Baltimore County recycling turns a profit

The new recycling facility in north Baltimore County earned $750k in just four months this year!

Learn more here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/cockeysville/ph-tt-recycling-center-0402-20140328,0,6113523.story

Want to join a monthly tour?  Contact a Public Works Public Information Specialist using the email listed at the end of the Baltimore Sun article linked above.

But what about Styrofoam?

What is Styrofoam exactly, and why can't you recycle it in Baltimore county?  Read on for an excerpt from the county recycling newsletter that answers this FAQ...

"...Savvy residents are already aware of the materials accepted, and not accepted, in Baltimore County’s single stream program. However, even the most avid recycler may not realize why certain types of materials are not accepted. In this issue of The REsource, we will address some questions concerning expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam. This material is often generically referred to as “Styrofoam™.” However, the trademarked brand name actually references a different type of polystyrene that is extruded (pressed through a die to form a desired shape), not expanded. Neither form of polystyrene is accepted for recycling in Baltimore County.

EPS is a form of polystyrene plastic that can be used for numerous purposes, including packing material, food and beverage containers, and building insulation. Many manufacturers favor EPS as a material due to its low weight, rigid structure, and formability. However, these same properties also make EPS very difficult to recycle.

Because EPS is composed of 98 percent air, and thus extremely light for its volume, this material is not economical to collect and transport. In addition, EPS used to store and serve food is usually contaminated, and requires cleaning before it can be processed for recycling – a step that would incur additional costs. There are some jurisdictions in the United States with EPS recycling programs; however, these programs typically are limited to collection at drop-off centers (not curbside) and have strict limitations on the types of EPS accepted. For example, a program that accepts EPS food containers for recycling may not accept EPS packing “peanuts.”

Though Baltimore County does not accept EPS for recycling, there are still some ways to reduce the amount of this material that ends up in our landfill. Many packaging service stores, such as The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc., will accept EPS packing “peanuts” for reuse. In addition, EPS Industry Alliance in Crofton, Maryland will accept clean, white EPS packaging materials for reuse or recycling – visit epsindustry.org for details."

Where plastic ends up

This week, NPR played a report from The Story about plastic trash in the ocean.  You can listen to it here:
http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_082112_full_show.mp3/view

Baby it's cold outside!

This Lifehacker article has winter preparation tips on everything from insulating windows, repurposing old sweaters as mittens, and fighting Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Enjoy!
http://lifehacker.com/5864667/prepare-yourself-for-the-winter-cold-this-weekend

Crafty Christmas gifts

Looking for unique gifts made by talented artisans?  Check out the local crafts scene...

Holiday Heap was today in Charles Village, sponsored by the Charm City Craft Mafia
http://www.charmcitycraftmafia.com/holidayheap2011.html

In case you missed it, some of the same vendors will be at the Creative Alliance on Sunday Dec 4th for Merry Mart http://www.creativealliance.org/events/eventItem2784.html


And there's Etsy all year round http://www.etsy.com/

Many of these craftspeople upcycle used materials like clothing, vintage maps, and found objects to fashion their art.  Some of my favorites from the Holiday Heap...

Almanac Industries www.almanacindustries.com  Bookbinding and letterpress studio

Biggs and Featherbelle www.biggsandfeather.com Health conscious body care.  Also available at Whole Foods.

Greenstarstudio, or *might www.mightmight.etsy.com Handmade wonder for all ages

Holland Cox www.hollandcox.com Handmade classic handbags and accessories

Open Eyes Press www.openeyespress.com Eco-friendly handmade goods

Pidge Pidge www.pidgepidge.etsy.com Handwoven scarves and pet portraits

The Littlest Bean www.thelittlestbean.com Mixed media usables

Wooly baby www.wooly-baby.com Handmade and eco-friendly soft slippers

Great green gifts

Gearing up for Christmas shopping? Here's a collection of green gift ideas for everybody on your list...

(image: recycled circuit board ornaments from GeekSugar.com)

Visit sites like Ecoist, FairTradeSports, OrganicBabyGiftsBoutique, OliveGreenDog, and WearYourMusic to find unique gifts that are organic, recycled, fair trade, charitable, or all of the above. Follow this link to the Consumer Reports Greener Choices page for these sites and a few more.

Don't forget the rechargeable batteries to power your gadgets. View CR recommendations for long-lasting, greener batteries.

http://www.wired.com/ Their holiday buying guide has some groovy gifts like the MudWatt electrochemistry kit and a sculptural CFL bulb called the Plumen 001.

http://www.uncommongoods.com/ - Unique gifts and creative design found here, many handmade and/or recycled, with items like record bookends, tree ring coasters, and bamboo dry erase boards.

http://www.resourcerevival.com/ - Green gifts, awards, and promotional items made from recycled bicycle parts.

http://www.signals.com/ Gifts that inform, enlighten & entertain, including recycled wine bottle drinking glasses, bamboo keyboard and mouse, and newspaper bead bracelets. Building buffs will enjoy the origami architecture book and Frank Lloyd Wright Lego sets, while electrician types will get a charge out of the "Resistance is not futile…" T-shirt.

http://www.etsy.com/ The worldwide online marketplace for handmade gifts.

http://blog.makezine.com/ Or bypass the shopping altogether and make your own stuff, like DIY iPhone gloves.

Happy holidays!

P.S. Today's Grist newsletter had a good article about eschewing "stuff" - complete with links to Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff and George Carlin's NSFW rant about it.  Food for thought...

Paying it forward with recycling in Baltimore County

Baltimore County has authorized $25 million to upgrade the recycling facilities in Cockeysville.

Apparently, since the county switched to single-stream recycling in February 2010, recycling has been shipped elsewhere for processing because county facilities could only handle dual-stream.  This new funding will pay for transitioning the Cockeysville facility to single-stream, and build a new garbage transfer station as well.

According to sources at the solid waste management bureau, this transition will ultimately save the county money:

Trash disposal cost = $56 to $58 per ton
Recycling revenue = $100 to $105 per ton, depending on materials

Read the full article here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/baltimorecounty/news/ph-tt-recycling-center-1109-20111107,0,6895904.story

Sites for reuse, trade in, or donation

Tis the season for yard sales!  But if you haven't the time or inclination, here are some sites where you can trade in or donate your stuff to a good cause.

Gazelle.com for gadget recycling
Sell your old but working electronic gadgets!  Enter the brand, model, and condition and the site makes you an offer (usually around $100 per trade-in).  If you accept, Gazelle mails you a box to send it in and a free shipping label.  Once the site confirms the gadget works, you can accept the money via check, gift card, or PayPal, or donate it to one of about 50 charities.  Don't worry:  Before the item is resold, Gazelle wipes out your personal information.

Thredup.com for kid stuff
Swap clothes or toys your child has outgrown.  Browse through listings of thousands of boxes containing an average of 15 items - brief descriptions include size (for clothes) and color.  Once you've picked a box, describe the items you'll be trading, and for $5 plus shipping, you'll receive your chosen box and an empty one to send in your items.  The site relies on user ratings to monitor the quality of goods, and 98% of the boxes are rated 3 or 4 stars.


New local thrift store for all you fashionistas out there:  www.uptowncheapskate.com  in Timonium.
But don't forget old favorites like http://www.voguerevisited.com/ on Roland Ave near Hampden,
and http://www.platosclosetbaltimore.com/ on Taylor Ave near Loch Raven.


Where to donate clothes and household items (schedule free pickup online if you live in a neighborhood along one of their routes, like Rodgers Forge...)
PurpleHeartPickup.org  for Purple Heart Veterans
ClothingDonations.org  for Vietnam Veterans

Also don't forget the Baltimore County recycling site, with its links to electronics recycling and local reuse organizations.  Did you know that you can take electronics and building materials to one of the three county landfills for recycling or donation?

And when all else fails, there's always Craigslist.

P.S. Click the Recycling tag in the sidebar to see my other posts on this topic!  I'm always discovering new sites and shops to RRR.

JH-U-Turn community yard sale this Saturday

JH-U-TURN Community Yard Sale


Pick up second-hand items for a reduced price!

June 11; 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.

O’Connor Rec Center, Gym; Homewood Field

Come check out second-hand items from students at a reduced price! Items include clothing, furniture, books, electronics, and household items. In keeping with Hopkins’ mission of demonstrating smart, sensible, and creative actions promoting sustainability and community strengthening, JH-U-Turn is designed to help reduce waste and support a great cause.

Visit http://web.jhu.edu/liaison/UTurn.html for more information.

Swap your stuff online

Today's news from Debt Proof Living (see below) reminded me of a swap event I heard about in Philly:  http://sorrphilly.wordpress.com/

Swap till you drop!  Enjoy the article...


http://www.debtproofliving.com/DPLResources/EverydayCheapskate/VisitorEverydayCheapskate/tabid/275/smid/663/ArticleID/533301/reftab/38/t/Default.aspx

You can shop online without spending a dime. No, I’m not talking about some kind of devious Internet rip-off scam. A quasi-cashless society has grown up on the Internet over the past couple of years where you can swap for all kinds of great goods. If you're willing to pay for shipping, you can find almost anything, all brand new or gently used, and all completely free. Talk about recycling!


http://www.swapadvd.com/ is a reliable website where you can swap the DVDs you no longer want for ones you do. Register for a free account on this site and decide which of your DVDs you want to swap. You must have the original cases; simply list your DVDs by UPC Code. Full descriptions and cover art are supplied by the SwapaDVD database so you don’t have to upload or scan anything.

When someone wants one of your DVDs, you mail it out (postage averages about $2 per package via first class mail; SwapaDVD members can print postage and a combo mailing label and wrapper for sending movies). When the other person indicates receipt of your DVD, you get one credit per disc deposited into your account. List 10 DVDs that you're willing to send out, and you can immediately request a complimentary DVD. With a library of nearly 200,000 DVDs currently available to be sent to your mailbox, think of the possibilities: Cancel your cable TV service, cancel your NetFlix account.

http://www.swap.com/ lets members trade books, movies, music, and video games for free. With about 3.5 million items up for swapping, this site offers “shopping” opportunities galore! Unlike other sites, where you have to earn points in order to start trading, at Swap.com you make one-for-one trades or three-way trades, and can start as soon as you sign up. When you join, you list "Items I Have" and "Items I Want." Then the site does its matchmaking to find you a trading partner, saving you hours of potential Web-surfing time.

http://www.swapbabygoods.com/ is a swapping site in its infancy, with currently about 1,000 listings from brand-new items to gently used. SwapBabyGoods.com is set up for one-to-one swaps (you find someone who has something you want and who wants something you have). Then, you can regularly swap clothing for coupons and other things as your collective kids outgrow.

http://www.zwaggle.com/ is a virtual mall jam-packed with stuff for kids, like Game Boy cartridges, Old Navy clothes, Stride Rite shoes and more. Here is how it works: You use "zoints" as your currency. You get 25 zoints for joining the site, and more as you send off your unwanted gear. The site includes an integrated FedEx and U.S. Postal Service shipping tool that lets you print out a prepaid and preaddressed shipping label, and schedule a pickup. That makes it so much easier than schlepping to the post office.

Getting taken to the cleaners

Dry-cleaning is one of my pet peeves.  It's expensive, produces a pile of wire hangers (which can be returned) and plastic bags (which can't be returned), and the chemicals are nasty.  Now that I've been doing life cycle assessments and ROI studies at work, I detest dry-clean-only clothes even more:  considering that a $100 suit will cost you $10 per cleaning for the rest of its life, is that really such a good deal?

Diatribe over.  Awhile back I blogged about green dry-cleaners; since then I've discovered organic cleaning at Belvedere Dry Cleaners at 6306 York Road near Rodgers Forge.  They're fast, reliable, and they also do alterations.

But what got me thinking about dry-cleaning today was this NYTimes article about the Green Garmento:  a reusable dry-cleaning bag.  It will take a sea change in dry-cleaning protocol for this to succeed, but I really hope this type of thing becomes the norm.  Check it out, and ask your dry-cleaner to do the same!

Sell your books at Ukazoo

This week I discovered a new way to recycle books:  trade them in for cash or store credit at Ukazoo Books in Towson.  A stack of my gently-used hardback books brought $8 cash or $9 store credit... so I used the store credit and left with a couple of used audio books.  Score!

You can peruse the shelves while you're waiting for the Book Buyback clerk to process your books, or you can choose the auto-accept option and leave with a receipt for the books they decide to buy.  The unsold books you leave behind will be recycled into paper products.

Let me sum up:  unclutter your bookshelves AND cash in or trade for better books.  What's not to like about that?

Alternate options:  www.bookthing.org and www.paperbackswap.com as mentioned in an earlier blog post.

Balto county recycling goes single stream, finally!

My kitchen will be so much less cluttered come February!  Here's the article...

Baltimore County gets with the program! Single stream recycling begins February 1,2010.

On December 10, 2009, County Executive Jim Smith announced that single stream recycling collection will begin on February 1, 2010 for all 240,000 single family homes and townhomes, and multi family units that currently have recycling collection. In an effort to make it very easy for residents to recycle, they will be able to use a wide variety of containers to place single stream recyclables out for collection, though plastic bags will no longer be accepted in the single stream program. Additionally, residents will be able to recycle more items than they can in the current program.

As the County moves forward with its single stream recycling collection program for homes that already have recycling collection, Bureau of Solid Waste Management staff will also be working to bring apartments and condominium units without recycling collection into the program.

For more information on the County's transition to single stream recycling collection, please visit www.bcrecycles.com.           

I didn't know I could recycle that!

Ah, recycling:  the green gateway drug.  Here's a roundup of some links I've been collecting on how to recycle obscure items...  

Compact Discs (CDs) www.cdrecyclingcenter.org/

Yoga Mats www.theboldermatcompany.com (refurbishes and donates yoga mats to charity and gives you a $5 coupon for the website)

10 things you didn't know you could recycle (toothbrushes, wine corks)
http://climate.weather.com/articles/recycle021508.html?page=1
 
75 things you didn't know you could compost
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/surprising-compost-items.html

And for any fellow equestrians cleaning out their attics:  horse show ribbons www.ribbonrehab.com and Hodges Badge company.  (in Horse & Rider magazine I saw an article about donating ribbons to theraputic riding charities, but now I can't find the link:  consider this option also!)  


The other day my housemate pointed out that we rarely put out more than one trash bag per week, compared to our neighbors' two to five trash bags.  If we had to pay per trash bag like some of my friends in other states, we'd be saving a lot of money! 
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Knit unto others

Cold weather is coming... doesn't it just make you want to knit?? Me too.

My favorite cheapskate, Mary Hunt, recently posted some knitting resources in her newsletter for people looking to recycle or donate leftover yarn, or be on the receiving end of such goodness.

National:

www.Ravelry.com - online community for knitters to share patterns, yarn, tips & tricks, etc.
www.ebay.com - buy or sell yarn here

Donate yarn or knitting skills to:

www.NewbornsInNeed.org - national charity dedicated to helping preemie and newborn babies
www.ProjectLinus.org - volunteers knit, crochet, or quilt blankets for sick or traumatized children
www.KnitForKids.org - a project by Guidepost magazine
www.KnittingForCharity.org - links to charity organizations

Also check with your local hospitals, churches, nursing homes, and craft stores.

Here are a few of my favorite local yarn shops:

Woolworks near Mount Washington (no website? phone 410-377-2060 or visit 6117 Falls Rd)

Lovelyarns in Hampden

Spinster Yarns & Fibers in Lauraville

Clover Hill in Catonsville

Happy knitting!
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Gimme five, Brita!

I'm a heavy drinker... of water, that is. Lately I've noticed that Brita and Pur have been marketing water filters as a way to save money (bottled water is expensive) and the environment (processing and shipping bottled water emits unnecessary carbon dioxide). I'm a fan of both ideas. But what do you do with the filters when they're used up? Recycle 'em.

Brita has launched a filter recycling program with the Preserve Gimme 5 program, which collects #5 plastics at Whole Foods stores across the USA (unfortunately, none yet in Maryland). There are also links to join the Filter For Good program by pledging to reduce bottled water waste, and the Brita Climate Ride for bicyclists.

I was disappointed to see that Pur doesn't mention any filter recycling options on their website.

So until our local Whole Foods stores start collecting Brita filters for this program, you can mail them to the program in Cortland, NY, using ground shipping... or stockpile them at home and wait. Pur users: go write some letters!
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Recycling makes cents (and dollars!)

Baltimore City recycling news: 1+1 pickup started this week on July 13th, read all about it here.

Meanwhile in the county... In 2008, Baltimore County made $5 million from selling recyclables. That's million with an M. That's money that they didn't have to extract from us in the form of taxes. Doesn't that sound like another compelling reason to participate in curbside recycling, in addition to keeping useful materials out of landfills and reducing the need to mine or manufacture new? In San Francisco, residents are being compelled to recycle more forcefully by way of a new law that fines people for not recycling. More cities are expected to follow suit... so get into the habit of recycling now!

Some small town residents of New York and New Jersey are required to purchase trash tags for each bag they toss. Outside town limits, residents must hire private waste haulers to pick up trash in addition to purchasing trash tags. Recycling and composting a great way to cut down your household expenses in these areas, and the locals are catching on.

Know any towns that sponsor municipal compost pickup? In typical backyard composting, it's easiest to keep your green-to-brown mix simple by using only uncooked foods free of fats and oils. However, in large scale composting operations like Waste Neutral Group based here in Baltimore, it's possible to tweak the mix such that even cooked food scraps break down properly. Baltimore County already turns our curbside yard waste pickup into mulch and compost (which is free to residents)... maybe someday they will add weekly food scrap pickup too?

In the meantime, I know what you're thinking. Composting can be a dirty business. "But I can't compost, I live in an apartment." --actually, yes you can. NatureMill makes a composter small enough to fit into a corner of your kitchen.

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Free mulch and compost in Baltimore County

Are you a Baltimore County resident? If so, then you're in luck: I received the following email about free stuff from the Baltimore County Department of Public Works. Check out their webpage and sign up for e-newsletters here.

Email as follows:

Looking to do some landscaping around your yard? We can help! Baltimore County residents can get free compost and mulch at the Eastern Sanitary Landfill and Solid Waste Management Facility (ESL) in White Marsh. Residents must bring and fill their own containers.

Mulch is mainly comprised of ground and shredded tree limbs. Residents and the Bureau of Highways bring the tree limbs to ESL, and then landfill employees use a tubgrinder to process the wood into mulch.

Compost is comprised mainly of grass, leaves, bush trims, plants and small branches that residents have set out, generally in plastic bags for collection in the County's yard materials recycling program or brought to ESL. These materials (contents and bags) are placed in "windrows" and processed. Finished materials are screened to remove unwanted and large pieces of material. However, small pieces of plastic may still be present in the compost.

The County makes no guarantees about the quality or composition of either product. The individual user assumes all risks and responsibilities associated with the use of these materials.

Compost and mulch are available on a "First Come First Served" basis. Please call our customer service line, 410-887-2000 (M-F, 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.) before going to ESL to check on the supply of these materials. The directions and hours of operation for ESL are available at http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/publicworks/solid_waste/facilities.html
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Baltimore County green news

And now, a long-overdue post about what's been going on in Baltimore County green news!

I attended a community meeting on 2 Dec 2008 that was co-sponsored by Baltimore County Office of Sustainability and the Sierra Club. There were speakers from Maryland Dept of Environment, Baltimore County Commission on Environmental Quality, Baltimore chapter of the USGBC, in addition to the sponsor organizations.

We heard about the Regional GHG Initiative (RGGI), the Maryland Climate Change Commission that was founded in April 2007, the 2008 Climate Action Plan (1. Mitigation, 2. Adaptation, 3. Science), and Baltimore County's carbon footprint measurement progress.

Some other organizations and ideas I picked up at this meeting included:

* "pay as you drive" car insurance may be available from GEICO in the future. This would especially benefit Zipcar customers and telecommuter/public transit riders.

* carbon footprint note: buildings in the mid-Atlantic region require more heating and air conditioning than those in the north or south regions, because we have both cold winters and hot summers, whereas north or south regions have one or the other.

* Baltimore County encompasses 600 square miles and 315,000 households. Something like 80% of the population lives on 30% of the land here: there is a distinct line of demarcation between urban and rural areas. Its carbon footprint is mostly comprised of carbon from electricity generation, followed by transportation emissions. The area with the greatest potential for carbon reduction is waste management and recycling, which brings me to...

** SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING IS COMING!** We in the county have been jealous of Baltimore City's single stream recycling program with weekly pickup for months now, but not for much longer. The date has yet to be announced, but watch for an announcement in 2009. Here's an article I found online about it. And if somebody can tell me how to upload and link pdf documents to a Blogger account, I'll attach the Towson Times article I clipped on 12/24/08. Merry Christmas, County!

* For citizens disgruntled about the local bus routes that have been moved or cancelled... sorry. MTA public transit is funded by the state, not by the county.

* Check out the Baltimore Sustainability network's webpage at BaltimoreClimate.org

* All new county buildings are to meet LEED silver rating standards from now on. County and City schools will be retrofitted as feasible.

* I also heard of Builders for the Bay for the first time at this meeting.

That's all for my local green news catchup today. I have been and will be attending some good green lectures lately, so stay posted for more in this vein...

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Office carbon calculator by EPA

When asked about my job, I usually introduce myself as "chief tree-hugger" for my company. What that really means is that I manage the carbon footprint, or greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for over 100 offices worldwide. Know what *that* means? Hundreds of spreadsheets, with thousands of conversion factors, bits and bytes of data, and a bookkeeping nightmare.


Unless you care to use this nifty spreadsheet tool created by the EPA. It even converts solid waste materials into carbon emissions based on whether they get recycled or dumped, which is handy if you want to do a waste stream audit.

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