Recycling Tropical Hardwoods From the Landfill

If you’ve contemplated purchasing furniture or even an ornament made of a tropical hardwood, you would soon see how very expensive they can be. The price is reasonable considering they take such a long time to grow, even in tropical environments and then they are shipped a great distance at great expense.

You may be surprised to learn that it is not uncommon for these expensive items shipped from countries where these woods are relatively common, to arrive in crates and on pallets made from these very same “precious” woods!

The worst part about this is, because they arrive like this, it is also not uncommon for this “scrap wood” to be thrown away, chipped up into a landfill or burned.

Thankfully some furniture makers have noticed this and have begun recycling these crates and pallets into high value furniture. This is a good example of up-cycling, a practice where a low value commodity is turned into something of much greater value by a little bit of creativity.

A little bit of ingenuity and recycling is saving some of the tropical hardwoods from being wood-chipped, burned or dumped as landfill.

Environmentally Friendly Packaging For Reducing Waste

If you have made a commitment to live a sustainable lifestyle, you’re probably looking for the environmentally friendly way to handle just about everything in your life. One of the easiest ways to do this is through managing the sort of packaging you bring into the house, as well as what you do with it, by way of recycling.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reducing your Packaging Waste

You have more control than you might imagine over the amount of waste you bring into your home. If you bring it in, it’s not only a chance to make an environmentally friendly disposal choice, but your duty to make sure you do so in a manner that is safe. For instance, many people were swayed from using alkaline batteries just because they were becoming problematic to dispose of safely.

Reusable bags are another prime example of an item that has become a global concern. Even when you reuse them a few times, plastic bags must go somewhere, and wherever that is, they’ve been found to leach out toxic by-products. You can bring your own reusable bag, without having to bother with the decision as to whether it’s best to get your stuff in paper or plastic.

Avoiding the Single Use Mentality

Of course, if you are given a plastic bag, you can reuse it several times, until it gets old and shredded. Resealable bags are another famous example of a product that was meant for a single use and may be cleaned and used again.

Other single use items can be replaced. Plain, cotton bar towels, for instance, can replace rolls and rolls of paper towels. Many times the amount of water is required to manufacture a single roll of paper towels, as compared with the manufacture and shipment of a cloth version and a washing. Over time, that adds up to tremendous savings in just that single resource, not to mention making only one trip to your house.

Choosing to Buy Recyclable Goods and Getting Them to the Bins

Aluminum, for instance, requires only 5% of the energy to recycle into new items as compared with mining new ones. Plastics save about 70% when recycled, with steel and paper saving 60 and 40% respectively on their virgin counterparts. Recycled paper has the advantage of eliminating nearly three-quarters of the air pollution associated with virgin paper production from wood pulp.

The kitchen is a very common place to create refuse, much of it as a consequence of purchasing processed goods. Therefore, the more food you make yourself, the fewer of these containers and wrappers will fall into either the recyclable or trash streams. However, even when you must make waste, you can choose packaging that can be recycled by your local recyclers.

Waste Management

Getting your recyclable items to the bin is easy in most cities. Environmentally friendly city council persons have made sure there are plenty of places for us to recycle. If you live in a rural area, this might mean hauling stored recyclables yourself in a semi-regular recycler-run. The market for some items is soft and can be removed as an option unless there are state or federal monies to subsidize the recycling of some materials, such as hazardous waste.

Green Shopping Choices

Many stores now have offer environmentally friendly options, such as using your own reusable bags, allowing slow shipping options, safe and natural options for many product lines as well as pointing out what items are locally-made and come with minimal packaging (since there’s no shipping). These items are all interrelated and a store that features items that either reduce or reuse packaging are often sustainable in other areas, too.

Many people have come to look upon the vast quantities of un-recyclable waste as an opportunity to do better. Every shopper who uses reusable bags, pays a few cents more for the environmentally friendly option or takes a few extra seconds to check and see how the packaging on an item can be recycled is making a huge difference. You’ll keep from having so much waste to do something with, offset some more of your carbon footprint and reduce contamination of otherwise safe groundwater.

Reducing Waste Paper for a Better Environment

Most people are shocked to learn how much waste paper is generated in a typical office or home in a given year. The average North American, for instance, used about 700 pounds of paper per year. Up to 95% of all business information is kept on a “hard copy.” Packaging also uses a great deal of paper, now accounting for over 40% of paper use. As for offices, it is said that nearly 30 pages per day are printed by someone using a computer to view the Internet at a job site.

This generation of waste paper has a major impact on not only the number of trees that are cut down, but also the patterns of pollution that are generated by both virgin paper mills and recycling mills.

The quality and uses of such paper is called into question and certainly changing. This is the result of an increasing worldwide population as well as the also increasing cost of transportation. There is also a greater need than ever for large trees, since they’re capable of filtering the excess carbon dioxide out from the atmosphere and replacing it with oxygen.

It is said that the old growth trees of the world, which are being cut down at a rate of 8% annually, are the lungs of the world. If true, reducing paper waste and keeping those trees standing combats climate change on several fronts, as well as preserving habitat for some of the last examples of many species in North America and abroad.

Most municipalities have recycling programs, so waste paper is very easy to recycled from the home or office. At work, just having a recycling bin is enough to get people to recycle their scrap paper while on the job. Office paper is the most commonly recycled, and usually makes a good recycled product that will fetch a decent price on the paper products market.

The waste paper industry is vast, and already saving a great deal of energy. Paper and paper products have recently occupied 1.2% of the world’s economic output, with and trending upwards as the dangers of plastics are causing them to be banned in many parts of the world.

The amount of paper that once filled landfills was once vast, too. For instance, it was not until 1993 that more paper was recycled rather than being buried underneath countless municipalities. In fact, there are very few areas except the most rural parts of North America that do not have recycling programs today, with waste paper being the most common thing to be recycled. In fact, paper has been recycled in the Western World since the 17th century.

In ancient times paper made from all sorts of substances was somewhat more rare. Waste paper was regularly recycled, with evidence of recycled paper materials from Rome and Egypt remaining in museums around the world.

Reducing waste paper use also includes purchasing and using less of it. The use of a smart phone or PDA can save a lot of paper use, as can simply being more judicious when hitting the print button at work. Those who are in positions of authority in offices can also use computer technology to better store records.

There are many types of computer software that allow collaboration. Now that laptop computers are prevalent and document storage is cheap, computer-based solutions are becoming increasingly useful in the business-place. It is also likely that the increasing price of petroleum will increase the cost of paper to such an extent that small businesses will likely look for solutions to eliminate that expense.

Shopping at a co-op or any other store that has bins allowing you to reuse containers, or re-using paper bags at the grocery, you can have a surprisingly significant impact on your own personal paper usage. By eliminating paper towels and using washable bar towels, you can eliminate a great deal of carbon emitting energy usage and paper waste – called “sludge” in the case of recycling plants – that paper plants generate.

You can also make a difference, ecologically speaking, by purchasing paper products that are grown from sustainably managed forests. There are organizations that certify how sustainable wood sources are, with managed paper-pulp forests being highly regarded, especially when wild and old growth lands are preserved.

Alternate fibers, such as bamboo, cotton, flax, sisal, jute and hemp, may be made into useful paper fibers from plants that can be grown organically. Such fibers are found in fine papers and papers that need to be especially durable, dyeable or soft.

There are plenty of ways to reduce your output of waste paper and lower the impact of the paper you do use by recycling or even composting leftover paper products. The impact on the environment if this became standard operating procedure for millions of people in North America would be far reaching.

How Your Spending Can Influence Climate Change

As they say in just about every economics class, “consumer spending is 2/3 of GDP.” Assuming that’s true for the moment, consider what impact that has on climate change. Just think about what consumer spending is – it’s the money you spend of stuff. That includes your bills and the items you buy just as much as the food you eat. Your consumer spending, along with that of the vast North American populace, is capable of making some very serious changes in the way things are done. This is for good or for ill.

As a society we get to figure out just what our impact will be, and we can best accomplish grandiose goals by directing our most powerful weapon against the problem: consumer spending. The power of governments is dwarfed by what the power of the dollar in 6 billion hot little hands can do. What you buy can influence the choices of those around you and the atmosphere of the planet, by extension.

By now, everyone knows what climate change is. Formerly known to many as global warming, the term climate change is far more descriptive. It describes the chaotic climate we see at ground level as compared with the more energetic atmosphere taken as a whole. Regardless, it is a foregone conclusion among most that the countless studies that warn of dangerous weather conditions, fires, droughts, floods and rising sea levels are, in fact, for real.

This has caused people to rethink how their consumption habits affect the world around them. Most people want to do the right thing, especially when its fashionable to do so, as has recently become the case. Since climate change is the net result of 6 billion people making choices, then 6 billion people trying to change can have some impact, too.

Energy usage is a topic of major interest, for many reasons. Mainly, the burning of fossil fuels contributes the vast majority of carbon into our atmosphere. Other globalized practices that are made possible by having cheap energy for transport also have a carbon budget. Since renewable energy still only accounts for less than 20% of global energy production, much of that being wood for fires, also known as “biomass heating.”

This concept in the emerging field of sustainable development reflects how much carbon was produced in each step of the manufacture and often circuitous transport of an item that you might purchase at a local store. Large American chain-stores are full of objects that are better traveled than most Americans. Food also has a carbon footprint that includes highly energetic compounds like nitrogen fertilizer and petrochemical-derived pesticides before you even figure in the average 1,700 miles that an average piece of produce has traveled during the mid ‘aughts.

Warnings about “global warming” were not nearly as persuasive until some of the major storms that played out as major dramas on television. Also influential is the rapid and likely permanent increase in the price of petroleum. This energy premium has forced development into alternative energy sources that have benefited greatly from the consumer base and private investment that allows manufacturers to make micro wind turbines and flexible solar panels that one can choose to spend their disposable income on rather than consumer electronics.

How people get their food is also going to have a huge impact on the way those in North America adjust to a dwindling supply of oil and finally get around to addressing climate change. Agriculture consumes even more petroleum in North America as transport does. Consider that transport is directly related to 10% of GDP, and you’re talking about a vast economy that has been largely ignored in the late 20th century.

Sustainable development practices are also targeting energy intensive operations such as aluminum smelting, road construction and home building for green redesign. Planners and architects are trying to design communities that will encourage localism, so people can save carbon while staying and buying things close to home.

North America uses more than its fair share of petroleum therefore, it emits far more than its fair share of carbon dioxide. That cheap energy is so closely tied to a booming economy, governments that aren’t tiny islands in the Pacific have been less willing to make binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions. However, as the largest emitters of carbon, we can also be the biggest savers, by taking time to consider all our purchases from a climate change point of view.

More Than Just Recycling

Preventing climate change is about more than recycling, but it’s a good place to start. Every little bit helps, and saving money on energy bills certainly has proven to be a good motivator. Though the increase in the price of oil does increase the price of just about everything, decreasing the amount of money people are able to spend on those items that contribute to important numbers like GDP.

Spending your money sustainably, not only has the benefit of reducing your contribution to the climate change problem, but also demonstrates your commitment to changing the way “business as usual” is conducted.

Environmentally Conscious Ways To Make Your Shopping Green

Just because consumerism got us into the climate change mess that threatens everyone’s livelihood and safety, doesn’t mean that the collective “we” can’t change our spending habits to support a solution. There are plenty of ways you can adjust your spending habits into a more of a green shopping experience. They fall into the generalized categories of buying more durable goods, purchasing items that are sustainably and ethically brought to market and buying used.

Discontinuing Discount Items

For starters, the raw materials needed to make most durable goods are obtained either through drilling or mining in environmentally sensitive areas. They are, at the very least, brought to market with a great deal of carbon-belching equipment or travel. Many goods that are made inexpensively use chemicals and toxic substances that are harmful to the local environment where they’re made. Adults and children alike are at risk from such mass-produced items over time.

You can support more durably and domestically produced items by shopping local. For most budgets, this may mean buying fewer things, but spending a bit more on well-made items that have been crafted less than an ocean away. Domestically-produced goods also have the advantage of being made in a place were environmental laws are enforced, protecting another environment from bearing the brunt of your purchase practices.

Green shopping isn’t just about buzz-words like “organic” or “eco-something.” It’s a commitment to understanding how things are made and how they get to you. It means considering how things are made, how they get to you and even how the people who make them are treated.

Recycling your water bottles isn’t enough – though, considering how many are thrown away, that would be a good start. You need to consider how much plastic your purchase decisions are making as well as just where that water is coming from.

For example, the environmental and social consequences of some major water manufacturers who located bottling facilities in India were profoundly negative, despite their protests to be “green.” It isn’t ethical or very smart at all to assume that the more developed world can get away with polluting other parts of the world. When you shop, consider where each item comes from. If there’s packaging or travel that can be reduced by making another choice, go for it.

Another tenant of green shopping is to purchase items using as few fossil fuels as possible. Online shopping fits that bill, using what some estimate to be 1/16 the amount of fuel when the operation of a store is considered. Green shopping is about looking at every aspect of your purchase and doing your best to harm none. And, as evidenced in recent years, cutting carbon is highly fashionable.

Gifting Green

When it comes to giving gifts, you have plenty of options. Consider an upcycled gift, for instance. Such items are thoroughly new items made from old component parts. They are a hybrid type of fashion and consumer goods, in a sense.

Another green shopping idea is to use the occasion of a birthday to make a charitable donation to a group or organization that you know the recipient is affiliated with. There are no carbon or pollution-producing side effects to mar such a gift. Of course, this would not be the best option for teenagers or children, but plenty of adults would consider this a fine gift.

Natural Materials

Not only are there a great many old or vintage items that are made of natural materials, but there are also quite a few new markets for such materials that have sprung up. Consider withdrawing your support for the chemical industry and taking a stand for your personal and environmental health by replacing your bedding and bathroom towels with cotton, linen, silk, wool, hemp or bamboo. The same is true of clothing. Try trading our you wardrobe over time to support organic fiber farming.

Even the choice of what sort of furniture is an element of a green shopping ethic. Bamboo, for example, is a highly renewable and adaptable resource. It makes great flooring and furniture (among many other things) that you might not expect from this humble grass.

Replacing wood with bamboo when it comes time to replace your old, worn-out furniture saves a great deal of carbon. Since the trees remain standing, they are able to remove excess climate-change inducing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That they also provide habitat for animals and are a unique natural habitat, doesn’t hurt either.

Second Life of Goods

Our culture is awash in extra stuff. The tremendous surge in trade and barter sites on the Internet suggests that people are starting to take used items very seriously. Green shopping is just as much about buying used when possible as finding neat new uses for old junk. You can upcycle your own goods, transforming them into exactly what you need with some slight modifications.

Some places are really going the extra mile towards giving their customers the whole “green shop” experience. Buying things doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can be a wonderful thing that you share with your friends and neighbors by shopping green, durable, natural and sometimes used items, locally.

Upcycling: Making Better With Less

In recent years, there has been a new term to describe the way that some people are able to turn items that would otherwise go to waste into something useful by the application of creativity. This can be something that is purely artistic, or something simply useful when applied to a project that wasn’t the original use of the object.

This can be something as simple as taking recycled paint and using it to adorn an old piece of furniture, or even making very expensive and finely wrought quilts from old scraps of clothes that have otherwise worn out. There are free and nearly free items to be found all over the place. Online lists of free and bartered items such as Craigslist and Yahoo local are one of the best resources for finding items.

Jewelry is one of the fastest growing areas of this trend, with everything from old scrabble tiles to bits of old metal being made into fashionable adornments. This new take on an old craft has been especially well used by young artists and anyone crafty that is looking for an artistic outlet and possible second income stream.

Another word for upcycling that has been used by some who concentrate on clothing and accessories is “trashion.” Recycled and a very common term among the new breed of crafters that want to make their art sustainable and affordable.

Moreover, trends in sustainable fashion make upcycling a creative new outlet for designers to make use of high quality fabrics and remixing vintage patterns into new combinations and designs.

This is not only a form of conservation that conserves the fibers, pollution and carbon dioxide that is a consequence of making new fabrics, cutting and shaping wooden objects or forging new metal items. Upcycling is a combination of thriftiness and reducing waste to make a new fashion that is guilt-free.

Upcycling is also practiced when people take parts from old vehicles and make them work together a new, efficient machines. This is being done all over the place with diesel vehicles that can run on a variety of fuels, whichever is cheaper.

Some upcycling is a matter of giving durable objects some simple repair, making them useful again for a new generation. A new industry has sprung up making custom replacement parts for items that are no longer supported by the manufacturer. This new class of tinkerers may do it full time, selling their wares at trade shows and online or just barter their repair skills for things they need or want.

Upcycling is also a great way to make use of cheaply available items, such as those you might find at a thrift store suitable for your own home. This sustainable option eliminates the waste that might otherwise make its way to the landfill. It also keeps expendable cash on hand to deal with the rising cost of everyday goods and services that have risen rapidly along with the price of petroleum.

The more creative the transformation of a an upcycled object, the more salable it typically is. This can be something as simple as using something other than canvas to do paintings upon or turning old cans into decorative candle objects.

Particularly useful transformations are also particularly in demand. One example might be taking waste barrels that are generated every day and can account for a great deal of metal or plastic waste can be turned into water conservation devices such as rain barrels that can handle the irrigation for a garden.

Another useful upcycling product might be finding a new home for something that is a waste product of a local industry. This could be as simple as taking the leftover waste from a brewery and using it in the garden or taking packing peanuts and using them to stuff homemade toys sewn from cast of fabrics.

The rise of upcycling is a creative extension of recycling. Though unlike some types of recycling that has a toxic waste byproduct, upcycled items are actually even more sustainable, saving even more energy and pollution. They are also very inexpensive ways to break into a crafting income.

Some people who’ve come up with particularly good ideas have even been able to quit their day jobs and make upcycling operations their sole source of income while removing objects from the waste stream that many people now recognize as being quite problematic in many ways that simply cannot continue.