What are you sending to the landfill that could be going somewhere else?
“Waste (also referred to as rubbish, trash, refuse, garbage, or junk) is unwanted or unusable materials.” -Wikipedia
Unwanted or unusable materials.
Finding new uses, finding people who want what we don’t want, splitting our waste streams into different categories–all of these are ways that are allowing us to cut back on what we send to our landfills.
The landfills themselves are non-renewable resources, once they are full, they are full and we need to find a new place for a new landfill.
To cut back on what we send to landfills the first step is to stop and think before we throw away anything. We need to be more conscious of our waste.
Every green fair we attend brings us face to face with simple changes that we can make to green up our lives.
This weekend’s first annual OC Green Fair was no exception.
A lesson from the fair: progress in recycling products we use daily (like plastic water bottles) does not give us license to use as many of those bottles as we like. The bottles get recycled, but the market for the recycled materials is not infinite, so we are back to reduce and reuse—and of course buying things made from recycled materials when left with no option buy to buy.
Some of our favorite booths from the fair:
Green Building Council—We can now install drip systems for our turf lawns that drip under the turf! But this is not as water-saving as using native plants. Peter Phinney from Green Building Council was one of the speakers—telling folks all about the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designation for green building. The bottom line is that building green is simply doing the right thing and making sustainable choices. www.usgbc-oc.org
Eze green bikes—a very cool foldable electric bike, perfect for commuting. ezgreenbikes.com
Tree of Life Nursery had a display of native plants, as well as their schedule of Saturday morning classes. www.californianativeplants.com
The Giving Sak—gift bags that keep giving. Hand made from reused fabric, the bags come in various sizes, ready to hold your next gift and made for re-gifting. www.thegivingsak.com
We were also there with the Waste Free OC booth. We had important information for boaters: where to dispose of household hazardous waste. Nowhere is that more important than in the marine environment.
Believe it or not, there was once a time before this type of bag existed. Is it possible we could live without such bags in the future?
California could become the first state in the nation, again, to embrace change. This time it’s regarding single-use plastic bags, long an enemy of Zero Waste activists.
AB 1998 is a bill that will require people to bring “reusable bags to the store or pay at least 5 cents each for recycled paper bags at the checkout counter.” (LA Times)
It passed the State Assembly yesterday. Next stop, the California Senate. Governor Schwarzenegger supports the bill along with the grocer’s association.
Some cities have already passed similar messages including San Francisco, Malibu and Palo Alto.
Californians use 19 billion such bags a year, or 552 per person! (LA Times).
A shocking number of these bags end up in the ocean and endanger marine life.
Our society is increasingly conscious about the planet and how humans are affecting it. More and more of us are working to reduce waste, use less energy, conserve water and reduce pollution.
BuyGreen.com is a company that has fully put this environmental awareness into action.
BuyGreen.com offers eco-friendly products. They ship products using previously used boxes, many of which are donated, while others are collected from “dumpster diving .” They offer a wide range of quality green products (clothes, furniture, office supplies, sporting goods, building materials, etc.). If for any reason there is any doubt about a product’s eco-friendliness, BuyGreen.com offers consumers thorough background information about the product.
Upcycling happens when trash is transformed into something usable. Orange County elementary students are leading the way.
