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Showing posts with label Reuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reuse. Show all posts
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Soles4Souls
Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program only accepts athletic shoes, so if you have other shoes lying around your closets, Soles4Souls is a great place to donate. They collect both new and "gently worn" shoes, clean them (if necessary) and work with other charitable groups to distribute the shoes to people in need throughout the world. My favorite eco-friendly efforts are those that not only benefit the planet, but also help less fortunate people. Find a drop-off location near you or shipping information.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Recycle old sneakers
(picture via nikereuseashoe.com)
You can recycle your old sneakers by donating them to Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program, which collects used sneakers (any brand, not just Nike) and recycles them to create a material dubbed Nike Grind, which is then used to build sports surfaces, such as basketball courts, tennis courts, tracks, etc. Find a drop-off location here. If no location near you, you can also mail the shoes directly to Nike (on your dime, unfortunately). If you are involved with a non-profit or other group interested in organizing a Reuse-A-Shoe drive, APPLY HERE.Remember, you can donate any worn-out sneaker (doesn't have to be Nike).
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Freecycle & Craigslist
Check out Freecycle - an online global network consisting of individuals who are giving and receiving "stuff" for free in their communities. It's fairly simple - sign up for free, find your local town or community group, and begin searching, or post something you want to give away. The only hitch is you need a Yahoo! account, because the whole system runs through Yahoo! Groups. It's pretty easy to create a Yahoo! account though, if you don't already have one.
Another similar network is Craigslist's "free" section. Visit Craigslist, find your state or nearest big city, and in the middle of the page in the "for sale" section, click on "free" - a place where people are giving away everything from firewood to sewing machines to ping pong tables. I've used it to get some free moving boxes and packing materials when we moved to our new house. It's a great resource if you need something, but don't necessarily need it new, and don't feel like spending the money.
The whole idea here is to reuse your old stuff (or find others who will) in order to keep that stuff out of the landfill.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Freegans
Anytime you think you are sacrificing too much to help an environmental cause, just stop and think about the Freegans. What is a Freegan, you ask? Check out their website HERE. I can't imagine living the way they do. It is worth reading.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Eliminate disposable paper cups
One of my recent efforts is to stop using disposable paper cups at work for my water and hot chocolate (I don't like coffee), partially motivated by the incredible portrayals below (original art by Chris Jordan). For those of you with a coffee machine or water cooler at the office:
Eliminate using disposable paper cups by bringing a reusable plastic cup or mug to the office!
Paper Cups, 2008
60x96"
Depicts 410,000 paper cups, equal to the number of disposal hot-beverage paper cups used in the US every fifteen minutes.
Partial zoom:
Detail at actual print size:
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Big companies promote reusable bags
It is good to see some of the big dogs jumping on the green bandwagon. Some stores, like Whole Foods, even offer a small credit to your bill for using reusable bags.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Tip of the day
I am constantly appalled by the amount of paper I go through at work, so....
Instead of trashing paper you have printed on, tear it in half twice (into 4 pieces) - or more if you are so inclined - and use it as scrap paper for phone messages, notes to yourself, etc.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Reusable grocery bags
One of the things I'll do here is share some of the things my wife and I are doing to "green up" our life. The most recent is to eliminate (or at least reduce) our use of plastic grocery bags. We purchased these reusable bags from 1 Bag at a Time. These bags are made from 100% polypropylene (PP or plastic #5) - it is like a thin, canvassy type of material, sturdy but flexible. We used them for the first time today and they are great. They fit much more than a typical plastic or paper grocery bag, and the longer handles make them easy to carry. They are fairly inexpensive and actually look pretty nice too! There are several other companies that make these reusable bags, so shop around.
Some of the stats regarding plastic bag usage are staggering (by the way, I haven't really researched it, but apparently paper grocery bags are not better for the environment than plastic bags and may in fact be worse!). I've read several reports of how many plastic bags are used annually worldwide, some estimates reaching the trillions! Try picturing that. Most of these bags end up in landfills, where they do not biodegrade well. There is so much information about the benefits of using reusable bags out there on the Internet, I really encourage you to do some searching.
If you do use the grocery store's plastic or paper bags, instead of immediately throwing them out, find another use for them. For example, my mom had a good suggestion - she uses her Target bags as trash bags for small trash containers. That way, they get at least one more use before hitting the landfills.
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