The Scoop on Plastic: 5 Surprise Things You Can Recycle

Most of us have a Recycling 101 education. We know to separate the paper from the glass and to check the bottom of containers for the recyclable triangle and its number. In general, the lower the number, the easier an item is to recycle (you should always check to see what can and can't be recycled in your area).

But what about all those plastic items that don't come from kitchen consumption? Here are 5 plastic things you should recycle, but perhaps didn't know you could[1]:

1. Glasses: Local organizations, like the Lions Club, collect glasses for people in need.
2. Packaging: Some pack-and-ship stores accept donations of packing peanuts and bubble wrap.
   
3. Telephones: In some areas, local public libraries run cell phone collections. The organization Protect also collects and refurbishes cell phones for domestic violence victims.
   
4. Pantyhose and Tights: The company No Nonsense collects all worn pantyhose, tights, and similar products to be recycled into other things.
5. Computers and Electronics: There are many small organizations that accept used electronics for recycling. Just make sure they are responsible with the material. In Portland, Free Geek recycles electronics via a job skills and community service program. Local Best Buy stores will also accept many electronics.
   

Are you a master recycler? What's the #1 thing we all need to know about recycling? Post your best tips here!

[1] This information is summarized from: Green American. (2011). 20 Plastic Things You Didn't Know You Could Recycle. Green American Magazine, 86: 17.

ACHS is now participating in Portland Composts!

The ACHS offices and Apothecary Shoppe College Store are now participating in Portland Composts!, a program through the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. Portland Composts! is a voluntary program, which will allow ACHS to keep their food wastes like food scraps and food-soiled papers out of the landfill, and to instead to keep wastes like food scraps and food-soiled papers out of the landfill and to help make nutrient-rich compost instead.

Where will the waste go for composting? It will be sent to the Cedar Grove Composting facility in Maple Valley, Washington, and the bagged compost will be available for purchase at Portland-area home improvement stores.

Click here for more information about the Portland Composts! program, FAQs, and a complete list of what can be composted: http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=41682

Being Green: simple environmentally friendly habits from Scientific American

We all know the big ones: leave the car at home, don't waste electricity, and recycle. But, there are many more less obvious, equally simple ways to green your lifestyle. In their article "Being Green: 11 Environmentally Friendly Habits," Scientific American outlines some little-known tips that you can start using today. Here are some highlights:

1. Chemical Decoder
Read the label on your body care products. You're likely to find chemicals in the fine print: "Is polyquater­nium-10 safe for you and everything that lives downstream from your shower drain? And why do toothpastes and toilet bowl cleaners share some ingredients?"

For information about the chemicals in household products, cosmetics, and body care products, checkout the Green Media Toolshed’s Scorecard (www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/), the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com) and the National Library of Medicine’s Toxicology Data Network (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov).

2. Hand-held Energy Savers
Replace electric-powered with hand-powered tools. Some suggestions: the can opener, coffee grinder, juicer, stick blender, and the electric knife.

3. Go Outside
According to Scientific American, "Sending a kid outside to play can improve his or her concentration and fight climate change. A study published in 2008 by researchers at the University of Illinois found that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who took walks outdoors raised their attentiveness scores and that kids who walked in natural settings did better than those who walked city streets. A dose of nature was just as effective as a dose of Ritalin. Of course, the more time kids spend playing outdoors the less time they’ll spend at video-game consoles—which consume an estimated 16 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, about four times the output of Hoover Dam."

To read the full length article, click here.

Recycle your TV

Ok, what does recycling your tv have to do with a holistic tip blog? Everything! Our environment supports our health, and looking after the planet ultimately is self serving as well as giving you a feel good buzz that rivals caffeine.

So before you send your old TV to a landfill, check out http://takebackmytv.com where you can urge manufacturers to take back old sets and find out about recycling options in your area. Since many people are thinking about replacing tvs to receive the new digital signals in Feb 2009, its a good idea to find out now what you could do with your old set if you do replace it. (Of course, remember you dont need a new set if you currently have a cable box, sattelite box, or get a converter box for your old set).

And yes, its better to get outside or talk to each other than watch TV, but TV does have some good shows on - if you get it, check out the new Planet Green channel (my five year olds favorite show is Wasted, where they go through a family's trash!) and Veria, which has lots of great holistic health shows.