What Does Green Mean To You?
Photo by David McLeish via flickr.com
What is “being green”? Does it mean you dye your hair green or wear green clothes?
Or does it mean you are reducing your environmental footprint? We hope so!
“Being green” can be as simple as turning the water off when you brush your teeth! Are you green when you donate your clothes to a local non-profit? Yes! What if the switch broke on my vacuum cleaner? If I take it to the repair shop to get it fixed? Without a doubt!
Being green doesn’t mean you need to save the world (all at once). It just means doing the small things that collectively can have a huge impact on our planet.
Check out RecycleWorks of San Mateo County’s website for things you can do at home or in the community.
Make Every Day Earth Day! Take the Earth Day 2011 Pledge.
Recologizing Yuba and Sutter Counties
The 121 Recology Yuba-Sutter employees are working to positively impact a community that they call home and that can easily be overlooked.
The company promotes and takes part in over 150 events, activities and programs each year in the Yuba and Sutter Counties. Recology Yuba-Sutter employee-owners volunteer as coaches, board members, community event planners and supporters. Among their programs and activities in 2011 are spaghetti feeds, school programs, regular tours of the recycling facility, and a three-year commitment to Shady Creek Outdoor Education Foundation through the Recology Invitational. Shady Creek Outdoor Education Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization that removes the financial barriers to the Shady Creek Outdoor Education Program. This year, 1,800 eighth grade students attended Shady Creek’s week-long outdoor environmental education camp.
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Read more about the work being done by Recology Yuba-Sutter in the April, 2011 issue of Yuba-Sutter Business Today.
Want to go really green this St. Patrick’s Day?
Here are five great ideas for a WASTE ZERO party this St. Patrick’s Day.
1. Bring reusable bags when you go shopping for party supplies.
Say no to those plastic bags! Bring a few reusable canvas bags with you when you go to the store. They’re stronger, much easier to use, and don’t take hundreds of years to break down in a landfill.
2. Use reusable or recyclable drinkware and tableware.
Make sure you separate your glass and plastic bottles and aluminum cans for recycling, and use reusable cups and glasses from your kitchen, or buy ones that can be recycled. Remember to look for numbers 1-7 on the bottom of the plastic container. And be sure to avoid polystyrene (Styrofoam) of any kind if possible!
3. Decorating green for the party? Go natural!
Fruits and veggies can make great decorations. Try combining limes, green apples, green bell peppers, and maybe some kiwi in a clear glass vase or bowl for an eye catching center piece. Pick a handful of flowers from your garden for a few different accent vases around the house. Houseplants in attractive containers, especially a shamrock plant, are always a beautiful way to add décor (and clean the air)!
4. Compost, compost, compost!
Got leftovers from the party? Be sure to compost them! We’ll take your chicken bones, stale chips and unfinished spinach dip. And remember to put all those paper cups, plates and napkins in the green Compost cart – NOT the garbage! Called for late night delivery? Toss the greasy pizza box and waxy cardboard containers in there too!
5. Leave the car behind
Take the bus, cab or train if you’re going out. You’ll save on gas, and will be sure of a safe ride home.
Whatever you do for St. Patrick’s Day, Recology wishes you a happy, safe, and green holiday!
Filmmakers Wanted!
Video Contest!
Amateur videographers/filmmakers are invited to participate in a video contest on the new CartSMART Recycle, Compost and Garbage collection services. We are seeking entries that will help educate and inspire our customers to fully participate in the new services.
Winning videos will be featured on the RethinkWaste web, Facebook and YouTube sites, and may also be used for additional public outreach efforts to promote program participation and recycling habits.
Create a 30-120 second video about the new CartSMART collection services and how they are influencing you in the following categories:
- Recycling
- Composting
- “Re-Think Your Waste”
PRIZES
Individuals/Families:
Grand Prize – iPad
Cash Prize for 1st Place – $250
Cash Prize for Honorable Mention $100
School Organization/Student Groups:
Grand Prize – $1,000
Honorable Mention – $500
**Entries must be postmarked by February 1, 2011
Visit RethinkWaste.org for more information and the entry application.
Sponsored by RethinkWaste, Recology San Mateo County and South Bay Recycling
San Francisco Giants Hit Recycling Rates out of the Ballpark!
Go Giants!
AT&T Park saw recycling go up 57 percent from the year before as they divert 1750 tons, or 3.5 million pounds of waste from landfill.
“The Giants are the best in the west, and just might be the best recyclers in all of baseball,” said SF Environment Director Melanie Nutter.
“This level of recycling is incredibly high for a ballpark and may even be the highest in the country for this type of facility. We’re very proud of our team all around.” Recycling rates at AT&T Park even exceed the City’s aggressive goal of 75 percent zero waste by 2010.
To make recycling and composting easy for fans, AT&T Park ensures that its hundred-plus trash cans are accompanied by recycling and composting bins. In addition to blue, green, and black containers for the public, staff set up collection systems in the facility’s kitchens. Centerplate and Bone Appetit concessionaires use compostable and recyclable food service ware throughout the park.
Read the full story at the San Francisco Sentinel.
No Plans This Weekend?
Join Recology San Mateo County at two fun-filled free events! Saturday, October 2nd at the first annual Port of Redwood City PortFest and on Sunday, October 3rd at the 8th Annual Save the Music Festival at Twin Pines Park in Belmont.
Saturday, October 2nd
The first annual Port of Redwood City PortFest will be held at the Port of Redwood City Marina. It will kickoff with a pancake breakfast at the Sequoia Yacht Club from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., with other public activities starting about 10:30 a.m.
Event admission, entertainment and parking are free to the public. Food, beverage, and arts and crafts vendors will have goods available for sale. Attractions include:
- A kick-off pancake breakfast at the Sequoia Yacht Club.
- Public dockside tours of a new high-speed ferry boat, the kind that likely will be used in the future for port ferry service.
- An Oktoberfest Bier Garden featuring German beers.
- Musical groups/bands.
- Marine Science Institute – harbor tours aboard their vessel, the Brownlee.
- Arts/crafts vendors.
- Food vendors.
- Historical presentations.
- Children’s activities.
- “Learn About the Working Waterfront” bus tours of Port businesses.
Click here for more information.
Sunday, October 3rd
Whether it’s Bach, The Rolling Stones, or a lullaby, each of us is moved by music. In 2003, School-Force created the Save the Music Festival to bring the community together and help preserve music enrichment programs in our local public schools. Since its inception, the Save the Music Festival has raised more than $400,000 through corporate sponsorships and community participation, funds that have been used to retain music teachers, develop music curriculum, and purchase music instruments. The results speak for themselves, with award-winning band and choir programs! Admission to the festival is free.
A donation of $5/adult and $2/child or senior is encouraged to offset festival expenses & ensure that every possible dollar goes to our schools.
Click here for more information.
Recology Big Success at Appeal-Democrat Park
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9th North Fair Oaks Community Festival this Sunday!
Recology is a proud sponsor of the 9th North Fair Oaks Community Festival! Stop by our booth this Sunday and learn all about the new services we have to offer while enjoying a day of free live entertainment.
Every year the North Fair Oaks Community Festival welcomes the community to enjoy a day of free live entertainment, arts and crafts, food and beverages, children’s rides and activities, and a festive parade. The festival proceeds benefit the many youth programs of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and provide scholarships through the Queen of the Festival scholarship program. Youth programs keep our youth safe and occupied during the critical, after-school hours and during the most vulnerable years of their school careers.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
11:00am – 6:00pm
Middlefield Road, Redwood City, between 1st and 5th Avenue (View Map)
For more information visit www.northfairoaksfestival.org
Commercial Cart Delivery is Underway!
It’s an exciting time here at Recology San Mateo County!
Early Monday morning, we began replacing existing carts and customer-owned cans with approximately 15,000 new recycling and garbage carts at businesses and multi-family dwellings throughout San Mateo County. Customers who’ve subscribed to the composting collection services will also receive new green compost carts.
Delivery will continue until December 3rd of this year.
Learn more about the exciting changes being initiated by Recology San Mateo County by visiting us online at www.RecologySanMateoCounty.com.
Burlingame Vice Mayor Prompts Bulb Recycling
Posing as a consumer, Burlingame Vice Mayor Terry Nagel was troubled by the lack of answers she found regarding proper disposal of her compact fluorescent light bulbs.
“Everyone gave me different information,” Nagel said. “Even though the state made disposing of CFLs in residential trash illegal in 2006, they didn’t provide funding for community awareness programs — they passed the law, but gave no money for its enactment.”
Without proper education, the public likely does not know the harmful impact of not recycling these bulbs. While CFLs use about a quarter of the amount of electricity of standard bulbs, they contain mercury, a substance that once in a landfill is there forever, Nagel said.
Since 2008, Nagel has been working to encourage recycling centers in San Mateo County to publicize proper handling of CFLs. She enlisted the help of Recology — which will be taking over garbage services in a large part of the county starting in January — to post a list of CFL disposal locations within the county.
“This is just one component in the many services we provide,” Recology spokeswoman Gina Simi said. “Proper disposal is vital to the environment and our communities.”
Only a handful of recycling centers were available a couple years ago, but now Recology lists about 26 throughout San Mateo County, including several Home Depot and IKEA locations.
“These big businesses have been great about taking back CFLs,” Nagel said. “Every time people go to these stores, they are encouraged to recycle. It’s good to have reminders out there.”
With composting and mixed recycling coming to Burlingame, it is an ideal time to be reinforcing proper disposal of hazardous waste, Nagel said. It is necessary for people to understand the importance of recycling CFLs, both in environmental terms and for their own safety.
By: Sarah Haughey
Examiner Staff Writer
July 29, 2010
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Burlingame-vice-mayor-prompts-bulb-recycling-99499659.html
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