Stop using plastic yogurt containers today

It is unbelievably easy to make your own yogurt. I made yogurt for the first time last week and now am wondering why I never tried before. There are directions all over the web. It is so easy:

• Heat milk to 180-185 degrees (use a candy or meat thermometer).
• Rinse a large glass jar (or a couple of jars) with boiling water.
• Let milk cool to 110 degrees.
• Stir in a couple of tablespoons of yogurt, pour into jar(s), and put on a lid.
  
• Wrap the jar(s) with towels and place in unheated oven. (I actually turned on the oven to 200 degrees very briefly before putting the yogurt in.)
• Let it sit for 7 hours (I actually started too late in the day, so I just let it sit until morning: 12 hours. If it went bad, you would quickly smell it.)
  
• If it is thickened, then place it in the refrigerator.
  

We also use local milk, so it is tasty and has less of a carbon footprint. Very easy, and no more plastic containers.

Recycle your dead or nearly dead computer (and peripherals)

Dell and Goodwill have partnered to create Reconnect, a residential computer recycling program. You can drop off any brand of used computer equipment in any condition at participating Goodwill donation centers. (From the Hill, the closest one is on South Dakota Ave, but there are many all over town.) From their list, they take: computers, monitors, printers, scanners (even with broken glass), hard drives (erase sensitive data), keyboards, mice, speakers, cords and cables, ink and toner cartridges, software (include license key), Xbox, Zune, and Webcams in any condition. It's free, and you'll get a receipt for tax purposes. Lifehacker has a great list of other groups that recycle old computer stuff. There is no good reason to throw computer stuff in landfills. Someone can use them right now!

Take Recycling to a New Stage (or two)

Every couple of weeks, I take the plastic bags from my Washington Post newspaper over to my neighbor's house. He uses them when he walks his dog. My other neighbor heard about this and connected with someone a block away, who also wanted plastic bags for dog walking. Another neighbor suggested that we also hang a plastic bag dispenser on one of our light poles, so that others could get free, reused bags. (There was one regularly used on 7th and A St SE for years, which many of us kept clean until it was removed when the pole was painted.). The Yahoo group DC-Dog also seems to share plastic bags.

How can we easily share things with others rather than throwing them away? A few weeks ago (see below in an earlier post), a potter on the Hill asked for boxes and bubble wrap to ship her fragile art pieces. I assume that she has received a big pile of these! Someone else on the Hill asked for pumpkins for her new compost pile. What other items could we share with others and keep out of landfills? One can use neighborhood listservs or websites to connect with others interested in your pile of rubber bands, can of crayons, or stack of moving boxes. The new Hill East is a very busy listserv, but DCist lists others all over town.

You can sell or give things away through Craigslist and Freecycle. It might be even easier to set up a freecycle system at work or in your apartment building. World Wildlife Fund in DC has its Junk Mail system, which is an internal listserv where people can post items they want to give away or acquire. Someone asked for old hairbrushes for her horses. Another person posted a new bottle of nail polish. Employees can opt-in or opt-out of the system. It is run by one employee and monitored by another. Once it is set up, it has a life of its own. World Wildlife Fund employees have also organized regular clothes swaps and book exchanges (just an open shelf; uninteresting books are quickly recycled leaving the interesting ones).

You can also ask a store to collect items that either you or the store would recycle. A wine store might collect and recycle wine corks; a hardware store might collect Brita water filters; a Radio Shack might collect batteries. This is how the DC Recycler started.

Or share your tools, appliances, bikes, and other items with your neighbors through NeighborGoods, ShareSomeSugar, or your own neighborhood database. Join the thousands in the Maker Movement ("On a basic level, the movement is about reusing and repairing objects, rather than discarding them to buy more. On a deeper level, it's also a philosophical idea about what ownership really is.") or open a Share Exchange and create new jobs. These days it's easy to take recycling to a new stage and think about how recycling can be a resource to create a new economy, a sustainable job-creating one, rather than bailing out the current waste-creating, non-job-making one.

Can you help the DC Recycler?

Schneider's on the Hill is all set to collect corks. They have a collection box and a recycling company to work with. They just need to find a spot in the store to place the box. In the meantime, I collect corks and take them over to Whole Foods by Metro (I don't have a car and actually don't shop at Whole Foods). It would be so great if Schneider's collected corks since I and many other Hillies are customers there! When you go to Schneider's next, can you say something like, "I hear that you'll be collecting corks for recycling soon. When will this be? Thank you for doing this!" This would really help the DC Recycler out a lot. Thank you!

P.S. Remember that plastic corks are not recyclable and not sustainable environmentally or socially (natural corks maintain a regional economy in the Mediterranean for something like 100,000 workers), so choose wine with natural corks (or twist tops but they aren't recyclable). World Wildlife Fund recommends natural corks. Save the cork forests! Save jobs!

How to get a second recycling bin

We often find that we have so much more recycling than garbage. I got a message about this very issue from Alex up in the Tenleytown area:

Hi.
I'm new to DC.

Our recycling bin seems to always fill up way faster than our
trash bin. It's one of those mini-supercans, or whatever....
much smaller than the trash can.

How do I get a bigger recycling bin /can? Or at least can I
get two of the small ones? Do I have to pay extra?

Thanks,
Alex

The DC Office of Recycling sent me this very helpful response:

The District provides 32 gallon blue carts, and your acquaintance can order a 2nd one, per available stock.

Rest assured our agency appreciates our community's interest in larger recycling receptacles. Both cost and uniformity of service (many homes cannot accommodate larger bins) will be factors in any future changes to the system.

District Residents in city-serviced homes (3 units or less), receiving curbside or alley way collection, can call The Mayor's Citywide Call Center, dialing 311 or 737-4404 (if not phoning from a 202 exchange).

There is no fee to receive an extra recycling bin at this time.

You can find this information on the Department of Public Works website.

Over here on Capitol Hill, we don't have much space for a bigger or second bin, so it might be great someday to have two recycling pick-ups per week and only one trash pick-up. We can always hope, no? Thanks to the DC Office of Recycling for this helpful information!

Update and Corrections on Recycling in DC

For reasons that are unclear to me, the DC Office of Recycling sent me on a tour of the PG County recycling center, rather than the facility that DC uses. So, now, I have to correct many of the statements I made several weeks ago. I am sorry about the confusion, but now we know the truth. Here's the low-down on recycling various items in DC:

• Toilet paper rolls - yes
• Ziploc(tm) bags and cellophane are NOT accepted at this time.
• Aluminum pie trays, aluminum - yes, if clean.
• Gift Boxes - assuming it's paperboard.
• Tissue Paper - no, no paper towels, tissues, napkins, or gift wrap tissue.
• Pizza boxes - no.

• No service in our region processing commingled or single stream recyclables (bottles/cans/paper) currently takes expanded polystyrene (e.g. Styrofoam(r)) or clam shells, (e.g. transparent buffet/salad vessels and/or vacuum-molded, retail plastic display packaging) to my knowledge. Reusable food containers (e.g. Tupperware(r)) would be the ideal.

• Garden Hoses - The DC Office of Recycling called to verify this, and two separate representative of Richie's Land Reclamation, LLP, claim they have no knowledge of any related policy. They suggest visiting reuse stores (ReStore, Loading Dock, Community Forklift).

• Car Batteries - should go automobile parts retailers for credit.

• Hazardous Waste - see the DPW website for restrictions (e.g. munitions go to Metro Police Dept.)

• Needles - There is NO municipal collection.  Available options are either returning them via your own health-care provider, or encasing them in a well-sealed, well-labeled, rigid, plastic container before placing them with your solid waste.

• In contrast to PG County, DC prefers residents to follow a "when it doubt, leave it out" policy.

Thanks to the DC Office of Recycling for this clarification!

Bamboo Computer Mouse

About four months ago, the right button on my computer mouse stopped working. I had some idea that I wanted to buy a more environmentally friendly mouse, but I didn't know what that might mean. I wanted to get the cork mouse, since cork is a reusable and sustainable material and the cork mouse doesn't use any electricity or batteries! Yet, it seems unavailable to regular humans. So, I just got a bamboo mouse. Aside from its energy wasting blue light, the bamboo mouse is great, sturdy and smooth. They also sell bamboo keyboards. More products made from sustainable, environmentally friendly materials!

Recycle your bubble wrap, peanuts, foam, boxes!

From: silvernst@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:52:11 +0000
Subject: [newhilleast] Get rid of your bubble wrap, peanuts and other unwanted packaging

I'm a local potter who needs bubble wrap and other packaging for safely shipping my fragile pieces. If you have bubble wrap, peanuts, foam and/or small to medium-sized (10" to 20")sturdy boxes and would like to see them reused, you can drop them off at 558 14th Street SE. I can be reached at 546-7990.

Thanks!
Caryn

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.