Deseret News: Pet Owners Facing Foreclosure Need to Have Plan For Their Animals

Filed under: Pets 911 - February 28, 2008

“Jingle mail” is the latest in foreclosure vernacular. The term describes what happens when a homeowner facing foreclosure literally gives up and throws in the keys—throws them into an envelope and mails them to the bank, that is. Jingle all the way. But it’s one thing to lock the door and walk away, leaving the bank to clean up the mess, and quite another to lock the door and walk away, leaving the dog—cat, turtle, lizard, guinea pig, horse—to fend for himself.

When times are tough for people, they’re tough for pets. And times are tough.

The housing bubble has burst, and the resulting mortgage fiasco has spawned a new camp of pet owners: desperate people too worried about their own pending homelessness to plan for that of their pets.

This year, shelters in hard-hit states across the country are feeling the foreclosure pinch as they fill to capacity and beyond. An Orange County, Fla., animal shelter reports taking in 700 pets in the past four months—more than three times the number of new pets sheltered during the 2005 housing boom. Traci Chavez, director of animal services at the Escondido Humane Society in Southern California, told the North County Times that her shelter “has seen an influx of animals from families who can’t make their mortgages. Forced to move quickly and with limited means, they are unable to locate housing that accommodates their pets.”

Far worse, though, are the stories about bankers and real estate agents unlocking the doors to abandoned homes only to discover an even more disturbing plight: abandoned pets. Leo Nordine, a Hermosa Beach, Calif., broker who specializes in selling repossessed homes, recently told the L.A. Times that he “finds abandoned dogs at least once a month these days. Sometimes they’re chained in a yard, sometimes locked in the house. They’re often emaciated, if they’re alive at all.”

Generally speaking, people facing foreclosure are not adept planners. Which explains why many find themselves out of time and with no plan to secure their pet’s well-being. Needless to say, leaving your pet alone to suffer a slow painful death by dehydration or starvation is not a good plan. To the contrary, it’s both cruel and illegal.

In California, abandoning an animal is a crime punishable by up to six months in jail, a $500 fine, or both. As Stephanie Shain of the Humane Society of the United States told The Associated Press, “They may have to be euthanized at a shelter, but they’ll be fed and have water and have a humane euthanization, as opposed to spending the last days of their lives eating carpet or wallboard.”

Bad planners aren’t necessarily bad people, but desperate people are notorious for making bad decisions. Those who leave their pets behind locked doors may be hoping the Good Samaritan effect will kick in with a neighbor or realtor. A reckless, guilt-driven gamble—completely insensitive to the suffering the animal will endure.

If you know a pet owner who is facing foreclosure, don’t be shy. Ask them if they have a plan for their pets; stuff their mailbox with the addresses, phone numbers and literature of local shelters and rescue groups. This is no time for pride.

After they’ve moved, peek in the windows and check the yard for signs of animals. If you find an abandoned pet, notify a shelter or the authorities. Provide a small bowl of water for the animal, but don’t leave him alone with it. Dehydrated animals are weak and could drown face down in a water bowl. Provide food only after consulting a vet.

If you are a pet owner facing foreclosure, don’t panic. Yes, it’s hard to find a rental that will allow a dog, but it’s not impossible. First and foremost, don’t delay. Start planning now:

And if you do convince your new landlord to let you keep your dog, get that in writing, too.

—Be honest: Don’t try to sneak your dog in somewhere. You want to secure a home where he is welcome; you don’t want to have to live with the worry of being evicted.

A person should exhaust every effort to take their pet with them when they move. He is part of the family and it’s the responsible thing to do. But if, for some reason, you deem that impossible, you at the very least owe him the 50/50 chance he’ll have at a shelter of finding a new home. Says Shain: “No one likes to think of leaving their pet at a shelter. But if you can’t take him with you, it is far more humane than leaving them in an apartment or a house alone.”

Alone, he doesn’t have a chance.

Woof!

Corpus Christie Caller-Times: Disabled Man Failed to Follow Filing Protocol

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 25, 2008

By Mike Baird

Continuing communication can close cracks in disability disbursement; and there’s only one place locally to take e-waste to keep it from tainting our landfill.

Arthur Lee Work Jr., a 60-year-old commercial insulator, has had two knee replacements and nearly died from a staph infection in his spine. He was approved Dec. 31, 2006, by the U.S. Social Security Administration for disability income and received his first monthly check in June 2007. Work was told then the arrears would be paid to him in about six weeks, he said. After six months passed, he called the administration and was told he would not receive the difference at all, but the representative didn’t explain why, he said.

To help Work get an answer, the Troubleshooter contacted Aurora Arias, spokeswoman for the administration’s Dallas office. A representative contacted Work on Tuesday to explain that he will not get paid back to his application date because he didn’t follow the right filing procedure.

Arias had some advice for others.

“Once people are approved, they should keep in touch with their local office, at 361-806-5560 in Corpus Christi, to ensure their case stays on track and that they do abide guidelines,” Arias said. Most important: Document whom you talk with, the time and the crux of the conversation to later help track the case, she said.

“Anything can happen,” Arias said. “There could be a computer processing delay, a payment center problem that requires manual inputs, or some documentation could be missing.”

A case also could be selected for random review, which can slow payment, she said.

“I’m disappointed,” said Work, who expects to get back to work soon. “But I learned you have to follow their procedures precisely.”

Nancy Steward couldn’t recycle her old computer printer where she recently bought a new one. She contacted the Troubleshooter, concerned about discarded gadgets getting tossed into landfills where cadmium, copper, mercury, arsenic, nickel, zinc and lead can leach out.

People in the U.S. generated an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of e-waste in 2006, according to www.earth911.org, an online component of Global Alerts, a media company that compiles content to enable people to “think global, act local and make a difference.”

The amount of e-waste, which includes an estimated 44 million computers and televisions in 2006, is growing at three times the rate of other municipal waste, the Web site reports.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lists nearly 90 Texas recycling businesses on its Web site, with several specializing in electronics recycling, but they are mostly companies that accept only their own brand of equipment.

None of the Texas e-waste specialty recyclers is located within 100 miles of Corpus Christi.

In Corpus Christi, only the two Office Depot locations offer a recycling drop-off for electronic dinosaurs, with a cost. Disposal boxes range from $5 to $15, and the larger box holds up to a 19-inch monitor. For bigger items, the store will help arrange a direct freight pickup, but it costs according to weight.

Best Buy has a free disposal box at the front of its store for small items: cell phones, iPods, MP3 players, pagers, ink cartridges and batteries.

Still-functional items are accepted at the three Goodwill Industries of South Texas locations. Goodwill takes working computers, VCRs, CD-ROMs, DVD players, office machinery, small appliances and televisions. Concerned recyclers also can contact their favorite charity to see if they are interested in reusing equipment.

Onyx & Breezy Foundation Encourages Pet Owners to Have Their Pets Spayed or Neutered—Humane Society of the U.S Annual Spay Day Feb. 26

Filed under: Pets 911, Press Releases - February 25, 2008

Tuxedo Park, NY (PRWEB) February 25, 2008—The Humane Society of the United States estimates that every year—in the United States alone—more than 25 million puppies and kittens are born because of the uncontrolled breeding of pets. Tragically, statistics also show that approximately 12 million of those pets are euthanized each year either because they have been taken from the streets or because they have been given up by their owners to shelters that choose not to follow no-kill policies. Help The Onyx & Breezy Foundation and its community partners reduce the number of animals put to death by having your pets spayed or neutered.

The Humane Society of the United States’ annual Spay Day on Feb. 26, 2008 is an excellent time to take action on behalf of your pet and the many other animals that never find their way into loving homes.

If you hesitate to spay or neuter your pet because of the pain you feel it may cause or because of the potential long-term hormonal effects, be comforted—the procedure has actually been linked with better health and longer lives in companion animals. Having the procedure done at an early age maximizes your pet’s health benefits and allows your pet utmost freedom without the chance of contributing to the pet overpopulation problem.

“Besides the inherent health benefits of spaying or neutering our pets, including reducing the risk of mammary and reproductive cancers, uterine infection, prostatic disease and behavioral problems, spaying or neutering is the single most significant way to reduce the abandonment, abuse and unnecessary death of unwanted animals,” says Dr. Kathy Hefner, DVM and Medical Advisor to The Onyx & Breezy Foundation.

The typical cost to have a cat or dog spayed or neutered is $100-$200. It remains one the best bargains in animal health care. But, if you have trouble affording the cost of having your pet spayed or neutered, consider these resources:

“The Onyx & Breezy Foundation commends and is proud to support the population control efforts of local shelters and rescue groups and encourages the animal friendly community to do the same,” adds Dr. Hefner.

If you want to do more to solve the pet overpopulation problem and comfort those animals that may never find a home otherwise, reach out to your local shelter and volunteer your time or make a donation to support the shelter’s spay/neuter programs.

The Onyx and Breezy Foundation is a nonprofit foundation, which provides support to nonprofit animal welfare organizations that find permanent, loving homes for abandoned animals while addressing animal health care concerns in a no-kill setting, including organizations that facilitate animal fostering programs and those providing care in a more permanent facility. The foundation also supports organizations that conduct research focused on extending the lives of companion animals or assuring quality of life for companion animals that are ill. Finally, the foundation supports organizations involved in leveraging the power of animals to help their human companions heal. To learn more, go to http://www.onyxandbreezy.org.

USA Weekend: Next Friday is Leap Day—Take a leap!

Filed under: Pets 911 - February 24, 2008

By Natalie Ermann Russell

  1. Walk to work. Currently, only 2.5 percent of Americans rely on foot power. Kudos to Boston, which has the highest rate of work-walkers in a major city, at 13 percent. If work is too far away, walk to lunch.
  2. Soar up, up and away in a hot air balloon. See your city and the surrounding countryside from a whole new vantage point.
  3. Try rock climbing. It’s a good workout, and you might spot wildlife on their home turf.
  4. Hire a yoga instructor to come to the office to show you and your co-workers a few simple relaxation moves.
  5. Drink a glass of red wine. It’s abundant in antioxidants that help relax the arteries and prevent blood clots and cholesterol buildup.
  6. Sign up for scuba-diving classes, and book a summer diving trip to Florida or the Caribbean. Really adventure-hungry? Plan to dive the Red Sea.
  7. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Real stairs burn more calories than the StairMaster. But proceed with caution if you’re prone to knee problems—stair-climbing can be taxing.
  8. Reel in a new hobby with Robert J. Sousa’s book, Learn to Fly Fish in 24 Hours. Then, be ready when the season begins in spring.
  9. Turn off your cellphone, BlackBerry or other hand-held device for the whole day.
  10. Make firm plans for every vacation day you will earn this year. Last year, Americans let more than 438 million vacation days go unused, according to a survey by Expedia.com. That’s about three days per person down the drain.
  11. Buy a plane ticket to a place you’ve never visited. Begin by exploring SmarterTravel.com, LastMinuteTravel.com and 11thHourVacations.com for low-cost, last-minute fares.
  12. Register to vote and help make the November 2008 turnout better than in 2004, when only 64 percent of eligible Americans went to the polls.
  13. Take a new route to work. It may add five minutes to your commute, but you’ll actually start noticing again what’s outside the car window.
  14. Read a heart-pounding adventure book. The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, details his 1910-13 journey to the Antarctic with famed explorer Robert Falcon Scott.
  15. Plan your workouts for the entire month of March. There are plenty of 30-day programs, and then you get a whole day (March has 31 of ‘em, remember?) to check out the results in the mirror.
  16. Buy a harmonica. Playing an instrument increases left-brain activity, and the harmonica is easy to learn—you can be playing Swanee River by sundown!
  17. Read the book that inspired an action-adventure movie you’ve already seen. You may be surprised to learn which scenes didn’t make it into the film, or that the book was actually good even if the movie was lousy.
  18. Hit the gym before work. There’s no physiological reason that a morning workout will be more effective, but you may sleep better later, according to one study.
  19. Look every service person you deal with directly in the eye. That McD’s coffee guy is a person, too; recognizing it makes you a better one.
  20. Learn how to shoot a bow. The sport of archery is rich in history, and you have to use your own strength to hit the target.
  21. Make a difference. Help others—that’s the idea behind Make A Difference Day, begun on Leap Day 1992. Turn the page for more.
  22. Ratchet up your water consumption. Every time you say a common word—such as “and”—take a drink. You’ll reach the recommended six to eight glasses a day in no time.
  23. Go sky-diving. Or, for an even bigger thrill, plan a jump from a helicopter instead of an airplane.
  24. Sign up for karate lessons. It will be hard to forget the first time you chop a board in half with your bare hand.
  25. Reach for a piece of dark chocolate when you need a midafternoon jolt of caffeine. It’s rich in free radical-destroying antioxidants, which may prevent heart disease and other illnesses.
  26. Learn how to play a new card game. Card Games for Dummies is a good place to start. Playing cards keeps the mind alert and helps give your memory a boost; learningsomething new increases stimulation and keeps boredom at bay.
  27. Try a food you’ve never eaten, like rabbit or kumquats. You may never eat it again, but at least you can say you tried it.
  28. Volunteer at your local animal shelter to walk dogs that are waiting to be adopted. (Go to the website pets911.com to find the shelter nearest to you.)

Los Angeles Times: Here Are Ways to Dispose of Electronic Devices Responsibly

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 24, 2008

By Alex Pham

Americans dump hundreds of millions of electronic devices each year as they rush to adopt the latest technology. Less than 13 percent get recycled, according to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, an advocacy group in San Francisco. The rest end up in landfills.

Environmentalists worry because electronic gear contains toxic substances that could leach into the soil or pollute the air if incinerated. A tube TV, for example, contains as much as eight pounds of lead. Flat-panels have mercury.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is a good clearinghouse for reusing or recycling gadgets.

After years of lobbying by environmental groups, some companies have begun to reclaim and recycle their old products. Dell Inc. will take back any of its offerings and pay for the shipping. Apple Inc. will take back old iPods and toss in a 10 percent discount toward a new model. Sony Corp. has set up a nationwide network of recycling centers .

If your equipment still works, try selling, swapping or donating it. Freecycle helps you swap or give away items. EBay Inc. lets you trade old technology for credit on PayPal, its online payment system.

Cellphones on average are traded in every year or so. CollectiveGood, and other organizations help you resell or recycle them (erase private information first).

For some devices, the most toxic component is the battery, which can contain cadmium, mercury and other heavy metals. Rechargable batteries can be taken to recycling facilities found through Call2Recycle. Earth911 lets you enter your ZIP Code to find sites that will accept spent disposables.

Alameda Sun: Cute Bunny, Big Responsibility

Filed under: Pets 911 - February 22, 2008

By Tania Fardella

Sweet precious faces, deep soulful eyes, unimaginably soft fur: If you’ve ever happened past a pet shop window and been charmed by the enclosure filled with adorable baby bunnies, and envisioned what a perfect Easter gift one of these enchanting creatures would make for your child, think again. It is imperative to know that there is much more to properly caring for a rabbit than meets the eye, and that, contrary to popular belief, rabbits are not necessarily suitable pets for children, and are definitely not good “starter pets.”

Rabbits can live up to 10 years or more and, when given appropriate care, housing and attention, can make most wonderful companions. They can be quite affectionate, playful, inquisitive, and are, by their nature, extremely social and can form very strong bonds with their human friends. They are also fastidious groomers, and can easily learn to use a litter box. However, the tragic fact is that according to the ASPCA, rabbits are the third most-euthanized animals in U.S. shelters after cats and dogs. This is, in great part, the ultimate result of well-meaning individuals bringing rabbits home as pets for their children without thoroughly researching what is involved in their proper care.

Margo DeMello, administrative director of House Rabbit Society and co-author of the book Stories Rabbits Tell, says that her organization sees a spike in “dump calls”—i.e. phone calls from the public looking to find new homes for their rabbits in the summer months, after their baby Easter bunnies have grown into teenagers and have lost their “new bunny sheen.”

“The biggest problem with bringing home rabbits for children at Easter is two-fold,” she explains. “First, it gives children the impression that rabbits, or ducklings or chicks, are toys, to be purchased for a holiday with no real understanding of the life-long commitment that they entail. And second, given the lack of preparation devoted to bringing home an ‘Easter bunny,’ it’s no surprise that many of these rabbits are abandoned at animal shelters, or in ‘the wild,’ a few months after Easter.”

DeMello recommends that if a family is serious about bringing a rabbit into their lives, that they start by educating themselves about the needs and realities of living with a house rabbit by visiting the House Rabbit Society’s Web site at www.rabbit.org. “If they find that a rabbit sounds like a suitable companion for them, then adopting from a shelter or HRS chapter or another rescue group could be a great choice.”

In 2002, the Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the House Rabbit Society launched the “Make Mine Chocolate!” campaign. Their mission focuses on education, and on discouraging people from purchasing live rabbits as Easter gifts, and offers suggestions for humane alternatives such as chocolate or stuffed toy bunnies.

“We try to educate would-be purchasers on the commitment involved in rabbit ownership in the hope of discouraging impulsive decisions,” says Terri Cook of “Make Mine Chocolate!” and vice president of Columbus House Rabbit Society. She explains that public response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. “Our biggest accomplishment has been acquiring the support of nationally recognized groups which include the House Rabbit Society, the ASPCA, HSUS, Best Friends Animal Society and Pets911. Having the support of these groups helps get our message to a national audience.”

At www.makeminechocolate.org, you can learn more about their mission, shop the organization’s online store (whose proceeds directly support their ongoing campaign), and download flyers and other educational materials at no charge.

To help you make the decision whether a rabbit will be the right companion pet for your family, it will be helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

If you’ve answered these questions honestly, and have decided that a rabbit will be a good fit for your family, please consider adoption first, since there are many wonderful bunnies in need of homes at numerous shelters around the bay area. If you’ve decided that perhaps a rabbit is not the most appropriate pet for your household, you’ve made a wise and responsible decision, and maybe even saved a rabbit’s life.

UW Oshkosh Advance Titan: Recyclemania Helps, But its Success is Up to Students

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 21, 2008

By Jennifer LaBorde

Whatever their beliefs about global warming and the state of the environment, most people agree that our generation must take better care of the earth than our parents did. As kids we were taught to turn the faucet off when we brushed our teeth and separate trash from recyclable material. Children were told to “reduce, reuse and recycle,” and the mantra was distributed in schools and on television commercials.

But now, college students often don’t reduce, reuse and recycle—we throw away. Cans and glass bottles are mixed with coffee grounds and Chinese food cartons. Earth 911, an organization that tracks recycling trends in the U.S., says that more Americans are recycling. However, the numbers compiled by Earth 911 does not translate onto college campuses. Students, and not only students on this campus, seem much less conscious of their recycling habits than adults.

It isn’t really an issue on the forefront of students’ minds, with classes beginning and the anticipation of school stress. However less important it is than other things, recycling should be part of our daily activity.

Students know that the future of the environment, however bleak or positive it might be, is in their hands. While we will be living with the consequences of our parents’ and grandparents’ actions, our children will have to live with ours. Recycling one beer can doesn’t seem like it will do any good, and maybe that’s right. College kids might think that they have better things to do than sit and separate cans and garbage, but it really is an important thing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that for recycling to work, everyone must be committed to every phase of the process. It seems so simple, and everyone thinks that it doesn’t matter if they don’t do it, but get the big picture—recycling, and care of the environment as a whole, is much more than just putting a can in the right receptacle. It is about a social responsibility.

Unlike many social responsibilities, recycling and reducing consumption is not political. It isn’t something that one group will tell you to do, but something another will tell you to avoid. It just simply is a good practice to have.

Our university is helping students get motivated to recycle, as it joined a national collegiate recycling competition called Recyclemania. The competition focused on a few different categories, but basically urged students to recycle more and waste less.
The competition, while focusing mostly on recycling acceptable materials, also stressed the importance to reduce waste. Reduce, was the repeated theme, just as it was so many years ago.

In an age where most meals come from a cardboard box or frozen dinner tray, the amount of waste is growing, especially among low-income individuals like college students. Recycling isn’t the only thing students can do—by limiting the amount of trash that students throw away, students will take another step to ensure that the future of the environment will be a positive one.

Though the actual recording of recycling information ended Feb. 2, UW Oshkosh continues to encourage students to recycle. Anywhere there is a garbage can, there is a receptacle for paper and glass and cans near by.

The university does a fantastic job helping students realize the need to recycle. By making it easy for students, the university not only promotes a clean environment on campus, but also makes it easy for students to do the right thing.

What this topic truly comes down to is doing the right thing. Nobody is going to look through your trash to make sure you are recycling.
Even with recycling laws in place in Oshkosh, no police officer will follow you around to make sure that the soda can you’re drinking with lunch goes in the glass and aluminum bin. Though people can receive a citation from the city for not separating recyclables, for the most part, a commitment to recycling is up to each individual.

The results of the Recyclemania competition will be available on its website beginning Feb. 8. As a first time school that pledged its whole campus to recycling, it will be interesting to see how UW Oshkosh compares to other similar sized schools.

So the responsibility comes to the students. We will have to live and work in this world, and it is ours to take care of. Fossil fuels are being depleted, and the ozone layer has a hole in it. Will one recycled newspaper reverse these things? No. But one person, with one newspaper a day, will without a doubt add to the problem.

Helium: Saving the Environment: How You Can Help

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 21, 2008

By Parker Stegmaier

Here’s how:

Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL)

CFLs use 60 percent less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the U.S. made the switch, we’d reduce carbon dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds! You can purchase CFLs online from the Energy Federation.

Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has more tips for saving energy on heating and cooling.

Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner

Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

Install a programmable thermostat

Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.

Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases

Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most efficient models. If each household in the U.S. replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient models available, we’d eliminate 175 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year!

Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket

You’ll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 550 pounds per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Use less hot water

It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.

Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible

You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.

Turn off electronic devices you’re not using

Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer when you’re not using them will save you thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

Unplug electronics from the wall when you’re not using them

Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy used to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working accounts for five percent of total domestic energy consumption and spews 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!

Only run your dishwasher when there’s a full load and use the energy-saving setting

You can save 100 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

Insulate and weatherize your home

Properly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25 percent of your home heating bill and 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 1,700 pounds per year. The Consumer Federation of America has more information on how to better insulate your home.

Be sure you’re recycling at home

You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates. Earth 911 can help you find recycling resources in your area.

Buy recycled paper products

It takes less 70 to 90 percent less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.

Plant a tree

A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15 percent. The Arbor Day Foundation has information on planting and provides trees you can plant with membership.

Get a home energy audit

Many utilities offer free home energy audits to find where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. You can save up to 30 percent off your energy bill and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Energy Star can help you find an energy specialist.

Switch to green power

In many areas, you can switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar. The Green Power Network is a good place to start to figure out what’s available in your area.

Buy locally grown and produced foods

The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.

Buy fresh foods instead of frozen

Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

Seek out and support local farmers markets

They reduce the amount of energy required to grow and transport the food to you by one fifth. You can find a farmer’s market in your area at the USDA website.

Buy organic foods as much as possible

Organic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 580 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!

Avoid heavily packaged products

You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10 percent.

Eat less meat

Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.

Almost one third of the carbon dioxide produced in the United States comes from our cars, trucks and airplanes. Here are some simple, practical things you can do to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide you produce while on the move.

Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible

Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year!

Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates

Sharing a ride with someone just two days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. eRideShare.com runs a free national service connecting commuters and travelers.

Keep your car tuned up

Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just one percent of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.

Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated

Proper inflation can improve gas mileage by more than three percent. Since every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference!

When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle

You can save 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only three miles per gallon more than your current one. You can get up to 60 miles per gallon with a hybrid! You can find information on fuel efficiency here and here.

Try car sharing

Need a car but don’t want to buy one? Community car sharing organizations provide access to a car and your membership fee covers gas, maintenance and insurance. Many companies such as Flexcar—offer low emission or hybrid cars too! Also, see ZipCar.

Try telecommuting from home

Telecommuting can help you drastically reduce the number of miles you drive every week. For more information, check out the Telework Coalition.

Fly less

Air travel produces large amounts of emissions so reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. You can also offset your air travel by investing in renewable energy projects.
Found at http://climatecrisis.org/

BYU NewsNet: Utah Recycling Sluggish

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 19, 2008

By Michelle Lizon

George Goddard, one of Utah’s first recyclers in the 1800s, went door-to-door collecting rags that would be turned into paper and used for issues of the Deseret News. Although he was fairly successful, many residents stood in their narrow doorways empty-handed. They had creative ways of telling him “no,” so Goddard began to record their responses.

“I’m too economical to have any - I make all my rags into carpets,” “You give so little for them, it don’t pay for the soap and trouble of washing them” and “Call next week, I’ve got a big sack full, but I’m too busy whitewashing to look after rags now.”

Many Utah residents still fall into some of these categories today. Some recycle, some say they don’t have the money or the time, while still others have never thought twice before tossing their cans into the trash.

As more Americans become environmentally conscious, Utah lags far behind many states in the percentage of waste recycled by its residents.

Utah generates around 3,760,000 tons of waste per year. Only about 19 percent of that is recycled, while the rest is dumped into more than 60 growing landfills that dot the state.

But no government department in Utah is keeping track of how much is recycled, since state law does not require it, and the EPA only has records that are voluntarily submitted.

However, Zero Waste America did collect the data. What is Zero Waste America? In their most recent report they discovered how much states recycle, while considering factors such as waste created, imported and exported and population. They ranked Utah as the state with the fifth worst waste management in the United States.

Recycling only costs about $5 per month, so why aren’t Utahans as green-savvy as residents from states like New Jersey or Washington that recycle nearly half of their waste each year?

Although policy varies from city to city in Utah, most do not offer recycling services nor require them, leaving the responsibility up to citizens. Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality is only responsible for administering recycling programs for two items - tires and used oil.

Like Utah, recycling is not mandatory in all of Washington’s cities either, but the state does have intensive programs to motivate its citizens and keep track of the state’s waste trail from start to finish. Government employees cover specific areas, ranging from plastics to aluminum, with several people focused solely on educating schools about recycling.

In many of Utah’s cities, there is no government representative or program to advertise the recycling of non-hazardous waste or evaluate if it’s happening.

With citizens’ lack of enthusiasm for the three R’s, many private organizations and recycling activists in Utah are bent on showing people the pros of recycling and the cons of tossing everything in a bag for the garbage truck.

Last summer, Nathalie Staffler, a BYU student in the clincial social work master’s program, went door-to-door to encourage Provo residents to recycle, much like Utah’s first recycler.

“We found out that people are either not aware there is recycling available, or they think it is expensive to recycle - a myth,” Staffler said. “It only costs $5 per month. With a household of six people, that represents not even a dollar per person per month.”

Residents can sign-up for curbside recycling in many of Utah’s cities through private companies such as Waste Management. In places like Provo and Orem residents can pay for a 90-gallon can to throw most of their recyclable items into. They don’t have to sort it and it’s usually emptied every other week.

If more residents started recycling, the benefits could even flow into more jobs for the state. It takes far more hands to recycle cans, paper, plastics and other trash than it does to bury it. Landfilling 10,000 tons of waste creates only six jobs, while recycling the same amount of waste creates 36 jobs, according to Earth 911, a national environmental resource.

Recycling also helps ease the strain on natural resources. Americans are throwing away about 42 million newspapers each day, while at the same time nearly two million trees are being cut down in the United States each day.

“Each town has the potential to become more sensitive and respectful toward the land that hosts them,” Staffler said. “There must be a mutual give and take between humans and Mother Earth.”

For more information, go to www.utahrecycles.org.

Broadcast Newsroom: Green DTV

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 19, 2008

By John Eggerton

An environmental protection specialist from the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste was in attendance at a recent meeting of various government partners in the NTIA’s DTV education program.

Why on God’s green Earth?

Because analog TVs become solid waste when they are replaced by digital ones. And according to recycling group Earth 911, CRT displays contain up to eight pounds of lead per set.

“Combine this with the fact that the FCC is going to require all televisions to run a digital signal by Feb. 18, 2009, and we could be looking at a lot of lead headed for landfills,” the group says on its Website.

With potentially millions of old analog sets being scrapped over the next year or so, the EPA, which concedes that no national infrastructure exists for collecting, recycling or reusing electronics, has a vested interest in extending the time line to help with the logistics of dealing with disposal. That means that going green can be buying a DTV-to analog converter box. “Through our Plug-In To eCycling program [a partnership with consumer electronics manufacturers], EPA is highlighting opportunities for consumers to continue to use their existing analog-only TVs,” says EPA spokeswoman Roxanne Smith.

The National Association of Broadcasters encourages stations to link to e-cycling programs on their station Websites. The NAB features a link to the Consumer Electronics Association’s MyGreenElectronics.org site on its own site. The EPA is also working with TV manufacturers and retailers to make it easier for consumers to recycle their old sets.

Mt. Airy News: Landfill Sorts Through New Recycling Law

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 12, 2008

By Erin C. Perkins

When he arrived at the Surry County Landfill this week, Don Shumaker was surprised when he was directed to a muddy area to dump a load of glass he had just picked up from a restaurant. He couldn’t understand the piles of broken glass on the ground. Shumaker later learned that the landfill had found a way to deal with a new recyling law that required eateries that sell alcohol to recycle glass containers.

Although House Bill 1518, which went into effect last month, prohibits ABC permit holders from disposing of recyclable items sold on their premises in landfills or by incineration, some waste management services deliver to the Surry County Landfill, where operators plan to use the materials to build roads in the landfill.

“The glass is grinded then flattened to the ground and covered with stones and dirt to make roads for the trucks to travel,” said Jerry Snow, the public works director at the landfill, who added that landfill operators weren’t provided guidelines and regulations for how the materials should be handled or used.

“We weren’t prepared for the amount of material we would be receiving,” he added. “We are just getting used to it.”

Snow said that using the recycled materials to build roads is considered a form of recycling and provides the landfill with useful materials to construct the roads inexpensively.

“It is more use to us to make roads with it,” he said. “It would cost more to ship it out or find another use for it. We are just trying to the best we can. We didn’t know what to expect (and) if you don’t know, then you don’t know how to get ready.”

According to Earth 911, an environmental resource Web site, Americans recycle 13 million jars and bottles every day, which can be used to process new glass, including 1, 300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash and 380 pounds of limestone.

Shumaker, who visits the landfill frequently as a business owner and home owner, said he was concerned that lawmakers didn’t provide adequate time for landfill operators to develop a strategy to handle the glass containers.

“The guys here at the landfill are doing a great job, but the state made a law without informing these workers how to properly prepare for this… the consequences of it just come back on the little man,” he said. “You can’t pass a law to do something when the facility is not set up for it. No one should have to pay for recycling.”

Officials with the North Carolina ABC Commission said 70 businesses in Surry County are affected by the law, which requires that bars and restaurants have recyclable glass, plastics and aluminum hauled to the proper facilities. The expense costs some businesses an extra $100 or more a month.

Many local establishments have hired companies such as Cooke Rentals on West Lebanon Street, which is one of the few disposal services in Surry County that offers recycling services. The company charges $25 per month for each 95-gallon roll-out recycling container.

Arizona Daily Star: State Plan Boosts Efforts to Fight Wildcat Dumping

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 12, 2008

Pima County and Tucson could get an additional tool to wield against wildcat dumpers.

A group of state lawmakers, including Tucson Republican Rep. Marian McClure, has introduced legislation that would increase fines for illegal dumping and require those accused of dumping to prove they properly disposed of the waste rather than simply dumping it.

The legislation calls for a minimum fine of $500 for misdemeanor dumping and $1,000 for felony dumping.

Felony dumping is dumping more than 300 pounds or 100 cubic feet of trash and any dumping for commercial purposes.

Those caught dumping illegally still will need to pay to clean up the trash, in addition to paying the fines. The bill also says those who dump illegally are responsible for their trash until it is cleaned up and must present a landfill receipt or other evidence that they disposed of the waste properly.

Democratic Rep. Barbara McGuire, a main sponsor, said the bill would make it easier for counties to get those suspected of dumping to remove the mess. She said counties can’t prosecute offenders unless they catch them in the act.

“This way, it holds them responsible for the disposal of their trash,” said McGuire, who represents Kearney, a town in rural Pinal County.

Local officials said they welcome any additional help, though they still face significant hurdles to stopping illegal dumping.

Pima County has just one person responding to an average of 53 illegal dumping complaints a month, as well as another 57 complaints about trash on people’s private property.

Beth Gorman, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Environmental Quality, said the department doesn’t pursue fines now, instead focusing on getting trash cleaned up. Also, the court often waives any fines if the person cleans up the property.

The new bill would not allow judges to waive the fines.

“We think that a fine would be a deterrent and are supportive of any measure that might help reduce illegal dumping in our community,” Gorman said.

The county is so concerned about illegal dumping that the Board of Supervisors ignored recommendations to increase landfill fees because it didn’t want to discourage people from taking their trash to the landfill, especially in remote rural areas where there is limited trash pickup.

The city already levies fines for illegal dumping—from $100 to $2,500 per occurrence per day—and Eliseo Garza, director of the Department of Neighborhood Resources, said those fines can accumulate quickly to tens of thousands of dollars, especially for repeat offenders.

The proposed legislation offers the city other benefits as well. Often, the city must place a lien on an offender’s property to collect fines. The bill would make those liens secondary only to taxes, making it more likely the city will collect.

However, Garza said, the city and county still will face the challenge of obtaining evidence that will hold up in court.

“The problem is finding out who did it,” Garza said. “A lot of these occur during the night and in remote areas. You have a lot of open areas and people will dump.”

Investigators sometimes find items like envelopes with the dumper’s name and address or other evidence linking the trash to a person or business. That’s enough evidence to pursue a civil violation, but it doesn’t always hold up in a criminal court.

“It’s hard to pursue charges because the courts have rules of evidence, and that’s considered circumstantial,” he said. “You would have to have a fairly strong case to make the court impose fines. You need pictures or witnesses. Even with this bill, that still is something we’ll have to deal with.”

On StarNet: Learn where to properly dispose of different types of waste at azstarnet.com/earth911.

Ohio.com: Felines Inspire Copley Twp. Poet

Filed under: Pets 911 - February 11, 2008

The cats get the choicest morsels, best seats, most respect.

They take center stage in the life of a Copley Township widow who has marked the years by them.

When she was only 6, Mary Ann Fear paid in pain for teasing a tiger stripe while her mom was fetching her breakfast. More than 70 years later, you can still see the scars.

How did she cope?

She became a cat poet.

Fear wrote in a piece titled The Homeless Kitten:
She was such a tiny thing;
A little scrap of fur,
With runny eyes and matted hair;
My heart went out to her.
She was soaking wet
And shaking scared
And crying mournfully.
I wrapped her in a big,
Soft towel
And took her home with me. . . . Now she’s queen of the house. It’s up to me to catch the mouse.

“I write what I feel,” Fear said, eyes soaking up the shenanigans of one of her calico beauties, Penny, the youngster. The cat, oblivious to the movie moment, was wrestling with a stuffed mouse she couldn’t shake off one of her claws.

Nearby, Lizzie, the other calico, basked in the sunshine. Awhile back, she had a run-in with a vet after a bout of periodontal woes and is missing a few teeth, though nothing can take the shimmer off her radiating feline beauty.

Then there’s Smoky, a long sleek gray-black hunter, a prowler with a purpose (though nobody can figure out what it is). All three are rescues who found their doting mom through 30 degrees of separation, as cats are wont to do.

Over the years, there have been 40 or 50 of them.

“I’ve had a lot of cats and cried over every one of them,” said Fear. Five are buried in her backyard. Their graves are adorned with special plantings.

“They have a way of finding you,” said Fear’s sister, Ruth Hale, 88, who shares her sister’s affection and confesses to having owned, over the years, “holy moly, I don’t know how many.”

A 20-year designer of gift baskets at West Point Market, Fear heeds her muse at work, where she fishes through the store for interesting ingredients to tempt shoppers.

At home, she undergoes a similar creative process, writing in ‘’spells,” plucking the perfect words from pure air, composing pieces that sear a moment in time. Her poems have found homes in newspapers and Web sites and she has presented them at poetry slams and given them to friends and family.

The sisters tear up when they read and remember important family events punctuated by a cat.
I lost a piece of my heart today
As I held my Kelly, her life slipped away. . . . She went with dignity and grace
And now she rests in a better place.’

“I’m never alone,” said Fear, “I talk to them all day long.”

Foreclosure pets

Animal agencies around the country are reporting that families’ pets are also imperiled by home foreclosures.

“Shelters have seen an increase in pet surrenders due to families moving into apartments that prohibit animals,” says Pets 911, a national pet lost-and-found database. “Worse yet, some pet owners are just leaving their pets behind with the house or turning them loose in rural areas.”

Don’t do it. Pets are a lifetime commitment and members of the family and doable in a downsized lifestyle.

While shelters in our area are almost always overwhelmed with pets needing homes, there are plenty of apartment complexes that do accept pets. Pets911.com lists more than 53 pet-friendly complexes in Akron and many dozens more across Northeast Ohio. There are probably many others not on the list, so when in doubt, ask.

The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS), a national organization with no local affiliates, urges pet owners to take the time to do the right thing.

While you’re shopping for a new place to live, gather proof that you’re responsible with your pets, documentation attesting to your conscientiousness as a pet owner, such as a letter or note from a previous landlord, your vet, dog trainer, property managers or neighbors.

When a landlord, manager or condominium committee gives permission for your pets, be sure to get the agreement in writing. “Comprehensive agreements protect people, property and the pets themselves,” says the HSUS.

Families feeling the pinch can cut the cost of pet ownership by forgoing expensive toys that dogs and cats really don’t need. It’s your time and attention that bonds them to you.

Keeping your pets safe from other animals and avoidable diseases and accidents will go a long way. Don’t let them roam alone, where they are prone to accidents and disease, and keep them on a leash when you are walking them. It is a moral imperative for pet owners to have their animals spayed or neutered and properly vaccinated, but if yours aren’t, go to all lengths to keep them out of parks and away from other animals.

If you are in desperate straits, ask your vet to work out a payment plan and to prescribe only the most vital of vaccines and services. Consider pet health insurance as a hedge against unexpected illness or injury.

The HSUS encourages landlords and housing managers to preserve the bond between responsible pet owners and their companion animals and offers resources that address landlord concerns at http://www.hsus.org.

Heaven House

Good news from deserving rescuers Heather Nagel and Pat Mihaly, who gratefully received a 2,000-square-foot house from an anonymous donor. The mother and daughter tag team are the heart of Heaven Can Wait, which rescues only from Summit County Animal Control. It wasn’t all that long ago that Nagel and Mihaly hung a shingle on their Cuyahoga Falls rescue and adoption center, which seemed to begin shrinking from Day One. Now they are shuffling off to their Heaven Can Wait House in the Howard Street corridor of Akron.

The grand opening will be 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19. Come see the adoptable creatures and meet radio personality Tom Erickson from WNIR. The address is 51 Vesper St. You can reach Nagel at 330-328-8699 or visit http://www.heaven-can-wait.com.

Uniontown Herald Standard: Perry Township Supervisors Urge Residents to Call Police With Info

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 6, 2008

By Rebekah Sungala

Supervisors announced Tuesday that state police are looking for thieves who stole sections of copper wire from telephone poles in late January.

The theft left almost 200 township residents without phone service for seven days.

Supervisor A.J. Boni urged anyone with information regarding the theft to call the state police barracks in Belle Vernon at 724-929-6262.

Officials said the theft occurred Jan. 25, leaving residents without service until Jan. 31. According to Boni, copper thieves stole two 700-foot sections of wire from telephone poles on Cemetery Road.

The thieves allegedly climbed the poles to remove the wires, knocking over three poles in the process.

Boni said he’s glad residents have phone service again, but said he’s upset it took seven days for Verizon to fix the problem.

“It definitely created a safety hazard,” he said. “We’re just happy the problem has been resolved.”

Boni thanked state Rep. Deberah Kula, D-North Union Twp., for her help in the matter.

Supervisor Janet Galla gave credit to the Verizon crews, who she said worked hard to restore phone service as soon as possible.

Crews were forced to splice 1,400 individual copper wires by hand to repair the stolen cable, a task which is tedious and time consuming, officials said.

Supervisors said Verizon is offering up to a $50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the theft.

As for other matters, Boni announced the township’s new ambulance provider, EMS Southwest, is working out well. The for-profit ambulance provider was appointed in January and replaced Perryopolis Ambulance Service, which is no longer in business.

In unrelated business, supervisors voted to hire certified public accountant Jeffrey McCue to conduct an audit of a $307,000 Housing and Redevelopment Assistance Grant given to the township to help pay for a sewer system.

In other business, supervisors voted to apply for $15,000 in county aid to replace pipe in the area of Wilson Road.

Supervisors also announced that residents interested in recycling materials such as fluorescent bulbs can go to www.earth911.org to find local recycling centers.

The next township meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 4 in the municipal building.

Tonganoxie Mirror: Residents Urged to ‘Go Green,’ Recycle More

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 6, 2008

By Estuardo Garcia

A city official says there’s an easy answer for residents upset when trash haulers don’t pick up garbage left outside the blue, 95-gallon containers provided by Honey Creek Disposal.

Go green.

It’s been nearly a month since Honey Creek Disposal took over trash service for Tonganoxie.

While some people are happy with the blue trash cart service, Kathy Bard, assistant city administrator, said she has received calls from people upset that Honey Creek will not pick up the garbage that doesn’t fit inside Honey Creek’s blue carts. Instead of paying an extra $3 a month for an extra cart, Bard wants to encourage people to think a little greener and start recycling.

“If people would start recycling and get accustomed to that, then their normal weekly trash would be reduced substantially just by the recycling alone,” Bard said. “Plus it saves the environment.”

To make it easier on Tonganoxie residents, Kevin Weldon, owner of Honey Creek Disposal, installed a recycling drop-off center in the parking lot of Triple Creek Realty, 230 West Street (U.S. Highway 24-40).

The 24-hour center will accept numbers 1–7 plastics, cardboard, chip board and aluminum cans. He hopes the convenience of a recycling center open 7 days a week a will encourage people to start recycling.

“The Midwest is kind of lax in the recycling game,” Weldon said. “It’s going to take some time for people to get used to it, but it will make more room in their carts and have them do the green thing.”

He said proceeds from recycling aluminum cans at the center goes to local Boy Scout troops. The drop-off center does not take steel cans, glass or newspaper and magazines.

Weldon said he didn’t want his recycling center to take away from the money the Tonganoxie School District makes from the Abitibi Paper Retriever Community Recycling Program, which accepts newspapers, magazines and office paper.

The recycling center is meant for residents in the city. So for those who live outside of the city or for those who want extra help sorting their recycling or carrying the materials to the bins, the SORT, Organizing and Recycling program still will be operating from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month at the Leavenworth County Fairgrounds.

Besides the full-service help, the once-a-month recycling program recycles everything Honey Creek Disposal does, plus it also recycles steel cans and glass.

Earleta Morey, head of the SORT program, said she liked the opportunity Honey Creek Disposal gave Tonganoxie residents to recycle more frequently instead of storing their recycling for a whole month. But she wasn’t sure how that might affect her program.

“We are just going to go play it by ear and see how it goes,” Morey said. “We still had a lot of people show up on our last SORT day. I think what we are going to do is keep it going like it has because we have volunteers scheduled through May.”

She said she thought many county residents and the elderly especially would continue to come to the fairgrounds to recycle.

Although both recycling centers take the usual recyclable materials, they do not take batteries or other electronic equipment.

To recycle these items, green-minded individuals will have to look outside of the county.

“All electronics include toxic heavy metals and include other types of chemicals that if people handled on their own, could cause problems or expose them to things they shouldn’t be exposed to,” said Chet McLaughlin, environmental engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency. “Probably the most important argument to recycling electronics is that it makes our society much more efficient if we recycle old electronics into new electronics that we can all use an enjoy.”

McLaughlin recommended going to recyclespot.org to find a local electronics recycler. Earth911.org also has a list of nearby electronic recyclers.

The Payson Roundup: Around Rim Country

Filed under: Pets 911 - February 5, 2008


PHS adoption special

Once again the Payson Humane Society’s kennels and cathouses are overflowing with stray, abandoned and owner-donated animals. This has been a harsh, cold winter for the animals in the society’s antiquated shelter. It is especially hard on the dogs because they are in the cold, concrete kennels.

Due to the current overpopulation at the shelter would like to offer a February special that may help us adopt our animals to loving homes. Potential adopters will still need to meet PHS adoption application requirements. There are pets with special needs and others that are especially suited to senior citizens.

All of the pets can be viewed on Petfinders and Pets 911.

PHS will have another low-cost spay and neuter clinic on March 26, please call the shelter for details at 474-5590.

Continental Airlines Magazine: Green on the Outside

Filed under: Earth 911 - February 4, 2008

By Leah Ingram

Some companies want you to judge them by their containers

Wal-Mart made news in 2007 when it announced an initiative that would require its biggest suppliers to adopt greener packaging, part of the company’s promise to reduce waste by 25 percent before 2010. According to Martha Leflar of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a project of GreenBlue, in Charlottesville, Va., the Arkansas-based retail behemoth is not alone. “Generally, all major consumer product companies and retailers are rethinking their packaging,” she says.

A recent Datamonitor Productscan survey includes eco-friendly packaging among the top 10 packaged-goods trends of 2008. So it’s no longer a question of whether many corporations will tackle the issue of greener packaging, but of how they will do it.

Size Matters, As Does Substance

Decreasing package size is one common way to minimize waste. “If the product is small, the packaging should be small,” says Lauren Liao, an account director at the consulting firm Dragon Rouge USA, which advises companies on branding and package design. Liao cites Apple Inc. as an example. “They don’t waste an inch of surface area or fill their boxes with Styrofoam and paper,” she notes. “They make packages that are tailored to the product.”

Even before Wal-Mart’s push, Procter & Gamble was already formulating a plan to shrink its containers and concentrate its laundry detergent brands. The 100-ounce Tide bottle, for example, will be replaced by a 50-ounce package made from at least 25 percent post-consumer recycled plastic. Wal-Mart plans to carry only concentrated detergents in its U.S. stores by the end of 2008.

Anca Novacovici, founder of Eco-Coach, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm that focuses on green practices, approves. “With a concentrated liquid laundry detergent, you’re not using as much water, thus saving on water resources,” she says. Because each package weighs less, it also requires less fuel for shipping, cutting down on carbon emissions.

Novacovici recommends paying attention to how packages are made, as well. Nowadays, consumers can look for third-party green certification on packages, such as that bestowed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Such certification provides proof of a greener manufacturing process. The FSC gives the “thumbs up” to products using wood or wood fiber that has been harvested without causing a negative impact on the environment, says spokeswoman Katie Miller. The FSC also offers “certified recycled” labels for products using wood or paper that come from 100 percent post-consumer sources.

Waste Not, Want Not

If you can’t figure out a package’s green credentials, ask. If the information isn’t on a company’s Web site, then send in your feedback. “Once businesses know consumers are interested, they will go down the supply chain. It can influence and speed up the changes for greener packaging,” Novacovici suggests.

Most recycling centers and trash haulers take plastic and paper for recycling, but not all take cardboard or paperboard (what cereal boxes are made of). When in doubt, log on to earth911.org to figure out where you can go locally to recycle packaging. Mother Earth will thank you.