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"recycling"
About one year into Target’s new recycling initiative, the results seem pretty impressive. In the first nine months alone, the store collected 170
by Christopher Mims. If you’ve heard that CFLs are lousy with mercury, you’ve heard wrong. In the past 10 years, “reductions in the most used types of fluorescent lighting have decreased [mercury] content over the last decade by 60 – 80 percent,” says Melissa Klein of the EPA. Plus, Americans are recycling more of them than previously reported. A couple weeks ago we blogged a piece from the San Jose Mercury News declaring that CFL recycling rates in the U.S. were abysmal — around 2 percent. Turns out that actually, no one knows how often these bulbs are recycled. Your neighbors could be recycling them at their nearest Home Depot or IKEA as you read this.
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CFLs are not a significant source of mercury, says EPA
by Jess Zimmerman. Vermont New York Washington Oregon Minnesota California Nevada New Hampshire Massachusetts Maine Hmm … based on this, we’re going to go ahead and say that if you want a green state, the best possible location is the middle of the alphabet. Beyond that, any surprises here? Vermont has “green” right in the name (albeit in French), so that hardly seems fair. But Nevada? If you’re going to have one city built on the concept of spectacular waste, I guess it really helps to have low population density outside of that.
See the article here:
Top 10 greenest states—how does yours stack up?
by Jess Zimmerman. Finally, researchers have come up with a biodegradable golf ball for use on cruise ships! So when you knock your ball off your GIANT ENERGY HOG FLOATING CITY, it will only brain a dolphin, not collect on the bottom of the ocean. Earth: saved! The balls are made out of lobster shells, so that after you take off your linen bib and leave the captain’s table, you can put on your plus-fours and repair to the Lido Deck to hit the remains of your meal into the sea. Other upcoming recycling projects include an all-natural massage chair for your island home made of discarded freshwater pearls, and an eco-friendly yacht cozy knitted out of upcycled ball gowns
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Lobster golf balls: Possibly the most bourgeois green solution ever
While recycling still seems to be the concept that most of us associate with green (or, at least, it’s almost always the topic people bring up when I tell them what I do), reusing materials is generally the greener way to go. While the mainstream is still catching on to the notion that “reduce, reuse, recycle” is a hierarchy, the creative and crafty communities have latched on to the middle child of the classic green mantra with a vengeance. Even out here in flyover country, groups like St. Louis’ Upcycle Exchange have worked to connect crafters (both hobbyists and pros) with useful materials that many of us consider trash. And I only have to look at our traffic numbers to that reuse topics and projects are very popular… So I was pleased to see that NBCUniversal’s Green is Universal campaign chose the concept of reuse for their Earth Month theme… and is going beyond just promoting the concept to hosting a crafty reuse competition with the eBay of the craft scene, Etsy . The “ Art of Reuse ” contest invites crafters, or just creative tinkerers, to submit their ideas for reuse projects.
Originally posted here:
Green is Universal and Etsy Celebrate “Art of Reuse” with Contest