Recycling Matters

Taking Stock of Your Impact on Earth Day

sprecycling@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:16:00 GMT

With Earth Day around the corner our thoughts and ideas turn to our impact on the environment. While analyzing your every move and calculating your carbon footprint will give you an idea of the sheer amount of waste in our society, it often keeps you from moving forward to make a difference. The key is small steps make a big impact. Start with one day without driving, watching tv or maybe avoiding all use of energy. If you have a recycling program start composting to work toward zero waste. Analyze every item that you are about to throw away to see if it can be reused in some way. You would be surprised at the amount of uses for an old cd, empty pudding cup etc.

Now that you have taken a look around the house, let’s look at what you bring into the house. Start by curbing your junk mail. There are opt out websites to cancel catalogs, phone books, credit card offers etc. Make sure you choose paperless billing for all your accounts. Not only is it safer it will reduce the amount of paper that comes into your house. Before you recycle your paper, check to see if there is a blank side that can be used for notes, etc. Before you print that statement or email, is there another way that I can save this for my records. Cutepdf.com offers a free pdf printer so you can turn any document into a pdf for future use. Not using paper to print in the first place in a great way to reduce waste and costs.

Now that you have tackled the paper, let’s look at your purchases. Can you go without purchasing new items until the old ones have completely worn out? How many of us go out to buy that new shirt when we have a dozen more in our closet? Tired of wearing the same outfits. Simply use a different accessory or pair it with a different skirt. If that doesn’t work try a reuse party with your friends to trade clothes and accessories. You will be surprised at the number of creative ideas you get by working together. Need another incentive. Take the money that you would have spent at the store and put it in a vacation fund. See how quickly your funds add up to the next vacation.

Now you are on your way to being waste free and eliminating your carbon footprint. Eliminating trips to the store will also help you save on fuel and with the price of gasoline on the rise that savings is growing. Buying in bulk is an additional way to cut down on packaging as most times you have one box with 5 or 6 portions instead of 6 little cartons. Often times the bulk packages are corrugated cardboard which is easier to recycle than the linerboard cartons. Be careful to make sure you are buying items that your family will really use and not ones that will sit in the back of the pantry to expire. Keeping clutter to a minimum is important in the kitchen to avoid throwing away food that has expired.

How will you celebrate Earth Day? Let us know how much you have saved and what you plan to do with the extra funds. Share your ideas below and inspire others to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

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The Lorax and Sustainability

sprecycling@gmail.com — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:47:00 GMT

We all grew up with the lovable stories penned by Dr Seuss. Each story had colorful characters and was filled with nonsensical rhyming words and a special message. Dr Seuss' latest book turned movie is the delightful story of the Lorax who teaches us about sustainability. This topic is not a new idea but showcases how creatively you can approach the issue with everyone. Seeing the movie with your whole family becomes a teachable moment and starts the conversation about what each of us can do.

Simple steps like turning off the faucet while brushing teeth, recycling, reusable shopping bags, making sure all lights are off when leaving a room etc. are all things we have been asked to do but sometimes we don't follow through. Knowing the consequences of failing to do the right thing is a good place to start. A visit to the Truffula Valley before the Once-ler arrived will help children focus on the before and after effects of environmental misuse.

The timing of the Lorax movie couldn’t be better for our teachers as well. With Earth Day coming up in April, teachers have a new list of lessons plans to help them with classroom activities including role play. What would you say to the Once-ler if you were in Truffula? If your school is not recycling, the children could help implement a plan to start paper recycling. You can have a contest to judge the best Lorax-themed recycling posters or classroom bins. Get creative and celebrate reading and recycling. Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.
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Spring Cleaning Your Mailbox

sprecycling@gmail.com — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:43:00 GMT

Junk mail may be a minor inconvenience for most of us but it also affects the environment around us. According to Earth911.com “Nearly 100 million trees are cut down annually to make junk mail in the U.S., according to the Bay Area Recycling Outreach Coalition, and Forest Ethics found that junk mail’s carbon footprint is equal to the greenhouse gases released by 9 million cars or heating 13 million homes in the winter.” You can take just a few steps to reduce your junk mail.

Start by reducing your catalogs.   Join the free website, Catalog Choice, where you select the catalog and mailing option and the Berkeley nonprofit will send the request to the catalog for you. Your Catalog Choice dashboard lists the catalogs they have contacted and updates you when the catalog has confirmed your request – so you don’t have to keep track of all that information yourself.

Next opt out of credit card and insurance offers by filling out an online form at OptOutPrescreen.com, a service that prevents consumer credit companies like Equifax and Experian from providing your information to credit and insurance companies. Note that you are not required to provide your Social Security number, even though you will be asked for it. You can choose to opt out of these promotional offers for either five years or permanently.

Lastly remove your name from the Direct Mail Marketing Association list at DMAchoice.org. To opt out of the RedPlum coupon book and PennySaver circular, submit a request to be removed from their mailing lists on the “Contact Us” page on their websites. Stop delivery of Valpak coupons by filling out this online form.You are well on your way to an empty mail box and less clutter in your home.   Opting in for ebills and emailed statements will be a safe, secure way to get all your important documents. Keeping them stored in your computer saves space in file cabinets and eliminates the need for storage boxes etc.

Want added incentive to reduce your waste. Check out the artwork here which gives new meaning to the sheer volume of waste.   http://bit.ly/xaHLh4
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Tags: recycling,junk mail. paper recycling

Springtime Start Recycling

sprecycling@gmail.com — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:07:00 GMT

People usually give a good deal of thought to recycling this time of year. It is the time of new beginnings, planting gardens, spring cleaning, donating no longer needed items and throwing out accumulated trash. In just the past few days, many people have contacted us wanting to know where the nearest SP Fundraising/Recycling Bin is located or if they can start a recycling program now or how they can jump-start a program they’ve had for years.
It is a great feeling to know that SP Recycling is helping people find what they need and tell them about a program that is so simple, yet so beneficial to them, the community and the Earth. ‘NOW is the time to start!’ There is never a need to wait for an event, like upcoming Earth Day. Start now and then you can celebrate the recycling you’ve already been doing come Earth Day!
Whether it is paying utility bills or repairing a clubhouse, the funds earned from paper recycling are a valuable passive income stream. The best part of about the program is the easy way to multiply your results for bigger rebates. If everyone in your group asks one neighbor to save their paper your program doubles. Get two neighbors and results are quadrupled. Everyone has paper and wants to do their part to help reduce landfill space so they are more than willing to give you their paper for your cause.
Isn’t it wonderful knowing that you are recycling because it’s good for the environment AND you are being rewarded for your efforts!?! To find out who is recycling or more information on starting a program, please visit www.sprecycling.com.

Happy Recycling & Happy Spring!

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Tax Time is a Good Time to Organize and Recycle

sprecycling@gmail.com — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:55:00 GMT

February signals the start of the tax season and the rush to gather documents. It is also a great time to organize your files and clear out the clutter.

Start by taking a few minutes to look at your documents folder in your computer.    Make a new folder labeled 2010 and archive old files.   Keep one folder labeled taxes and put any files pertaining to your taxes in that folder.    In your archive folder you can make sub folders to separate business, personal etc.     Once this is complete backup this file to external hard drive or online backup service for safe keeping.     Make sure you delete unwanted files.   Next go to your email provider Outlook etc and clean out the old emails including the sent items folder.     Finally empty out the deleted items folder.
Now that you have tackled technology, let’s work on the stacks of paper on the desk and in the file cabinet. Go through the old bills and keep only the current month.   Scan copies of statements and items that you need to keep and store in a folder labeled archive on the computer.   Once scanned shred the originals for recycling.
Now go to each company’s website and select receive bills by email to eliminate the need for scanning and shredding next year.   You can set up a folder for each one – electric, telephone etc and save the statements as you get them.    Reduce junk mail by going to opt out websites or requesting information be sent by email.
Lastly set up a system to take care of paperwork as it comes in.   A simple file system with 4 files labeled read, act, file and recycle.   If you reduce your mail coming in the files will be smaller and easier to manage.   Filing needs to happen at least once a week.     There wasn’t that an hour well spent?
The last step is making sure the paper goes into the recycling bin.   If you have curbside recycling in your community simply place the paper in the bin that you were provided and place it on the curb at the appropriate date.    There are also community recycling bins placed at schools, churches and other non-profit groups designed as a fundraiser for the group.   By placing the paper is these bins you are saving the environment and helping the group fund programs throughout the year.
For a list of locations visit www.sprecycling.com or www.earth911.org.  Now you are ready for all that 2012 has to offer.
Thanks for recycling.

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Vending Machine Promotes Sustainability

sprecycling@gmail.com — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:41:00 GMT

When most of us think of a sustainable vending machine, we think of one that sells celery sticks and carrots. Now we have a new way to vend that does not even involve money. Enter the world of the Swap-O-Matic.

The Swap-O-Matic is not a regular vending machine. While a conventional vending machine helps us to buy stuff in places and times where other alternatives are out of reach, the Swap-O-Matic offers a swapping experience, enabling users to donate and receive items, instantly and for free. According to its website, the Swap-O-Matic tries to remind us that “reusing and recycling can be just as fun as buying something new.”

Here’s how it works: The machine has a touch screen with three options: swap, donate or receive. It works on a point/credit system, where you earn a credit for every item you donate and ‘pay’ a credit for every item you take. New users receive 3 credits to start after entering their email address. It’s a very easy and user-friendly system and includes features to prevent misuse or stalemate of the system. The idea of instant gratification is very appealing and offers a fresh alternative to websites like swap.com and Freecycle.

Right now there’s one machine and it is located in Brooklyn, NY. The fact that this is a machine with a specific location may limit its flexibility or its convenience, as you can swap only with what’s currently in it and you need to go to the place where it is located to actually do it. At the same time, the machine’s physical existence provides some advantages and not only disadvantages comparing to its online swapping peers. Just think of the potential of such a machine in your working place – if it’s an office, colleagues can swap stuff in a much more meaningful way compared to an online swap with someone they don’t really know. This sort of interaction can provide an opportunity to create an added value to the swapping process and get people to think how the alternative to consumption can be easy, fun and even more beneficial.

At the very least this machine will open the dialog about consumption as well as reusing and recycling. If you don’t have the space for the Swap-O-Matic just create a way to swap locally. Have an area at work for people to bring items to swap. Have a swap lunch once a month. Women all over are hosting parties to swap fashions and accessories. Have a neighborhood swap meet and/or yard sale. Got any great swapping stories or ideas, simply leave your comments below. Happy Swapping!

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Sustainability Hits the Red Carpet

sprecycling@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:31:00 GMT

Livia Firth used the Golden Globes to kick off the 2012 Green Carpet Challenge; a platform introduced by the eco-fashionista three years ago as a way to expand the use of sustainable and ethical creations on Hollywood’s red carpets.

Firth wore a design from Georgio Armani who used a weave created from recycled plastic bottles (all sourced from Northern Italy) in designing his creation. “Armani went for fibre from Newlife ™, a project developed by Filature Miroglio that takes place in Northern Italy,” Green Carpet Challenge co-founder Lucy Siegle writes. ”Rather than a vertical supply chain this has been developed horizontally through a system of certified partnerships, all in Italy. This means it’s fully traceable – which gets a big thumbs up from the GCC. The end product – the yarn – is fully derived from recycled plastic bottles.”

The possibilities are endless and could give rise to more designs in the future. There is a piece of the puzzle missing however. Part of sustainability focuses on locally grown, harvested etc. Where are the American designers and yarn makers? The US has recycling program in place throughout the country that produce recycled plastic. The vast majority of award participants lives in the US and could easily find fashions from local designers. Let’s add MADE IN AMERICA to Firth’s challenge and help sustain recycling programs. What can you do? Please share comments below.

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Creative Reuse Ideas for the New Year

sprecycling@gmail.com — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:51:00 GMT

As we start the New Year everyone is focusing on organizing and clearing the clutter. I want to share some creative uses for everyday items to keep them out of landfills. Let’s start with the plastic grocery bag. Most of us have used these bags for trash can liners, lunch holders or to carry items to donate. Next time you mail a package use bags instead of packing peanuts. It will save you money and your recipient can reuse the bags again. Want to get even more creative. Cut the bags into a long strip and crochet it into coasters, mats, reusable shopping bags, purses etc. If you start at one of the handles you can cut the bag into one continuous strand to make it easier to crochet. If you vary the colors of the bags you make a colorful pattern for your door mat. These are not only durable but are easy to clean off with a spray of water.

Now turn your attention to all the mounds of gift wrap paper. One easy solution is to shred the paper to make colorful filler for gift bags or baskets. Need to mail a package, simply use wads of the paper instead of packing peanuts. Large pieces of the paper can be used to line drawers to protect clothing and give your drawer a fresh new look. Create wonderful holiday décor by using pieces of the wrapping to decoupage plates, vases, boxes, etc. Save flat sheets to cover books in a bookshelf to make a festive display for next year’s holiday party.

I am sure you have many more ideas to share. Please comment below so we can all make a green difference this year.

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Keeping it Real this Christmas

sprecycling@gmail.com — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:57:00 GMT

Yes, we are talking Christmas trees and which is greener a real or a fake tree. Actually real trees are greener because younger trees planted to replace the cut ones actually produce more oxygen. 1 tree gives off enough daily oxygen for 18 people. Tree farms plant three or four trees for every one that gets cut. The trees contain no arsenic or lead and are not produced from OPEC oil in a Chinese factory. Real trees are 100% American made. Once you are finished the trees then can be recycled into mulch.

Now decorate that real tree with ornaments you make yourself. Recycled paper can be used for garland and beautiful stars. Popcorn and cranberries can be strung around the tree and then put out for the birds after Christmas. Make cookie ornaments that can be eaten by family and friends as they visit. Not only will the tree look beautiful but you will cherish the memories of getting the family together to make everything

Save money and the environment by using your china and silver instead of opting for paper plates and plastic utensils. Your tables will glisten with the glow from real glasses and clean up will only take a few extra minutes. Ask the children to come up with ways to wrap gifts without using wrapping paper. Sunday comics work great but look for other items like towels, t-shirts etc. Make a contest to see who can reduce the most amount of trash this holiday. Thanks for keeping it GREEN this holiday.

Merry Christmas!

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Paper Makes Decorating Easy and Green

sprecycling@gmail.com — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:51:00 GMT

As our attention turns to Christmas our thoughts turn to spending time with family and friends and sharing time honored traditions. Many of us grew up making ornaments, decorations and gifts. It is time to show the next generation the beautiful items that can be made out of paper. Not only are these easy to make but in most cases there is no cost and reduces waste.

Let’s start with paper chains which can be used as garland on a tree or hanging from a mantle or anywhere you need some color. Instead of buying construction paper use strips of last years holiday cards. Don’t have cards use the junk mail that fills your mailbox. You can combine paint and glitter to make these plain paper strips shine. Colorful pages of magazines or strips of old wrapping paper can be used as well.

Turn strips of white paper into German Christmas Stars. You can cut up pieces of used office paper or ask your local printer for some ends of jobs. The stars make a great family project and can be used as ornaments, table decorations or bows for gifts.

Take out your old magazines and colorful catalogs to make Christmas trees. Simply glue in a cone shape and curl up the edges. They can be stacked as tall as you like to make a great mantle or tablescape.

Got old paper back books. Using a scrap piece of file folder or cardboard, cut out a template outline of the side of a Christmas tree. Then using a sharp blade cut the pages of the book to match the template. When you are finished glue the covers together spreading the pages out and your tree will stand. Spray paint the tree any color you like and add glitter. You can cut out a star for the top or just leave it plain. Use two or three for a coffee table centerpiece or on a buffet table. To make ones that are easy to store simply use paper clips instead of glue to hold them together and when done take out the clips and let them fold back to a book shape. Don’t want to cut pages you can also make angels by folding the edges back in a diagonal to make the skirt. Cut wings from a scrap piece of heavy paper and add a Styrofoam head. Again you can reuse these every year and embellish them or leave them in simple form.

These are just a few ideas of the many wonderful things that can be made with paper. Please share your ideas in the comments section below. Now collect all your paper and start decorating!

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