solid-waste

Back in August, we posted about the plastic bottle ban starting this October 1. Then just last week, we got some news about the new program from Star News Online:

"When North Carolina moved to kick the can from landfills in 1994, the message that aluminum being tossed out in the trash was illegal got crushed by public apathy.

But when the state moved to ban plastic bottles from the dump effective Oct. 1, the response was overwhelming.

So what changed this time around?

Buzz, good and bad, said Scott Mouw, the state’s recycling director.

'We worked hard to get the message out, and the media did too,' he said."

Alright! This is wonderful news. Great job, NC, keeping the recyclables out of our landfills! And great job to the media and the NC Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance for all of their resources and hard work.

Did you all know that this Sunday is America Recycles Day? My coworker found this blog post from NC Go Green regarding this year's event. Check out the national website (www.americarecyclesday.org) where you can take the pledge, look for events near you, and use their cool conservation calculator tool. This is just the kind of info that's helpful when you get the "yeah-but-recycling-takes-energy-too[duh]...is-it-really-worth-it?" spiel from your nay-sayer friends.

The NC Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance has their own website for the big day that's worth checking out. They include a list where you can look for retail locations near you that sell products made of recycled content.

So pass it on! This weekend, America recycles!

This week, the News & Observer ran an article regarding the 2007 state law requiring utilities to acquire a certain amount of energy from agricultural waste by 2012. From the article:

"The law, designed to promote renewable energy and efficiency, requires utilities to begin getting some energy from pig and chicken litter by 2012.

The providers are seeking a one-year delay from the N.C. Utilities Commission. They're also asking to cut the minimum energy requirement from poultry waste starting in 2014 by a third.

[...]The utilities have been seeking proposals for waste-to-energy projects, but say they've gotten only limited and expensive bids."

Hopefully in the years ahead science and innovation will allow for more affordable options for converting waste to energy...sometimes I wonder though if anything will ever be considered "affordable" by utilities and taxpayers alike if it means a cost increase...

Back in 2005, the NC General Assembly passed a bill (House Bill 1465) banning plastic bottles from landfills as of October 1, 2009. Since that time is fastly approaching, the NC Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance put together a website with resources and information about plastics recycling. They have a toolkit for getting started with recycling plastics, case studies on programs gone well, and even a webinar on organizing recycling at events. They also offer printable artwork for folks to post in their homes or offices, reminding folks about the ban.

Help spread the word to keep plastic out of our landfills!

In 2005, environmental groups worked to pass House Bill 1465 which made it illegal to dispose of oyster shells in landfills. This bill also made it illegal to dispose of "rigid plastic containers" in landfills, starting October 1, 2009!

Rigid plastic containers are plastic bottles that have a neck smaller than the body of the container. For instance, coke bottles, milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, etc. 

Not only will this be great for the environment and save on precious landfill space, it will also help create a new economy in NC. From an article in the Winston-Salem Journal, N.C. to ban throwing away bottles:

Plastic-bottle recycling is big business both domestically and internationally, as corporations can cut their costs by reusing the containers instead of producing new ones from virgin materials, Mouw said.

The article continues:

A bit more locally, Clear Path Recycling in Fayetteville is building a $50 million plant that will rely heavily on the company's ability to amass recycled PET plastics from regional material-recovery facilities. After municipalities collect recycled waste from curbside pickup, materials are sent to MRFs where they are separated to be sold to corporations or recycling centers for profit.

Once Clear Path has acquired these plastics, they will be converted into polyester and sold primarily to national carpet manufacturing giant Shaw Floors, Mouw said.

The challenge of course - just as it continues to be for aluminum cans, tires, and white goods - is enforcing the law. What do you recommend as an incentive and/or penalty to make sure the law is enforced?

I just have to share this recent article that Grist released, about a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills (a Dr. Bittner) who has supposedly been getting a little creative with conserving fuel. Sources report that he has been using fat from his liposuction procedures to....

...[wait for it]...

...provide his SUV with biodiesel fuel. Yikes. I'd hate to be driving behind him on the interstate with the windows rolled down.

Apparently, although creative, using human medical waste to power vehicles is illegal in California (gee, I wonder why?) So I guess his fat-fueling days are numbered. However, some folks are wary of this doctor's claims and consider it a "flabrication."

Either way, I'm both intrigued and disgusted by the idea. I do love this quote, though; he just makes it all sound so normal:

"The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel--and I have more fat than I can use," Bittner wrote on lipodiesel.com. "Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly but they get to take part in saving the Earth."

Here’s yet another example of the interconnectedness of our economy and the ripple effects of an economic crisis. Could it be that the recycling business is in need of a bailout? Hopefully not, but times are tough for those who’ve profited from reselling all that cardboard, paper, and metal that you’ve been putting in your recycling bin. Here’s a great story from NPR that you can read or listen to on the sad state of the recycling business in these tough times:

"DeVivo points to a mountain of paper. A few months ago, it was worth $56,000, he says. Now, "I can't sell that for the life of me. I have to pay a paper mill to take it away." This summer, the plastic used to make water and soda bottles — polyethylene terephthalate, or PET – sold for $300 a ton. Now it's down to $20. Tin is way down, too. The company is losing millions in revenue, DeVivo says, and he's just had to lay off 15 of its 250 employees."

I found a rather interesting article today regarding urban poachers who are setting up organized systems to nab recyclables from curbsides in San Francisco. Due to the increasing value of substances like aluminum, newspaper, and cardboard, these folks are making a lot of money. In addition to being illegal, the late-night trucks are a nuisance for neighborhoods.  And sometimes the poachers  take new newspapers, prior to anyone getting to read them!

That got me thinking--I wonder if this has hit North Carolina yet?

Got compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)?  Until now CFLs had to be taken to specific recycling centers throughout the state--a far drive for many folks! But just days ago, The Home Depot launched a new initiative that allows residents nationwide to safely and properly recycle CFLs. The new, energy efficient light bulbs can be brought in to any Home Depot store and given to the employee at the return desk. You can find more information, and view their press release, here.

If you didn’t know already, the one downside to CFLs is that breaking the bulb releases mercury vapor. You can only bring unbroken bulbs to be recycled, so be sure to handle them with care when transporting. Carefully recycling CFLs prevents the release of mercury into the environment (and your body) and allows for the reuse of glass, metals and other materials that make up fluorescent lights. 

I'm a huge Pixar movie fan. Their last film, Cars, choked me up. So, I expected a lot out of their newest movie, WALL-E.

My husband and I went to see it last night, and within seconds of the movie starting, we looked at each other with shocked expressions.

Before getting to the theater, all we knew about the movie was based off of the marketing we'd seen: a cute and funny cartoon love-story with great graphics. So, we were taken aback when the movie opened with a scene of desolate urban wasteland - abandoned skyscrapers and mountains of trash piled just as high in cubes. The messages just balloon from there, hitting on the issues of consumerism, big box stores, in your face advertising, throw-away societies, and obesity. It was a bit surreal.

Truth be known, I'm pleased that the movie is not being marketed as an "environmental" or "anti-consumerism" movie - it likely wouldn't get the box office ratings it's getting if it had.

So, while you're enjoying your (3-day) 4th of July weekend, make sure you take a break from the heat and check out the movie for yourself and then tell us what you think.