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Saturday, December 31, 2011
2011 Recap: Our First Year
This year was the beginning of Recycle Brevard! After the landfill tour we took with Brevard County Solid Waste Management Department Recycling Educator Erin LeClair back in February, it all started. Step one was to create this blog and the Recycle Brevard Facebook page.
Then, Brevard County Parks and Recreation Environmental Program Coordinator Susan Boorse invited us to participate in the Merritt Island Rotary Park Open House. It was the first time we were out talking to people about the 3Rs.
That first event helped us to get to know more people involved with the same cause in Brevard County. I became a member of the Keep Brevard Beautiful Central Chapter and we started to work toward local other projects and events with the goal of bringing awareness to residents and information to all on reusing, reducing, and recycling.
During the summer we went on a trip around Europe and it was a priceless experience to see and learn about recycling habits in the countries and cities we visited.
Once we came back, it was time to organize our first America Recycles Day. I became a member of the Brevard Community College Green Team of Cocoa. We contacted the Rotaract group also of Cocoa and they agreed to help with the event. We prepared a scavenger hunt activity to get Manatee Elementary students involved in collecting recyclables needed for the event. We were able to receive a resolution from the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners at the November 1st meeting proclaiming November 15th, 2011 America Recycles Day in Brevard County.
Getting it all together for the event kept us extremely busy, but it was very rewarding in the end. 4 The Kids of Brevard received a truck load of toys for kids in need in our county and we planted the seed of recycling in the hearts and minds of our residents.
We also had the opportunity of participating in other events too: the Harvest Festival in Viera and Festival of Trees in Melbourne. Since we were going to events, we purchased our first banner that we can take anywhere we go.
Besides the events, we organized our first recycling project in partnership with Redberry and Viera High School. We acquired our first recycle bins that we personalized and can now take wherever we go.
Because of our involvement in all of those in addition to the online channel created, we got some media coverage, which helped in spreading the word.
Looking back at the beginning of the year, it is gratifying to see how much we have accomplished in our first year. We are looking forward to what 2012 will bring!
Cheers everyone and best wishes for an awesome New Year!
Recycle Brevard!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Spoon-Art Silent Auction
The project was really great and we were lucky to have a lot of support coming from the community!
Thank you to all Redberry customers who participated in the project by placing their spoons in the collection bins.
Thank you to Redberry’s Manager, Loanna Pham, who made the collection of used spoons possible and supported the project all the way through.
Thank you to Dr. West, Viera High School 3D Art teacher, who agreed with using Redberry’s recycled spoons in her class to produce art pieces.
Thank you to all Viera High School students who so enthusiastically embraced and participated in this project producing amazing pieces of art! Student-Artists who were part in this project:
· Artidiello, Joshua | · Lucas, Amy |
· Benitez, Luis | · Lucas, Cecilia |
· Bierman, Bradley | · Mazzone, Rachael |
· Brooks, Kolt | · Mcintyre, Amber |
· Cassidy, Colin | · Morgan, Haleigh |
· Darr, Ruben | · Najemnik, Matthew |
· Gaherty, Elizabeth | · Ozimek, Quinten |
· Grazier, Morgan | · Paulino, Joaquim |
· Guo, Xiao | · Pharmer, Rebecca |
· Hennis, Mackenzie | · Placke, Colin |
· Herring, Marvin | · Rader, Nicholas |
· Hobson, Drew | · Santos, Mary |
· Howe, Ryley | · Siperko, Joseph |
· Jackson, Lindsay | · Veltri, Nicholas |
· Johnson-Williams, Terreon | · Wendling, Michelle |
· Lozano, Leah | · Wyrick, Cassandra |
Each one of you helped reduce the amount of trash sent to our landfill and in turn created really unique pieces of art that our community has now the opportunity to appreciate. Thank you!
And finally, thank you for the ones who were able to participate placing your bids. Bidders have already been contacted and they should pick up their sculptures at Redberry's after emailing me. All the proceeds will go to the Viera High School Art Department and that will help Art teachers and students alike!
Until the next project...
Recycle Brevard!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Recycle Brevard 101
As part of this project I will also collect unwanted, recyclable and Terracycle items. It will be a true Recycle Brevard! 101. More details will follow.
The idea came up once we hit 101 supporters on Facebook. No better way to celebrate 101 than having a 101 project to start the new year.
In the meantime, thank you for your support and...
Recycle Brevard!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
What To Do With Your Used Cooking Oil
After those meals are cooked, what should you do with all that oil? What is the best way for you to dispose of it?
Disposing of gallons of fryer oil can seem overwhelming. Landfills are not allowed to accept liquid wastes, so what do you do with it all? Pouring it down the kitchen sink or the storm drain is simply asking for a clogged pipe. Instead, Newport News recommends, choose one of the following options – for best results, use a container with a tight-fitting lid:
- Store the oil in the original container for reuse. Strain out any particles and freeze. Oil can be kept for up to six months and reused for up to six hours of fry time.
- Freeze it and then throw the hardened oil away on trash day.
- Mix it with unscented kitty litter, sawdust, or sand to solidify the oil. Double-bag it and dispose of it in the trash. Avoid scented or disinfectant types of kitty litter as they can react with the oil and cause afire.
- Place small amounts of oil in tightly sealed, unbreakable containers in the trash. It is not recommended to dispose of large amounts in trash as containers may leak, causing problems with garbage trucks and at solid waste facilities, adds East Bay Municipal Utility District.
- Use a paper towel to wipe up small amounts of cooking oil, such as meat drippings. Throw the paper towels in the trash.
- Recycle it. Cooking oil can be recycled into soap, bio-fuel, cosmetics and stockfeed, and biodiesel. Brevard County Solid Waste Management Department provides used vegetable oil recycling drop off locations at two of our three Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers: Central Disposal Facility at 2250 Adamson Road, Cocoa, and Sarno Road Landfill at 3379 Sarno Road, Melbourne. Any Type of liquid, vegetable-based oil qualifies. This includes peanut, corn, canola, olive, sunflower, safflower, rapeseed, etc. This program is available to Brevard County residents only. For more information, visit https://www.brevardfl.gov/solidwaste/householdhazardouswaste
- Never pour oil and grease down the drain or toilet bowl, and avoid using hot water to wash the grease away. “If you have small amounts of kitchen grease (such as lard, shortening or tallow) which you cannot avoid going down the drain, then use cold water so that it solidifies and is less likely to stick to the pipes,” advises Earth911
Why it is important to properly dispose of used oil
As posted on Wikipedia, proper disposal of used cooking oil is an important waste-management concern. Oil is lighter than water and tends to spread into thin and broad membranes which hinder the oxygenation of water. Because of this, a single liter of oil can contaminate as much as 1 million liters of water. Also, oil can congeal on pipes provoking blockages.
A Side Note on Ocean Pollution
"Although it covers more than 70 percent of the surface of the Earth, water is one of the most precious natural resources of our planet. The reason being that about 97 percent of it is salty, and therefore undrinkable, a further 2 percent is locked in glaciers and polar ice caps, thus leaving just about 1 percent of it useful for drinking and cooking. Apart from clean drinking water, we also need to keep the waters in the oceans, rivers, and lakes unpolluted because otherwise it harms the very planet we survive on.
With human populations increasing rapidly it has resulted in us polluting all the water resources of our planet, so much so, precious and unique organisms and ecosystems are being harmed and are even dying at an alarming rate" (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ways-to-prevent-water-pollution.html).
Oil is one of the types of pollution we need to worry about and “one of the greatest sources of oil pollution is people who pour various cooking oils and grease down the sink drains in their homes” (http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Types_of_Ocean_Pollution).
So it is best to keep grease and food scraps out of your sink and toilet drains. Make sure to scrape food scraps, oil and grease from kitchen utensils and equipment before washing to help keep grease out of wash water.
Let's help the environment and properly dispose of the oil we use.
Recycle Brevard!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Collection of Redberry's Spoons is Now Over
Monday, September 26, 2011
RecyCrow: The Recycle Scarecrow of Viera
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Turning Spoons into Sculptures
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Collection Days
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Recycling at the Beach Clean Up
Friday, September 9, 2011
Make Art, Not Trash! with Redberry and Viera High School
A Great Day for America Recycles Day
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Make Art, Not Trash!
- Plastic spoons are NOT recyclable and they go straight to the landfills.
- Landfills are expensive to build and maintain, and not many people would like to live next to one.
- In order to maximize the existing landfills and avoid needing to create new ones, we must reduce what gets sent to them.
- One of the ways to reduce what gets sent to landfills is by reusing materials, repurposing items to get at least one more use out of them.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Recycling Fun - Volunteers Needed
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Recycling Tips from the Zoo
- Did you know that each year millions of trees and billions of gallons of water are used to create junk mail, most of which never gets recycled? There are several things you can do to reduce how much junk mail you receive. After using junk mail—and any other paper you don't need to keep—as scrap paper, recycle it.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 28%. Source, Environmental Protection Agency.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours. Source, Eco-Cycle.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months. Source, Environmental Defense Fund.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save: 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water. Source, Seventh Generation Co.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. The U.S. is 5% of the world's population, but uses 25% of its natural resources. Source, Environmental Protection Agency.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70%, water use by 50%, and air pollution by 20%. Source, Environmental Defense Fund.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year--or enough energy to last Los Angeles residents for 8 years. Source, Steel Recycling Institute.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. Recycling creates 6 times as many jobs as landfilling. Source, Colorado Recycles.
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. Source, Trash to Cash
- By reusing many of the products already created--such as aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic--we can reduce energy consumption. If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees--or about 26 million trees per year. Source, California Dept. of Conservation
- The availability of clean water is one of the central issues of our time, and we all need to do our part to use this resource wisely. Saving water is simple! Turn the water off while brushing your teeth, washing your hands, and washing dishes.
- The availability of clean water is one of the central issues of our time, and we all need to do our part to use this resource wisely. Saving water is simple! Take shorter showers (you will save water and energy to heat it, reducing your carbon dioxide emissions)
- Raise your thermostat setting 5 degrees in the summer when no one is home and do the opposite in the winter
- Recycle your old cell phones at the Zoo
- Only water your lawn twice a week
- Plant low maintenance or native plants to enhance wildlife instead of the law
- Purchase paper with some recycled content
- Use a reusable coffee cup instead of a disposable cup next time you visit your favorite coffee shop
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Update on our Activities
Announcement
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Putting "Reuse" into Practice
Both the project and the event that I am working on are based on the "reuse" concept because "once is not enough." The project is to reuse colorful spoons from our local Redberry's in 3D art work created by Viera High School Art students. The spoons currently go straight into the trash can. The goal of the project is not only to give a longer and better life to those beautiful spoons keeping them out of our landfills, but also to bring information on the 3Rs and on the importance of recycling to as many people as possible in our community. Make Art, Not Trash! Planning is on-going, but we should start collecting the spoons right after school is back.
The event is shaping up nicely too. My neighbor and friend, Nicki, is helping me with the details. We will be having a Toy Swap/Drop Off in our neighborhood. Again, the idea is to bring information to the community and get another use out of gently used toys. Erin LeClair from the Brevard County Recycling Program will be there; Joan Needelman from 4 The Kids of Brevard will be there to take home dropped off toys; the Brevard's Green Team, Keep Brevard Beautiful, and the Rotaract Club/Green Team from Brevard Community College may participate too. There is still a lot to be done, but I am getting some enthusiastic response, which is really motivating.
Amidst all this I have not finalized my post on my impressions and experiences about recycling in Paris. That will be next! In the meantime, I am working on the project and event, trying to put into practice the idea that "once is not enough" in the community, but there are many other creative ways to do that. What is yours?
Recycle Brevard!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Once is not Enough
The episode covers simple steps that anyone can take to help the Earth to be a better and healthier place for all to live. "While looking for a bird at Bear National Park, Elmo and his friends have fun discovering things in nature! They also learn that there are some simple things they can do to keep nature beautiful and clean: putting trash where it belongs, recycling, reusing things, and saving water and power." You can see and read more about the episode at http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Love_the_Earth! It is an entertaining way for children to be introduced to those basic concepts.
As the program shows, recycling is one of the things we can do and it is important, but the other two Rs -- reduce and reuse -- should come first. When we reduce the amount of trash we produce, we do not send as much trash to landfills. When we reuse, we do not throw things away so soon and may find different ways to use the same things over and over. When we keep an item for longer, we also reduce the amount of trash that is generated and will need to be handled somehow.
As EPA states at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/reduce.htm, the "most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. By reducing and reusing, consumers and industry can save natural resources and reduce waste management costs. Unfortunately, the amount of waste generated in the United States has been increasing. Between 1960 and 2009 the amount of waste each person creates increased from 2.7 to 4.3 pounds per day. This results in about 243 million tons of waste generated in the US in 2009.
Waste prevention, or 'source reduction,' is the strategy behind reducing and reusing waste. By designing, manufacturing, purchasing, or using materials in ways that reduce the amount or the toxicity of trash created, less waste is generated and fewer natural resources are used. [Reusing] is often part of the waste prevention strategy, stopping waste at the source due to preventing or delaying a material’s entry in the waste collection and disposal system."
So, reduce and reuse because we do love our Earth and once is not enough!
Recycle Brevard!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Recycling Bins of Paris, Where are you?
Since the building where we are staying does not provide recycling bins, we filled up a plastic bag with our recyclables and decided to bring the bag with us -- we were certain we would see a recycling bin somewhere along the way where we could deposit our items.
We walked in the area for about three hours and the only two small bins we could find were totally full. We carried our bag of recyclables all the way and ended up bringing it back with us again; no bins to be found. Why is it so hard to find bins? The only place we have seen them are at children's playgrounds. Why would that be? It is good to have them there to teach the children to recycle, but have they given up on the adults? Well, let's see what I learn about recycling in Paris during our stay.
Recycle Brevard!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Second Stop: Switzerland
The streets were very clean, and the parks were inviting -- there were many people on their lawns enjoying the weather, eating lunch, or simply reading books. We also saw lots of beautiful water fountains offering free fresh chilled water to refresh any thirsty passer-by.
In the buildings I noticed something extra that shows that in Switzerland they understand the reasons for not wasting water: all bathrooms use dual-flush technology, a double-button mechanism for flushing the toilets. That way one button can be used to flush using less water and the other to flush using more water. In a test performed in Canada it was verified that water consumption is reduced up to 68% by simply applying this technology. It has been widely seen in Europe, but it is not as common in the US.
At home, natural and fresh ingredients are what is mostly used. Some residents even grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs in their own yard. Food gardening is very popular in the US too -- and getting more, and more popular each day according to the National Gardening Association latest garden market research. As Dawn.com reports, some families turned to home-grown foods for financial reasons but are sticking to it even after their difficult times have passed. In our case, we have just started our own food garden in our yard and are very excited about it, but we still have a lot to learn. In the meantime, it was a delight to have the opportunity of picking our own fruit and tasting some of that in the mountains, looking down at the city. What a beautiful place!
However, I did not see any recycling bins that could be used on the streets or even at the hotel. I found the official site of the city with some information online, but only in German... After some more research, I came across a forum in English for Swiss residents that has a few discussions on recycling and garbage collection. There I learned that recycling is more commonly done by using collection points and just a few items are to be placed at the curb. Even then, those items that can be placed at the curb may have to follow a pick-up schedule, such as paper and cardboard being picked up only once a month. Also, depending on the location, residents may have to purchase official bags to dispose of their regular garbage; they pay for the amount they throw away. This pay-per-bag system has been on and off in many different countries, including the US. We do not have that in our neighborhood, but in Maine, for example, this option was being recently considered.
All in all, even though I did not see much recycling going on in the city, I learned about their system and found out how recycling is done there. It is different, but that does not mean better or worse; maybe some ideas for us to consider in the future.
Recycle Brevard!