Make your effort to recycle a resolution for life. If you are lucky enough to live where financial incentive exists to recycle, consider it a bonus. Save the earth even without earning a nickel.

As many cities brought in 2010 under bursts of confetti made from virgin paper, I wondered what this new decade may have in store for recycling. Are we finally getting waste disposal under control? (more…)

Start a children’s toy exchange program. Invite your neighbors and parents of children in your child’s daycare class. Meet a few times a year to exchange gently, used toys. Make toy recycling a social event!

Children around the world delight in the wonder that toys bring to their lives. Who can’t remember their favorite childhood toy? I suppose it is this nostalgic wonder that makes gifting a toy so heartfelt. During the holiday season toys abound. But where do many toys end up after the novelty wears off? Are you visualizing toys strewn throughout the house, stashed in the garage, or stuffed under the car seat along with remnants of birthdays and shopping trips past? Actually, within 3 months of receiving a toy, 41% of toys are broken and most end up in the trash. Ending up in the trash, means ending up in a landfill! (more…)

With the gift giving season upon us, we have lots of shopping alternatives: the local mall, big box stores, catalogue mail order, and the internet. No matter which shopping path we choose, it’s either “shop until we drop” or “pick before we click”. Hauling shopping bags around the mall, collecting shirt boxes for gift wrapping, or unpacking items we have ordered on-line, our holiday gift gathering techniques bring lots of extra packaging. Holiday shopping can be stressful – on us and on the environment! Please don’t get me wrong, I am not a “Bah Humbug” type of gal, but I do believe there is a lot everyone can do to cut down on excessive packaging. (more…)

When starting a school recycling program get the students involved. Have students search the web and browse for recycling bins; let students help to determine where the bins will be best placed. Involving students at the start will help to create excitement and support for the program. – R.G.

Getting a school recycling program off the ground seems like an easy task, but all sorts of issues can arise. To help make your effort seamlessly implementable and successful, I’ve put together a few pointers (or at least a few questions you can hash over) before you start. (more…)

Plastic as a Recycling Foundation

Is the time right for MRF World to take plastics more seriously? Should plastics be at the forefront of curbside recycling? Just as co-mingling of recyclables has made collection at curbside easier, the co-mingling of information on recovered materials may provide some answers. Trust me. We are not mixing apples and oranges; the markets do share some interesting parallels. (more…)

Recycling household plastic containers can be a challenging endeavor. Since all plastics are not alike, we need to know which types of plastics our municipality accepts for recycling. Hair care products, beverages, laundry detergents, yogurts, margarines, salad dressings, frozen dinners, household cleaners, condiments, pet foods, body lotions … (you name it) are available in plastic containers. Since different plastics have different properties, the containers we so enthusiastically recycle often contain more than one type of plastic. Plastic properties such as strength, toughness, flexibility, barrier to moisture or gas, and melting point are all important factors which help to maintain the integrity of packaged goods. Piling these unlike containers together for recycling can be a problem not only for our local municipal recycling depot but for the commercial reclaimer who ultimately melts and reforms these containers. (more…)

Signatures can be lethal. When John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence he knew that he was sticking his neck out. Did you know that your signature can be lethal too? While most of us may pay attention to the document text we are signing off on, how many of us pay attention to the type of paper our pen is pushing on? (more…)