Tag: recycle

Sea Bins – Another tool for cleaning trash from our lakes and oceans

Sea Bins – Another tool for cleaning trash from our lakes and oceans

People have designed several ingenious ways to capture trash that is in our waterways. Of course, preventing it from getting there in the first place would be the best option but failing that, we need effective ways to remove it. A post from the World Economic Forum highlights Sea Bins. Each bin can capture 90,000 plastic bags a year.

That is a lot of plastic out of our waterways but it still is only a dent in the approximately 8 million tons of plastic that ends up in the ocean yearly. The Seabin Project, maker of the Sea Bins, is a cleantech startup trying to help solve the global problem of ocean plastic pollution. Their Sea Bins act like floating trash cans, collecting garbage, oil, fuel, and detergents. The idea is to skim floating debris from harbours before it enters the ocean.

Learn more: http://ow.ly/cBY550Lp86w

Trees are the lungs of the Earth

Trees are the lungs of the Earth

Trees are versatile and provide many essential benefits for life on Earth – including creating oxygen, providing shade, wind breaks, preventing soil erosion, and filter water through their root system and more. Trees are a renewable energy source and source or raw material for building, furniture, paper and more. Trees feed us with their fruit and provide sap for making syrup. They also provide shelter for birds and animals. In fact, approximately 80% of animal, plant, and insect species live in forests.

In addition to the food grown on trees, hundreds of millions of humans rely on forests for basic survival for firewood and shelter materials. Trees also provide employment. Over 80 million people work in jobs that are related to trees and tree products.

Still an estimated 18 million acres of trees are destroyed annually. This puts many species at risk of extinction as their habitat is lost. It also impacts the atmosphere as those trees no longer provide oxygen generation, no longer keep areas cool from their shade, no longer block soil erosion from wind and water. There are many different reasons for deforestation and they vary from place to place. For example, many areas of rain forest have been cut down to make way for palm oil and soy plantations. In America, many woodlands are raised and replaced with new housing neighborhoods. Globally, 40% of all timber is used to make paper products.

So what can you do to help? Plant a tree is a great way to start. Other small and easy steps include:

  • reducing your paper use – for example don’t print unneeded emails or excess pages, use scrap paper for lists, notes, etc.
  • increase recycling of paper and cardboard
  • buy products made from recycled content. Many great products are made from recycled content – check labels to find them
  • avoid products made with palm oil. A majority of palm oil production is done on land where forests – especially rainforests – have been cleared. Palm oil is an ingredient in many food products so check labels and consider alternative products. Some palm oil is sustainably produced and products that carry a sustainable palm oil certificate such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
  • consider buying existing furniture, rather than new. Older furniture is often inexpensive and better made than inexpensive new versions. Wood furniture can be refurbished / refinished for a new look.
  • get educated and spread the word – if we all do a little it will add up to big changes.

You can also support organizations that fight deforestation. Visit their websites to learn more, make donations, or volunteer. Organizations that focus on sustainability and preventing deforestation include:

Remember, not all logging is harmful. . Sustainable forest management doesn’t mean never cutting trees down. Fires are actually necessary for certain trees to produce seedlings. When you know a little more about the , it becomes easier to understand what you read or hear about our natural world and our relationship with them. There is wonderful information on all of the organizations’ websites listed above.

Finally, get out an enjoy nature. Don’t wait for Earth Day. Every day can be Earth day. Studies show being in nature provides health benefits including stress reduction, improving mood, lowers blood pressure, and provides fun and enjoyment.

Only 9% of Plastic is Recycled

Only 9% of Plastic is Recycled

With statistics showing only 9% of plastic is recycled, more needs to be done. Recycling is an ideal method of keeping plastics out of landfills and eleswhere in the environment, but many other options are equally beneficial methods of reducing the amount of plastics in landfill or in the ocean.

The variety of plastic types includes a complex array of items that can and cannot be recycled, leaving the consumer the job of determining which to trash and which to recycle. Further complicating things is that some parts of a package may be recyclable while other parts are not. For example, often plastic bottles can be recycled, but their caps cannot. Including non-recyclable items can damage recycling equipment and increase the cost by requiring careful sorting. Many plastic containers contain food, liquids, or other contents that should be cleaned prior to recycling. Even labels can gum up recycling equipment. All of these factors increase the cost and effort required.

reusable water bottle
Photo by Kate Trifo on Unsplash

Reducing our reliance on single-use, disposable packaging can make an equal or larger impact than recycling. Multi-pack and bulk items can provide a better ratio of packaging to products and many companies are making efforts to reduce excess packaging. Other companies are testing alternatives to plastic as packaging materials, including plant-based materials that decompose more easily.

Choosing products packaged in glass or metal are another simple option. Glass and metal are much more efficiently recycled than plastics. Additionally, glass and metal containers can easily be cleaned, reused, and repurposed. Choosing a reusable water bottle over disposable plastic bottles can be a simple act, significantly reduce one of the biggest sources of plastic waste, and be a healthier choice by avoiding exposure to chemicals from cheap plastic bottles that can leach into the water.

Other simple choices include using real utensils rather than single serve plastic ones, grouping shipments to reduce packing, using your own bags when shopping, or buying secondhand. Small changes do make an impact.

Photo by Antoine GIRET on Unsplash

Increase Glass Recycling

Increase Glass Recycling

Although glass is 100% recyclable, only about one-third gets recycled in the US.  (Compared to 90% in Switzerland).  

Americans dispose of some 10 million metric tons of glass annually.  Most of it ends up in the trash.  Of the glass that does get recycled, most is comingled with aluminum & steel cans, various types of plastic, newspaper, junk mail, cardboard, and other paper products in what is called single-stream curbside collection in many US municipalities.

Additionally, many people mistakenly include garbage and non-recyclable items in the recycle bin which leads to higher costs to separate and lower actual rates of recycling.

You can help by being careful to only include recyclable items in the bins and requesting multi-stream recycling in your community. Multi-stream recycling means sorting your recyclables into types and can raise the amount of glass recylced from 40% in single stream to 90% in multistream recycling.

Free The Ocean Of Plastic

Free The Ocean Of Plastic

An estimated 18 billion pounds of plastic enters the ocean each year.

Let’s do something about it.

The state of our ocean effects every single one of us, whether we live in Ohio or Japan. Be a part of changing these statistics and help remove plastics and keep it out. Find out how you can limit your plastic footprint HERE. Free the Ocean takes the advertising dollars generated by you visiting their site and directly pay their cause partner as grants to fund removing plastic.

Simple Things YOU Can Do To Keep Plastic Out Of The Ocean

1 million plastic bags are used PER MINUTE.

Let’s reduce these #’s. Bring your own reusable shopping and produce bags to markets (in many grocery stores this will also save you from having to purchase a bag).

Be a good recycler.

Only 9% of recyclable plastics actually get recycled. So look up what your local waste center accepts and keep that in mind when buying products and throwing things away.

Bar soap > soap in a plastic bottle.

A lot of these tend to smell better anyways.

Stay away from those plastic water bottles.

Seriously. Invest in a reusable bottle, like the Free the Ocean stainless steel bottle, which will not only benefit the ocean but is cheaper in the long run (and keeps your beverages hot or cold). Once you’ve bought a reusable bottle, check out the handy app called Tap that can show you where you’ll find the closest water oasis to fill up. www.findtap.com

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Bio-Fences are an innovative use of trash to help resolve the trash problem

Bio-Fences are an innovative use of trash to help resolve the trash problem

by BJ Moore

Imagine a line of trash trucks dumping their loads into the ocean, a truckload each minute. Hard to imagine, yes, but that is the amount of trash landing in the ocean day in, day out. Guateamala is using plastic bottles and nets to create bio-fences to stretch across rivers to capture trash floating on the surface of the water. These bio-fences have helped reduce the amount of trash in the sea by 60% in the areas where used. These inexpensive measures along with people picking up trash from beaches and recycling can make a difference.

Every bit of plastic we can keep out or remove from the ocean is important, but large scale work still needs to be done. Annually, 100,000 sea mammels and nearly one million birds die from eating or becoming entangled in plastic. Almost 2/3rds of the world’s fish have ingested plastic, causing harm to the fish and bringing plastic and its chemicals into our food chain.

Learn more about plastic waste: https://wef.ch/2qYKCbI

Help Pen Guy Art make recycled art

Help Pen Guy Art make recycled art

Clean out your pen drawer & help Pen Guy Art make recycled art

recycle a million pens

Pen Guy Art is collecting used pens and creating incredible life transforming recycle art. Over 500k pens donated so far. Donate your Ball Point, Dry Erase, Crayola, Felt Tip, Markers, Mechanical Pencils or any other type of pen and experience the transformation into beautiful recycled pen art.

Manifesting Circle
Manifesting Circle

Go around your house or business and locate all the pens that are stashed or hiding inside drawers, boxes and/or couches.
If you are wondering what types of used pens you can donate, the answer is easy…everything. And by everything I really mean EVERYTHING:

Ball Point • Felt Tip • Dry-Erase • Sharpies • Crayolas • Markers • Gel Pens • Every thing else

Gather all the ones that are ready to be shipped and place them in an envelope or box depending on the amount of dead pens you have. There is no minimum amount of pens you can sent.
Pen Guy says “I love getting notes so feel free write something on post-it and include it with your shipment:)”

The Pen Guy – P.O.Box 994 – Forestville, CA 95436

If you are sending via UPS or FEDEX please address it to:

The Pen Guy – 6484 Mirabel Road, #994 Forestville, CA