No TV...

Not having the TV on is much more difficult when you're staying at somebody else's house for a week. I may need to extend this challenge into August a little bit.

Jason

Recycling

We're back to the June Challenge for a bit. I haven't discussed recycling, yet, so let's get going on that. First, let's focus on how recycling programs work and what to do with questionable materials. Thanks to Taco for providing the information!

Recycling Overview:
Just because a material is “recyclable” does not mean that it is appropriate for curbside collection. Some considerations to determine what material is eligible for curbside pickup include:

• The material must have a stable market so that it can remain on the “ok” list indefinitely. Think of how confusing it would be if you got a flier from your waste collector every month telling you things that have been added to and removed from your list of accepted materials.
• The hauling and sorting machinery necessary to collect and separate the material from other materials must be available in the area. Otherwise “recyclable” materials will get comingled and contaminate each other.
• The material requires simple instructions for the public. The more confusing and difficult the recycling program, the less likely people are to use it and the more likely they are to do the wrong thing and cause contamination.
• “Contamination” can refer to food-soiled recyclables, but it can also refer to materials separated into the wrong place – such as plastic mixed in with your paper. This not only results in the loss of that material, but it may actually contaminate the other materials too, thus sending recyclable materials to the landfills.
• Different types of recycling programs include full source separation systems (keeping each material in its own separate bin) and comingled systems (where various different materials can be combined for collection). Full source separation is always best to minimize contamination, but is more difficult to administer and more difficult for casual recyclers to adhere to. Comingled systems result in slightly increased contamination rates, but due to their simplicity the participation rates are much higher.
• The typical comingled system sends mixed recyclables to a Material Recovery Facility, where a combination of mechanical and manual processes are used to separate everything into individual material streams. The first step for incoming material is to move along a fast conveyor belt past several hand-sorting stations, which usually serves to pull out as much trash as possible. Another area along the conveyor serves to separate out large corrugated cardboard pieces while allowing remaining material to fall through for further sorting. Some metal is sorted out using magnets while the non-magnetic metal is sorted by hand. Plastics and boxboard are also sorted by hand, leaving the remaining material which consists of paper (newspaper, office paper, etc.). Because the paper is the last material in the line it often contains the highest level of contamination, since it will contain any items that did not get sorted out properly earlier in the line - this is called a negatively sorted material. Positively sorted materials, such as the metal and plastic, have fewer contaminants because they are specifically pulled off the line (i.e. positively identified).
• Remember that recycling does not end in your curbside bin or at the recycling centers, but when you purchase goods that are made with recycled materials.

Factoids & frequently asked questions (as with any recycling information, especially for the folks outside of the Portland area, it’s always best to call your waste hauler to verify information since policies & practices differ greatly from area to area):

What should I do with plastic bags?

• Plastic bags cannot go into your curbside recycling bins because they jam the machinery at recycling facilities and cause safety risks for workers.
• Take clean, dry plastic bags to a grocery store collection point (ask if you have questions about which different types of bags they accept). Better yet, try reusable bags when you shop to avoid the plastic bags altogether.

Why does glass typically need to be kept separate in our curbside recycling programs?

• In markets where machinery is used to sort your comingled recyclables, glass can easily break which can hurt workers and damage the machinery. Keeping glass separate minimizes this safety risk.
• Always contact your waste hauler if you have questions about how materials must be separated prior to collection.
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a light bulb for four hours.
  Sending 10,000 tons of waste to the landfill supports six jobs, while recycling the same amount supports 36 jobs.
• Just by recycling, Portland residents and businesses save enough energy to power half the homes in Portland for an entire year.
• The Portland metro region recycles about $80 Million worth materials per year.

Where can I recycle light bulbs?

• CFL & fluorescent bulbs should be taken to your local hazardous materials depot due to the mercury they contain.
• Standard bulbs can be disposed of in the normal trash, or put onto craigslist for artists.

What can I do with metal spray cans?

• As long as they are empty, you can recycle these curbside after removing the lids.

Can I put lids and bottle caps in the curbside recycling bin?

• Plastic lids are flat and thus often get missed in the sorting process, which means they end up with the paper and can contaminate that recycling stream. Even if the lids are made of recyclable plastic, they should be recycled through an independent recycler who accepts them outside of your curbside program.
• Metal lids of jars, beer bottles, etc. are recyclable even with the rubber or plastic seal. To help the sorting process, put these smaller metal items into a metal can and crimp the lip of the can over to prevent the smaller items from falling out.

Do I need to remove staples, plastic envelope windows, spiral binders and sticky notes from my paper prior to recycling?

• No, these can all be removed during the paper recycling process.

Can I recycle shredded paper in my curbside bin?

• Call your hauler to be certain but usually YES. Also, you can avoid a mess by putting it in a paper bag and folding or stapling the top.
• Keep in mind that paper fibers can survive roughly 7 cycles through the recycling stream, since the fibers get smaller and smaller each time through the process.

Can I recycle delivery pizza boxes?

• Usually not, due to food contamination. Grease can attract vermin in the recycling centers and can contaminate other paper supplies that it contacts making them unusable. If the boxes are very clean (no grease), then they can be recycled.

Can I recycle frozen food boxes?

• No. These boxes have “wet strength” in order to protect the product within even in the freezer environment. This wet strength is achieved by weaving plastic in with the paper fibers, which cannot be separated out in the recycling process. Since plastic contaminates paper recycling, these frozen food boxes are unfortunately not recyclable.

What about milk cartons?

• Yes. Even though they hold liquid, these containers (called aseptic containers) typically get their moisture resistance from wax instead of plastic.

Can I recycle motor oil bottles? They have the little number on them.

• No, you can't recycle any plastic that has had hazardous materials in them, including motor oil, pesticides, etc. Assume that any recycled plastic will end up as a food conatainer.

What can I do with materials that I believe should be recyclable, but that are not accepted in my curbside collection program?

• For Portland area residents, you can contact the Metro recycling information hotline by website (www.metro-region.org/recycling) or phone (503-234-3000). They can assist you with questions regarding curbside recyclables as well as which local business accept non-curbside materials such as Styrofoam, plastic lids, take-out food clamshells, etc. In fact, they can also answer questions on composting, natural gardening, general garbage disposal, and hazardous waste. They are an invaluable resource!
• For non-Portland residents, try contacting your waste hauler to see what other businesses in the area might accept these items, or contact your local government to see if there are any other resources in your area.

Thanks!

Jason

July Challenge - No Television

As with all challenges so far, this one drew a mix of "No problem, I don't do that anyway." to "There's no way I can live without it!" Well, based on my experiences of the last six months, you can live without it! Especially TV. In July. Basketball is over. Football hasn't started, yet. Baseball doesn't get interesting until September. All the network shows are in reruns. You can get news and weather from the internet. If you're watching TV in July, it's likely because you're bored.

Take this month to enjoy the summer and rediscover the outdoors. Go on a bike ride. Take the kids to the park. Take a mini trip for the weekend. Tend your garden. Play cards or a board game. Learn to play the guitar. Practice your guitar if you already know how to play. Read a book. Better, yet. Write a book. Pick up a new hobby. Go to happy hour. Join a softball team. Call your mother. Live life!

Jason

Energy Usage

One thing we all can do is reduce the amount of energy we use around our house on a daily basis. This basically means curbing electricity and natural gas usage. Here are some helpful tips. I quoted all the usage facts from the Portland Metro website, and there are quite a few I didn't include, so check it out if you would like to see more.

Appliance Usage - See previous blog for money saving details

• Home appliances are the world’s fastest-growing energy consumers after automobiles, accounting for 30 percent of industrial countries’ electricity consumption and 12 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. –Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2004 Special Focus: The Consumer Society, January 2004,I SBN: 0-393-32539-3
• About 80 percent of the energy used by a clothes washer is used to heat water. –Rocky Mountain Institute, Home Energy Brief #5 Water Heating,” 2004
  http://www.rmi.org/images/other/Energy/E04-15_HEB5WaterHeat.pdf

- With modern detergents, using cold water to wash your clothes should meet your needs most of the time. Not only will it keep your hot water heater from running as often, it will also keep your clothes from fading.

- Consider using a drying rack or even a clothes line, dryers consume high amounts of energy. It also helps your clothes last longer. I started putting all my shirts on hangers to dry about 10 years ago, not to save energy, but to save the shirts. And I inadvertently saved energy in the process!

- Use a toaster oven or microwave to cook or heat up smaller portions rather than using a conventional oven.

Light Bulbs

• The incandescent light bulb is so inefficient that about 90 percent of the energy it consumes is given off as heat, while only 10 percent is converted to light. –U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, “Energy Information Administration, 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey,” 2001
• An incandescent light bulb costs 75 cents or less at the store, but it will typically cost six to 10 times that for electricity over its relatively short (750-hour) life. –Rocky Mountain Institute, 2002
  www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid352.ph
• The average American household has 2.5 incandescent light bulbs on for 4 or more hours each day. If every household replaced those bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, the nation would save nearly 32 billion kilowatt hours every year, or about 35 percent of all electricity used for lighting homes. –U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, “Residential Energy Consumption Survey,” 1993

- Consider using CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs), the payback is considerable over the life of the bulb. This one does come with a catch, though! Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs do contain mercury. This is a hazardous material and should be treated as such, so you shouldn't just throw them in the trash when they burn out. In Portland, you can take them to hazardous waste collection events or permanent Metro stations. See this website for details. If you live elsewhere, check with your local authorities on how to properly dispose of them. Also, be aware of proper clean up if one should break. Here are the cleanup instructions from the EPA if you do break one. The procedure is quite extensive.

- LED bulbs are also new options, but to date pretty expensive.

Heating and Cooling

- It doesn't matter how efficient your furnace is if your ducts are leaking. It's a good idea to have a professional come make sure everything is sealed up.

- Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer.

- Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed.

- Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.

- Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional.

- Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators.

- Turn off kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after you are done cooking or bathing; when replacing exhaust fans, consider installing high-efficiency, low-noise models.

- During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.

- During the cooling season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain.

There are also lots of other great energy saving tips on this website.

Jason

Panda Express

Since I had such good luck with Five Guys, I thought I'd try a few others. I went to Panda Express to get some take-out after our recent trip to Iowa, and I found that the to-go containers are made of styrofoam. So, I wrote to them. Below is their reply. Not quite as encouraging as the Five Guys reply, but not terrible. We'll see what actually happens.

Jason
==============================================================

Dear Mr. Hosch,


I would like to thank you for sharing your feedback regarding the food containers at our Panda Express locations. Please feel confident our Marketing department was made aware of this matter and can have this feedback for their information and review.


Panda Restaurant Group continually looks for ways to be green and more environmentally friendly. In the corporate offices, all polystyrene and Styrofoam have been removed. Associates are encouraged to use reusable cups, plates and flatware. Recycle and energy saving programs have been adopted. In Panda restaurants, new and innovative packaging is regularly tested in the search to find materials that perform for the Guest while being better for the environment. Menus are recyclable and printed with vegetable based inks. Equipment, like a waterless wok range, is engineered to reduce the use of natural resources. There are challenges but Panda is committed to diligently finding solutions because we value the preservation of the earth and its resources


Please accept our sincerest apology for any inconveniences that may have resulted from this visit. Thank you again for contacting us about the take away containers. Your feedback is crucial to our success, and you can be sure we will use it to improve.


Natalie Matsumoto


Guest Relations Coordinator

Energy Efficient Appliances

There's big money to be saved here.  The obvious incentive is that appliances that are more energy efficient will use less energy and cost less to run.  However, there are some great opportunities out there.  Between now and the end of 2010 is the time to do any appliance or windows upgrades.  If you need to replace an appliance or have home improvement, pay attention to energy star ratings.  Often any additional cost will payoff with less energy cost and there are typically tax rebates (washers, windows, furnace).  In fact, for 2009 & 2010 there is one time federal $1500 tax credit for items like windows and furnaces.  In Oregon , we are very lucky to also have state and energy trust that also provide incentives. Below are links for the services they provide.  Actually, a friend of mine just had a net expense for a 95% efficiency furnace a month ago for what it cost me to install an 80% efficiency furnace in 2008 after all the tax incentives and rebates he got.

 Note: Most are tax credits, not deductions which have a much bigger impact.

o       Federal: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits

o       Oregon State : http://www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/CONS/RES/RETC.shtml

o       Oregon Energy Trust: http://www.energytrust.org/residential/index.html

Portland General Electric is also offering $150 off of a new electric water heater for those of you living in their district.

NW Natural is offering incentives to install a new air conditioner along with a new energy efficient furnace.  Total incentives when combined with the Federal and Oregon Energy Trust money is up to $2100.

I also discussed some incentives from local water companies for improvements that will help you reduce water usage in a previous blog.

If you have installed any new appliances or windows in 2009 or plan to you should definitely check out these websites.

Good luck!

Jason

Water Use

Let's move off of garbage for awhile and talk about water use.  Clean potable water coming out of a faucet in our house is something we all take for granted.  We all treat it like an infinite resource, but I personally feel that we need to rethink how we use our water or we may someday find ourselves without the clean drinking water we enjoy today.  It drives me crazy when I go to places like Phoenix and Las Vegas and see all the putting green lawns while the Colorado River is drying up.  So what can we do about it?  Here are some tips that we call can do.

• Consider low flow toilets, or if you have a normal to larger size tank or can't afford to replace the toilets in your house, use a two liter bottle filled with water to consume some of the space in the tank.
• Don't just let the water run down the drain when you're washing dishes or brushing your teeth.  It isn't difficult to turn it off when it isn't actively pouring onto a dirty plate or a toothbrush.  From my personal observations, I estimate that many people can cut their usage by about 70% while washing dishes simply by not letting the water run.
• If you’re going to water your lawn, aerate it first b/c it allows the water to soak into the roots.  Either water in the early morning or late evening to reduce the amount of water that evaporates before soaking in to the ground.  Or better, yet.  Don't water it at all.  If you're in a climate where you get rain like Oregon, it will come back.  
• If you're in a desert, plant something that grows native.  Actually, you should probably plant native vegetation wherever you live.  It has adapted to the local climate.
• Use drip lines when watering specific locations such as shrubs or gardens.
• Rain barrels can be used to capture the run off from you roof.  That water can be used for watering flowers or a garden.  You save on your water bill, and in addition, if you have the set up inspected the water company may give you a discount on your water bill.
• You can let your hands air dry after washing them in a public restroom instead of using paper towels (or using your hair is one of Charles’s beauty secrets) .
• Reducing or eliminating pesticides and herbicides reduces the chemicals and toxins that are eventually absorbed into our water system.

If you live in the Tualatin Valley Water District in the Portland area, there are quite a few residential rebates you can get for various things.  

• $50 for purchasing a more energy efficient washing machine
• $10 for purchasing a more energy efficient dish washer
• $40-$100 per toilet up to two toilets for replacing older water wasting toilets
• A landscape rebate of up to $50 for using newer goods and services.
• $200 for installing a weather-based irrigation system

The state of Oregon also gives tax credits for certain appliances.  Check this website for details.

If you live somewhere else, check with your local water provider and state government.

Good luck!

Jason