

Their “Crazy Green Idea” to develop a new storage medium, an “ultra-capacitor,” generated the highest number of votes to be crowned champions of this competition and be the recipients of the $25,000 prize check from Prize Capital.

Check out the video that won them the competition.

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

What do you think of their idea? Is it doable? Is it worth $25,000?

]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/10/x-prize-foundation-announces-winner-of-crazy-green-idea-contest/feed/ Don’t be a Grinch: Keep Christmas Leftovers from Getting Dumped http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/24/dont-be-a-grinch-keep-christmas-leftovers-from-getting-dumped/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/24/dont-be-a-grinch-keep-christmas-leftovers-from-getting-dumped/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:09:36 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/24/dont-be-a-grinch-keep-christmas-leftovers-from-getting-dumped/ Que the voice of Boris Karloff…

It was quarter past dawn…
All the Whos, still a-bed,
All the Whos, still a-snooze
When he packed up his sled,
Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings!
The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!

When the Grinch stole Christmas, he not only stole the presents, he stole all the things that accompany Christmas that end up as waste. He  stole the ribbons, the wrappings, the tags, the tinsel, the trimmings, the trappings plus the Christmas trees and the food for the feast.

And what was the Grinch going to do with all that stuff he really didn’t want?

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!

Pretty much the same thing most of us have done in the past with all our Christmas leftovers, right? We dumped them. Not off the side of Mt. Crumpit, but in the trash.

This year, when we’ve got things leftover from Christmas, let’s be responsible with their disposal.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/24/dont-be-a-grinch-keep-christmas-leftovers-from-getting-dumped/feed/ Book Review: When Santa Turned Green http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/18/book-review-when-santa-turned-green/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/18/book-review-when-santa-turned-green/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:35:17 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/18/book-review-when-santa-turned-green/ When Santa Turned GreenHave you been waiting for a green Christmas story for children? I found one. While perusing Barnes and Noble the other day I came across When Santa Turned Green by Victoria Perla.

Here’s the premise. Global warming is wreaking some havoc at Santa’s workshop. It’s causing a leak in the roof. Since Santa’s got a big in with the kids of the world, he calls on them to help him take action. The children in the story do small things like planting trees and packing their lunches in reusable containers. Santa starts using solar and wind power and wearing a Green Santa suit.

My first thought when I saw this book was, “ugh.” I don’t need something like this for my kids. They don’t need to be hit over the head with any more green-ness than I already clobber them with daily. But then I started reading some of the reviews from readers on various sites.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/18/book-review-when-santa-turned-green/feed/ Bar Mitzvahs are Going Green http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/17/bar-mitzvahs-are-going-green/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/17/bar-mitzvahs-are-going-green/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:57:14 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/17/bar-mitzvahs-are-going-green/ bat-mitzvahIt’s common for bar and bat mitzvahs to have a theme, and the latest trend seems to be green for the reception following this Jewish right of passage ceremony. Haaretz.com reports that “scores of Jewish families are beginning to incorporate the [green] trend into their religious lives.”

The green them trend isn’t just for their environment, though. Going green helps

reclaim the significance of a rite of passage that has grown to emphasize the lavish party rather than the religious ritual.

The lavish parties might have changed focus, but their price tags can still remain steep. A green bar or bat mitzvah done by a professional planner in LA can run anywhere from $20,000 to $500,000. No, I didn’t add an extra zero there. Of course, those are professionally planned parties, and the price tag doesn’t need to be near that amount.

Kattler Kupetz, an LA green event planner, planned green bat mitzvahs three years ago for her twin daughters and now they have become half of her business. Some of the things she incorporates are:

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/17/bar-mitzvahs-are-going-green/feed/ Reducing Your Recycling: Part 2 http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/11/reducing-your-recycling-part-2/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/11/reducing-your-recycling-part-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:05:44 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/11/reducing-your-recycling-part-2/ On Tuesday, I wrote about the dip in demand for recyclable materials. Recyclables are piling up in warehouses, and as long as the economy continues to head in the direction it’s heading, demand probably won’t increase. It’s a problem. What’s the solution?

I’m not sure what the solution is in the grand scheme of things, but I know that I can contribute to a small part of the solution. I can step up the reduce and reuse part of reduce, reuse, recycle. If I produce less recyclables, and you produce less recyclables, it will help. It might not solve the entire problem, but it will help.

Here’s what I plan to do:

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/11/reducing-your-recycling-part-2/feed/ Reducing Your Recycling: Part 1 http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/09/reducing-your-recycling-part-1/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/09/reducing-your-recycling-part-1/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:35:32 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/09/reducing-your-recycling-part-1/ recyclablesBefore anyone starts screaming, “What, I thought I was supposed to recycle! This girl is crazy.” let me explain. I’m not advocating throwing recyclables in the trash to end up in a landfill. I’m talking about putting more focus on the first two parts of the environmentalist’s mantra - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve watched with perhaps a little too much pride as the pile of trash I’ve put out on Fridays has shrunk and the pile of recyclables I put out on Thursdays has grown. I have successfully reduced the amount of trash I generate. Recently I’ve realized that’s not enough. I need to now start reducing the amount of recycling I generate.

About a month ago, I started to see news reports stating that the demand for recyclables has dropped. The economic plunge has taken the recycling market off the cliff with it. According to an article on GreenBiz.com,

Consumers are buying fewer products made in China, and with fewer products being shipped overseas, there is a lesser need for boxes and packaging materials to move those items, according to The Journal of Commerce. Chinese producers, therefore, need fewer materials to make packaging and items.

“A lot of the material was going to China to make boxes for all the things they were shipping back to the United States,” Bruce Savage, spokesman for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries in Washington, told the Sacramento Bee. “When they aren’t producing products, they don’t need the packaging materials.”

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/09/reducing-your-recycling-part-1/feed/ How to Find a Locally Grown Christmas Tree http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/05/how-to-find-a-locally-grown-christmas-tree/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/05/how-to-find-a-locally-grown-christmas-tree/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:14:14 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/05/how-to-find-a-locally-grown-christmas-tree/ chistmas tree farmLast month, I did a little research to find out if I was breaking any “green laws” with my yearly real Christmas tree. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I discovered that many environmentalists are pro-real Christmas trees over artificial trees. Why is it considered more environmentally friendly to cut down trees than have an artificial tree that can be used year after year?

  • Most Christmas trees are grown on tree farms - they are considered an agricultural product. They are sustainable, and for each tree that is cut, at least one more tree is planted.
  • Tree farms are usually planted on soil that doesn’t support other types of agriculture.
    In the US there are about 1 million acres dedicated to tree farming. Each acre provides enough oxygen for 18 people.

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    ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/05/how-to-find-a-locally-grown-christmas-tree/feed/ Compost vs Landfill: Does it Really Make a Difference? http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/02/compost-vs-landfill-does-it-really-make-a-difference/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/02/compost-vs-landfill-does-it-really-make-a-difference/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:03:39 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/02/compost-vs-landfill-does-it-really-make-a-difference/ Last week I wrote a post about curbside composting programs that some cities have started. One of the benefits of keeping compostable food out of landfills, I wrote, is that it reduces landfill methane - a greenhouse gas that is 72% more powerful than carbon dioxide.

    One of the readers, Dean, posed a question in the comments.

    Does this actually reduce methane emissions? It seems, based on the lack of detail in the article, that the same amount of methane would be produced whether the organic waste was sitting in a compost pile or a landfill. Why wouldn’t that be true?

    This is a good question, and I thought it deserved to be answered in a post instead of just a reply in the comments section.

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    ]]>     http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/02/compost-vs-landfill-does-it-really-make-a-difference/feed/     Curbside Composting: A Valuable Community Service http://sustainablog.org/2008/11/28/curbside-composting-a-valuable-community-service/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/11/28/curbside-composting-a-valuable-community-service/#comments Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:41:26 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/11/28/curbside-composting-a-valuable-community-service/ compostThis past spring, my family and I were able to get all the compost we needed for our vegetable garden from a local community’s compost pile at their department of public works. The compost was created from all of the leaves and yard clippings that had been collected curbside. Many communities collect leaves, clippings and other outside organic matter to turn into compost, but some communities are taking it a step further.

    Cities such as San Francisco, Minneapolis, Toronto, and Boulder all have programs in place that allow residents to place food scraps curbside to be turned into compost.

    Food that is mixed in with regular trash is estimated to make up about 40% of the trash in landfills. It also is the biggest offender in creating landfill methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas - 72 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Reducing landfill methane is just one of the benefits of keeping this type of waste out of landfills.

    According to San Francisco’s environmental site

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