Why save Rain Water….
Only ¼ inch of rain is needed to fill a 60 gallon barrel. Sixty gallons can cover about 100 square feet with 1 inch of water. This can go along way in offsetting garden needs in the spring and summer months when water consumption increases anywhere between 20 and 200%. Capturing rain water in a barrel before it hits the ground decreases storm water run-off, which otherwise carries pollutants from paved surfaces into groundwater and rivers. Furthermore - you can save money by saving water - if your water is supplied by your town and you also use town sewer - more often than not the sewer usage is measured by your incoming water. In Boston for every $1.00 we pay for the water to come in, we are charged $2.00 for sewer usage - even if the water is not being flushed out. So you are still paying sewer fees on the water that you use to water your lawn, garden, fill your pool and wash your car! SAVE RAINWATER and SAVE MONEY!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
the rain barrel project takes shape
Today I found another source of rain barrels here in Miami and at even better prices! These are plastic or metal food-grade barrels that used to contain olive oil or other spices. They are not cleaned, disinfected, and sealed like the other source but this guy has agreed to rinse them out and deliver them in batches of 50 or more for $15 each. He says he has about 100 of them at the present time and gets them in from time to time. He says some of them are open-topped and some are closed-top. I am probably going to go down there Saturday and get one of each for my speaking engagement at the High school next Teusday, on Parents Night. For about an hour I plan to answer any questions about this rain barrel project I can.
I have gained some experience with rain barrels over the past six months, using the two plastic 55-gallon barrels I have. There are 44 high school young people (EcoHawks) who are going to canvass their school first, to find any interested students, parents, or teachers and put them on a list. After the canvass of their school is complete they will begin to canvass our little community of 14,000 and add those names to the list. They will receive community service credits of course. I have also asked the leaders of the Boy and Girl Scouts to participate as a way to help them earn their ecology badges- no word back as of yet.
Once we have a list of at least 50 people we will schedule a free,two-hour seminar one Saturday morning and have the guy from the UF extension, Chris, come and show us how to construct a rain barrel properly. I got my first barrel at a seminar of his and he is very good at explaining the history and development of rain barrels, and providing the tools to help the attendees build them, if necessary.
If we can partner with a non-profit, any non-profit, Home Depot and Lowes will provide the accessories to make the rain barrels at a significant discount, their cost, or free. The accessories are spigots ($3 each), concrete blocks ($1.35 each), adjustable downspouts ($ 8 each), screening, drills and drill bits, and hoses. In these times of recession that would be helpful in keeping down the costs.
There is a lot of work to be done before this project takes off but I am optimistic that the Ecohawks are up to the task. Eventually I would like them make a website as a focal point of what is going on in their club, and to disseminte educational information to everybody who is interested. I also believe that this project could act as a substantial fundraiser for them in the future and demonstrate the being Green can be beneficial to the environment and themselves.
I have gained some experience with rain barrels over the past six months, using the two plastic 55-gallon barrels I have. There are 44 high school young people (EcoHawks) who are going to canvass their school first, to find any interested students, parents, or teachers and put them on a list. After the canvass of their school is complete they will begin to canvass our little community of 14,000 and add those names to the list. They will receive community service credits of course. I have also asked the leaders of the Boy and Girl Scouts to participate as a way to help them earn their ecology badges- no word back as of yet.
Once we have a list of at least 50 people we will schedule a free,two-hour seminar one Saturday morning and have the guy from the UF extension, Chris, come and show us how to construct a rain barrel properly. I got my first barrel at a seminar of his and he is very good at explaining the history and development of rain barrels, and providing the tools to help the attendees build them, if necessary.
If we can partner with a non-profit, any non-profit, Home Depot and Lowes will provide the accessories to make the rain barrels at a significant discount, their cost, or free. The accessories are spigots ($3 each), concrete blocks ($1.35 each), adjustable downspouts ($ 8 each), screening, drills and drill bits, and hoses. In these times of recession that would be helpful in keeping down the costs.
There is a lot of work to be done before this project takes off but I am optimistic that the Ecohawks are up to the task. Eventually I would like them make a website as a focal point of what is going on in their club, and to disseminte educational information to everybody who is interested. I also believe that this project could act as a substantial fundraiser for them in the future and demonstrate the being Green can be beneficial to the environment and themselves.
finally
After TWO YEARS in the making, are the bathrooms FINALLY done, and open for business? It will be interesting to see what the final tally will be. These have to be some of the MOST expensive bathrooms in history. Can you imagine what a new GYM would be? Incredible. Absurd. Preposterous. Ridiculously wasteful.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
one address for online rain barrels
http://www.thecarycompany.com/containers/drums/rain_barrels.html
The above rain barrels are $60 in groups of 12. We have been lucky, I guess, to have tropical storm Fay drop so much rain on us a month or so ago, but that water will be gone in a month or two. Before Fay we were in a two-year drought and Lake Okeechobee was at record lows. We can no longer hope that tropical storms or hurricanes will come to replenish our water supplies. Australia has been in a drought for over ten years. Governors of Florida, georgia, and tennessee have had high-level meetings to decide who should get what amount of water as it flows South. Officials from California and Nevada have had several disputes about who gets how much of the water that comes from the Colorado River.
Rain barrels are a part of the solution to water shortages by using water conservation. They are recycled, food-grade, cleaned and disinfected plastic 55-gallon barrels that attach to the downspout of a roof gutter system. They divert rainwater into the barrel for later use in watering flowers or a garden, washing the car or pets, and, in an emergency (after a hurricane for instance), can be used to bathe in or flush the toilets.
Rain barrels can allow us to save our drinking water for drinking. Filters at the end of the downspout and across the barrel will filter out any twigs, bird droppings, or dirt before they get into the barrel. More filters yield cleaner water.
The above rain barrels are $60 in groups of 12. We have been lucky, I guess, to have tropical storm Fay drop so much rain on us a month or so ago, but that water will be gone in a month or two. Before Fay we were in a two-year drought and Lake Okeechobee was at record lows. We can no longer hope that tropical storms or hurricanes will come to replenish our water supplies. Australia has been in a drought for over ten years. Governors of Florida, georgia, and tennessee have had high-level meetings to decide who should get what amount of water as it flows South. Officials from California and Nevada have had several disputes about who gets how much of the water that comes from the Colorado River.
Rain barrels are a part of the solution to water shortages by using water conservation. They are recycled, food-grade, cleaned and disinfected plastic 55-gallon barrels that attach to the downspout of a roof gutter system. They divert rainwater into the barrel for later use in watering flowers or a garden, washing the car or pets, and, in an emergency (after a hurricane for instance), can be used to bathe in or flush the toilets.
Rain barrels can allow us to save our drinking water for drinking. Filters at the end of the downspout and across the barrel will filter out any twigs, bird droppings, or dirt before they get into the barrel. More filters yield cleaner water.
Council deaf still
If AIG goes under it will take whole COUNTRIES with it into depression. They have TRILLIONS invested all over the world. Veteran insurance agents of 30 years are worried. Some pension plans will simply disappear. Does this sound anything like a good time to go further into debt? We cant cover our debts now!
stock market hurting too
Stocks were down again today but well off earlier lows after a devastating session Monday. At 10:10 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 55 points to 10,862 after plunging 504 points, or 4.4%, on Monday. Monday's decline was the worst one-day point loss for the Dow since September 17, 2001, the first day of trading after the 9/11 terrorist attacks; it was also the sixth-biggest point decline ever for the Dow, and the biggest percentage drop for the Dow since July 19, 2002.
This morning, the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 20 points to 2,160, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index had lost 14 points to 1,179. We, as a country, are sliding deeper and deeper into recession. MS will have at least a 2.6 million dollar deficit next year. If we cant pay our bills now, why would we continue to dig by taking on more debt, that will also need to be repaid? Oh, its clear how they will do it - by raising our taxes! Simple! for them. First they throw away our tax monies by the truckload, and then complain when the well has gone dry. We are a deep-pocket ATM to them that NEVER runs out of money for them to waste. All they have to do is raise our taxes and fees whenever they have bled us dry. We WILL eventually bleed completely out, of course, and they will act surprised and make excuses.
This morning, the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 20 points to 2,160, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index had lost 14 points to 1,179. We, as a country, are sliding deeper and deeper into recession. MS will have at least a 2.6 million dollar deficit next year. If we cant pay our bills now, why would we continue to dig by taking on more debt, that will also need to be repaid? Oh, its clear how they will do it - by raising our taxes! Simple! for them. First they throw away our tax monies by the truckload, and then complain when the well has gone dry. We are a deep-pocket ATM to them that NEVER runs out of money for them to waste. All they have to do is raise our taxes and fees whenever they have bled us dry. We WILL eventually bleed completely out, of course, and they will act surprised and make excuses.
elementary concept
It is clear that, since the MIC is not due to be finished until 2012, the area 9 questions regarding any possible benefits to MS wll not be determined anytime soon. Perhaps area 6 will bring some benefits but should be thoroughly analyzed,debated, and discussed before even considering such a move. Of course that would require the Council to ACTUALLY DO due diligence, not just look at some possible numbers and decide without looking at ALL the ramifications of such a move. Do your homework and be prepared. Its a concept most of us learned in school and it works in real life too. The Council and City officials should try it sometime.
grease to Greece
By Daniel FlynnPosted 2008/08/27 at 10:08 am EDT
ATHENS, Aug. 27, 2008 (Reuters) — Fuelled only by used cooking fat, eight teams completed a 2,500-mile car rally from London to Athens on Wednesday in a bid to promote awareness of cheap and environmentally-friendly bio-fuels.
A participating car in the eco-friendly "Grease to Greece" rally makes its way to central Athens August 27, 2008. Fuelled only by used cooking fat, eight teams completed the 2,500-mile rally in a bid to promote awareness of alternative bio-fuels. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis
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www.wholeharvest.comThe "Grease to Greece" race, the brainchild of 34-year-old Londoner Andy Pag, took the teams on a 10-day mission across Europe in which they begged oil to fuel their cars from restaurants, motorway cafes and fast-food joints along the way.
"There is no reason why Joe Public cannot do this, save themselves a bit of money and help the environment because they are not using fossil fuels," Pag said.
The race ended on Wednesday with a ceremony at the British Embassy in Athens where Ambassador Simon Gass presented a Golden Lard award to the team which had earned the most "Grease Marks" for collecting fuel.
Unlike expensive conventional rallies such as the Paris-Dakar, Pag paid only 500 British pounds ($900) for his second-hand Peugeot 405 and spent nothing on fuel since leaving London -- saving the equivalent of what he paid for the car.
An experienced eco-traveler, Pag drove to the desert town of Timbuktu in Mali last year using a truck powered by waste chocolate. His next scheme is a round-the-world trip next year using aviation fuel made from recycled plastic bags.
Racers received a warm welcome from most restauranteurs.
"Whenever people have had oil they have been really, really willing to give it. It's a waste product for them so we are taking away their rubbish," Pag told Reuters.
The competitors in the race included a policeman, several engineers, farmers, a film editor, and an accountant.
Farmers Coleen and Mario Chadwick drove to Athens in their unconverted Range Rover, using used cooking oil sieved through kitchen equipment. They plan to keep driving on cooking oil from their local primary school once they return to England.
Pag's red Peugeot was converted to run on cooking oil using an kit produced by Britain's Regenatec.
"Demand for this technology is rocketing," said Adrian Hensen, whose company sells bio-fuel equipment. "With petrol prices so high, lots of people are looking for ways to reduce their fuel bills and this is a fantastic way to do it."
ATHENS, Aug. 27, 2008 (Reuters) — Fuelled only by used cooking fat, eight teams completed a 2,500-mile car rally from London to Athens on Wednesday in a bid to promote awareness of cheap and environmentally-friendly bio-fuels.
A participating car in the eco-friendly "Grease to Greece" rally makes its way to central Athens August 27, 2008. Fuelled only by used cooking fat, eight teams completed the 2,500-mile rally in a bid to promote awareness of alternative bio-fuels. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ads by GoogleAdvertise here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BioDiesel Do It Yourself
BioDiesel and Waste Oil Heating All Steel Machines
www.MurphysMachines.comWVO Filtration Units
Centrifuge & Housing Units Great way to clean WVO & Bio!
www.Fryer-To-Fuel.comPrepare to be Shocked
Millions have already taken this amazing test. What's your RealAge?
RealAge.comSmartFry® - No Trans Oil
Restaurant frying & culinary oil. Premium 100% expeller pressed soy.
www.wholeharvest.comThe "Grease to Greece" race, the brainchild of 34-year-old Londoner Andy Pag, took the teams on a 10-day mission across Europe in which they begged oil to fuel their cars from restaurants, motorway cafes and fast-food joints along the way.
"There is no reason why Joe Public cannot do this, save themselves a bit of money and help the environment because they are not using fossil fuels," Pag said.
The race ended on Wednesday with a ceremony at the British Embassy in Athens where Ambassador Simon Gass presented a Golden Lard award to the team which had earned the most "Grease Marks" for collecting fuel.
Unlike expensive conventional rallies such as the Paris-Dakar, Pag paid only 500 British pounds ($900) for his second-hand Peugeot 405 and spent nothing on fuel since leaving London -- saving the equivalent of what he paid for the car.
An experienced eco-traveler, Pag drove to the desert town of Timbuktu in Mali last year using a truck powered by waste chocolate. His next scheme is a round-the-world trip next year using aviation fuel made from recycled plastic bags.
Racers received a warm welcome from most restauranteurs.
"Whenever people have had oil they have been really, really willing to give it. It's a waste product for them so we are taking away their rubbish," Pag told Reuters.
The competitors in the race included a policeman, several engineers, farmers, a film editor, and an accountant.
Farmers Coleen and Mario Chadwick drove to Athens in their unconverted Range Rover, using used cooking oil sieved through kitchen equipment. They plan to keep driving on cooking oil from their local primary school once they return to England.
Pag's red Peugeot was converted to run on cooking oil using an kit produced by Britain's Regenatec.
"Demand for this technology is rocketing," said Adrian Hensen, whose company sells bio-fuel equipment. "With petrol prices so high, lots of people are looking for ways to reduce their fuel bills and this is a fantastic way to do it."
Monday, September 15, 2008
reuse, recycle
You are here: Home → Local Groups → Lower Mainland → Issues and Campaigns → Trash
Document Actions Trash
Why focus on trash?
The daily choices we make about living, food, clothes, appliances, cleaning products, transportation, and leisure have an impact on our footprint on the environment. During the production of products, raw materials are harvested and processed, packaging is added, and resources such as water and petroleum are used for both production and delivery. An outlet for delivery to consumers requires space and maintenance, and excess waste can be generated in this stage through use of plastic bags, product tags and instructions, and transport packaging. Use of the product can create waste in the form of residual product, packaging, or chemicals added to garbage disposal and sewage streams. Finally, at the end of a product’s life the product itself becomes waste. In all these areas reducing the input of resources and reducing the output of waste can make tremendous environmental improvements. The Lower Mainland Group’s Trash Committee will focus on waste management issues in the Lower Mainland and will take action to reduce waste both by informing the public and working together with local policy makers and businesses to make more environmentally sound choices.
Remember the 3 R’s? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These well known words are key to decreasing waste of resources and energy, and the products you use taking a trip to the landfill. Add a few new ones to the list: Refuse, Return, Renew.
Reduce
Websites with tips on how to reduce waste generation in your daily choices:
David Suziki Foundation's Nature Challenge
Greenpeace tips for green living
National geographic, the green guide
Reuse
A good way to avoid waste is to reuse items when possible. Sometimes, that means using the container a product was purchased in to hold something else. Sometimes it means taking your own mug to get your coffee in the morning. But it can also mean passing on something you don’t want or need anymore to someone else who can use it. Ask around to find out whether a neighbor wants your couch before you put it in the dumpster. Call a school or library to ask if they’d like to have all the books your teenager has outgrown before you put the crate outside in the rain. Some running stores collect used sneakers, charities collect clothing and other donations, and items such as eyeglasses, crutches, and wheelchairs are shared with less fortunate individuals who need them. You can not only avoid waste but also help others in the process!
You can also donate unwanted clothes and other items to such organizations as the Wildlife Rescue Thrift Store at 1295 Granville Street, the Salvation Army, or Big Brothers and Sisters.
These are some posibilities to pass on your unwanted items:
Vancouver Craigslist: free stuff
Yahoo Groups: freecycle
Thrift store
Recycle
General information on recycling in BC
Recycling Council of BC: www.rcbc.bc.ca
Information service on recycling, pollution prevention, waste avoidance, disposal options and regulations.
Municipal garbage and recycling
What materials are part of the curbside recycling collection, what can you do with appliances and yard waste in your municipality? Find out here:
Burnaby
Coquitlam
Delta
Langley
Maple Ridge
North & West Vancouver
Port Coquitlam
Surrey
Vancouver
Hazardous waste
Municipal information about what is considered hazardous waste and how to dispose of it properly:
Delta
Langley
North and West Vancouver
Coquitlam
Port Coquitlam
Richmond
Surrey
Vancouver
Refuse
This one is simple. You do not have to buy items that are made on the other side of the world, use loads of packaging, or are produced in dreadful environmentally insensitive ways. There are often alternatives including local sources, more responsible companies, green or organic materials, reuse of items already made, home-made preparations, or simply doing without. Companies are creative and love to convince you that you can’t live happily without five colors of the latest cell phone charms, but be assured that your choices in what you purchase dictate what companies produce. Use your purchase power! Refuse products that aren’t environmentally sound. Here are a few things to consider when purchasing any item: source of raw resources, place it was made, who made it and whether they were paid a fair wage, contents volume and how often it needs replacing, contents of packaging, energy required to operate the product, ease of reuse, and possibilities for return, recycle, or renewal.
Return
Many of us think of recycling programs as turning in an item through a municipal collection system, hoping that item will be turned in to the same product again. This rarely happens! Glass, plastic, and paper usually becomes something else when it is recycled. Another type of program is called EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility. This means it is the responsibility of the producer and the consumer to complete the loop of returning the product to the producer. (That means you have a responsibility to return it!) Here’s the interesting part- in EPR programs, you have often already paid the return fee when you purchased the item. Why would you want to use tax-supported programs to collect and manage a service you’ve already paid for? The EPR programs currently in place in our area include: bottles, paint, pharmaceuticals, lubricating oil (motor oil), tires, and E-Waste.
Return it Milk container program: www.encorp.ca/milk/
Return it Electronic Recycling (E waste): www.encorp.ca/electronics/
Return it Beverage Containers: www.encorp.ca/registeredbrands/
Pharmaceuticals:
www.medicationsreturn.ca
Find other programs here: Recycling Council of BC: www.rcbc.bc.ca
Batteries and cellphones
Call2Recycle
Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) can help you recycle your used portable rechargeable batteries and old cell phones. Rechargeable batteries are commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, and remote control toys. Anywhere in Canada and USA can find the closest location to drop off rechargeable and cell phone batteries.
Clothing
Mountain Equipment Co-op
Garment recycling Program: polyester-based clothing can be returned to MEC. Check the MEC website for more information.
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury and can’t be discarded in the normal garbage. They are recycled at the Lamp Recycler and the mercury is separated as hazardous waste. It is still environmentally beneficial to use Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs because they are far more energy-efficient than incandescent lights. They reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gas-fired generating stations, and reduce the need to build new generation facilities. Because they last about eight times longer, fewer bulbs go into landfills and less packaging is required. (source: BCHydro) Check on the BC Hydro website where you can return Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs
Computers and electronics
Electronic Recycling Association (ERA)
ERA is a non-for profit organization that collects old computers for donation and recycling. Depot locations in the GVRD are on their website.
Refrigerators
An energy guzzling second fridge could be costing you up to $100 a year to operate. BC Hydro will pickup and recycle your old, inefficient second fridge and give you $30 for it. Go to http://www.bchydro.com/ for more information.
Renew
It may be a challenge to renew resources yourself, but there are ways you can reduce waste in a good old fashioned way, and allow renewal to take place naturally. A large percentage of the garbage generated in the Lower Mainland that currently goes to the landfill is organic waste- which not only takes up space, but also contributes to the generation of greenhouse gasses. Diversion of organic waste to composting can produce nutrient rich soil that renews garden plots and planters.
For apartment dwellers, see city farmer for information on composting. The organization also provides apartment composting demonstrations and kits.
And speaking of gardens, why not grow some of your own food to avoid transportation, distribution, and packaging altogether?? Tree planting is also a great idea.
You can also use self-propelled transportation to avoid use of energy input and keep your body healthy at the same time, while contributing less greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. Finally, choosing items made with raw materials with more capacity to renew themselves makes good sense for the environment, too.
Trash Committee
The Trash Committee meets the last Monday of each month at 7:30PM at various locations in the 4th Avenue and Broadway corridor. Please contact Jami (scifibennie@hotmail.com) if you are interested in joining us!
Document Actions Trash
Why focus on trash?
The daily choices we make about living, food, clothes, appliances, cleaning products, transportation, and leisure have an impact on our footprint on the environment. During the production of products, raw materials are harvested and processed, packaging is added, and resources such as water and petroleum are used for both production and delivery. An outlet for delivery to consumers requires space and maintenance, and excess waste can be generated in this stage through use of plastic bags, product tags and instructions, and transport packaging. Use of the product can create waste in the form of residual product, packaging, or chemicals added to garbage disposal and sewage streams. Finally, at the end of a product’s life the product itself becomes waste. In all these areas reducing the input of resources and reducing the output of waste can make tremendous environmental improvements. The Lower Mainland Group’s Trash Committee will focus on waste management issues in the Lower Mainland and will take action to reduce waste both by informing the public and working together with local policy makers and businesses to make more environmentally sound choices.
Remember the 3 R’s? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These well known words are key to decreasing waste of resources and energy, and the products you use taking a trip to the landfill. Add a few new ones to the list: Refuse, Return, Renew.
Reduce
Websites with tips on how to reduce waste generation in your daily choices:
David Suziki Foundation's Nature Challenge
Greenpeace tips for green living
National geographic, the green guide
Reuse
A good way to avoid waste is to reuse items when possible. Sometimes, that means using the container a product was purchased in to hold something else. Sometimes it means taking your own mug to get your coffee in the morning. But it can also mean passing on something you don’t want or need anymore to someone else who can use it. Ask around to find out whether a neighbor wants your couch before you put it in the dumpster. Call a school or library to ask if they’d like to have all the books your teenager has outgrown before you put the crate outside in the rain. Some running stores collect used sneakers, charities collect clothing and other donations, and items such as eyeglasses, crutches, and wheelchairs are shared with less fortunate individuals who need them. You can not only avoid waste but also help others in the process!
You can also donate unwanted clothes and other items to such organizations as the Wildlife Rescue Thrift Store at 1295 Granville Street, the Salvation Army, or Big Brothers and Sisters.
These are some posibilities to pass on your unwanted items:
Vancouver Craigslist: free stuff
Yahoo Groups: freecycle
Thrift store
Recycle
General information on recycling in BC
Recycling Council of BC: www.rcbc.bc.ca
Information service on recycling, pollution prevention, waste avoidance, disposal options and regulations.
Municipal garbage and recycling
What materials are part of the curbside recycling collection, what can you do with appliances and yard waste in your municipality? Find out here:
Burnaby
Coquitlam
Delta
Langley
Maple Ridge
North & West Vancouver
Port Coquitlam
Surrey
Vancouver
Hazardous waste
Municipal information about what is considered hazardous waste and how to dispose of it properly:
Delta
Langley
North and West Vancouver
Coquitlam
Port Coquitlam
Richmond
Surrey
Vancouver
Refuse
This one is simple. You do not have to buy items that are made on the other side of the world, use loads of packaging, or are produced in dreadful environmentally insensitive ways. There are often alternatives including local sources, more responsible companies, green or organic materials, reuse of items already made, home-made preparations, or simply doing without. Companies are creative and love to convince you that you can’t live happily without five colors of the latest cell phone charms, but be assured that your choices in what you purchase dictate what companies produce. Use your purchase power! Refuse products that aren’t environmentally sound. Here are a few things to consider when purchasing any item: source of raw resources, place it was made, who made it and whether they were paid a fair wage, contents volume and how often it needs replacing, contents of packaging, energy required to operate the product, ease of reuse, and possibilities for return, recycle, or renewal.
Return
Many of us think of recycling programs as turning in an item through a municipal collection system, hoping that item will be turned in to the same product again. This rarely happens! Glass, plastic, and paper usually becomes something else when it is recycled. Another type of program is called EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility. This means it is the responsibility of the producer and the consumer to complete the loop of returning the product to the producer. (That means you have a responsibility to return it!) Here’s the interesting part- in EPR programs, you have often already paid the return fee when you purchased the item. Why would you want to use tax-supported programs to collect and manage a service you’ve already paid for? The EPR programs currently in place in our area include: bottles, paint, pharmaceuticals, lubricating oil (motor oil), tires, and E-Waste.
Return it Milk container program: www.encorp.ca/milk/
Return it Electronic Recycling (E waste): www.encorp.ca/electronics/
Return it Beverage Containers: www.encorp.ca/registeredbrands/
Pharmaceuticals:
www.medicationsreturn.ca
Find other programs here: Recycling Council of BC: www.rcbc.bc.ca
Batteries and cellphones
Call2Recycle
Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) can help you recycle your used portable rechargeable batteries and old cell phones. Rechargeable batteries are commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, and remote control toys. Anywhere in Canada and USA can find the closest location to drop off rechargeable and cell phone batteries.
Clothing
Mountain Equipment Co-op
Garment recycling Program: polyester-based clothing can be returned to MEC. Check the MEC website for more information.
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury and can’t be discarded in the normal garbage. They are recycled at the Lamp Recycler and the mercury is separated as hazardous waste. It is still environmentally beneficial to use Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs because they are far more energy-efficient than incandescent lights. They reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gas-fired generating stations, and reduce the need to build new generation facilities. Because they last about eight times longer, fewer bulbs go into landfills and less packaging is required. (source: BCHydro) Check on the BC Hydro website where you can return Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs
Computers and electronics
Electronic Recycling Association (ERA)
ERA is a non-for profit organization that collects old computers for donation and recycling. Depot locations in the GVRD are on their website.
Refrigerators
An energy guzzling second fridge could be costing you up to $100 a year to operate. BC Hydro will pickup and recycle your old, inefficient second fridge and give you $30 for it. Go to http://www.bchydro.com/ for more information.
Renew
It may be a challenge to renew resources yourself, but there are ways you can reduce waste in a good old fashioned way, and allow renewal to take place naturally. A large percentage of the garbage generated in the Lower Mainland that currently goes to the landfill is organic waste- which not only takes up space, but also contributes to the generation of greenhouse gasses. Diversion of organic waste to composting can produce nutrient rich soil that renews garden plots and planters.
For apartment dwellers, see city farmer for information on composting. The organization also provides apartment composting demonstrations and kits.
And speaking of gardens, why not grow some of your own food to avoid transportation, distribution, and packaging altogether?? Tree planting is also a great idea.
You can also use self-propelled transportation to avoid use of energy input and keep your body healthy at the same time, while contributing less greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. Finally, choosing items made with raw materials with more capacity to renew themselves makes good sense for the environment, too.
Trash Committee
The Trash Committee meets the last Monday of each month at 7:30PM at various locations in the 4th Avenue and Broadway corridor. Please contact Jami (scifibennie@hotmail.com) if you are interested in joining us!
alternative fuels
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOLUTIONS STRUGGLE TO GAIN TRACTION
HOUSTON, TX, August 12, 2008 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- Concerned about high energy prices, many Americans are demanding increased implementation of alternative energy solutions such as wind power, ocean wave electricity and solar energy. However, despite the calls for change, many of these technologies have not been implemented on a broad scale, mainly due to politics and the overwhelming influence of special interest groups.
One such example is the Lever Operated Pivoting Float, created by Swell Fuel. The patent-pending device uses a pivoting float and a lever arm that unfolds to capture the up and down motion of ocean waves, producing electricity in the process.
“There’s a big misconception that this type of technology is some concept that’s years away from being implemented,” says Christopher Olson, inventor and founder of Swell Fuel.
“However, ocean wave energy is available right now but falling on deaf ears because too many people are continuing to accept the status quo,” he adds.
The frustrations continue to mount for companies like Swell Fuel, as evidenced by the recent stalemate by Congress to extend tax credits for renewable energy investments that expire at the end of the year.
Olson warns that if significant change is not implemented soon, we will soon reach the “tipping point of no return.”
“During the oil shock of the seventies, many inventors worked tirelessly to create change but were ignored and underfunded,” he says. “Unless we take immediate action, history will repeat itself and lots of great inventions and technologies will fall by the wayside.”
Licensed in several Central American countries, Swell Fuel’s ocean wave energy converters are efficient and easy to use. In fact, Olson claims that just about anyone is capable of assembling one of his pivoting floats.
“If you can put a bicycle together, you’ll be able to assemble one of these,” he notes.
Although the prototypes vary in size and scale, Olson believes his technology can be used to eventually produce at least 100 Kilowatts per hour with only one device.
He is urging others to demand action for not just his technology, but other renewable energy solutions like it that are currently available for use.
“We cannot wait around hoping that the person next to us will do something,” he says. “Everyone needs to get involved -- time is running out.”
For more information, visit www.swellfuel.com.
Contact:
Chris Olson
info@swellfuel.com
281-380-8954
HOUSTON, TX, August 12, 2008 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- Concerned about high energy prices, many Americans are demanding increased implementation of alternative energy solutions such as wind power, ocean wave electricity and solar energy. However, despite the calls for change, many of these technologies have not been implemented on a broad scale, mainly due to politics and the overwhelming influence of special interest groups.
One such example is the Lever Operated Pivoting Float, created by Swell Fuel. The patent-pending device uses a pivoting float and a lever arm that unfolds to capture the up and down motion of ocean waves, producing electricity in the process.
“There’s a big misconception that this type of technology is some concept that’s years away from being implemented,” says Christopher Olson, inventor and founder of Swell Fuel.
“However, ocean wave energy is available right now but falling on deaf ears because too many people are continuing to accept the status quo,” he adds.
The frustrations continue to mount for companies like Swell Fuel, as evidenced by the recent stalemate by Congress to extend tax credits for renewable energy investments that expire at the end of the year.
Olson warns that if significant change is not implemented soon, we will soon reach the “tipping point of no return.”
“During the oil shock of the seventies, many inventors worked tirelessly to create change but were ignored and underfunded,” he says. “Unless we take immediate action, history will repeat itself and lots of great inventions and technologies will fall by the wayside.”
Licensed in several Central American countries, Swell Fuel’s ocean wave energy converters are efficient and easy to use. In fact, Olson claims that just about anyone is capable of assembling one of his pivoting floats.
“If you can put a bicycle together, you’ll be able to assemble one of these,” he notes.
Although the prototypes vary in size and scale, Olson believes his technology can be used to eventually produce at least 100 Kilowatts per hour with only one device.
He is urging others to demand action for not just his technology, but other renewable energy solutions like it that are currently available for use.
“We cannot wait around hoping that the person next to us will do something,” he says. “Everyone needs to get involved -- time is running out.”
For more information, visit www.swellfuel.com.
Contact:
Chris Olson
info@swellfuel.com
281-380-8954
New York- Garbage Capital of the World
Analysis: New York, Garbage Capital of the World
By Lester R. Brown
NEW YORK, New York, April 17, 2002 (ENS) - The question of what to do with the 11,000 tons of garbage produced each day in New York City has again surfaced, this time with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget, which proposes to halt the recycling of metal, glass and plastic to save money. Unfortunately, this would mean more garbage to dispose of when the goal should be less.
Trash at 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, New York City. (Photo courtesy FilthyMess.com)
The city's garbage problem has three faces. It is an economic problem, an environmental challenge, and a potential public relations nightmare. When the Fresh Kills landfill, the local destination for New York's garbage, was permanently closed in March 2001, the city found itself hauling garbage to distant landfill sites in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia--some of the sites 300 miles away.
Assuming a load of 20 tons of garbage for each of the tractor trailers used for the long-distance hauling, some 550 rigs are needed to move garbage from New York City each day. These tractor trailers form a convoy nearly nine miles long, impeding traffic, polluting the air, and raising carbon emissions. This daily convoy led Deputy Mayor Joseph Lhota, who supervised the Fresh Kills shutdown, to say that getting rid of the city's trash is now "like a military style operation on a daily basis."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)
Instead of rapidly reducing the amount of garbage generated as Fresh Kills was filling, the decision was made simply to haul it all elsewhere. Fiscally strapped local communities in other states are willing to take New York's garbage - if they are paid enough. Some see it as a bonanza. For the state governments, however, that are saddled with increased road maintenance costs, the arrangement is not so attractive. They also have to contend with the traffic congestion, noise, increased air pollution, and complaints from nearby communities.
Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore wrote to Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2001 complaining about the use of Virginia as a dumping ground. "I understand the problem New York faces," he noted. "But the home state of Washington, Jefferson and Madison has no intention of becoming New York's dumping ground."
The new governor of Virginia, Mark Warner, proposed in early April 2002 a tax of $5 per ton on all solid waste deposited in Virginia. This is expected to generate an annual cash flow of $76 million for the Virginia treasury, but it will not help New York with its economic woes.
In Pennsylvania, the General Assembly is considering legislation that would restrict garbage imports from other states. As landfills in adjacent states begin to fill up, there will be progressively fewer sites to take New York's garbage, pushing disposal costs ever higher.
Landfilling garbage uses land. For every 40,000 tons of garbage added to a landfill at least one acre of land is lost to future use. A large surrounding area is also lost as the landfill with its potentially toxic wastes must be isolated from residential areas.
Mayor Bloomberg's office has proposed incineration as the solution to the garbage mess. But burning 11,000 tons of garbage each day will only add to air pollution, making already unhealthy city air even worse. Like hauling the garbage to distant sites, incineration treats the symptoms, not the causes of New York's mountain of garbage.
Littered street in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. (Photo courtesy FilthyMess.com)
The amount of garbage produced in the city is a manifestation of a more fundamental problem - the evolution of a global throwaway economy. Throwaway products, facilitated by the appeal to convenience and the artificially low cost of energy, account for much of the garbage we produce.
It is easy to forget how many throwaway products there are until we actually begin making a list. We have substituted facial tissues for handkerchiefs, disposable paper towels for hand towels, disposable table napkins for cloth napkins, and throwaway beverage containers for refillable ones.
In perhaps the ultimate insult, the shopping bags that are used to carry home throwaway products are themselves designed to be discarded, becoming part of the garbage flow. The question at the supermarket checkout counter, "Paper or plastic?" should be replaced with, "Do you have your canvas shopping bag with you?"
The challenge we now face is to replace the throwaway economy with a reduce/reuse/recycle economy. The earth can no longer tolerate the pollution, the energy use, the disruption from mining, and the deforestation that the throwaway economy requires. For cities like New York, the challenge is not so much what to do with the garbage as it is how to avoid producing it in the first place.
New York recycles only 18 percent of its municipal waste. Los Angeles recycles 44 percent and Chicago 47 percent. Seattle and Minneapolis are both near 60 percent recycling rates. But even they are not close to exploiting the full potential of garbage recycling.
There are many ways of shrinking the daily mountain of garbage. One is simply to ban the use of one way beverage containers, something that Denmark and Finland have done. Denmark, for example, banned one way soft drink containers in 1977 and beer containers in 1981. If Mayor Bloomberg wants a closer example of this approach, he need only go to Prince Edward Island in Canada, which has adopted a similar ban on one way containers.
New York City Sanitation Department at work (Photo courtesy Recycling Internship Media Workshop New York)
There are other gains from reusing beverage containers. Since refillable containers are simply back-hauled to the original soft drink or brewery bottling sites by the same trucks that deliver the beverages, they reduce not only garbage but also traffic congestion, energy use, and air pollution.
We have the technologies to recycle virtually all the components of garbage. For example, Germany now gets 72 percent of its paper from recycled fiber. With glass, aluminum, and plastic, potential recycling rates are even higher.
The nutrients in garbage can also be recycled by composting organic materials, including yard waste, table waste, and produce waste from supermarkets. Each year, the world mines 139 million tons of phosphate rock and 20 million tons of potash to obtain the phosphorus and potassium needed to replace the nutrients that crops remove from the soil. Urban composting that would return nutrients to the land could greatly reduce this expenditure on nutrients and the disruption caused by their mining.
Yet another garbage reducing step in this fiscally stressed situation would be to impose a tax on all throwaway products, in effect a landfill tax, so that those who use throwaway products would directly bear the cost of disposing of them. This would increase revenues while reducing garbage disposal expenditures, helping to reduce the city's fiscal deficit.
There are numerous win-win-win solutions that are economically attractive, environmentally desirable, and that will help avoid the unfolding public relations debacle created by the image of New York as garbage capital of the world. A response to this situation that treats the causes rather than the symptoms of garbage generation could work wonders for the city.
{Lester Brown is founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington, DC based research and policy organization.)
By Lester R. Brown
NEW YORK, New York, April 17, 2002 (ENS) - The question of what to do with the 11,000 tons of garbage produced each day in New York City has again surfaced, this time with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget, which proposes to halt the recycling of metal, glass and plastic to save money. Unfortunately, this would mean more garbage to dispose of when the goal should be less.
Trash at 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, New York City. (Photo courtesy FilthyMess.com)
The city's garbage problem has three faces. It is an economic problem, an environmental challenge, and a potential public relations nightmare. When the Fresh Kills landfill, the local destination for New York's garbage, was permanently closed in March 2001, the city found itself hauling garbage to distant landfill sites in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia--some of the sites 300 miles away.
Assuming a load of 20 tons of garbage for each of the tractor trailers used for the long-distance hauling, some 550 rigs are needed to move garbage from New York City each day. These tractor trailers form a convoy nearly nine miles long, impeding traffic, polluting the air, and raising carbon emissions. This daily convoy led Deputy Mayor Joseph Lhota, who supervised the Fresh Kills shutdown, to say that getting rid of the city's trash is now "like a military style operation on a daily basis."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)
Instead of rapidly reducing the amount of garbage generated as Fresh Kills was filling, the decision was made simply to haul it all elsewhere. Fiscally strapped local communities in other states are willing to take New York's garbage - if they are paid enough. Some see it as a bonanza. For the state governments, however, that are saddled with increased road maintenance costs, the arrangement is not so attractive. They also have to contend with the traffic congestion, noise, increased air pollution, and complaints from nearby communities.
Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore wrote to Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2001 complaining about the use of Virginia as a dumping ground. "I understand the problem New York faces," he noted. "But the home state of Washington, Jefferson and Madison has no intention of becoming New York's dumping ground."
The new governor of Virginia, Mark Warner, proposed in early April 2002 a tax of $5 per ton on all solid waste deposited in Virginia. This is expected to generate an annual cash flow of $76 million for the Virginia treasury, but it will not help New York with its economic woes.
In Pennsylvania, the General Assembly is considering legislation that would restrict garbage imports from other states. As landfills in adjacent states begin to fill up, there will be progressively fewer sites to take New York's garbage, pushing disposal costs ever higher.
Landfilling garbage uses land. For every 40,000 tons of garbage added to a landfill at least one acre of land is lost to future use. A large surrounding area is also lost as the landfill with its potentially toxic wastes must be isolated from residential areas.
Mayor Bloomberg's office has proposed incineration as the solution to the garbage mess. But burning 11,000 tons of garbage each day will only add to air pollution, making already unhealthy city air even worse. Like hauling the garbage to distant sites, incineration treats the symptoms, not the causes of New York's mountain of garbage.
Littered street in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. (Photo courtesy FilthyMess.com)
The amount of garbage produced in the city is a manifestation of a more fundamental problem - the evolution of a global throwaway economy. Throwaway products, facilitated by the appeal to convenience and the artificially low cost of energy, account for much of the garbage we produce.
It is easy to forget how many throwaway products there are until we actually begin making a list. We have substituted facial tissues for handkerchiefs, disposable paper towels for hand towels, disposable table napkins for cloth napkins, and throwaway beverage containers for refillable ones.
In perhaps the ultimate insult, the shopping bags that are used to carry home throwaway products are themselves designed to be discarded, becoming part of the garbage flow. The question at the supermarket checkout counter, "Paper or plastic?" should be replaced with, "Do you have your canvas shopping bag with you?"
The challenge we now face is to replace the throwaway economy with a reduce/reuse/recycle economy. The earth can no longer tolerate the pollution, the energy use, the disruption from mining, and the deforestation that the throwaway economy requires. For cities like New York, the challenge is not so much what to do with the garbage as it is how to avoid producing it in the first place.
New York recycles only 18 percent of its municipal waste. Los Angeles recycles 44 percent and Chicago 47 percent. Seattle and Minneapolis are both near 60 percent recycling rates. But even they are not close to exploiting the full potential of garbage recycling.
There are many ways of shrinking the daily mountain of garbage. One is simply to ban the use of one way beverage containers, something that Denmark and Finland have done. Denmark, for example, banned one way soft drink containers in 1977 and beer containers in 1981. If Mayor Bloomberg wants a closer example of this approach, he need only go to Prince Edward Island in Canada, which has adopted a similar ban on one way containers.
New York City Sanitation Department at work (Photo courtesy Recycling Internship Media Workshop New York)
There are other gains from reusing beverage containers. Since refillable containers are simply back-hauled to the original soft drink or brewery bottling sites by the same trucks that deliver the beverages, they reduce not only garbage but also traffic congestion, energy use, and air pollution.
We have the technologies to recycle virtually all the components of garbage. For example, Germany now gets 72 percent of its paper from recycled fiber. With glass, aluminum, and plastic, potential recycling rates are even higher.
The nutrients in garbage can also be recycled by composting organic materials, including yard waste, table waste, and produce waste from supermarkets. Each year, the world mines 139 million tons of phosphate rock and 20 million tons of potash to obtain the phosphorus and potassium needed to replace the nutrients that crops remove from the soil. Urban composting that would return nutrients to the land could greatly reduce this expenditure on nutrients and the disruption caused by their mining.
Yet another garbage reducing step in this fiscally stressed situation would be to impose a tax on all throwaway products, in effect a landfill tax, so that those who use throwaway products would directly bear the cost of disposing of them. This would increase revenues while reducing garbage disposal expenditures, helping to reduce the city's fiscal deficit.
There are numerous win-win-win solutions that are economically attractive, environmentally desirable, and that will help avoid the unfolding public relations debacle created by the image of New York as garbage capital of the world. A response to this situation that treats the causes rather than the symptoms of garbage generation could work wonders for the city.
{Lester Brown is founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington, DC based research and policy organization.)
stop digging
If we dont learn from the past we will continue to make the same mistakes. We need to be reminded of the past mistakes until we are heard and they are corrected. We will have at least a 2.6 million dollar deficit next year, yet somehow we continue to take on more debt. An old country saying goes, "When you find yourself in a hole, the FIRST thing you should do is to STOP digging!" That sounds like pretty good advice in our situation, but NOBODY is listening, except Dotson. After multiple, costly and continuous disasters City officials are hoping for a Hail Mary in annexation to bail their incompetent butts out. The have already made an end-run around the people by not letting them vote on the new gym OR annexation. Fortunately, some residents have huddled, are staging a come-from-behind rally, and marching steadily downfield as the (city) officials make a last-ditch stand. Sports terminology seems to be cool lately, as a way to describe events (especially in the Gazette, which is ALWAYS running a slant pattern).
The spectacular collapse of two big investment banks — and the scramble by a major insurance company to stay afloat — has many on Wall Street and Main Street wondering: Is this as bad as it gets? The answer is that nobody knows — not the heads of surviving banks, Treasury officials or policymakers at the Federal Reserve. The reason is that the true value of the investments being held by banks and other financial institutions cannot be known until home prices stop declining and the job market stabilizes. Until that happens, more losses are inevitable. The value of MS homes continue to drop as more houses are put on the market due to unemployment. THIS is a time to take on MORE debt? Ridiculous. Absurd.
MIC musings
Went to the MIC site and found it very interesting. From the looks of it around 50-60% of that land is already designated for the MIC, with additional land earmarked for "additional development". Wonder who will own that land once its developed? The State? The developers? Who? there MUST be somebody who knows the answer to these questions, right? Who is it? The County? The state? Its still a relatively small piece of property with a LOT of questions attached that wont be answered anytime soon. If, as the City Manager said, the County has been "losing hundreds of thousands of dollars for years" on area 9, why would want it? We already have PLENTY of money-losing projects in our boundaries now- CC addition, the bathrooms, the pool, paid utilities for Santana, and the golf course, to name a few of the more egregious recent disasters. Each debacle mentioned cost us AT least 100k in cost overruns, change orders, and questionable judgements; some cost as much as 400k. None were brought in anywhere close to deadline (by YEARS) and ALL were AT least 300-800 % over usual and customary Dade County construction costs. SOMEBODY has to be held accountable for these series of ongoing disasters and that someone is the City Manager, as they ALL happened on his watch and under his theoretical supervision.
comatose Council
The stock market dropped over 500 points today, amid concerns about the Lehman Bros failure. How many more bank and brokerage failures will it take before the Council realizes that the economy in general, and MS specifically, is in trouble? They have been warned several times in various ways by various people and they pay NO attention. Talk about NOT LISTENING! Comatose is a word that comes to mind. Unconscious. Stupid. Incredibly incompetent. Inept. Corrupt?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
resident relief?
I guess it IS possible to say that the 600k+ in cost overruns for municipal construction projects the past 3 years is an economic stimulus plan for needy contractors. It may also be possible to view a sweetheart contract for Mr. Santana, free rent, taxes, and utilities as a welfare plan for wealthy business owners. It may even be possible to consider free pool services for multiple pool patrons as a break for some private businesses, even as the pool loses 300k this year. But what about the TAXPAYERS who are paying for all of these freebies? Where is OUR relief? We are in a recession, losing our jobs and some of our homes, and struggling to pay our bills with garage sales while the special interests laugh all the way to the bank! At OUR expense, literally and figuratively.
Gymbos giveaways
The City Manager has certainly helped many special interest groups, like the contractors, with continuous cost overruns and change orders, to the tune of 600k + so far. He has also helped Santana by paying for his electricity, 100k so far, as if that sweetheart contract wasnt enough. He has helped several different groups at the pool, mainly by NOT charging them to use our facilities, while the pool loses 300k this year. All of that help to the special interests, unfortunately for the residents, the taxpayers had to pay for. As a result of all this money disappearing in various forms of mismanagement or worse, we will have a minimum of a 2.5 million dollar deficit next year. Add on several million dollars in debt and subsequent payments we cant pay from the gym project and it clear we are being led down a road to bankruptcy. How many giveaways can we afford before we are forced into bankruptcy court? Dont forget this in April.
bad ideas ?
Lets see.... citizens exercizing their American rights to vote on a multimillion-dollar proposal that will affect them for DECADES is, somehow, a BAD thing? Another poster suggests that a small town atmosphere is a BAD thing too? Does anybody believe that? There ARE people that believe residents voting is a danger to them, and their agendas. They are right. Progress is always welcome but not change without due deliberations beforehand, not afterward (or ever), as some would like. Weighing the pros and cons is just common sense. To NOT do that is a bad isea and just bad business.
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