By Suneet Bhatt •
July 14, 2009
Editor’s Note: This is first in a “Kids Did” feature series by Suneet Bhatt, co-founder of Dream Village and Social Symmetry. This series will explore what kids are doing around the country to help their local community environment.
Times are changing. I went to elementary school in the early 80’s, and I remember participating in the shift toward the disposable society. Instead of Tupperware sandwich containers, I started getting plastic wrap. Instead of a Thermos I started getting Capri Sun (my main squeeze) or some other juice box. Everything was wrapped in plastic. And everything ended up in my stomach or in the trash can; sometimes directly, and sometimes by way of a ricochet off of say, the face of a close friend. Kids will be kids.
By Becky Striepe •
April 7, 2009
Who knew you could even recycle Styrofoam? Sure, recycling the stuff is better than tossing it into a landfill. Every bit of this petroleum product that’s recycled is a bit less made from new materials. We shouldn’t see this as a green light to stock up on the packing peanuts, though, like
Styrocyclers, the recycling company handling the Styrofoam at the Roswell event seems to advocate.
The Roswell Recycling Center and Styrocyclers will hold a one-day polystyrene, or Styrofoam, recycling event on Saturday, May 2 from 8am to 2pm. They’re only accepting polystyrene packaging. Egg cartons, plates, takeout containers, and cups can’t be recycled.
While researching about the event, I came across this little gem on the Styrocyclers website (emphasis mine):
By Tina Casey •
December 25, 2008
Some time in the sparkling green future, all of our holiday celebrations will be zero waste. But that will be then, and this is now. For a lot of us, the post-holiday hangover still means trash, and plenty of it.
But wait! With a little in-house preemptive dumpster diving, you can save some pretty good stuff from the scrap heap. If you have an extra shelf or drawer, or a corner in your closet where you can stash the goodies away until they’re needed, here’s where you can save the big bucks:
Wal-Mart and W.R. Grace? Some will certainly raise hackles in disgust…
Regardless of past issues, this looks like a very promising project. Wal-Mart has already shown real innovation with not only recycling packaging waste, but even turning it into a revenue stream. According to the Environmental Leader article (linked above), “Grace Canada and its parent company W. R. Grace & Co. have recycled over 77 million pounds of foam polystyrene.” And styrofoam does have one thing going for it: it has great insulating properties.
By Paul Smith •
July 31, 2008
Every once in a while you come across an idea that just lights you up. Styrofoam has long been one of the unmoveables when it came to recycling (too bulky, not much money in it) and there wasn’t a viable replacement for it. Easy to make, lots of it, hard to sustainably dispo
se of, what are you going to do? Reducing the amount of it in packaging is one path, but is only less bad. What about an option that is all good?
I found a contender: Ecovative Design has come up with a number of products for packaging, building insulation, foam core (think: surfboards) and ye olde beer cooler that do away with styrofoam, using agricultural waste. And, making this even better, the ingredients for the product will come from local sources, whichever is the most prevalent in the area that it’s made.
So rather than trucking the same ag waste 1000s of miles to other regional factories, they have come up with a product that can flex what it contains without compromising the quality or integrity. For example, cellulose pulp from areas with lots of paper mills, and rice hulls in Texas, where a lot of rice is processed.
And it’s compostable, biodegradable, and if sent back to Ecovative, recyclable. Take that, styrofoam!
By Cassie Walker •
July 24, 2008
Following the lead of our progressive neighbors to the north, San Francisco, the City of Los Angeles has decided to ban plastic bags by 2010. A bit of a disclaimer, though - the ban will be implemented only if the State does not impose a 25 cent fee for each bag requested by a customer. This bill (AB 2058) is coming up for a vote in August. Still, it’s a step in the right direction, putting pressure on lawmakers to reduce the 2.3 billion bags used by consumers in Los Angeles.
The announcement comes after Los Angeles County supervisors caused disappointment in January when they abandoned a threat to ban the bags, choosing instead a voluntary program where stores were to “encourage” customers to bring reusable bags. In other words, the status quo.
The City Council also voted to ban Styrofoam at all city-owned facilities, including LAX, by 2009. Though Los Angeles collects Styrofoam for recycling, there isn’t really a market for it - by the time it is melted down, very little material is left. Last I heard, Styrofoam was being stored until another solution could be found…like a ban! Ta da!
By Keith Rockmael •
April 11, 2008
Taking a break from the daily San Francisco routine, we headed down to Los Angeles for a conference known as Canada Marketplace where we search for the anything significantly Green in the Great White North. We did discover some hotels, restaurants and other things making that movement in the green direction but that will have to wait for another post.
In this one, we focus on the marketplace itself. This year, they ventured into that Green netherworld to make the conference greener. They even hired a Green conference consultant but we could track down this consultant so we had do go it alone.
We thing we see when we check in is a giant sign from Travel Alberta about how they have purchased carbon credits. It’s no secret of what we think of carbon credits (low on the green totem pole). We’re more about actually doing something to make a change instead of just buying something.
By Gavin Hudson •
July 27, 2007
If you steer clear of Styrofoam, crave non-disposable cutlery, and believe that beer in plastic cups is a discredit to your pursuit of fizzy-cool hoppiness, never fear. Become a garbage-free gourmand, and even improve your city with a daily dose of activism.
Why avoid disposables? Try getting an Italian to enjoy his espresso from the ridged lip of a Styrofoam cup and he’ll tell you all about the importance of real cups
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