Oscar the Grouch tapped as face of Waste Reduction Week

Launch of Waste Reduction Week (Canada) – Oct 19-25, 2008

clipped from canadianpress.google.com Sep 18, 2008 Garbage-loving Oscar the Grouch tapped as face of waste reduction campaign TORONTO — A beloved yet grumpy garbage lover has been tapped to be the familiar, furry face of a Canadian campaign to promote waste reduction. Oscar the Grouch has been announced as the “spokes-Muppet” for Waste Reduction Week in Canada, which is slated to kick off next month. St. Godard said part of the eighth annual event running Oct. 19-25 will focus on engaging post-secondary students who are the up-and-coming consumers, policymakers and business leaders, to think about consumption and waste generation and the environmental impact of those activities.

Clipmarks – waste reduction

Clipmarks – waste reduction

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How Does San Francisco Keep 70% of Their Trash Out of Landfills?

May/08
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“When we look at garbage, we don’t see garbage. We see food, paper, metal, glass.” The 70 % diversion rate includes recycling, composting and source reduction (meaning reusing things instead of throwing them out.) 

The city has 12 recycling streams, or programs, devoted to different materials, including regular garbage, construction debris, furniture and paint. For example, much of the concrete from demolished buildings is recycled in new sidewalks.

Unwanted paint is blended it in 55-gallon drums: resulting in 3 colors — off-white, beige and green — are packed in 5 gallon tins and sent to local nonprofit organizations, schools or charitable institutions in Mexico.

They can collect scrap paper to re-sell because of low levels of glass contamination. Garbage trucks can compress mixed loads of paper, cans and bottles without breaking the bottles.

Compare 2006 diversion rates: Chicago 55%, New York City 30.6%, Milwaukee 24%, Boston 16% and Houston 2.5%.

clipped from www.sfenvironment.org clipped from usinfo.state.gov clipped from www.sfrecycling.com clipped from www.nytimes.com the city found out a few weeks ago that it was keeping 70 percent of its disposable waste out of local landfills one of the main reasons the city keeps up the pressure to recycle The No. 1 export for the West Coast of the United States is scrap paper Another major innovation in the past decade was the development of infrastructure for turning food wastes into baggable compost that is used in California’s vineyards and the vast farms of the Central Valley The garbage from San Francisco’s 750,000 residents is picked up on the pay-as-you-throw principle — the more garbage bins you need, the higher your monthly fee The city has 12 recycling streams, or programs, devoted to different materials, including regular garbage, construction debris, furniture and paint. Mayor Gavin Newsom will soon be sending the city’s Board of Supervisors a proposal that would make the recycling of cans, bottles, paper, yard waste and food scraps mandatory instead of voluntary we can get to 75 percent clipped from usinfo.state.gov

Giving it Away…

This is about fullcircling and freecycling in Ottawa, Canada. Nice endorsement!

Thanks to Wendy Stone – AskAround.ca editor.

clipped from askaround.typepad.com Giving it Away; In Praise of Freecycle This article is about the joys and practicalities of decluttering: Getting rid of the excess stuff that is sitting in your garage, basement, shed, or storage. It’s hard to get rid of things that ‘might be useful’. Then there’s junk that is too big, or not allowed for regular garbage, and then the stuff that’s just too good to throw away. There are lots of freecycle groups in Ottawa, all doing their best to “Keep good stuff out of the landfill”.� Freecycle, Full Circles and similar Networks in our region: Eric Snyder, who began freecycling in Ottawa, pointed me to this useful ‘Hub’ with links to all our local networks.� Find your local group here and check out the other fascinating links further down the page.