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Keeping It Green

(There's no Planet B)

• Patagonia Puts a New Meaning to Recycling

  Patagonia’s Black Hole Bags
  Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles

  Dec. 2, 2019  (inhabitat)-Patagonia is setting the bar for high-quality and sustainable products with its new line of bags made from recycled plastic bottles. Dubbed the Black Hole Collection, the newest line offers 25 different bags, each with its own unique features and style.

  The bags are durable and stylish, and they come in a variety of styles and colors. Even better, the bags help reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills every year. Patagonia’s 2019 line of these bags utilized 10 million plastic bottles, transforming all of this plastic into a unique recycled fabric that forms the webbing and body of the bags. Each bag is water-resistant and backed by the company’s Ironclad Guarantee, which entitles the buyer to a repair, replacement or refund should the product not perform to their full satisfaction.

  Click for the story and a slideshow.

• Don't Toss That PET Bottle Just Yet

  Waterproof Parka Is Made
  With Recycled PET Bottles

  Nov. 23, 2019  (inhabitat) —Oftentimes, less is more — like when you can carry a coin purse instead of a weighty bag. When it comes to coats and jackets, choosing a light-yet-durable option is best, so you don’t find yourself in a mummy-tight arctic coat when all you really need is a lightweight, waterproof shell. That is where the Maium Lightweight Parka comes in to play.

  Of course, we’re all about sustainability, so while having the right jacket for the job is ideal, it’s even better when that jacket is also kind to the environment. The Maium Lightweight Parka fits the bill here, too. As with all Maium raincoats, the Lightweight Parka is made using recycled PET bottles — and we all know that diverting plastic out of landfills is a good move. Maium ensures all of its jackets are also manufactured under fair, safe and healthy working conditions.

  Click now for the story and a slideshow.

• How Coca-Cola Undermines Plastic Recycling Efforts

  Leaked Audio Reveals
  How Coca-Cola Undermines
  Plastic Recycling Efforts

  Oct. 18, 2019  (The Intercept) — For decades, Coca-Cola has burnished its public image as an environmentally caring company with donations to recycling nonprofits. Meanwhile, as one of the world’s most polluting brands, Coke has quietly fought efforts to hold the company accountable for plastic waste.

  Audio from a meeting of recycling leaders obtained by The Intercept reveals how the soda giant’s “green” philanthropy helped squelch what could have been an important tool in fighting the plastic crisis — and shines a light on the behind-the-scenes tactics beverage and plastics companies have quietly used for decades to evade responsibility for their waste. The meeting of the coalition group known as Atlanta Recycles took place in January at the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials in Atlanta’s south side.

• Cambodia Rejecting Plastic Waste From the US and Canada

  Cambodia to Send Plastic Waste
  Back to the US and Canada

  July 18, 2017 (CNN.com)-Cambodia has become the latest Asian country to reject shipments of waste sent to its shores by Western companies for processing.

  Cambodian officials announced Wednesday that they were sending 1,600 tonnes of trash back to their source -- the United States and Canada.

  A total of 83 shipping containers of plastic waste were found on Tuesday at the major southwestern port of Sihanoukville, said Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State and Spokesman to the Ministry of Environment.

  Click now for the whole story.

• Rethinking Recycling Why It's Probably Better
  for the Planet to
  Throw Plastic in the Trash

  July 15, 2019 Real Clear Science -Millions of Americans dutifully fill their recycling bins each week, motivated by the knowledge that they're doing something good for the environment. But little do they know, there's a recycling crisis unfolding.

  Starting as early as 2017, municipalities across the country, from Douglas County, Oregon to Nogales, Arizona to Broadway, Virginia, to Franklin, New Hampshire, began landfilling many recyclables or simply canceling their recycling programs altogether. The impetus for this disconcerting change? China.

  Are You Shocked? Click now for the story.

• How to Read Plastic Recycling Symbols Exactly How to Read
  Plastic Recycling Symbols

  Good Housekeeping. Mar. 18, 2019  -Sometimes it seems like everything in modern America is made of plastic. The versatile material is in our cars, toys, packaging, clothing, home goods, food utensils, and so much more — but it's also littering our streets, clogging our waterways, and choking marine life. In fact, one study says 32% of plastic packaging ends up in our oceans every year.

  Many plastics can be readily recycled, but according to National Geographic, 91% of plastic has never even been recycled. With all the different rules and symbols, it can be confusing for consumers to figure out exactly how to recycle it. For starters, every town and city has different recycling programs.

  Click now to read this important article.

• US Cities Burn Recyclables After China Bans Imports 'Moment of reckoning': US Cities Burn
  Recyclables After China Bans Imports

  The Guardian, Feb. 21, 2019 -Residents of cities like Chester, outside Philadelphia, fear a rise in pollution from incinerators after China’s recycling ban

  The conscientious citizens of Philadelphia continue to put their pizza boxes, plastic bottles, yoghurt containers and other items into recycling bins.

  But in the past three months, half of these recyclables have been loaded on to trucks, taken to a hulking incineration facility and burned, according to the city’s government.

• We Can Learn How to Stop Creating Unnecessary Trash 19 Ways to Stop
  Creating Unnecessary Trash

  Mother Nature Network, Dec. 31, 2018 - You dutifully set out a full recycling bin each week brimming with plastic, paper and metal. It's a good habit, but, unfortunately, recycling efforts aren't working as well as they should.

  In the last few decades, for instance, the number of plastic products has exploded, but only about 9% of them are actually recycled, according to National Geographic. Meaning most of your plastic beverage bottles, single-serve food containers, straws and cups end up in the landfill — and ultimately, the ocean — where they take centuries to biodegrade and harm wildlife.

• Don’t Just Recycle - TerraCycle Closed-Loop Solutions

  TERRACYCLE - TerraCycle's goal is to focus on hard-to-recycle materials, developing circular solutions for otherwise linear systems. Today they recycle millions of pounds of such material on a weekly basis, diverting it from our landfills and incinerators.

  When looking at a new waste stream we first focus on moving it from a linear disposal system to a circular one, and then over time to a platform that is as closed loop as technically possible.

• What We Can Recycle? 13 Household Items You Didn’t
  Know You Could Recycle
  This List Might Suprise You

  They include:
  1. Eyeglasses,
  2. Carpet,
  3. Christmas Lights,
  4. Tights & Stockings,
  5. Toothbrushes,
  6. Prosthetic Limbs,
  7. Pet Fur,
  8. Bras,
  9. Brita Water Products,
  10. Motor Oil.
  11. Tennis Balls,
  12. Keys,
  13. Toilets

  Click now for more
  from Direct Energy.

• More About Recyclable Items 13 Household Items You
  Didn’t Know You Could Recycle

  -The recycling basics are pretty easy: put paper, plastic, and glass in their appropriate containers so your local recycling center can process them correctly.

  But what do you with those odd (yet somehow everyday) household items filling up our drawers, closets, and garages? While we don’t want to throw them away in the trash, we’re not sure what to do with them. Thanks to this helpful little infographic, you can now take care of your toothbrushes, toilets, and tennis balls with ease!

  Click now for the Live Brighter blog.

• Recycling For Kids (1)Having Children Take
  Respnsibility for a Clean Planet

  Fun Presentation and Game about Recycling - Natural Resource Facts about Paper and Aluminum and How To Recycle for Kids - Green Living Strategies Presented by Children of the Earth United - Environmental Education for Kids of all Ages, Teachers and Families.

  Learn more about Creative
  Kids by clicking now.

• Recycling For Kids (2)Children Learning About Recycling
  and Having Fun at the Same Time

  Nico is on a quest to help save the planet! He’s passionate about sharing his knowledge of recycling with everyone, so join Nico on his journey to reduce, reuse and recycle with tips and fun activities. Once you have the practices down, you can share your recycling knowledge with your family and friends too!

  Learn more about Nico by clicking now.

• Check Out This Recycled "Green" HouseModern Recycled Container House in South
  Africa Operates 100% Off Grid

  Mar. 10, 2017- Sustainable design has taken longer to get off the ground in South Africa largely due to expensive construction methods.

  When Johannesburg-based Architecture For A Change (A4AC) took on the challenge of building a modern green home in the country, they aimed to make the house not only environmentally friendly but also affordable. They cut costs by using upcycled shipping containers and other repurposed materials to build Cliff House, a lifted flying container house with an economical, energy-efficient design.

• From Trash to Building Material What Is Poly Brick?

  It's a revolutionary building material made from 100% recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Polymer. It is translucent, naturally insulated, and durable. The modular 3-D honeycomb self-interlocking structure makes it extremely strong without any chemical adhesives, while weights only 1/5 of the standard curtain wall systems.

• It’s Not Just Trash AnymoreOne Person’s Trash is
  Another's Renewable Energy

  The practical benefits of organic products don't necessarily end when it goes down the drain or into the trash. There is quite a bit of useful energy left in the items we discard.

• More About Plastic WastePollution
  (And What We Can Do About It)

  Plastic is literally at our fingertips all day long. Keyboards. framed computer monitor, mice. The amount of plastic we encounter daily doesn\’t end there. Chances are, you can relate. Plastic is an epidemic.

  But where does all this plastic go?

• Plastic Bottles Become Shoes and MoreTimberland Transforms Recycled Plastic
  Bottles Into Shoes and Bags

  Mar. 3, 2017- For its latest collection, Timberland is turning to the bottle—the plastic bottle, that is. The outdoor-wear maker has teamed up with Thread, a Pittsburgh, Penn.-based manufacturer of sustainable fabrics, to transform plastic bottles from the streets and canals of Haiti into a dapper collection of footwear, bags, and T-shirts.

• A State-by-State Guide to Landfill BansWhat’s Banned in Landfills:
  A State-by-State Guide

  Earth91/ Nov. 27, 2017 - In some cases, it’s not about whether you should recycle an item, but instead whether you must.

  That’s because in the U.S., there are no federal laws regarding recycling. There wasn’t even a law regarding waste generation until the Solid Waste Disposal Act in 1965, which eventually became the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and set procedures for landfills and collection of household waste.

  This means any items banned from landfills are decided at the state (or, in some cases, city) level. Only one U.S. state, Montana, currently does not have any landfill bans.

• Beer Waste Into Clean Water+Microbes Turn Beer Waste
  Into Clean Water, Energy

  November 1, 2015 -Cambrian Innovation is extracting clean water and energy from waste streams at two California breweries with a secret set of microbes.

• An New Role for Discarded Plastics Netherlands: Plastic Roads to
  Be Made From Recycled Ocean Waste

  Sept 16, 2016 - After the floating farm, Rotterdam will be the first city in the world that plans to build roads using plastic waste rescued from the oceans. These are polymer blocks, reminiscent of Lego pieces with which we played as a kid, and presented as the ecological alternative to stop pouring concrete. t

• 3D Printing Our Way Out of WasteIs 3D Printing the
  Answer to Plastic Waste?

  January 29, 2015,  -You’ve probably heard a lot about 3D printing in the last few years. "Printing" is sort of a misnomer. Also referred to as "additive manufacturing," it’s the process of creating an object from a digital file by layering filaments to form the finished product. It’s been hyped as a revolution that will make conventional manufacturing obsolete, allowing people to create the products and tools they need in their own homes.

• Canon™ Cartridge Recycling Canon Environmental Technologies, Inc.

  In 1990, Canon introduced a cartridge recycling program for all-in-one laser beam printer toner cartridges through its Clean Earth Campaign Program. The goal of the program is to achieve zero landfill waste by reusing parts, recycling materials, and employing energy recovery. Canon’s all-in-one cartridges have components that can be recycled and reused by Canon.

• Electronics Recycling Recycling Electronic Waste
  Responsibly: Excuses Dwindle

  Maybe you replaced old electronics over the holidays or you’re just sweeping out the old and ushering in the New Year. Either way, you’ll need to do something with your old devices. For everyone’s sake, including Mother Nature’s, try to get rid of your old technology the right way.

  Click now to read how
  and watch the video.

• Light From Discarded Batteries Discarded Laptop Batteries Keep the Lights On

  Millions of discarded batteries have more than enough life to power home lighting for one year, researchers in India say.

  Many of the estimated 50 million lithium-ion laptop batteries discarded every year could provide electricity storage sufficient to light homes in poor countries, researchers at IBM say.

• The LandfillHarmonic There's No Such Thing As Waste

  Click now to watch this entertaining video and see what we mean.

• Self-Destructing Plastics & Recycling Awareness Self-Destructing Plastics and Recycling?

  CleanTecnica , Aug. 15, 2018  - Evian says it will produce all its plastic bottles from 100% recycled plastic by 2025. Starbucks made headlines this summer with its pledge to eliminate plastic straws by 2020. British supermarket Morrisons said it would bring back “traditional” brown paper bags for loose fruit and vegetables, which means that 150 million small plastic bags will be removed from circulation. But is any of this foot-stomping about plastics really enough? Isn’t it time for to ask the world’s scientists to research and develop polymers or plastics with built-in self-destruct mechanisms?

  Interested? Click now for whole story.

• The Last Straw Make the Last Straw You Got From
  a Restaurant Your Last One

  A disposable plastic straw is used on average for a whopping 20 minutes. It’s longer than the four-second lifespan of the plastic stirrer you may use to swizzle your coffee or tea, but 20 minutes is still just a tiny fraction of the several hundred years it could spend in a landfill.

  One straw may seem insignificant, but consider this: someone who uses one straw a day for the next decade will toss 3,650 pieces of plastic into the landfill—and there’s a chance that plastic may get lost along the way and end up in the ocean.

• Using Bugs to Clean Up Waste Dong Energy Funds
  First Power Plant Using
  Bugs to Clean Up Waste

  July 1, 2016- Dong Energy A/S’s REnescience plant in northern England will use enzyme technology to “wash”; organic matter from unsorted waste, creating a slurry that can be turned into a gas for use in power generation or motor fuels, said their VP of commercial bioenergy at Novozymes.

• CO2 As a Refrigerant A Good Use for CO2

  Volkswagen, Daimler, Audi, BMW and Porsche have announced plans to develop CO2 technology as a more climate-friendly refrigerant for air conditioning systems.

  VW says CO2 as a refrigerant — also known as R744 — has lower greenhouse gas effects than conventional refrigerants, with a GWP (Global Warming Potential) value of 1, or 99.3 percent below the European Union-specified GWP limit of 150.