Recycle your Capitol Hill Pumpkins (and bales of hay)

From: "idfordani" daniedwards1975@yahoo.com
Date: November 12, 2010 5:43:01 PM EST
To: freecycledc@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [freecycledc] WANTED: Pumpkins - carved or not (Capitol Hill or nearby)

Don't send your halloween pumpkins to the landfill! I will pick up your pumpkins and put them to good use. Carved pumpkins will be composted and uncarved pumpkins will be cooked and the unedible portions composted. I'm trying to repair a badly damaged garden and need lots of organic material. I will also take those decorative bales of hay or almost any other organic matter you plan to toss.

Thanks,
Danielle

Celebrate GREEN Friday at Community Forklift

On Nov. 26th-28th, Community Forklift invites you to celebrate GREEN Friday instead of Black Friday. At the holidays, shouldn't you be celebrating peace, family, and friends, not wasting money on plastic junk from chain stores? Well, this year is your chance to break the Black Friday habit, and choose community instead of commercialism. At Green Friday, you don't have to spend much to have a great time!

* Enjoy cider and chances to win door prizes.

* Adults & children are invited to make their own holiday gifts, wrapping paper, and cards in Santa's Workshop (11am - 6pm, Fri, Sat, & Sun).

* The Face Paint Lady will be here! (12-3 Saturday, and 1-3 Sunday, $5/face).

* If you can't resist the urge to buy something, stop by on Friday. From 9-6 on Nov. 26, all orange-tag renovation materials and hardware will be 25% off. Also, all white-tag antiques and architectural items in the Salvage Arts department will be 10% off.

Community Forklift also recommends: 1) the Center for a New American Dream website, which has fantastic ideas for simplifying the holidays and 2) their Green Gift Extravaganza! From now through Dec. 24th at Community Forklift, find beautiful presents from crafters, artisans, and woodworkers. These gifts are made from reclaimed materials, are related to home improvement, or are made by local artists or Fair Trade co-ops.

Community Forklift is the DC area's largest thrift store for building materials. Everyone receives a tax deduction for donating renovation leftovers, building and landscaping materials, tools, hardware, and architectural salvage. Then, Community Forklift makes these items available to the public at very low cost - prices are up to 80% below the big box stores. Community Forklift aims to lift up local communities by creating green jobs, reducing waste and energy use, and making repairs more affordable for homeowners, low-income families, historic restoration folks, small businesses, and nonprofits. They are in Edmonston, MD, off of Bladensburg Road and right outside the Northeast DC line. For directions or more info, visit the Community Forklift website.

Join the Soda Club and Get Rid of Plastic Water Bottles

Join the Soda Club! Yes, you can make your own fizzy water at home and recycle the carbonators at Hill's Kitchen, Bed Bath & Beyond, and other stores. Just put in your zip code into their store locator. As is well known, bottled water is not safer than tap water, is a waste of money, and is bad for the environment. According to the US Recycling Institute, more than 80% of bottles in the US do not get recycled and end up in landfills. Also, millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions are produced in the process of replacing the billions of bottles and cans not recycled. Make certain to ask the store which carbonators they recycle since there are different sizes. Say goodbye to bottled water!

Update: I just check with Leah at Hill's Kitchen. She said, "Yes! We do the exchanges on both sizes of canisters. Best item of the year! I love the machines!" It's so easy to join the Soda Club!

Help Improve Airline Recycling

The great Green America (formerly known as Coop America) has asked everyone to talk with flight attendants on their flights to find out about each airline's recycling practices, and then tell Green America what they say via our short online survey. It is a really short survey, so it is really easy to do and will help them for their next report on airline recycling. Airlines have widely differing practices, and some flight attendants even take it upon themselves to recycle. So, help everyone figure out what the practices are and how the airlines might improve their recycling.

Tube-Less Toilet Paper

Recycling Pal Jonathan told me that Scott toilet paper is now selling one version of their product without tubes, which means a potential end to the 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced annually in the USA (accounting for 160 million pounds of trash) and usually thrown away. While you can recycle these tubes, it's even better if they are never made. Jonathan writes, "I think this is great! I'm going to write a couple of different earth-friendly companies to request they do the same. pass it along!" Will do!

The DC Recycler and Recycling Pal Andrew visited the PG County recycling facility for a tour. The tour definitely exceeded all expectations. It was so interesting and so helpful for understanding the recycling process. We definitely recommend the tour.

Kourtney started us out with an explanation of all the different items that could be recycled. Some interesting things we learned:

1) You can recycle toilet paper rolls, (cellophane) plastic wrap, ziplock bags, foil, aluminum pie trays, gift boxes, tissue paper, etc.

2) You can remove the labels from tin cans and recycle them. Otherwise, the labels are burned.

3) Plastic lids are not generally recyclable, so try to find other kinds of lids, such as metal lids or aluminum foil.

4) Avoid clam shell plastic and styrofoam. Neither can be recycled. Try to find some alternative. At a salad bar, a plate would be better than using those covered containers.

5) If you have doubts about whether an item can be recycled, feel free to recycle it anyway. However, garden hoses should be recycled through Richie's Land Reclamation. Car batteries, needles, and other hazardous waste should go to hazardous waste recycling.

Mike then showed us the recycling machines. The process starts when the recycling trucks dump recycling in a big pile on the "tip floor," which is a covered building open to recycling trucks. A loader picks up the recycling and puts it in a metal box that leads to the conveyor belt that goes inside the center. 50-60 trucks drop off recycling at the center each day. They process 35 tons of recycling per hour; 500-600 tons per day. Interestingly, August and September bring the most recycling.

Now, the sorting process begins. About 95% of the sorting is done by machines. Some of the 55 center employees do sorting at the various conveyor belts during two work shifts. The employees immediately pull large items and plastic bags off the belts to keep them out of the gears and put them in recycling bins. The machines have a series of screens that allow certain items to float up over them (like cardboard or paper) and heavier items (like cans) to drop below. Cardboard wet from the rain can't make it through this process, so it has to be set aside to try and put through again. If your cardboard gets wet, let it dry and then recycle it. At each stage, there are 1-3 employees pulling various items off the belts, such as plastic bags or items that missed the screen. They even use optical scanners to identify plastic bottles and blow bursts of air at them to send them into the correct screen.

The sorted items are then put into balers that create bales of each sorted item: cardboard, paper, aluminum, steel, tin, glass, plastic containers, and plastic film (plastic bags). These items are delivered to the company, which has bought the materials to produce something new. In the end, about 6-7% is waste that can't be recycled. Much less than I had expected.

We learned that the PG County area used to have 75 landfills, but now has 31. They can't build new landfills, so they need to recycle. Also, the PG Country recycling center is business that seeks to make money and seeks to recycle everything it can. It's money for the taxpayers, resources for businesses, and one way to keep trash out of the environment. A great deal for everyone.

Compost at Common Good City Farm

Common Good City Farm is an urban farm right in the center of DC (on V St. between 2nd and 4th St, NW). Of the many things they do, they collect food scraps for composting. The farm is getting ready to close for the year, but they will still collect food scraps once a week. If you’re interested, please register for food-scrap drop-off on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-7:30 by emailing info@commongoodcityfarm.org. Registration is important so they know to expect you in the cold!

What the DC Recycler learned from the Recycling Depot Tour

The tour of the PG County recycling depot was fascinating. Really! We got to see all the stages of the recycling process. Here are some of the most surprising aspects:

1) You don't have to clean items before recycling them. Yes, the recycling depot has huge machines, which can deal with clean or unclean items. The only reason to clean items is if you feel that the food might attract pests around your recycling bin. Also, cleaning your items helps reduce pests and smells at the recycling depot too, but still the recycling depot does not need the items cleaned beforehand.

2) The recycling depot is a business; they want to recycle and make money. The depot makes money through recycling and thus tries to recycle everything it receives.

3) Please do not recycle garden hoses. They wrap around the machines and cause damage. Garden hoses should be recycled through Richie's Land Reclamation. Also, while we were there, a worker pulled out a car battery from the recycling. Car batteries can't be recycled through regular curb-side recycling, but they can be recycled through DC hazardous waste recycling.

4) Please bag your bags. Plastic bags of all sorts (grocery bags, candy bags, cellophane, etc.) are recyclable, but they have to be pulled off the conveyor belts right at the beginning. Otherwise, they will wrap around the machinery and cause mayhem. So, put all your bags into another bag. Alternatively, you can recycle your bags through the grocery stores. However, aside from bagging your bags, please don't bag your recycling. Of course, the best thing is to avoid plastic bags altogether.

I'll write more about the tour soon.

Leaf Recycling: Rake or Use Paper Bags (not Plastic Bags)

The DC Department of Public Works is ready to deploy 200 employees Monday, November 8, 2010 to start collecting leaves. Leaf collection season runs through January 15, 2011, and every neighborhood in the District will have its leaves collected. For two and a half months, DPW crews work six days a week, including Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day, across the District.

Just rake your leaves into the tree box outside your place the weekend before your street's collection. To find out when your leaves will be collected, see the leaf collection schedule. If you want to bag your leaves with paper bags like those from Home Depot, DC will recycle them and use them for compost. DC strongly discourages the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags will damage the equipment.

Have any questions for the recycling officials?

I'll be talking with the DC recycling depot on Thursday. Do you have questions about recycling that you haven't had answered? Let me know!

The DC Recycler soon to visit DC's Recycling Depot!

Yes, on Nov. 4th, the DC Recycler will visit DC's recycling depot. I'll try to get some more detailed answers about recycling. Let me know if you have any recycling questions that you would like answered.

When does DC collect and compost leaves?

*Correction*: If you do bag your leaves, please use paper bags. The leaves will still be composted. Plastic bags damage their equipment.

The DC government has set up their leaf collection schedule. For SE Capitol Hill, for example, leaves will be collected starting November 22nd. For NE Capitol Hill, leaves will be collecting starting November 8th. All you do is rake your leaves into the treebox near your place the Sunday before the first pick up. You can also bag your leaves and put them in the treebox or next to your trash; HOWEVER, the DC government website says that bagged leaves will be disposed in the trash. Therefore, I suggest that you just rake your leaves into the treebox, so that they can be composted. Alternatively, you could bag the leaves and then the Sunday before you could put unbag them, placing them in your treebox. It's great to keep leaves out of the landfills and to make them into useful compost.

Our Recycling Pal Cathy's Report on Recycling by Mail

Hey folks,

I spent a great couple of hours at the DC GreenFest today. For the record, I'm still mad at Ralph Nader, so I did not stop by to say hi. Now that I got that off my chest, one of the great things I learned is that of all things, the US Postal Service is going green! They are currently piloting a program that allows you to send old cell phones, PDAs, Smartphones, MP3s, digital cameras, and ink jet cartridges off to a techno trash center in MI for free. While it's always better to reuse these items, sometimes you can't. There are special plastic pouches that the post office is using to mail these items...and there is no postage necessary. The pouches are currently available at some 11,000 POs nationwide...and they hope to have them in all soon. At the destination, these items are sorted then disposed of properly (buried, I believe) here in the US (vs being shipped off to some developing country).

They have a whole "green" portion of their website now. They're also offering "cradle to cradle certified" packaging. Yours truly will be contacting my forest folk to see how that compares to FSC and will report back. Sadly, they did not have any real tips on reducing junk mail or those annoying flyers that come with no address in our mail every week. You can go to Catalog Choice and sign up to receive only those catalogs you really want to get.

Where can I recycle mattresses, basic housewares, etc.?

A Wider Circle provides basic need items to families transitioning out of shelters or simply living without life’s necessities. They furnish the homes of more than 1,000 children and adults every single month, all free of charge. They also go into low-income schools and shelters to lead educational workshops on topics ranging from healthy self-esteem and stress management to resume writing and financial planning.

The following items are on their wish list. The wish list also lists further items and items that they don't need.
*Beds (mattresses without rips or stains, box springs, frames)
*Cribs, changing tables, strollers, high chairs, and other baby items
*Dressers
*Kitchen tables and sets of chairs
*Sofas and living room chairs (in very good conditions without rips or stains)
*End tables, coffee tables, and lamps (with shades)
*TVs (with remote if available)
*Kitchen items (sets of dishes, silverware, pots & pans, toasters, microwaves)
*Fans/AC units (clean and in good working order)
*Sheets and towels
*Healthy non-perishable food & new personal care and cleaning supplies
*Grocery gift cards

A Message from our Recycling Pal Cathy

Hey Folks,

I'm going solar. Between DC and Fed rebates, I should make up the cost of the system in the first year. AND, the installation company gets all the permits I need (even for the Historic District); agrees to remove and reinstall my panels should I need to redo my roof in the next 10 years...and will even move my panels to a new home in the District should I move to a qualifying home in the next 10 years. I never thought I'd be my own power company! There's a solar fair on the Hill on Saturday. Should be interesting. Pass the info along...and hope to see y'all there!

Cathy

Thanks, Cathy, for your message! For more info on solar panels in DC, see the Capitol Hill Energy Coop.

How to recycle old technologies?

We can always recycle old technologies through the weekly DC E-Cycling Drop-Off. However, it is even better to pass those items off to someone who might still want them. My neighbor Daphne is getting rid of her slide projector and wrote me:

"I have been finding people who want slide sleeves. One great source is coin collectors for they use slide sleeves for their coins. I have given a bunch of mine to a retirement community's coin club for their members."

This innovative thinking is great. If the technology is still usable, you can sell it or give it away on Ebay, Craigslist, Freecycle, or one of the more specialized tech recyclers like Gazelle or BuyMyTronics. Reuse or recycle: it's all good.

Capitol Hill Solar Hour Tour on Oct. 16th

Capitol Hill Solar & Sustainable Home Fair & Tour (aka The Capitol Hill Solar House Tour) is on Saturday, October 16th. Talk to Hill residents who went solar and tour solar and sustainable homes. Also learn about wind power, geothermal, organic cleaning, weatherization, green roofs, rain gardens; see electric scooter and car. More than 30 vendors on hand to explain the ins and outs of solar panels and discuss green products. Fair--10:00am to 2:00pm at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol Street, NE, Washington; Tour--Noon to 4:00pm. Tour map and guide are $5 per family. Advanced purchase available through web or at Frager’s Hardware (1101 Pennsylvania Ave SE), Hill’s Kitchen (713 D St SE), Riverby Books (417 E Capitol St SE), or Coldwell-Banker (605 Penn Ave SE). Guides will also be available at Eastern Market October 9-10.

The Green Festival is coming to DC!

The Green Festival was great last year and promises to be great this year. I learned so much last year. This year it will take place on Oct. 23-24 at the Convention Center.

"Enjoy more than 125 renowned authors, leaders and educators; great how-to workshops; cutting-edge films; fun activities for kids; organic beer and wine; delicious vegetarian cuisine and diverse live music. Shop in our unique marketplace of more than 350 eco-friendly businesses—everything from all-natural body care products and organic cotton clothing to Fair Trade gifts and beautiful kitchen tiles made from renewable resources. See the most recent developments in renewable energy and green technology; sample Fair Trade chocolate and coffee (yes, they really do taste better); and learn how to invest in your community, green your home and avoid products made in sweatshops."

Stop Using Coffee Filters

We just bought this great Frieling French press coffee maker so that we didn't have to buy (and throw away) any more filters and because it is 100% plastic-free. It is made completely of stainless steel. So, it won't break like a glass French press might. As an added bonus, the coffee tastes much better, as compared to our regular coffee maker. I highly recommend it.

A Letter from our Recycling Pal Cathy

Dear DC Recycler,

I'm writing to sing the praises of my latest recycling find in the DC area, Community Forklift. I'm expanding my house that was built in 1883, and I wanted to find flooring and doors that matched the originals. Community Forklift was my answer. I was able to find both red oak and pine flooring that had been removed from another house. They also have a large selection of doors (interior and exterior), sinks, cabinets, tiles, light fixtures, etc, etc. They also have partial slabs of marble, slate and quartz. Community Forklift has successfully completed Co-op America's screening process for socially and environmentally responsible green businesses?. They are now listed in the National Green Pages directory!

Community Forklift doesn't only deal with vintage items. AND, they are a project of Sustainable Community Initiatives (SCI), a 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation so you can also donate your surplus goods (and money!) to them and receive a tax deduction for your donation.

Community Forklift offers three types of materials:

Surplus materials are new, sometimes still in the original packaging. Homeowners, contractors, or manufacturers donate them due to changes in project plans, excess materials, ordering mistakes, minor flaws, or discontinued brands.

Salvaged materials have been used, and still have useful life left in them. Most of their salvaged items come from remodeling projects. Many also come from Deconstruction Services, a company that takes buildings apart carefully rather than bulldozing them. Deconstruction is a growing industry that creates jobs and conserves natural resources, and it can cost the same or less than traditional demolition. Their inventory changes every day, but they usually have cabinets, radiators, lumber, trim, flooring, plumbing fixtures, paint, glass, doors, windows, lighting, appliances, HVAC, landscaping materials, and more!

New Green Materials are environmentally friendly items. They also carry Nature Neutral products, including recycled cotton insulation, low VOC and low odor paints and sealants, and sustainably harvested lumber. They contain significantly fewer toxins and cause less pollution, so they better for your health and our world.

While I love Community Forklift, you need to know what you want. They don't have the staff to help you plan your project or even really help you figure out how much of an item you may need. Still, it's a great concept and a business worth supporting in the DC area.

Best to you!
Your recycling pal, Cathy