The Weird Side of Recycling

Ever wonder what happens to all those bottles and cans we send to the recycle center? This is a fascinating article from Discover Magazine by Jocelyn Rice and Amber Fields compiling weird facts about recycling.

 

1  Drink up: It takes three months for a recycled aluminum can to make its way back onto the shelf in reincarnated form.

2  Or build a bridge: In 2002 researchers from Rutgers University built a 42-foot-long bridge over a river using plastic beams made from polystyrene cups and polyethylene milk jugs.

3  Or construct a boat: During World War I, enough metal was salvaged from corset stays to build two warships.

4  On April 27 the boat Earthrace began an attempt to break the maritime around-the-world speed record. It will use biofuel, some of which comes from liposuctioned human fat.

5  No fat here: During Britain’s 2007 Recycle Now week, svelte models strutted down Brighton beach wearing swimsuits made from steel cans.

6  These boots were made for flooring: Nike gathers old athletic shoes and turns them into raw material for “sports surfaces” like tennis courts and running tracks.

7  Meanwhile, in China, more than 1 million unsold copies of British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams’s latest CD will be used to resurface roads.

8  Last year Chinese hair salons caused a stir by unlawfully recycling used condoms, possibly donated by local nightclubs, into hair ties.

9  Elsewhere in Asia, an enterprising dental technician established the Japan Denture Recycle Association in 2006 to cash in on the precious metals in discarded choppers. Proceeds go to Unicef.

10  Each year Americans junk more than 80 million dollars’ worth of copper, gold, silver, palladium, and platinum in the form of retired cell phones.

11  Cell phones, laptops, and, um, personal massage devices: New British laws mandate that old electronic appliances—including sex toys—cannot be dumped. They must be recycled with other so-called e-waste.

12  E-waste is for the birds: An Australian nut orchard converts the shells of vintage Macintosh computers into houses for pest-eating birds.

13  Humans need houses too: When Luiz Bispo built his house in a Rio de Janeiro slum out of construction waste last year, city authorities threatened to destroy it. Now the house—which floats atop a junk-filled river on a base of plastic bottles—is being touted as an icon of sustainable development.

14  Cities have long been gold mines for recyclers: Beginning in ancient times, tanners collected human urine to use in turning animal skins into leather.

15  In the Middle Ages, urine was also used to make saltpeter, an essential component of gunpowder.

16  Cities get recycled too: Masonry from Roman settlements made a handy source of stone for medieval church builders.

17  But enough is enough: In 1821 Turkish soldiers surrounded Greek forces holed up in the Parthenon and started stripping lead from temple columns to make bullets. The horrified Greeks promptly sent the enemy a fresh supply of ammunition to discourage further recycling.

18  Using every part: There are now sheep-poo air fresheners. Sterilized sheep droppings are turned into packets stuffed with grass- or daffodil-scented material.

19  Green to the end: The Doggone Project in Mannheim, Germany, can recycle deceased pets into fertilizer.

20  You, too: Ecopods, a British company, sells stylish coffins made from hardened recycled paper, available in a range of colors including indigo and silver leaf.

 

Green Your Clean

 

Well, it’s that time of the year.  Some of you have already started your spring cleaning, or as I like to call it, green cleaning.  Others like myself wait for the kids to be out of school so you have a little help.  This is a perfect time to take stock of what you are using to clean your home. 

 

Many of our standard cleaners have so many toxins and irritants that are not only harmful for your health but strain your municipality’s wastewater treatment system.  The EPA has long been concerned about chemicals in cleaning products and is actively promoting green cleaning supplies in it’s own Federal Purchasing Program.  Adverse affects from these chemicals can include reproductive disorders, organ damage, eye damage, headaches, dizziness and fatigue.  As a matter of fact, children inhale 50% more air per pound of body weight than adults, which makes them more sensitive to air quality problems, including chemicals from household cleaners that might be in the air (off-gassing). Additionally, babies and toddlers discover the world largely by touching and tasting so they are more vulnerable to toxic  residue from household cleanings.  Have you ever tried licking your plates after they have been ‘cleaned’ in the dishwasher?  ’No worries’ the chemical residue usually mixes with your food so you really can’t taste it.

 

Here are 3 tips to get you started towards greening your clean:

 

Check the labels.  This shouldn’t take long.  Pick some ingredients on your favorite products and google them or google ‘toxins in cleaning products’.   Also, read the warnings.  If a fabric softening sheet says ‘avoid direct contact with fabric’ then obviously the manufacturer knows something we don’t.  That is enough to make me stay away.  If an air freshener says ‘spray in one room and wait 24 hrs to see if there are any adverse effects’ I would also question what happens after 48 hrs , a week or repeated exposure over time?  Am I dying a slow death?  When I decided to rid my home of  toxic products I was informed by my refuse department (after they left them on the curb and looked at me as if I had actually inhaled some of the products) that I can NOT just set them out to be picked up.  These are hazardous chemicals and I needed to dispose of them as as such (duh!)  They suggested I contact the hazardous waste department of my local municipality.  That really put things in perspective for me.

 

 Stock up on healthier cleaning supplies.  You can  either  make your own or if your family doesn’t want to choose between your making dinner or your making cleaning supplies  there are many companies out there that offer greener cleaning solutions.  If you opt to make your your own, you will find plenty of recipes for cleaning products on the web, in the bookstore or at your local library.  Many of your everyday household ingredients, when combined make excellent cleaners.  These include, baking soda, distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, washing soda and plain water.  If purchasing from a company, check the companies credentials and their dedication to true eco friendly cleaning products, check their ingredient list and find out if they have or are actively seeking meaningful green seal certification (Green Seal, EcoLogo and Design for the Environment seal by EPA).  There are a lot of bogus green certifications so you have to be careful here. I need to devote a full blog to this topic but the three above are some of the highly recommended certifications that have been found to be more credible and legit.

 

 Wash in Cold Water.  According to the U. S. Department of Energy, About 90% of the energy used for washing clothes in a conventional top-load washer is for heating the water. There are two ways to reduce the amount of energy used for washing clothes—use less water and use cooler water. Unless you’re dealing with oily stains, the warm or cold water setting on your machine will generally do a good job of cleaning your clothes. Switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut a load’s energy use in half.  Use cold water to pretreat or soak stained items.  If your current detergent isn’t properly dissolving or cleaning well in cold water, look for another eco-friendly options that is specifically formulated for cold water.

 

For more information on this topic or other ‘green topics’ contact me robinlcash@gmail.com or check out my website www.economeconsulting.com

 

 

Go Shopping! Go Green!

Many people get put off by the thought of going green.  Many I’ve talked to believe  it’s going to be a huge task and then simply decide they don’t have time for it.  Yes, depending on your lifestyle, there may be many things you will have to do but it doesn’t have to be a huge task.  It doesn’t have to consume your life and it doesn’t have to be mundane or boring.  Actually going green can be simple, easy and fun!  

So let’s start first with choosing one day out of the week to do something green.  I usually find it easier to tackle my ongoing tasks by assigning them a day.  For example, Fridays are usually my ‘home admin’ days or Wednesdays are bill paying days….get the idea.  So lets say you have chosen Mondays as your day to start the week off green and focus on doing something green.  My suggestion is to go shopping!  Buy a new shirt or a pair of shoes….at the consigment store, thrift store or an online exchange store.  You will be amazed at the deals you can find when you get the right stores!  How about buying an authentic Kate Spade purse in great condition for $10, or an Ellen Tracey blazer for $7?! Deals like this are out there in abundance!  Not only will you save the ‘green’ but you will save the landfill and the earth.

If saving money is not enough to convince you, here are some clothing facts that may interest you (From Natural-Environment.com):

• Cotton: The production of (non-organic) cotton destroys farmland and pollutes waterways. The production of a simple T-shirt requires two pounds of pesticide!
• Dyes: Most common dyes that are used in fabrics contain heavy metals that can be harmful to animals, the natural environment, and ourselves.
• Synthetic polyesters and nylons: These are made from petrochemicals via a process of refining crude oil, which creates horrible pollution.
• Silk: Commercial silk is made by boiling the silkworms’ cocoons, then unwinding the single silk strand onto reels. This results in the silkworms being boiled to death in their cocoons.

What’s more, many fabrics cause further environmental problems when they’re dumped in landfill. Fabrics can typically take hundreds of years (or more) to break down in landfill.

If you don’t want to go to the thrift store then I encourage you to consider buying organic or natural clothing.  Look for local vendors or check out the many online vendors of eco friendly clothing.  Have fun shopping!