EcoSalon | Conscious Culture and Fashion » trash

The Friday 5: New Beginnings

Mike Sowden — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:00:28 +0000

The top stories of the week at EcoSalon.

We looked at 40 inspirational quotes on new beginnings…

…which you might need if you’re seeing any of these 10 signs a relationship is faltering.

A new year, a new food obsession – and Anna Brones suggests it should be tacos.

When the winter weather is playing havoc with your tresses, here’s how to fight back.

Finally, if you’re looking for a new green habit for the year, how about taking someone else’s trash in?

Between the Lines: Who Cares?

Amy DuFault — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:49:09 +0000

ColumnConscious life, hear me roar.

I think the first time I became aware of trash and the environment was when the Keep America Beautiful commercial of Iron Eyes Cody came out. (As drums pound and smokestacks puff out fumes, Cody looks at a highway coated in debris. A bag of trash is thrown at him. We won’t get into the utter exploitation of Cody’s Cherokee-Cree heritage.) It was the 1970s. Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush included the line, “Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s.” These lyrics I belted out with pride because they mentioned “the 1970s,” the decade in which I was born. Obviously, I hear the song differently now. Cody was a Hollywood talent who signed on for the part and forced that tear to pop out from his tear duct. I’m no actor playing a part, and feel them ready to pop often.

In my small neighborhood here on Cape Cod, I come home with trash in my hands.

Yesterday, while walking the dog, it was a McDonald’s bag with an empty sausage McMuffin breakfast container, a plastic bottle and some candy wrappers. I’d like to say that this was maybe because we had a windy day and somebody’s trash barrel wasn’t secure. That a raccoon found treasure and pulled the bag out for a late night snack, but the truth is, I always find trash. This is a middle class neighborhood, filled with many renters who might care little for place, but if I were to read into who lives here based on the trash I find, I would be more inclined to say: This neighborhood is filled with people who just don’t care at all.

The troublesome part is that this is not 1970. We are so much more educated about the environment, we’ve heard the drills about recycling, and we’ve seen pollution disaster after disaster. If I’m reading these trashy tea leaves correctly, we have many a miserable soul who believes a Smirnoff nip before going home to the wife and kids can help take the edge off of a biting reality. That oversized styrofoam cups of extra sugared espresso concoctions deserve to pave our way home. That Subway sandwiches are made not only for “healthy” fast food consumption, but also for the wildlife here. That the reason why I daily find a bag of McDonald’s in the same place is because someone likes to live like a hobbit with Second Breakfast and Elevensies.

I remember when our local Wampanoag Indians won federal recognition a few years back (my town is considered “The Land of the Wampanoag”), and I picked up a massive pile of plastic bottles across the street from a house housing three Wampanoag families. All the bottles labeled with their federal recognition.

The tear.

I’m not picking up reusable bags with organic carrot tops inside, or vegan granola bar wrappers. It takes a certain person who just doesn’t care to litter. These are the people who feed themselves garbage, live with garbage, and treat the environment as a garbage can. It’s a cycle of abuse that begins with self-abuse that’s become so regular for so many, we consider it almost normal.

I refuse. So, I will continue picking up this trash. And I will believe there are those who care. I’m not certain this is a good approach at all. Maybe I should make signs asking people to pick up the litter. Maybe I should lead a neighborhood cleanup and have the ones who do care take a stand against the ones who don’t.

But who cares?

Between the Lines, is a weekly column navigating the sometimes-sharp, sometimes-blurred lines of life and culture between city and country.

Image: purplepix

Tons of Trash: Tour America’s 10 Largest Landfills

Anna Brones — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:45:12 +0000

Beyond the smell and decay, landfills are considered modern archeology sites, collections of discarded items that give clues to the lifestyles of those who used them. In fact, Harvard-trained archeologist Bill Rathje recently told the LA Times, “The best time capsule in the world is a landfill.”

But that time capsule has an impact.

The average American produces a little over 4 pounds of trash per day, and although we might be diligent about separating our recyclables, once the garbage truck comes along, to us, our waste is out of sight and out of mind. While we return to the house with an empty garbage can, our waste takes off on a journey for the landfill, where mountains of trash pile up to be pushed around by bulldozers and circled by vultures in the air.

Where does your trash go?

We rounded up a list of the top 10 biggest landfills, just to show the ultimate impact of our everyday waste. According to Waste & Recycling News, these are the biggest landfills, based upon tonnage received in 2007. Here are some interesting facts about these places, including some very uplifting ones (really).

1. Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada. 3,824,814 tons.

America’s largest landfill, Apex, lies just an hour north of Sin City. Storing nearly 50 million tons of rotting trash, Apex is no small operation. Surprisingly enough, things seem to be slowing down. According to General Manager Mark Clinker commercial and residential waste has actually decreased. Maybe there’s still hope?

2. Puente Hills, Whittier, California. 3,756,718 tons.

Taking in a third of Los Angeles County’s trash, Puente Hills is a big player when it comes to waste. But talking about trash doesn’t have the same effect as seeing it. Last year, the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), a Culver City-based think tank, sponsored a tour of Puente Hills in an effort to raise awareness about waste. Tickets sold out in minutes. But the landfill doesn’t just process waste. Puente Hills is the largest recycling location in the US, taking more than one million tons per year of recyclable materials.

Concerts

3. Newton County Landfill Partnership, Brook, Indiana. 2,692,455 tons.

A stone’s throw from Chicago, Newton County Landfill is responsible for taking a large part of the city’s waste. Chicago residents produce about 1 million tons of trash per year.

4. Atlantic Waste, Waverly, Virginia. 2,669,423 tons.

Virginia’s largest landfill, Atlantic Waste is owned by the trash giant, Waste Management. In 2008 the landfill was fined for some 8,000 gallons of leachate – in other words, garbage juice – which spilled into surrounding wetlands.

5. Okeechobee, Okeechobee, Florida. 2,640,000 tons.

Surprisingly enough, visitors to Okeechobee won’t just see piles of trash, they’ll also get a view of local wildlife. Of the 4,150 acres that make up the site, 1,550 have been placed in conservation easement, offering visitors a variety of recreation and conservation related activities.

6. Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site, Aurora, Colorado. 2,561,809 tons.

Colorado’s largest landfill, Denver Araphoe Disposal Site accepts around 12,000 tons of waste per day. But some of that trash is going to good use. In September of 2008, DADS launched its waste-to-energy system to convert methane into electricity. In partnership with the City of Denver, the system generates enough power to fuel about 3,000 homes. (Photos are from adjacent landfill site Lowry, which ceased operations in 1990 and is now part of the waste-to-energy system)

7. El Sobrante, Corona, California. 2,173,216 tons.

Another landfill owned by Waste Management, El Sobrante works closely with the Wildlife Habitat Council to manage more than 640 acres for the benefit of 31 different species, two of which are endangered.

8. Rumpke Sanitary, Colerain Township, Ohio. 2,128,165 tons.

Located near Cincinnati, Rumpke Sanitary brings in a lot of trash, but like other landfills, is doing its part to put some of it to good use. The landfill site hosts three methane recovery facilities that have the potential to recover approximately 15 million standard cubic feet of landfill gas daily. In total, the facilities produce enough energy to power 25,000 homes.

9. Frank Bowerman, Irvine, California. 2,059,859 tons.

One of California’s largest landfills, Frank Bowerman also boasts the world’s first landfill gas-to-LNG plant. The plant has the capacity to produce 5,000 gallons of LNG per day, which has about the same environmental benefits as taking about 150,000 vehicles off the road per year.

10. Columbia Ridge, Arlington Oregon. 2,050,602 tons.

Columbia Ridge processes waste from all over the Northwest, serving major cities Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Images: D’Arcy Norman, Steve Marcus, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, WM, Google, Farache, EPA, Center for Land Use Interpretation, Craig Ruttle, n6vhf, Eric Mortenson.

Tons of Trash: Tour America’s Largest Landfills

Anna Brones — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:36:28 +0000

But that time capsule has an impact.

Where does your trash go?

1. Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada. 3,824,814 tons.

2. Puente Hills, Whittier, California. 3,756,718 tons.

3. Newton County Landfill Partnership, Brook, Indiana. 2,692,455 tons.

A stone’s throw from Chicago, Newton County Landfill is responsible for taking a large part of the city’s waste. Chicago residents produce about 1 million tons of trash per year.

4. Atlantic Waste, Waverly, Virginia. 2,669,423 tons.

5. Okeechobee, Okeechobee, Florida. 2,640,000 tons.

6. Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site, Aurora, Colorado. 2,561,809 tons.

7. El Sobrante, Corona, California. 2,173,216 tons.

8. Rumpke Sanitary, Colerain Township, Ohio. 2,128,165 tons.

9. Frank Bowerman, Irvine, California. 2,059,859 tons.

10. Columbia Ridge, Arlington Oregon. 2,050,602 tons.

Columbia Ridge processes waste from all over the Northwest, serving major cities Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Images: D’Arcy Norman, Steve Marcus, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, WM, Google, Farache, EPA, Center for Land Use Interpretation, Craig Ruttle, n6vhf, Eric Mortenson.

10 Surprising Things You Can’t Recycle

Katherine Butler — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:50:07 +0000

If you live with a greenie, dramatic scenes can play out over the blue recycling bin. Styrofoam can be recycled, right? Hangers for sure. Why are you putting that pizza box in the trash? For the love of Al Gore, won’t anyone think of the cardboard? (And cue silent scream.)

As it turns out, throwing certain items into the recycling that you are utterly convinced can be recycled is actually worse for the environment. Oftentimes, bad items can taint an entire bin, resulting in the whole load going into a landfill. This largely depends on how well a city’s recycling facilities can sort. But it’s enough to throw a person into high anxiety with every trip to the waste bin.

Not to worry. Here’s a quick list of 10 surprising things on the “Do we or don’t we?” list. And always, if you’re in doubt about an item, check Earth911.com for a facility near you that may take your questionable trash bit.

Pizza Boxes I know, I KNOW. It seems like these cardboard boxes are made for the recycling bins. But pizza boxes are often tainted with food and grease. Many items are recycled using a heat and water process, which is not problem for plastic and glass. But throw some cardboard soaked in oil into the process, and you’ve got a messy muck. Terry Gellenbeck is a solid waste administrative analyst for the City of Phoenix. As he told Earth911, “The oil causes great problems for the quality of the paper, especially the binding of the fibers. It puts in contaminants, so when they do squeeze the water out, it has spots and holes.”

Wet Paper Paper fibers that have been soaked are shorter. This makes them less valuable to paper recyclers, who won’t collect and mill them.

Plastic Bottle Caps Plastic bottle caps are considered less valuable on the market, so most recyclers won’t take them. Make sure you separate them from your plastic bottles. Also, you can check Earth911 to find a facility near you that does accept plastic bottle caps.

Juice Boxes Check to see if your juice box is specially-processed for recycling. If it isn’t, you have to throw it in the trash. The plastic coating on much of the cardboard renders them unsuitable for recycling.

Plastic Bags When recycling bins are sorted manually, workers cannot open plastic bags to see what is inside. It isn’t cost-effective and could be dangerous. So they get trashed. (Note: don’t put your plastic bottles and more in plastic bags.) You can often take your plastic bags back to the store for recycling – and consult Earth 911 again for places that will take them.

Styrofoam Another one that kills me, because how many times do we get handed Styrofoam containers we don’t want? But Styrofoam is a petroleum product and, more importantly, highly flammable. It’s considered a danger to most recycling centers. Again, Earth 911 may provide locations that will take it from you.

Wire Hangers Most recycling centers are not set up to handle wire. However, experts agree that your local dry cleaner may take them. Often, they reuse them or send them to a scrap metal dealer. Sure, they get the cash, but you get the knowledge you’re not sending wire hangers into the great abyss. Joan Crawford would be proud.

Paper Napkins or Towels Again, food contamination often takes these paper products out of the running. Try to use wash clothes or handkerchiefs instead.

Ceramics You would think that your old coffee mug would find a home in your recycling bin. Alas, they are not accepted at most recycling centers. Consider giving them a second life with a houseplant or in your garden.

Heavily-Dyed Paper When paper is recycled, it is heat-treated. So if something is heavily dyed, it has the same outcome as a blue sock or red t-shirt thrown in with your whites in the washing machine. Consequently, a lot of paper mills won’t take the results. (Pastels are okay.) Life can still be colorful, just a bit toned down!

Images: mukluk, crabchick, kaz k, cogdogblog,stevendepolo,Urban Woodswalker,
eatatree, Michael_Lehet, noego, raphernalia_vintage, minor9th

10 Surprising Things You Can’t Recycle

Katherine Butler — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:05:07 +0000

Wet Paper Paper fibers that have been soaked are shorter. This makes them less valuable to paper recyclers, who won’t collect and mill them.

Paper Napkins or Towels Again, food contamination often takes these paper products out of the running. Try to use wash clothes or handkerchiefs instead.

Images: mukluk, crabchick, kaz k, cogdogblog,stevendepolo,Urban Woodswalker,
eatatree, Michael_Lehet, noego, raphernalia_vintage, minor9th

Cut Down Your Plastic Bag Use with the Reduce Smash Can

Julie Knapp — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:50:27 +0000

We all know that recycling and composting can help cut down on the amount of garbage that goes to landfills, but inevitably you’ll still have stuff that can only go in the trash. So how can you cut that down? By squishing your trash of course.

If you’ve ever had a roommate or boyfriend take one look at an overflowing trash bag, only to heroically refuse to take it to the curb by shoving the contents deeper into the can instead, you’ll know what I’m talking about. However, while that behavior is typically nothing more than a way to prolong the task of taking out the garbage, the Reduce Smash Can ($170) presents a brilliant eco-friendly trash-smashing solution.

The unique stainless steel can has a built-in compactor lid so you can push down your trash without getting your hands dirty. The accordion-like lid, which also flips open with a foot pedal, is made from flexible silicone – a naturally odor-repelling material perfect for keeping garbage cans stink-free.

Reduce says the smashing action means this bin holds twice as much trash as the rest of the 10.5-gallon competition. So not only will you have to take the trash out half as often, but you’ll also use 50 percent fewer plastic bags – a time saver and a planet saver!

8 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle

Stephanie Rogers — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:10:30 +0000

I have a large, shameful pile of junk in my basement that has been growing out of control for three years. I try not to look at it when I pass it, because when I do I inevitably feel that flush of guilt – “Why haven’t I recycled this stuff already?” But for many items, from packing peanuts to old scraps of carpet, it’s not as easy as putting it in a curbside bin. Sometimes it seems like an awful lot of effort just to find out whether something can be recycled at all, let alone how or where.

But don’t give in and toss those questionable items in the trash! You might be surprised at some of the things that can actually be recycled. Turn wine corks into flooring, trade in energy-sucking holiday lights for LED strands and transform your old sneakers into a tennis court – sometimes it’s as easy as simply dropping them in the mail.

Wine Corks

If you can’t bear to throw away wine corks and tuck them away in a drawer for some craft project that will never materialize, here’s a tip: send them to Yemm Hart Green Materials of Missouri. They’ve started an experimental wine cork recycling program that processes the old bottle stoppers into lovely environmentally friendly cork floor and wall tiles. Eventually, they hope to actually pay people for their corks, but for now, do it out of the kindness of your heart. Here are five other creative reuses for old wine corks.

Books, DVDs & CDs

Most people don’t toss their used books, DVDs and CDs in the trash, but buying new consumes unnecessary resources (and a lot of cash) – so why not trade your old ones for something that’s new-to-you? Swaptree.com is a cool website that allows you to essentially keep a constantly fresh, rotating selection of reading material, movies and music for zero dollars. Who doesn’t love free stuff? Just sign-up, list your unwanted stuff and choose the items you’d like to receive. Then, you simply complete the swap through the mail. Easy!

Shoes

They’ve been through a lot – from dog poop at the park to downpours on the trail. It wouldn’t exactly be charitable to donate your grimy, rough-looking trainers, but the landfill isn’t the answer either. Nike is happy to take your rubber-soled shoes – no matter who made them – and recycle them into new athletic surfaces like basketball courts and running tracks. Find your nearest drop-off location at the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe website.

Foam Packing Peanuts

Nobody with eco-minded tendencies likes receiving a package full of polystyrene packing peanuts. They’re made from petroleum, and aside from that, they’re just plain annoying and hard to get rid of. Instead of sending them back out to be somebody else’s problem, give them to people who actually want them: EPS recyclers. Polystyrene packing peanuts and molded foam cushioning can be either dropped off at a local location if you have one, or sent in the mail.

Carpet

Whether it was ripped out of a flooded room or just saw more than its fair share of pet stains and baby vomit, old carpet can be pretty gross. Unfortunately, getting rid of unwanted carpet isn’t always easy, but if you’re lucky, you might just have a carpet reclamation company in your area. Check out the map at CarpetRecovery – you could be able to give that shaggy rug new life as composite lumber, roofing shingles, railroad ties or automotive parts.

Holiday lights

You want the green cred – and lower utility bills – of LED holiday lights, but just can’t justify buying new ones yet. That’s cool, use what you have, but when those old strands give up the ghost, send them off to HolidayLEDs to be recycled and you’ll get more than just do-gooder satisfaction. They’ll gift you with a 15 percent off coupon for anything on their site, so you can get the twinkly LED lights of your dreams.

Bras

Maybe you’ve grown out of purple polka dots (figuratively) or grown out of your old size (literally) but either way, don’t toss that bra. Most of us take a selection of clean undergarments for granted, but there are plenty of people in need. Bosom Buddy Recycling will take your old bras and give them to deserving women around the country including women’s shelters, transitional housing and breast cancer survivor support groups.

Prescription Medication

Our water has a drug problem, and as a result, we’re all taking in way more medication than we bargained for. Drinking water in many major metropolitan areas is contaminated with all kinds of pharmaceuticals – from antibiotics to antidepressants – and it’s not just a result of them passing through our bodies. Instead of flushing your prescription meds down the toilet, donate drugs that are still usable. Not every state has a recycling/redistribution program or allows patients to donate directly, but it’s worth a shot – check out the list at NCSL.

Images: dawgbite77, psyberartist, ianmunroe

Tons of Trash: Tour America’s Top 10 Biggest Landfills

Anna Brones — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:30:25 +0000

But that time capsule has an impact.

Where does your trash go?

1. Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada. 3,824,814 tons.

2. Puente Hills, Whittier, California. 3,756,718 tons.

3. Newton County Landfill Partnership, Brook, Indiana. 2,692,455 tons.

A stone’s throw from Chicago, Newton County Landfill is responsible for taking a large part of the city’s waste. Chicago residents produce about 1 million tons of trash per year.

4. Atlantic Waste, Waverly, Virginia. 2,669,423 tons.

5. Okeechobee, Okeechobee, Florida. 2,640,000 tons.

6. Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site, Aurora, Colorado. 2,561,809 tons.

7. El Sobrante, Corona, California. 2,173,216 tons.

8. Rumpke Sanitary, Colerain Township, Ohio. 2,128,165 tons.

9. Frank Bowerman, Irvine, California. 2,059,859 tons.

10. Columbia Ridge, Arlington Oregon. 2,050,602 tons.

Columbia Ridge processes waste from all over the Northwest, serving major cities Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.

Photo Credits: D’Arcy Norman, Steve Marcus, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, WM, Google, Farache, EPA, Center for Land Use Interpretation, Craig Ruttle, n6vhf, Eric Mortenson.

Junktion: If They Can’t Upcycle It, Nobody Can

Mike Sowden — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:35 +0000

There’s a sad sight. After they’ve lugged your belongings from one corner of the world to the other and obviously won’t last another mile, the final stop for your careworn companions is the trash. There’s no alternative. It’s a fact.

Nonsense, says the team at Junktion!

If you’re keen to make your life a trashless one (particularly on Tuesdays), there are many ways to upcycle your garbage – but there’s a limit, surely? There are some items that you can’t do anything with – like empty gas bottles…?

No trying this at home, please. Junktion are professionals and know how to get into gas bottles safely!

Based in Tel Aviv and founded in 2008, this upcycled design company is interested in all the everyday things folk leave behind (rather like the Wombles, then). They’re keen to challenge our concept of “junk”, and they think there’s quite enough stuff in the world already for their creative purposes.

A car trunk door becomes a sofa. A chopper bicycle reforms itself, Transformers-style, into a stool. Metal piping becomes a classy-looking towel rail.

And if it’s attention-grabbing decor you’re after, how about this industrial-style octopus of a lamp, made from a metal cooking pot writhing with swarms of illuminated teapots? Or desklights make of bakelite-style phones?

Junktion trades out of their shop in Tel Aviv, asking locals to supply them with the raw materials. If they opened near you, would you be a regular customer?

Images: Junktion (via Haute*Nature) and Phineas H.