Researchers track 3,000 pieces of Seattle trash
Goal is to get people thinking about what they throw away
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updated 3:17 p.m. ET, Sun., Sept . 13, 2009
SEATTLE - Where does that coffee cup, disposable razor or unwanted television end up once it's tossed to the curb?
Using an electronic tracking device about the size of a matchbook, MIT researchers are tagging about 3,000 pieces of Seattle trash to get people thinking about what they throw away and where it ends up.
"Seeing where your trash goes allows you to change your behavior," said Assaf Biderman, associate director of MIT's SENSEable City lab and a project leader. "Will you refill a cup instead of throwing away a disposable one?"
Researchers are visiting the homes of hundreds of Seattle volunteers to affix electronic tags on about 10 to 15 pieces of their household trash, such as pizza boxes, Styrofoam cups, slippers and scrap metal. The volunteers will dispose of the item as they normally would.
The battery-operated smart tags rely on cell phone technology to send information back to MIT computers, allowing researchers — and the public — to monitor the trash in real-time as it moves through the waste stream to its final destination.
Exhibit to open Sept. 18
The public will be able to follow the trash migration at an exhibit that opens at Seattle's Central Library Sept. 18.
Jennifer Giltrop of Seattle said she's curious to see what happens to the empty wine bottle, a used printer cartridge and a plastic bag that she recently had tagged.
"We know where we purchase our items from, but we're not always as aware of what happens when we throw things away," said Giltrop, 38, who is assistant director of Seattle's main library. "We're aware of recycling, but what's the process?"
Biderman said the project will allow researchers to study in detail how efficiently, or inefficiently, the waste removal system works.
Does recycling end up being recycled rather than in the landfill? Does it take weeks rather than hours or days for trash picked up from one Seattle neighborhood to get to the transfer station?
"We're definitely a throwaway society that sets it and forgets it," said Brett Stav, planning and development specialist with Seattle Public Utilities. "A lot of people forget about what happens to the things that they throw away and they don't really factor in their impact."
In Seattle, about 789,608 tons of waste is discarded each year. About half of that ends up in the landfill, while the rest is recycled, reused or composted.
But about two-thirds of the city's garbage that ends up in the landfill, including food and garden waste, can be recycled, according to the latest figures from 2006.
"We're interested in improving our collection system," Stav said, noting the city collects garbage from 150,000 homes on different routes five days a week.
Trash is taken to two city transfer stations before being loaded onto a train to a landfill in Oregon. The city may find out that some routes take longer than others, Stav said.
City recycles 50 percent of its waste
Biderman said Seattle was chosen because of its reputation for recycling and its advanced waste disposal system.
Seattle now recycles about 50 percent of its overall waste, compared with 38 percent five years ago. The city hopes to recycle 60 percent of its waste by 2012. The national recycling rate is about 32 percent.
Pete Keller, general manager for Allied Waste, said about four percent of the recycling they pick up from Seattle and surrounding cities can't be recycled. This includes everything from bowling balls and kitchen knives to half-filled jars of peanut butter and engine parts, he said.
Once workers sort through the recycling, they sell it to domestic and some foreign markets. Soda cans are made back into aluminum products, and cardboard turned back into boxes, paper and packaging materials, Keller said.
Showing posts with label recycle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycle. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
things you didnt know you could recycle
1). Appliances: Many stores will recycle your old appliance when you purchase a new one. Goodwill accepts working appliances. go to www.goodwill.org , or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them at www.recycle-steel.org.
2). Athletic shoes: One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti- oneworldrunning.com. Nike's reuse-a-shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring- www.nikereuseashoe.com.
3). Batteries: Contact www.batteryrecycling.com
4) Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women's business clothes to the nonprofit Dress For Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs- www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often uses them for pet bedding.
5). Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL): Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling- www.ikea.com. You can also order a Sylvania Recycle Pak- www.sylvania.com/recycle/recyclepak.
6). Computers and electronics: To find responsible recyclers go to www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html.
7). Foam packing peanuts: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept those for reuse. Or call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site- 800-828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance For Foam Packaging Recyclers (410)451-8340.
8). Ink/toner cartridges: www.recycleplace.com.
9). Oil: Find used oil hotlines in each state- www.recycleoil.org.
10). Phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country- www.collectivegood.com. Cal To Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims- www.donateaphone.com
Source: Co-op America
2). Athletic shoes: One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti- oneworldrunning.com. Nike's reuse-a-shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring- www.nikereuseashoe.com.
3). Batteries: Contact www.batteryrecycling.com
4) Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women's business clothes to the nonprofit Dress For Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs- www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often uses them for pet bedding.
5). Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL): Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling- www.ikea.com. You can also order a Sylvania Recycle Pak- www.sylvania.com/recycle/recyclepak.
6). Computers and electronics: To find responsible recyclers go to www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html.
7). Foam packing peanuts: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept those for reuse. Or call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site- 800-828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance For Foam Packaging Recyclers (410)451-8340.
8). Ink/toner cartridges: www.recycleplace.com.
9). Oil: Find used oil hotlines in each state- www.recycleoil.org.
10). Phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country- www.collectivegood.com. Cal To Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims- www.donateaphone.com
Source: Co-op America
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
business recycling
Two local businesses, Starbucks and Milams, have agreed to recycle their cups, boxes, cans, and bottles IF the City will include them on their rounds to pick it up every Wednesaday. Even one Counmcilman has said its "just common sense". All the residents will be getting the large, 90-gallon, roll-around bins in the next month or so and the trucks are out here collecting every Wednesday, so there IS no real extra cost involved. It just amounts to rolling by those businesses on their way to pick up the residents recycling. What are the chances our Council and Mayor will see that this happens? These businesses would be taking a leadership position and would serve as an example for all other Springs businesses. The Council and MAYOR COULD do this but have been environmentally unaware and insensitive up to this point. Is it possible that they will awaken from their environmental slumber? There is cause for considerable doubt, along with a sliver of hope. We shall see.
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!
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