Don’t have the yard space for a garden? You can reuse rain gutters to create a lovely herb and salad garden right on the side of your house or garage.  Simply attach gutters to a wall, fill with topsoil, and get planting.  These gutter planters are perfect for herbs as well as lettuce, and any other vegetables that have shallow roots and don’t spread out too much.

Great Picture from Recyclart.

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Raising a family is a lesson in handling STUFF–and, if you’re a parent, you’ve muttered to yourself more than once about how your family has way too much of it. We’re all familiar with the items we can recycle at the curbside or drop-off. What about everything else? Nearly everything else is recyclable. I think you’re going to be excited to hear about the things you can recycle right in your local community.

RecycleChicken, tells you where you can take anything and everything for recycling and reuse in your area. The site, searchable by item and zipcode, lists businesses and programs in your area that accept your beyond the curbside materials. Here is a listing of seasonal waste reduction suggestions.

• Pumpkins: A few ideas here. You could, of course, make pumpkin pie. You could feed the deer. You could add to yours or a neighbor’s compost pile. Roast the seeds or plant them for next year’s crop.
• Baby: Green Island Earth Friendly Goods in Traverse City is accepting used cloth diapers and cloth diaper systems. Call 231-933-8465  for accepting conditions.
• Vacuums & vacuum parts: Check with your local vacuum repair shop about what brands and conditions they accept. Most shops rebuild and sell used vacuums–a potential deal in itself.
• #3-#7 Plastics: Check in with Bay Area Recycling for Charities or American Waste.
• Garden Plastics: Bay Area Recycling accepts black (and other color) nursery pots, trays and plastic lawn edging. The Head Hen’s personal heroes!
• Dry Cleaning Hangers & Bags: Most drycleaners will take back their own or unprinted paper hangers as well as plastic dry cleaning bags. Call ahead to your favorite cleaner to check.
• Computers & Accessories (working or not): In the Traverse City area, some easy options include Goodwill and TC eWaste. In Emmet County, take to the Recycling Center on Pleasantview Rd.
• Other Electronics: In Traverse City area, take to TC eWaste. They take a wide array and even have drop boxes at Oryana Food Co-op. In Emmet–Pleasantview Rd. center.

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That’s right, latex as well as lamb skin condoms will biodegrade in your compost.  Latex is a 100-percent natural substance that breaks down both in sunlight and water.   Latex condoms do take a bit longer to break down than lambskin but the degradation process does begin almost immediately.  Exposure to sunlight quickens the process, but natural microorganisms attack natural rubber even in the dark. Research shows that under similar environmental conditions, latex balloons will biodegrade at about the same rate as a leaf from an oak tree.  This research also applies to latex condoms as both products are made from 100% latex.  The actual total degradation time will vary depending on the precise conditions, but condoms will break down in your compost pile.

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Recycling involves processing used materials (waste) into new products to reduce the consumption of resources and save money. Recycling is the modern component of waste reduction and is notably third in the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” hierarchy. (Hashtags for Twitter: #recycling #rcycl #rchk #3r, #3rs)

A Recycling Pioneer

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FREE COMMUNITY-WIDE RECYCLE & REPURPOSE EVENT FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS
‘Fall Back’ into Action to Clean Up and Green Up

The Michigan Green Consortium will once again produce a free community-wide recycle, repurpose and reuse event from 10am until 3pm on Sunday,November 7, 2010 at Parking Lot B in downtown Traverse City. The event is held twice a year, the morning following the time adjustment, and serves as a reminder to residents to renew their pledge to do their part to preserve the environment.

The Daylight Savings Clean Up and Green Up Event will be hosted by the Consortium and a dozen or more local area businesses that provide recycle and reuse services. The event is comprehensive, offering residents the chance to bring recyclable items to one location and at no charge for collection.

Area businesses will be on site that day to process a realm of household goods that have reusable or recyclable value. While not all vendors are yet confirmed, past vendors have included. American Waste; Bay Area Recycling, RecycleChicken, Rifkin Steel, L & B Recycling, Cartridge World, Goodwill, GT Profile’s Shredmonster, TC eWaste, Odom Reusable Building Products, Northern Michigan Garment Restoration, Evergreen Bottle Company, Team Elmer’s and Home Depot.

Michigan Green Consortium is a trade association established in 2008 to promote and support green and sustainable businesses; to educate the business and local community on what should be done to ensure a healthy environment and provides networking opportunities for green
companies. The consortium is funded solely by member dues and public contributions.
To learn out more about the Daylight Savings: Clean Up and Green Up event, call (231) 947-1688 or visit www.mgconline.org

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TreeHugger reports that; according to data from the Ocean Conservancy, in 2009 more than 3 million cigarettes or butts were picked up internationally from beaches and inland waterways as part of the annual International Coastal Cleanup – 1 million from U. S. beaches alone, making them by far the most littered item. But that’s just a fraction of the billions of pounds of discarded butts that degrade slowly, and leave unsavory residue that can harm fresh and saltwater fish.

They say that there is now a Chinese research group (China is the world’s largest producer of cigarettes) just devised a way to recycle cigarette butt juice, turning it into an effective anti-rust agent.

Researchers including Jun Zhao and Ningsheng Zhang at Xi’an Jiaotong University took cigarette butts and soaked them in water for 24 hours, after which time the researchers could identify nine chemicals in the water, including nicotine.

The soaked-butt brew was then acidified and used to coat steel and found to be anti-corrosive. The researchers want develop a process for large-scale recycling, according to Chemical & Engineering News.

This is great news since there is no other process currently in use that is able to recycle the chemicals as well as fiberglass in cigarette butts.

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A virtual sculpture that brings together artisan skills with style, elegance and a respect for the environment, the Ecopod is painstakingly handmade from naturally hardened, 100% recycled paper – mainly newsprint and office paper – and carefully formed into its Egyptian-inspired design It’s covered in a handmade paper constructed of 100% naturally dyed mulberry bark paper.

Ecopods are made by hand at the ARKA workshop in Brighton by father and son team – Peter and Gar Rock.  Peter is also a co-owner of ARKA Ecopod Ltd with designer Hazel Selene.

100% RECYCLED PAPER COFFIN

The supply of post consumer newspapers comes from Magpie – Brighton’s original curbside collection and recycling co-operative. The newspapers are converted into paper clay with the help of a pre-war dough machine.

The form-fitting Ecopod tends to be narrow in the hips, following the contours of the human body. Each coffin includes a lightly quilted unbleached cotton mattress pad.

The unique strap and handle system make it easy for families to carry the Ecopod at a funeral, and participate more fully in the ceremony. The fitted lid is separate, and secured with cotton straps. The metal carrying grips can be easily removed prior to final disposition.

ECOPOD IS A CREMATION OR NATURAL BURIAL COFFIN

The Ecopod is suitable for cremation, or burial in woodland sites or traditional cemeteries, and biodegrades naturally over time when placed in the ground.

Each Ecopod is finished to order and, while some stock is carried in the US, many are pre-ordered and shipped with the Natural Burial Company’s container shipments. Some are even flown in special-order – that has less of a carbon footprint than someone flying in for the funeral, and planting a tree offsets the energy use; better, yet, if the tree goes with the grave! 

SIZES:

• Size 1 – height up to 5′3″; carrying a weight of up to 15 stone (210 lb or 95.25 kg)
• Size 2 – height up to 6′0″; carrying a weight up to 18 stone (252 lb or 114.30 kg)

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This site has numerous pictures of things that people have used to accomplish tasks in very unconventional ways. here are a few examples.

more pictures added regularly at There I Fixed It.

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While recent interest in sustainable building has spurred the creation of eco-minded materials like Greensulate and Cow Dung Bricks, drywall is one building component that has remained e ssentially the same over the past 100 or so years. That’s about to change, however, thanks to EcoRock, a new drywall material that’s made of 80 percent recycled materials.

Due to become available from California-based Serious Materials next year, EcoRock is used the same way as traditional gypsum-based drywall, but it’s made of recycled industrial materials and uses 80 percent less energy to produce. The termite-resistant material also generates 60 percent less dust than traditional drywall and is 50 percent more resistant to mold. Perhaps best of all, EcoRock is fully recyclable, and can be used as a pH additive for soil or as a raw material in the production of new EcoRock and other building materials.

EcoRock won a Popular Science Green Tech Grand Award last year and is priced about the same as high-end drywall, Popular Science reported, at USD 14 to USD 20 per 4-by-8-ft. sheet. Distribution of EcoRock will begin on the West Coast of the U.S.

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In Fort Bragg, California the forces of nature have taken what used to be a barren and disgusting trash heap and turned it into something truly beautiful. Glass Beach, just north of Mendocino, gained its unique name because of the tons of shimmering sea glass adorning its sand.

From 1950 to 1967, the land that is now Glass Beach was owned by a lumber company, but was used as an unofficial dump by residents. It’s hard to believe that just 50 or 60 years ago we found it perfectly acceptable to dump household waste, appliances and even cars right into the ocean, but that’s exactly what happened here. Though various cleanup efforts took place over the years, the beach would never again see its natural state. The sand was now overtaken with countless pieces of sea glass: pieces of broken glass worn smooth and lovely from the constant friction of waves and sand.

The site was eventually purchased by the state in 2003 for $2.48 million. It is now a public-accessible tourist destination.  The state does not allow visitors to take any of the sea glass as a souvenir. You may still see the occasional antique piece of garbage wash up on the shore, but for the most part, Glass Beach is a glittering stretch of sand full of history and, hopefully, a lesson: beautiful things can grow where desolation and filth used to thrive.

To add your business or location to RecycleChicken’s recycling/reuse directory, use this easy “Get Listed” form.

To add your business or location to RecycleChicken’s recycling/reuse directory, use this easy “Get Listed” form.

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