04.23.24
See where the glass you recycle at the ECC goes:
Glass can be recycled infinitely. Here’s how it works in Colorado’s “closed loop.”
One glass bottle can become another in as little as 30 days, thanks to a lot of science and machines.
https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/22/glass-recycling-infinite-colorado-closed-loop/
See where the glass you recycle at the ECC goes:
Glass can be recycled infinitely. Here’s how it works in Colorado’s “closed loop.”
One glass bottle can become another in as little as 30 days, thanks to a lot of science and machines.
https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/22/glass-recycling-infinite-colorado-closed-loop/
04.13.24
Another Eldorado 285 Recycle volunteers road cleanup. The group cleans up Avenida Vista Grande from the 2nd entrance to the school twice a year. Here is the group that showed up, and the garbage haul from today. Again like last spring and even despite the awful winds, the good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news AGAIN is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash. Yes, we found an old bottle of unopened beer and will recycle the glass!
Another Eldorado 285 Recycle volunteers road cleanup. The group cleans up Avenida Vista Grande from the 2nd entrance to the school twice a year. Here is the group that showed up, and the garbage haul from today. Again like last spring and even despite the awful winds, the good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news AGAIN is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash. Yes, we found an old bottle of unopened beer and will recycle the glass!
03.27.24
Santa Fe County Commission bans single-use plastics
By Maya Hilty mhilty@sfnewmexican.com
Say goodbye to single-use plastic bags in Santa Fe County. The County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an ordinance banning restaurants and retailers from providing single-use plastic bags or polystyrene containers like Styrofoam in unincorporated areas of the county. The city of Santa Fe enacted a single-use plastic bag ban in 2015, though the city did not ban plastic foam containers.
The county ordinance carves out a handful of exceptions, such as bags used for newspaper deliveries or to package restaurant takeout with a high liquid content. Businesses have until Oct. 26 to comply with the ban.
More here:
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fe-county-commission-bans-single-use-plastics/article_fa00c864-eb83-11ee-9abc-c771ac26d9e8.html
Santa Fe County Commission bans single-use plastics
By Maya Hilty mhilty@sfnewmexican.com
Say goodbye to single-use plastic bags in Santa Fe County. The County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an ordinance banning restaurants and retailers from providing single-use plastic bags or polystyrene containers like Styrofoam in unincorporated areas of the county. The city of Santa Fe enacted a single-use plastic bag ban in 2015, though the city did not ban plastic foam containers.
The county ordinance carves out a handful of exceptions, such as bags used for newspaper deliveries or to package restaurant takeout with a high liquid content. Businesses have until Oct. 26 to comply with the ban.
More here:
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fe-county-commission-bans-single-use-plastics/article_fa00c864-eb83-11ee-9abc-c771ac26d9e8.html
03.21.24
With the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. This time, 55 pounds. Thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments. The last shipment of pens was March (Pie Day) in 2023.
With the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. This time, 55 pounds. Thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments. The last shipment of pens was March (Pie Day) in 2023.
01.27.24
We sent 7.6 pounds of razors to Terracycle. Thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda.
We sent 7.6 pounds of razors to Terracycle. Thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda.
12.12.23
Eldorado 285 Recycles Volunteer Holiday Parter with amazing food and song. Don't you want to come next year? Just be a volunteer and join the fun! Have time to volunteer? We need your help.
Eldorado 285 Recycles Volunteer Holiday Parter with amazing food and song. Don't you want to come next year? Just be a volunteer and join the fun! Have time to volunteer? We need your help.
11.20.23
Microplastics could trigger cloud formation and affect the weather, new study suggests
CNN — Microplastics are turning up in unusual places increasingly often as they filter into nearly every facet of life on Earth. They’ve been discovered in drinking water, food, air and even in blood. Now, scientists have found that these tiny particles might even be able to influence the weather.
Researchers reported Wednesday they detected microplastics in a majority of cloud samples taken from a mountaintop in China, in a study published in the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
The study traced how the microplastics ended up at their final location and discovered that they could play a role in cloud formation.
See more at: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/weather/microplastic-pollution-weather-study-climate/index.html
Microplastics could trigger cloud formation and affect the weather, new study suggests
CNN — Microplastics are turning up in unusual places increasingly often as they filter into nearly every facet of life on Earth. They’ve been discovered in drinking water, food, air and even in blood. Now, scientists have found that these tiny particles might even be able to influence the weather.
Researchers reported Wednesday they detected microplastics in a majority of cloud samples taken from a mountaintop in China, in a study published in the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
The study traced how the microplastics ended up at their final location and discovered that they could play a role in cloud formation.
See more at: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/weather/microplastic-pollution-weather-study-climate/index.html
10.19.23
Santa Fe, NM- Solid waste permits and bag tags are essential components in the responsible management of waste within our community, ensuring that households and businesses in Santa Fe County have access to efficient waste disposal services. Effective October 20, 2023, the Santa Fe County Treasure office in partnership with the Agora Supermarket (7 Avenida Vista Grande, Santa Fe, NM 87508) and the San Marcos Café & Feed Store (3877 State Rd 14, NM-14, Santa Fe, NM 87508) will be offering solid waste permits and bag tags as a way to better serve constituents who live in rural parts of Santa Fe County. Constituents now have multiple options for obtaining their permits and bag tags. They can visit the participating stores and conveniently scan a QR Code with their mobile devices to make online purchases with immediate receipt of their permits and bag tags over the counter. Alternatively, constituents can choose to purchase these items by bringing a cashier's check made out to the Santa Fe County Treasures office to the partnering businesses mentioned above. Bag tag and solid waste permit prices: Bag Tags - $9 1 Trip - $18 3 Trip - $27.50 6 Trip - $55 12 Trip -$110 Low income 6 Trip - $50 Low income 12 Trip - $100 Senior 6 Trip- $50 Senior 12 Trip - $100 Veteran 6 Trip - $50 Veteran 12 Trip - $100 Please ensure that all cashier's checks are made payable to: Santa Fe County Treasures Office PO Box T Santa Fe, NM, 87504 Constituents who would rather have their bag tags or permits mailed to them can purchase them online at:
https://www.santafecountynm.gov/public-works/trash-and-recycling/solid-waste-permits
Santa Fe County is committed to a cleaner and more sustainable community through the expansion of solid waste sales. All constituents play an active role in building a healthy future. For additional information, please contact Santa Fe County Treasures Office at
505-986-6245
or email
treasurer@santafecountynm.gov
Santa Fe, NM- Solid waste permits and bag tags are essential components in the responsible management of waste within our community, ensuring that households and businesses in Santa Fe County have access to efficient waste disposal services. Effective October 20, 2023, the Santa Fe County Treasure office in partnership with the Agora Supermarket (7 Avenida Vista Grande, Santa Fe, NM 87508) and the San Marcos Café & Feed Store (3877 State Rd 14, NM-14, Santa Fe, NM 87508) will be offering solid waste permits and bag tags as a way to better serve constituents who live in rural parts of Santa Fe County. Constituents now have multiple options for obtaining their permits and bag tags. They can visit the participating stores and conveniently scan a QR Code with their mobile devices to make online purchases with immediate receipt of their permits and bag tags over the counter. Alternatively, constituents can choose to purchase these items by bringing a cashier's check made out to the Santa Fe County Treasures office to the partnering businesses mentioned above. Bag tag and solid waste permit prices: Bag Tags - $9 1 Trip - $18 3 Trip - $27.50 6 Trip - $55 12 Trip -$110 Low income 6 Trip - $50 Low income 12 Trip - $100 Senior 6 Trip- $50 Senior 12 Trip - $100 Veteran 6 Trip - $50 Veteran 12 Trip - $100 Please ensure that all cashier's checks are made payable to: Santa Fe County Treasures Office PO Box T Santa Fe, NM, 87504 Constituents who would rather have their bag tags or permits mailed to them can purchase them online at:
https://www.santafecountynm.gov/public-works/trash-and-recycling/solid-waste-permits
Santa Fe County is committed to a cleaner and more sustainable community through the expansion of solid waste sales. All constituents play an active role in building a healthy future. For additional information, please contact Santa Fe County Treasures Office at
505-986-6245
or email
treasurer@santafecountynm.gov
10.15.23
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fe-environmental-services-division-director-named-recycler-of-the-year/article_6202340e-66cb-11ee-a15c-2bf3cb5f0b91.html
Santa Fe Environmental Services Division director named 'recycler of the year'
Santa Fe Environmental Services Division Director Shirlene Sitton was named “recycler of the year” at an industry event last month.
Sitton, who will have been with the city for eight years in November, was awarded at the 2023 New Mexico Recycling & Solid Waste Conference, which is hosted by the New Mexico Recycling Coalition and the New Mexico SWANA Roadrunner Chapter.
Sitton said the honor caught her off guard.“I was very touched that my peers had nominated me for that,” she said.
Sitton was awarded for “her ongoing dedication to improving recycling programs and outreach in Santa Fe” and also honored Kim Rivera, an account technician for the Santa Fe Environmental Services Division, as Solid Waste Employee of the Year for “providing excellent customer service and support to the Division,” according to a city news release.
The division has struggled with staffing shortages in recent years and is trying to hire more drivers for its collection trucks. It is particularly interested in people who already have commercial driver’s licenses, Sitton said, but also is open to training people.
Supply chain issues have also made it more difficult to repair and replace collection vehicles, which led to the temporary pause on some recycling pickup this summer.
Despite the challenges, Sitton said, she’s proud of the work the 70-person division has accomplished.
“We do some pretty big lifts with not a lot of staff,” she said.
The division has made ambitious changes during Sitton’s tenure, including shifting to automated collection in 2017, building a compressed natural gas station to fuel its trucks and implementing a cloud-based GPS tracking software all truck drivers use on their routes.
When she came to the department, “we had three people on a recycling truck running down the street and physically picking stuff up,” Sitton recalled.
The change to automated collection is much safer for workers, she said. The shift to compressed natural gas took place after a City Council directive requiring trucks to run on clearer fuel, Sitton added, and is a “bridge between diesel and electric.”
One of the biggest projects came last year as the division conducted a route optimization that shifted trash pickup to a four-day-a-week, 10-hour day schedule with more efficient delivery routes.
“We saved a lot of miles on the trash routes” with the overhaul, Sitton said.
The department serves about 34,000 single-family accounts throughout the city and in 2022 recycled 7,800 tons of material.
“If you add what city residents brought directly to the recycling facility, that number is 8,576 tons,” sustainability officer Neal Denton wrote in an email.
Each account receives a yearly residential service calendar from the division, something Sitton brought to Santa Fe in 2017 from her previous job in Denton, Texas. The calendar includes detailed information about pickup days and holiday closures, along with other information about recycling and sustainability.
“We try to make it really useful,” she said.
That might seem low-tech, but Sitton said it’s the division’s most effective tool for communicating with residents and has cut down on the number of calls it receives from people confused about whether they should put their bins out the night before a city holiday.
Next up for the department is requesting proposals for a new maintenance facility and training area.
“We’re fighting our way out of the 20th century into the 21st century,” Sitton said.
Sitton said she nominated Rivera for her honor, which is open to non-management employees.
“She really helped to hold the house up when we did the route re-authorization last year,” Sitton said of Rivera.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fe-environmental-services-division-director-named-recycler-of-the-year/article_6202340e-66cb-11ee-a15c-2bf3cb5f0b91.html
Santa Fe Environmental Services Division director named 'recycler of the year'
Santa Fe Environmental Services Division Director Shirlene Sitton was named “recycler of the year” at an industry event last month.
Sitton, who will have been with the city for eight years in November, was awarded at the 2023 New Mexico Recycling & Solid Waste Conference, which is hosted by the New Mexico Recycling Coalition and the New Mexico SWANA Roadrunner Chapter.
Sitton said the honor caught her off guard.“I was very touched that my peers had nominated me for that,” she said.
Sitton was awarded for “her ongoing dedication to improving recycling programs and outreach in Santa Fe” and also honored Kim Rivera, an account technician for the Santa Fe Environmental Services Division, as Solid Waste Employee of the Year for “providing excellent customer service and support to the Division,” according to a city news release.
The division has struggled with staffing shortages in recent years and is trying to hire more drivers for its collection trucks. It is particularly interested in people who already have commercial driver’s licenses, Sitton said, but also is open to training people.
Supply chain issues have also made it more difficult to repair and replace collection vehicles, which led to the temporary pause on some recycling pickup this summer.
Despite the challenges, Sitton said, she’s proud of the work the 70-person division has accomplished.
“We do some pretty big lifts with not a lot of staff,” she said.
The division has made ambitious changes during Sitton’s tenure, including shifting to automated collection in 2017, building a compressed natural gas station to fuel its trucks and implementing a cloud-based GPS tracking software all truck drivers use on their routes.
When she came to the department, “we had three people on a recycling truck running down the street and physically picking stuff up,” Sitton recalled.
The change to automated collection is much safer for workers, she said. The shift to compressed natural gas took place after a City Council directive requiring trucks to run on clearer fuel, Sitton added, and is a “bridge between diesel and electric.”
One of the biggest projects came last year as the division conducted a route optimization that shifted trash pickup to a four-day-a-week, 10-hour day schedule with more efficient delivery routes.
“We saved a lot of miles on the trash routes” with the overhaul, Sitton said.
The department serves about 34,000 single-family accounts throughout the city and in 2022 recycled 7,800 tons of material.
“If you add what city residents brought directly to the recycling facility, that number is 8,576 tons,” sustainability officer Neal Denton wrote in an email.
Each account receives a yearly residential service calendar from the division, something Sitton brought to Santa Fe in 2017 from her previous job in Denton, Texas. The calendar includes detailed information about pickup days and holiday closures, along with other information about recycling and sustainability.
“We try to make it really useful,” she said.
That might seem low-tech, but Sitton said it’s the division’s most effective tool for communicating with residents and has cut down on the number of calls it receives from people confused about whether they should put their bins out the night before a city holiday.
Next up for the department is requesting proposals for a new maintenance facility and training area.
“We’re fighting our way out of the 20th century into the 21st century,” Sitton said.
Sitton said she nominated Rivera for her honor, which is open to non-management employees.
“She really helped to hold the house up when we did the route re-authorization last year,” Sitton said of Rivera.
04.15.23
Another Eldorado 285 Recycle volunteers road cleanup. The group cleans up Avenida Vista Grande from the 2nd entrance to the school twice a year. Here is the group that showed up, and the garbage haul from today. Again like last spring and even despite the awful winds, the good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash.
Another Eldorado 285 Recycle volunteers road cleanup. The group cleans up Avenida Vista Grande from the 2nd entrance to the school twice a year. Here is the group that showed up, and the garbage haul from today. Again like last spring and even despite the awful winds, the good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash.
03.14.23 (Pie Day) With the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. This time, 37.3 pounds. Thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. We filled the last box of pens back in July of 2022! And we sent 7 pounds of razors to Terracycle.
07.22.22
With the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. This time, 36 pounds. And thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. We filled the last box in Feburary of 2022!
With the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. This time, 36 pounds. And thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. We filled the last box in Feburary of 2022!
05.25.22
Broken Arrow Glass: Doorstep Glass Recycling in the Eldorado area and more!
The only in-state recycling of glass and a new service to our area. See: https://www.brokenarrowglass.com
Broken Arrow Glass is a contemporary glass design and creative glass recycling program that creates handmade vessels, objects, customs forms, and raw glass material out our local Santa Fe communities glass recycling. Founded in February of 2016 by married couple, Chris Bogle and Shelby Kaye, we first began by creating handblown barware inspired by mid-century patterned barware. In 2020, Broken Arrow Glass rebranded to create a closed loop system for glass recycling in Santa Fe by upcycling all of our handmade homewares out of waste glass materials.
Our Studio and Gallery
17715 US 84/285 UNIT E
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mon - Fri, 10am - 5pm
CONTACT US brokenarrowglass@gmail.com
Broken Arrow Glass: Doorstep Glass Recycling in the Eldorado area and more!
The only in-state recycling of glass and a new service to our area. See: https://www.brokenarrowglass.com
Broken Arrow Glass is a contemporary glass design and creative glass recycling program that creates handmade vessels, objects, customs forms, and raw glass material out our local Santa Fe communities glass recycling. Founded in February of 2016 by married couple, Chris Bogle and Shelby Kaye, we first began by creating handblown barware inspired by mid-century patterned barware. In 2020, Broken Arrow Glass rebranded to create a closed loop system for glass recycling in Santa Fe by upcycling all of our handmade homewares out of waste glass materials.
Our Studio and Gallery
17715 US 84/285 UNIT E
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mon - Fri, 10am - 5pm
CONTACT US brokenarrowglass@gmail.com
05.23.22 Microplastics article from "The Week" Magazine
04.30.22
Eldorado 285 Recycle volunteers road cleanup. The group cleans up Avenida Vista Grande from the 2nd entrance to the school twice a year. Here is the group that showed up, and the garbage haul from today. Like last spring and even despite the awful winds, the good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash.
Eldorado 285 Recycle volunteers road cleanup. The group cleans up Avenida Vista Grande from the 2nd entrance to the school twice a year. Here is the group that showed up, and the garbage haul from today. Like last spring and even despite the awful winds, the good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash.
02.19.22
Eldorado recycles 37 pounds of plastic pens, writing instruments.
Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. And thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. We filled the last box in May of 2021!
Eldorado recycles 37 pounds of plastic pens, writing instruments.
Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. And thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. We filled the last box in May of 2021!
01.26.22
The El Dorado School Community Garden opens its 2022 gardening season with membership renewal and new member applications. The garden is located behind the school soccer fields with access through the faculty and bus parking lot.
As places are limited, returning members receive priority. Gardeners can choose from individual plots or participate in the “circle garden” which is a collective gardening effort. All members are required to participate in several work days during the season and contribute actively to a group of their choosing. Water and drip irrigation, tools and lots of camaraderie are provided! Check out the website: https://eldoradoschoolcommunitygarden.org/
Deadline for application and membership fees is March 31,2022. For more information please contact Carol Robles at crobles656@gmail.com or 240-478-8685.
The El Dorado School Community Garden opens its 2022 gardening season with membership renewal and new member applications. The garden is located behind the school soccer fields with access through the faculty and bus parking lot.
As places are limited, returning members receive priority. Gardeners can choose from individual plots or participate in the “circle garden” which is a collective gardening effort. All members are required to participate in several work days during the season and contribute actively to a group of their choosing. Water and drip irrigation, tools and lots of camaraderie are provided! Check out the website: https://eldoradoschoolcommunitygarden.org/
Deadline for application and membership fees is March 31,2022. For more information please contact Carol Robles at crobles656@gmail.com or 240-478-8685.
12.09.21
Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for purchasing the Zero Waste Beauty Box to support our Beauty Collection Program. It is greatly appreciated. We were able to send 18 lbs of cosmetics and their containers that would otherwise have gone to the landfill.
Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for purchasing the Zero Waste Beauty Box to support our Beauty Collection Program. It is greatly appreciated. We were able to send 18 lbs of cosmetics and their containers that would otherwise have gone to the landfill.
11.07.21
Buried in Plastic Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNYpfYQFHE
What’s this about?
This symbolic funeral procession features a globe of the world buried in plastic. It is carried in a coffin by corporate pall bearers followed by mourners for the Earth. The intent is to raise awareness of the link between single-use plastic production and the climate crisis.
Did you know?
Plastic production is a major contributor to climate disruption.
• 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuel building blocks.
• Greenhouse gas is emitted at each step of plastic production.
• More plastic production is the oil & gas companies’ Plan B to replace declining gasoline and other fossil fuel sales.
• If plastic production were a country, it would be the fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, behind China, U.S., India and Russia!
• Plastic is difficult to recycle. Less than 9% is recycled; over 90% is landfilled, incinerated or washed out to sea.
What can you do?
Learn more
• Watch the Story of Plastic, free in November, on Youtube.
• Follow plastic pollution updates at www.eldorado285recycles.org
Make your voice heard
• Contact your legislators. Tell them to support the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act in Congress. Senate bill 984 and House bill 2238.
Buried in Plastic Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNYpfYQFHE
What’s this about?
This symbolic funeral procession features a globe of the world buried in plastic. It is carried in a coffin by corporate pall bearers followed by mourners for the Earth. The intent is to raise awareness of the link between single-use plastic production and the climate crisis.
Did you know?
Plastic production is a major contributor to climate disruption.
• 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuel building blocks.
• Greenhouse gas is emitted at each step of plastic production.
• More plastic production is the oil & gas companies’ Plan B to replace declining gasoline and other fossil fuel sales.
• If plastic production were a country, it would be the fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, behind China, U.S., India and Russia!
• Plastic is difficult to recycle. Less than 9% is recycled; over 90% is landfilled, incinerated or washed out to sea.
What can you do?
Learn more
• Watch the Story of Plastic, free in November, on Youtube.
• Follow plastic pollution updates at www.eldorado285recycles.org
Make your voice heard
• Contact your legislators. Tell them to support the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act in Congress. Senate bill 984 and House bill 2238.
How to Quit Plastic -Consumer Reports
Ways to reduce this kind of waste—and its environmental impact—right nowBy Perry Santanachote
September 08, 2021
Like going on a diet, the first step in reducing the amount of single-use plastic we discard is to understand how much we really consume. Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, a nationwide anti-plastic campaign, suggests looking at the plastic we throw away on a daily basis for an honest assessment of our consumption and for clues to how we can make the most impact. “I saw that I used a lot of Keurig pods, so I switched to using a French press,” Enck says. “My husband is a big orange juice drinker, so now we use frozen concentrated juice,” to avoid plastic jugs and cartons.
You don’t need to become an eco-warrior overnight. “Take it one product at a time, and work your way up,” says Deb Singer, the leader of the plastic bag ban at Whole Foods and co-founder of BRINGiT reusable shopping bags. “Starting with one thing makes it more palatable to make other changes.”
In addition to personal actions, you can push for producer responsibility laws that slow the flow of plastic at its source. “With plastic pollution, the tap is overrunning,” says Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes, water equity and ocean program manager at GreenLatinos, which focuses on environmental, natural resource, and conservation issues that affect the Latino community in the U.S. “We have to turn off the tap before we can clean up this mess.”
Bags:
Do First
Bring your own reusable bags and refuse plastic ones. BRINGiT makes eco-friendly compostable cellulose bags, but just about any reusable bag is better than a single-use plastic bag. Each reusable bag could cancel out hundreds to thousands of plastic bags.
Use mesh cloth bags for your produce. Try to avoid fruits and vegetables packed in plastic wrap or clamshells.
Do More
Kick your zipper food-storage bag habit. Use reusable silicone or paper-based bags instead.
Avoid plastic poop bags for your dog’s waste. Use paper-based alternatives or a pooper scooper if you have a yard.
Stop using trash bags. If you compost food waste, use a garbage disposal, and recycle aluminum and glass products, what’s left should be innocuous enough to go straight into the trash bin.
Food Containers:
Do First
Take your own empty containers to restaurants for leftovers.
Cut back on takeout. Dine in at restaurants, and cook at home more often. If ordering delivery, request that condiment packets, cutlery, and straws be excluded.
Avoid foods wrapped in plastic. At a supermarket deli, ask for your order to be wrapped in paper (or take your own container). If you do buy something in a plastic container, get only the packaging marked 1 or 2 on the bottom, Enck says. “Those can actually be recycled.”
Do More
Avoid prepackaged foods. Take empty containers from home to fill up with pasta, grains, and nuts. If what you need isn’t available in bulk, opt for a brand that uses paper, glass, or metal packaging.
Beverages:
Do First
Don’t buy drinks in plastic bottles. Pick something that comes in aluminum, which can be infinitely recycled. “It’s pretty easy to switch from buying your soda in plastic bottles to buying it in cans,” Del Valle Prieto Cervantes says.
Take a reusable coffee cup, travel mug, or glass jar to the coffee shop. (Know how many ounces it holds so that you can be charged accordingly.) “If you forget your cup, ask for your order to be made ‘for here’ in a mug,” says Dagny Tucker, founder of Vessel, a reusable coffee cup return system operating in Berkley, Calif., and Boulder, Colo. If you must use a throwaway cup, at least decline the lid.
Do More
Carry a reusable water bottle and refill it with tap water. Using a reusable water bottle instead of buying and recycling water bottles can reduce your global warming impact by as much as 98 percent.
Use your own glass, metal, or silicone straw. Or just use your lips to sip!
Make your own sparkling water with a soda maker. It’ll also save you money in the long run.
Avoid plastic tea bags. Those fancy pyramid-shaped tea bags release microplastics into your brew and can wind up in landfills. Choose loose leaf or paper bags instead.
Wraps and Film:
Do First
Stop using plastic wrap. Use stretchy silicone covers, beeswax wraps, or aluminum foil to wrap foods. Or simply put the food in a bowl and cover it with a plate.
Shop local instead of ordering online. “If I’m ordering something online, I add a note requesting they not use plastic packaging,” Del Valle Prieto Cervantes says. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Do More
Shop the frozen food aisle sparingly. Just about everything you find there is wrapped in plastic, even if the exterior packaging is cardboard.
Buy in bulk or bake it yourself. Purchasing fewer snack packs or individually wrapped foods—such as chips, cookies, and granola bars—will help reduce plastic waste.
Cleaning and Personal Care:
Do First
Stop buying products packaged in plastic. Buy soap, shampoo, detergents, and cleaning products packaged in paper, glass, or aluminum.
Ditch plastic razors. Use a metal razor with replaceable blades instead.
Opt for natural sponges instead of synthetic sponges when hand-washing dishes.
Avoid exfoliating scrubs and toothpastes with microbeads, which are tiny plastic balls.
Do More
Stop using sanitizing and flushable wipes. These are often made of plastic fibers that clog sewers and don’t degrade in landfills.
Consider using cloth diapers. To reduce environmental impact, get them secondhand, wash them with full loads, and air-dry if possible.
Avoid plastic tampons and pads. Use all-cotton pads and tampons with cardboard applicators and paper wrapping, or a menstrual cup or period underwear.
Ways to reduce this kind of waste—and its environmental impact—right nowBy Perry Santanachote
September 08, 2021
Like going on a diet, the first step in reducing the amount of single-use plastic we discard is to understand how much we really consume. Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, a nationwide anti-plastic campaign, suggests looking at the plastic we throw away on a daily basis for an honest assessment of our consumption and for clues to how we can make the most impact. “I saw that I used a lot of Keurig pods, so I switched to using a French press,” Enck says. “My husband is a big orange juice drinker, so now we use frozen concentrated juice,” to avoid plastic jugs and cartons.
You don’t need to become an eco-warrior overnight. “Take it one product at a time, and work your way up,” says Deb Singer, the leader of the plastic bag ban at Whole Foods and co-founder of BRINGiT reusable shopping bags. “Starting with one thing makes it more palatable to make other changes.”
In addition to personal actions, you can push for producer responsibility laws that slow the flow of plastic at its source. “With plastic pollution, the tap is overrunning,” says Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes, water equity and ocean program manager at GreenLatinos, which focuses on environmental, natural resource, and conservation issues that affect the Latino community in the U.S. “We have to turn off the tap before we can clean up this mess.”
Bags:
Do First
Bring your own reusable bags and refuse plastic ones. BRINGiT makes eco-friendly compostable cellulose bags, but just about any reusable bag is better than a single-use plastic bag. Each reusable bag could cancel out hundreds to thousands of plastic bags.
Use mesh cloth bags for your produce. Try to avoid fruits and vegetables packed in plastic wrap or clamshells.
Do More
Kick your zipper food-storage bag habit. Use reusable silicone or paper-based bags instead.
Avoid plastic poop bags for your dog’s waste. Use paper-based alternatives or a pooper scooper if you have a yard.
Stop using trash bags. If you compost food waste, use a garbage disposal, and recycle aluminum and glass products, what’s left should be innocuous enough to go straight into the trash bin.
Food Containers:
Do First
Take your own empty containers to restaurants for leftovers.
Cut back on takeout. Dine in at restaurants, and cook at home more often. If ordering delivery, request that condiment packets, cutlery, and straws be excluded.
Avoid foods wrapped in plastic. At a supermarket deli, ask for your order to be wrapped in paper (or take your own container). If you do buy something in a plastic container, get only the packaging marked 1 or 2 on the bottom, Enck says. “Those can actually be recycled.”
Do More
Avoid prepackaged foods. Take empty containers from home to fill up with pasta, grains, and nuts. If what you need isn’t available in bulk, opt for a brand that uses paper, glass, or metal packaging.
Beverages:
Do First
Don’t buy drinks in plastic bottles. Pick something that comes in aluminum, which can be infinitely recycled. “It’s pretty easy to switch from buying your soda in plastic bottles to buying it in cans,” Del Valle Prieto Cervantes says.
Take a reusable coffee cup, travel mug, or glass jar to the coffee shop. (Know how many ounces it holds so that you can be charged accordingly.) “If you forget your cup, ask for your order to be made ‘for here’ in a mug,” says Dagny Tucker, founder of Vessel, a reusable coffee cup return system operating in Berkley, Calif., and Boulder, Colo. If you must use a throwaway cup, at least decline the lid.
Do More
Carry a reusable water bottle and refill it with tap water. Using a reusable water bottle instead of buying and recycling water bottles can reduce your global warming impact by as much as 98 percent.
Use your own glass, metal, or silicone straw. Or just use your lips to sip!
Make your own sparkling water with a soda maker. It’ll also save you money in the long run.
Avoid plastic tea bags. Those fancy pyramid-shaped tea bags release microplastics into your brew and can wind up in landfills. Choose loose leaf or paper bags instead.
Wraps and Film:
Do First
Stop using plastic wrap. Use stretchy silicone covers, beeswax wraps, or aluminum foil to wrap foods. Or simply put the food in a bowl and cover it with a plate.
Shop local instead of ordering online. “If I’m ordering something online, I add a note requesting they not use plastic packaging,” Del Valle Prieto Cervantes says. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Do More
Shop the frozen food aisle sparingly. Just about everything you find there is wrapped in plastic, even if the exterior packaging is cardboard.
Buy in bulk or bake it yourself. Purchasing fewer snack packs or individually wrapped foods—such as chips, cookies, and granola bars—will help reduce plastic waste.
Cleaning and Personal Care:
Do First
Stop buying products packaged in plastic. Buy soap, shampoo, detergents, and cleaning products packaged in paper, glass, or aluminum.
Ditch plastic razors. Use a metal razor with replaceable blades instead.
Opt for natural sponges instead of synthetic sponges when hand-washing dishes.
Avoid exfoliating scrubs and toothpastes with microbeads, which are tiny plastic balls.
Do More
Stop using sanitizing and flushable wipes. These are often made of plastic fibers that clog sewers and don’t degrade in landfills.
Consider using cloth diapers. To reduce environmental impact, get them secondhand, wash them with full loads, and air-dry if possible.
Avoid plastic tampons and pads. Use all-cotton pads and tampons with cardboard applicators and paper wrapping, or a menstrual cup or period underwear.
08.25.21 Grand Opening of the ECC Reuse Center
05.26.21
Eldorado recycles 30 pounds of plastic pens, writing instruments.
Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. And thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. We filled the last box in October of 2020!
Eldorado recycles 30 pounds of plastic pens, writing instruments.
Thanks to support from Jacobs (Jacobs, Inc. runs the operation at the EAWSD) who pay for the large Terracycle box for pens and writing instruments, we've filled yet another box of plastic that will not find its way into our landfill. And thanks to local residents for placing these items and more in the bins up at La Tienda. We filled the last box in October of 2020!
05.06.21
How to Eliminate Plastic Pollution: A Virtual Panel Discussion and associated films on April 30th. We appreciate your interest and participation. In case you missed the panel, here is the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hhg5xFRIuUm8-ha3X5qKriUluP-sym3W/view?usp=sharing
Should you wish to see New Mexicans Taking Action on Plastic Waste again, go to https://nmtakingaction.org/
Here is the link to the federal Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act ( H.R. 2238 , S.984 ).
Should you want more information on plastic pollution, Beyond Plastics has an active email list that notifies subscribes about plastic pollution related updates and information. Join their maling list at https://www.beyondplastics.org/sign-up.
Eldorado/285 Recycles welcomes your questions. See us at https://eldorado285recycles.org.
How to Eliminate Plastic Pollution: A Virtual Panel Discussion and associated films on April 30th. We appreciate your interest and participation. In case you missed the panel, here is the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hhg5xFRIuUm8-ha3X5qKriUluP-sym3W/view?usp=sharing
Should you wish to see New Mexicans Taking Action on Plastic Waste again, go to https://nmtakingaction.org/
Here is the link to the federal Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act ( H.R. 2238 , S.984 ).
Should you want more information on plastic pollution, Beyond Plastics has an active email list that notifies subscribes about plastic pollution related updates and information. Join their maling list at https://www.beyondplastics.org/sign-up.
Eldorado/285 Recycles welcomes your questions. See us at https://eldorado285recycles.org.
05.01.21
Spring clean-up of Vista Grande
The volunteers from Eldorado 285 recycles got busy again this morning, cleaning up trash on either side of Vista Grande from the enterence of Eldorado to the school. Below is the photo of what was collected from the group. Good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash. The vast majority of we found was actual trash; the clear bag has items that could be recycled. It seems Eldorado residents are doing a good job of keeping such items off our roads by recycling.
Big shout out and thanks to Guy, the manager at the John Brooks market for allowing us to place all that garbage in his stores trash bin. Usually the county picks it up a few days after we collect it, but with the wind, we were afraid to leave it on Vista Grande.
Spring clean-up of Vista Grande
The volunteers from Eldorado 285 recycles got busy again this morning, cleaning up trash on either side of Vista Grande from the enterence of Eldorado to the school. Below is the photo of what was collected from the group. Good news is we got far less trash than previous years. The bad news is, the area was filled with lots and lots of cigarette butts which are both a huge fire hazard and unsightly, nasty trash. The vast majority of we found was actual trash; the clear bag has items that could be recycled. It seems Eldorado residents are doing a good job of keeping such items off our roads by recycling.
Big shout out and thanks to Guy, the manager at the John Brooks market for allowing us to place all that garbage in his stores trash bin. Usually the county picks it up a few days after we collect it, but with the wind, we were afraid to leave it on Vista Grande.
01.26.21
The Broker of Strange Things
Creative reuse center opens amid COVID-19 as treasure trove for reduce, reuse, recycle artists
Tucked into an industrial street off Siler Road is a large collection of strange things in a small, unassuming warehouse. One room is full of scrap cloth and fabrics. There are boxes of vintage dolls and their small wooden beds, delicate china and a table full of arts and crafts tools and supplies, along with every color and style of pin and button.
There's even a "Vintage Ephemera" corner with yellowed postcards, black-and-white photographs and an old gas lamp.
The space, home to Resourceful Santa Fe since July, is the new storefront expansion of the nonprofit Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival. What was once an enormous yearly event at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center now has a retail component. Resourceful is open all year long to New Mexicans who want to get rid of unwanted things while reducing what goes into the landfill. It's also for artists who want to find unique recycled materials for their work.
Every item on the shelves and tables and spilling out of boxes at Resourceful has been carefully collected by the nonprofit founder, Sarah Pierpont, who is a self-described "broker of strange items" between the people who don't want them anymore and the artists who do. She also coordinated the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival and its programs in schools for the last 15 years—a considerable undertaking—until this year.
Read more:
https://www.sfreporter.com/news/2020/11/11/the-broker-of-strange-things/
The Broker of Strange Things
Creative reuse center opens amid COVID-19 as treasure trove for reduce, reuse, recycle artists
Tucked into an industrial street off Siler Road is a large collection of strange things in a small, unassuming warehouse. One room is full of scrap cloth and fabrics. There are boxes of vintage dolls and their small wooden beds, delicate china and a table full of arts and crafts tools and supplies, along with every color and style of pin and button.
There's even a "Vintage Ephemera" corner with yellowed postcards, black-and-white photographs and an old gas lamp.
The space, home to Resourceful Santa Fe since July, is the new storefront expansion of the nonprofit Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival. What was once an enormous yearly event at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center now has a retail component. Resourceful is open all year long to New Mexicans who want to get rid of unwanted things while reducing what goes into the landfill. It's also for artists who want to find unique recycled materials for their work.
Every item on the shelves and tables and spilling out of boxes at Resourceful has been carefully collected by the nonprofit founder, Sarah Pierpont, who is a self-described "broker of strange items" between the people who don't want them anymore and the artists who do. She also coordinated the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival and its programs in schools for the last 15 years—a considerable undertaking—until this year.
Read more:
https://www.sfreporter.com/news/2020/11/11/the-broker-of-strange-things/
01.22.21
MARCIA SPEARS-CIHON
Marcia Spears-Cihon, 62, of Santa Fe, NM passed away peacefully Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at her home in Eldorado after a long battle with cancer. She was born February 22, 1958 in Gardena, CA to the late David and Joanne Spears. Surviving are her beloved husband, together over 30 years, David Cihon whom she married June 27, 1993 in Moorpark, CA; daughter, Eva (Coggin); two granddaughters, Alice (3) and Nora (1); brother, David Spears; sister LoriLee Spears; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Marcia graduated from Centralia College as a Recreational Therapist. She spent many years as an administrator for a retirement home in California, where she made the lives of many residents much more pleasant through her many acts of kindness.
Dave and Marcia moved to Eldorado in 2013 and quickly developed a community of dear friends. Marcia, an avid environmentalist often referred to as the Recycling Queen of Eldorado strived to follow the models of Reduce Reuse Recycle by expanding a composting network throughout the community of Eldorado. She loved her worms!
Marcia was a talented artist and utilized her conservationist mindset by incorporating repurposed pieces into beautiful works of art. She always had an adventurous and fearless spirit that brought her to many beautiful places around the world as well as domestic travel on her Harley Davidson including Sturgis in 2004. Marcia and Dave thoroughly enjoyed retired life exploring beautiful areas around Santa Fe and visiting their granddaughters in Bend, OR. Marcia's love for her granddaughters was evident in the almost daily videos she sent, teaching them about her adored garden and artistry work.
Marcia's indomitable spirit encouraged her family and friends to persist in the face of many struggles; She will be missed immensely and all who knew her will forever remember her warmth and kindness.
The family would like to thank Christus St. Vincent Regional Cancer Center and their dear friends and family for their care of Marcia.
Marcia was very passionate about her garden so her family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to Santa Fe Botanical Gardens in her honor.
50919.blackbaudhosting.com/50919/Donation-General-Operations
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
MARCIA SPEARS-CIHON
Marcia Spears-Cihon, 62, of Santa Fe, NM passed away peacefully Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at her home in Eldorado after a long battle with cancer. She was born February 22, 1958 in Gardena, CA to the late David and Joanne Spears. Surviving are her beloved husband, together over 30 years, David Cihon whom she married June 27, 1993 in Moorpark, CA; daughter, Eva (Coggin); two granddaughters, Alice (3) and Nora (1); brother, David Spears; sister LoriLee Spears; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Marcia graduated from Centralia College as a Recreational Therapist. She spent many years as an administrator for a retirement home in California, where she made the lives of many residents much more pleasant through her many acts of kindness.
Dave and Marcia moved to Eldorado in 2013 and quickly developed a community of dear friends. Marcia, an avid environmentalist often referred to as the Recycling Queen of Eldorado strived to follow the models of Reduce Reuse Recycle by expanding a composting network throughout the community of Eldorado. She loved her worms!
Marcia was a talented artist and utilized her conservationist mindset by incorporating repurposed pieces into beautiful works of art. She always had an adventurous and fearless spirit that brought her to many beautiful places around the world as well as domestic travel on her Harley Davidson including Sturgis in 2004. Marcia and Dave thoroughly enjoyed retired life exploring beautiful areas around Santa Fe and visiting their granddaughters in Bend, OR. Marcia's love for her granddaughters was evident in the almost daily videos she sent, teaching them about her adored garden and artistry work.
Marcia's indomitable spirit encouraged her family and friends to persist in the face of many struggles; She will be missed immensely and all who knew her will forever remember her warmth and kindness.
The family would like to thank Christus St. Vincent Regional Cancer Center and their dear friends and family for their care of Marcia.
Marcia was very passionate about her garden so her family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to Santa Fe Botanical Gardens in her honor.
50919.blackbaudhosting.com/50919/Donation-General-Operations
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
10.20.20
The Ultimate Guide To Composting
https://www.simplegrowsoil.com/blogs/news/composting-guide
Making your own compost is a fantastic way to improve the quality of your existing soil, gives you a steady supply of fantastic potting material for planting up containers and saves you a lot of money by removing the need to purchase huge bags of it from your usual gardening store.
However, there is often a lot of confusion around the actual process of composting, and many people that are keen on making their own get lost along the way and give up altogether. There is also a common misconception that composting smells bad or is dirty, and this is another reason why some people choose to shy away from it.
That’s why we’ve put together this ultimate guide to composting! Not only will we take you through how to create your own nutrient-filled compost, but we’ve also got the answers to any questions you might have, and will hopefully give you the confidence to start composting at home.
Click the link above to read the entire article.
The Ultimate Guide To Composting
https://www.simplegrowsoil.com/blogs/news/composting-guide
Making your own compost is a fantastic way to improve the quality of your existing soil, gives you a steady supply of fantastic potting material for planting up containers and saves you a lot of money by removing the need to purchase huge bags of it from your usual gardening store.
However, there is often a lot of confusion around the actual process of composting, and many people that are keen on making their own get lost along the way and give up altogether. There is also a common misconception that composting smells bad or is dirty, and this is another reason why some people choose to shy away from it.
That’s why we’ve put together this ultimate guide to composting! Not only will we take you through how to create your own nutrient-filled compost, but we’ve also got the answers to any questions you might have, and will hopefully give you the confidence to start composting at home.
Click the link above to read the entire article.
09.25.20
California passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law
Measure will require billions of soda, juice and other bottles to contain 50% recycled plastic. In a move aimed at reducing huge amounts of plastic litter in the ocean and on land, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-in-the-nation law requiring plastic beverage containers to contain an increasing amount of recycled material.
Under it, companies that produce everything from sports drinks to soda to bottled water must use 15% recycled plastic in their bottles by 2022, 25% recycled plastic by 2025, and 50% recycled plastic by 2030.
California passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law
Measure will require billions of soda, juice and other bottles to contain 50% recycled plastic. In a move aimed at reducing huge amounts of plastic litter in the ocean and on land, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-in-the-nation law requiring plastic beverage containers to contain an increasing amount of recycled material.
Under it, companies that produce everything from sports drinks to soda to bottled water must use 15% recycled plastic in their bottles by 2022, 25% recycled plastic by 2025, and 50% recycled plastic by 2030.
04.19.20 The Worms Turn in My Composting Bin NY Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/opinion/backyard-composting-compost-coronavirus.html?referringSource=articleShare
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/opinion/backyard-composting-compost-coronavirus.html?referringSource=articleShare
04.03.20 Reunity Resources Offers Curbside Compost Collection
Reunity Resources, the commercial Santa Fe composting operation is offering residential food waste pickup in the Eldorado Community.
Here is how it works.
1. Reunity will drop off a 4 gallon bucket at your location.
2. You fill the bucket with food scraps. Reunity’s commercial operation can handle all foods including meat, bones, dairy and citrus.
3. Once weekly, Reunity will pick up your bucket and swap it for a clean one.
4. Twice a year, spring and fall, you can receive a cubic foot bag of Reunity premium compost. Or, you could donate your compost to school gardens and community programs.
There is an introductory offer for first two weeks FREE.
More information - https://www.reunityresources.com/food-scraps-collection.html
Eldorado/285 Recycles partners with Reunity to collect food waste at the annual community zero waste events — Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast,Vista Grande Public Library Ice Cream Social and El Dorado Fire Dept. annual Bar-B-Q.
Eldorado/285 Recycles also offers backyard straw bale compost installation. Resident pays for straw bales. E/285 supplies installation, directions and worms. Contact Chris Harrell, clharrell505@gmail.com for information.
Now there are options for every preference. DIY or use the Reunity home service.
In either case you will be keeping food waste from the landfill and providing the raw ma-terial for compost creation.
Reunity Resources, the commercial Santa Fe composting operation is offering residential food waste pickup in the Eldorado Community.
Here is how it works.
1. Reunity will drop off a 4 gallon bucket at your location.
2. You fill the bucket with food scraps. Reunity’s commercial operation can handle all foods including meat, bones, dairy and citrus.
3. Once weekly, Reunity will pick up your bucket and swap it for a clean one.
4. Twice a year, spring and fall, you can receive a cubic foot bag of Reunity premium compost. Or, you could donate your compost to school gardens and community programs.
There is an introductory offer for first two weeks FREE.
More information - https://www.reunityresources.com/food-scraps-collection.html
Eldorado/285 Recycles partners with Reunity to collect food waste at the annual community zero waste events — Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast,Vista Grande Public Library Ice Cream Social and El Dorado Fire Dept. annual Bar-B-Q.
Eldorado/285 Recycles also offers backyard straw bale compost installation. Resident pays for straw bales. E/285 supplies installation, directions and worms. Contact Chris Harrell, clharrell505@gmail.com for information.
Now there are options for every preference. DIY or use the Reunity home service.
In either case you will be keeping food waste from the landfill and providing the raw ma-terial for compost creation.
02.11.20 Maker of foam cups fights back against bans, regulations
Santa Fe New Mexican February 11, 2020By Michael Corkery
MASON, Mich. — The Dart Container Corp., by some measures, is an American success story.
The family-owned business was cofounded in Michigan by a World War II veteran with a triple major in mathematics, engineering and metallurgy, and it developed products that, in no small way, helped fuel the modern economy. Dart makes, by the millions, white foam cups, clamshells, coffee cup lids and disposable forks and knives — the single-use containers that enable Americans to eat and drink on the go. It employs about 15,000 people across 14 states.
But now many of the products that this low-profile Midwestern company creates are being labeled by critics as environmental blights contributing to the world’s plastic pollution problem.
Cities and states are increasingly banning one of Dart’s signature products, foam food and beverage containers, which can harm fish and other marine life. In December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York proposed a statewide ban on single-use food containers made of “expanded polystyrene” foam, more commonly, but inaccurately, known as Styrofoam. (Styrofoam is a trademarked material typically used as insulation.) Maine and Maryland banned polystyrene foam containers last year, and nearly 60 nations have enacted or are in the process of passing similar prohibitions. Some elected officials and environmental groups say polystyrene containers are difficult to recycle in any meaningful way.
“There is overwhelming evidence that this material is seriously damaging the Earth,” said Brooke Lierman, a Maryland lawmaker who sponsored her state’s ban.
But Dart Container, which has been owned by the Dart family since its founding in the 1950s, is not backing down. While many plastics companies work to protect their product through trade groups and feel-good marketing campaigns, Dart is challenging regulation directly and aggressively.
Shortly after Maryland voted to ban foam, Dart shut down its two warehouses in the state, displacing 90 workers and sending a signal to other locales considering similar laws. San Diego recently decided to suspend enforcement of its polystyrene ban in the face of a lawsuit by Dart and a restaurant trade group, which argued the city should have conducted a detailed environmental impact study before enacting the law. The city is now performing that analysis.
“We don’t believe there are good, objective reasons to single out certain materials,” Dart’s chief executive officer, Jim Lammers, said in a recent interview at the company’s headquarters.
The interview was one of the first times Dart had allowed a journalist broad access to its facilities on a leafy campus in Mason, where there are running trails, a garden honoring employees and boulders inscribed with words like “Meritocracy.”
Dart is waging a broader campaign to argue that its products are being used as scapegoats for a society fueled by on-the-go consumerism. Dart says that critics of polystyrene are ignoring the negative environmental effects of other products, like many paper cups, which are derived from trees and can emit greenhouse gases as they degrade in landfills.
By Dart’s reasoning, most materials inflict some negative effect on the environment, so it doesn’t make sense to ban one and not another.
“If you just give up on foam,” said Michael Westerfield, director of recycling at Dart, “what are they going to want to do next?”
Santa Fe New Mexican February 11, 2020By Michael Corkery
MASON, Mich. — The Dart Container Corp., by some measures, is an American success story.
The family-owned business was cofounded in Michigan by a World War II veteran with a triple major in mathematics, engineering and metallurgy, and it developed products that, in no small way, helped fuel the modern economy. Dart makes, by the millions, white foam cups, clamshells, coffee cup lids and disposable forks and knives — the single-use containers that enable Americans to eat and drink on the go. It employs about 15,000 people across 14 states.
But now many of the products that this low-profile Midwestern company creates are being labeled by critics as environmental blights contributing to the world’s plastic pollution problem.
Cities and states are increasingly banning one of Dart’s signature products, foam food and beverage containers, which can harm fish and other marine life. In December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York proposed a statewide ban on single-use food containers made of “expanded polystyrene” foam, more commonly, but inaccurately, known as Styrofoam. (Styrofoam is a trademarked material typically used as insulation.) Maine and Maryland banned polystyrene foam containers last year, and nearly 60 nations have enacted or are in the process of passing similar prohibitions. Some elected officials and environmental groups say polystyrene containers are difficult to recycle in any meaningful way.
“There is overwhelming evidence that this material is seriously damaging the Earth,” said Brooke Lierman, a Maryland lawmaker who sponsored her state’s ban.
But Dart Container, which has been owned by the Dart family since its founding in the 1950s, is not backing down. While many plastics companies work to protect their product through trade groups and feel-good marketing campaigns, Dart is challenging regulation directly and aggressively.
Shortly after Maryland voted to ban foam, Dart shut down its two warehouses in the state, displacing 90 workers and sending a signal to other locales considering similar laws. San Diego recently decided to suspend enforcement of its polystyrene ban in the face of a lawsuit by Dart and a restaurant trade group, which argued the city should have conducted a detailed environmental impact study before enacting the law. The city is now performing that analysis.
“We don’t believe there are good, objective reasons to single out certain materials,” Dart’s chief executive officer, Jim Lammers, said in a recent interview at the company’s headquarters.
The interview was one of the first times Dart had allowed a journalist broad access to its facilities on a leafy campus in Mason, where there are running trails, a garden honoring employees and boulders inscribed with words like “Meritocracy.”
Dart is waging a broader campaign to argue that its products are being used as scapegoats for a society fueled by on-the-go consumerism. Dart says that critics of polystyrene are ignoring the negative environmental effects of other products, like many paper cups, which are derived from trees and can emit greenhouse gases as they degrade in landfills.
By Dart’s reasoning, most materials inflict some negative effect on the environment, so it doesn’t make sense to ban one and not another.
“If you just give up on foam,” said Michael Westerfield, director of recycling at Dart, “what are they going to want to do next?”
01.16.20 Joe Eigner, one of the original founders of Eldorado 285 Recycles has decided to retire (at the ripe age of 86) to take a well deserved rest from the many duties he’s had with our group. We all want to wish the best to Joe and thank him for his tireless service to our group. At our last meeting, we threw Joe a party, pictures below. Our group and its efforts wouldn't be possible without Joe’s many years of volunteer work. We all love and will miss Joe but Joe, you’re always welcome to visit! Farewell Songs by Chris Harrell Click here.
12.04.19 New Store in Santa Fe reduces plastic "REDUCE / REUSE / REFILL. Bulk refill station for personal care and household cleaning products. Laundry - Dish - Shampoo - Custom Blended Body Care. Bring your own containers!"
Soap Refill Station
1925 Rosina St Unit H, Santa Fe, NM 87505
https://www.soapsantafe.com
Soap Refill Station
1925 Rosina St Unit H, Santa Fe, NM 87505
https://www.soapsantafe.com
11.28.19 Santa Fe man salvages computers to give to those in need
Harcharik oversees Computer Charities
Santa Fe New Mexican · 28 Nov 2019 · A-8 · By Dillon Mullan dmullan@sfnewmexican.com
After upgrading some laptops recently, the state Department of Health and Children, Youth and Families Department sent the old ones to the team of volunteer tinkerers and recyclers at Computer Charity Inc. Stacked in a corner, the donations fit right into the collage of hard drives and wires that fill the shelves of the nonprofit’s five-room store and workshop off Cerrillos Road.
The state agencies forgot to include power cords with the donated computers. That won’t be a problem for Director Mike Harcharik, however, who specializes in mixing and matching Santa Fe’s castoff elec- tronics in order to create a working machine for somebody who needs one.
“Donations always come like this. You never know what you get until you go through it: ‘Oh, look at that. Oh, look at this. Stack it here, Stack it there.’ That’s how we end up like this,” Harcharik says while sifting through a box of power cords.
“I know it might look like pure chaos, but we do try to arrange everything into some sort of organized chaos.”
Harcharik has been selected as one of the Santa Fe New Mexican’s 10 Who Made a Difference for 2019 because of his efforts to aid those in need. Computer Charity started in 2013. Around the store and in a storage unit, Harcharik estimates, there are now 300 desktops and 300 laptops in various condition.
On a recent weekday morning, one customer bought a keyboard and another paid for a desktop monitor. Harcharik says about 30 percent of the store’s electronics are sold at full price. The rest are given away at steep discounts or for free.
By noon that day, Harcharik had assisted a student who was having problems connecting to the internet at Santa Fe Community College and had helped a couple who recently were homeless obtain a laptop. “We’ll use it to find destinations, entertainment, contact information and especially for medicine. It’s nice to know what you’re taking,” says Randy Trujillo, who moved into an apartment after experiencing homelessness for the past six years. “We can’t afford one of these. We’re on a real limited budget, so this a great resource that’s out there that improves lives and offers to help people,” he says. “Everybody needs to get online.”
In addition to sales and free or discounted computers for Santa Feans who otherwise would not have ac- cess to them, the nonprofit offers classes in basic computer skills and repair service. While other com- puter repair services in Santa Fe charge $125 to $150 an hour, Computer Charity charges $60 an hour. Part of Computer Charity’s mission is to recycle waste and keep viable electronics out of landfills. Harcharik and his staff of a dozen volunteers accept all donated electronics from state government agen- cies and individuals before breaking down the machines to determine what can be refurbished, repur- posed, repaired or recycled.
The nonprofit will take more than just your old family desktop. “People have so much electronic waste that they don’t know what to do with,” Harcharik says. “Bring us that box of cords in your closet. You have two monitors and a dozen dead hard drives? Great. Bring them here.”
While he specializes in computers, Harcharik’s store also has televisions, printers and even two VCRs that he swears somebody will want.
While Harcharik says he has no formal education in computer science or engineering, he has learned ev- erything he needs to know from taking machines apart and putting them back together. Despite the cramped workspaces, he says he can promise customers will have their devices back in three days. “It’s electronic psychology,” Harcharik says. “All trial and error.”
This fall, students from Santa Fe High and Monte del Sol Charter schools are building a desktop com- puter from scratch at Computer Charity to fulfill school requirements that they work with a mentor. Har- charik says his goal is to move into a larger facility with a classroom to teach adults how to email family members and teenagers to assemble computers.
“Oh, yeah. This place is a mechanical engineer’s dream,” says Steven Peinado, a senior at Santa Fe High who volunteers at Computer Charity twice a week after school. “It’s a wonderful learning experience be- cause Mike knows so much about computers. On top of that, it’s a wonderful experience to help people get online who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.”
Harcharik is concerned about the nonprofit’s future. “Right now we make money on sales only,” he says, adding the organization is in need of another funding stream. “It’s the generosity of the people who come in here that is keeping us afloat,” Harcharik says. “We need a grant writer. We need somebody to help us acquire funding.” Still, in an overflowing workshop, Harcharik and the volunteers at Computer Charity are taking electronic junk and making a difference. “The main purpose of your computer is keeping in touch with people,” he says. “We’re trying to bridge that digital divide so that people who are mentally ill or homeless can get a computer and maintain con- tact with their relatives.
“That’s our main goal: Get technology into the hands of individuals who normally couldn’t go to Best Buy and get a computer.”
Computer Charity http://www.computercharitynm.org/
Harcharik oversees Computer Charities
Santa Fe New Mexican · 28 Nov 2019 · A-8 · By Dillon Mullan dmullan@sfnewmexican.com
After upgrading some laptops recently, the state Department of Health and Children, Youth and Families Department sent the old ones to the team of volunteer tinkerers and recyclers at Computer Charity Inc. Stacked in a corner, the donations fit right into the collage of hard drives and wires that fill the shelves of the nonprofit’s five-room store and workshop off Cerrillos Road.
The state agencies forgot to include power cords with the donated computers. That won’t be a problem for Director Mike Harcharik, however, who specializes in mixing and matching Santa Fe’s castoff elec- tronics in order to create a working machine for somebody who needs one.
“Donations always come like this. You never know what you get until you go through it: ‘Oh, look at that. Oh, look at this. Stack it here, Stack it there.’ That’s how we end up like this,” Harcharik says while sifting through a box of power cords.
“I know it might look like pure chaos, but we do try to arrange everything into some sort of organized chaos.”
Harcharik has been selected as one of the Santa Fe New Mexican’s 10 Who Made a Difference for 2019 because of his efforts to aid those in need. Computer Charity started in 2013. Around the store and in a storage unit, Harcharik estimates, there are now 300 desktops and 300 laptops in various condition.
On a recent weekday morning, one customer bought a keyboard and another paid for a desktop monitor. Harcharik says about 30 percent of the store’s electronics are sold at full price. The rest are given away at steep discounts or for free.
By noon that day, Harcharik had assisted a student who was having problems connecting to the internet at Santa Fe Community College and had helped a couple who recently were homeless obtain a laptop. “We’ll use it to find destinations, entertainment, contact information and especially for medicine. It’s nice to know what you’re taking,” says Randy Trujillo, who moved into an apartment after experiencing homelessness for the past six years. “We can’t afford one of these. We’re on a real limited budget, so this a great resource that’s out there that improves lives and offers to help people,” he says. “Everybody needs to get online.”
In addition to sales and free or discounted computers for Santa Feans who otherwise would not have ac- cess to them, the nonprofit offers classes in basic computer skills and repair service. While other com- puter repair services in Santa Fe charge $125 to $150 an hour, Computer Charity charges $60 an hour. Part of Computer Charity’s mission is to recycle waste and keep viable electronics out of landfills. Harcharik and his staff of a dozen volunteers accept all donated electronics from state government agen- cies and individuals before breaking down the machines to determine what can be refurbished, repur- posed, repaired or recycled.
The nonprofit will take more than just your old family desktop. “People have so much electronic waste that they don’t know what to do with,” Harcharik says. “Bring us that box of cords in your closet. You have two monitors and a dozen dead hard drives? Great. Bring them here.”
While he specializes in computers, Harcharik’s store also has televisions, printers and even two VCRs that he swears somebody will want.
While Harcharik says he has no formal education in computer science or engineering, he has learned ev- erything he needs to know from taking machines apart and putting them back together. Despite the cramped workspaces, he says he can promise customers will have their devices back in three days. “It’s electronic psychology,” Harcharik says. “All trial and error.”
This fall, students from Santa Fe High and Monte del Sol Charter schools are building a desktop com- puter from scratch at Computer Charity to fulfill school requirements that they work with a mentor. Har- charik says his goal is to move into a larger facility with a classroom to teach adults how to email family members and teenagers to assemble computers.
“Oh, yeah. This place is a mechanical engineer’s dream,” says Steven Peinado, a senior at Santa Fe High who volunteers at Computer Charity twice a week after school. “It’s a wonderful learning experience be- cause Mike knows so much about computers. On top of that, it’s a wonderful experience to help people get online who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.”
Harcharik is concerned about the nonprofit’s future. “Right now we make money on sales only,” he says, adding the organization is in need of another funding stream. “It’s the generosity of the people who come in here that is keeping us afloat,” Harcharik says. “We need a grant writer. We need somebody to help us acquire funding.” Still, in an overflowing workshop, Harcharik and the volunteers at Computer Charity are taking electronic junk and making a difference. “The main purpose of your computer is keeping in touch with people,” he says. “We’re trying to bridge that digital divide so that people who are mentally ill or homeless can get a computer and maintain con- tact with their relatives.
“That’s our main goal: Get technology into the hands of individuals who normally couldn’t go to Best Buy and get a computer.”
Computer Charity http://www.computercharitynm.org/
11.16.19 Santa Fe to no longer outsource its recycling: Santa Fe New Mexican
The city and Santa Fe County’s recycling operation is no longer being processed in Albuquerque.
The city announced Friday, on America Recycles Day, that a contract approved in May by the Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency returned recycling processing to the Buckman Road Recycling & Transfer Station, BuRRT for short.
The contract with Albuquerque-based Town Recycling, LLC, replaces a previous agreement with Friedman Recycling, which is also based in Albuquerque, that involved transporting the area’s recyclables to the city.
“Town Recycling began testing the equipment at BuRRT over the summer, and has assumed full operational responsibility for processing and marketing recycling for the SFSWMA on behalf of the city and county of Santa Fe,” a news release stated.
The reopening of the local Materials Recovery Facility has many positive outcomes, according to the news release.
“Sorting the recycling locally has provided 11 new jobs for Santa Feans,” the city said. “Additionally, staff has the opportunity to observe and more accurately assess the materials in the recycling stream, and to address any issues within our advertising and education materials. This helps to ensure a clean and marketable product.”
The city used Friday’s announcement as an opportunity to remind the public that “clean recycling is essential for the environmental and economic sustainability of the program.” When bad items are placed in the recycling, it can prevent recyclable material from being processed and sold to end markets, the city said.
“The city of Santa Fe Environmental Services Division would like to encourage city and county residents to continue to recycle, and most importantly, to recycle right every time,” Shirlene Sitton, the city’s Environmental Services Division director, said in a statement.
For more information about what is and isn’t accepted in the recycling program, go to santafenm.gov/ESD, santaferecycling.org or santafecountynm.gov/public_works/trash_and_recycling/recycling.
The city and Santa Fe County’s recycling operation is no longer being processed in Albuquerque.
The city announced Friday, on America Recycles Day, that a contract approved in May by the Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency returned recycling processing to the Buckman Road Recycling & Transfer Station, BuRRT for short.
The contract with Albuquerque-based Town Recycling, LLC, replaces a previous agreement with Friedman Recycling, which is also based in Albuquerque, that involved transporting the area’s recyclables to the city.
“Town Recycling began testing the equipment at BuRRT over the summer, and has assumed full operational responsibility for processing and marketing recycling for the SFSWMA on behalf of the city and county of Santa Fe,” a news release stated.
The reopening of the local Materials Recovery Facility has many positive outcomes, according to the news release.
“Sorting the recycling locally has provided 11 new jobs for Santa Feans,” the city said. “Additionally, staff has the opportunity to observe and more accurately assess the materials in the recycling stream, and to address any issues within our advertising and education materials. This helps to ensure a clean and marketable product.”
The city used Friday’s announcement as an opportunity to remind the public that “clean recycling is essential for the environmental and economic sustainability of the program.” When bad items are placed in the recycling, it can prevent recyclable material from being processed and sold to end markets, the city said.
“The city of Santa Fe Environmental Services Division would like to encourage city and county residents to continue to recycle, and most importantly, to recycle right every time,” Shirlene Sitton, the city’s Environmental Services Division director, said in a statement.
For more information about what is and isn’t accepted in the recycling program, go to santafenm.gov/ESD, santaferecycling.org or santafecountynm.gov/public_works/trash_and_recycling/recycling.
11.12.19 New business in Santa Fe aims to REDUCE SINGLE USE PLASTIC WASTE
Soap Refill Station: https://www.soapsantafe.com
Bring in your own containers to refill:
1925 Rosina St Unit H
hello@soapsantafe.com
(505) 772 - 0644
Soap Refill Station: https://www.soapsantafe.com
Bring in your own containers to refill:
- Laundry soap
- Dish soap
- Hair care
- Body wash
- Body lotion
- Essential oils
- Specialty skin and hair oils
- Household cleaners
- Pet products
- And so much more!
1925 Rosina St Unit H
hello@soapsantafe.com
(505) 772 - 0644
10.14.19 All of Patagonia's waterproof shells are now recycled and Fair Trade
By Katherine Martinko
Can we hear them saying, "I told you so!" to the rest of the outdoor gear industry?
Patagonia is at it again, proving that the clothing industry doesn't have to be nearly as wasteful as other companies would have us believe. For years, the industry has been saying it's too expensive and too difficult to make exterior jacket material from recycled plastic, and that the resulting material won't perform as well, but after years of trial and error, Patagonia would beg to differ.
The outdoor gear company has just announced that 100 percent of its waterproof shells, which includes 61 styles for men, women, and children, are all made with recycled materials and sewn in Fair Trade Certified factories. While some are entirely recycled, others are partially, which works out to 69 percent of this season's line being made with recycled materials. Considering that the industry norm is only 15 percent, this is an impressive accomplishment.
The clothing pieces travel around the globe before arriving in Patagonia's North American stores. They start as plastic chips in Italy and Slovenia, are woven and spun into yarn in Japan, then cut and stitched into garments in Vietnam. All this international movement might seem wasteful, but Patagonia defends it in a press release:
"You might think that shipping our products all over the world is the leading source of greenhouse gas pollution, but it’s not. In fact, most of our carbon emissions – 97 percent – come from our supply chain. And creating virgin synthetic fibers accounts for 86 percent of those emissions. The more recycled fabrics we make, the closer we’ll get to carbon neutrality across our entire business by 2025."
In a world suffocating under 8.3 billion pounds of plastic, where the amount being produced annually surpasses the entire weight of humanity, we desperately need solutions like this one offered by Patagonia. We need all companies to come up with innovative ways to transform waste materials into newly usable ones and to implement them across entire product lines. And we need to support those businesses that do prioritize recycling. I know without a doubt where my next raincoat will come from.
By Katherine Martinko
Can we hear them saying, "I told you so!" to the rest of the outdoor gear industry?
Patagonia is at it again, proving that the clothing industry doesn't have to be nearly as wasteful as other companies would have us believe. For years, the industry has been saying it's too expensive and too difficult to make exterior jacket material from recycled plastic, and that the resulting material won't perform as well, but after years of trial and error, Patagonia would beg to differ.
The outdoor gear company has just announced that 100 percent of its waterproof shells, which includes 61 styles for men, women, and children, are all made with recycled materials and sewn in Fair Trade Certified factories. While some are entirely recycled, others are partially, which works out to 69 percent of this season's line being made with recycled materials. Considering that the industry norm is only 15 percent, this is an impressive accomplishment.
The clothing pieces travel around the globe before arriving in Patagonia's North American stores. They start as plastic chips in Italy and Slovenia, are woven and spun into yarn in Japan, then cut and stitched into garments in Vietnam. All this international movement might seem wasteful, but Patagonia defends it in a press release:
"You might think that shipping our products all over the world is the leading source of greenhouse gas pollution, but it’s not. In fact, most of our carbon emissions – 97 percent – come from our supply chain. And creating virgin synthetic fibers accounts for 86 percent of those emissions. The more recycled fabrics we make, the closer we’ll get to carbon neutrality across our entire business by 2025."
In a world suffocating under 8.3 billion pounds of plastic, where the amount being produced annually surpasses the entire weight of humanity, we desperately need solutions like this one offered by Patagonia. We need all companies to come up with innovative ways to transform waste materials into newly usable ones and to implement them across entire product lines. And we need to support those businesses that do prioritize recycling. I know without a doubt where my next raincoat will come from.
10.14.19 How to fight food waste, in a single phrase
By Katherine Martinko
Memorize this and you'll be set in the kitchen.
The Internet abounds with tips and tricks for minimizing food waste, but few are as succinct as the advice given by Love Food, Hate Waste Canada (LFHW) on its website: Plan It. Use It. Eat It. I like this line because it's catchy, easy to remember, and therefore easier to implement.
PLAN IT focuses on the importance of having a meal plan of sorts, even a rough one. Some people like to plan out the entire week in advance, while others do it the day of. I make a point of thinking about dinner first thing in the morning, just so I can remember to start soaking beans or take food out of the freezer to thaw. This gives me a chance to think about what needs to get eaten, i.e. a head of lettuce that's going limp or some tofu past its expiry date. LFHW suggests scheduling a lazy night with no plan. This way, you don't buy groceries you don't need or that won't keep, and can instead eat out with friends, get takeout, or polish off leftovers.
USE IT provides information on how to care for ingredients. Whether it's learning to interpret expiry dates, how to use a freezer effectively, how to make stock from vegetable and meat scraps, or learning to can/preserve, dehydrate, or revive limp foods, there are countless ways to breathe new life into sad, forgotten ingredients. It also has a section on how to keep ingredients fresh, to prevent future losses.
EAT IT has a long list of delicious recipes, many of which feature leftover ingredients – for example, Fridge Harvest Frittata or Stew, Leftover Mashed Potato Gnocchi, Cookie Crumbs Pie Crust, pesto (a great way to use many kinds of leftover greens), etc. The more you cook, the more comfortable you'll become with incorporating random extra ingredients into other dishes, for the sole purpose of using them up. I did this the other night, making a delicious chickpea curry with leftover onions, a huge bag of limp spinach, a half can of coconut milk, and some tomatoes.
Love Food, Hate Waste is a great resource for anyone wanting to cut back on waste in the kitchen. Check it out here. LFHW was also involved in the creation of this great new free cookbook, 'Rock What You've Got,' available for download as a PDF.
By Katherine Martinko
Memorize this and you'll be set in the kitchen.
The Internet abounds with tips and tricks for minimizing food waste, but few are as succinct as the advice given by Love Food, Hate Waste Canada (LFHW) on its website: Plan It. Use It. Eat It. I like this line because it's catchy, easy to remember, and therefore easier to implement.
PLAN IT focuses on the importance of having a meal plan of sorts, even a rough one. Some people like to plan out the entire week in advance, while others do it the day of. I make a point of thinking about dinner first thing in the morning, just so I can remember to start soaking beans or take food out of the freezer to thaw. This gives me a chance to think about what needs to get eaten, i.e. a head of lettuce that's going limp or some tofu past its expiry date. LFHW suggests scheduling a lazy night with no plan. This way, you don't buy groceries you don't need or that won't keep, and can instead eat out with friends, get takeout, or polish off leftovers.
USE IT provides information on how to care for ingredients. Whether it's learning to interpret expiry dates, how to use a freezer effectively, how to make stock from vegetable and meat scraps, or learning to can/preserve, dehydrate, or revive limp foods, there are countless ways to breathe new life into sad, forgotten ingredients. It also has a section on how to keep ingredients fresh, to prevent future losses.
EAT IT has a long list of delicious recipes, many of which feature leftover ingredients – for example, Fridge Harvest Frittata or Stew, Leftover Mashed Potato Gnocchi, Cookie Crumbs Pie Crust, pesto (a great way to use many kinds of leftover greens), etc. The more you cook, the more comfortable you'll become with incorporating random extra ingredients into other dishes, for the sole purpose of using them up. I did this the other night, making a delicious chickpea curry with leftover onions, a huge bag of limp spinach, a half can of coconut milk, and some tomatoes.
Love Food, Hate Waste is a great resource for anyone wanting to cut back on waste in the kitchen. Check it out here. LFHW was also involved in the creation of this great new free cookbook, 'Rock What You've Got,' available for download as a PDF.
Recycling in U.S. expands amid outcry over plastics
On one hand, the rise of paper straws is a brazen case of greenwashing, since straws make up only a tiny share of waste. On the other, the proliferation of paper and bamboo straws marked the beginning of a larger commercial pivot away from plastic.
Companies are beginning to realize there’s more to lose from offending consumers who are aware of how cheap plastic products feed global warming, choke oceans, kill wildlife and more slowly threaten us. This is especially the case when it comes to packaging.
Containers, cartons, wrapping and everything else discarded after a product is used make up about 30 percent of all American trash, or more than 76 million tons annually. Now the biggest retailers and consumer goods giants are racing to replace everything from plastic envelopes to styrofoam meat trays with fiber-based iterations.
The U.S. paper recycling industry, it turns out, has suddenly found itself in demand and maybe just in the nick of time.
Until 2018, recycling in America, from plastics to paper to assorted waste, was propped up by China’s willingness to purchase much of it, ostensibly for recycling and reuse by its domestic industries. Instead of returning to China empty, shipping containers were filled with refuse, bales of plastic bottles, cardboard and wastepaper.
But when Beijing decided it didn’t want the world’s garbage anymore, slashing the amount it would take while requiring the rest to be near-pristine, the value of American recyclables plummeted.
With an excess supply and no one to sell it to, prices for recycled residential paper even touched negative territory. That means cities have to pay someone to take away the material they collect. The S&P 500 Paper Packaging Index has dropped more than 25 percent since China started restricting trash.
For U.S. towns and cities, with their colorful recycling barrels and bins, what was at best a break-even proposition suddenly became very expensive. Unable to sell recycling at a high enough price, they either had to raise taxes to pay for collection, dump it all into landfills or burn it. Many chose the latter options.
Renee Yardley, a senior vice president at recycling company Sustana Group, said 2019 has been “a challenging year” for municipalities that collect paper.
But consumer goods companies might be starting to turn that around.
Trying to get ahead of regulations in countries that ban or tax plastic packaging, some product manufacturers are turning to recycled paper for the first time. With restrictions on singleuse plastics in place across 60 nations and 350 U.S. municipalities, analysts on MSCI’s environmental, social and governance research team said plastics “could lose market share to alternatives.”
More than 200 businesses, representing about 20 percent of all packaging used globally, have made commitments to reduce plastic waste, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Coca-Cola European Partners became the latest to do so, saying it will replace plastic shrink wrap with cardboard for its multipacks across Western Europe, removing about 4,000 tons of plastic annually.
- Santa Fe New Mexican
- 12 Oct 2019
- By Emily Chasan
On one hand, the rise of paper straws is a brazen case of greenwashing, since straws make up only a tiny share of waste. On the other, the proliferation of paper and bamboo straws marked the beginning of a larger commercial pivot away from plastic.
Companies are beginning to realize there’s more to lose from offending consumers who are aware of how cheap plastic products feed global warming, choke oceans, kill wildlife and more slowly threaten us. This is especially the case when it comes to packaging.
Containers, cartons, wrapping and everything else discarded after a product is used make up about 30 percent of all American trash, or more than 76 million tons annually. Now the biggest retailers and consumer goods giants are racing to replace everything from plastic envelopes to styrofoam meat trays with fiber-based iterations.
The U.S. paper recycling industry, it turns out, has suddenly found itself in demand and maybe just in the nick of time.
Until 2018, recycling in America, from plastics to paper to assorted waste, was propped up by China’s willingness to purchase much of it, ostensibly for recycling and reuse by its domestic industries. Instead of returning to China empty, shipping containers were filled with refuse, bales of plastic bottles, cardboard and wastepaper.
But when Beijing decided it didn’t want the world’s garbage anymore, slashing the amount it would take while requiring the rest to be near-pristine, the value of American recyclables plummeted.
With an excess supply and no one to sell it to, prices for recycled residential paper even touched negative territory. That means cities have to pay someone to take away the material they collect. The S&P 500 Paper Packaging Index has dropped more than 25 percent since China started restricting trash.
For U.S. towns and cities, with their colorful recycling barrels and bins, what was at best a break-even proposition suddenly became very expensive. Unable to sell recycling at a high enough price, they either had to raise taxes to pay for collection, dump it all into landfills or burn it. Many chose the latter options.
Renee Yardley, a senior vice president at recycling company Sustana Group, said 2019 has been “a challenging year” for municipalities that collect paper.
But consumer goods companies might be starting to turn that around.
Trying to get ahead of regulations in countries that ban or tax plastic packaging, some product manufacturers are turning to recycled paper for the first time. With restrictions on singleuse plastics in place across 60 nations and 350 U.S. municipalities, analysts on MSCI’s environmental, social and governance research team said plastics “could lose market share to alternatives.”
More than 200 businesses, representing about 20 percent of all packaging used globally, have made commitments to reduce plastic waste, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Coca-Cola European Partners became the latest to do so, saying it will replace plastic shrink wrap with cardboard for its multipacks across Western Europe, removing about 4,000 tons of plastic annually.
09.21.19 Eldorado 285 Recycles has a table at the PTA Fall Festival
09.16.19 Pie-O-Neer Pies in Pie Town New Mexico uses earth friendly, compostable materials! Check it out; the 39th annual Pie Festival in Pie Town NM was held on 09.14.19. Pie-O-neer Pies there not only serves the best pies in town to the 3000+ attendees who came for this annual event, they go out of their way to be earth friendly. Kudo's to Pie-O-Neer pies.
07.09.19 Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed an alternative method to sustainably manufacture plastic that is not only durable but is easily biodegradable.
Read the entire article on the Santa Fe New Mexican copy and paste this URL:
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/health_and_science/using-algae-to-try-and-solve-the-plastic-problem/article_d5a30b03-875e-50f9-b909-fab1f586f553.html
Read the entire article on the Santa Fe New Mexican copy and paste this URL:
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/health_and_science/using-algae-to-try-and-solve-the-plastic-problem/article_d5a30b03-875e-50f9-b909-fab1f586f553.html
Like all its public events, Eldorado/285 Recycles' Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast celebration at La Plancha de Eldorado restaurant will be a "zero waste" event. This means no paper plates, no plastic utensils, and if you bring your own mug you get a dollar off to help encourage the "pack it in/pack it out mentality" that group member Stephanie Levy says is a key part of shifting people's habits towards sustainability rather than convenience.
Click the link above to see the entire article.
Click the link above to see the entire article.
07.05.19 Some pictures from the 2019 Pancake Breakfast sponsored by Eldorado 285 Recycles and the 4th of July parade.
Also see:
2019 4th of July Pancake Breakfast
Also see:
2019 4th of July Pancake Breakfast
debhaaland_zw_response.pdf | |
File Size: | 124 kb |
File Type: |
05.29.19 Consumer giants are selling everyday products in reusable containers you will send back.
The world’s biggest brands want you to see those everyday household products in a different light. The shampoo bottle, the deodorant stick, razors and even your toothbrush—they all get thrown away when they’re empty or worn out. But if they were reusable—or refillable—just imagine how much waste could be avoided.
That’s the goal of “Loop,” a durable packaging initiative run by New Jersey-based recycling company TerraCycle that debuted at the World Economic Forum earlier this year. This week, Loop began its U.S. trial, allowing consumers to use steel, glass and durable plastic reusable packaging for everyday items. Kroger Co. and Walgreens, along with such consumer brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle, The Clorox Co. and Unilever, are taking part.
read more
Video
The world’s biggest brands want you to see those everyday household products in a different light. The shampoo bottle, the deodorant stick, razors and even your toothbrush—they all get thrown away when they’re empty or worn out. But if they were reusable—or refillable—just imagine how much waste could be avoided.
That’s the goal of “Loop,” a durable packaging initiative run by New Jersey-based recycling company TerraCycle that debuted at the World Economic Forum earlier this year. This week, Loop began its U.S. trial, allowing consumers to use steel, glass and durable plastic reusable packaging for everyday items. Kroger Co. and Walgreens, along with such consumer brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle, The Clorox Co. and Unilever, are taking part.
read more
Video
05.26.19 Compostable Dog Poop bags (From EcoDog)
Being a dog, it's time to bring up the topic of poop (sorry). Yes, we know we should pick it up but how? Plastic poop bags enshrine the poop for hundreds of years and just add to the plastic crisis. Did you know there are compostable dog poop bags? Did you know that there are companies selling poop bags that give the false impression they are good for our environment when they really are not, by using the term 'biodegradable? Just because a bag is biodegradable doesn't mean it's earth friendly despite the marketing claims. A bag that breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic, creating micro plastic is not a lot better than a plastic bag that doesn't break down as quickly. What you want to look for are compostable bags. For example, we've been using a truly earth friendly poop bags by a company called CompostaPoop (see: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BH31GTM/ref=crt_ewc_title_huc_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARJB7FYE5B6BE). Yes, they cost a bit more than the alternative. But they degrade in as little as 45 days and contain no plastic. Also look for products that are certified as BPI. A good source for such products that we can recommend from experience can be found here: http://www.worldcentric.org
Some World Centric products can be found locally too. I've seen a few at our local John Brooks market at the Agora.
We have used their 13 gallon compostable trash bags in our kitchen for years, they work just as well as plastic bags.
Please consider avoiding plastic bags and instead using compostable bags. For cleaning up after your dogs and for all your household needs as well.
Being a dog, it's time to bring up the topic of poop (sorry). Yes, we know we should pick it up but how? Plastic poop bags enshrine the poop for hundreds of years and just add to the plastic crisis. Did you know there are compostable dog poop bags? Did you know that there are companies selling poop bags that give the false impression they are good for our environment when they really are not, by using the term 'biodegradable? Just because a bag is biodegradable doesn't mean it's earth friendly despite the marketing claims. A bag that breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic, creating micro plastic is not a lot better than a plastic bag that doesn't break down as quickly. What you want to look for are compostable bags. For example, we've been using a truly earth friendly poop bags by a company called CompostaPoop (see: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BH31GTM/ref=crt_ewc_title_huc_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARJB7FYE5B6BE). Yes, they cost a bit more than the alternative. But they degrade in as little as 45 days and contain no plastic. Also look for products that are certified as BPI. A good source for such products that we can recommend from experience can be found here: http://www.worldcentric.org
Some World Centric products can be found locally too. I've seen a few at our local John Brooks market at the Agora.
We have used their 13 gallon compostable trash bags in our kitchen for years, they work just as well as plastic bags.
Please consider avoiding plastic bags and instead using compostable bags. For cleaning up after your dogs and for all your household needs as well.
05.22.19 Washington becomes the first state to legalize composting of humans
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill Tuesday legalizing human composting. The bill will go into effect in May next year.
Currently in Washington, bodies can either be cremated or buried. The process of recomposition provides a third option that speeds up the process of turning dead bodies into soil, a practice colloquially known as "human composting." The bill describes the process as a "contained, accelerated conversion of human remains to soil."
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, said it is an environmentally friendly way of disposing of human remains.
More here
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill Tuesday legalizing human composting. The bill will go into effect in May next year.
Currently in Washington, bodies can either be cremated or buried. The process of recomposition provides a third option that speeds up the process of turning dead bodies into soil, a practice colloquially known as "human composting." The bill describes the process as a "contained, accelerated conversion of human remains to soil."
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, said it is an environmentally friendly way of disposing of human remains.
More here
04.24.19 Earth day was Monday April 22nd, 2019 and Eldorado 285 Recycles was present at the FREE community event at the Eldorado Community Improvement Association seen below. Click on each picture to enlarge.
04.22.19 Students at Eldorado Elementary School make a Flower Tree from recycled plastic water bottles painted with white permanent makers and acrylic paint. Photo supplied by Marlyn Pecorelli.
04.02.19 The recycling crisis
Much of the stuff Americans think they are ‘recycling’ now ends up in landfills and incinerators. Why?
Where do recyclables go?
Until recently, the U.S. and other developed countries sold much of their recyclables to China, which accepted more than 40 percent of American wastepaper, plastic, glass, metal, and other reusable materials. Several other Asian countries and some U.S. processing companies bought most of the rest. China began importing trash in the late 1980s to feed its growing manufacturing sector. Taking advantage of the country’s abundant supply of cheap labor, Chinese companies employed legions of people to sort through the junk; it was then converted into cheap exports such as shoes, bottles, hoses, and phones. Shipping containers filled with Chinese goods would drop off their cargo in the U.S. and return filled with recyclable trash to be turned into more stuff. That all changed in January 2018. That’s when China banned most imports of “loathsome foreign garbage,” including post-consumer plastic and mixed paper. The recycling industry—which handles about 25 percent of America’s total waste—now has nowhere to send what it collects. “I’ve been in garbage all my life,” says Kevin Barnes, the solid-waste director for the city of Bakersfield, Calif. “This is unprecedented.”
What’s happening instead?
More trash is being buried or burned. Many communities used to make money selling trash to private recycling companies that would process the materials and then sell them to China or to manufacturers. Now they’re having to pay those companies to take their recycling away. Philadelphia went from making $67 a ton selling trash in 2012 to having to pay $40 a ton in mid-2018 to get rid of its recycling. The city now burns about half of the city’s recycling, converting the waste to energy. Other cities have responded by cutting back the kinds of recycling they accept, while many small communities have been forced to suspend or cancel recycling programs altogether and send everything to landfills.
Aren’t there other buyers?
Many waste management companies don’t want America’s recycling because it’s too dirty. It’s estimated that about 25 percent of American recyclables are contaminated with food waste and nonrecyclable materials, according to the National Waste & Recycling Association trade group. The spread of “single stream” recycling programs, where consumers dump all of their recycled items into one bin, is part of the problem. Many Americans are what waste management experts call “aspirational recyclers.” Wanting to do their part for the environment, they put anything and everything into recycling bins—bowling balls, used syringes, even used diapers. This stuff wreaks havoc on the equipment recycling companies use to automatically sort incoming trash. Other stuff that is theoretically recyclable is too dirty to be useful. Pizza boxes, for example, can’t be recycled because the grease can’t be separated from the cardboard fibers. If recyclers don’t wash the food and residue out of their used cans and plastic bottles, they’re also useless. The expense of recycling this tainted garbage makes it cheaper for many companies to simply buy new materials, especially virgin plastic. “We have not been successful at recycling,” Ellen MacArthur, an environmentalist who founded a group devoted to reducing plastic waste, told the Financial Times. “After 40 years of trying, we have not been able to make it work.”
Can it work?
In theory, yes—if people were meticulous about cleaning and sorting their recyclables. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that recycling and composting prevented approximately 186 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere in 2013, the equivalent of taking 39 million cars off the road. But recycling is not an environmental panacea. For example, you would have to personally recycle 40,000 plastic bottles to offset your carbon footprint from taking one round-trip flight between New York City and London. During the current crisis, policymakers are hesitant to ask consumers to make big changes for fear they’ll stop recycling altogether. In a recent Harris Poll, 66 percent of people surveyed said that they wouldn’t recycle at all if it wasn’t easy to do. Some cities are still asking people to keep putting out their recycling while they look for alternative markets, even though in the meantime it’s just as likely to go to a landfill. It’s “difficult with the public to turn the spigot on and off,” says Brian Fuller, a waste manager with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
What are the solutions?
The best solution, experts agree, is to create less waste in the first place. Only 9 percent of all the plastic produced in the past 68 years has been recycled. To encourage less consumption, some experts suggest a tax on garbage. About 350 communities throughout the U.S. have already implemented policies for reducing waste, like charging extra for plastic bags. In the long run, environmentalists say, the recycling crisis might force a necessary reckoning with how much the U.S. consumes and throws away. “Our plastic chickens are coming home to roost,” says George Leonard, chief scientist at the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy. “We are going to have to deal with this problem.”
One man’s trash…
Entrepreneurs spy opportunity in America’s growing mounds of trash. Waste Management, the nation’s largest trash hauler, is partnering with a startup called Compology to make smart dumpsters that can alert the owner when tainted recycling has contaminated the load. In Wisconsin, the used-cardboard glut created by China’s decision to stop buying most used cardboard is helping to revive the state’s old paper industry, which is recycling the millions of boxes used by online shipping giants like Amazon and Walmart. It now costs 70 percent less for paper mills in the state to buy used cardboard, which can be crushed and converted into the “brown paper” that is used to make new cardboard for shipping boxes. Rick Strick was one of 600 people who lost their jobs in 2017 when the paper mill in Combined Locks, Wis., shut down, and he was recently rehired when the same mill abruptly reopened to start recycling cardboard. “Brown,” Strick told The New York Times, “is the future.”
March 29, 2019 THE WEEK
Much of the stuff Americans think they are ‘recycling’ now ends up in landfills and incinerators. Why?
Where do recyclables go?
Until recently, the U.S. and other developed countries sold much of their recyclables to China, which accepted more than 40 percent of American wastepaper, plastic, glass, metal, and other reusable materials. Several other Asian countries and some U.S. processing companies bought most of the rest. China began importing trash in the late 1980s to feed its growing manufacturing sector. Taking advantage of the country’s abundant supply of cheap labor, Chinese companies employed legions of people to sort through the junk; it was then converted into cheap exports such as shoes, bottles, hoses, and phones. Shipping containers filled with Chinese goods would drop off their cargo in the U.S. and return filled with recyclable trash to be turned into more stuff. That all changed in January 2018. That’s when China banned most imports of “loathsome foreign garbage,” including post-consumer plastic and mixed paper. The recycling industry—which handles about 25 percent of America’s total waste—now has nowhere to send what it collects. “I’ve been in garbage all my life,” says Kevin Barnes, the solid-waste director for the city of Bakersfield, Calif. “This is unprecedented.”
What’s happening instead?
More trash is being buried or burned. Many communities used to make money selling trash to private recycling companies that would process the materials and then sell them to China or to manufacturers. Now they’re having to pay those companies to take their recycling away. Philadelphia went from making $67 a ton selling trash in 2012 to having to pay $40 a ton in mid-2018 to get rid of its recycling. The city now burns about half of the city’s recycling, converting the waste to energy. Other cities have responded by cutting back the kinds of recycling they accept, while many small communities have been forced to suspend or cancel recycling programs altogether and send everything to landfills.
Aren’t there other buyers?
Many waste management companies don’t want America’s recycling because it’s too dirty. It’s estimated that about 25 percent of American recyclables are contaminated with food waste and nonrecyclable materials, according to the National Waste & Recycling Association trade group. The spread of “single stream” recycling programs, where consumers dump all of their recycled items into one bin, is part of the problem. Many Americans are what waste management experts call “aspirational recyclers.” Wanting to do their part for the environment, they put anything and everything into recycling bins—bowling balls, used syringes, even used diapers. This stuff wreaks havoc on the equipment recycling companies use to automatically sort incoming trash. Other stuff that is theoretically recyclable is too dirty to be useful. Pizza boxes, for example, can’t be recycled because the grease can’t be separated from the cardboard fibers. If recyclers don’t wash the food and residue out of their used cans and plastic bottles, they’re also useless. The expense of recycling this tainted garbage makes it cheaper for many companies to simply buy new materials, especially virgin plastic. “We have not been successful at recycling,” Ellen MacArthur, an environmentalist who founded a group devoted to reducing plastic waste, told the Financial Times. “After 40 years of trying, we have not been able to make it work.”
Can it work?
In theory, yes—if people were meticulous about cleaning and sorting their recyclables. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that recycling and composting prevented approximately 186 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere in 2013, the equivalent of taking 39 million cars off the road. But recycling is not an environmental panacea. For example, you would have to personally recycle 40,000 plastic bottles to offset your carbon footprint from taking one round-trip flight between New York City and London. During the current crisis, policymakers are hesitant to ask consumers to make big changes for fear they’ll stop recycling altogether. In a recent Harris Poll, 66 percent of people surveyed said that they wouldn’t recycle at all if it wasn’t easy to do. Some cities are still asking people to keep putting out their recycling while they look for alternative markets, even though in the meantime it’s just as likely to go to a landfill. It’s “difficult with the public to turn the spigot on and off,” says Brian Fuller, a waste manager with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
What are the solutions?
The best solution, experts agree, is to create less waste in the first place. Only 9 percent of all the plastic produced in the past 68 years has been recycled. To encourage less consumption, some experts suggest a tax on garbage. About 350 communities throughout the U.S. have already implemented policies for reducing waste, like charging extra for plastic bags. In the long run, environmentalists say, the recycling crisis might force a necessary reckoning with how much the U.S. consumes and throws away. “Our plastic chickens are coming home to roost,” says George Leonard, chief scientist at the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy. “We are going to have to deal with this problem.”
One man’s trash…
Entrepreneurs spy opportunity in America’s growing mounds of trash. Waste Management, the nation’s largest trash hauler, is partnering with a startup called Compology to make smart dumpsters that can alert the owner when tainted recycling has contaminated the load. In Wisconsin, the used-cardboard glut created by China’s decision to stop buying most used cardboard is helping to revive the state’s old paper industry, which is recycling the millions of boxes used by online shipping giants like Amazon and Walmart. It now costs 70 percent less for paper mills in the state to buy used cardboard, which can be crushed and converted into the “brown paper” that is used to make new cardboard for shipping boxes. Rick Strick was one of 600 people who lost their jobs in 2017 when the paper mill in Combined Locks, Wis., shut down, and he was recently rehired when the same mill abruptly reopened to start recycling cardboard. “Brown,” Strick told The New York Times, “is the future.”
March 29, 2019 THE WEEK
03.21.19 INSIDE COLORADO’S FIRST BOTTLE-TO-BOTTLE GLASS RECYCLING PLANT
Learn more about Colorado’s first “bottle-to-bottle” glass recycling plant
Learn more about Colorado’s first “bottle-to-bottle” glass recycling plant
03.18.19 You can now send Gillette your old razors to have them recycled. To recycle the razors, people can sign up through Terracycle
03.13.19 Eldorado 285 Recycle volunteer photos from The El Dorado Community School Rock the Arts Event 2019 below:
03.13.19 Eldorado Stable Amenity Manure and the Gardener - A Match made in Heaven
Contact Amelia Adair by clicking on this link.
Contact Amelia Adair by clicking on this link.
03.13.19 Great product to reduce the use of plastic wrap in your kitchen!
Etee Sustainable Food Storage Wraps. Reusable Food Wraps. Set of 3
See a video on how it's used by clicking on this link.
Etee Sustainable Food Storage Wraps. Reusable Food Wraps. Set of 3
See a video on how it's used by clicking on this link.
03.13.19 Santa Fe wastewater project touted as a first Click link to read more.
It was the first city in New Mexico to sell green bonds, the first in the state to have bonds certified as green by an international bonding agency in London, and the first in the world to have the construction of an anaerobic digester financed by green bonds.
It was the first city in New Mexico to sell green bonds, the first in the state to have bonds certified as green by an international bonding agency in London, and the first in the world to have the construction of an anaerobic digester financed by green bonds.
03.04.19 Can I Recycle Receipts Made of Thermal Paper?
Dear Recyclebank: Can I recycle my receipts? Most of them are thermal paper. If not, what can I do with them instead? –Jesse M.
Dear Jesse: The most common type of receipt paper is thermal paper. This slightly shiny, smooth paper contains chemicals that allow printing via heat transfer, rather than with ink, but it also poses health concerns. One of chemicals thermal paper relies on is bisphenol A (BPA), which is a health concern due to studies indicating that BPA is a “reproductive, developmental, and systemic toxicant in animal studies” and may disrupt the endocrine system, which regulates hormones. A 2011 study found that 94 percent of receipts tested contained BPA, and that receipts alone contributed an estimated 33.5 tons of BPA to the environment every year in the United States and Canada.
Because BPA may be tough to remove during the paper-recycling process, and can find its way into new recycled paper products, many areas require you to keep thermal paper out of your recycle. Check with your local waste hauler to see if they have rules about it, but if in doubt, keep your receipts out of the recycling bin.
Try to reduce the number of receipts that you collect in the first place.
If paperless e-receipts are an option, consider having one emailed to you instead of getting a printout. Otherwise, ask your cashier if you can forgo the receipt entirely, then track the purchase manually or with a mobile app, for your budgeting. If you’re a regular at a local business, you may even want to explain the risks and issues of thermal paper and ask if traditional receipt paper and ink would be a workable option for them.
And if you still wind up with thermal paper receipts? Trash them if your hauler doesn’t accept them.
Dear Recyclebank: Can I recycle my receipts? Most of them are thermal paper. If not, what can I do with them instead? –Jesse M.
Dear Jesse: The most common type of receipt paper is thermal paper. This slightly shiny, smooth paper contains chemicals that allow printing via heat transfer, rather than with ink, but it also poses health concerns. One of chemicals thermal paper relies on is bisphenol A (BPA), which is a health concern due to studies indicating that BPA is a “reproductive, developmental, and systemic toxicant in animal studies” and may disrupt the endocrine system, which regulates hormones. A 2011 study found that 94 percent of receipts tested contained BPA, and that receipts alone contributed an estimated 33.5 tons of BPA to the environment every year in the United States and Canada.
Because BPA may be tough to remove during the paper-recycling process, and can find its way into new recycled paper products, many areas require you to keep thermal paper out of your recycle. Check with your local waste hauler to see if they have rules about it, but if in doubt, keep your receipts out of the recycling bin.
Try to reduce the number of receipts that you collect in the first place.
If paperless e-receipts are an option, consider having one emailed to you instead of getting a printout. Otherwise, ask your cashier if you can forgo the receipt entirely, then track the purchase manually or with a mobile app, for your budgeting. If you’re a regular at a local business, you may even want to explain the risks and issues of thermal paper and ask if traditional receipt paper and ink would be a workable option for them.
And if you still wind up with thermal paper receipts? Trash them if your hauler doesn’t accept them.
03.02.19
CONGRATULATIONS TO SANTA FE SPIRITS FOR KEEPING THEIR BY PRODUCTS OUT OF THE LANDFILL. AT SANTA FE SPIRITS
Gin fractions! We distill each of the elements in our gin separately and then blend them to make our Wheeler's Gin. Yesterday the entire building smelled of sage (below), today it smells of osha root. The reason we distill the different elements of the gin separately is since we are working with botanicals the flavor/aroma percentages change with each batch of sage, juniper, etc., that we receive, therefore if we followed a set recipe for each gin distillation the gin would vary in taste from batch to batch. Distilling each element separately allows us to create a blend from each of the parts that will give us a consistent flavor profile in the finished Wheeler's Gin. Our grain is picked up by a local rancher who feeds it to his cattle, and our juniper has been used by One For Neptune in their fish jerky. Some of this sage will go to our tasting rooms where they'll use it in infusions. We're always looking for ways to not throw our by-products away, and we love seeing the ways they can be used. If you think you might be able to use something reach out to Mike or Steffany to see what might be looking for a new use next.
CONGRATULATIONS TO SANTA FE SPIRITS FOR KEEPING THEIR BY PRODUCTS OUT OF THE LANDFILL. AT SANTA FE SPIRITS
Gin fractions! We distill each of the elements in our gin separately and then blend them to make our Wheeler's Gin. Yesterday the entire building smelled of sage (below), today it smells of osha root. The reason we distill the different elements of the gin separately is since we are working with botanicals the flavor/aroma percentages change with each batch of sage, juniper, etc., that we receive, therefore if we followed a set recipe for each gin distillation the gin would vary in taste from batch to batch. Distilling each element separately allows us to create a blend from each of the parts that will give us a consistent flavor profile in the finished Wheeler's Gin. Our grain is picked up by a local rancher who feeds it to his cattle, and our juniper has been used by One For Neptune in their fish jerky. Some of this sage will go to our tasting rooms where they'll use it in infusions. We're always looking for ways to not throw our by-products away, and we love seeing the ways they can be used. If you think you might be able to use something reach out to Mike or Steffany to see what might be looking for a new use next.
02.19.19
8 items you can't recycle:
1 – Heat Resistant Glass
We know, we know. You’ve always been told that glass is recyclable, so you’ve recycling (never in Waste Management bin!), but heat resistant glass is a different story. Because of the chemical treatments that make heat resistant glass so helpful in the kitchen, it can cause problems in the recycling process. So if you no longer need your heat resistant glass items, consider donating or selling them if they’re still usable.
2 – Plastic Caps.
Too small unless screwed onto their associated bottles. Unless it is otherwise marked, or your local waste disposal department tells you otherwise, your plastic caps shouldn’t go into the bin with your bottles separately.
3 – Plastic Straws. Again, too small and will fall through the machinery.
4 – Ceramics.
5 – Pizza Boxes
If dirty and greasy which is usually the case.
6 – Disposable Diapers.
7 – Mirrors.
While glass, the coating is the problem.
8 – Paper Towels.
While technically the paper is recyclable, recyclers will not accept them because of the contamination of food, or whatever else you’ve used your paper towels to clean up. One way to mitigate your paper towel waste is to buy recycled paper towels, there are lots of them available. You can also compost most paper towels (depending on what you used them for) to make sure they aren’t taking up space in a landfill.
8 items you can't recycle:
1 – Heat Resistant Glass
We know, we know. You’ve always been told that glass is recyclable, so you’ve recycling (never in Waste Management bin!), but heat resistant glass is a different story. Because of the chemical treatments that make heat resistant glass so helpful in the kitchen, it can cause problems in the recycling process. So if you no longer need your heat resistant glass items, consider donating or selling them if they’re still usable.
2 – Plastic Caps.
Too small unless screwed onto their associated bottles. Unless it is otherwise marked, or your local waste disposal department tells you otherwise, your plastic caps shouldn’t go into the bin with your bottles separately.
3 – Plastic Straws. Again, too small and will fall through the machinery.
4 – Ceramics.
5 – Pizza Boxes
If dirty and greasy which is usually the case.
6 – Disposable Diapers.
7 – Mirrors.
While glass, the coating is the problem.
8 – Paper Towels.
While technically the paper is recyclable, recyclers will not accept them because of the contamination of food, or whatever else you’ve used your paper towels to clean up. One way to mitigate your paper towel waste is to buy recycled paper towels, there are lots of them available. You can also compost most paper towels (depending on what you used them for) to make sure they aren’t taking up space in a landfill.
02.17.19
Green Peace recently asked people to sign a petition telling Trader Joe’s to take manufacturing responsibility for their single use and non recyclable packaging. The petition requested Trader Joe’s to phase out throw away plastics and offer sustainable packaging. 102,806 people signed the petition and it was taken to TJ’s headquarters on 1-30-19. If you would like to help keep up the pressure, please contact Trader Joe’s at 1-855-636-8150 and let them know how you feel.
Green Peace recently asked people to sign a petition telling Trader Joe’s to take manufacturing responsibility for their single use and non recyclable packaging. The petition requested Trader Joe’s to phase out throw away plastics and offer sustainable packaging. 102,806 people signed the petition and it was taken to TJ’s headquarters on 1-30-19. If you would like to help keep up the pressure, please contact Trader Joe’s at 1-855-636-8150 and let them know how you feel.
02.03.19 Sue Garfitt awarded for volunteer work
01.25.19
Recycling Film
What is "film?" Film is thin plastic that you can push your finger through. This includes plastic bags some stores package your items in, the plastic your newspaper is wrapped in (ask the carrier to only do so with inclement weather), and similar plastic. Note that many food items are packaged in non-recyclable plastic that can't easily be deformed with a finger poke and makes a crinkle sound when handled. You cannot place film in your Waste Management recycle bin.
Plastic film can be recycled, but not in the Waste Management bins. Many supermarkets, including John Brooks at the Agora (in the corner of the entryway beyond the ice case), have bins where you can place such film for recycling. Some materials that appear to be film may be compostable. Many of the green vegetable bags at Trader Joe's are compostable, but not in your home composter or vermicomposter units. Compostable bags, like cups, plates, and utensils are best sent to commercial composters like Reunity Resources (http://www.reunityresources.com). Unless you save these compostable items for a commercial operation like Reunity, it's simply better to throw them in your regular trash. Unlike plastic, they will decompose in our landfills. By the way, if you're interested in buying compostable bags for your trash or other needs, a great resource can be found here: http://www.worldcentric.org/biocompostables/bags
These bags are BPI Certified and conform to ASTM D6400 standards. This site has many other excellent compostable products.
Recycling Film
What is "film?" Film is thin plastic that you can push your finger through. This includes plastic bags some stores package your items in, the plastic your newspaper is wrapped in (ask the carrier to only do so with inclement weather), and similar plastic. Note that many food items are packaged in non-recyclable plastic that can't easily be deformed with a finger poke and makes a crinkle sound when handled. You cannot place film in your Waste Management recycle bin.
Plastic film can be recycled, but not in the Waste Management bins. Many supermarkets, including John Brooks at the Agora (in the corner of the entryway beyond the ice case), have bins where you can place such film for recycling. Some materials that appear to be film may be compostable. Many of the green vegetable bags at Trader Joe's are compostable, but not in your home composter or vermicomposter units. Compostable bags, like cups, plates, and utensils are best sent to commercial composters like Reunity Resources (http://www.reunityresources.com). Unless you save these compostable items for a commercial operation like Reunity, it's simply better to throw them in your regular trash. Unlike plastic, they will decompose in our landfills. By the way, if you're interested in buying compostable bags for your trash or other needs, a great resource can be found here: http://www.worldcentric.org/biocompostables/bags
These bags are BPI Certified and conform to ASTM D6400 standards. This site has many other excellent compostable products.
01.08.19 What can you recycle? Try the Recycling coach: The city of Albuquerque, (which uses the same recycle provider as Santa Fe) has a great web site where you can query items that can be recycled. Click this link to go there.
10.20.18 Our biannual Road Clean Up
Size matters in recycling! Did you know that small items that could be recycled, like plastic caps, can clog up the recycling system because they are so small? They fall through the machinery and end up in the trash. ;-(
Screw plastic caps onto the bottles. Ditto if you want to recycle aluminum foil. Once you collect enough clean foil, make a ball the size of a baseball or larger, and place it into the recycle bin.
Nowadays recycling operations use large conveyor belts that run through machines that separate different types of items. This means that "size matters" in the sense that small and lightweight items often fall off the belts as they run and do not get recycled. Therefore, while small items can be recycled, they need to be large enough to stay on the belts without falling off. This means a little preparation for common items.
For small pieces of paper, they need to be at least postage card size (about 4 by 6 inches). Collect smaller pieces of paper and simply put them into business size or larger envelopes.
Screw plastic caps onto the bottles. Ditto if you want to recycle aluminum foil. Once you collect enough clean foil, make a ball the size of a baseball or larger, and place it into the recycle bin.
Nowadays recycling operations use large conveyor belts that run through machines that separate different types of items. This means that "size matters" in the sense that small and lightweight items often fall off the belts as they run and do not get recycled. Therefore, while small items can be recycled, they need to be large enough to stay on the belts without falling off. This means a little preparation for common items.
For small pieces of paper, they need to be at least postage card size (about 4 by 6 inches). Collect smaller pieces of paper and simply put them into business size or larger envelopes.
Santa Fe County Sustainability ads for 2018:
Gardener Spring Garden Fair, May 5, 2018
Eldorado285 handled this event.
Recycled totals:
15 pounds of cardboard
140 gallons of plastic film and bags
220 gallons of mixed recycling
50 gallons of compost, handled by Reunity Resources
How does this compare with 2017: (smaller fair, no food)
5 pounds of cardboard
33 gallons of plastic film and bags
96 gallons of mixed recycling
2016:
15 pounds of cardboard
No data on plastic film/bags
363 gallons of mixed recycling, cleaned and reduced to 21 pounds
25 gallons of compost, handled by Reunity Resources
2015:
15 pounds of cardboard
5 gallons of plastic film/bags
33 gallons of mixed recycling
No compost collected
Eldorado285 handled this event.
Recycled totals:
15 pounds of cardboard
140 gallons of plastic film and bags
220 gallons of mixed recycling
50 gallons of compost, handled by Reunity Resources
How does this compare with 2017: (smaller fair, no food)
5 pounds of cardboard
33 gallons of plastic film and bags
96 gallons of mixed recycling
2016:
15 pounds of cardboard
No data on plastic film/bags
363 gallons of mixed recycling, cleaned and reduced to 21 pounds
25 gallons of compost, handled by Reunity Resources
2015:
15 pounds of cardboard
5 gallons of plastic film/bags
33 gallons of mixed recycling
No compost collected
3.22.14 It’s hard to imagine everyday life without plastic. Over the last couple of decades this all-purpose material has experienced an exponential rise in use. Nonetheless, the disadvantages of plastic packaging and products are becoming increasingly known to the general public. Perhaps the two greatest disadvantages are the extremely long decomposition time and the health risks for living organisms.
Here are a few tips to help you start giving up a number of everyday plastic products.
Never leave the house without your basic equipment - A metal water bottle and a bag. Avoid buying beverages (most of which come in plastic) and therefore save money, too. With the bag, you’re prepared for spontaneous trips to the supermarket. If you drink tea or coffee to go, a coffee cup or thermos may also be a worthwhile addition.
Glass bottles instead of plastic bottles – Some of the main causes of plastic waste are the bottles that water, soft drinks and juice are sold in. Plastic bottles furthermore contain questionable substances, which over time can be absorbed in the drink itself.
Replace disposable items with reusable alternatives. How often do you use disposable products made of plastic? Starting with water bottles, to-go cups and plastic bags, all the way to drinking straws, cotton swabs and toothbrushes. Did you know that gum is made of a synthetic rubber – aka plastic? Can you swap a plastic toothbrush for a wooden variety? How about the disposable blade for a classic safety razor?
Look out for packaging when shopping. Here is a short list of products where packaging makes a significant difference: Vegetables bought loose and not prepackaged, cheese and sausages from the meat counter instead of precut and packaged in plastic containers, bread from the bakery without plastic packaging, yogurt in jars instead of plastic cups and milk in glass bottles.
It seems tough to think about it, but making just one change will make a big difference.
Eldorado 285 Recycles/Smarticular.net
Here are a few tips to help you start giving up a number of everyday plastic products.
Never leave the house without your basic equipment - A metal water bottle and a bag. Avoid buying beverages (most of which come in plastic) and therefore save money, too. With the bag, you’re prepared for spontaneous trips to the supermarket. If you drink tea or coffee to go, a coffee cup or thermos may also be a worthwhile addition.
Glass bottles instead of plastic bottles – Some of the main causes of plastic waste are the bottles that water, soft drinks and juice are sold in. Plastic bottles furthermore contain questionable substances, which over time can be absorbed in the drink itself.
Replace disposable items with reusable alternatives. How often do you use disposable products made of plastic? Starting with water bottles, to-go cups and plastic bags, all the way to drinking straws, cotton swabs and toothbrushes. Did you know that gum is made of a synthetic rubber – aka plastic? Can you swap a plastic toothbrush for a wooden variety? How about the disposable blade for a classic safety razor?
Look out for packaging when shopping. Here is a short list of products where packaging makes a significant difference: Vegetables bought loose and not prepackaged, cheese and sausages from the meat counter instead of precut and packaged in plastic containers, bread from the bakery without plastic packaging, yogurt in jars instead of plastic cups and milk in glass bottles.
It seems tough to think about it, but making just one change will make a big difference.
Eldorado 285 Recycles/Smarticular.net
01.29.18 A song by Chris Harrell "Sip! Don't Suck! - Refuse the Straw!"
12.14.17
This Edible Straw Could Help Reduce the Amount of Plastic in Oceans
Done with your cold brew or cocktail? Eat your straw and combat plastic waste in oceans. Read the full story
This Edible Straw Could Help Reduce the Amount of Plastic in Oceans
Done with your cold brew or cocktail? Eat your straw and combat plastic waste in oceans. Read the full story
October 13th 2017
Here is a photo of our E285R bicycle giveaway to the family from St Croix, US Virgin Islands. Pictured are the two teenage siblings, Nishawn and Adayna, Their mom is Louella, and their sponsor is Anita Shultz. Also pictured are Libby and I. Lisa took the pix. We also delivered some zucchini bread, cookies, veggies, and some kitchen appliances. |
2017 Eldorado Fire & Rescue BBQ Zero Waste Event
Slide show URL: Eldorado Fire & Rescue BBQ 2017
Slide show URL: Eldorado Fire & Rescue BBQ 2017
Seattle to ban plastic straws, utensils at restaurants next year
http://q13fox.com/2017/08/24/seattle-to-ban-plastic-straws-utensils-at-restaurants-next-year/
http://q13fox.com/2017/08/24/seattle-to-ban-plastic-straws-utensils-at-restaurants-next-year/
2017 VGPL Ice Cream Social Zero Waste Event
Slide show URL
Slide show URL
Santa Fe New Mexican 07/23/2017
MY VIEW
JOSEPH EIGNER
Enforce county’s recycling ordinance
City residents are rightfully impatient with the nine-year delay in the implementation of ranked voting, as provided for in the city’s 2008 charter (“Santa Fe wants fairer elections,” July 18).
As a resident of unincorporated Santa Fe County I have been waiting for twelve years for our Public Works Department to implement the recycling provision of Ordinance #2005-5. This law, and its most recent update Ordinance #2014-10, require that users of the county’s system of trash and recycling convenience centers separate recyclables from trash and deposit each in appropriate areas. To encourage recycling the county charges for trash, but not for the separated recyclables.
However, there is no effort at the convenience centers to see if users are separating the recyclables from their trash. Were the provision to be enforced the recycling rates at all the county sites would be close to 50 percent, since half of all typical household solid waste is now recyclable in our region. At the county’s Eldorado and Tesuque convenience centers the recycling rates in 2016 were 25 percent, respectable rates but only half of what they should be! At the other convenience centers of the county system the recycling rates were even lower, ranging from 6 percent to 18 percent, with a system-wide average of 16 percent.
Enforcement of recycling will not be easy or popular, but convenience center users should realize that they are getting a terrific bargain , with the cost for the average patron of only $7 a month. If one recycles and composts to the max the rate works out to $2 a month. Compare these costs with monthly curbside collection rates of $17 in the city and $22 to $54 in the county.
Why enforce the county law after twelve year’s of neglect? A 50% county recycling rate would extend the life of our only county landfill at Caja del Rio; save the energy, water, and mineral resources used in making products we need; and create jobs in the recycling economy.
Joseph Eigner is a founder of Eldorado/285 Recycles, Santa Fe’s volunteer recycling advocacy group.
MY VIEW
JOSEPH EIGNER
Enforce county’s recycling ordinance
City residents are rightfully impatient with the nine-year delay in the implementation of ranked voting, as provided for in the city’s 2008 charter (“Santa Fe wants fairer elections,” July 18).
As a resident of unincorporated Santa Fe County I have been waiting for twelve years for our Public Works Department to implement the recycling provision of Ordinance #2005-5. This law, and its most recent update Ordinance #2014-10, require that users of the county’s system of trash and recycling convenience centers separate recyclables from trash and deposit each in appropriate areas. To encourage recycling the county charges for trash, but not for the separated recyclables.
However, there is no effort at the convenience centers to see if users are separating the recyclables from their trash. Were the provision to be enforced the recycling rates at all the county sites would be close to 50 percent, since half of all typical household solid waste is now recyclable in our region. At the county’s Eldorado and Tesuque convenience centers the recycling rates in 2016 were 25 percent, respectable rates but only half of what they should be! At the other convenience centers of the county system the recycling rates were even lower, ranging from 6 percent to 18 percent, with a system-wide average of 16 percent.
Enforcement of recycling will not be easy or popular, but convenience center users should realize that they are getting a terrific bargain , with the cost for the average patron of only $7 a month. If one recycles and composts to the max the rate works out to $2 a month. Compare these costs with monthly curbside collection rates of $17 in the city and $22 to $54 in the county.
Why enforce the county law after twelve year’s of neglect? A 50% county recycling rate would extend the life of our only county landfill at Caja del Rio; save the energy, water, and mineral resources used in making products we need; and create jobs in the recycling economy.
Joseph Eigner is a founder of Eldorado/285 Recycles, Santa Fe’s volunteer recycling advocacy group.
Winner of our name the creature contest
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CORKOTE the Coyote made by Libby Maclaren and Robyn Johnson entirely with recycled items named by Gail Vivino who submitted the winning entry in the VGPL contest. She also will be enjoying a gift certificate to Make-time compliments of Eldorado/285Recycles.
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Yard-Art with Recycled Wine Bottles
5/09/2017 Item submitted by DiAna Gutierrez A bottle tree is colorful addition to any yard especially here in Eldorado where sometimes growing anything is really hard and discouraging. Start by saving all those wine bottles you’d normally take to the transfer station. I’m not a big wine drinker so this took me a few months to completely fill in the “tree”. Ask friends to save you their wine bottles. You’ll need an 8-foot post and some really long nails. The hardest part of this project will be digging the hole for the post. Give yourself at least a week. Dig the hole on the east side of your home to get the morning sun. Hammer the nails at an angle and slip the mouth of the bottle over the nail. As the post fills up, you can fill in with smaller bottles like olive oil and beer bottles. Top it off with something interesting like a ceramic bird or a wooden ball. Grab a chair and enjoy your morning coffee watching the sun stream through the colored glass. |
We Tour Soilutions, Inc. - Composting on a Grand Scale!
6/14/2014 Item submitted by Joe Eigner
On June 11 four Eldorado/285 Recyclers traveled to Albuquerque’s South Valley, home of Soilutions, Inc. a commercial composting facility in business for eighteen years composting greenwaste (brush, yard waste, and tree trimmings), and with six years experience composting food waste from about thirty food establishments. Our tour guide was Walter Dods, operation’s manager. What we saw were enormous compost piles containing up to a three to four thousand cubic yards of shredded greenwaste and food waste, watered by hand, and with a large front-end loader, turned three or four times over a two year period. Interior pile temperatures reach 160 degrees F. Mechanical screening is the final step. Soilutions currently is processing 30,000 cubic yards of waste a year.
Some points of interest: Walter has learned that very large piles hold moisture extremely well, with only a thin exterior layer drying out; food waste from restaurants is never free of non-compostable trash - which must be picked out by hand; even worms have a role in the operation - they thrive in the wet area where carts of food waste are dumped and cleaned.
Did we mention? Soilutions make a very high quality compost, and it is available in Santa Fe at Payne’s Organic Soils Yard, 6037 Agua Fria St.
6/14/2014 Item submitted by Joe Eigner
On June 11 four Eldorado/285 Recyclers traveled to Albuquerque’s South Valley, home of Soilutions, Inc. a commercial composting facility in business for eighteen years composting greenwaste (brush, yard waste, and tree trimmings), and with six years experience composting food waste from about thirty food establishments. Our tour guide was Walter Dods, operation’s manager. What we saw were enormous compost piles containing up to a three to four thousand cubic yards of shredded greenwaste and food waste, watered by hand, and with a large front-end loader, turned three or four times over a two year period. Interior pile temperatures reach 160 degrees F. Mechanical screening is the final step. Soilutions currently is processing 30,000 cubic yards of waste a year.
Some points of interest: Walter has learned that very large piles hold moisture extremely well, with only a thin exterior layer drying out; food waste from restaurants is never free of non-compostable trash - which must be picked out by hand; even worms have a role in the operation - they thrive in the wet area where carts of food waste are dumped and cleaned.
Did we mention? Soilutions make a very high quality compost, and it is available in Santa Fe at Payne’s Organic Soils Yard, 6037 Agua Fria St.
Materials baled and ready for marketing. Hover over pile for identification. Glass pile is processed at BuRRT
5/23/2014 Item submitted by Joe Eigner
5/23/2014 Item submitted by Joe Eigner
Growstone, Inc.'s Green Chamber Talk Reveals Strong Local Demand for Recycled Glass
5/9/2014 Item submitted by Joe Eigner
The Santa Fe Green Chamber’s “Green Drinks” get together on May 7 at 10,000 Villages featured a talk by executives of Growstone, Inc. Growstone manufactures a soil amendment that promotes aeration and water retention for hydroponic systems and for gardening soils. It is said to be superior to traditional products such a clay pellets, perlite, and pumice. Production of these competing materials involves strip mining. The exciting news is that Growstone is made from glass cullet and that if the company’s sales take off it may be able to use all, or nearly all, of the glass bottles and jars collected in northern New Mexico. Before Growstone appeared on the scene the only use for the glass delivered to BuRRT had been as a replacement for gravel at the Caja del Rio Landfill. This was because the recycling plants using glass cullet for the remanufacture of glass containers are all too remote from our area to justify the high costs of hauling it to them.
Growstone’s manufacturing plant is located at Albuquerque’s westside Cerro Colorado Landfill. The process involves reducing glass pellets to a fine powder, adding foaming agents, heating the mix in a kiln to produce a glass foam, which is then cooled, fractured, and reduced to several particle sizes for specific applications. The plant now operates 24/7, melts 20 tons of glass a day, and has a workforce of 20. It buys used glass containers and cullet for about $20 per ton.
New Friedman Recycling Plant in Albuquerque
1/11/2014 Item submitted by Joe Eigner
1/11/2014 Item submitted by Joe Eigner
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