Does this look familiar to any UNCG students?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Get The Most Out of Greensboro Recycling
Hey Go [Green]sboro fans! After much deliberation about this week’s green topic, I decided I would pontificate on something I find terribly frustrating here: recycling. For one, our fair city of Greensboro does not have a very expansive recycling program. My biggest lament with them is the limited amount of plastic they will take. Only plastics of the one and two variety! Bottles are commonly mis-recycled. Did you recycle your bottles but left the caps on? Yeah, those got pitched. You know all of those little yogurt cups? Straight to the dump because they are a six plastic. But what can you do? Lots! Here are some ways to reduce your waste and get the most out of the Greensboro recycling program:
1. What is the biggest “R” in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle triangle? Reduce! Reduce the amount of packaging by trying to buy things in bulk and things that are not individually wrapped to cut down on waste. Green conscious food stores like Earth Fare allow you to bring your own containers to replenish various food staples like honey, spices and herbs, oatmeal, flour, etc. Co-ops and farmer’s markets often do this too. There are big pluses to shopping this way like being able to purchase only what you need, which means you save money and product. Bringing your own bag for produce allows you to cut out that little plastic bag we often reflexively grab in the produce section. When bringing your own containers/bags for weighted products though, don’t forget to weigh them before you fill them! This allows you not to be charged for their weight.
2. TOPS! Take ‘em off Of your bottles and cans! Having to be sorted by hand, the recycled goods have to be ready to be tossed into their designated bin. The workers will NOT have time to take off the tops before sorting them and the plastic top of the bottle is not the same type of plastic as the actual bottle and will contaminate the batch. Leaving lids on cans is a health hazard as the rough edges could cause the workers injury so they get thrown away too. Doing both of these things cuts down on both on landfill waste and the cost of running a recycling center!
3. Bring your own cups/mugs to the coffee shop! Or wherever they only offer disposable options. You not only cut out a disposable cup but you often get a discount too. Tate St. Coffee and Coffeeology both offer a “own mug” discount and they recycle their disposable plastic cups if you leave them in/on the dish tray.
4. No broken glass in your recycling bin! Like the can tops these are dangerous to be sorted by hand.
5. No greasy paper products! If part of it is clean and free of the gunk, put that part in the recycling and pitch the rest.
6. No wax covered paper products like milk cartons.
7. Remove staples from papers/cardboard.
8. No Styrofoam- encourage your favorite take out places to purchase more eco-friendly to-go boxes
9. Remind friends and family to recycle and let them know what is and is not recyclable.
10. Encourage recycling expansion in Greensboro! Write the local representatives and newspapers encouraging them to take all plastics and Styrofoam.
1. What is the biggest “R” in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle triangle? Reduce! Reduce the amount of packaging by trying to buy things in bulk and things that are not individually wrapped to cut down on waste. Green conscious food stores like Earth Fare allow you to bring your own containers to replenish various food staples like honey, spices and herbs, oatmeal, flour, etc. Co-ops and farmer’s markets often do this too. There are big pluses to shopping this way like being able to purchase only what you need, which means you save money and product. Bringing your own bag for produce allows you to cut out that little plastic bag we often reflexively grab in the produce section. When bringing your own containers/bags for weighted products though, don’t forget to weigh them before you fill them! This allows you not to be charged for their weight.
2. TOPS! Take ‘em off Of your bottles and cans! Having to be sorted by hand, the recycled goods have to be ready to be tossed into their designated bin. The workers will NOT have time to take off the tops before sorting them and the plastic top of the bottle is not the same type of plastic as the actual bottle and will contaminate the batch. Leaving lids on cans is a health hazard as the rough edges could cause the workers injury so they get thrown away too. Doing both of these things cuts down on both on landfill waste and the cost of running a recycling center!
3. Bring your own cups/mugs to the coffee shop! Or wherever they only offer disposable options. You not only cut out a disposable cup but you often get a discount too. Tate St. Coffee and Coffeeology both offer a “own mug” discount and they recycle their disposable plastic cups if you leave them in/on the dish tray.
4. No broken glass in your recycling bin! Like the can tops these are dangerous to be sorted by hand.
5. No greasy paper products! If part of it is clean and free of the gunk, put that part in the recycling and pitch the rest.
6. No wax covered paper products like milk cartons.
7. Remove staples from papers/cardboard.
8. No Styrofoam- encourage your favorite take out places to purchase more eco-friendly to-go boxes
9. Remind friends and family to recycle and let them know what is and is not recyclable.
10. Encourage recycling expansion in Greensboro! Write the local representatives and newspapers encouraging them to take all plastics and Styrofoam.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Cutting Down on Food Waste
Many college campuses have experimented with a “no-tray” dining policy. Essentially this means that cafeterias or other dining facilities will not make trays available to students. Although this may seem inconvenient, it is a very effective way to cut down on food waste. Up to about 50% in fact! It seems students have a tendency to try to fill up the space on their tray when they have one available, even if they know that they won’t eat all of it.
And who can forget the famous “Freshman 15?” Even if the food isn’t thrown in the trash, it being thrown into unwitting freshmen’s bellies is hardly better. Cutting down on food waste does not imply that we should consume everything we put on our plate even if we got way too much. The idea is to not put as much on our plates in the first place.
Picture two people, with both of their plates loaded high with two slices of pizza, nachos, a hamburger, and some fries. They sit down next to each other. The first only makes it through one slice of pizza and, feeling quite full, proceeds over to place his plate on the conveyer belt. The remaining slice of pizza and untouched nachos, hamburger, and fries slowly slide into the dish room. The second student sits there dutifully eating every ounce that was stacked on his plate until it is all gone! He walks over to the belt, leaves the spotless plate, and with head held high proudly exits the cafeteria. Now you tell me… who helped the starving children in China more? Did the second student need everything that he ate? Who wasted more?
The Japanese have a practice that we might find very useful. I encourage you to try it! It is called “Hara Hachi Bu.” This means to only eat until 80% full. And as they mention in the linked article, this does not mean to leave 20% of your meal on your plate. Rather only get “almost” enough food to be full. And resist the urge for seconds once you have finished!
No Tray Policy
http://flathatnews.com/content/beyond-burg-colleges-experiment-"no-tray"-dining-halls
Hara Hachi Bu
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/06/one-secret-to-a.html
And who can forget the famous “Freshman 15?” Even if the food isn’t thrown in the trash, it being thrown into unwitting freshmen’s bellies is hardly better. Cutting down on food waste does not imply that we should consume everything we put on our plate even if we got way too much. The idea is to not put as much on our plates in the first place.
Picture two people, with both of their plates loaded high with two slices of pizza, nachos, a hamburger, and some fries. They sit down next to each other. The first only makes it through one slice of pizza and, feeling quite full, proceeds over to place his plate on the conveyer belt. The remaining slice of pizza and untouched nachos, hamburger, and fries slowly slide into the dish room. The second student sits there dutifully eating every ounce that was stacked on his plate until it is all gone! He walks over to the belt, leaves the spotless plate, and with head held high proudly exits the cafeteria. Now you tell me… who helped the starving children in China more? Did the second student need everything that he ate? Who wasted more?
The Japanese have a practice that we might find very useful. I encourage you to try it! It is called “Hara Hachi Bu.” This means to only eat until 80% full. And as they mention in the linked article, this does not mean to leave 20% of your meal on your plate. Rather only get “almost” enough food to be full. And resist the urge for seconds once you have finished!
No Tray Policy
http://flathatnews.com/content/beyond-burg-colleges-experiment-"no-tray"-dining-halls
Hara Hachi Bu
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/06/one-secret-to-a.html
Saturday, October 24, 2009
So, what is sustainability?
The dictionary defines it as: conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. We define it as simple practices to produce less energy and use natural resources to save the environment. Being sustainable is up to us as inhabitants of the planet Earth. Making simple changes in your daily life can really affect the environment and the lives of everyone around you.
The dictionary defines it as: conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. We define it as simple practices to produce less energy and use natural resources to save the environment. Being sustainable is up to us as inhabitants of the planet Earth. Making simple changes in your daily life can really affect the environment and the lives of everyone around you.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Top Ten Things to Recycle:
1) Aluminum
2) PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) Plastic bottles- thermoplastic polymer that turns into a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled
3) Newspaper
4) Corrugated Cardboard
5) Steel Cans
6) HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) Plastic Bottles- impact resistant bottle with great moisture barrier
7) Glass Containers
8) Magazines
9) Mixed Paper
10) Computers
Visit this site for a recycling calculator:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/recyclingcalculator.aspx
1) Aluminum
2) PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) Plastic bottles- thermoplastic polymer that turns into a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled
3) Newspaper
4) Corrugated Cardboard
5) Steel Cans
6) HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) Plastic Bottles- impact resistant bottle with great moisture barrier
7) Glass Containers
8) Magazines
9) Mixed Paper
10) Computers
Visit this site for a recycling calculator:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/recyclingcalculator.aspx
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