SFGate.com: Waste Disposal for the Cool Kids
Filed under: Earth911 - June 24, 2009
By Cameron Scott
The SF Dept. of the Environment has released an iPhone application called Ecofinder that allows you to learn where to dispose of troublesome waste items such as electronics via your iPhone.
SFGate editor Johanna Hoadley first received the press release and used the app to have an old mattress “picked up and recycled for free instead of paying Bed Busters” before she passed the news onto me.
But is the app itself a misuse of resources? No, actually. The city just drew on the talent and commitment of the many computer whizzes in town, developing the app pro bono in partnership with Haku Wale and Nextive.
According to SFE’s Lawrence Grodeska:
SF Environment’s contribution was the data set and promotion of the app. We recently opened our EcoFinder data by creating an XML feed which enabled the development of this app as well as Earth911 to pull data directly from the EcoFinder for their national recycling database…The value of the EcoFinder is the data itself and the XML feed is enabling us to make that data available in raw format for anyone that wants to use it.
As of June 20, the app had been downloaded 1,400 times. You can download it for yourself here. If you don’t have an iPhone, you can get the same information on SFE’s website. Just be sure to use it, instead of resorting to unnecessary “not green” actions like the ones pictured here.
NBC Washington: Questions About—Recycling Televisions, Digital TV Signal, Complaints About DTV Coupons
Filed under: Earth911 - June 19, 2009
Ask Liz
Old Televisions
Q: Many viewers with old analog televisions decided to solve their DTV dilemma by upgrading to a new digital television. Some viewers want to know what’s the best way to recycle an old television?
A: Well this is an easy one, Recycle it. That way, valuable materials from the circuit boards, metal wiring, leaded glass, and plastics won’t end up in landfills. In the District, residents can recycle old TVs and other electronics at the Fort Totten Transfer Station or the Benning Road Transfer Station. For other areas, your best bet is to call your local household hazardous waste collection and recycling program. Earth911.com has a zip-code based search engine that can help you find recycling and re-use options in your community. Another great e-cycling website is MyGreenElectronics.org. And consider donating you set or other electronics that are in good working order. Keep in mind that some charitable organizations may no longer be accepting analog TVs so make sure you check before heading over.
Digital TV Signal
Q: Many viewers watching television with the help of an antenna and converter box want are having issues with their reception. Some viewers in our area want to know, How can I improve my Digital TV signal strength?
A: We turned to the FCC for this question. And it says, DTV reception can be affected by terrain, leaves on trees, buildings, the weather, even a fog can cause problems. You also need to remember that the type, location and orientation of the antenna plays a major role in DTV reception. The FCC says if you are having issues, try changing the location of the antenna you’re using now. Moving your antenna away from other objects and structures, or placing it higher, can often improve reception. Keep in mind that the performance of outdoor antennas can degrade over time due to exposure to the weather. And you might consider installing a signal booster, which should improve reception. The FCC says if you are having trouble receiving a broadcast. Check your connections, Perform a channel scan, adjust your antenna.
DTV Conversion Complaints
Q: Some viewers are wondering, which government agency is handling complaints about the Digital Television Transition?
A: If you have a questions or complaints about the DTV and reception, Contact the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC. Complaints about the Converter Box Coupon Program should be filed with the agency administering the coupon program, the National Telecommunications Information Administration, it’s part of the Department of Commerce and can be reached at NTIA.DOC.GOV or (202) 482-5802.
KNXV-TV: ADEQ: Don’t Throw Your Analog TV in the Trash, Recycle It
Filed under: Earth911 - June 9, 2009
Time is running out for you to make the DTV transition.
In just three days, on June 12th, all full-power broadcast television stations will begin broadcasting only in digital.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is urging people to not throw their old analog TV sets in the trash.
Instead, you’re being asked to take your TV to a recycler.
E-Waste Harvesters, located near 36th Street and Broadway in South Phoenix is seeing an increase in TVs coming in as people upgrade to newer, digital televisions.
“The increase is a lot,” said Cathie Campbell with E-Waste Harvesters. ”100 more per week. (It’s) because of the new laws and the TVs are older because they don’t go with what we’re doing in today’s world.”
E-Waste Harvesters does charge a $5 recycling fee.
To find a recycler in your area, visit Earth911.com.
Slate: Something Old, Something New, Something Green To Cook In, Too
Filed under: Earth911 - June 9, 2009
By Nina Shen Rastogi
I’m getting married next year, and my fiancee and I are having a grand-old time putting together our registry. The only problem is, we’re trying to be as environmentally conscious as possible, and we don’t know how to compare all the cookware options. What kinds of pots and pans are kindest to the planet?
Before you crack that Williams-Sonoma catalog, the Lantern has one request: Think carefully about you and your beloved’s cooking habits. Will marriage suddenly turn you into a pair of braising, sautéing fiends? If not, maybe you don’t need a brand-new suite of pots and pans. The Lantern isn’t opposed to the occasional upgrade (she’s been lusting after a Le Creuset for years herself), but the best way to green up your registry is to ask for durable, well-made items you’ll really use—not just fancy items that seem like they belong in a “grown-up kitchen.”
That said, there are some environmental factors you might want to consider—like fuel efficiency. The first thing to look for is a material with high thermal conductivity. These metals not only heat up faster —thereby requiring less gas or electricity— but they also distribute heat more quickly. Copper is king here: It has nearly twice the thermal conductivity of aluminum (the most commonly used metal in cookware) and is five times more conductive than cast iron and 25 times more than stainless steel. Serious cooks love copper for this quality, and because copper cookware is so expensive—a good skillet might run you hundreds of dollars—they make great registry options for any rich, doting relatives on your guest list.
If you make a lot of slow-cooked meals, you may also want to consider adding some kitchenware with a high heat capacity. These pots and pans will take longer to reach the desired temperature, but they’ll also take longer to cool down, so you can save fuel by turning your burners down and letting residual heat handle some of the cooking. Steel, cast iron, and copper all have roughly the same heat capacity, pound for pound —which is about one and a half times as high as aluminum. Heavier pots contain more metal and thus hold more heat— that’s why thick, cast-iron cookware is often singled out in this category. Cast iron also gets eco-points for being extremely durable —with proper care, it can last generations— and, when seasoned properly, it becomes increasingly stick-resistant over time, which means less soap and water for cleaning.
Whichever materials you choose, you want to look for sturdy, flat-bottomed pots and pans: Good, even contact with the heat source means less wasted energy.
Also spare a thought for how the raw materials in your pots and pans were sourced. For example, it takes a lot of energy to refine aluminum—which accounts for the vast majority of top-of-the-range cookware sold in the United States. Mining and processing bauxite ore into a ton of aluminum takes about 91 gigajoules of energy. Compare that with 72 gigajoules for a ton of stainless steel from virgin sources and 32 gigajoules for a ton of copper.
Whenever possible, look for cookware made from post-consumer recycled material—recycled aluminum requires about 95 percent less energy to process than the virgin stuff, and stainless steel about 70 percent less.
Finally, no discussion of eco-friendly cookware would be complete without a mention of nonstick coating, a major boogeyman for green chefs in recent years. Most nonstick cookware is lined with polytetrafluoroethylene—one of a class of slippery substances, known as fluoropolymers, used to make products waterproof, grease-proof, and stain-resistant. (DuPont’s Teflon is the most famous brand.)
Fluoropolymer manufacturing has traditionally required the use of perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical known to linger in the environment and to be toxic to animals. (It’s also been found, in low levels, in the blood of more than 98 percent of the American population of humans.) How the acid, known as PFOA, actually gets into our blood and to what extent it affects our health aren’t fully understood, but in 2005 the EPA’s independent Science Advisory Board recommended that it be labeled a likely human carcinogen. The EPA is continuing to research the issue, however, and hasn’t reached any definitive conclusions. (Some people avoid nonstick-coated pans for fear of harmful gases that could be released at high temperatures. However, the scientific consensus is that they’re safe when used carefully—i.e., when the burner heat is kept relatively low and pans are never heated while empty.)
According to a 2006 paper in Environmental Science & Technology, the vast majority of PFOA in the environment is likely to come directly from manufacturing emissions. However, those amounts are decreasing—from hundreds of tons in 1999 to less than 62 tons in 2006. Under a voluntary government program, the eight major companies that work with PFOA have agreed to make a 95 percent reduction in emissions by next year and to work toward eliminating all PFOA use by 2015.
So if you must have a nonstick skillet in your nuptial kitchen, you can at least take heart in the fact that one bought today will have less of an environmental impact than one bought 10 years ago. As the Lantern sees it, though, the real knock against traditional nonstick pans is that they have such a short shelf life—the coating usually begins to flake after three to five years of normal use. So consider longer-lasting enamel-coated skillets or ones with an interior of anodized aluminum. (Both work pretty well.) In the last year or two, a handful of pots and pans have been marketed as “greener” nonstick options—usually featuring fluoropolymer-free ceramic coatings—but they’re so new that there isn’t a ton of reliable consumer data on how well they perform or how long they’ll last.
Whatever you decide, it’s worth taking a few minutes to think about the fate of your old pots and pans once the wedding-gift glut is upon you. Try searching Earth911.com for metal recyclers in your area. Otherwise, donate your old cookware to a local shelter or soup kitchen and hope the good karma you accrue helps ward off embarrassing best-man speeches on the big night.
Is there an environmental quandary that’s been keeping you up at night? Send it to ask.the.lantern@gmail.com, and check this space every Tuesday.
San Marcos Daily Record: A Word About Recycling
Filed under: Earth911 - June 7, 2009
By Ollie & Gloria Maier
From several recycling e-newsletters we review each week, today we will take items from several of them. First, from Resource Recycling we find: “The Texas State Legislature has passed House Bill 821, which targets the recycling of television sets in the state.”
This bill “… requires manufacturers of television sets to provide recycling services to consumers at no charge. It mirrors a bill that was signed into law in 2007 that addressed the recycling of electronic equipment.”
From e-Scrap news, we find “Washington Governor Chris Gregoire’s enactment of House Bill 1522 amends the Evergreen State’s present e-scrap program to allow collectors registered with the state to make minor repairs to collected non-working computers. The law previously only allowed ‘fully-functional’ computers for re-use.”
As the director of one of the collectors stated: “The passing of the law comes at a crucial time for us as the need for computers among unemployed and low income has spiked dramatically over the last three months.”
He explained, “The number of low-cost computers we sell to unemployed individuals has tripled in the last two months, and we had been on the brink of running out of computers.”
(Even though the price of new computers has come down considerably from what they were just a few years ago, they are still above what an unemployed individual can readily afford… Thus used computers are a good source for them to get something to upgrade their skills and enhance their capabilities in the job-market again.)
Switching subjects from electronics, we find in Recycling Today, “Keep America Beautiful (KAB), Stamford, Conn., the national nonprofit organization that is perhaps best known for its community cleanup events such as the Great American Cleanup, has announced a number of partnerships and strategic initiatives designed to benefit recycling.”
In one such partnership “… the Curbside Value Partnership (CVP), which was formed in 2003 by The Aluminum Association and The Can Manufacturers Institute to help communities grow and sustain their residential curbside recycling programs, became part of KAB.”
The KAB “… also has joined forces with Earth911.com. Through this alliance, KAB and Earth911.com say they intend to share resources, editorial content and local recycling information with U.S. consumers, working toward the goal of increasing the recycling rate in the United States.”
Finally for today, a recent visit to the Green Guy Recycling Services drop-off saw a maintainer (road grader is what we called them when we were kids and many roads were dirt) enlarging the drive there making it even more convenient. Kyle said he hopes to also spray an environmental-friendly compound on the surface areas where vehicles drive and people walk (to put recycled things in the proper container) and thus hold down the dust and prevent it from getting muddy when it rains (when we can enjoy such rains again).
Till next week, do have a great one…
For questions or comments, please call Ollie or Gloria at 353-7432 or e-mail them to omaier@TxState.edu.
EarthTalk: Recycling Mattresses
Filed under: Earth911 - June 5, 2009
A typical mattress is a 23 cubic foot assembly of steel, wood, cotton and polyurethane foam. Given this wide range of materials, mattresses have typically been difficult to recycle—and still most municipal recycling facilities won’t offer to do it for you. But along with increasing public concerns about the environment —and a greater desire to recycle everything we can— has come a handful of private companies and nonprofit groups that want to make sure your old bed doesn’t end up in a landfill.
The Lane County, Oregon chapter of the charity St. Vincent de Paul Society, for example, has spearheaded one of the nation’s most successful mattress recycling initiatives via its DR3 (“Divert, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”) program. “Keeping [mattresses] out of landfills is a matter of efficiently recycling them so their core materials can be reincarnated into any number of new products,” reports the group, which opened a large mattress recycling center in Oakland, California in 2001. (Why hundreds of miles away in Oakland? To “go where the mattresses are,” says Chance Fitzpatrick of the group.) The facility has been processing upwards of 300 mattresses and box springs per week ever since.
During the recycling process, each mattress or box spring is pushed onto a conveyor belt, where specially designed saws cut away soft materials on the top and bottom, separating the polyurethane foam and cotton fiber from the framework. The metal pieces are magnetically removed, and the remaining fiber materials are then shredded and baled. The whole process takes one worker just three to four minutes per mattress.
On a slow day, the DR3 facility recycles some 1,500 pounds of polyurethane foam, which totals a half million or more pounds over the course of a year. “A well-oiled recycling factory can reuse 90 percent of the mattress,” reports Josh Peterson of Discovery’s Planet Green website. “The cotton and cloth get turned into clothes. The springs and the foam get recycled, and the wood gets turned into chips.”
While the DR3 facility only takes mattresses from a small group of waste haulers and individuals around the San Francisco Bay Area, other mattress recyclers are popping up around the U.S. and beyond. Some examples include Nine Lives Mattress Recycling in Pamplico, South Carolina; Conigliaro Industries in Framingham, Massachusetts; MattCanada in Montreal, Québec; and Dreamsafe in Moorabbin, Australia. To find a mattress recycler near you, consult the free online database at Earth911.com.
Those who aren’t near a recycling facility might consider giving their old mattress away. But many health departments prohibit donating mattresses to charities like the Salvation Army or Goodwill. So what’s an upgraded sleeper with a perfectly good old mattress to do? The web-based Freecycle Network allows people to post stuff to give away to anyone willing to come pick it up; likewise, chances are your local version of Craigslist also has a “free” section where you can post that it as available.
CONTACTS: DR3 Mattress Recycling, www.svdp.us/dr3-mattress-recycling.php5; Nine Lives Mattress Recycling, www.geocities.com/ninelives29577; Conigliaro Industries, www.conigliaro.com; MattCanada, www.mattcanada.com; Dreamsafe, www.dreamsafe.com.au; Freecycle Network, www.freecycle.org.
SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. EarthTalk is now a book! Details and order information at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalkbook.
Grist Magazine: The Digital TV Conversion is Here—Are You E-ready?
Filed under: Earth911 - June 4, 2009
By Katharine Wroth
We interrupt your life to bring you this reminder: By June 12, all television signals in the U.S. will be digital. Seriously. So here’s an e-guide to ease your mind.
Wait, WTF is happening again? The signals from all TV stations, which were analog for decades, will now be digital. This transition actually began in 1996, when Congress gave each station an extra channel for digital transmission. There are three official reasons for the full transition: first and foremost, it frees up analog airspace for public-safety purposes; second, it frees up some space for wireless companies; and third, it will bring you prettier pictures on your TV. The fourth, unofficial reason: It forces people to buy more stuff! But you didn’t hear it from us.
OK, so what do I need to do? If you have a digital TV or you get cable or satellite programming, relax and do nothing. (Wait, is that redundant?) If you have a “digital-ready” monitor, you may need to buy a digital set-top box. If you don’t get cable or satellite TV and yours is an analog set —which you should be able to tell from the manual or by the fact that you bought it in like 1987— you’ll need to buy either a converter or a new set. Yeah, that’s 22 million of you.
So if I have to buy a converter, are there green options? Well here’s how to save some green: hit the government up for a coupon. In terms of buying green, there are lots of different converter boxes out there—look for one with an Energy Star rating.
I think I might suck it up and buy a new TV. How can I make the greenest choice? Again, look for Energy Star-rated TVs—it’s the best guideline for consumers right now. In about 18 months, if you can wait that long, there will be a more comprehensive label (tentatively and uncatchily called EPEAT-for-TV) that considers factors in addition to energy. As always, we recommend plugging your gadgets into power strips for ultimate smartiness.
When I ditch my old TV, do I just put it on the curb or what? Your TV is full of lead and mercury. If you just ditch it, those metals will ooze into water supplies and come back to poison you. So please, recycle your TV—or, since analogs still work perfectly well with DVD players, VCRs, and game systems, see if there’s a local school, library, or nursing home that could use it. Otherwise, for proper disposal in your area, check Earth911 or the EPA’s eCycling site.
Hey, by the way, which TV companies are actually doing good green things? Most of the major manufacturers are making noise about greener sets, but there are a few that truly seem committed, and one that’s a real star. We award the Golden Clicker to Sony—not only are they developing innovative products including an organic LED and a TV that saves energy by turning itself off if you fall asleep, they were the first company to launch a national takeback program and were an industry leader on the new labeling program. Samsung and LG are also doing good things; to find out how all the TV companies compare, visit the Electronics Takeback Coalition’s Take Back My TV site.
Maybe it’s the Wipeout-fueled ADD, but that article made no sense to me. Where can I go to find out more? Seriously? We thought it was so clear and concise. Well, the government has a whole useful site about the digital TV transition that should do the trick. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
Grist Magazine: With Green Home Venture, Sierra Club Mixes Profits with Passion
Filed under: Earth911 - June 1, 2009
By Todd Woody
It’s not unusual these days for big green groups to get in bed with business, but one of the oldest and most-respected environmental organizations —the Sierra Club— is going them one better by getting into business itself.
The San Francisco-based Sierra Club has launched a for-profit online venture called Sierra Club Green Home as a one-stop shop for information and services to green up your lifestyle and decarbonize your abode.
Sierra Club Green Home is a joint venture between the 117-year-old institution and a group of individual investors—or “donors” as they like to call themselves. “It’s the social entrepreneurship model,” says Gordon Wangers, the company’s marketing chief and one of the donor/investors. “A non-profit finds some enterprising business types who are committed to a cause but bring business savvy to a venture and have the skills and wherewithal to run it.”
Wangers thinks it’s a model for other green groups as the economic collapse zaps the fortunes of their well-heeled donors.
He says the Sierra Club holds a “very significant equity stake” in the San Diego-based startup (he wouldn’t reveal the how much) and will reap most of any profits that are generated through advertising, corporate sponsorships and a green business database.
Sierra Club Green Home was born of Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope’s frustration at trying to green his own home. Some high net-worth Sierra Club donors had a similar experience and were commiserating with Pope when Gary Rappeport, CEO of Chicago-based automotive leasing company Donlen Corp., suggested the solution was to start a business that could tap the Sierra Club’s century-old green brand. Wangers, who served on Donlen’s board and had sold his automotive marketing agency to advertising conglomerate Omnicom, subsequently joined the venture
“To duplicate the recognition and integrity of the Sierra Club brand would take many years and cost many millions of dollars in marketing,” he says. “To start right out of the gate with the Sierra Club brand is a huge advantage.” The company also starts out with a potential customer base among the Sierra Club’s 1.3 million members.
But this isn’t a licensing deal. Sierra Club experts have created an extensive library of information —on everything from “eco-friendly furniture” to geothermal heat pumps— in a smartly designed package of articles, interactive widgets and video.
For instance, start with the “Home CO2 Calculator” to get a handle on how many pounds of greenhouse gases your residence emits a year and compare your ranking to other Sierra Club Green Homers
I’m not doing too bad; my circa-1928 Berkeley house is responsible for an estimated 10,014 pounds of CO2 a year, producing 43 percent fewer emissions than the average Sierra Club Green Home user and 21 percent less carbon than houses of a similar size. But I need to do some energy efficiency retrofit work. If the numbers are accurate, my home is cranking out 23 percent more emissions than the average home of the California Sierra Club Green Home owner. (Clearly, McMansion owners have not been flocking to the site.)
The carbon calculator pinpoints weatherization as one way to cut my home’s carbon footprint. Click on the related link and up pops a page of six how-to videos as well as a plethora of information about weatherizing and tips on hiring a contractor. Punch in your zip code into the site’s Green Pages and list of local energy efficiency businesses appears. Slick.
At the Solar Center, enter your zip code, electricity usage and local utility and a widget estimates the cost of a solar array after any applicable rebates. (Though it’s unclear if the 30 percent federal tax credit available for such systems is included in the calculation.) You then can review a list of solar installers in your area, including those vetted by a Sierra Club partner, and click on a button to request a price quote on a solar system.
A couple of other widgets caught my eye: The Low Carbon Diet Calculator widget —from Palo Alto-based sustainable food service company Bon Appétit Management— converts your meals into “CO2 Points” to represent their carbon content. (Hint: Go for the steel-cut oats to save the planet.) Another widget, from Earth911.com, tells you the nearest place to recycle everything from batteries to motor oil.
Wangers says Sierra Club Green Home will make money primarily from the $25 monthly fee it will start charging businesses to be listed in the site’s green service provider database. Sustainability director Jennifer Schwab screens businesses to ensure they meet the site’s standards for green businesses.
While the Sierra Club Green Home execs regularly shuttle from San Diego to San Francisco to meet with their non-profit majority owners, who must approve major decisions, Schwab notes that the site is “being run as a business.”
But the B-word seems to unnerve the Sierra Club. When I ask if this is the organization’s first adventure in capitalism, I received this reply via email: “The Sierra Club is a non-profit organization and all the revenue that we bring in goes to our non-profit work, so this is not a for-profit venture for us.”
Huh? Semantics aside, that may explain why, on a site chock-a-block with data, Sierra Club Green Home’s for-profit status is one piece of information that’s hard to find.