Greenversations

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

Last night, while shopping with my family, my three year-old son asked an employee for a recycling bin to dispose of a plastic bottle he had been drinking water from. Needless to say, the store clerk was baffled by the request of such a young citizen. Unfortunately, neither the store nor the shopping center had recycling bins, despite the fact that thousands of people visit the mall on a daily basis. I had to take the bottle home with me.

While recycling has increased in various municipalities throughout the island, and outreach efforts by non-profit groups and environmental agencies such as EPA have made an impact on citizens, widespread recycling at public places is still not very common in Puerto Rico. A recent article in The Economist analyzes the fact that while recycling is good for the environment, it is costly due to the meticulous process of manual separation. Some countries and cities, concerned about those costs, are shipping the materials to other parts of the world where manual labor is less expensive.

Materials like aluminum, steel, paper and glass are easy to recycle and cost-effective due to the high cost and damage to the environment caused by mining and refining the raw materials. Recycling aluminum has turned into a profitable business, even for individuals who collect cans. These monetary incentives are having an impact. For example, in recent beach and river cleanups, aluminum cans are not among the commonly found items. Plastic bottles and related items, however, are easily found. While most glass is recyclable and some states provide an incentive for those who return glass items, it is not feasible in every place and I find myself collecting these at every cleanup too.

Even though the plastic industry has developed a series of markers to identify recyclable plastics, not all municipal and state programs recycle them. While researching some information for this blog, I learned that plastic needs to be meticulously separated. Even a small amount of the wrong type of plastic can ruin the melt of recycled plastic.

In our house, we recycle at a rate of 40% (sometimes it can be more) and we try our best to practice the 3 R’s. I think it is time to stress the first R: Reduce more. That way I won’t have to take a plastic bottle home to recycle it anymore.

Sobre la autor: Brenda Reyes Tomassini se unió a la EPA en el 2002. Labora como especialista de relaciones públicas en la oficina de EPA en San Juan, Puerto Rico donde también maneja asuntos comunitarios para la División de Protección Ambiental del Caribe.

Anoche, mientras estaba de compras con la familia, mi hijo de tres años le solicitó a la empleada de una tienda de ropa un envase de reciclaje para depositar una botella plástica. La empleada quedó perpleja con semejante solicitud, más aún proviniendo de un niño. Desafortunadamente, ni la tienda ni el centro comercial contaban con envases de reciclaje. Aún cuando el centro comercial es visitado por cientos de cientos de personas diariamente no cuenta con envases que promuevan el reciclaje. Tuve que guardar la botella y llevármela a casa.

Aunque el reciclaje ha incrementado en varios municipios de la isla mediante los esfuerzos de grupos comunitarios y agencias ambientales como la EPA, los envases de reciclaje en lugares públicos no son algo común en Puerto Rico. Un artículo reciente en The Economist analiza el hecho que aunque el reciclaje es bueno para el medioambiente, este resulta costoso por el proceso de separación tan meticuloso que conlleva lo que se traduce en que el costo a los municipios y cidudades es alto y por ende no reciclan. Es por esto que algunos países y ciudades, preocupados por estos costos, envian sus materiales a reciclar a otros lugares donde la mano de obra es más barata.

Algunos materiales como el aluminio, el metal, papel y vidrio son más fáciles de reciclar y resultan costo efectivos por que le daño al medioambiente causado por la extracción en minas y la refinería de materiales vírgenes es mucho mayor. El reciclaje de aluminio es un negocio muy rentable, inclusive para las personas, quienes guardan sus latas de este material y obtienen una ganancia, en vez de reciclarlas. Estos incentivos económicos tienen un impacto en el medioambiente. En limpiezas que he participado recientemente ya no encuentro latas de aluminio. Sin embargo, encuentro muchos artículos de plástico como botellas y cubiertos. Aunque el vidrios es reciclable y algunos estados proveen un incentivo por botella si es devuelto a un centro de acopio, esto no es posible en todos los lugares y me encuentro cada vez más recogiendo vidrio en las limpiezas costeras.

La industria del plástico ha desarrollado una serie de indicadores para identificar los que son reciclables, pero no todos los municipios o estados reciclan todo tipo de plástico. Mientras buscaba información para este blog, aprendí que el proceso de separación del plástico es muy específico. Una pequeña cantidad del plástico erróneo puede dañar la mezcla de plástico a ser reciclado.

En nuestro hogar reciclamos generalmente un 40% (a veces es más) y tratamos de practicar las 3 R. Pero creo que de ahora en adelante tendré que enfatizar más en la R de Reduce y así no tendré que regresar a cas con otra botella plástica para poner en el envase del reciclaje.

About the Author: Michelle Gugger graduated from Rutgers University in 2008. She is currently spending a year of service at EPA’s Region 3 Office in Philadelphia, PA as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

Cell phones are, on average, only used for 1 ½ years before they are replaced. However, only 10 percent of our replaced cell phones are actually recycled each year. According to the EPA, most people are not recycling their old cell phones because they are unsure of what they should do with them. For this reason, many people either save or throw out their old phones.

Fortunately, for the many of us looking to get rid of our old phones, recyclers have been able to make things easy for us. Many organizations will take our old cell phones and pay us for them. There are also many organizations that promise to help others if we donate our old cell phones to them. Here are a couple of the websites that will use our donated phones to benefit others:

• The Collective Good website allows you to donate your phones to charities. Additionally, they promise to plant a tree for every box of cell phones they receive from you.
• Donate your cell phones to American soldiers and you can help connect them with their families and friends overseas.
• GRC Recycling is a website that will use your donated cell phones to support many charitable non-profit organizations.

Also visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/plugin/cellphone/cell-recycling-locations.htm for lists of additional recyclers.

By donating your old cell phones to these or similar organizations, you will not only help a lot of people, but you will be able to help the environment too. 150 million cell phones are taken out of service each year, if Americans recycled just 2/3 of those cell phones, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 630,667 tons of CO2 and save enough energy to power more than 194,000 U.S. homes for a year. Donating your old cell phones is one easy way that we can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy. Informing your friends of where they can recycle their old cell phones or starting a collection at your school are both easy things that you can do to become a climate ambassador. I know that you probably have a lot of other great recycling ideas. What do you do with your old cell phones? Is there something that can be done at your school or in your community? Let us know your ideas on how we can reduce the waste we create from constantly replacing our cell phones. Also, check out what other things you can do to become a climate ambassador.

About the author: Jeff Maurer manages Web content and does communications work for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

National Cell Phone Recycling Week is here April 6-12! I’m sure you already knew that – you’ve probably already carved a Cell Phone Recycling Week-O-Lantern and have bought a bunch of Cell Phone Recycling Week fireworks. What’s that? You haven’t? In that case, let me suggest a few ways to celebrate National Cell Phone Recycling Week that will make this the best National Cell Phone Recycling Week ever!

Recycle or donate your old cell phone and accessories at one of the events planned by our Plug in to eCycling partners. Some of the biggest names in telecommunications - including AT&T, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless - are introducing a series of in-store promotions, contests, and giveaways as part of Cell Phone Recycling Week. The partners will provide in-store and online recycling opportunities for consumers, so recycling your cell phone is easier than ever!

Of course, you don’t need to recycle your old cell phone at one of these special events – just be sure to recycle it! Cell phones contain precious metals, copper, and plastics, all of which require energy to mine and manufacture. Recycling these materials not only conserves resources; it also prevents greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and water pollution. If all of the 100 million cell phones ready for end of life management in the U.S. were recycled, we would save enough energy to power more than 18,500 U.S. households for a year!

Use your current phone to call your parents and have them recycle or donate their old cell phones. I know for a fact that my mom has a couple old cell phones – many the size of a brick – collecting dust in a kitchen drawer. I think I’ll give her a call and let her know how easy it is to recycle her old cell phones.

In order to calm any fears Mom has about data theft, I’ll send her our cell phone recycling flyer (PDF) (1 pg, 433K, about PDF), which includes information about how to clear data from your phone before you donate. I’ll also let her know about free data-erasing tools that are available online.

That’s how I plan to celebrate, anyway – if you feel like singing Cell Phone Recycling Week carols or marching in a Cell Phone Recycling Week parade, don’t let me stop you.

About the Author:  Loreal Crumbley, a senior at George Mason University, is an intern with EPA’s Environmental Education Division through EPA’s Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).

Many of you may be looking for effective green tips.  One tip I can offer you is to recycle used coffee grounds. Coffee mixed with soil can be used as a natural fertilizer. Used coffee grounds provide gardens with an abundant source of nutrition. Recycling coffee grounds is not only beneficial for gardeners but it helps in reducing the amount of waste going into landfills. When coffee grounds are dumped into landfills they create methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Methane is known to be more harmful than carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas that causes global warming. If we are able to keep coffee grounds out of landfills we’ll be one step closer to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.

Coffee grounds contain a high amount of nitrogen. When scattered across soil before rain or watering they will slowly release nitrogen into the soil. When compost is mixed with coffee grounds it causes the soil temperature to rise and stay hot for long periods of time. The high temperature kills weeds and will allow your garden to flourish beautifully. Coffee grounds are acidic, which benefits “acid loving” plants.  For instance roses, camellias, blueberries, and azaleas all flourish when sprinkled with coffee grounds.

Recycling coffee grounds also helps to feed worms, and keeps troublesome insects away. Earthworms love to feed on used coffee grounds; it helps them grow and reproduce. Having lots of worms is an excellent way to keep a healthy garden. It is important to have worm activity in your soil; this mixes the soil and helps in mineralizing your vegetation. As you all know the odor of coffee is very strong, the odor can sometimes be too strong for humans. In the case of insects like ants, slugs, and snails the odor works as a repellant.

There are many places you can find used coffee grounds. Some good suggestions include local coffee shops, gas stations, schools, or your workplace. You could ask coffee vendors to save coffee grounds for you, and coordinate a time to stop by and pick up your “green fertilizer.”

Other uses for coffee grounds:

1. Can be used to dye paper or clothes
2. Can retouch furniture
3. Can be used as flea repellant, rub on pets (dog, etc.)
4. Can repel odors around the home
5. Can be used when cleaning grease

Learn more about recycling used coffee grounds, and remember recycling is one way we can keep our environment natural and beautiful!

Cómo educar a los niños sobre el reciclaje

Acerca del autor: Vicky Salazar comenzó a trabajar en EPA en 1995. Labora en nuestra oficina en Seattle en asuntos relacionados con la reducción de desechos, conservación de recursos y civismo ambiental.

El reciclaje es difícil. Yo misma me pregunto a veces qué debo reciclar. Por lo tanto cuando hablo con los niños acerca del reciclaje, ¿a dónde debo comenzar? Bueno, tuve que enseñar a unos niños de edad pre-escolar acerca del Día del Reciclaje en Estados Unidos y esto fue lo que aprendí.

He aquí unas reglas sencillas:

• Latas, papel, cajas, potes y botellas van en el recipiente de reciclaje.
• Si está sucio, lávelo y descártelo.
• No recicle las tapas de los potes y envases, esas van en la basura.
• No eche alimentos en el recipiente de reciclaje—aún si están unidos a otra cosa.
• Si está roto, échelo a la basura.
• Si puede volverse a utilizar, úselo nuevamente o dónelo a alguien que lo pueda utilizar.

Póngalo en práctica – Hay que practicar realmente. No fue hasta que los niños lo hicieron varias veces que pudieron recordar qué había que poner en cada lugar.

Habrán errores—Aprovéchelos como una oportunidad para enseñar.

Relacione el reciclaje con la importancia de proteger la Tierra y los animales. Los niños verdaderamente quieren ayudar.

Póngalo a prueba con sus hijos. Es divertido, informativo, y me recordó cómo reciclar. ¿Cómo funcionó para usted?

About the author: Viccy Salazar joined EPA in 1995. She works in our Seattle office on waste reduction, resource conservation and stewardship issues.

Recycling is hard. Sometimes I don’t even know what to recycle so when it comes time to talk kids about recycling, where do I start?? Well, I had to teach recycling to a bunch of preschoolers on America Recycles Day, here is what I learned.

Make the rules simple –

• Cans, paper, boxes, jars, and bottles go in the recycle bin.
• If it is dirty, clean it or throw it away
• No Lids, they go in the trash.
• No food in the recycle bin – even if it is attached to something else.
• If it is broken – in the trash
• If it can be used again, use it again or donate it to someone who can.

Practice - When we actually practiced, the kids couldn’t remember what went where until they had tried it a few times.

Expect mistakes – use them as a teaching opportunity.

Relate it to protecting the earth and the animals. The kids really wanted to help out.

Try it out with your kids. It was fun, informative and reminded me what to recycle. How did it work?

About the author: Felicia Chou is a Communications Specialist in EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. She recently graduated from Syracuse University with a M.S in Media Management.

This is always a crazy time of year. In my family, the holidays are all about large quantities: lots of food, lots of gifts, and lots and lots of relatives. This year, I’m going to simplify one part of the holiday experience (and help the environment at the same time) by reducing the amount of material that gets thrown out after the holidays. There are a lot of things you can do to reduce waste around the holidays – here are a few:

Find the greenest tree. You can save a tree (and reduce greenhouse gas emissions) by buying a potted tree that you can plant after the holidays instead of cutting a tree down. If you do decide to dispose of your tree, look for ways to recycle it instead of sending it to a landfill; your community solid waste department may collect the trees for mulching.

Send personal, paperless greetings. Save paper by creating your own greeting cards from scrap paper – this can be a fun family project or a way to give your cards a personal touch. You can also skip the paper altogether and e-mail an electronic card. If you do plan to buy cards, look for ones containing a high percentage of recycled content.

Reuse wrapping paper. Not every piece of wrapping paper gets ripped to shreds; some can be saved and used again next year, which saves money and trees. You can also “wrap” gifts in reusable gift bags instead of wrapping paper. And if you want to avoid wrapping paper altogether, give gifts that need little or no packaging, such as concert tickets or gift certificates.

Look for Earth-friendly electronics. Electronics are a popular gift, and some electronics purchases are more environmentally-friendly than others. For example, before you buy a new computer, ask yourself if the performance you’re looking for can be gained by upgrading your current computer, perhaps by upgrading your hard drive or RAM. If you do decide to buy a new computer, make sure you buy one that is Energy Star-qualified, which can save both energy and money. Also, an online tool called EPEAT (exit disclaimer) makes it easy to find the computer with the best environmental attributes. Finally, don’t throw away the electronics that get replaced; there are lots of opportunities to reuse or recycle old electronics.

About the author: Viccy Salazar joined EPA in 1995. She works in our Seattle office on waste reduction, resource conservation and stewardship issues.

I work for the government. One of the things that this means is that I spend a lot of time in meetings. Since I, or someone on my team, is often planning the meetings, my team decided to see what we could do to ensure that the meetings we host don’t use unnecessary resources.

The first thing we did was look on EPA’s website for green meetings. We clicked on the link for meeting planners and go directed to a list of 10 easy things to do – well, it didn’t seem easy to us but we were committed so we moved ahead. As a team, we decided that we wanted to 1) be as zero waste as possible, 2) minimize the amount people had to travel by providing options, and 3) track our result and savings.

We thought zero waste would be the easy one. We called up our local organic caterer and asked if they did zero waste. By zero waste we meant - no packaging, durable serving platters, plates, silverware, and cups, they would compost the food waste and any other non-durable items, and finally, they would carry away and wash everything. Simple, right? Well, not really. They said they did organic but not zero waste. We worked with them and finally got ‘almost’ zero waste. It required some work and the vendor had not done it before. One thing we learned was that it was important to be very specific with your food vendor and conference facility about what you want. Getting recycling at the event seemed easier but we still had to educate the meeting attendees to actually recycle!

We don’t always order out. Sometimes, we go and buy the food for meetings ourselves. When doing that, we learned some lessons like: buy from the bakery and take in your own platters. Almost all of the packaging provided by the shops is either plastic or has a plastic window in it – not zero waste. Provide drinks by making it up in a pitcher, serving drinks in cans (very recyclable) or making coffee/tea. Most other drink types had lids that needed to be disposed of. Fruits and vegetables work great – just be sure to carry in your own bags so you don’t end up with plastic bag waste.

The upshot of our lessons for providing food at meetings is:

1. be clear about what you want, ask for it – we want it to become part of their service package,
2. communicate to the meeting attendees what you are doing, they like it, and
3. do the best you can – you can’t always get everything you want.

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

Lea la versión en español a continuación de esta entrada en inglés.
Some links exit EPA or have Spanish content.

Modern technology enables us to be connected 24-7. Whether it’s via a computer, a PDA or a cell phone—most of us have some portable device to connect with family, friends, or work at a moment’s notice. Some of us rely on modern technology to be “connected” to the office even while away. (I recently committed that egregious act—repeatedly– during a recent family vacation). Others rely on the cell phone to text to or chat with friends about their daily comings and goings.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have four daughters. My 6 year old still does not have a cell phone, but she’s quite tech-savvy for her early years. She often surprises me with her technology skills. On the other hand, my other three daughters are avid Internet and cell phone users. Each with her own personality and cell phone needs. That brings me to today’s issue. How do you keep up with your mobile needs without hurting the environment?

I pose the question because many of us discard our unwanted cell phones after a couple of years even though they still are in good condition because we want the latest in mobile technology or perhaps we want a battery with more durability. These unwanted cell phones and accessories often clutter our drawers or, in worse cases, landfills. These discarded e-devices are made with precious materials that can be recycled. So why don’t we?

There are many ways to donate or recycle these used cell phones and other used electronics. Learn more about our Plug-In to eCycling program as well as our cell phone recycling campaign in English and Spanish. Let’s teach our children more about the life cycle of a cell phone, perhaps they’ll have a greater appreciation for these communication devices to limit e-waste—and unnecessary text messages as well.

¿Qué hacer con su viejo teléfono celular?

Sobre la autor: Lina M. F. Younes ha trabajado en la EPA desde el 2002 y está a cargo del Grupo de Trabajo sobre Comunicaciones Multilingües. Como periodista, dirigió la oficina en Washington de dos periódicos puertorriqueños y ha laborado en varias agencias gubernamentales.

La tecnología moderna nos permite estar conectados las 24 horas del día. Sea mediante la computadora, un PDA o un teléfono celular—la mayoría de nosotros tiene algún dispositivo portátil para estar conectados al instante con familiares, amigos o el trabajo. Algunos de nosotros dependemos de la tecnología moderna para estar “conectados” a la oficina cuando estamos de vacaciones. (Cometí ese pecado mortal repetidamente durante unas vacaciones recientes con mi familia) Otros dependen de su celular para enviar mensajes de texto o simplemente conversar con amigos sobre el quehacer diario.

Como he mencionado antes, tengo cuatro hijas. La pequeña todavía no tiene un celular, pero se maneja muy bien con la tecnología moderna pese a su edad. A veces me sorprenden sus destrezas tecnológicas. Por otra parte, mis otras tres hijas son empecinadas internautas y usuarias de móviles. Cada una tiene su propia personalidad y gustos de telefonía móvil. Eso me lleva al tema de hoy, ¿cómo podemos adaptarnos a nuestras necesidades de telefonía móvil sin hacerle daño al medio ambiente?

Planteo la pregunta porque muchos de nosotros descartamos nuestros celulares usados dentro de un par de años a pesar de que todavía están en buenas condiciones o porque simplemente queremos la última tecnología móvil o buscamos una batería con mayor durabilidad. Estos celulares y accesorios indeseados muchas veces son arrinconados en nuestras gavetas o peor, amontonados en nuestros rellenos sanitarios. Estos aparatos electrónicos descartados tienen materiales preciosos que podemos reciclar. ¿Entonces, por qué no lo hacemos?

Hay muchas maneras de donar o reciclar estos celulares u otros aparatos electrónicos usados. Aprenda más sobre nuestro programa “Conéctese al reciclaje electrónico”, así como nuestra campaña de reciclaje de celulares en español. Enseñémosle a nuestros hijos sobre el ciclo de vida del teléfono celular, quizás tengan una mayor apreciación por estos aparatos de comunicaciones y así limiten los desechos electrónicos—y los mensajes de texto innecesarios también.