Here are some great ideas to repurpose holiday cards from Earth911:
http://www.earth911.com/inspire/diy/4-ways-repurpose-old-christmas-cards/

Have a healthy and safe holiday season. Be creative and teach your children or grandchildren how to Recycle and Repurpose holiday items.

Happy Holidays from Harris and You!

Getting your home ready for fall? You maybe cleaning out the gutters and repairing your roof. How do you recycle the shingles from your roof? Follow the link attached:

http://www.earth911.com/recycling-guide/how-to-recycle-shingles/

I hope all home owners will think “green” and remember the best way to refresh your home is to re-use or recycle.

Happy Fall!

Pope Francis calls for world leaders

Pope Francis is asking world leaders to tackle climate change. The Sierra Club announced that Pope Francis said that we need to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations. When “we realize that the world is a gift” we must care for it in a loving and sustainable stewardship.

It is like tending to your garden, taking time to prune, feed and water the plants and trees so that they receive what they need to flourish and then teaching your children and grandchildren how to tend to the garden.

What a wonderful message the Pope has sent. I hope it will be well received. It is urgently needed. If everyone jumped on board we would be able to decrease gas emissions, smog, allergens, etc. and leave a healthy planet to our grandchildren.

This past Saturday I participated in an Eco Fair. The turn out was great! The people that attended were interested in products and services and listened with both ears! Those are the people that can help change the environment with open hearts and open minds.

Ready to help you reduce your discards

The vendors had some amazing products and stories to tell. One woman had items handmade by women in Nepal. The woman that was selling the products was travelling back and forth to Nepal, helping the women learn how to earn a living without being abused and how to be independent. The products were beautiful and the money went back into the organization and to the women.

A man came in with his two Golden Retrievers. They were beautiful and so friendly. I found out they were Comfort Dogs. This man traveled around with his dogs to various states that were afflicted with disaster. He was in Boston after the Boston Marathon bombings. He and the dogs (Jake and Emerson) have traveled to Newtown Connecticut, giving love and hope to those affected by the horrific shooting.

There were products that were environmentally safe to clean your house with. There were products that were environmentally safe and good for the earth. I was there meeting and greeting people that were interested in learning about how to reduce their discards so that less ends up in the landfills.

Such a great day – an event that was fun for the whole family and it lifted people’s spirits while doing good for the environment. I hope that you can attend ecological events like this in your area. It will bring more awareness to how easy it can be to do the right thing for people and planet.

Reduce waste when remodeling your home. This is something many people do not think of when they start thinking of remodeling their homes. It is important to think ahead about what happens to the materials/discards that will be produced from your remodel.

There are salvage companies that will pick up your Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste. Some items such as bathtubs, toilets, etc. can be re-sold if they are in good condition. Habitat for Humanity has stores that sell those items and other items like windows, mirrors, doors, etc.

Separating the C&D will make it easier for pick up. Perhaps you can reuse or re-purpose an item from one room into another room. Look online for design ideas on how to do this.

The more you can reuse the less need for pick up. Items picked up are transported elsewhere which adds to greenhouse gas emissions and adds to your costs. Reusing can reduce your costs.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has information on their website and resources for recycling materials. Wood can be recycled or reused, asphalt and concrete can be ground up and reused. Be resourceful and you can find a way to safely get rid of your discards which helps you, your neighborhood and the planet.

 

Signage needed

I was at a car show on Saturday. It is a large car show in the middle of a small town. It goes on for blocks. I like looking at the vintage cars and I go because my son is a “car” guy.

As we walked along the streets I noticed a pair of the large plastic trash cans on almost every street; one for trash and one for recyclables. I was happy that the event organizers had tried to gather discards in a way that was convenient for the participants. I say tried because as mentioned the plastic cans were not on every street, they were not highly visible and the signage was hard to see.

Having better signage on the plastic trash/recycling cans especially the recycling can would help make it easier for people to understand what discards go should go into it.  The signage needed to be larger, it needed to be on the lid of the can and on every side of the can, instead there was one picture of recycling and the word RECYCLE on one side, which you had to look for.

To make sure people know that there are recycling cans available put them in the streets where the people are. The cans were on the sidewalks near the curbs.

Though there is room for improvement, it was an attempt at doing the right thing and for that I applaud the organizers.

Ocean Trash

Greenpeace has written a great article relating how “a single one-liter bottle” does not break down in the ocean. Instead it breaks into many tiny particles that can be ingested by marine mammals, sea birds or just end up on the beach.

Plastic is used more often than glass for containing foods and liquids. Glass production is more expensive than glass. Plastic is easier to leave on the side of the road, on the beach, or at a park where animals and birds can pick at it, get caught in it, or carry it off to another place.

Choose to live in a clean environment, teach your love ones how to love the planet by discarding items in the appropriate receptacles. If there is not a receptacle close by take it with you so you can dispose of it.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/fit-for-the-future/pollution/trash-vortex/