In spring a young man’s fancy may lightly turn to thoughts of love, but my thoughts usually turn to crafting. Something about spring gets me thinking about new projects. Maybe it’s the whole outdoors coming to life thing making me want to create something along with it.
Craft magazine usually has some great projects that involve some or all of the parts being recycled or reused in some way. This month, however, the whole theme is UpCraft. Check out some of projects here. One of my favorites is “Homemade Pantry Staples”. I’ve been getting more and more into making things like these at home, and I’m looking forward to adding a few more to my repertoire. I also rather like the cardboard and rubber band “guitars”. I may have to make some of these for my kids at work.
April 9, 2011
Kraft/Terracycle Team Up for Minor League Baseball Promotion
More good recycling news for baseball fans! On the heels of Free Compost Night at Seattle Mariners games comes the KRAFT Singles “Tuesday Night Tickets” promotion at Minor League Baseball games around the country.
TerraCycle is working with Kraft Foods to “turn donated wrappers into functional lifestyle products while furnishing a donation for each wrapper collected to charitable organizations”.
For more information about the promotion, check out Kraft Singles Tuesday Night Tickets.
While I am not a huge fan of processed cheese food products or hermetically sealed individually-wrapped slices, I am all for trying to recycle the plastic bits that are already out there and I am all for steering some traffic towards TerraCycle.
TerraCycle is working with Kraft Foods to “turn donated wrappers into functional lifestyle products while furnishing a donation for each wrapper collected to charitable organizations”.
For more information about the promotion, check out Kraft Singles Tuesday Night Tickets.
While I am not a huge fan of processed cheese food products or hermetically sealed individually-wrapped slices, I am all for trying to recycle the plastic bits that are already out there and I am all for steering some traffic towards TerraCycle.
“Every Bottle Counts”: video
Hey, what do you know? Turns out, recycling is easier than you think! This video, put out by the International Bottled Water Association, encourages recycling of the bottles. What did you think? Me, I think I’m going to stick with my durable water bottle.
Got a favorite video about recycling? Let me know and I’ll share them here.
Got a favorite video about recycling? Let me know and I’ll share them here.
e-Cycling
I’m a little behind the curve when it comes to electronics and technology. I mean, I have a computer (obviously), I have a old (old) cell phone, and I have an iTouch (mostly because I killed my Palm a while back by dropping it one too many times). I’ll probably give up both the cell phone and iTouch within the next year in favor of a smart phone of some sort. The cell phone is easy enough to recycle – I can take it to my local library or police precinct, who will then send it off to be cleaned up and donated to a women’s or family shelter. The iTouch is a little trickier. It’s not a phone, so it can’t be reused that way. It’s also not the latest, hottest, hippest version on the market, so it’s got limited resale value. Heck, at this point, it might even be difficult to donate to much of anyone. If you’re into personal technology at all, you’re likely aware the iPad 2 has been released, within a year of the original. So what happens to all those original iPads people bought? Do you chuck ‘em in the trash? Holy cow, I hope not.
So what do you do with your old iPad, iTouch, or other fancy electronic gadget?
-->Hang on to it as a back-up. You never know when you might drop the new one or spill your soda all over it.
-->Sell it to someone who wants it. Try Craigslist, eBay, a garage sale, an electronics website, even a note on the bulletin board at work or school. Maybe they don’t need the latest, fanciest model. Maybe they’re looking for something for their kids. Maybe they’re looking for a quick replacement after theirs broke. Maybe they’re looking for antiques. As long as they’re willing to pay, you’re good to go.
-->See if you can get store credit. If you’re planning to get the newest, hippest version, see if the electronics store will take your older version in as a trade-in.
-->Speaking of trade-in, maybe you can trade your old electronics for something you want or need. Check out Craigslist, U-Exchange, or Care-to-Trade and trade your old iPad for a couple of hours of someone painting your house, or maybe for a set of weights, or possibly for guitar lessons.
-->Find out if the manufacturer has a recycling program. Apple, for instance, will take their products, working or not, back by mail or in their stores. According to their website, if the item you send them has monetary value, they’ll give you credit towards a new product. If the item doesn’t, they’ll “recycle it responsibly for you”.
-->Donate it. Schools are finding more and more uses for iPads and iTouches. Special Education departments would especially love to use your old electronics to use with children with Autism and communication disorders. Libraries and senior centers would also love to have them. Help save the world –and- take a tax deduction.
-->What if the gadget no longer works? What if it’s flat-out broke, busted, kaput, dead? That’s still no reason to throw it in the garbage! In the Portland (OR) area, you can also take your items to Free Geek to help support the Portland non-profit dedicated to recycling electronics, providing Internet access and education to everyone, and teaching computer-related job skills to anyone who wants to learn, all in exchange for community service. For the rest of the US - Best Buy also has an electronics recycling program. They don’t even care what brand it is or where you bought it or what it is (for the most part – as always, double-check with their e-cycling info first). You can also check out the electronics section on Earth911’s ideas for reusing and recycling electronics.
Consider reading:
Donate your iPad, be a hero…: Tainted Green
Find a recycling center near you: Earth911
iThink this will add to eWaste: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
So what do you do with your old iPad, iTouch, or other fancy electronic gadget?
-->Hang on to it as a back-up. You never know when you might drop the new one or spill your soda all over it.
-->Sell it to someone who wants it. Try Craigslist, eBay, a garage sale, an electronics website, even a note on the bulletin board at work or school. Maybe they don’t need the latest, fanciest model. Maybe they’re looking for something for their kids. Maybe they’re looking for a quick replacement after theirs broke. Maybe they’re looking for antiques. As long as they’re willing to pay, you’re good to go.
-->See if you can get store credit. If you’re planning to get the newest, hippest version, see if the electronics store will take your older version in as a trade-in.
-->Speaking of trade-in, maybe you can trade your old electronics for something you want or need. Check out Craigslist, U-Exchange, or Care-to-Trade and trade your old iPad for a couple of hours of someone painting your house, or maybe for a set of weights, or possibly for guitar lessons.
-->Find out if the manufacturer has a recycling program. Apple, for instance, will take their products, working or not, back by mail or in their stores. According to their website, if the item you send them has monetary value, they’ll give you credit towards a new product. If the item doesn’t, they’ll “recycle it responsibly for you”.
-->Donate it. Schools are finding more and more uses for iPads and iTouches. Special Education departments would especially love to use your old electronics to use with children with Autism and communication disorders. Libraries and senior centers would also love to have them. Help save the world –and- take a tax deduction.
-->What if the gadget no longer works? What if it’s flat-out broke, busted, kaput, dead? That’s still no reason to throw it in the garbage! In the Portland (OR) area, you can also take your items to Free Geek to help support the Portland non-profit dedicated to recycling electronics, providing Internet access and education to everyone, and teaching computer-related job skills to anyone who wants to learn, all in exchange for community service. For the rest of the US - Best Buy also has an electronics recycling program. They don’t even care what brand it is or where you bought it or what it is (for the most part – as always, double-check with their e-cycling info first). You can also check out the electronics section on Earth911’s ideas for reusing and recycling electronics.
Consider reading:
Donate your iPad, be a hero…: Tainted Green
Find a recycling center near you: Earth911
iThink this will add to eWaste: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
April 3, 2011
Giveaway winners
The winner of "Healthy Soils" is Leigh, and Katie won "Let it Rot". I'm expecting regular updates from the two of you on how your composting goes. Everyone else - thanks for entering!
March 30, 2011
Compost Giveaways at Whole Foods Market
The compost news just keeps coming! All you lucky Portland/Metro area folk can take advantage of a free compost giveaway at Whole Foods for all of April.
Whole Foods Markets joins Recology to giveaway compost every Saturday during Earth Month. Come and collect the equivalent of two-to-five gallon buckets of compost for free! Everyone is encouraged to bring their own containers.
April 2nd – Tanasbourne -- 19440 NW Cornell Rd. Hillsboro, OR 97214
April 9th – Laurelhurst -- 2825 E Burnside St. Portland, OR 97214
April 16th – Mill Plain -- 815 SE 160th Ave. Vancouver, WA 98683
April 23rd – Fremont -- 3535 NE 15th Ave. Portland, OR 97212
April 30th – Bridgeport -- 7380 SW Bridgeport Rd. Tigard, OR 97224
Whole Foods Markets joins Recology to giveaway compost every Saturday during Earth Month. Come and collect the equivalent of two-to-five gallon buckets of compost for free! Everyone is encouraged to bring their own containers.
April 2nd – Tanasbourne -- 19440 NW Cornell Rd. Hillsboro, OR 97214
April 9th – Laurelhurst -- 2825 E Burnside St. Portland, OR 97214
April 16th – Mill Plain -- 815 SE 160th Ave. Vancouver, WA 98683
April 23rd – Fremont -- 3535 NE 15th Ave. Portland, OR 97212
April 30th – Bridgeport -- 7380 SW Bridgeport Rd. Tigard, OR 97224
March 27, 2011
TMR: Now comes in Facebook flavor too!
Can't get enough reducing/reusing/recycling news? Check out TMR's shiny new Facebook page!
Quick reminder: Compost book giveaway
Just a quick reminder - there's still time to enter the compost book giveaway!
March 25, 2011
Seattle Mariners offer Free Compost Night
Sports teams in Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, and Vancouver, B.C. have teamed up to form the Green Sports Alliance (with more teams already wanting to get involved), dedicated towards “real progress toward reducing their environmental impact”. Plans include reducing energy costs by switching from incandescent to LED lights, switching urinals to low-flow models, more thoughtful decisions on away-game traveling, and free venue parking for carpools.
None of this would have been terribly newsworthy, at least outside of Time, Newsweek or Fred’s Weekly Recycling Newsletter if it weren’t for Compost Giveaway nights.
Yes, as the articles say, it’s no Ichiro bobblehead, but hey, freebies are freebies, right?
First, there’s the question of whether fans will receive their compost on the way in or out of the stadium, and what they might do with the compost should they disagree with the referee’s call or with other fans.
Then there’s looking at what the compost is made of. Food waste? Check. Packaging material? Um, check. Paper and “degradable corn product” cups and utensils? Erk, check. True enough though, the compost is made by Cedar Grove Composting, whose facilities are designed to heat up the materials to where even the paper and “biodegradable” utensils will break down. This compost is then sold throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Should I even get started on the plastic packaging it will take for all those little bags?
Still, it’s an interesting promotional tool. It’s a way to demonstrate some of the greener steps that franchise owners & executives are taking, and it’s a way to start conversations with the public (my favorite statistic: “during the first six games of the season, the Safeco Field recycling rate has jumped from 38% last year to 75.9% so far this season”*). It’s also a way to show that being green isn’t just for those Left-Wing Liberal Hippie Tree Huggers. You tobacco-spitting, beer-drinking, foam-finger-wearing fans are welcome to join the environmental agenda too! On April 21, the second annual Zero Waste Game Day, Cedar Grove Composting and Seattle City Light will staff tables in various locations in the stadium to share information with fans about composting, recycling and energy conservation.
The only date I can find for sure for the Compost Giveaway is the Zero Waste game on April 21st, but on the official Seattle Mariners website it looks like there will be green-related goings-on throughout the season.
For folks wanting to get more involved in sports-related environmental issues – you might want to be part of the Green Sports Summit over August 1-3, 2011 at the World Trade Center in Portland, OR.
Hey, if you go, let me know what you think of the compost, eh?
Time magazine
Yahoo! Sports
The Seattle Times
*Seattle Mariners official site
Cedar Grove Composting
Green Sports Alliance
None of this would have been terribly newsworthy, at least outside of Time, Newsweek or Fred’s Weekly Recycling Newsletter if it weren’t for Compost Giveaway nights.
Yes, as the articles say, it’s no Ichiro bobblehead, but hey, freebies are freebies, right?
First, there’s the question of whether fans will receive their compost on the way in or out of the stadium, and what they might do with the compost should they disagree with the referee’s call or with other fans.
Then there’s looking at what the compost is made of. Food waste? Check. Packaging material? Um, check. Paper and “degradable corn product” cups and utensils? Erk, check. True enough though, the compost is made by Cedar Grove Composting, whose facilities are designed to heat up the materials to where even the paper and “biodegradable” utensils will break down. This compost is then sold throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Should I even get started on the plastic packaging it will take for all those little bags?
Still, it’s an interesting promotional tool. It’s a way to demonstrate some of the greener steps that franchise owners & executives are taking, and it’s a way to start conversations with the public (my favorite statistic: “during the first six games of the season, the Safeco Field recycling rate has jumped from 38% last year to 75.9% so far this season”*). It’s also a way to show that being green isn’t just for those Left-Wing Liberal Hippie Tree Huggers. You tobacco-spitting, beer-drinking, foam-finger-wearing fans are welcome to join the environmental agenda too! On April 21, the second annual Zero Waste Game Day, Cedar Grove Composting and Seattle City Light will staff tables in various locations in the stadium to share information with fans about composting, recycling and energy conservation.
The only date I can find for sure for the Compost Giveaway is the Zero Waste game on April 21st, but on the official Seattle Mariners website it looks like there will be green-related goings-on throughout the season.
For folks wanting to get more involved in sports-related environmental issues – you might want to be part of the Green Sports Summit over August 1-3, 2011 at the World Trade Center in Portland, OR.
Hey, if you go, let me know what you think of the compost, eh?
Time magazine
Yahoo! Sports
The Seattle Times
*Seattle Mariners official site
Cedar Grove Composting
Green Sports Alliance
SOLV Spring Beach Cleanup
Already run out of things to do this spring break? Looking for an excuse to hit the Oregon beach? Be part of the all-volunteer SOLV Spring Oregon Beach Cleanup! SOLV (“Sustaining Oregon’s Legacy by Volunteering”) has been organizing volunteer opportunities all across Oregon since 1969 – the beach cleanup project is just one of many projects throughout the year. Other projects include tree planting, Oregon Adopt-a-River and Project Oregon, which removes invasive species from public parks.
The beach cleanup project happens in the spring and the fall, and has been an Oregon tradition since 1984. This year’s spring cleanup is Saturday, March 26th, 10am-1pm.
SOLV asks that you register to volunteer for a particular city and area so they have an idea how many volunteers will be where, and so you’ll be able to connect with the volunteer coordinators for a safety orientation and to get gloves and trash bags (or bring your own!).
Can’t make it this weekend? Live too far from the beach? Check out SOLV’s website for other opportunities. Not sure you are physically capable but still want to help? SOLV could really use your donation. “For every $1.00 donated to SOLV each year since 1997, Oregon has received $10.46 in volunteer service.” How’s that for a positive return?
If you do decide to help out, SOLV offers some tips:
-->Bring a bucket or reusable bag to reduce the amount of plastic trash bags used.
-->Bring a pair of gardening gloves from home instead of using the plastic gloves provided at the Cleanup.
-->Bring a reusable water bottle and/or coffee mug for drinks.
-->Carpool and use public transportation where possible to get to the beach.
-->Plan ahead, and pack a “trash-free” lunch, or choose a restaurant with reusable utensils and ask for drinks without a straw
-->Aim to create zero waste, and send SOLV your stories of efforts to achieve a personal zero waste to landfill day!
Hey, if you decide to go, or if you’ve been in the past, let us know!
The beach cleanup project happens in the spring and the fall, and has been an Oregon tradition since 1984. This year’s spring cleanup is Saturday, March 26th, 10am-1pm.
SOLV asks that you register to volunteer for a particular city and area so they have an idea how many volunteers will be where, and so you’ll be able to connect with the volunteer coordinators for a safety orientation and to get gloves and trash bags (or bring your own!).
Can’t make it this weekend? Live too far from the beach? Check out SOLV’s website for other opportunities. Not sure you are physically capable but still want to help? SOLV could really use your donation. “For every $1.00 donated to SOLV each year since 1997, Oregon has received $10.46 in volunteer service.” How’s that for a positive return?
If you do decide to help out, SOLV offers some tips:
-->Bring a bucket or reusable bag to reduce the amount of plastic trash bags used.
-->Bring a pair of gardening gloves from home instead of using the plastic gloves provided at the Cleanup.
-->Bring a reusable water bottle and/or coffee mug for drinks.
-->Carpool and use public transportation where possible to get to the beach.
-->Plan ahead, and pack a “trash-free” lunch, or choose a restaurant with reusable utensils and ask for drinks without a straw
-->Aim to create zero waste, and send SOLV your stories of efforts to achieve a personal zero waste to landfill day!
Hey, if you decide to go, or if you’ve been in the past, let us know!
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