Sunday, May 31, 2009
· Filed under Environment
What a great idea! This is recycling at its best.
Updated: Saturday, 30 May 2009, 2:05 PM EDT
Published : Saturday, 30 May 2009, 2:04 PM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Habitat for Humanity dedicated its 127th house in Fort Wayne Saturday.
The house was funded almost entirely by collecting aluminum cans at more than 500 locations across the city.
So just how many cans does it take to build a house?
“About five million, it takes quite a bit, but give or take five million,” said Habitat for Humanity’s Executive Director Carol Keplar.
This was the third house Habitat has built in Fort Wayne through its aluminum can program.
Tags: Environment | Recycling | FORT WAYNE
Friday, May 29, 2009
· Filed under Environment
Rubbish bins in the shape of giant rabbits with flashing ears have been created by fashion designer Paul Smith in a bid to reduce London’s litter.
The 5ft (1.5m) rabbits, whose ears light up when rubbish is put in them, will be tested for four months.
Mr Smith said he designed the bin because the amount of rubbish in the capital “just looks dreadful”.
It is among a number of ideas, designed to improve the city, going on show at south-east London’s Design Museum.
One of the rabbit bins was unveiled in Covent Garden, central London, on Thursday, with another to be tested in Holland Park, west London, from Friday.
Mr Smith said he hoped the interactive flashing bins would encourage people to use them.
The equivalent of 100,000 dustbin bags of rubbish are discarded on London streets every day.
Tags: Fashion | Environment | Recycling | London | bunny | bins
Thursday, May 28, 2009
· Filed under Recycling · Tagged Bellevue, curbside recycling, Metro Public Works
From WSMV news:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Metro Public Works said they are contemplating the expansion of recycling in Bellevue due to initial success of the program. The curbside recycling pilot program started March 1.Since then, more than 30 tons of recyclables have been collected, which doesn’t even include the recycling drop-off bins in Bellevue.Currently nearly 700 homes are signed up for the program.Curbside recycling costs $40 for a storage cart and an additional $10 a month.
I know that I am hooked on the program. I recommend it to others all the time.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
· Filed under Recycling · Tagged George Martin, Love album, originals, the Beatles, vinyl
This morning I am listening to the Beatles’ Love album, or George Martin and son’s Love album. I did not like it when it came out; I still do not like how Martin and son recycled the songs. Remaster the originals, yes. Improve the analog quality for our digital age. I’m glad I still have the vinyl originals.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
· Filed under Environment
This is great news for our area. I’m glad to see affordable builders as Fox Ridge and Jones accept this responsibility.
By Naomi Snyder • THE TENNESSEAN • May 26, 2009
For years, it’s been nearly impossible to find a home for sale in Nashville certified as “green” by any of the major environmental programs in the nation. But that’s changing.
Local real estate agents have added a capability to their multiple listing service that will let agents search for homes by various green features, from tankless water heaters to certifications such as Energy Star, a Department of Energy program to inspect and certify homes that are 20 percent to 30 percent more energy efficient than average.
Builders with some of Middle Tennessee highest volumes, such as Fox Ridge Homes and The Jones Co. of Tennessee, have begun building Energy Star-certified homes, expanding the inventory of such homes.
But the green features, which can add 10 percent or more to a home price, can be a tough sell to the average consumer. Agents say builders seem more interested in environmentally friendly homes than do many homebuyers.
Many people would rather have a sunroom than a solar water heater, even if they know what one is.
Tags: Environment | Nashville | Energy | Green Buildings
Monday, May 25, 2009
· Filed under Trash · Tagged balloon, Chick-fil-A
I’m not sure how this balloon with a Chick-fil-A logo arrived on my street, but I’m glad I rescued it before it was washed into a storm drain or picked up by wildlife.
I’m not even sure where there is a Chick-fil-A restaurant in my area.
One more time, folks, balloons are hazardous to the environment. Dispose of them properly.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
· Filed under Environment · Tagged no impact man, paper napkins, paper towels, toilet paper
Here’s a link to an article about No Impact Man who quit using toilet paper for a year. While we have given up paper towels and paper napkins, we still use toilet paper. I try to be a conservative user, but the husband likes a handful of the stuff. We use Scott, which I need to explore as to its environmental friendliness. I have used the recycled stuff and may go back to using it. Folks used to chuckle when I told them that I was using recycled toilet paper. I mean, it’s toilet paper made from recycled paper. Not toilet paper previously used. Is it?
When I was a younger woman, a fellow environmentalist told me of reusable feminine products. I balked at that idea, too. No way would I wash those things out. Nature has taken its course of my usage of those products. So, I’m down to the toilet paper.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
· Filed under Environment · Tagged dirty diapers, Nashville Zoo, trash bins, zoo custodian
While trash of any nature in our environment makes me angry, the two dirty diapers left on a picnic table at the Nashville Zoo today was the worst I have seen. I’ve found dirty diapers many times on the sides of the roadway, but what inconsiderate idiot would leave two dirty diapers on a picnic bench in a public place?
Although a zoo custodian will pick up the mess, what if someone uses the picnic table and places their hands where the diapers had been lying? That individual or child could get very ill.
The Nashville Zoo has many convenient trash bins. There is no excuse for this inexcusable behavior.
Friday, May 22, 2009
· Filed under Environment
This is awesome and must be expanded. Can we use human wastes as biofuel or is it too contaminated?
By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • May 22, 2009
The Ferris wheel at the Tennessee State Fair will be running on an, uh, alternative energy source this summer.
The fair, which is trying to improve its reputation and draw bigger crowds, plans to use its 12,500 animals’ manure to power the midway this year. A mobile bio oil processor will convert all those cow patties, as well as hay, straw, bedding, corn stover and switchgrass, into 30,000 gallons of bio-diesel oil.
The oil will be mixed with methanol to fuel the midway’s generators throughout the fair, which runs Sept. 11-20.
“We’re turning poop into power,” said Chrysty Fortner, the fair’s marketing director.
The mobile bio oil processor will be the centerpiece of the fair’s environmental initiatives. Fair organizers are planning a green energy expo focused on environmentally sustainable technology and living.
Fortner said she found the mobile bio oil processor when she started looking for items to cut from the Tennessee State Fairgrounds’ budget so she could preserve advertising dollars in a reinvention year that could be the fair’s last at the existing site south of downtown.
She discovered the fairgrounds — which are owned by Metro government and stand to lose more than $1 million this fiscal year — had been paying $29,000 a year to have manure hauled to the landfill.
Tags: Environment | Tennessee | Recycling | power | MANURE
Friday, May 22, 2009
· Filed under Environment
I believe that we will eventually poison ourselves internally and externally with our trash.
Emily Sohn, Discovery News
Keeps Out the Grease, But…
May 15, 2009 — To the growing list of chemicals showing up in human blood, a new study adds compounds that make food wrappers grease-proof.
Called diPAPs, these chemicals are fairly new and scientists don’t yet know if they are harmful to human health. But diPAPs break down into another worrisome chemical, called PFOA, which may be carcinogenic.
“The take-home message is that some chemicals that make our lives easier, better and more satisfying end up in our bloodstream with unknown toxicological consequences,” said Scott Mabury, a chemist at the University of Toronto. “We should be smart enough to design chemicals that do what we want them to do without causing a chemical pollution problem.”
The new study builds on accumulating and worrisome research into a class of compounds called perfluorochemicals. PFOA (perfuorooctanoic acid) is a major one. PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) is another.
PFOA and PFOS are resistant to oil and water, which makes them perfect for use as liners on carpets, nonstick pans, microwave popcorn bags, clothes, electronics and pizza boxes, among many other applications. The problem is that these compounds end up in the environment, our food and our bodies.
Tags: Environment | Toronto | Wrapper Coating | Human Blood
