Cabinets #reused to make a child's play kitchen

Janell is so crafty!
Go check out the rest of the story.
It'll warm your heart. 

My friend, Janell, made a completely adorable play kitchen for her little one, using mostly reused/upcycled items from the Habitat For Humanity thrift store and a few items from Empower Up's thrift store as well. Go check it out!


Update: Through Pinterest, I stumbled upon two more completely adorable play-kitchens made from reused/upcycled furniture.

Green On the Go

1/3 of our waste is packaging and containers. Learn ways to cut this waste when you're "on the go"

According to the EPA, "containers and packaging" makes up almost 1/3 of our waste generation. (about 30% or 76 million tons per year, to be more exact) Luckily, much of that waste can (and should be) recycled, but many of the items you would accept "on the go" cannot be recycled. This is due to food waste, weak or nonexistent recycling markets and various other reasons. If you have reusable alternatives to disposable items that you would encounter when you're out and about, you don't have to worry about where those items will end up.

I did a segment on this this morning. (see photo) See below for some reusable alternatives to disposable packaging. (Edit: here's the link.)

I want to first say that having and using reusable items need not break the bank. Going green shouldn't cost you a lot of green. If you keep your eyes open, you can find low cost or free alternatives to disposable products. I'll note how much I spent on the items I list below. I also want to say a huge Thank You to the More Good Day Oregon program for continuing to get out the waste reduction message.

The set with all the splendid reusables laid out.

reusable bags: Of course by now, most people have seen these and are even probably using them. There are now insulated bags and foldable ones that are quite small (slip them into a purse or pocket and you'll never be at a loss for a bag.) The insulated one shown was given out by our local County Department of Environmental Services group. Many of the items I talked about can be found in this way. I'm even starting to see a lot of these items in thrift stores! The green/yellow foldable bag was given to me as a gift and the blue one I bought from Bath and Body Works. The black balled-up bag was a promo item from our company.

reusable coffee mugs: Of the two that are pictured, one is from Starbucks (gift) and the other is this mug. Aladdin uses recycled plastic in a lot of their products, so if you choose to buy one of these, you're helping complete the recycling loop. The one pictured was a promo item at a conference.

reusable water bottles/cups: The gray cup shown was a promo item and the other one I bought from Pier One. I do really like the reusable cups, though, because the lid and straw makes them pretty safe to keep on my desk and I find that they encourage me to drink water more often. (Andy Carson also said the same thing to me off-screen this morning.) There was also a water bottle on the table. It's made by Liberty and is made here in the USA. The bottle was also a promo gift from a conference.

collapsible to-go containers: Tupperware and Rubbermaid both make collapsible containers. The green one in the video is from Tupperware and I bought it at a thrift store and the blue one was borrowed from a friend and made by Rubbermaid.

reusable straws: All the straws featured in the video are from Glass Dharma. They come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. Some have colored glass dots that keep the straw from rolling off tables. You can also purchase cleaning brushes. There are also stainless steel reusable straws, but I didn't have any of those to show.

durable utensils: The two shown in the video were borrowed from a friend but I do have a set from Preserve that I sewed a carrying case for. Preserve plastics boast a 100% recycled plastic content. There are many options for durable/reusable utensils. Everything from recycled plastic to bamboo and steel. It all depends on how much space you have and the weight that you want to carry.

reusable sandwich/snack bags: I bought the ones shown from a local artist. I know you can easily find reusable sandwich and/or snack bags and reusable sandwich wraps from a lot of different places. Check Etsy local if you'd like to buy from a local vendor.

What disposable item would you like to eliminate? Are you willing to create a new habit of carrying your reusables with you? I won't lie, it does take time (and determination) to change our consumptive habits, but the pay off will be worth it!

Happy Waste Reduction!

Plastics: an info round-up

Here are some interesting articles on plastics. I've written before on how confusing plastics can be, how you can't mix them all together for recycling, and especially how confusing all the new and different types of plastics out there can be.

These two articles address the new types of plastics. It's good to learn a little (or a lot) about these plastics, as they aren't necessarily all they're touted to be.

This tray may look like many other
plastic trays, but it's actually made
from PLA-polylactic  acid.

This forum post does a good job of differentiating between the different types (see near bottom-Jerry Powell's response) and this article is about claims of biodegradability.

Waste Reduction segments (video)

To see videos of my recent waste reduction segments online, click on the links below:

I recently realized that not everyone has access to Facebook and that's where I was doing an ok job of posting my recent waste reduction segments. So, I decided to add them all here. Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions/suggestions. 

An antique camera in the front lobby of the KPTV studios

November (talking about the then-upcoming Check ‘Em Off, Green event) 

Mark your calendars, now! Check 'Em Off, Green will be December 1st this year.

December (talking about reducing holiday waste associated with gift-giving via buying local, reusing, etc.)

January (talking about waste reduction through swapping unwanted items online) 

We also have been having an issue with extraneous amounts of needles found in the recycling stream, so I did a news segment on that as well. (One note: the # of needle sticks quoted in the segment is incorrect unfortunately (or, fortunately depending on how you look at it) The # of people getting stuck by needles is more like 1 per month.)

Special thanks to KPTV for helping us get out the waste reduction message.

Post-holiday swapping of unwanted items

So, the holidays are over (Hope you had fantastic ones this year!) and I bet you might have received some new games, clothes, books, DVDs? If your home is bursting at the seams like mine, you might be considering what to do with items you no longer want/need/use. Consider swapping them! This Wednesday, I'll be going on the KPTV Good Day Oregon MORE program to talk about swap sites. In preparation for that, I've updated my list of swap sites for you. There's 25 sites on my list-I've made sure they're all active.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to vet them all for you, but you can easily click on whichever ones you think sound interesting and check them out for yourself. I'd recommend looking at the total number of items available, what type of feedback system they have, etc. Also, it's probably a good idea to decide what types of items you'll be swapping most often before picking a swap site or two. I'm a long time member of Goozex and it works great for me to swap my movies and video games, but it would not work for me if the majority of what I had to swap was clothing or kids' items. There are other more appropriate sites for that.

Here's an article with some great common sense tips to keep swapping safe.

So, how about you? Have you ever tried swap sites? What are your favorites? I haven't found any that really dazzle me in terms of handling "all" items. You?

Happy swapping (waste reduction) in 2012!

P.S. My list of swap sites is always available under the Resources link to the right.

Waste less this holiday season

Using these tips/tricks:


For me, the time of year when I buy the most "stuff" is, hands down, the holiday season. I'm sure most of you can probably relate. I remember when I first started really "getting into" waste reduction thinking to myself, "Yeah, but to purchase sustainably around the holiday season is going to be near impossible." Fast forward to this season and I can honestly say that every one of my gifts has some (or a lot of) green cred. Most of my wrapping will also sport that claim. In the spirit of giving, I want to share some tips/tricks that have been helpful to me. (And invite you to share your own in the comments section below.)


You've heard me talk about the waste reduction hierarchy before. We're going to use that hierarchy to look at our gift-giving choices. 


REDUCE:
To reduce is to not buy stuff or make waste in the first place. 

A giraffe relaxes in the sun at Oregon Zoo

• For the person who is impossible to buy for, instead of buying stuff, give money to their favorite charity in their name. Are they an animal lover? Perhaps the Humane Society would be a good choice. If they or a loved one have been affected by an illness, donating to research for a cure is a nice way to say you care about them. 
• One of the best ways to reduce our consumption of "stuff" is to give experiences. Giving a membership to the zoo or OMSI not only eliminates material goods, but encourages families to spend more time together. Or, you could give babysitting for a night to a family with a new baby or offer to take your nephew to a football game. Whatever your family members enjoy, try to find a way to allow them to enjoy that experience.
• If you're looking to reduce packaging or the environmental cost of buying something produced out of your area, Etsy can be a great option. Etsy is an online marketplace of handmade products. Often, these products are made with recycled or reused materials. They also allow vintage items, which fall into the category of reuse.
• Buy durable: The better built a product in the first place, the less likely it will be to break down. If it doesn't break down, you eliminate the need to buy a new one. Often, spending more initially for quality will pay for itself down the line when you still have the product years later. (and you don't have to relearn how to use that new toaster!) When something does break, consider repairing instead of throwing away. For that matter, do you have someone in your life that loves shoes? (I think most of us do....) a gift idea for them would be to find a local cobbler and purchase a gift certificate. Keeping their favorite shoes walking another day will eliminate the resources associated with a new pair.
• When wrapping presents, consider reusing comics or other paper. (and thus reducing the need for new wrapping paper.) With a little sewing skill, you can also create some reusable fabric bags. I'm very surprised by how well my family has taken to this idea. Now, the bags are usually considered a part of the present and they make an appearance the following year. 

REUSE:

When we purchase or gift a reused item, we're automatically cutting the environmental footprint of that item in half. (by eliminating a new item from being manufactured, transported, etc.) The more an item is reused, the lighter the load on our planet's limited resources.

• Give the gift of thrift. Shopping at local thrift stores can be an adventure and can result in significant money savings. If you know someone who is a thrift store junkie, many stores have gift cards. 
• Ebay: Lots of the items on Ebay are actually "new" and the site can also be a great place to find something like that scent that your mom loves but they stopped making or that last glass that completes the set your sister loves, but Uncle Stewart broke last season. 
• Craigslist: What's better than reusing *and* keeping it local. If you're concerned about the safety of Craigslist, there are lots of common sense tips/tricks to avoid being taken advantage of. 
• Swap sites: One of my favorite swap sites is Goozex. You send movies and video games that you're no longer using to other members and receive points based on the value of the sent items. Then, you're able to use those points to get used items from other members. Many swap sites work in this same way and there are lots of different sites out there (for things such as books, clothes, children's items, jewelry, etc.) I have a list (unfortunately, has not been updated in quite some time) of many swap sites. But, if you're wondering if something can be swapped, just do a simple search for an appropriate swap site. If it has value, chances are you'll find a site on which you can swap it.

RECYCLE:

Lastly, recycling is always important. We have two duties as consumers. The first (and most obvious) is to recycle everything that is acceptable in our recycling systems. The second, though, is to close the recycling loop by buying products with recycled content. If no one values recycled content, the market for those products dies and recycling (and all the associated savings in water, energy and pollution) die with them.

• As mentioned earlier, many products on Etsy (or at a local bazaar or artists market) will have recycled content. This keeps these items (that may not have a strong traditional recycling market) out of the landfill. 
• Purchasing recycled content can be tricky, but is not impossible. One company that I think has a strong environmental ethic and has many options for purchasing recycled fibers is Patagonia. They also have a fairly new (launched Black Friday, 2011) intiative in which they encourage all steps of the waste reduction hierarchy. 

So, what about you? What waste reduction ideas have you implemented that you're particularly proud of? What would you like to try next season? What are your concerns about waste reduction in gift giving? What are some barriers that you think have kept you or others from implementing waste reduction techniques around the holidays? 

A few good articles

The problem with food in the landfill, landfill decomposition and recycling myths busted:

A truck delivers a load of food waste to a compost facility.

Are you a train-of-thoughter, like me? My trains seem to be long and varied. I've been working on a presentation on outreach through social media for the Washington Organics Recycling Council. This lead me to do a search for "compost" on Twitter to try to illustrate some of the opportunities for talking about compost. One of my long time Twitter friends, @CleanBinProject was asking if anyone had a good answer to why we should be composting instead of throwing food waste in the landfills. (Seems many people still have the erroneous assumption that food breaks down in the landfill into something useful, similar to food in a compost pile.) I've also been wishing for a few good articles that talk about this. Luckily, I finally found some this time around. So, I'm going to post the articles and then get back to work.

Compost piles release heat-a byproduct of decomposition.

This article talks about food waste. Why we waste, the shocking amounts that we waste and the hidden costs of that waste. I have a beef with the lack of citing sources, but I feel most of it is accurate.

This one talks about landfills and why things don't really break down.  I have a feeling I'll be referencing this article a lot in the future, since "biodegradable" labels seem to be very misleading and confusing for the general consumer. We get asked about this at least once a month. My only beef with this article is the byline that says "most landfills too tightly packed to work well." I'm assuming they mean the decomposition doesn't work well, which is true, for all the reasons mentioned in the article. However, the landfill itself works very well. Landfills are a safe way to dispose of all the waste we're currently creating. Are they a "solution"? Perhaps not. But, to the best of my knowledge, they're the best thing we've got at this point in time. Until we curb our throw-away lifestyles and start reducing, reusing and recycling the majority of our wastes, landfills are one of the safest ways to deal with it.

Finally, here's a bonus recycling-myths-busted article. I've been long looking for one of these, as well. This is well-written and has citations, which I appreciate.

If you're looking for a little levity, here's a cartoon from one of my favorite people illustrating how I sometimes feel about my crazy trains of thought that take me all over the internet.

Reuse in Action (photos)

So, last night at Green Drinks, I was guilted about not publishing to my blog. (You know who you are!) ;) (Actually, it's good for me to have a little push sometimes.)

Anyway, I thought I'd be really lazy and post some of the many reuse pictures I've taken over the years and never got around to posting. And, since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I figure this will buy me some time with the guilt-tripper mentioned above. ;) Enjoy!

A rain barrel/water treatment system made from
a large jug. (I'm assuming this is
reused, but admit it may not be.) 

A silk tie made into a doggy collar. Classy!

A handbag made from a Monopoly board.
You can also see a few others in the photo.
The one to the left is an old Pente board game. 

If you like these types of items, you should definitely check out Check 'Em Off, Green on Nov. 12th at the Marshall Center. We've brought together 65+ vendors who have wonderful items like these. This holiday season, replace "cheap crap from China" with wonderful handmade goods/experiences purchased from your community!

That's it for now. But, I have more awesome reuse photos to share with you all, so check back soon.
-The Reuser

Recycling 101 Class in Vancouver, WA

Plastic Bags ~ Nursery Pots ~Aerosol Cans ~ Cardboard Boxes ~Motor Oil ~ Yard Debris ~ Antifreeze

Ever wondered why only certain items are collected for recycling or whether you really need to take the label off that can before recycling it? Well, the good news is, there will be an informational class to answer all your burning questions about recycling.

Plastic bottles of all types
are accepted in recycling carts
in Clark County,WA.

This 2 hour class includes a tour of the newly updated processing facility.
Saturday, October 22, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at West Van Materials Recovery Center. Space is limited, so sign up as soon as possible.

City-recognized neighborhood associations who send a representative to this class and publish an approved recycling article in their neighborhood newsletter can earn money for their neighborhood association treasury.

For more information or to pre-register, please call 360-619-4122, and provide your name, neighborhood association* and phone number. Your pre-registration will help insure we have enough materials and room for everyone.

*If you would like to just attend the class (not representing a neighborhood) you're welcome to do that. The class is open to the public.

There, I fixed it! (The Reuser fixes the errors in an article about plastics.)

I recently ran across this article (also see below) about plastics. I'm always intrigued when I read a headline that I hope will address a FAQ for my industry. One of the most typical questions we get (and some of the most complicated answers) are about plastics. Why don't recycling programs take them all, why are they separated, etc. so I was excited to read the following article, hoping it would say what I always say (but have never written down) and I could thus post it to my blog and use it in link format to answer the questions when they come up in the future. Unfortunately, this article doesn't address all the issues. So, after reposting it to my Twitter feed and saying it had errors, I felt like I needed to address the errors here. Also, this post does address plastics well and I have since used it many times to answer questions for people in our area asking about plastics. Lastly, everything I type here is "to the best of my knowledge" and I welcome the opportunity to learn more about this topic.

Dear EarthTalk: Why can’t plastics of all types, instead of being initially sorted, simply be melted together to be separated later? It must be a monumental and error-prone task to separate truckloads of plastics. — L. Schand, via emailThe reason plastics aren’t typically melted together and then separated later is a matter of both physics and economics. When any of the seven common types of plastic resins are melted together, they tend to separate and then set in layers. The resulting blended plastic is structurally weak and difficult to manipulate. While the layered plastic could in theory be melted again and separated into its constituent resins, the energy inputs required to do so would make such a process cost prohibitive.As a result, recycling facilities sort their plastics first and then melt them down only with other items made of the same type of resin. While this process is labor-intensive, the recycling numbers on the bottom of many plastic items make for quicker sorting. Many recycling operations are not only reducing sizable amounts of waste from going into landfills but are also profitable if managed correctly.

Recycling facilities (called Materials Recovery Facilities-hereafter known as MRFs) do NOT mix together everything from a certain resin type. The numbers inside the recycling circle tell you nothing about recyclability and only tell you what general category (resin type) of plastics something belongs to. (Yes, even though it has a recycle symbol, it still tells you nothing about recyclability, recycled content, etc.) A perfect example of this is #1 (PETE or polyethylene terephthalate.) #1 bottles and #1 tubs are not recycled together. Another really striking example (and something I often use in my classes) is #6-polystyrene. Block foam or styrofoam is a #6, but so are Solo party cups. Obviously, these types of plastics are very different, even though they're both polystyrene. They cannot be recycled together.

The process of sorting plastics for recycling is labor intensive (mostly done by hand) but the recycling numbers on the bottom are rarely, if ever, used to help at this point in the process. The only time when the # may be used is when a material comes through that is wildly different from the "usual" materials. Someone on a sort line or who runs a MRF could conceivably then check the # inside the recycle symbol to ascertain the resin type. In practice, though, I've never heard of this being done. People who own and operate MRFs are very good at sorting plastics, mostly by sheer recognition. When looked at from this point of view, it's a feat that MRFs are able to keep up with all the thousands of different types of plastics constantly on the market. 

Manufacturers of plastic items choose specific resins for different applications. Recycling like items together means the reclaimed polymer can be used to create new items just like their virgin plastic forebears. The seven common types of plastic are: #1 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE); #2 High-density polyethylene (HDPE); #3 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC); #4 Low-density polyethylene (LDPE); #5 Polypropylene (PP); #6 Polystyrene (PS); and #7 Other/Mixed (O).

That "reclaimed polymer can be used to create new items just like their virgin plastic forebears." is technically correct, although this is rarely the case. It's rare for plastic items to be recycled into what they were originally. It's much more common for them to be downcycled into a different product (milk jugs into benches, for example) that then can't be recycled any further. (Another example that illustrates this point: plastic lumber is often old plastic bags mixed with sawdust. While it is nice that this material is made from recycled plastic, it cannot be recycled at the end of its life cycle.) Also, this is a bit nit-picky but I wouldn't necessarily use the term "common types" of plastic. The 7 #s are resin codes. They are the 7 codes that are currently in use. Every type of plastic fits into one of these 7 codes, even if they are very uncommon (see more about #7 plastics below.)

One complicating factor is trying to recycle unmarked plastics and those embossed with a #7 (representing mixed resins, also known as polycarbonate). According to Earth911, a leading online source for finding recyclers for specific types of items across the United States, in some cases #7 plastics can be “down-cycled” into non-renewable resin, in other cases recycling operations just send their unmarked and #7 plastics into local landfills.Even though recycling operations have developed relatively efficient systems for generating reclaimed resins, many environmentalists recommend that consumers still avoid plastics as much as possible.

I have a real problem with this paragraph, so I'm going to do it bullet point style. 

• I would say the more complicating factor for recycling plastics is that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different types of plastics, even within a resin code. (Fillers, dyes, etc are added to the resins to make them behave in specific ways.) There is no standard of one type of plastic within a resin type. 
• The other really complicating factor is lack of markets. Every recycling decision is based on whether there is a market for that material and the market is based on there being consumers willing to buy whatever product is being made from that recycled resin. I've heard some people go so far as explaining it thusly: If you're not buying recycled materials, you're not recycling. Consuming willy-nilly is not excusable by recycling. If the materials you put in your recycling bin don't have a strong market behind them, the system is not a closed loop.
• As far as unmarked plastics: I would assume that most MRFs don't even mess around with unmarked plastics. In other words, if something is made from plastic but they can't determine the type, it will likely end up in the landfill. 
• I don't know that #7 always is a mixed resin and it's certainly not always polycarbonate.  #7 plastics are simply "other" They are plastics that do not fit into any of the other 6 categories and these days, this includes PLA (see below.) 
• On the west coast, unknown plastics are often sent overseas instead of to the landfill, in mixed plastic bales. These are then hand-sorted (usually in China) I cannot guarantee what happens to them at that point in the line.

“Simply recycling these products does not negate the environmental damage done when the resource is extracted or when the product is manufactured,” reports EcoCycle, a Colorado-based nonprofit recycler with an international reputation as an innovator in resource conservation. The group adds that over the past half century, the use of disposable packaging, especially plastic, has increased by more than 10,000 percent.Along these lines, products (or packaging) made out of reusable metal, glass or even wood are preferable to equivalent items made from plastic. For starters, an item of metal, glass or wood can be re-used by someone else or recycled much more efficiently than plastic when it does reach the end of its useful life to you.

Agreed. Recycling is not the only solution and we aren't ever going to be able to recycle our way out of the mess we're in. More important solutions include reducing the amount of consumption we do in general and reusing what we can at every opportunity. The only gripe I have with this part of the article is the very end. I'm not sure that metal, glass or wood is always "recycled more efficiently" than plastic. All recycling takes energy and resources to complete, although in every case I've ever seen, this will be less energy and resources than it would take to extract the resources and make the product from scratch.

Wood products and other items crafted out of plant material, even so-called “polylactic acid (PLA) plastic” made from plant-based agricultural wastes, can be composted along with your yard waste and food scraps, either in your backyard or, if your town or city offers it, through your municipal collection system.

This is where the article really started to irritate me. PLA plastic does NOT break down in a home compost system (at least not in my experience!) I've never heard of or seen anyone with a home compost system that can handle PLA plastics. PLA plastics can break down in a commercial composting facility, but even then, these facilities are very careful about what they will accept. With new products coming out virtually every day, each product needs to be tested to make sure it will break down. Finally, when people see that a plastic product is supposedly biodegradable, they often assume that means it will break down into useful components in a landfill. I know of no proof of that. Even if plastics did break down in a landfill, you then have to consider increased methane production and the shifting of the landfill structure if things are breaking down on some regular basis. To see or laud PLA plastics as necessarily better than traditional plastics is folly. 

Happy reducing, reusing and recycling!

 That sentence I can get behind! Indeed!


As I said earlier, everything I've written here is "to the best of my knowledge." If you have specific examples of where I'm wrong, please let me know and I will update the post. 


I get frustrated by encountering scores of people who are so excited about this "new" biodegradable plastic they've found and paid extra money for (but then are going to throw in the landfill.) Or, people who get upset with our collection system because we don't use the resin code system. (Trust me, I'd love to, it would certainly be easier...) Plastics recycling is a complicated issue. Unless and until there is some standardization or clarification of the resin code system, many communities will continue to not use it because it simply doesn't work for the materials they need to collect and send to end markets. In my opinion, articles like this one that try to simplify a complex issue only continue to confuse the public. I hope I've provided some more insight into the complicated world of plastics recycling. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.