eBay, the giant online garage sale facilitator, and RecycleBank, the company that figured out how to get Americans recycling by offering them consumer rewards, have announced a partnership in which each company will offer incentives to the other companies clients.

Kind of like a swap-meet in the middle of a flea market.

A little history: eBay, the online marketplace that began in 1995, began thinking green in 2007 when a group of employees formed eBay’s Green Team community. The Green Team tries to inspire eBay’s 90 million users to “buy, sell & think green every day” by offering pertinent eco-friendly tips and sustainable advice.

Enter RecycleBank, a fast-growing company that rewards its consumers for recycling by giving them points based on the weight of the products recycled.

The companies are partnering to reward eBay users for reusing, which is integral to what they’re doing anyway when they sell or buy previously owned products. (According to eBay,”the greenest products are ones that already exist.”)

RecycleBank will give 50 points to each of its members who joins eBay’s Green Team community and also plans to soon allow its members to use their RecycleBank points for discounts on eBay purchases.

“RecycleBank has always been rewarding more responsible environmental behavior like recycling for households across America. Working with eBay on an initiative to promote reuse and rewarding consumers for that behavior becomes a natural progression of our business,” said Morley Ivers, RecycleBank Chief Rewards Officer.

In just five years, RecycleBank consumers have more than doubled the quantity of items recycled. To date, RecycleBank has saved 4.3 million trees and 288 million gallons of oil through recycling, the company estimates.

For eBay, the reward is more eyeballs on its listings, meaning more potential buyers and sellers.

“Thousands of eBay sellers have built successful businesses by recycling, re-using and re-selling products that already exist and may otherwise have ended up in landfills. Our relationship with RecycleBank offers an innovative way to encourage and reward green-conscious consumers who are looking for more sustainable ways to shop,” said Amy Skoczlas Cole, Director of the eBay Green Team.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Everyone is told to recycle because it is good for the environment, but what if it was also good for you? RecycleBank is a program that financially rewards households for recycling. And the concept is sweeping the  country, with small and large cities signing on. Even cities that already offer recycling, such as Chicago and Los Angeles, are looking at the independent program as a way to raise recycling rates.

When a person uses RecycleBank, their community money by conserving natural resources, and diverting trash from landfills — and they earn points for discounts at stores. The bins are weighed each week, and for every pound of recycling a person collects, he or she receives 2.5 points. The more one recycles, the higher the reward, up to the maximum of 450 points per month.

The average RecycleBank member collects $240 in reward value each year, according to the company. The points can be redeemed at more than 1,500 local and national retailers including:

• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Hobby Lobby
• Olive Garden
• Ruby Tuesday
• Sam’s Club
• Seventh Generation
• Sunglass Hut
• Whole Foods Market
• Zales

Aside from the typical paper, plastic, and aluminum, RecycleBank accepts “e-waste,” which includes laptops, cell phones, iPods and mp3 players. Since these items cannot be thrown into the recycle bin, the company provides shipping labels online so members can mail the products to the appropriate location and still receive points.

“RecycleBank has seen dramatic results across the country. We have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled recycling volumes wherever we launch our program. This creates a quadruple win scenario as residents gain savings and free products through the rewards program. Local main streets see a stimulus as over 50 percent of all rewards redeemed are redeemed locally,” said Lisa Pomerantz, vice president of communications for RecycleBank.

RecycleBank, which was founded in 2004, is growing quickly. It currently operates in 300 cities in 24  states, including major markets such as Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Phoenix. Just last summer, RecycleBank took its program international by launching in the United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, as well as Halton Boroughs.

Currently, Chicago is in the middle of a six month pilot program, in which 10,000 houses in Wards 5, 8, and 19 were selected to participate. Chicago expects to redirect approximately600 tons of waste from landfills, as well as producing more than $500,000 in local economic stimulus.

“Chicago is a beautiful place to live, work and raise a family,” said Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in a statement. “Working with RecycleBank will enable us to meet our recycling goals while giving something back to our residents. During these rough economic times, saving money on groceries, clothing, at the pharmacy, or even on free movie tickets is of significant value.” Results of the pilot will be available once the program is complete this spring.

Beginning in April, RecycleBank will launch a pilot program of 15,000 homes in the West Valley and North Central sections of Los Angeles.

City leaders like the program because it offers a reward to residents for doing what cities want them to do in the first place.

“Partnering with RecycleBank is a great way to protect our environment, invigorate our local economy, keep our community clean, and deliver meaningful, everyday savings to the residents of Westland,” Mayor William Wild of Westland, Mich. said. “Everybody wins.”

RecycleBank has been receiving accolades for its efforts. It was named the 2009 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and the United Nations Programme 2009 Champion of the Earth.

To date, RecycleBank has saved 4.3 million trees and 288 million gallons of oil, the company estimates. Its formula: For every one ton of paper that has been recycled, 17 trees are saved. For every three pounds of plastic, aluminum and glass that is recycled, one gallon of oil is saved. RecycleBank keeps an ongoing tally of its positive carbon footprint, and each member’s impact also is tracked by total recyclables.

Call RecycleBank to find out if their services are offered in your community, 1(888)727-2978.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Photo: Nike

In just one year, 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away. These shoes end up in landfills across the US. Not only do these shoes not easily break down, the glue that holds a shoe together is toxic. So instead of adding to the growing trash problem, give your shoes a new life. What’s old to you, could be a playground for someone else thanks to Nike.

Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program, in partnership with the National Recycling Coalition, takes used athletic shoes and transforms them into something new.  The program, which began in 1990, has collected and recycled over 24 million pairs of shoes. Old athletic shoes are converted into Nike Grind, material that is then used to make:

• Athletic facilities: tracks, basketball and tennis courts, playgrounds, and turf for soccer and football fields
• Clothing accessories: zipper pulls, snaps and buttons
• Shoes: Air Jordan XX3, Nike Trash Talk, Tiempo Super Ligera Soccer Shoe

With grinding facilities in Wilsonville, Ore., and Meerhout, Belgium, donated shoes are broken down into three parts:

• Nike Grind Rubber, made from the shoe’s outsole, is used in track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles, playground surfacing and consumer products, such as new footwear outsoles and trim items like buttons and zipper pulls.
• Nike Grind Foam, made from the shoe’s midsole, is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts, as well as futsal fields.
• Nike Grind Upper, made from the shoe’s fabric upper, is used in the creation of cushioning pads for indoor basketball, volleyball courts and equestrian surfacing products.

Nike’s Belgium distribution center runs completely on wind power. “The facility produces enough power not only to provide energy for the distribution center but also puts energy back into the grid for the community to use,” said Kate Meyers with Nike.

Nike accepts any brand athletic shoe, no matter how worn out, excluding only cleats and spikes. There are over 300 drop off locations nationwide at Nike stores, and if there is not one near you, you can mail your shoes directly to Nike’s distribution facility. Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe also reaches Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Nike has been doing well by the environment for quite a while now. “We take our commitment to the environment very seriously.  We were the first US company to join the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers Program where we have reduced our CO2 emissions– 18 percent over what it was 10 years ago,” said Meyers.

But, if your shoes are not totally worn out, there is another option. Just because you don’t think your shoes are trendy anymore, doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t wear them. If your shoes are wearable, there are great charities that you can donate your shoes to such as Soles4Souls. This organization that is “Changing the World One Pair at a Time” gives gently worn shoes to people in need.

“There are an estimated 1.52 billion pairs in American closets that are no longer being worn,” stated Elizabeth Kirk, Public Relations and Marketing for Soles4Souls, Inc. Soles4Souls has distributed over four million pairs of shoes in 125 countries. They accept ALL types of shoes, even a single shoe will taken.  Soles4Souls gives you an opportunity to do good for the environment and for those less fortunate all at the same time.

Check here for a drop off location near you. “We have anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 retail locations that are currently collecting shoes.  We ask that the public clean out their closet, take their shoes to one of these participation locations and in most cases receive a discount on a new pair,” said Kirk.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), which represents those who recycle plastic soda and food bottles has fired a criticism at the alternative corn-derivative plastic known as PLA, saying it cannot be successfully recycled with PET containers at this time.

PET containers — water, oil, shampoo and drink bottles — are commonly recycled into polyester fabric, athletic wear and upholstery material. Their successful conversion requires a clean “waste stream” that is not contaminated with other types of plastics that may not meld well with PET, NAPCOR says.

NAPCOR’s current peeve with PLA (polylactide) is in response to claims by some PLA promoters that households and businesses can toss this this new plastic into their recycle bins along with the usual outgoing stream of conventional plastics, such as PET, and it will be sorted and used by recyclers.

“NAPCOR has spent over 20 years helping to build a successful domestic PET recycling infrastructure and this solution not only jeopardizes the PET system, but is not an effective solution for PLA,” said Tom Busard, NAPCOR Chairman, in a statement.

“We don’t doubt that PLA can be recycled,” Busard said, “but there are unquestionably some big issues yet to overcome. The current reality is that these issues (mixing PET and PLA) transfer significant system costs and logistics burdens to the PET recyclers, impacting the viability and continued sustainability of their businesses.”

The recently developed PLA, made from corn starch, looks and performs like regular plastic but unlike petroleum-derived PET, it is compostable and biodegradable. In the right conditions, it can degrade within two months. Developed in the 1990s, it was not as strong as regular plastic initially, but recent improvements have made this renewable, non-oil dependent product capable of containing liquids over a period of time.

In the competition between plastics, PLA can argue that it is sustainable and breaks down. However it cannot claim a proprietary position within the recycling hierarchy, as PET can. PET has developed a supply chain over decades and today supplies a number of end users, providing the raw material for a host of recycled products, such as tape, carpet, t-shirts and fleecewear.

PET plastic recyclers see PLA as getting in the way of this business, because when customers use more PLA and toss it into recycling bins it can clog up the reclamation of PET plastic. The mix can disrupt the reformulation of PET and degrade the quality of the second-cycle production. NAPCOR warns that such contamination could even result in the waste of more plastic, in which ruined batches of plastic would have to be sent to landfills.

Mike Schedler, NAPCOR’s technical director explained in NAPCOR’s press release: “The entire premise that you can simply add PLA containers into the PET recycling stream, successfully sort them out, and eventually find markets for the material is like advocating that mixed ceramic materials can be thrown right in with the recyclable glass stream to be sorted out, and that eventually there will be enough of this mixed material that someone will want to buy it.”

PLA, like other non-PET plastics, such as PVC, must be sorted out, costing the recyclers additional money in an already depressed market, he said.

The NAPCOR report noted that automated sorters are being tested and becoming available, but the upgrade is costly for recyclers, who are not well positioned in this economy to improve their plants.

PLA plastic, however, has been making the case that it can do everything PET can, including being recycled into other products, such as fibers to make clothing. PLA plastic developer and manufacturer, Nature Works LLC also is experimenting with sorting processes that will make it easier to pull PLA out of the recycling stream.

Dell said today it will ban the export of non-working electronics to developing countries as part of its global policy on responsible electronics disposal.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company said its electronics disposition policy now exceeds the requirements of the Basel Convention, which bans the export of certain electronic waste based on its material or chemical composition. By expanding its definition of electronic waste to include all non-working parts or devices, irrespective of material composition, Dell said it hopes to prevent the unauthorized dumping of electronic waste in developing countries by requiring that equipment be tested and certified as “working” prior to export.

“As one of the world’s leading providers of technology, we recognize our responsibility to ensure that technology is disposed of properly at the end of its usable life,” Tod Arbogast, Dell’s director of sustainable business, said in a statement. “These additions to our disposition policy reflect the way Dell has been operating for years with regard to electronics disposition. We strongly encourage the rest of the industry to do the same using globally consistent practices like these.

Dell’s policy states that electronic waste processed by Dell’s disposition chain must be tracked and documented throughout the entire business chain until its final disposition. Dell said it audits its recycling, refurbishment and processing vendors at least annually to ensure they conform with Dell’s electronics disposition policy and environmental partner performance standards.

Related Links:

• Dell’s electronics disposition policy is available at www.dell.com/recycling
• www.dell.com/earth

Area Shredding Manager — Greenstar Security Destruction

What I do: I oversee the shredding operations for Greenstar Security Destruction, a division of Greenstar Recycling, North America.

How it helps:

Greenstar is a recycling plant. I handle sales and operations for the document destruction (shredding) division which is AAA certified by the National Association for Information Destruction to destroy hard drives and paper. Our certification requires us to recycle the shredded paper through mills that use a bleaching and hydro-pulping process. So, basically, we prevent crime and save the planet. (I tell my employees they’re superheroes.)

How I got here:

I’ve been in sales since I’m 17 years old. I’ve been in sales management for the last 20 years. I stumbled upon this opportunity when I was laid off from my previous job about 2 years ago. I originally applied for the Recycle Sales position. When the General Manager saw my resume and I told him how I was a victim of identity theft, we both agreed that the shredding division is where I belong.

Where I’m going:

The shredding industry, despite the economy, is growing in leaps and bounds with all the new laws coming out. These laws protect the public and makes easier to gain new business. I am also very active in about 7 different associations. Most recently, I have been appointed Chairperson of the Green Committee for the National Space & Technologies Association and am planning a huge Green event which we will be calling “Going Green & Saving Green.” Greenstar is a huge company with lots of opportunity for advancement. I plan to be a Vice President someday.

How I’m doing:

I make a moderate salary, plus commission, car allowance, a company EZ tag and a company credit card for business expenses and entertainment. I also get a laptop and a company cell phone. Greenstar also provides my business cards and any literature and marketing needs I have. It’s a great company to work for!

Advice:

If someone was to begin a career in shredding, now is the time to do it. There will always be sensitive information to be protected and destroyed. Show people how much you care and have a passion for this industry, and business will come to you. Networking is very important. People would rather deal with someone that was referred to them in this industry. AAA certified shredding companies have the highest standards, as we go through random 3rd party audits, background checks and drug screenings. I love what I do so much that I am always available to talk to anyone who wants information.

See more profiles at MY GREEN JOB

See Recent Green Jobs Listings

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Stuff. It’s piling up in our garage. Stealing space in our bathroom closet. Lurking in the attic. We modern homo sapiens gather gadgets, what-nots, mementos and widgets like our forebears gathered nuts.

Except that the ancestors ate the nuts. We’re just nuts about our stuff.

Now it’s time to get crazy about sharing that stuff, spreading the wealth, so our burnished treasures can enjoy a second life – just not in our living room!

America’s Freecycle is one way to give it away, it’s been hooking up people with junk to jettison with those who are tickled to get it for six years now, growing from a cottage industry in Tucson to 6.5 million members worldwide — despite the near certainty that your 1989 La-z-boy, your fake ficus and definitely your plaque with the fish singing the Macarena all have limited appeal (even with a price tag of zero).

Overseas, there’s yet another comer in this wasteland market. It’s called “My Skip.com” and it bills itself as the “world’s most secure, easy-to-use and free website dedicated to promoting the reuse of unwanted goods [oxymoron unintended].” This week it hopes to raise its profile, and advocate for recycling used goods, with a 24-hour “Celebrity Throwaway” in which items donated by celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Ricky Gervais, Shilpa Shetty and Sir David Attenborough will be available for free at My Skip. The online event starts at 9 a.m. GMT on Tuesday.

More than 100 celebs are taking part (see the impressive list), with their hand-me-downs being offered one at a time for free every hour somewhere on the site, but anonymously, so you’ll have to search for them.
This is the awareness-raising part, showing newcomers the stuff available for free, and hopefully causing them to conclude that reused items can be a viable part of their daily life.

My Skip is a product of the United Kingdom, and therefore it deals in “rubbish” instead of “trash”, or rather near-rubbish. Like Freecycle, it is an online meeting place for people offering up their once cherished gee-gaws for free. It shares Freecycle’s mission: to reduce the refuse, or rubbish, heading to the landfill by slowing down the human consumption cycle and extending the life of things.

The difference is that My Skip.com is a for-profit concern, whereas Freecycle is a non-profit, which gets funding from corporate sponsors like Waste Management and from on-site advertising. Freecycle’s motto is “Think Globally, Recycle Locally” and it puts that into action by working through hundreds of local member groups. Expenses for the entire operation are low, under $150,000.

MySkip.com, which launched in March 2008, works a bit differently, engaging the public directly through its newly designed central site where customers select the action they want to take “Rummage” or “Dump”.

Hoping to become the ultimate “free trade” business, it will generate income by offering premium services and has just launched new technology that will help people find what they’re seeking through alerts when those items become available online. Hopeful on-loaders will pay a small fee to get “SMS alerts” when compatible off-loads are posted. This eHarmony of junk approach could bring more people into the business of free-trading.

“We want to bring reuse into the mainstream. How we do this is by appealing to people’s needs such as ease-of-use, security and convenience while trying to make the whole online reuse process cool,” says CEO Gary Cope.

“People will embrace reuse if they see benefits, whether personal or by contributing to a good cause, in this case, the charitable act of helping someone out, Cope said.

“I also believe that promoting the reuse of unwanted goods will bring social, environmental and economic benefits. It is why MySkip is committed to working with businesses, non-profit organizations, governments – at local and national levels – to raise awareness of reuse as a sustainable alternative to recycling,” he said.

“No one person or company or government can solve our environmental problems – we need to work together but the first step is to build awareness around the issue.” Aside from reducing landfill waste, My Skip wants to address poverty issues and to that end, has set up the My Skip Charitable Trust, to address poverty issues.

About that celebrity auction, the reason the items are being kept anonymous — you won’t actually know if the glove you bought belonged to Boy George — is so they don’t become tomorrow’s fast buck on eBay.

And that name, My Skip. For Americans who don’t know, a “skip” is a term for a dumpster. Happy diving.

(Photo credit: My Skip’s CEO Gary Cope and May Al-Karooni, director of operations, with some of the donated items for the celebrity auction.)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

The glass can be greener on the other side, if you recycle it.

Everyone knows that paper and plastic can be recycled. But sadly many people forget to recycle their glass. All glass containers or jars should be recycled.

Glass is 100% recyclable which means nothing will be wasted. When glass is recycled over and over again, there is no loss in quality and no waste or by-products. When glass manufacturers use recyclable materials to make new glass products, they are using less energy, cutting raw materials and CO2 emissions.

The glass manufacturing industry has a goal of using 50% recycled content for containers by 2013, according to Joseph Cattaneo, president of the Glass Packaging Institute in Alexandria, Va..  So, the industry needs your glass recycling; they can’t do it without you.

According to studies released by the EPA, glass recycling has been growing in popularity (and accessibility; not all cities collect it). In 2007, the EPA estimates 28.1 percent of glass was recycled, compared with 25.3 percent in 2006, and about 19 percent in 2003.

Once you recycle your glass, it can be on the shelves again in as little as 30 days. The glass is typically sorted through by color and for non-glass contaminants, then sent to a glass manufacturer. Then its back on to store shelves. Chances are the glass containers that you use at home are made up of some recycled glass according to Cattaneo.

For the do’s (rinse it out) and don’t’s (do not include the metal lid) of glass recycling see the GPI’s guide.

The glass industry has received a boost in popularity as an alternative to plastic containing Bisphenol A, or BPA, a plastic additive that’s a hormone disruptor linked to fertility and developmental health issues.

Glass is made up of only natural materials such as sand, soda ash, and limestone. There are no synthetic chemicals to be passed on to the consumer.  Glass is the only packaging material certified by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as “generally regarded as safe”.

The key downside with glass is that it’s heavier to ship than plastic, an argument against glass packaging that’s been leveled by the plastics industry as it endeavors to keep a competitive edge in packaging.

As the popularity of glass manufacturing increases, so does the demand for your recycled glass. So, take the glass to the curb — safely inside your recycling bin.

(Photo credit: Glass Packaging Institute)

Copyright C 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

This just in from the inaugural Greenwashing Forum in Portland: Four out of five people say they’re still buying green products, even in the midst of the U.S. recession, according to a new opinion poll.

And they thought we were clinging to our guns and religion out here in the hinterlands!

The study, commissioned by Green Seal, a green certifier, and EnviroMedia Social Marketing, which founded the Greenwashing Index, looked at opinions and green behaviors.

It found that:

• About 50 percent of the 1,000 people survey say they are buying just as many green products now as before the economic downturn

• 19 percent say they’re buying more green products

• About one-third of those surveyed say they’re not sure how to tell if a product’s green claims are true; they make their decision based on product reputation, word of mouth and brand loyalty

• 24 percent said they read labels to discern a product’s environmental profile

• 17 percent said they research products by looking up studies

• Just 9 percent said advertising is their primary influence (the survey apparently did not explore whether this was the fault of poor advertising or consumer ad wariness).

The poll has a margin of error either way of about 3 percent.

EnviroMedia Social Marketing and the University of Oregon collaborated to create the Greenwashing Index, a website launched in 2008 where people can post complaints about and discuss green products.

GI users can “out” green claims that falsely puff up a product’s enviro credentials or praise products and companies they believe are sincerely socially responsible.

Ironically, the survey found that even consumers may greenwash their own profile, noting that 87 percent of those surveyed said they recycle, a number that does not square with the 33 percent of the nation’s trash that’s diverted from landfills. (This could, however, be the fault of inefficient recycling systems, among other things.)

Did the surveyors greenwash their own poll? That’s hard to tell. Their finding that people are not relying on green advertising does tend to support the need for better marketing, and — a Greenwashing Index! Hmmm.

Still, the survey sends a potentially valuable message to companies that capturing green-leaning customers requires showing them the goods.

“This research proves people want to do what’s best for the environment, but it needs to be easy and accessible. Companies should be clear about the environmental benefits of their products and services and make sure what they claim in the TV ad is backed up consistently on product packaging and on the Web site,” said Valeria Davis, EnviroMedia Principal and CEO, in a news release.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

At this time of year, when many municipalities are gearing up for holiday tree recycling programs, the city of Houston is dealing with something far more monumental – more than 5.6 million cubic tons of tree waste left behind after Hurricane Ike swept through Southeast Texas in early September.

The city turned some of the debris into mulch, but launched a contest in October, Recycle Ike, to spark ideas for keeping the remaining tree waste from simply being disposed of in landfills.

The winners, announced last week, are a Rice University team of students and scientists who will create a biomass charcoal from the tree remains. The group was among more than 200 entrants from around the world that submitted ideas.

The top $10,000 prize will be used to build a pilot bioreactor on campus. The “biochar” it produces helps the environment in three ways – as a soil enrichment; as a way to stop the decaying waste from releasing carbon into the atmosphere from the decaying wood; and as a method for producing methane gas during the conversion process which can be sold to generate energy.

Using a process called pyrolysis, the bioreactor will heat the biomass tree waste to 400-500°C under low-oxygen conditions to produce the biochar, according to a report by the Rice University team.

“Approximately 50% of the carbon in the feedstock biomass is captured in the biochar, which can be used to sequester carbon in soils. Biochar is carbon-rich and chemically stable in soils, enabling carbon to be
sequestered in soils for centuries or millennia. In addition, biochar improves soil fertility by improving water holding capacity and cation exchange capacity,” the report states.

The methane gas produced during the heating process will be captured and used to generate electricity.

If the pilot project works as projected, it argues for using pyrolysis to deal with all of Hurricane Ike’s considerable waste, say the plan’s proponents. (Ike was the fourth most destructive hurricane to hit the United States.)

“Applied to the entire Hurricane Ike biomass debris, pyrolysis has the potential to sequester more than 1,000,000 metric tons of CO2 and offset an additional 280,000 metric tons of CO2 through the use of syngas [the methane] to generate electricity, removing the equivalent of 300,000 cars from Houston’s roads for a year,” according to the Rice report.

Next, pyrolysis could help the city of Houston more efficiently deal with its ongoing organic waste needs, the researchers say. By turning biomass into soil-enriching biochar and capturing the methane gas for electricity production, they estimate that the city could save carbon emissions equivalent to taking 17,000 cars off the road annually.

The Rice team is nothing if not enthusiastic, concluding: “As a leader already in energy and medicine, the city of Houston stands to become a leader in sustainability. By adopting pyrolysis to handle the Hurricane Ike debris and its annual waste stream, Houston can position itself to be at the forefront of the movement to reduce CO2 emissions and actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere…Ultimately, biochar production promises to revolutionize green waste management in Houston, combining sustainability with a global environmental outlook.”

As disheartening as it is to hear, you may not be doing anybody any good by taking broken electronics to a firm promising to recycle it. In fact, your good-faith act could be leading to disease and hellish pollution in some of the world’s most impoverished villages.

As a 60 Minutes exposé broadcast this weekend shows, many of the companies claiming to handle e-waste using appropriate techniques are actually shipping vast quantities to China, where a gang-controlled, illegal industry strips precious metals from it and leaves the toxins behind.

The centerpiece of that story, Colorado’s Executive Recycling, was caught red-handed; they’ve issued a denial, and tout their EPA certification on their web site, but as the U.S. Government Accountability Office recently reported, “EPA’s enforcement is lacking” and “EPA officials said they have neither pla ns nor a timetable to develop an enforcement program.”

While we’re waiting for the feds to enforce the law, a third-party effort has emerged to instill some measure of faith in e-waste recycling. Announced yesterday, the e-Stewards certification project is a joint effort between commercial recyclers (such as Electronic Recyclers International) and activist groups like the Basel Action Network, which was founded to “confront the issues of environmental justice at a macro level, preventing disproportionate and unsustainable dumping of the world’s toxic waste and pollution on our global village’s poorest residents.”

The project, according to its founders, “will be the continent’s first independently audited and accredited electronic waste recycler certification program. It will forbid the dumping of toxic e-waste in developing countries, local landfills and incinerators; the use of prison labor to process e-waste; and the unauthorized release of private data contained in discarded computers.”

Under this initiative, independent auditors will be enlisted to verify that member companies adhere to the BAN pledge of responsible practices. (Download this brochure to see how the e-Steward standard stacks up against two prominent alternatives.) The latest list of e-Steward member companies across North America is here; consumers wanting to know if a local recycling drive is legit can find out the name of the company running it and look them up.

Copyright © 2008 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Everyone knows by now that habitually buying bottled water introduces a staggering amount of wasted plastic into the world. Even if you conscientiously recycle every bottle, that recycling process uses energy and would be unnecessary if you used a non-disposable drinking vessel instead.

For those who have ditched the bottled water habit but don’t trust what comes from their tap, water filters are an appealing solution. Filter-makers have seized upon environmental concerns, and Brita even teamed with Nalgene for an ad campaign disguised as a green awareness effort that asks readers to “take the pledge” to buy filters and reusable bottles.

Filter users in America, though, are realizing that filters have eco-drawbacks of their own: Namely, they aren’t recyclable. A web site called Take Back the Filter focuses on Clorox, maker of the #1 selling Brita filter. Although the European version of Brita maintains a take-back recycling program, Clorox has no such option stateside; products can’t currently be recycled or refilled with new filter material. Take Back The Filter is urging users to send them used filters, which they intend to deliver en masse to the company as a protest.

Some small companies are trying to fill this niche. ZeroWater, for instance, announced just this week that they’ll begin a take-back program that recycles 90% of each filter; Abundant Earth offers a range of filtration products it says it recycles. But until these startups own a substantial chunk of the market, they won’t keep most filters out of landfills.

Happily, though, the major players may be shifting: Judging from Clorox responses described here, the company has hinted it may have recycling options available within the year. Until then, of course, many of us are perfectly comfortable with our tap water.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media