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Garbage
9 ways to Green Your Garbage
Toss your trash and your waste hauler hauls it away. Out of sight, out of mind. Trouble is, all that trash piling up is increasingly, well, a pile of environmental trouble. Before you toss next time, try these strategies for reducing, reusing, and recycling first.
Reduce the amount of garbage you create
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The first rung on the "reduce, reuse, recycle" ladder is the ultimate garbage minimizer. By consuming less, you end up tossing less.
Reuse items instead of throwing them away
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Give new life to old items by giving them to someone who can use them or finding creative new uses for what could otherwise end up as landfill waste.
Recycle your garbage
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By recycling your garbage, you keep valuable material out of landfills, provide resources to the recycling industry, support local jobs, and keep toxins out of soil and water.
Compost your biodegradable and organic waste
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You don't need a backyard to compost! All you need is a bag to collect the stuff and the commitment to keeping organic waste out of the landfill.
Opt for recycled-content products
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Buying products made from recycled materials keeps trash out of the landfill and reuses resources rather than requiring the eco-unfriendly procurement and processing of virgin ones.
Dispose of household hazardous waste properly
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Prevent toxic chemicals from old paint and used car oil from leaching into groundwater and soil by taking them to your local toxic roundup center.
Dispose of used appliances properly
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Many appliances, such as refrigerators, contain chemicals that can deplete the ozone layer and must be disposed of with special care.
Dispose of pharmaceuticals properly
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Old or unused medication can contaminate groundwater if flushed or poured down the drain. Find out the correct way to dispose of them.
Give your stuff away !
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What's junk to you may be a jewel to someone else.
Comments
5:48pm
A couple of more R's to expand the paradigm:
Rethink your purchasing habits
Refuse to make wasteful choices
6:03pm
Does anyone know how much land in the U.S. is dedicated to landfills?
11:08am
Great question, Tiferet. I've done a bit of digging and it would appear that there's no formal way for states to report on how much land is actually used for landfills, although there is a count of the number of active municipal sites: 3581 (in 1996)! You can get more information (including some about industrial waste sites) here: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/landfill/sw_pubs.htm#reports.
11:50pm
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mike Morone
mike@curbday.com
(585) 749-5107
Give your stuff away
Curb Day, May 16, 2009
Ok, your kids are grown. But why do you still have all those bikes, scooters, bats, balls, cribs, Barbie’s, and Batmen? Like many of us, you hang onto things that are no longed needed.
But now here’s an easy solution to our clutter that will also provide free items to others. It’s called Curb Day and it’s on Saturday, May 16th. If local ordinances permit, just bring your unneeded-but-still-valuable items to your curb for others to cart off. Please follow the guidelines below for what items are appropriate for Curb Day.
We don’t think many items will be left over after Curb Day weekend. But you should be prepared to remove or dispose of items that are not picked up.
And make sure you get out during that weekend – you might find a few items you or your family could use.
The key to success with Curb Day is nation-wide promotion. If everyone knows about it, it will be a safe and efficient way to transfer goods. We want to make it an annual or semi-annual event.
There are outlets for transferring items to others - goodwill stores, Freecycle, Craig’s List, and others. Curb Day will complement them by providing a super-easy, one-day, nation-wide event for the transfer of millions of goods.
Important Guidelines:
• Obey local ordinances if they prohibit putting items at your curb
• Place ONLY the allowed items on your curb (see below)
• Do NOT place trash, dangerous, or illegal items on your curb (see below)
• Be careful driving that weekend - many drivers will be frequently stopping
These items are acceptable to place on your curb:
• Appliances
• Computers (with hard drives scrubbed)
• Electronics
• Bicycles
• Sporting Goods
• Tools (be careful with sharp blades)
• Yard and Garden Equipment
• Tables
• Chairs
• Desks
• Musical Instruments
• Books
• Clothes
• Shoes
• Kitchen Utensils
• Lamps
• Plants, Potted Trees, etc.
• Building Materials
• Other Durable Goods
These items are PROHIBITED:
• Garbage or Recyclables
• Weapons of any kind
• Dangerous items
• Chemicals of any kind
• Food items
• Pornographic items
• Illegal Items
Want to help?
• Donate your stuff on May 16th
• Tell all your friends – pass this email along
• Tell your local media
• Post this event on Craig’s List and other sites
• Send in your ideas, stories, and photos
Thanks!
Mike
4:21am
This is great! I wanted to pass along what we have been doing in Tucson and around the country.
Refused Reused takes your unwanted broken furniture, makes the necessary repairs and then donates it to homeless shelters across the country. Have you ever thrown out a couch because it was old or had some ugly stains? Refused Reused collects the cushions from couches and sofas and after sterilizing the foam, allowing them to dry and adding new fabric, the cushions are then donated to animal shelters for dog and cat beds. Want to know more? Please visit
http://www.refusedreused.com
12:06pm
For those who missed the event, I would like to offer up another was to recycle unwanted items for both individuals and businesses. It is a site called, http://takemeimFREE.com The site is free to join, free to post on, and free to take from.