This week brought news of two apples.
The first bad apple, Apple, withdrew nearly 40 of its computers from the EPEAT, an organization that certifies electronics for energy efficiency and recyclability.
>> Read MoreJul 132012
Sep 272010
Waste Management Inc. expects to have a new single-stream recycling system operating in its hometown of Houston by late this year. Single-stream recycling is easier for consumers — everything can be tossed into a single recycling bin rather than sorted by type — but it requires updated equipment and new recycling processes by recycling companies. This added convenience typically increases recycling rates by up to 30%, the company said.
>> Read MoreSep 082010
[caption id="attachment_15409" align="aligncenter" width="390" caption="Best in class reusable lunch containers: A Koko insulated lunch bag, wrap-n-mat sandwich wrap and a sleek Thermos, lead and BPA free."]
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Now that school’s started, the plastic baggies have taken wing, and plastic bottled beverages are spewing forth like water through a dam.
Are you still sending your kids to school with an arsenal of disposables? Maybe you’ve tried to cut back on all the waste, but with mixed success. We’ve sampled more than a few awkward and non-enduring, non-disposable packing containers. Our move to glassware storage seemed like progress around the house, but really weighed down the takeout lunches. And those wax paper sandwich bags that work so well at the deli? We got big complaints about fossilizing bread ends when they were employed for long haul packing.
This year, though, we feel like the San Francisco of lunchbag trash diverters. Our assembled retinue of carryout lunch tools is reducing our noon trash toll to almost nothing, save for a few cracker and granola bar wrappers.
Sep 012010
California’s state Senate rejected a proposed law to ban plastic bags in grocery stores late Tuesday, voting 21-14 against the measure that had passed the Assembly earlier this summer.
Despite the support of progressives, environmental groups and the California Grocers Association, the plastic bag ban proved controversial, with the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastics makers and the oil industry, ridiculing the law in ads that claimed it was the wrong focus for the legislature and would cost the state jobs.
Jul 302010
With a river of consumer goods streaming into the world every day, it’s comforting to know that people are diverting some stuff to recycling and reclamation centers, and in the case of clothing, to resale shops.
[caption id="attachment_14077" align="alignright" width="269" caption="Give + Take, upscale swap shop in LA"]
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The trouble is, those resale or consignment shops typically don’t pay much for your outgoing duds, even if they’re not duds.
Jul 072010
Waste Management, Inc. announced it will launch a new program for communities to recycle used compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in a safe, environmentally responsible manner along with their residential recycling programs. Houston-based Waste Management said it will roll out the curbside CFL recycling program in four communities where it provides residential recycling services: Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.; Melbourne, Fla.; Palm Bay City, Fla. and Brevard County, Fla. After launching in the four inaugural communities, Waste management said it hopes to enroll other communities across the country in the program in the coming months.
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