RecycleBank's 10 Ways to Reduce Waste, Save Energy and Protect the Earth

Earth Day is just a week away and in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, our friends at RecycleBank has put together 40 simple yet effective ways to reduce waste, save energy, trees, and other resources, and help fight pollution and curb climate change all Earth Month long.

Below are the first ten tips. Each week during Earth Month, RecycleBank will post ten new tips online.

1. You'll be more likely to recycle consistently if you set up a recycling area in your kitchen or utility room. Post a list nearby of the items that are accepted for recycling in your local community.

2.Reuse or recycle as many of your empty health and beauty product containers as you can. If you can’t reuse them at home, containers such as your empty vitamin or supplement bottles can be recycled with your home recycling. Other cosmetic and toiletry tubes, bottles, and jars (from any brand) can be taken back to retail stores including Origins and MAC.

3. Choose toilet paper made from 100% recycled fibers. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, if every household in the U.S. replaced one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled ones, we'd save 423,900 trees.

4. When decorating your home, choose items made from reclaimed materials - for example, a recycled glass vase from RecycleBank rewards partner Uncommon Goods, a rug made from old cotton t-shirts, or a basket made from telephone wire. It saves resources and extends the useful life of the materials.

5. Find out how to recycle items that you can't place in your curbside bin like batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and plastic bags. When in doubt, call your local solid waste management agency or go to earth911.org.

6. Leave grass clippings on the lawn after you mow rather than bagging and throwing them away. This saves energy and landfill space and the grass will decompose and return nutrients to the soil.

7. Got an old fur coat or hat in the attic that you inherited and never wear? Donate it to the Humane Society of the United States' Coats for Cubs program so wildlife rehabilitators can reuse it as bedding for injured or orphaned wildlife.

8. After birthday and holiday celebrations, save gift bags and boxes, ribbons, and tissue paper to reuse.

9. Recycle plastic packing peanuts by saving them for the next time you send a package, taking them to any UPS Store location, or calling the Plastic Loose Fill Council's 24-hour Peanut hotline (800-828-2214) to find other drop-off sites near you.

10. Invest in a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger for powering your digital camera, portable music player, remote control, and other gadgets. You'll reduce waste, save resources like steel, and save money in the long run.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

10 Tips for an Environmentally Responsible Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day doesn't have to mean a box of commercially produced chocolates or an expensive dinner out. Get inspired with these ten meaningful ideas from RecycleBank blogger Jessica Harlan.

If you'd like to celebrate Valentine's Day in a way that's less commercial, more environmentally responsible, and infinitely more meaningful, let these ideas inspire you.

1. Make a fancy dinner at home. Spend some time in advance pouring over your favorite recipe books or searching recipe sites for elegant, lavish choices that you wouldn't ordinarily splurge on. To make it even more special, treat yourself to a bottle of nice wine or Champagne, start out with a course of fantastic artisanal cheeses, and make or buy a decadent dessert. Be sure to buy all the groceries a day or two in advance and allow enough time to be able to cook together in a leisurely manner – sharing in the cooking process is half the fun. Pull out your fine china and linens, then light some candles to set the mood.

2. Give a living plant instead of cut flowers. A dozen red roses are a quintessential Valentine's gift, but they're not exactly good news for the environment - the flowers could be heavily sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals (bad news for you and the workers who pick and handle the flowers.) Many are flown from South Africa or Latin America, travel that uses resources and causes pollution. Instead, find an eco-friendly florist or garden shop and give your sweetie a living plant that will stay green long after those red roses wilt.

3. Make your own truffles. Don't waste your money on fancy commercial chocolate brands – instead, head to the kitchen and make your own truffles. Recipes can easily be found online for a delicious, thoughtful gift that also helps the earth.

4. Or, buy chocolate responsibly. If playing chocolatier in your own kitchen is beyond your skill set, try to do a little research and find sweets that are organic, fair-trade and made locally so you're supporting small business people in your community.

5. Shop for gifts at thrift and antique stores. Your local flea markets, thrift stores or even eBay can be a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind, meaningful gifts for your honey. Look for vintage purses, a pretty glass vase, or some beaded necklaces that you can take apart to make your own personalized piece.

6. Take a jewelry making class to make a handcrafted bauble. If you plan far enough in advance, you can take a jewelry making class (or, for the time-pressed, even a one time only afternoon workshop) so that you can make a piece that's truly unique and from the heart. Look online for a class and you might even find someone who teaches you about giving new life to old objects, like this one taught at New York City jewelry store Lunessa.

7. Splurging on a diamond? Go conflict free. Most commercial diamonds are mined in ways that harm the environment and the workers. If you are going to splurge on a diamond, make sure it's a conflict-free gem. There are plenty of eco-responsible jewelers, such as Green Karat who specialize in recycled precious metals and responsibly mined sparklers.

8. Create a home spa experience. Instead of a gift certificate to a fancy spa, create a luxurious spa experience in your own home. Find recipes for homemade bath salts, scrubs or facials, then light some candles and put on some Sade.

9. Make your own Valentines. Whether they're for your child's classmates or for friends and loved ones, making your own valentines can be a satisfying way to use the things you've been hoarding, such as scraps of fabric and ribbons, random buttons, and old greeting cards and magazines. Gather up all the materials you think you might need, buy some construction paper or card stock at your supermarket, and get to work.

10. Go risqué responsibly. Looking for some sexy underthings to spice up your night? Stay away from synthetic fabrics like polyester satin, and seek out lingerie made from natural and environmentally responsible fabrics like bamboo, organic cotton, hemp and silk. Green Cheeks Boutique has romantic options ranging from colorful thongs made from silk remnants to lace-trimmed, organic cotton babydolls.

These tips can also be found at RecycleBank.com (http://www.recyclebank.com/live-green/lifestyle-cat/469)

RecycleBank's list of five things you should always recycle

This week we had celebrated America Recycles Day (on November 15), and our friends at RecycleBank has put together a list of “Five Things You Should Always Recycle” by Jen Uscher, we would like to share with you. We hope you'll find this important information useful.

RecycleBank is a recycling rewards program currently servicing 24 states and the United Kingdom.

Five Things You Should Always Recycle

Chances are you're already recycling the cans, bottles, and paper that get picked up at the curb, but what about all that other stuff that's lurking in your drawers or closets - like outdated gadgets and dead batteries - that you're not sure how to recycle? The following household items are especially important to donate or recycle because they contain materials that can contaminate the environment if they wind up in landfills or that can easily be reclaimed for use in new products. Here are some convenient ways to keep them out of the trash:

1. Electronics – All Office Depot, Staples, and Best Buy stores accept larger electronics like desktop computers for recycling for a small fee (usually $10) and smaller ones like cell phones and PDAs for free. Goodwill stores accept used computer equipment (some locations also accept televisions) for free.

And you can earn RecycleBank Points by recycling MP3 players/iPods, laptops, and cell phones through our partners at Collective Good, FlipSwap, and Gazelle.

Why: You'll keep toxic materials like lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and brominated flame retardants out of landfills. And useful materials will be recovered, saving energy and resources.

2. Rechargeable batteries – From cordless phones and power tools, digital cameras, and other gizmos - these can be recycled for free at 30,000 drop-off points nationwide, including retailers such as Home Depot, Lowe's, RadioShack, Sears, and Target. Enter your zip code at Call2Recycle to find one near you.

Unfortunately, it's more difficult to find places to recycle alkaline (or single-use) batteries. Try Earth911 to find drop off locations or order a box (for $34.50, including prepaid shipping) from Battery Solutions and send them up to 12 pounds of alkaline and/or rechargeable batteries for recycling.

Why: Like many electronics, batteries contain heavy metals and other chemicals best kept out of the waste stream. Plus, recyclers reclaim metals from them that are used to make, for example, new batteries and steel.

3. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs, but they contain a small amount of mercury and shouldn't be thrown in the trash. Take them to any Ikea or Home Depot store for recycling or go to Lamp Recycle to find other drop off locations near you.

Why: CFLs in landfills can break and release mercury, a neurotoxin, into the environment.

4. Plastic Bags – Even if you've switched to reusable bags for your shopping, you probably have a bunch of these stored in your home. Luckily, lots of retailers like Wal-Mart, Safeway, Albertsons, Wegmans, Krogers, and Giant now have bins where you can recycle plastic grocery bags (and newspaper, drycleaning, bread, and sealable food storage bags). To find a drop off location near you, go to Plastic Bag Recycling or Earth911.

Why: They're made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, and when thrown away they take a very long time to decompose. Recyclers will turn them into new products like plastic lumber.

5. Anything you don't need that could be of great value to others – For instance, you can donate your used prescription glasses to the nonprofit OneSight at any LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sunglass Hut, Target Optical, or Sears Optical location (or go to One Sight for more locations near you). You can also donate unused, unexpired medications including antibiotics, pain relievers, and others by mailing them to the Health Equity Project. The glasses and medications will be distributed to people in need in developing countries.

Keep in mind that you should always recycle hazardous substances like paint, pesticides, propane gas tanks, and motor oil at your town's household hazardous waste collection events or permanent collection center. Go to Earth911or call 1-800-CLEANUP to find collection sites and events.

Thank you to our friends at RecycleBank for these great tips!

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Tips from RecycleBank and Burt's Bees how to make every day an Earth Day

Earth Day is just around the corner (April 22), and if you're looking not only to celebrate it, but also to use it as a source of inspiration to make a difference on each and every day, we got some great advice for you from our friends at RecycleBank and Burt's Bees.

RecycleBank and Burt’s Bees have come up with 10 easy ways that you can do to make a difference today, tomorrow, and every day.

1. Recycle: This Earth Day, take a good hard look at your trash. We trust you’ll fish out some recyclables in the mix (probably from others), but also remember E-Waste like cell phones, MP3’s and laptops can all be recycled and repurposed.

2. Freecycle: The above is sure to stir up some goodies that can be useful to those around us: clothes, books, electronics, furniture, etc.

3. Reuse. Reuse. And did we mention Reuse? Products have life spans. Leave behind paper plates, plastic forks and any other disposables. Reusable serve ware, portable mugs for that latte and a water jug for that necessary potable will lessen landfills and just make life taste better!

4. Wallet Activism: Look for products made from recycled materials, natural ingredients and minimal / biodegradable packaging. By supporting eco-friendly companies your green supports the greater green.

5. Park It: Celebrate the beauty of spring with a walk when you could have driven. Carpool, take public transport, ride your bike. If you can’t do it every day, try once a week. When you do drive, make sure you pump up your tires so you can deflate your fill-ups.

6. Junk It: Putting the kibosh on junk mail and catalogues will save you time, save landfill space and save millions of trees (and probably make the post office happy too).

7. Bills. Bills. Bills. We won’t advise not paying ‘em, but we wholly support going paperless for your banking, bill paying and at the ATM.

8. Live Life Locally: Support your local farmers while enjoying fresh produce and organically grown goodies. You can even try going veggie once or twice a week.

9. Say Y-E-S to CFL’s: You’ll save time, money and energy…but you may have to give up on the “How many _____’s does it take to change a light bulb?” jokes because you’ll change them so infrequently.

10. Spread the Word: Tell your friends how easy it is to shave off some carbon here, save some resources there and conserve a little energy here. And then they can tell their friends. And then they can tell their friends…

Thank you to RecycleBank and Burt's Bees for their Earth Day tips. These companies also walk the talk and are committed to finding clean, green ways of existing on this planet. These simple steps above can help you protect the environment, each and every day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

What happens to my recycled paper?

What happens to the paper we recycle after we put it in the recycle bin and it's been collected? and what happens to plastic, metal, glass and other materials we recycle? If you're curious as I am to find out what happens to them, RecycleBank provides you with the answers. And not just regular answers, but animated ones!

RecycleBank is a rewards program that motivates people to recycle by quickly and easily measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then converting that activity into RecycleBank. Points that can be used at hundreds of local and national rewards partners. It is one of our favorite green companies and a great example how innovation and environment can go hand in hand to generate value (see links below). Hence I was very happy to hear from them about this new video, as follows:

Just in time for “America Recycles Day” (which was yesterday btw), RecycleBank launched The Cycle, an interactive animation to help answer the question: “What happens to my recyclables after I put them out and they are collected?”

The video takes viewers through each step in the cycle: from recycling collection to processing to manufacturing new products from recycled material. Here is the link to the website: www.explorethecycle.com

And here's the part of the video explaining about the process the paper goes through:

More links related to RecycleBank:

'My Green Bookshelf' with Ron Gonen, RecycleBank's co-founder and CEO

RecycleBank video in Davos

Recycling Rocks in Philly!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

'My Green Bookshelf' with Ron Gonen, RecycleBank's co-founder and CEO

I don't know about you, but when I read about green celebrities, CEOs of green companies, and other green figures, I'm always curious - what do these people read? what's their favorite green book? how many green books they have on their bookshelf? so I decided that it's time to try and get some answers.

Hence we begin today a new series - 'My Green Bookshelf'. In this series we will take a look at the reading habits of interesting people from the green world with special focus on their green reading. As a small token of appreciation to our gusest in the series, Eco-Libris will plant with its planting partners 50 new trees on behalf of each and every participant!

Our first guest in the series is Ron Gonen, the co-founder and CEO of RecycleBank.

RecycleBank is a Philadelphia based company that has revolutionized municipal recycling in America, by initiating a brilliant recycling program that rewards people for recycling at home. RecycleBank, which was founded in 2004, currently provides service in more than 35 municipalities in the states of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

Prior to RecycleBank, Ron Gonen was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting. Ron was a co-recipient of Deloitte Consulting's National Impact Award in 2002 for his development and management of a consulting unit that provides pro bono consulting services to non-profit and charitable organizations. Ron holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Ron is not only a successful CEO of a great green company, but also an avid reader. He has agreed to share with us his reading habits and below you'll find his replies to our questions.

When do you find the time to read?

Before I get to sleep and on planes.

How many books do you have in your library at home?

A lot. I was a voracious reader back when I had time to read.

What's your favorite green book?

let my people go surfing by Yvon Chouinard

Do you borrow books from friends? do you lend yours to others after you read them?

Yes.

Are you registered to a library?

No.

If you had to go to a deserted island, what 3 books would you take with you?

1. Exodus by Leon Uris

2. Nelson Mandela's autobiography

3. Any book by Al Franken

E-book - for or against?

Not sure.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

* photos of Ron Gonen and the logo of RecycleBank are courtesy of RecycleBank.

RecycleBank video in Davos

RecycleBank is one of the greatest green companies I know. Now it is not only known to the cities where it operates, but also to the people who attended the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland last week.

The Environmental Leader reported today that Coca-Cola, which invested 2 million dollars in RecycleBank, shared this video with the attendees of the World Economic Forum.



I was very happy to see that RecycleBank's brilliant recycling program, which I mentioned here few months ago, is brought to the attention of the economic and political world leaders who attend the forum in Davos. I was even happier to see that the example presented in the video for RecycleBank's work is from Wilmington, Delaware, which is only 20 minutes from where I live (Newark, DE).

I really hope that this video will help to spread the word on RecycleBank and bring their program to many more cities (including Newark hopefully) in the US and all around the globe.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Recycling rocks in Philly!

At first I learned about it after reading a post of Sarah Schmalbach at Philly STYLE Magazine. Then I went to GreenFest Philly and saw some of the people involved in it. And now all is left to do is to get to Philly on Saturday, Sept. 29 and climb to the roof of Whole Foods on market and 10th streets. There you'll find a unique event combining activism and party - Rock & RecycleNOW.

So what is it all about? over the past 18 months RecycleNOW Philadelphia has been collecting over 12,000 signatures, lobbying for public hearings, and making sure the next mayor of Philadelphia will implement a dependable weekly curbside recycling program for everyone in the city.

Their request is simple: expand the recycling pilot projects conducted in Chestnut Hill and West Oak Lane by RecycleBank to all of the city. RecycleBank is a private company that initiated a brilliant recycling program based on an offer people cannot refuse - receive incentives to recycle more. The program rewards resident participation by each with up to $400 a year in discount shopping coupons. You recycle more, you get more coupons.

The idea was to combine attractive incentives with simplicity and comfort - residents were given a single 35 gallon container for all recyclables: glass metal and plastic food containers and all kinds of paper including Cardboard. This way it became much easier for them to recycle (check RecycleBank's demo to see how it works).

RecyleBank created a Win-Win-Win program where everybody wins: residents (more comfort, more coupons), the city (smaller amounts of garbage save the city money) and the companies providing coupons (green promotion for them). No wonder the program is a huge success and increased the percentage of recycling according to RecycleNOW Philadelphia in as much as 125 percent. But somehow, the organization says Philadelphia's city officials remain skeptical of these results and, as it has with previous successful pilots, called for more study.

And now they need your help and support. As they write on their website "Enough is enough. The Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia here calls on you and all Philadelphians to raise our collective voices and let our elected officials know in no uncertain terms: implement and expand Recycle Bank™ recycling program immediately, every week from homes and businesses in every neighborhood across the City."

I support this call as RecycleBank's model succeeded where many other models and ideas have failed and this is the reason they have spread to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York. So, it seems only logical to expand it to the rest of Philly for the benefit of both the residents and the city.

The event will feature live performances by Philly’s best local bands: The Capitol Years, The Swimmers, The Adam Monaco Band, Adam and Dave’s Bloodline, Sarsaparilla, Tough Guys Take Over.

The event will take place between 3 to 7 pm. Tickets are $15 and available at http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/fundraiser.html

So rock and recycle, show your support and come to the party!

See you there,
Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!