TIPS AND TIDBITS FOR RECYCLING
A collection of Reduce/Reuse/Recycle TIPS/TIDBITS from a variety of sources.
INDEX
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RECYCLING TIPS
Aluminum
Batteries
Cardboard
Electronics
Glass
Paper
Plastic
RECYCLING TIDBITS
Recycling Rules (see material)
Junk Mail
Cell Phones
Plastics Recycling Symbols
WASTE REDUCTION
Water
Electricity
Smart Gadgets
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ALL OF THE MATERIALS BELOW BEING RECYCLED BRING IN REVENUE TO THE COUNTY. THE MORE WE RECYCLE THE MORE THE COUNTY SAVES.
Aluminum
Rutherford County residents drink about 35 million beverages from aluminum cans each year. It is against the law to put an aluminum can in the landfill so recycle those cans. All Convenience Centers have special dumpsters for aluminum cans. Curbside recycling in the cities will take them also. Collect the cans and sell them to scrap metal dealers or take them to places that can sell them.
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours or as much energy as pouring out a ½ can volume of gasoline. Recycling aluminum cuts related air pollution by 95%. It takes 95% less energy to make aluminum from recycled goods than from the raw bauxite ore.
In the United States, every 3 months, we throw into the landfill as many aluminum cans as it would take to rebuild all of the commercial airplanes.
Batteries
Spent regular batteries can be put into the trash. These include carbon, alkaline and lithium plus more. Spent rechargeable batteries should be taken back to the store purchased from and they usually have a container for them. Auto and equipment batteries can be taken to the convenience centers or turned in at the time of purchase of a new battery at the place of purchase.
Cardboard (corrugated)
Plain brown CC can be put into the dumpster at the Convenience Center or left at curbside recycling. Slick cardboard with glossy printing needs to go into the trash. Why?...cardboard is recycled by dissolving it in water in a giant blender. The slick coating is usually waterproof and prevents the cardboard from dissolving.
Tape should be removed from the cardboard but a little will be filtered out in the recycling process.
Electronics
Currently, computers and accessories can be put into the wire frame containers at the Convenience Centers. Working televisions can be put into one of the five Swap Shops. Not-working televisions should be put into the furniture dumpster. Within 2 years, all electronics will have to be recycled.
Used cell phones can be donated to most battered women's shelters. You can also donate them to a group called cell phones for soldiers at www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com to "Help our troops call home" - any condition or brand and they do not need to have batteries.
Glass
Clear, brown and green glass can be put into the three compartment dumpster at the Convenience Centers. They can also be put in the recycling bin at curbside pickup. Glass has no limit on the amount of times it can be recycled. Most bottles contain some recycled content.
Recycling glass saves significant energy compared to making glass from sand, the raw material. Recycling 12 bottles per week saves 62, 000 watts of electricity which is like running a TV for 3 hours. This reduces the demand for electricity which reduces the green-house gas produced.
Paper
Newspaper is the biggest source of recycled paper and the easiest to recycle. Each Convenience Center has a large dumpster for collecting newspaper and it is filled up weekly. In the United States, it takes 500,000 trees to produce our Sunday newspapers. To produce newspaper from recycled newsprint rather than virgin pulp requires 50% less water and energy and causes 74% less air pollution.
Writing paper is the second largest use. Schools are the biggest single user. Most local schools have or plan to have a recycling program. Paper separated into colors and white brings the most money but is difficult to manage as a program. Writing paper should not be mixed in with the newspaper. GDS has a facility to take any paper beyond newspaper. This included magazines and catalogues
Plastic
The most popular recycled plastic is bottles and containers. They are collected in the curbside containers and in the dumpster at the Convenience Centers. Both are just for #1 and #2 plastics. These numbers can be seen in the recycling triangle at the bottom of the container. Rule of thumb is that this includes soft drinks, milk and margarine tubs. Soft drink containers are usually clear or could be green. Some bottles that have a blue tint could indicate that it is not a #1 or #2 but a #7 and should not be included. See Plastics Recycling Symbols below. Motor oil containers should not be included either…put them in the trash.
The #1 plastic can be recycled one time to make another bottle or fiber for carpets and clothes. The #2 plastic has multiple end-uses including artificial wood for decking.
Water bottles that are #1 can be refilled by the owner and re-used to save money…90 cents out of every dollar spent for a new 6-pack is for the bottle, labeling and tranporation with only 10 cents worth of water. In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 23 percent. That leaves 38 billion water bottles in landfills
By next year, all plastic bottlels will be banned from the trash and landfill, and will have to be recycled.
TIDBITS
Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail a year and 44% of it is never opened. Call these companies and ask that your name be removed from their mailing list. Or send back the postpaid card and request that your name be removed. Whenever you order an item, ask them to NOT put your name on their mailing list or anyone else’s.
In 1960 Americans disposed of 2.7 pounds of waste per person per day. By 1990, the number had risen to 4.3 pounds per person per day.
Styrofoam is nonrecyclable. Each year Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam cups - so take your own mug with you, use real or paper plates and choose to not use styrofoam. Many families, groups and clubs are choosing to be styrofoam free.
Five hundred years from now, the foam coffee cup that you used this morning will still be sitting in a landfill so take your own mug for your coffee, etc.
One gallon of used motor oil can contaminate 65,000 gallons of water. Please recycle your oil properly!
RECYCLE THOSE OLD LP RECORDS
LP stood for long playing. Make them into serving bowls for you next party. Due to the fact that there is a hole in the center, they can only be used for things like nuts, chips, pretzels, etc. Here’s how to do it:
Preheat over to 225 degrees.
Take a bowl that is about 9 inches wide at the top and place it upside down on a cookie sheet. Get a second bowl that is about this same size and leave it on the counter or stovetop.
Put the record on top of the 9-inch bowl (on the cookie sheet) centering it the best that you can.
Put this in the oven and watch it.
The record will begin to soften and will eventually droop down on all sides – this only takes a short time so don’t leave it unattended.
Take the record off the bowl and quickly put it inside the bowl on the counter and using hot pads or your hands – shape the record so that the indentations are similar in size.
If you don’t like how it looks, just put it back in the oven and melt it again.
There is very little odor created when doing this.
Used cell phones can be donated to most battered women's shelters. You can also donate them to a group called cell phones for soldiers at www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com to "Help our troops call home" - any condition or brand and they do not need to have batteries.
ALUMINUM
Rutherford County residents drink about 35 million beverages from aluminum cans each year. It is against the law to put an aluminum can in the landfill so recycle those cans.
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours.
Recycling aluminum cuts related air pollution by 95%.
In the United States, every 3 months, we throw into the landfill as many aluminum cans as it would take to rebuild all of the commercial airplanes.
It takes 95% less energy to make aluminum from recycled goods than from the raw bauxite ore – which is a finite resource.
Throwing away two aluminum cans wastes as much energy as pouring out one cans volume of gasoline. So, if you throw away two 12 oz. aluminum cans – that is the same as throwing away 12 oz. of gasoline.
Throwing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that cans volume of gasoline.
A recycled aluminum can is typically back in the store as a new can within 6 weeks.
PAPER
Feb 06 Aura magazine
For businesses: for every ton of recycled paper bags purchased, the following are saved:
17 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 4,100-kilowatt hours of electricity, 7,000 gallons of water and 3 cubic yards of landfill space.
Everyday US businesses generate enough paper to circle the earth 20 times.
Every ton of paper recycled saves approximately 17 trees, so recycle your paper.
In 1996 America recovered 42.3 million tons of paper, saving more than 719 million trees.
If all morning newspapers read around the country were recycled, 41,000 trees would be saved daily and 6 million tons of waste would never end up in landfills.
Every ton of 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper saves: 12 trees, 1976 lbs. of greenhouse gases, and 390 gallons of oil.
Chlorine-free paper production uses 20-25 times less water.
American use one million tons of paper towels each year. This is a huge waste since paper towels are an end use product. What this means is that even if you buy paper towels made of recycled paper, they can’t be recycled again. Instead, try washable, reusable micro fiber towels.
It takes 500,000 trees to produce our Sunday newspapers. Please recycle your newspapers!
To produce newspaper from recycled newsprint rather than virgin pulp requires 50% less water and energy and causes 74% less air pollution.
Plastics Recycling Symbols
Recycling No. -- Abbreviation -- Polymer Name -- Uses once recycled
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PETE or PET -- Polyethylene terephthalate -- Polyester fibers, thermoformed sheet, strapping, soft drink bottles.
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HDPE -- High density polyethylene -- Bottles, grocery bags, recycling bins, agricultural pipe, base cups, car stops, playground equipment, and plastic lumber.
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PVC or V -- Polyvinyl chloride -- Pipe, fencing, and non-food bottles.
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LDPE -- Low density polyethylene -- Plastic bags, various containers, dispensing bottles, wash bottles, tubing, and various molded laboratory equipment.
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PP -- Polypropylene -- Auto parts, industrial fibers, food containers.
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PS -- Polystyrene -- Desk accessories, cafeteria trays, toys, video cassettes and cases, insulation board and expanded polystyrene products (e.g. Styrofoam)
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OTHER -- Other plastics, including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene acrylic, polycarbonate, polylactic acid, nylon and fiberglass. Usually polycarbonate, used in most plastic baby bottles, 5-gallon water bottles, "sport" water bottles, metal food can liners, clear plastic "sippy" cups and some clear plastic cutlery. New bio-based plastics may also be labeled #7.
WASTE REDUCTION
WATER
The average restaurant uses 300,000 gallons of water per year.
Turn off the water while shaving or brushing your teeth and save 4 to 10 gallons of water per day.
Take a 5-minute shower rather than a bath and save 21 to 26 gallons of water. Installing a water saving showerhead can save 20 gallons of water for every
5-minute shower.
If you do take a bath, fill the tub only halfway and save 16 gallons of water.
It takes 16 pounds of feed and 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of ground beef.
Municipal landfills were designed to accept solid, not toxic or human waste. When hazardous materials are thrown into the trash, the containers are crushed, enabling the remaining contents to leach directly into the groundwater, thus
contaminating our drinking water.
Chlorine bleaches and scouring powders raise the potential of high levels of trihalomethanes in our water, which have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals and are suspected human carcinogens even at low levels.
So, buy environmentally safe cleaning products such as those made by Shaklee, Ecover and other companies.
More than 65,000 synthetic chemicals are in production and in use in the United States today with another 1,000 to 2,000 new substances added each year.
The EPA has set drinking water standards for only 30 chemicals with an additional 38 currently under proposal. Therefore a drinking water system that meets these few federal requirements can still be delivering water contaminated by 64,932 unregulated substances.
We take clean water for granted even though our country is rapidly running out of clean water. On the average, each of us uses 60 gallons of water per day. Three quarters is used in the bathroom and as much as 40% is wasted. So...,"If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down!" and save 2 to 7 gallons per flush.
Installing a water saving showerhead can save up to 40 gallons of water for every 10-minute shower. If you take a daily shower, that adds up to 14,000 gallons per year.
A shower uses less water than a bath. Prove this to yourself – the next time you shower, put the stopper in the tub and see how much less water collects in the tub than it would take for a bath.
One leaky faucet can waste up to 4,000 gallons of water per month; a leaky toilet can waste more than 50 gallons per day. Fix those leaks!
ELECTRICITY
Most of our electricity is generated at coal-fired plants. Every pound of coal makes a pound of carbon dioxide which is the biggest contributor to global warming. When we use electricity we are adding to the demand for burning coal and contributing to global warming. Each person can reduce their use of electricity by:
Turning off lights when not needed
Compact fluorescent lights: they use ¼ the electricity of an old fashioned bulb and last 5 times as long.
Take short showers with reduced flow shower head.
Keep the house cool and comfortable and not cold in summer and hot in winter.
Recycling old gadgets:
1. Most of our convenient Centers have bins in which you may put dead computers and peripheral devices. A local business recycles the parts. If an item is still working you may put it in a Swap Shop, found (so far) at 5 of the Convenient Centers.
2. Make smart purchases to begin with. Support
manufacturers, like Dell and Hewlett-Packard, who do
take-back programs.
3. Get paid to recycle electronics such as computers,
cell phones, or PDA’s that are in working condition.
Sites such as MyBoneYard.com, GreenPhone.com or eBay’s
trade-in site, eBay.EZtradein.com, will pay you or
give you reward points to put toward purchases.
4. Donate it. Schools and non-profits often use
retired gadgets. Many police departments and shelters
have cellphone donation bins. ReCellular.com helps
consumers donate old cellphones. Donating benefits
you, too, as a tax write-off.
5. “Freecycle” it. The online community
RutherfordFreecycle.org connects donors with
recipients to reduce landfill waste and strengthen
community ties. It is a local server so nothing gets
shipped. They contact you via the website and you make
arrangements for them to come and get the item.
6. Recycle it. If it’s broken and you can’t reuse it,
donate it or freecycle it, then go to Earth911.com
where you can find drop off locations to recycle your
e-waste (electronic waste).
