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Many people recycle common materials such as paper, plastic, and aluminum. However, if there is no market for products made with recycled materials, recycling centers will stop accepting items for recycling. Although many items cannot be made with recycled materials, the more items we buy that do contain recycled content, the more manufacturers will make products with recycled materials. Read labels on items you buy, because if the manufacturer uses recycled materials, it will usually be on the label. Post-consumer recycled content means it is made from materials that people like us (or commercial and industrial facilities) have used and would otherwise throw away. Pre-consumer recycled content means the manufacturer has found a way to reuse material that would otherwise be thrown away.
Look beyond the familiar list of materials that are usually recycled (paper, plastic, aluminum, steel) and find ways to recycle other items such as end-of-life electronics, fabrics and clothing (check with your local charity thrift store), and books. www.earth911.com has a large amount of information on where and how to recycle a wide variety of materials. When you are shopping, choose items and packaging made of materials that are easy to recycle. Also, remember that recycling goes beyond putting something in a recycling bin. Recycling also means re-using something that you would otherwise throw away. You can re-purpose something or donate (or sell) it to someone who can use it. Re-using an item saves more resources than reprocessing recycled materials.
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Earth Day is Sunday, April 22. What a great time to reflect on this wonderful planet we live on! Everything we use - food, water, air, minerals, chemicals - all comes from the earth. It is home to a wide array of plants, animals, birds, fish, insects, and very small creatures. It gives us gorgeous scenery and changing weather to keep things interesting. On Earth Day, take a few minutes to appreciate the natural world around you. Say thank you to the earth. And then consider doing something nice for the earth (please don’t give away Earth Day trinkets!). A few ideas:
I found a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (see the link below) that evaluated the amount of electricity used by devices in idle power mode. About a quarter of all residential energy use (based on a study in California) is for these idle items. According to the study, devices that are “off” or in standby or sleep mode can use up to the equivalent of 50 large power plants’ worth of electricity and cost more than $19 billion in electricity bills every year. This number has significantly increased over the last 10 - 15 years. Electricity generation is a large contributor to the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change. Reducing electricity use reduces carbon dioxide emissions and other air pollution; reduces the amount of fossil used to produce that electricity; and reduces the environmental impact of extracting and transporting the fuel. Solar, wind, and water power have environmental impacts, too, so it’s important to minimize use of power generated by these sources as well.
Ideas for reducing idle power use:
Reuse is better than recycling or buying new. When it’s time to pack fragile items for shipping, moving, or traveling, look for items in your home you can reuse as packing and padding. Perhaps you have some old bubble wrap or foam packing material from a package you received or an item you purchased. Perhaps you have old plastic shopping bags or paper waiting to be recycled. When you get to your destination, you can either save the packing materials for the next time or recycle them. If you are traveling, clothing or other items that you are packing can be used to pad fragile items in your suitcase.
A nonprofit organization that works to rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned wildlife has developed a program to recycle old mascara wands. They use the wands to remove fly eggs and larva from the fur of wild animals. The wands work well because the bristles are close together. This is a great example of reuse of a common object that most people throw away. If you want to participate, their website has information on how to clean the wands and mail them to the nonprofit.
https://www.appalachianwild.org/wands-for-wildlife.html |
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