Showing posts with label curbside. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curbside. Show all posts
September 1, 2011
Curbside food composting
It's coming. Soon. Really, really soon. Curbside food composting is -almost- here.
June 4, 2011
Curbside: Paper
“Trashmaster”, you say, “I read your post about where my curbside recycling goes. I even read about putting my glass out on the curb.”
Awesome! I say. Thanks for reading!
“Trashmaster,” you say, “I’m ready for something more.”
Today’s feature: Paper
Paper is crazy-easy to recycle. You can use your junk mail, some water, some old screen door mesh and a blender to make new paper right now. Try this site or this one.
Using recycled paper to make new paper products uses only about 60% of the energy it takes using virgin materials. That means less air pollution, less water pollution, less energy used, and fewer trees cut down.
Right. First things first. What does your hauler say about recycling paper? Not your neighbor, not your co-worker, not your brother’s wife’s weird cousin Larry, but your hauler. (Don’t know who that is? Type “recycling in [your city]” into a search engine. Go ahead. It’s okay - I’ll wait.) Find out if your hauler requires you to separate types of paper products or accepts “mixed paper”. This is important.
Got your local recycling info? Fantastic! If your local hauler requires you to separate your paper products, PLEASE DO THAT. It makes life simpler for the hauler, it makes life simpler for the paper mill, and it means more of your waste products will get recycled.
Here’s what you need to know about recycling “mixed paper”:
-any color of paper can go in. Seriously. For reals. I know, there used to be restrictions like “no goldenrod”. Not anymore.
-you don’t need to remove labels or staples or the spirals from notebooks or paper clips (though paper clips are easy to remove – and reuse)
-you don’t need to remove the ‘windows’ from envelopes
YES: paper bags (no food stains!), cereal and cracker boxes, junk mail (remove free samples and sample credit cards first), cardboard, toilet paper and paper towel tubes, telephone books, catalogs, magazines, newspapers and their inserts, copier paper, greeting cards, wrapping paper (as long as it doesn’t have foil!), milk and juice cartons (even if they feel waxy - they're a weird exception).
CHECK FIRST: corrugated cardboard. Some haulers are fine with mixing it, others want it separate. Also, if you have a lot of shredded paper (like, from a home or small business) – check with your hauler about the size of the shreds and how much the hauler will accept curbside.
NO: Do not put these in your recycling cart. These materials often have chemicals in the paperboard, food residue or other icky chemicals that get in the way of making new paper products.
-paper plates & cups (food residue, and they are often waxed), wrapping paper with foil, carbon paper, tissues, takeout food containers, hardback books (adhesives in the covers and spine), pizza boxes (these usually have food residue)
Freezer food boxes – if the box is at all waxy, DO NOT PLACE IT IN THE RECYCLING BIN. Even if it says “recycle me” on it, just throw it out. There’s a very good chance it has chemicals in it to protect the food inside, and those chemicals are NO GOOD for the paper recycling process. Hopefully this will change soon.
Don’t shred all your paper! Some folks worry about sensitive documents being harvested by icky people. Fair enough. But just shred the stuff with actual personal information. You don’t need to shred the entire contents of the envelope to keep someone from gathering your account number.
The problem with shredding is that it cuts the reusable life of the paper down. Paper can be recycled 4-7 times before the fibers are too short to bind together and form new sheets. Shredding paper means the fibers are cut shorter that much sooner, making for more waste sloughed off in the paper-making process.
More fun facts about paper recycling:
About 1/3 of all papermaking materials in the US comes from recycled paper products.
Recycled paper fibers get made into new products such as new office and notebook paper, egg cartons, corrugated cardboard, paper money, coffee filters, fiber pots for seedlings, bandages, insulation, and much more.
According to the Paper Industry Association Council, “every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space”. That’s a lot! Want more paper recycling statistics? (and really, who doesn’t?) Read this.
*Consider reading:
Promoting office recycling
Materials for elementary school teachers (or parents)
Paper (and other) recycling facts
Lots of paper recycling info from the EPA
Consider reading the rest of the "curbside" series. Just click on the “curbside” tag just underneath this post
Awesome! I say. Thanks for reading!
“Trashmaster,” you say, “I’m ready for something more.”
Today’s feature: Paper
Paper is crazy-easy to recycle. You can use your junk mail, some water, some old screen door mesh and a blender to make new paper right now. Try this site or this one.
Using recycled paper to make new paper products uses only about 60% of the energy it takes using virgin materials. That means less air pollution, less water pollution, less energy used, and fewer trees cut down.
Right. First things first. What does your hauler say about recycling paper? Not your neighbor, not your co-worker, not your brother’s wife’s weird cousin Larry, but your hauler. (Don’t know who that is? Type “recycling in [your city]” into a search engine. Go ahead. It’s okay - I’ll wait.) Find out if your hauler requires you to separate types of paper products or accepts “mixed paper”. This is important.
Got your local recycling info? Fantastic! If your local hauler requires you to separate your paper products, PLEASE DO THAT. It makes life simpler for the hauler, it makes life simpler for the paper mill, and it means more of your waste products will get recycled.
Here’s what you need to know about recycling “mixed paper”:
-any color of paper can go in. Seriously. For reals. I know, there used to be restrictions like “no goldenrod”. Not anymore.
-you don’t need to remove labels or staples or the spirals from notebooks or paper clips (though paper clips are easy to remove – and reuse)
-you don’t need to remove the ‘windows’ from envelopes
YES: paper bags (no food stains!), cereal and cracker boxes, junk mail (remove free samples and sample credit cards first), cardboard, toilet paper and paper towel tubes, telephone books, catalogs, magazines, newspapers and their inserts, copier paper, greeting cards, wrapping paper (as long as it doesn’t have foil!), milk and juice cartons (even if they feel waxy - they're a weird exception).
CHECK FIRST: corrugated cardboard. Some haulers are fine with mixing it, others want it separate. Also, if you have a lot of shredded paper (like, from a home or small business) – check with your hauler about the size of the shreds and how much the hauler will accept curbside.
NO: Do not put these in your recycling cart. These materials often have chemicals in the paperboard, food residue or other icky chemicals that get in the way of making new paper products.
-paper plates & cups (food residue, and they are often waxed), wrapping paper with foil, carbon paper, tissues, takeout food containers, hardback books (adhesives in the covers and spine), pizza boxes (these usually have food residue)
Freezer food boxes – if the box is at all waxy, DO NOT PLACE IT IN THE RECYCLING BIN. Even if it says “recycle me” on it, just throw it out. There’s a very good chance it has chemicals in it to protect the food inside, and those chemicals are NO GOOD for the paper recycling process. Hopefully this will change soon.
Don’t shred all your paper! Some folks worry about sensitive documents being harvested by icky people. Fair enough. But just shred the stuff with actual personal information. You don’t need to shred the entire contents of the envelope to keep someone from gathering your account number.
The problem with shredding is that it cuts the reusable life of the paper down. Paper can be recycled 4-7 times before the fibers are too short to bind together and form new sheets. Shredding paper means the fibers are cut shorter that much sooner, making for more waste sloughed off in the paper-making process.
More fun facts about paper recycling:
About 1/3 of all papermaking materials in the US comes from recycled paper products.
Recycled paper fibers get made into new products such as new office and notebook paper, egg cartons, corrugated cardboard, paper money, coffee filters, fiber pots for seedlings, bandages, insulation, and much more.
According to the Paper Industry Association Council, “every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space”. That’s a lot! Want more paper recycling statistics? (and really, who doesn’t?) Read this.
*Consider reading:
Promoting office recycling
Materials for elementary school teachers (or parents)
Paper (and other) recycling facts
Lots of paper recycling info from the EPA
Consider reading the rest of the "curbside" series. Just click on the “curbside” tag just underneath this post
January 22, 2011
Curbside: Glass
"Trashmaster46”, you say, “I read your post about where my curbside recycling goes. I get that the materials are sorted out and sent off to be made into other things. I get that plastic bags are bad for the machinery used to sort out cardboard from everything else. I get that human beings sort everything else. I also get that in order for this process to be cost-effective, some materials are going to be lost and either mis-processed or junked.”
Awesome!, I say to you. Thanks for reading! What’s your question?
“Trashmaster,” you say, I want to help the process be more effective. I want to make sure materials get in the right place so they can get on with their next life. How can I do this?”
I’m glad you asked!
Today’s feature: Glass
Glass is amazing. Glass can make for strong packaging. Glass doesn’t off-gas weird chemicals that the state of California knows to cause cancer. Glass doesn’t have weird chemicals that make what’s inside taste funny. Glass doesn’t contract or expand over a fairly wide range of temperatures. Glass can be infinitely recycled. Unfortunately, a glass bottle will not decompose readily on its own. It really needs to be reused or recycled. It also takes way less energy to make glass containers from recycled glass than from virgin materials.*
Before you set it out curbside, ask yourself two questions: (1) Can I reuse it somehow? (2) Does my state have a Bottle Bill? (i.e., can I get cold, hard cash for this bottle?)
“No”, you say, “I’ve got all the glass containers I need right now, so I can’t reuse this one. Plus, this is a glass jar. Jars aren’t part of the Bottle Bill. So yeah, I need to recycle this.”
Groovy, I say. Let’s recycle!
“Finally!” you mutter under your breath.
First of all: rinse it out! Most glass recyclers have ways of dealing with leftover bits of food and whatever else was in that bottle or jar, but really, ten seconds of rinsing it out properly beats a stinky moldy jar any day. Multiply that by hundreds and thousands of unrinsed jars, and I think you get my drift.
Also - find out from your local hauler if you need to remove any labels (you should be able to find this info online - in the Portland/Metro area, leaving the labels on is fine). They come off pretty easily in warm water, as long as you're rinsing the jar anyway.
Second: glass on the side. I’ll say it again: GLASS ON THE SIDE. By itself. It’s okay. It won’t get lonely. Glass is strong that way. And only glass jars & bottles – no lightbulbs, no vases, no baking dishes, nothing else. Glass materials have different ingredients in them and melt at different temperatures, making it very difficult to make new glass items out of mixed recycled glass. It can result in weak glass that can warp during production, or crack or explode when being handled. Not cool! Glass bottles & jars are made from similar enough elements that they can be recycled together. Also, don’t put lids in here – put them with the other metals. (if you have other kinds of glass, try calling your local garbage or recyclables hauler for more information)
Check with your local hauler to find out if you need to sort glass by color. Some areas do, some don’t. Where I live, we can put all colors of glass together, and a 5-gallon kitty litter bucket works just fine.
PLEASE don’t put broken jars or bottles in the recycling bin! Yes, it’s still the same recyclable material, but now it’s a big safety hazard – to the hauler (most glass bins are emptied into the truck by hand), and to the sorters at the material recovery station. We’re trying to help the environment, not send anyone to the hospital! Please just junk it.
Third: Please also don’t mix glass with anything else. Most obviously, other stuff doesn’t melt and reshape like glass. Mixing other elements into the glass makes for weaker glass products. And that’s no good. On top of this, glass breaks, and the bits get into the machinery all along the line. Besides hurting people, the glass shards & dust can jam up or even damage machinery, and it can get into the manufacturing process after materials have been sorted. On the field trip, one of our tour guides told us a cautionary tale. Glass breaks down into little bits, called cullet. Let’s say the cullet follows the paper to its next destination. It has the potential for hurting workers along the way and damaging the costly machinery needed for production of, say, toilet paper. Do you really want to be using toilet paper with glass bits in it? I’m just sayin’.
* Consider reading:
Glass Education
Waste Online
Next time: Paper
Consider reading the rest of the "curbside" series. Just click on the “curbside” tag just underneath this post
Awesome!, I say to you. Thanks for reading! What’s your question?
“Trashmaster,” you say, I want to help the process be more effective. I want to make sure materials get in the right place so they can get on with their next life. How can I do this?”
I’m glad you asked!
Today’s feature: Glass
Glass is amazing. Glass can make for strong packaging. Glass doesn’t off-gas weird chemicals that the state of California knows to cause cancer. Glass doesn’t have weird chemicals that make what’s inside taste funny. Glass doesn’t contract or expand over a fairly wide range of temperatures. Glass can be infinitely recycled. Unfortunately, a glass bottle will not decompose readily on its own. It really needs to be reused or recycled. It also takes way less energy to make glass containers from recycled glass than from virgin materials.*
Before you set it out curbside, ask yourself two questions: (1) Can I reuse it somehow? (2) Does my state have a Bottle Bill? (i.e., can I get cold, hard cash for this bottle?)
“No”, you say, “I’ve got all the glass containers I need right now, so I can’t reuse this one. Plus, this is a glass jar. Jars aren’t part of the Bottle Bill. So yeah, I need to recycle this.”
Groovy, I say. Let’s recycle!
“Finally!” you mutter under your breath.
First of all: rinse it out! Most glass recyclers have ways of dealing with leftover bits of food and whatever else was in that bottle or jar, but really, ten seconds of rinsing it out properly beats a stinky moldy jar any day. Multiply that by hundreds and thousands of unrinsed jars, and I think you get my drift.
Also - find out from your local hauler if you need to remove any labels (you should be able to find this info online - in the Portland/Metro area, leaving the labels on is fine). They come off pretty easily in warm water, as long as you're rinsing the jar anyway.
Second: glass on the side. I’ll say it again: GLASS ON THE SIDE. By itself. It’s okay. It won’t get lonely. Glass is strong that way. And only glass jars & bottles – no lightbulbs, no vases, no baking dishes, nothing else. Glass materials have different ingredients in them and melt at different temperatures, making it very difficult to make new glass items out of mixed recycled glass. It can result in weak glass that can warp during production, or crack or explode when being handled. Not cool! Glass bottles & jars are made from similar enough elements that they can be recycled together. Also, don’t put lids in here – put them with the other metals. (if you have other kinds of glass, try calling your local garbage or recyclables hauler for more information)
Check with your local hauler to find out if you need to sort glass by color. Some areas do, some don’t. Where I live, we can put all colors of glass together, and a 5-gallon kitty litter bucket works just fine.
PLEASE don’t put broken jars or bottles in the recycling bin! Yes, it’s still the same recyclable material, but now it’s a big safety hazard – to the hauler (most glass bins are emptied into the truck by hand), and to the sorters at the material recovery station. We’re trying to help the environment, not send anyone to the hospital! Please just junk it.
Third: Please also don’t mix glass with anything else. Most obviously, other stuff doesn’t melt and reshape like glass. Mixing other elements into the glass makes for weaker glass products. And that’s no good. On top of this, glass breaks, and the bits get into the machinery all along the line. Besides hurting people, the glass shards & dust can jam up or even damage machinery, and it can get into the manufacturing process after materials have been sorted. On the field trip, one of our tour guides told us a cautionary tale. Glass breaks down into little bits, called cullet. Let’s say the cullet follows the paper to its next destination. It has the potential for hurting workers along the way and damaging the costly machinery needed for production of, say, toilet paper. Do you really want to be using toilet paper with glass bits in it? I’m just sayin’.
* Consider reading:
Glass Education
Waste Online
Next time: Paper
Consider reading the rest of the "curbside" series. Just click on the “curbside” tag just underneath this post
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