Frankly Green

Get Paid to Recycle Old Electronics

We all have drawers full of outdated electronics; why not trade them in for cash or recycling? NextWorth users will now be able to trade-in their old BlackBerry phones, digital cameras, GPS systems, video games and video game consoles in addition to the original iPod and iPhone trade-in categories. They can opt to have a check sent or paid via PayPal, or receive a Target or Amazon gift card in the amount of the trade-in value. If the device does not hold any value at the time of trade-in, NextWorth still provides free shipping to customers and disposes of the device through responsible recycling practices.

Help keep our environment clean and prevent the some 1.5 – 1.9 million tons of electronic waste disposed every year from ending up in landfills.

San Francisco to Sydney on a Plastic Boat

National Geographic Explorer David de Rothschild is setting sail from San Francisco to Sydney on a Plastic Bottle Boat in April. Plastiki is the 60 foot catamaran made out of 12,000 two liter plastic bottles that will make the voyage. The purpose of this trip is two fold-to investigate plastic litter, the most common ocean pollution, and to highlight the many ways plastic can be re-purposed.

Only one of the 15 billion pounds of plastic produced in the United States each year is recycled and much of the leftovers float their way to the Great Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch. Also, don't forget March 22 is National Water Day, and most people aren't aware that the Great Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch has grown to more than twice the size of Texas!

National Geographic hopes this voyage will showcase the many uses for smart materials so when Plastiki's voyage is over, the boat will be broken down and turned into emergency shelters, shipping pellets, clothes, and even more bottles.

Check out the photos and video of Plastiki and her gutsy captain, David de Rothschild, at National Geographic Online.

Recycling is Good But Precycling is Better

Waste not, want not
Recyling is good, but precycling - cutting out packaging in the first place and buying only what you need - is better. Tanis Taylor tried it for a month

The Guardian - Link to Article

Thanks to Elicia V. for this article!

Every Tuesday, as a house, we put out two big green boxes of recycling. I say green because a) they literally are and b) the presumption is that by using them, so are we. But wouldn't it be greener not to put out the recycling - to generate so little waste that, come Tuesday, there is nothing to put in the green box? It is an idealistic notion, but is it practical? I decided to try it for a month to find out. And in doing so, I inadvertently discovered that I'd joined a movement.

Paper or Plastic?

Thanks to my sister T for this article!

Link to Article

"Paper or plastic?" It seems like it should be an easy choice, but from durability and reusability to life cycle costs, there's a lot more to each bag than meets the eye.

Paper comes from trees -- lots and lots of trees. The trees are found, marked and felled in a process that all too often involves clear-cutting, resulting in massive habitat destruction and long-term ecological damage. It takes approximately three tons of wood chips to make one ton of pulp. The pulp is washed and bleached, and both stages require thousands of gallons of clean water.

Back at Junk Value, Recyclables Are Piling Up

By Matt Richtel and Kate Galbraith , NYT

My friend Brooke sent me this article with this note - "Argh!"

Link to Article

Trash has crashed.

The economic downturn has decimated the market for recycled materials like cardboard, plastic, newspaper and metals. Across the country, this junk is accumulating by the ton in the yards and warehouses of recycling contractors, which are unable to find buyers or are unwilling to sell at rock-bottom prices.

Ordinarily the material would be turned into products like car parts, book covers and boxes for electronics. But with the slump in the scrap market, a trickle is starting to head for landfills instead of a second life.

Video: What Happens to My Recyclables?

Link to Video

Just in time for “America Recycles Day”, RecycleBank launched The Cycle, an interactive animation to help answer the question: “What happens to my recyclables after I put them out and they are collected?”

The video takes viewers through each step in the cycle: from recycling collection to processing to manufacturing new products from recycled material.

Then, my friend Brooke sends me the next post!

An Animation of Water Bottle Recycling Rates

This is a sobering video: An Animation of Water Bottle Recycling Rates US consumption of bottled water reached 30 billion bottles per year in 2005! And only 12% were recycled!! See Bottled Water Waste for more.

Paper or Plastic?

Check out this MSNBC.com story on the best way to transport your groceries!

Link to Interactive Story.

Beverage Bigs Battle Bottle Backlash

Brandweek February 17, 2008

By Kenneth Hein

While it is nice to see these efforts going to worthy projects, one has to wonder whether or not their efforts are altruistic or if this is another attempt to try to preserve their declining bottled water sales. I am pleased that more and more people are foregoing bottled water and using tap water or filtered water and drinking from reusable bottles!

Link to Article

The beverage giants are hoping a little goodwill goes a long way.

Faced with evaporating sales growth for bottled water and increased concerns about their products' impact on the environment, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are fighting back with charitable ties and A-list celebrity endorsements.

...

The efforts come as the $16 billion bottled water segment is suffering on two fronts: shifting consumer tastes to teas, enhanced waters and energy drinks; and plastic PET packaging which has environmentalists up in arms. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom went as far as banning the use of city funds to purchase bottled water last summer.

Sales have slowed considerably. This week, Beverage Digest will report that 2007 sales growth was about half that of the year prior. For the first time it only grew in the high single digits across all channels compared to 20% in 2006. Some segments, like bulk packaging (one gallon and over) in the supermarket channel, are in decline (sales fell 4.9% in 2007).

Study Says Consumers Would Skip 'Convenience Parkaging' to Help Environment

Link to Article

MARCH 03, 2008 -- SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Research from The Nielsen Co. here shows that more than half of U.S. consumers would give up all forms of convenience packaging if doing so would benefit the environment.

This includes packaging designed for easy stacking/storing at home (58 percent); packaging that can be used for cooking, or doubling as a re-sealable container (55 percent); and packaging designed for easy transport (53 percent), according to Nielsen’s PanelViews study of 65,000 U.S. households.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, Nielsen found that U.S. consumers are not as willing to give up packaging designed to keep products clean and untouched by other shoppers (26 percent); packaging designed to keep products in good condition (31 percent); packaging that preserves products to make them last longer and stay fresher (31 percent); and packaging information, including food labeling, cooking and usage instructions (33 percent).