Monday

What and What NOT to Recycle in Corpus Christi


By: Terry Shannon
For so many of us, recycling has become a way of life; we're all glad to do our share.  Besides, how much easier can it be to simply place the items in a large blue container and take it to the curb twice a month?  But the reality is a lot of us tend toward throwing everything into recycling, not thinking twice.

The City of Corpus Christi has done an excellent job at posting information on what can and what can't be recycled.  There are some nuances, though.  For example, did you know bottle caps are recyclable, but they have to be completely removed from the bottle?  Or how about this one - pizza boxes aren't recyclable at all.  One more - no glass!  So, consider this a refresher course, something to keep handy in the event you're wondering whether to recycle it, or trash it.

First, what we can recycle:

Paper
  • Junk mail, catalogs, and envelopes (no need to shred them)
  • Shredded personal documents
  • Boxes like cereal, pasta, frozen dinners and drink cartons
  • Shoe boxes
  • Cardboard (flattened)
  • Newspaper and magazines
  • Phone books
  • Copy and computer paper -- white and colors
  • Protective paper wrapping on shoes, purses, etc.

Plastic
  • Water/soda bottles
  • Detergent, soap, and shampoo bottles
  • Milk jugs
  • Butter, sour cream, and yogurt tubs
  • Syrup, peanut butter, and squeezable jelly bottles
  • Plastic bags (Tip: Tie a knot in the bag before disposal to keep it from blowing.)
  • Packing bags for electronics
Bottle caps are accepted for recycling, but must be removed from the bottle or container before placed in the recycling cart.

Metal
  • Aluminum, tin and steel
  • Food cans for things like vegetables and soup
  • Metal drink cans - sodas, energy drinks, etc.
  • Other beverage cans
  • Empty aerosol spray cans
  • Aluminum foil and trays

Now, what you can't recycle:
Please do not put the following items in your blue recycling bin:
  • Glass
  • Food waste or liquids
  • Containers with food residuals (like pizza boxes)
  • Wet paper products
  • Yardwaste (grass trimmings, branches)
  • Styrofoam
  • Waxed paper or waxed cardboard
  • Motor oil containers or household hazardous waste items
Happy recycling!

Friday

How to go Green, Why to go Green


You've probably noticed that green is everywhere these days--in the news, politics, fashion, and even technology. You can hardly escape it on the Internet, and now with the Planet Green TV network, you can even enjoy eco-friendly entertainment 24 hours a day. That's all great as far as we're concerned, but with a million messages and ideas coming at us from all sides, it can be easy to get caught up in the quotidian stuff--switching to organic foods, turning down the thermostat, recycling, say -- without thinking about the big picture of how your actions stack up. Worse, you could even be suffering from a little green "fatigue" -- that is, tuning out the green messages due to their ubiquity.
While it's easy to get overwhelmed, it's also simple to begin making a positive impact. Since it's helpful to understand the big picture when it comes to setting to smaller goals, we've adjusted our focus for this guide--a departure from out typical "how to go green" content, which typically tackles very specific topics such as kitchenscars, or pets -- to take a broader look at the reasons behind why we should go green.
As globalization makes the world become smaller, it becomes increasingly easy to see how the lives of people (and plants and animals and ecosystems) everywhere are closely synced up with one another. So toys made in China can affect the quality of life in Europe, pesticides used in Argentina can affect the health of people in the U.S., and greenhouse gas emissions from Australia can affect a diminishing rainforest in Brazil.
The truth is that everything single thing we do every day has an impact on the planet -- good or bad. The good news is that as an individual you have the power to control most of your choices and, therefore, the impact you create: from where you live to what you buy, eat, and use to light your home to where and how you vacation, to how you shop or vote, you can have global impact. For example, did you know that 25 percent of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from flora that come from the Amazon rainforest? And that less that one percent of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists? These numbers suggest that we all have a large (and growing) personal stake in the health and vitality of places far and near. In addition to protecting biodiversity (and inspiring medicine), rainforests are also excellent carbon sinks. Bottom line: It benefits everyone on the planet to help keep our wild spaces alive and growing.
But embracing a greener lifestyle isn't just about helping to preserve equatorial rain forests, it can also mean improving your health, padding your bank account, and, ultimately, improving your overall quality of life. All that and you can save furry animals, too? Why wouldn't anyone want to green? Keep reading for all the important, big-picture details.

Why Go Green? Top Ten Tips

  1. Real food is fuel for the body -- and the planet.By following the green eaters' mantra -- eat seasonal, local, organic foods -- you can enjoy fresher, tastier foods and improve your personal health. According to one study, organic milk has 68 percent more beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids than conventional milk. Making green food choices also has global consequences. Buying local means supporting the local economy and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions required to get food from its origin to your plate. Buying fresh food means reducing packaging and energy used for processing. Choosing organic foods means helping promote organic agriculture and responsible land use. To learn more check out How to Go Green: Eating.
  2. The average woman absorbs more than 4 pounds of cosmetics during her lifetime. Guys, you?re not off the hook.Your skin -- the body's largest organ -- absorbs up to 60 percent of the products you put on it every day, from soaps to shampoos to sunscreens. Considering that most of us use about 10 different products daily?that can really add up. Choosing green personal care products often means using plant-based ingredients in place of petrochemicals, preventing these chemicals from being absorbed into your skin. Learn how to keep your grooming regimen on the level with our How to Go Green: Women's Personal Care guide and Know Your Cosmetics Ingredients: Top Ingredients to Avoid.
  3. Making stuff takes lots (and lots and lots) of energy.Every object you own -- your furniture, your clothing, your beer cans, your stuff -- comes from somewhere; every object has an environmental impact. Nothing simply comes from "the store." To help mitigate the footprint of your material life, choose goods made from green (or greener) materials, such assustainably harvested woodorganic cotton, or repurposed and recycled materials. Your choices will help protect forests, habitat, clean water and biodiversity; ensure sustainable land-use practices; and reduce the amount of waste clogging up our landfills. Buying less stuff and second-hand stuff helps achieve this goal, too. See our How to Go Green: Furniture, andBuyGreen Guides for more info on sourcing these products.
  4. Clean, renewable power is already available to everyone.We use electricity to power our lights, computers, and televisions, but what happens before you flip the switch? Your electricity has to come from somewhere; more than half America's comes from coal-burning power plants, which also happen to be the country's largest source of air pollution. Bysigning up for a renewable energy program through your local utility, generating your own power, or purchasing renewable energy credits (also known as "green tags"), you contribute to our collective capacity for generating more clean power from wind, solar, and other sources and you help reduce demand for energy from more polluting sources. Learn more about how to make your electrical footprint lighter in our How to Go Green: Electricity guide.
  5. Better transportation means less global warming.Anytime you choose to walkride a bike, or take public transportation, you reduce (or totally eliminate) the carbon dioxide and particulate emissions created by driving a gas- or diesel-powered car. You'll help slow global warming and help stave off our date with peak oil. Choosing greener options ? such as a train over air travel ? for long-distance trips can immensely reduce your carbon footprint. Get to the nitty-gritty in our How to Go Green: Cars and How To Go Green: Public Transportation guides.
  6. Nature Recycles Everything. So Should People.Making proper use of the blue recycling bin has become an iconic action. Reducing the amount of stuff we consume is the first step (and the first word in the mantra reduce-reuse-recycle), finding constructive uses for "waste" materials is the second. Why? Nothing is ever really thrown "away" -- it all has to go somewhere. By recycling and reusing, we reduce the amount of waste that sits in landfills (where even biodegradable products often can?t break due to lack or oxygen and sunlight). Recycling materials also saves energy compared to using virgin materials to create new products. Some materials, like aluminum and glass, can even be recycled without being "downcycled," or turned into a product of lesser quality. See our How to Go Green: Recycling guide for more details.
  7. Your clothing choices impact more than just your appearance.Making clothing involves a large amount of materials, energy, and labor?including the pesticides used to grow crops for textiles, the dyes and water used to color them, and conditions under which laborers work. By choosing eco-friendly clothing ?- say, purchasing organic over conventional cotton, one of the world's most chemically dependent crops, you also choose a better product that is easier on the soil and groundwater. How you care for your clothes ?- using cold water in the washing machineeco-friendly detergents, and line-drying (at least part of the time) ?- can all reduce the impact of your wardrobe. Wearing second-hand styles helps diverts traffic to landfills, and in some cases ?- perhaps undurprisingly -- can be 95 percent more efficient that buying new. Learn more about greener choices in our How to Go Green: Wardrobe andLaundry guides.
  8. Water is not a renewable resource.Clean water is perhaps the planet's most precious resource, and, with the increasing effects of global climate change, for many regions across the globe, our ability to have enough high-quality H20 on hand could likely to change in the near future. Being water conscious helps reduce strain on municipal treatment systems and ensures there's enough to go around. By shifting away from bottled water, we can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions (from shipping), the energy required to produce (petroleum-derived) plastic, and the volume of waste trucked to our landfills (from empty bottles). Have a peek at our How to Go Green: Water Guide for more details.
  9. Greener goods are more humane.Just as its required materials and energy, all "stuff" requires another common resource: the human kind. If you opt for green and ethical goods, you are often supporting local and global craftsmen and communities. Supporting "Fair Trade" products and fair labor practices ensures that goods-- from coffee to clothing ? were not born in a sweatshop. Buying goods made in the U.S.A. (and preferably purchased nearby where they were made, which cuts down on transportation costs) means production practices are governed by strict labor laws. Read the How to Go Green: Wardrobe and Coffee & Tea guides for more.
  10. There's nothing corny 'bout peace, love, and understanding.When Dr. Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, the awarding committee recognized her accomplishments by saying, "Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment." Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement (one of Planet Green's NGO partners), has helped the world connect the dots between women's rights, sustainable development, democracy, and world peace -- get the details in the TreeHugger Radio interviewwith Maathai. The connection between peace and the environment has been cemented by Nobel Prize Laureate Al Gore and the IPCC, who have driven home the points that global climate change is an issue of science, technology, human behavior, ethics and peace, and that one person's actions can truly make a difference. Equating the two -- peace and the environment -- allows us to understand the big picture and the manner in which we're all connected.

Why to Go Green: By the Numbers

  • 1 pound per hour: the amount of carbon dioxide that is saved from entering the atmosphere for every kilowatt-hour of renewable energy produced.
  • 60 percent: the reduction in developmental problems in children in China who were born after a coal-burning power plant closed in 2006.
  • 35 percent: the amount of coal's energy that is actually converted to electricity in a coal-burning power plant. The other two-thirds is lost to heat.
  • 2.5 percent: the percentage of humans' carbon dioxide emission produced by air travel now, still making it the largest transportation-related greenhouse gas emitter.
  • 5 percent: the percentage of the world's carbon dioxide emissions expected to be produced by air travel by the year 2050.
  • 1.5 acres: the amount of rainforest lost every second to land development and deforestation, with tremendous losses to habitat and biodiversity.
  • 137: the number of plant, animal and insect species lost every day to rainforest deforestation, equating to roughly 50,000 species per year.
  • 4 pounds, 6 ounces: the amount of cosmetics that can be absorbed through the skin of a woman who wears makeup every day, over the period of one year.
  • 61 percent: the percentage of women's lipstick, out of the 33 tested, found to contain lead in a test by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
  • 36: the number of U.S. states that are anticipating local, regional or statewide water shortages by 2013.
  • 1 out of 100: the number of U.S. households that would need to be retrofitted with water-efficient appliances to realize annual savings of 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • 3 trillion: the number of gallons of water, along with $18 billion, the U.S. would save each year if every household invested in water-saving appliances.
  • 64 million tons: the amount of material prevented from going to landfill or incineration thanks to recycling and composting in 1999.
  • 95 percent: the amount of energy saved by recycling an aluminum can versus creating the can from virgin aluminum. That means you can make 20 cans out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can out of new material. Energy savings in one year alone are enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years.
  • 113,204: the number, on average, of aluminum cans recycled each minute of each day.
  • 3: the number of hours a television set can run on the energy saved from recycling just one aluminum can.
  • 40 percent: the percentage of energy saved by recycling newsprint over producing it from virgin materials.

Monday

Online shopping – a greener choice


By: Paige Merritt

I was thinking back to childhood and how whenever we were looking to purchase an appliance or similar, we would flit from store to store and mall to mall to find the best product at the best price – burning up gas and cranking out all sorts of nasty stuff from the car exhaust as we went. It was just what we did back then as we didn’t have a great deal of easy access to information on products – and gas was dirt cheap.

Back then though, we didn’t have to face getting maced, shot, stabbed or crushed at big sales either and issues relating to the environment simply weren’t on the radar for most of us. How times have changed.
These days all the products you need are just a click away. You can buy just about anything online – and that can be a good thing environmentally speaking.
When gas prices spiked a few years back, many major stores reported losses in their “bricks and mortar” outlets (their physical ones), yet their online sales blossomed. Consumers and the environment had a win from the situation.

I’ve been involved with ecommerce and online marketing for many years now, so I guess I’m somewhat biased – but I really believe that shopping online instead of via bricks and mortar stores is not only cheaper (and safer judging by some of the Black Friday sales incidents), but a more eco friendly option. That is assuming of course you buy what you need rather than all your heart desires; which can be a bit of a risk when shopping online.

Saving gas and emissions
For example, I remember just about running out of a natural arthritis treatment  that really worked in alleviating pain for Niki the Wonder Dog.
I could have jumped in my 1.6 ton car and made the special trip to the place that stocked the stuff I needed some miles away, but I found it on eBay – and it was $20 cheaper even with delivery! It was sent to my post box (which is checked regularly and is on the way to other frequently visited destinations). So I saved twenty bucks, time, gas, plus the associated emissions.
There has been so many instances over the last few years where I’ve needed something rather obscure that would have taken me ages and many miles of travel to obtain in the “real” world – instead, I just buy it all online.

The freight and packaging issue
Some would say that the shipping of goods directly to purchasers isn’t exactly environmentally friendly, and that’s true; but back to the example above, what would you think would be the most efficient and greener of these two options:
a) 1 person jumping into a 1.6 ton vehicle to make a special trip
b) Spending 2 hours negotiating public transport to get to a location 15 minutes drive away
c) A parcel weighing 2 pounds being added to a delivery truck that’s headed for the post office or to the general area anyway.

One downside of buying online can be extra packaging; but I have noticed that many eBay sellers and smaller online businesses send their goods out in boxes they’ve recycled, or more accurately, reused.
You may also be able to actually reduce shipping miles by purchasing online. For example, Product X at your supermarket may come from across the country or from the other side of the world. By searching online, you may find the same product being made closer to home at a comparable price.

Buying direct from warehouses
Bricks and mortar stores are usually incredibly energy and resource hungry – all the lighting, air conditioning and elaborate stands designed to catch your eye. When you shop online, often your order will often be fulfilled via a warehouse that doesn’t have all the glitzy gimmicks and fixtures.

Additionally, sometimes warehouses are bypassed altogether. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Green Design Institute found buying online from one of the USA’s major e-tailers resulted in 35 percent less energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions than the traditional retail model. This was due to the products being shipped directly from the online merchant’s distribution partners to customers; skipping first going to a warehouse and then the store before they get to the end consumer.

Greener products, more choices
While many supermarkets are now stocking more environmentally friendly lines, some products just don’t seem to be carried yet  – you can usually find these online. The world of online shopping also gives you wider access to smaller businesses run by very environmentally conscious people who are genuinely striving to make a difference - it’s great to support these folks rather than the shareholders of big-box stores all the time.

Product research
Even if you don’t like the idea of purchasing something sight unseen; the Internet can save you a great deal of time, money and resources by doing your initial research online. For example, looking to buy an energy efficient washing machine? You can read bundles of reviews posted online by people who have purchased the brands and models you’re interested in. The Internet helps you to make a more informed purchase decision on green products; rather than just relying on an in-store sales person’s knowledge.

Online shopping safety
I’ve been buying stuff online for so long, it’s second nature to me; but I do realize there are still quite a few people  very apprehensive about ecommerce; and it’s understandable given some of the stories you read in the press about credit card numbers being stolen and identity theft.
However, the sad fact is that even if you only use your credit card offline; your credit card numbers are in the systems of the stores where you use it and those systems are connected to the Internet – and more often than not that’s how hackers get the details.
Still, it does always pay to be cautious when shopping online – here are some quick tips:
- Don’t be dazzled by low prices; some sites are merely fronts and will grab your money and run. Check into the company, see what others have been saying about them. Look for a physical address and phone number.
- Check for a privacy policy so you know what the merchant will do with your details
- Read any terms of service carefully before proceeding with a transaction
- Using credit cards is actually one of the safest forms of payment as in most countries,  your liability for an unauthorized charge is limited to $50 – $100. If a merchant doesn’t deliver the goods, or the goods are defective or misrepresented, you can also issue a chargeback via your bank – and the chargeback process is heavily weighted in the consumer’s favor.
- Before providing your credit card details, ensure the page the form is on is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protected. SSL encrypts data during transmission, to thwart anyone from intercepting it. You can tell if a page has SSL protection as the web address of the checkout form page will start with https:// instead of http:// and check to see if a small locked padlock appears either at the bottom right of your web browser or in the address bar area.
- If you need to create an account with the online store, ensure you use a strong password; one with at least 8 characters and not a common word or name.
Online shopping is fun, there’s nothing like the thrill of hunting for (and finding) a bargain. While hyperconsumption is never a good thing, responsible shopping online can reduce the environmental impact of the goods you purchase.

Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com

Tuesday

Here are 5 ways to Keep it Green in 2013


By: Rene Hernandez

1. Remember those reusable bags . . . because . . .

-  Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1 million sea creatures a year
-  The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas and it’s floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. It weighs 3.5 million tons and is 80% plastic
-  If everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth’s equator 776 times!

2. Get rid of vampires and phantoms . . . no, not Edward the dreamy teenage vampire . . .

An energy vampire or phantom load is the electricity consumed by an electronic appliance when it is turned off or on standby
-  According to the Environmental Defense Fund, 65% of pollution attributed to global warming (or climate change) comes from generation of energy and its use
-  5 – 20% of our home electric bill comes from vampire or phantom energy use
Shed light on those vampires and expel them!
-  get a ‘smart stip’ or two to help manage a lot of those electronics – I found this Tripp-Lite Eco-Surge one at my local electronics store, Lashen Electronics
-  Understand your energy use – The US Department of Energy offers this tool to calculate your household energy use

3. Just say NO to bottled water

-  National Geographic estimates that 17 million gallons of crude oil is used on an annual basis to produce plastic bottles.
-  If you fill a water bottle ¼ of the way with oil, this is about how much oil is used to manufacture that one bottle!
-  It is estimated by the Container Recycling Institute and ReusableBags.com that 22 billion water bottles end up in landfills every year.
-  Although many plastic bottles are being recycled for good re-use as a variety of materials, National Geographic Kids states that only 1 in 6 plastic bottles makes it to the recycling bin!
-  According to Environmental Working Group’s scientific study on bottled water vs. tap water, bottled water contains distinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue and pain medication
Check out Green Diva Mizar’s water purification systems, Pur2o!

4. Buy less, Recycle more

In general, I really want to just be more mindful about buying ‘stuff’ I may not really need – I’ve been on this kick for a couple of years and it saves money and reduces the amount of junk I need to throw out from packaging, etc. I always ask myself now, do I really need this or do I just want it . . . or, do I have something at home I can use instead.
-  About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is only 28%!
-  Recycle as much as you can
-  Avoid buying things are excessively packaged
-  Buy in bulk (food, cleaning products)

5. Get local/Eat Local

-  Reduce carbon footprint by reducing “food miles”
-  A typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table
-  Support local farmers – enjoy farmer’s markets
-  Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) – find a CSA, farmer’s market or food coop near you - LocalHarvest.org
-  Stimulate local economy
-  patronize restaurants that buy from local farmers