August 31,2010

According to Trey Granger, writer for Earth911.com, there is an new trend in curbside recycling: Radio-frequency identification (RFID), which is a tiny computer chip that can be placed inside of recycling bins. This chip can weigh the contents inside as well as tell how often the bin is being used.

However, this new technology has recently been used to to fine residents from not recycling. Laurel, Md. began using RFID bins to enforce $25- $100 fines for houses not using their bins since the city began requiring all residents to recycle. The trend is beginning to catch on. Last week, Cleveland spent $2.5 million on tagged bins to enforce recycling penalties.

Read more.

August 31, 2010

Wisconsin’s Electronic Recycling law is set to take effect Wednesday, September 1, 2010. This means that electronics such as computer, entertainment devices and cell phones all have to be recycled.

The law was passed to stop toxic waste in landfills, as well as to recycle parts of the electronics for reuse.

Watch the video clip below from Fox6.com to learn more about the new law:

“InkCycle is a leader in green thinking as evidenced in its GRENK line of recycled cartridges. GRENK is designed to leave the smallest environmental footprint possible and exemplifies InkCycle’s commitment to environmentally-sound, quality products. Recharger readers recognized the eco-friendly business practices of InkCycle and voted it the first-place winner in this inaugural award. Congratulations to InkCycle,” said Recharger Publisher Patricia Ames.

Click here to read more

I am B ink and media blog gave artist Faith Pearson their empty ink cartridges, and this is what she was able to do with them:

To see more photos follow this link

I would like to share an article found on treehugger.com regarding the EPA’s recent concern with e-waste after years of paying little attention on e-waste issues.

According to EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, e-waste is one of the top five priorities for the agency. Paying particular attention to companies who say they recycle electronics, but cut corners. Companies such as Dell and HP are hoping to lead by example and have pledged responsible recycling practices.

Read more

Greenwashing is the false claim that companies make by spinning their products as environmentally friendly. According to greenbydesign.com, 98% of the products in the U.S. and Canada have some form of greenwashing.

Companies often use words with no clear meanings like “eco-friendly” or overemphasizing one green element, while everything else is not green, to deceive consumers. In most of the cases, companies have no proof at all for their products’ environmental benefits. Even if the product can prove that it is greener than any other substitute in the market, it does not imply that the production procedure is green. For example, a recyclable T-shirt made in a factory pollutes rivers.

The other common mistake consumers often make occurs when purchasing organic products. In order to be considered organic, products have to be made of 100% certified organic ingredients; while “made with organic” product only contains 70% of organic ingredients.

Greenwashing can be counted as false marketing, and going organic can be tricky sometimes, so watch this video and learn how to be a smart consumer.

This video brought to you by Grenk and Nextlife.

A lot of what we use these days runs on batteries, and a lot of times when those batteries no longer work we immediately toss them in the trash. Those batteries will eventually end up in landfills across the country creating more hazardous waste because of the toxins they carry. I would like to share a video from latimes.com about a new battery recycling program called My Call to Recycle which aims at informing people about the benefits of recycling batteries as well as providing places to recycle.

Watch it here.

People around the world are thinking of new, innovative ways of recycling, but David de Rothschild took it one step further. He came up with not only a new way to recycle but also a way to raise awareness of the ecological damage being done to oceans because of a lack of recycling. Rothschild, along with a crew of six set out to sail across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney out of a boat made from recycled, post consumer plastic bottles.

Here is an article from nytimes.com about the successful journey of David de Rothschild, the man who National Geographic named the “Emerging Explorer” and his boat Plastiki.

Voyage Redeems 12,500 Plastic Bottles

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — A 60-foot sailboat built largely from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles docked Monday at Sydney, after four difficult months crossing the Pacific Ocean on a trip meant to raise awareness of the perils of plastic waste.

The crew of the boat, the Plastiki, weathered fierce storms during 8,000 nautical miles at sea after leaving San Francisco on March 20. The expedition’s leader, David de Rothschild, 31, said he was inspired by a 2006 United Nations report that said pollution, particularly plastic waste, threatened the world’s oceans. He wanted to prove that trash could be effectively reused.

The Plastiki, he said, is powered by solar panels and windmills. An organic glue made of sugar cane and cashews holds the bottles together, and the mast is recycled irrigation pipe.

Listen to David de Rothschild talk about his inspiration behind the voyage.

Read it here.

Read the whitepapaper.

If recycling was as easy as taking out the trash would you be more willing to do it? Thanks to Greenstar, a company that aims to reduce emissions through recycling, it has never been easier. In Des Moines, IA citizens simply have to take their trash to the sidewalk and wait for trash pick-up. This trash is then taken to Greenstar where a machine separates recyclables from non-recyclables making recycling more efficient.

Here is a video from latimes.com about how Greenstar uses this machine to increase recycling in Iowa.

To learn more about Greenstar visit greenstar-na.com