Monday, August 31, 2009
· Filed under Environment
This is something that I wish the United States would adopt, a goal for a zero-waste society. But we cannot get public healthcare in the United States. I’m visiting Scotland for the first time in a few weeks. I hope to find some enthusiasm for a zero-waste society.
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By James Murray Published August 25, 2009
EDINBURGH, — [Editor's note: this article originally appeard on BusinessGreen and is reprinted with permission.]
The Scottish government could ban recyclable materials such as glass, metals, textiles and wood from being sent to landfill, under new plans designed to help Scotland meet its goal of becoming one of the world’s first “zero-waste societies.”
The proposals, which would effectively extend the ban on sending hazardous waste to landfill to cover several new materials, feature in a new draft plan that was published yesterday and is now subject to a 12-week consultation period.
The plan also includes proposals for new incentives to encourage businesses to increase recycling rates, increased investment in recycling facilities and collection facilities, the creation of 2,000 new jobs in the waste and recycling industries, and the introduction of new targets for material re-use as well as recycling.
Environment secretary Richard Lochhead said the new plan would require a shift in the way that businesses and households regard waste. “This is a positive step in tackling Scotland’s waste — viewing it as a resource rather than a problem,” he said. “There are major economic benefits, as well as environmental gains, to be had, including creating thousands of jobs and new business opportunities.”
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Tags: Environment | Recycling | Edinburgh
Monday, August 24, 2009
· Filed under Environment
Well, why not recycle the metal parts? In some cases, we are recycling some organs and tissues.
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In Denmark, The Danes Recycle You by Brad Warbiany
There’s the oft-repeated factoid that the Indians used every part of a buffalo when they killed it. The Danes are learning from their example:
But in one area, greenery might be taken to excess. Denmark’s crematorium association has revealed its profitable sideline in recycling metal parts salvaged from the dead. Burnt bodies leave knee or hip replacements that can be recycled as scrap metal, says Allan Vest, the association’s chairman. Since 2006 the country’s 31 crematoriums have earned DKr 77,762 ($15,000) from 4,810kg of salvaged metal sold to a Dutch recycler.
When the ecclesiastical ministry changed the law to allow such recycling in 2005, it barred the reuse of such spare parts in works of art. But it did not say anything about telling relatives about the fate of a deceased. This is not a problem, says Mr Vest; recycling is good for the environment.
That principle underlies a second practice: recycling crematorium heat. Earlier this year, 15 crematoriums said they favoured sending waste heat into district-heating systems. This is because new regulations, due to come into force in 2011, will require crematoriums to filter out toxic substances such as dioxins and mercury from waste gases. To do this the crematoriums must use water to cool chimney gases from around 800°C to 180°C. It is the excess energy from the cooling process that crematoriums want to capture.
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Tags: Environment | Recycling | Energy | Denmark
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
· Filed under Environment
I like this program. Most people will not do something unless there is a reward. Unfortunately, even with rewards, I know that some folks will not recycle.
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August 17, 2009 · Published By Editor
Phoenix, AZ – Phoenix residents who properly recycle their discarded waste could be in line for gift cards, groceries and other rewards thanks to a new partnership with RecycleBank®.
RecycleBank is a national, nonprofit program that rewards households for recycling and other positive environmental contributions.
The city selected 110,000 households for Phase I of the RecycleBank rewards program, which is set to begin Nov. 30.
RecycleBank measures the amount of material recycled and then converts that amount into RecycleBank points that can be redeemed for rewards.
“We’ve set many goals in our 17-point plan to be the greenest city in America,” said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. “RecycleBank will allow us to increase our recycling and lower our waste output, and at no cost to the city or our residents.”
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Tags: Environment | Phoenix | Recycling
Thursday, August 13, 2009
· Filed under Environment, Trash · Tagged swastika
I find this so disturbing. I immediately reported it to the Homeowners Association. A board member told me that two mailboxes in the neighborhood had been spraypainted with red paint. Also a sign cautioning residents to drive safely was painted red.
I am so disturbed by this graffiti that I cannot express how deeply upset I am.
Tags: Nashville | World | swastika | US Politics | neighborhood street
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
· Filed under Environment
Most of the time, I educate folks about how litter hurts our planet. Here is an example of the the dangers of litter to pets. A dog cut its paw on broken glass. Luckily the owner was around to take the animal to the vet. Luckily her children were not injured by the litter.
I cut myself on a metal real estate sign once when I was picking up roadside litter. I had to spend an hour or more getting a tetanus shot at my expense.
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Charlotte Cross 11 August 2009
A BROMSGROVE mother has spoken out about the state of The Oakalls children’s play area after their family pet was injured by broken glass in the grass.
Nikki Taylor was playing on the park with her ten-year-old daughter Aimee and their five-year-old Staffie, Penny, were playing ball on the grass when Penny trod on some glass which sliced into the pad of her paw, actually shaving part of it off.
Nikki said: “We had to carry her to the car and drive her straight to the vets as she was limping and bleeding profusely.
“I am concerned, as the kids play ball games on that grass area – often falling over and sliding around, and there are also lots of dogs that are walked there.
“It was a very upsetting, not to mention expensive, dog walk.”
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Tags: Family | Environment | Recycling | Charlotte | playground litter
Monday, August 10, 2009
· Filed under Environment
This is a great idea. My husband and I have less than a bag of trash each week. We recycle everything else. We pay more to have our “trash” hauled away. Plus, our community makes money on recycling and pays to put trash in a landfill. Fine ‘em, Oxford.
by Amanda Wills
Imagine having your trash policed. You’d probably think twice before throwing away that recyclable PET bottle.
That’s exactly what Oxford officials are banking on. If an effort to cut down on waste, residents who produce more than one wheeled bin of waste will be fined 80 British Pounds ($133.94).
Officials say the fine will encourage more recycling, but residents argue that the amount of trash allowed is unreasonable. Photo: Compendiumblog.com
Oxford is cracking down on its waste management and recycling. According to the Daily Mail, “Waste Education Officers” will travel door-to-door, emptying trash cans and explaining to homeowners what can and cannot be recycled.
But residents in this university town are fighting back, pointing out the trash that comes from parties or large items that are purchased could add up quickly.
But officials have reacted by telling residents that bottles can be recycled and waste from large purchases should be taken back to the store for disposal.
Trash is picked up every two weeks in the city, meaning that residents will have to ration their trash to fit in a 240-liter bin. Some are worried that trash will start piling up in their gardens because of the rationing.
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Tags: Environment | Travel | Recycling | Oxford
Sunday, August 9, 2009
· Filed under Environment
Composting is a great way to recycle. I’m in my second year of composting, I’m not as successful as this prison program in Nashville. Composting is a great idea for schools, prisons, hospitals, zoos and other public facilities. And it is somewhat simple.
By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSEAN • August 9, 2009
About 13,000 pounds of leftover foodstuffs from the state prison facilities in Nashville are hauled each week to the now-closed, castle-shaped former prison off Centennial Boulevard.
The leftovers are mixed with wood chips and mounded in rows to decompose.
Instead of paying to have the waste buried in a landfill, the remains of the meals for about 2,300 inmates cook themselves into a rich soil additive that is spread on the prison’s 100-acre vegetable garden.
“Just with the Davidson County site alone, it saves us about $150,000 a year,” said Tennessee Department of Corrections Commissioner George Little.
The prison has savings from composting and recycling at prisons throughout the state, which officials estimate total $445,900 in savings and revenue.
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Tags: Environment | Nashville | Recycling | composting
Saturday, August 8, 2009
· Filed under Environment
Glass takes a long time to break down, but plastic is forever. In reading this article about wine being sold in plastic bottles, the only environmental savings is that wine in plastic bottles will be more energy efficient to ship. Plus there will be screw-on lids, so no more hard plastic plugs.
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By Jerry Hirsch
August 8, 2009 How about a bottle of the ‘02 Chateau Plastique?
The ubiquitous 750-milliliter glass wine bottle is starting to get competition from a plastic upstart, both on retail shelves and at a few restaurants.
The bottles carry a “use by” date — plastic doesn’t provide quite the same seal as glass — and as such aren’t likely to find their way into the cellars of serious wine enthusiasts.
For those who aren’t as picky, however, the wine is likely to cost less. And oenophiles say that for wine that hasn’t, err, expired, the taste will be the same.
“The wine doesn’t know what package it is in,” said W.R. Tish, a wine educator who writes a blog called Wine Skewer. “It tastes the same whether it is in a plastic bottle, a plastic bladder inside a box, or a glass.”
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Tags: Environment | food | Plastic Bottle | wine industry
Thursday, August 6, 2009
· Filed under Environment
This is great news for Nashville. Our city is urban sprawl at its finest. Our town is in a bowl which collects air pollution most days. Urging commuters to use electric cars would help.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 6, 2009
Nashville will be one of the first cities to get chargers for electric vehicles, according to an Arizona-based company working with Nissan and getting an almost $100 million federal grant.
ECOtality Inc. President and CEO Jonathan Read said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Energy
selected its subsidiary, Electric Transportation Engineering Corp., to get the grant.
The first Tennessee stations will be in Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville, the company said.
Read said eTec has a deal with Nissan to provide private and public charging stations as 5,000 Nissan plug-in electric vehicles hit the market in the fall of 2010.
Nissan said in a statement that the Japanese automaker is coordinating with eTec to make the electric vehicles and the chargers available in the same cities.
The grant, to be matched by regional participants for a project valued at approximately $199.6 million, is for about 2,500 charging stations in each of five regional markets.
The company also plans to establish chargers in San Diego, Seattle, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., and the Oregon cities of Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Portland.
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Tags: Environment | Nashville | Energy
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
· Filed under Environment
This is a sad story. The story implies that these leopard sharks could have been “pets.” Exotics should never be kept as pets.
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9:38 AM | August 4, 2009
Animal control officers are trying to figure out how two adult leopard sharks ended up in a trash can outside a Norwalk home.
A woman said she smelled a foul odor coming from a garbage can outside her house Monday and when she peeked inside found the two dead 4-foot sharks staring up at her, said Aaron Reyes, director of operations in the area for the L.A. County animal control authority.
“Stuffed in there, just sort of curled in and, you know, thrown on top of each other,” Reyes said.
Leopard sharks — characterized by their grayish patches — larger than 36 inches require a permit by the California Department of Fish and Game for ownership.
The shark carcasses were in refrigeration at the animal shelter in Downey awaiting examination to try to discover the cause of death and any clues about where they might have come from.
Of particular concern is a 3-inch cut on the belly of one of the sharks. Reyes said the cut is too clean to have been caused by an animal attack or debris.
“That’s concerning us a bit, we don’t know why a person would do that,” he said, adding that he has heard of people smuggling items inside of sharks. “Really, none of it makes any sense.”
– Raja Abdulrahim
Photo: KTLA
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Tags: Environment | Endangered Species | leopard shark
When my husband told me that someone had painted a swastika on the street in our neighborhood, I did not believe it. Then I saw it.
