Reuse & Recycle

For the past 25 years the city of Frederick, Maryland, has hosted a street festival in the fall.  This event draws 75,000 people who flock the streets to hear live music, enjoy children’s activities and purchase items made by local artisans.  The event is lacking in only one area: the area of recycling.  For all of its years in existence the festival has never had the means to take on the task of recycling its cans, bottles and paper.

Last year a senior at the local high school decided it was time for a change and she and her friends organized a booth and volunteered to go around the festival collecting glass, plastic and aluminum waste off to be recycled.  Can you imagine that?  High school students, volunteering to spend precious weekend time, collecting trash without personal motivation or gain, I was impressed when I heard that.  How many people do you know that would put themselves out like that?  I don’t know too many adults, let alone any teenagers who would take that challenge on.

This year, their 25th anniversary year, things will be a little different, due in part to the efforts of last year’s senior and her group of friends and volunteers.  This year the Coca-Cola Company, who has a bottling location on North Market Street, nearby the festival site, will donate 20 recycle bins to be set up throughout the festival area.  Plastic and glass items to be recycled will be taken to the county’s recycling location and the aluminum collected will be resold for a small fund-raising profit.

What was really impressive about this story was the self-less-ness in which these students acted.  They didn’t do this because it would win them an award or a grant or money in some other form; they did this because it was the right thing to do.  How many counties, cities and towns could be forever changed if the same example were set for them?  This story is one of those great examples of what kind of change one person can make.  It should be a testament to us all that if we just put the effort out there, step out of our comfort zones, and did something we know is right, the great changes that can be made are infinite.

In just this example, you have to figure the impact the recycling will have if even just a few of the participants take a moment to notice the recycle bins and instead of carelessly tossing their waste to where it will not be separated and recycled, they did the right thing and put their waste in the designated bins.  Any efforts to change have to start somewhere and it is commendable that after 25 years, it was a teen who took on the challenge to start the change at this event.

One extra gratitude extended to this amazing student is that this year she has designed a logo that will be throughout the event that will symbolize the idea that the residents of Frederick, Maryland Recycle; she calls it, “Frederecycle.”

With the way technology is out-doing themselves year after year with newer, better, bigger and improved products for computer users, you can just imagine the amount of waste that is generated when consumers upgrade along with the process.  One household may have one or two computers to upgrade on a yearly basis but if you add to that computers and monitors from even a small business, the numbers add up very quickly.

What is the problem with throwing computers, their monitors, TVs and the like away with the rest of our trash?  The main concern is that with CRTs and TVs they each contain approximately four pounds of lead per unit.  Lead cannot be biologically broken down and if it were placed in a landfill there is the possibility of the landfill becoming contaminated with the toxins from lead.  Lead poisoning has been associated with several health problems in children, including, learning disabilities and behavior issues and in some extreme cases, where high doses of the lead has been found, there have been reports of seizures, coma and even death.  There is always the risk of lead toxins seeping into a water source if left in a landfill and any results of lead poisoning are made even more tragic because they are so easily preventable.

In addition to the lead in some household items like computer screens and TVs, the plastic parts of these items sometimes contain a component that is called, brominated flame-retardant that helps the item to be resistant to flames in case of a fire.  Unfortunately, while the exact results of exposure to this additive are undocumented there is sure to be some kind of negative result that it’s just better to steer clear of.

In an effort to keep these potentially hazardous materials out of landfills there are many other options for ridding your home of older, outdated technology.  The first option should be to check with your community to see if there is a program set up to receive older CRTs and TVs for recycling.  For instance, in Massachusetts, where I live, many cities and towns were given grant money for the specific purpose of setting up such a program.

If your town does not have such a program the next place to look would be at a local TV repair shop or even an electronics retailer because they may be able to reuse what you want to throw out.  Some areas even have electronic recycling companies that will come to your residence or business and pick up such items and from there they are responsible for the recycling of the items.  Even if a piece of electronic equipment can no longer be used for refurbishing an older model they can always be dissected and the individual components can be sold for their scrap value.

No matter what the item is that you want to recycle, there is a way to do it, all you need to do is make a phone call or two and you will have done your part to follow the recycling laws.

One of the biggest mistakes parents make, especially in the time when their family is young, is to over spend and buy more toys than children can possibly play with before just feeling overwhelmed.  When children are in a play room, overflowing with toys, they often will retreat, feeling there are too many to choose from, and will not play with any of them.  It is important to purchase toys that will last for a long time, too.  Fewer well made toys will be a much greater gift than more toys that are made without lasting quality.

Children, who are already feeling that they don’t have any control over their environment, will just become more frustrated when a toy breaks in their hands because it is poorly made.  Always keep in mind the age and physical development of the child when buying a toy.  There is nothing worse than a child picking up a toy that is out of their age-range and they end up breaking it because they’re not developed enough to regulate their hand strength.  Children are not capable of making the right choices for their own age group, so it is up to the adults to do that for them.

When buying gifts and toys for holidays and celebrations, remember to take a deep breath and know that what you end up buying will be played with, probably in a rough manner, , so you’ll want it to last.  What’s the sense in spending money on something that is made so poorly it falls apart after the first time out of the box?  (I guess you could always revert back to the box-idea and give them that to play with!)  But the toys that last are usually the ones that are made from good, solid materials; like wood.  Wood is such a great material to make things from and as long as it’s FSC-certified, you won’t have to worry about harmful toxins coming off when the child is teething and the bonus is that it could last for several generations (reinforcing that reuse idea, all the more).

You may even be able to get some of the original money set out for the product by selling it on Craigslist or eBay.  If you’re thinking of selling it at a yard sale, just know that you won’t come close to getting the “value” of it because the yard-sale-mentality is to get what you can for as little as possible, but you still can get something monetary back if you do this.

Find toys that will last for a long time and can either be passed down through the generations or re-sold for a little pocket money.  Keep in mind that when it comes to children and toys, more is not better and making informed purchases based on the child and the quality of how the toys are made, are in the hands of adults.  Most toys and games come with an age range printed on the packaging and it is important to not buy gifts that a child will not be capable of playing with for a few years.

One of the most innovative ways of recycling materials that have probably been over-looked came in the form of a contractore-using bricks from a brick wall that needed to be torn down during the construction of an addition to a home.

The contractor learned his trade from one long time mason worker who believed that if you have brick as part of your building project, it could last forever.  He believed that the only structures that were worth a plugged nickel contained the strong and classy component of brick; also adding that more brick is better.

How could you go wrong following that kind of advice?  In the Age of Recycling, as this time in our lives could be described, what would be the sense in sending perfectly good bricks off to a landfill?  If we are going to be efficient at recycling, our best course of action is to prevent waste, right?  Here are some ideas the contractor had when talking about recycling the brick wall, one brick at a time and his suggested materials.

This project may not be one where any kind of further education degree required, but it is a laborous task and keep in mind the fate of your back from bending and picking up throughout this activity.  The only materials needed are, a bucket with water, brick hammers and some muriatic acid for those really stubborn cement-clinging bricks.

This project could really make an impact on the home renovations in keeping with the theme of recycling, if done properly.

The wall needs to be taken down a brick at a time.  The best way to do this and still keep the bricks in tact is to be patient and methodical.  Tapping the bricks away from the mortar may sound easy but it is a sure test of patience when, in the back of your mind, you continue to think about how much more easy the task would be if you were using a large sledge hammer to do the job!

Once you have the bricks removed from the wall, begin to remove the mortar from each individual brick by chipping at it with the tapered end of the hammer.  There will be some instances where the mortar is not going to come off so easily and it is suggested that by placing the brick into a 5 gallon bucket of water, that should almost always make it easier for the mortar to come off the brick.  In cases where the mortar is still clinging onto the brick after a few dips in the water, try soaking the bricks in a solution of water and muriatic acid.  Please remember to pay close attention to the instructions when using muriatic acid and be sure to wear gloves and protective goggles.  After the bricks have soaked in the acid and water mix, all mortar should come off by using a wire brush and cleaning them off.

Reuse the bricks anyway you choose and walk away from the project knowing you’ve done your best to recycle!

It may come as a surprise to you, but there is a really good chance that the town or city you live in offer a service you may not have heard of; an energy audit.  Cities and towns all over the country have started doing this, where an auditor comes to your home and goes through your living space and helps you to see where you could make changes that will not only help you conserve energy but will help you save money!  What a bonus it is to save money by doing the right thing.

There are so many changes you can make in your home to impact the way we recycle and in the end, will help you keep some of the money in your pocket.

Having recycling bins set up so that you can properly sort the items that are recycled is a great first step.  That activity alone can cut down greatly on the items that end up in the landfills rather than where they can be recycled.

Keeping your televisions, DVDs, stereos and computers plugged in to a power strip or surge protector rather than directly into the wall and then turning off the power strip will cut back greatly on power “leaks” that can cost you money on your utility bill.  Being aware to turn these items off, is the first step, and then having them plugged into the power strip will just further the action for saving money and energy.

Don’t leave a light on when you walk out of a room and no one else is in there.  And have you changed your light bulbs from the traditional ones to the compact flourescent kind?  Did you know that the newer lights use 75% less energy to run and they will out live a traditional light bulb by up to 10 years?  Make the changes that need to be made in your home.

Don’t run the dishwasher or the washing machine unless they are full.  It’s a waste of energy and water to run a cycle through the dishwasher when it’s only half full.  Don’t turn it on until you have a full load to wash and then just wash them all at once.

Use microfiber cloths for cleaning all kinds of surfaces like furniture, counters and sinks.  The bonus is that these items can be tossed into the washer and are perfectly able to be reused again and again.  Think of the savings in paper towels alone!  Talk about a win-win; if we use fewer paper towles, then that means fewer trees need to be cut to make them in the first place.  How can we go wrong with thinking like that?

Take shorter showers and see if you can pick up a shower head that is a water-conserving item, already in place, that will save you money and you’ll never even notice the difference during your shower.

There is so much you can do in the efforts to recycle, just be sure you’re doing your part.