Whole green resources to help you reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Have people gotten bored with recycling? “Orphaned garbage barges no longer make headlines,” reports USA Today. “Today, although more Americans recycle than vote, the sense of urgency has faded.” But the 2008 election of President Barack Obama may signal a recycling rebirth. During the campaign, Obama set an example by creating ObamaCycle (www.obamacycle.com) to press for the recycling of his own get-out-the-vote materials. So although it has plateaued in recent years, there is great hope that Americans will once again recognize the urgent and ongoing need for recycling and get us back on the road to the ultimate goal: zero waste.
LEARN ABOUT IT
Ban the Bottles!
Recycled Plastic
The big culprit in plastic is bottled water, a category that barely existed 30 years ago. Average consumption in 1976 was only 1.6 gallons annually; by 2006, it was 28.3 gallons. Some 29.8 billion plastic water bottles were sold in 2005. And we drink and toss: In 2006, Americans guzzled an average of 167 bottles of water, but only 23 percent were recycled. And so 38 billion plastic water bottles (8 out of 10) went into landfills, and others were left clogging storm drains or turned into unsightly and nonbiodegradable roadside waste.
Overall, plastic PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recycling has been in decline since the mid-1990s high of about 30 percent. Today, the rate is not much more than 20 percent.
FEATURED
Here are three of the more than 1,000 Whole Green resources you’ll find in the catalog:
FLAGS
Respect and Recycle Old Glory
Do you have to burn an American flag that touches the ground? Not according to the Flag Code. If it’s an outdoor flag, you can simply hand-wash it with laundry detergent…
CARPETS
A Cost to Caring
You’re renovating, and that means the old, worn carpet has to go. But is there an alternative to throwing it in the dumpster? Yes, if you’re prepared to…
FREECYCLE NETWORK
Global Recycling
In 2003, Deron Beal started the Freecycle Network, working with a dream and a loose network of willing friends in the Tucson, Arizona area…
Many chain stores that ship packages, including UPS, Mail Boxes Etc., Postal Annex, Fed Ex, and Kinko’s, will reuse your unwanted packing peanuts. Call ahead and check.
