What does it mean to be green?

To me first and foremost it means to be economical. I believe that quite frequently by being frugal you are also minimizing your environmental impact. By spending less you tend to be consuming less. You are purchasing less single-purpose items and instead are challenging yourself to utilize multi-purpose items.

I am not an authority on sustainability. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area I vividly remember learning about recycling, No Dumping Drains to Bay campaign and seeing photos of seagulls with six pack soda rings around their necks. Of course who could forget the “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down” campaign during the drought years! My philosophy is that I don’t want to lecture or guilt anyone into acting more environmentally responsible because it is ineffective if not internalize.

I do hope to present basic information that makes financial and logical sense. I recently had the opportunity to live outside of California and learned that there are many uniformed and uninterested populations. I am extremely grateful that the Bay Area is extremely progressive however the cause requires more than a small segment of practitioners to make a difference.

This is an avenue for me to reach an audience who shares the same commitment and hopefully those who are just exploring the topic for simple answers. My goal is to merely share with you topics I found thought provoking and tips that I found useful. The Internet and sustainability are two very daunting, especially when combined. This will also serve as my reference to keep the information I research straight and updated.

Recycling 101
Most people are familiar with what is recyclable but often these NON-recyclable items end up in the bin. Each city’s recycling program varies in what they will accept. Almost all plastics are recyclable which is why you see that recycle triangle imprint. However, it is only valuable to the recycling center if there is a demand for that type of recycled plastic. With no buyer then there is no incentive to accept it for recycling.  The system only works if the recycling plant is able to produce a quality product that manufacturers can utilize to produce quality products. Consumers won’t pay for inferior products so let’s support the use of recycled material by being responsible recyclers!

South San Francisco – 94080

Items NOT Recyclable (even if there is a recyclable symbol) – toss in trash!

• Glass jar metal lids
• Beer caps
• Water, soda, milk, juice bottle caps
• Aerosol can plastic caps
• Clam-shell plastic boxes such as strawberries and takeout containers
• Plastic shrink wrap around value/family packs of bottle water and soda
• Pizza boxes or any soiled paper
• Plastic coated drink boxes (aseptic tetra pak) such as juice boxes and broth/stock boxes
• Freezer food boxes which contain a plastic coating (refrigerated food boxes are recyclable)

Why is it important?

• Contamination
• Plastic bottle caps and clam-shell boxes are made of different types of plastic then plastic bottles which reduce the quality of plastic produced from recycled plastic bottles.
• Paper and cardboard soiled with food or grease contaminates the recycled paper. The process involves water (oil and water don’t mix).
• Extra Work – extra labor at recycling center to remove contaminates

Solution

• Put a labeled container next to the recycling bin to collect these NON-Recyclable items.
• Reduce consumption of single serve beverages! You are paying more for the packaging than the consumable product.
• Replace broth/stock with chicken/beef base. Why pay a premium for water? Save money and packaging!!!

One 16 oz Organic Better Than Bouillon jar $6.89 Costco
Equivalent
76 – 8 ounce cans ≈ $29.18 Costco
OR
19 – 1 quart aseptic tetra paks ≈ $34.17 Costco

I welcome your comments on the topic!

Sources
http://www.ssfscavenger.com/SplitCart%20NEW.pdf
http://www.ecocycle.org/faq/containers.cfm
http://earth911.com/news/2009/03/02/the-pizza-box-mystery/

1 comment July 21st, 2011 Joanne

Bottled Water Consumption going down

Bottled water consumption has been going down, which is great news. Along with all the backlash against water bottles, the economy may have played a part in reducing the $12 billion a year industry. Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Pepsico all saw drops in their sales. Maybe people are finally realizing that bottled water isnt that much better for you and that dumping water bottles is bad for the environment.

It also isnt as cool anymore and companies will now try to make new and different versions of flavored water as a marketing tool to drink the latest and greatest new cool drink. In 2007, Coca-Cola paid $4.1 billion for Glaceau, maker of the Vitaminwater brand, which 50 Cent happened to help create and continues to promote the flavored water as a healthy energy sports drink. Pepsi has been promoting the Sobe Lifewater as well and featured it in a Superbowl ad. 

via BusinessWeek

Add comment February 28th, 2009 Alex

Bottled Waters to become extinct?

There have been a lot of criticism against bottled waters and there are movements that want to eliminate them completely. I am not sure if I would agree with getting rid of bottled waters.

Many City Halls are banning bottled waters such as in San Francisco and in North Carolina but that may not be the best solution. There are good reasons not to drink bottled water, but there are plenty of good reasons to drink it as well if you compare drinking water to juice or sodas since it is much healthier for you. If there are no bottled waters available, people may become more dehydrated or drink less healthier alternatives. I dont think banning bottled water is the solution. The problem is that people are not recycling the bottles, so if we find more ways to promote and incourage that, then the problem would be solved. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, Americans consumed 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water in 2007, which increased 6.1% from 2006. That number is most likely to increase. 8 out of 10 bottles do not get recycled, and that is causing a problem since standard water bottles are not compostable.

Since bottled water sales were $11.5 billion last year, second only to sodas, I am sure manufacturers would not let any kinds of significant bans happen. They do however need to make better efforts in getting the bottles recycled and find alternatives to the current bottles. What manufacturers can do is to use Biodegradable bottles like the company Biota in Colorado. The water bottles are both recyclable and compostable and use corn based polylactic acid (PLA) so that it will degrade within 75 to 80 days in a commercial composting situation. “BIOTA bottles need high heat, micro-organisms and high moisture levels to break down. A BIOTA PLA bottle will not degrade as rapidly in a home compost pile. When exposed to the necessary conditions, BIOTA bottles will break down into water, carbon dioxide and organic material.”

via FoxNews

1 comment July 24th, 2008 Alex