EcoMinutes
August 2009 – Reduce-Reuse

080309
According to the EPA, we should practice the three R's: first reduce how much we use, then reuse what we can, and recycle the rest. Only after that, we should dispose of what's left - in the most environmentally responsible way, of course.  We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on recycling, but that is still an energy using process - it’s even more important to reduce and reuse.  This month we’re going to be giving you suggestions on what you can do to eliminate waste in your life and how to reduce and reuse.  First Pre-cycle – if it doesn’t come home with you, then you don’t have to worry about how to get rid of it – so reduce waste and packaging when you make your purchases. The second is to reuse what you’ve got.  Rather than throw it out, think of what else you can do with something.  Can someone else use it? Donate it.  Can you use it in another way? Maybe – think before you toss.

080409
When you do your shopping bring along your own cloth or other type of reusable bag.  The average American family uses 900 plastic shopping bags a year.  That adds up to 100 billion bags consumed in the United States annually.  It takes 504 million gallons of oil to make all of these bags.  They end up being a waste of our nonrenewable oil resources, a source of litter, costing cities millions to clean up, and a hazard to wildlife and marine creatures that confuse them for food.  In addition, 99% of the bags are not recycled and will take as much as 1000 years to break down.  Of the EPA’s list of 20 chemicals whose production generates the most hazardous waste, 5 of the top 6 were chemicals commonly used by the plastic industry.  If the annual US consumption of plastic bags were tied together in a giant chain, it would circle the Earth 760 times! 

080509
Forget the receipt.  When you use the ATM or buy gasoline at the self-service pump, don’t request a receipt.  ATM and other receipts are one of the top sources of litter in the streets.  In addition, these little pieces of paper waste resources.  It takes 600,000 tons of paper each year to produce the receipts we get from our banks, our gas stations and our retailers.  If no one took an ATM receipt, for example, that would save two billion feet of paper, which is enough to circle the earth 15 times!  30% of timber is used to create paper so it's important to find creative ways to conserve.  In spite of our so-called paperless society, paper consumption has never been higher and deforestation is a leading contributor to global climate change. 

080609
Ditch the bottled water. Plastic is made from petroleum, so we are depleting our non-renewable resources for a bottle that will be used just once. In a peer-reviewed journal article, The Pacific Institute calculated that the process of making the plastic bottles consumed in the U.S. uses approximately 17 million barrels of oil per year and with all costs considered required the equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil—roughly one-third of a percent of total U.S. primary energy consumption.  The calculation is based on raw materials for the bottles and the energy requirements for various stages in bottled water production, including the energy to manufacture the plastic bottles, process the water and the bottles, and transport and cool the final product.  This is much as 2000 times the energy cost of producing the same amount of tap water and is no safer to drink. 

080709
The ECUA works hard to deliver clean, healthful water to its 92,000 homes and businesses in Escambia County.  This is Elizabeth Campbell, board member for the ECUA, and this is the Eco-Minute.  During the summer it’s important to drink plenty of water and studies have shown that nothing is healthier than tap water and, it also costs a lot less than bottled water.  Local ECUA tap water is regulated by the EPA and DEP and water operators and the ECUA testing lab are state certified, the results must be reported to state and federal authorities, and water quality reports must be issued annually.  Bottled water has no such requirements.  If the chlorine taste is a problem, running it through an inexpensive filter or leaving it in the refrigerator will solve it.  For more information, go to ecua.org.

081009
Need your caffeine fix on your way to work?  Do you go through the drive through window to get your morning coffee?  See if your local coffee shop will let you use your own traveling cup, many will.  According to published studies Americans use more than 16 billion disposable coffee cups every year. Most cups only use a small percentage of recyclable material and are NOT recyclable themselves due to plastic content used to protect the cup from liquid leakage.  “In 2006, it was estimated that paper cups accounted for 252 million pounds of garbage resting in landfills and accounted for 4 billion gallons of water wasted, 6.5 million trees cut down, and almost 5,000 billion BTU’s of energy used.”  Better than drive through – make your own coffee, and when you do use fair trade, sustainably grown organic beans, it’s healthier and costs a lot less. 

081109
Paper products are available for your use just about everywhere. This is the EcoMinute and I’m Rachel Habig from the Escambia HS Environmental Club.  In bathrooms, classrooms, kitchens, and restaurants, we are bound to use them. Toilet paper use is inevitable but you can cut back on paper towel use. Paper towels are convenient, but there are better solutions than throwing away our natural resources. Places such as schools, businesses, and restaurants could install new hand dryers for customers and employees to use. This may cause you to stand in the bathroom about one minute longer, but that’s the only hassle. While at home, you could use dishtowels, washcloths, hand towels, etc.  In a study for the Topeka, Kansas school system, it was concluded that switching from paper towels to wall-mounted dryers system-wide would save 587 trees, 690,000 gallons of water, 34.5 tons of solid waste, 103.5 cubic yards of landfill space, and almost $90,000 per year. 

081209
What do you carry with you?  Here are some suggestions.  This is the EM and I’m ES.  It’s easy to cut down on disposables if you plan ahead.  In your car you should keep reusable bags so you don’t have to take plastic bags when you shop.  After you unload them, hang them on the front door to remind you to bring them back to the car.  Also carry a traveling cup for coffee or a drink when you’re on the road and a stainless steel bottle for water – it’s better for you and the planet to avoid plastic bottles.  Carry a set of reusable utensils to keep from using plastic ware that after you use it will just sit in the landfill for hundreds of years.  Wrap them in a towel or napkin that you can use instead of paper products.  I also keep a reusable container to bring home my leftovers from restaurants – way better than plastic foam. 

081309
Cutting down on our use of paper will lead to a smaller environmental impact during paper production such as less energy and water consumption, less pollution, and less destruction of old forests and their biodiversity.  This is the EM and I’m JM.  There are many ways to reduce the use of paper in the office.  For example, avoid printing emails and web pages unnecessarily. Instead, archive your emails and bookmark your web pages for easy reference. If you need to print web pages often, remove unwanted pages before printing. Or adjust your page and printer settings to minimize the number of pages before printing.  Have you noticed that some emails have a tree logo and a message like, Before printing this e-mail think if it’s necessary? This is a good way to remind the email recipient to think first before printing. 

081409
Many of us recycle our glass, paper, and plastic, but do you recycle your food?  Kitchen waste, including fruits, vegetables, eggshells, tea and coffee filters, are perfect additions to a compost bin. For a successful compost bin or pile, choose an area outdoors that is easily accessible from the yard and kitchen.  Bins can be constructed from many materials, and are recommended to keep neighborhood animals from becoming a nuisance.  Simply throw in your kitchen waste (but no meat or dairy products) along with leaves and grass clippings from the yard, and wait for it to become the perfect garden amendment!  To speed up the process, turn the pile with a shovel or pitchfork weekly and make sure the pile is moist.  With our warm spring and summer temperatures, raw materials can become rich soil in as little as six weeks!  

081709
New is not always better.  This is the EM and I’m Chasidy Hobbs.  Thrift stores, consignment stores and yard sales are a great way to save money and the environment. It takes approximately 135 gallons of water to produce a pound of new cotton. Cotton fields account for 1/10 of global pesticide use which is leading to adaptation of super bugs resistant to these chemicals, not to mention herbicide resistant crops. Another commonly used fabric, polyester fiber, is produced from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. The production of polyester is quite energy intensive and results in significant emissions, including large amounts of a potent climate change gasses. By purchasing lightly used clothing from secondhand sources you can reduce your ecological footprint and significantly reduce the pressure on your pocketbook.

081809
Here are a few more ways to save resources at work and home.  When you receive unwanted catalogs, newsletters, magazines, or junk mail, ask to be removed from the mailing list. Then recycle the item or pass it along to someone who might use it. Buy chlorine-free paper with a higher percentage of post-consumer recycled content or consider switching to a lighter stock of paper or alternatives made from bamboo, hemp, organic cotton, or kenaf.  Recycle toner and ink cartridges and buy remanufactured ones.  It’s estimated that each remanufactured toner cartridge "keeps approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills... and conserves about a half-gallon of oil."   To save ink, print in draft mode whenever feasible and download the new Ecofont – a new typeface that incorporates tiny, inkless circles that minimize ink usage by up to 20%. 

081909
Buy products with less packaging. This is the EM and I’m JM.  Packaging accounts for almost 30 percent of our waste.  Select products that are not wasteful in their packaging. A package just needs to protect the product from damage, keep it clean and sanitary, and present product information. Yet packaging can be far more elaborate(and expensive than necessary.  So follow these packaging-related tips:
     Precycle by purchasing products in materials that can be easily recycled.
     Avoid single-serve containers whenever possible.
     And buy in "bulk" - this gives you the best "product to package" ratio.  Do this by buying from a store that lets you scoop out products from large bins or by selecting the largest size available.  This not only reduces the waste but it will also save you money. Packaging is expensive, so buying in larger volumes reduces the unit cost.

082009
A large portion of landfill space is taken up by construction debris. This is the EcoMinute and I’m Chasidy Hobbs.  During the construction of a 2,000 square foot home, 8,000 lbs of waste were typically thrown into the landfill.  This is changing thanks to programs like the Habitat re-store and landfill swap shops. If you are remodeling your home in any way and would like to turn your unwanted items into a treasured component of a Habitat house you have two options: one in Milton behind Hall’s Hardware and Lumber and another in Pensacola at 5810 N. Palafox St.  Habitat re-store will take just about anything no longer needed in your home; with non-construction items sold and proceeds going toward costs for new homes.  In addition, the Beulah landfill will soon have a swap shop where you can leave items without paying a dumping fee; remember, one person’s junk is another’s treasure.

082109
Use cloth rather than paper for cleaning and drying your hands.  Before you grab for that paper towel to wipe up a spill or dry your hands stop and consider using a cloth towel or rag.  Rather than throw away old ragged towels and cloth diapers that are no longer needed I keep some in a kitchen drawer and use them for mopping up spills.  After they’re used they just get tossed in the washer and washed with the rest of the laundry to be used again and again.  Same thing with cloth napkins.  Rather than reaching for a paper napkin, keep a supply of cloth napkins in the house – nice ones for guests and older or thrift shop purchases for everyday. Think of all the paper you’ll keep out of the landfill and how many trees you’ll save.

082409
Save paper at work by following a few easy suggestions.  This is the EcoMinute and I’m John Macdonell.  Use email instead of fax for sending documents. If you really need to use the fax, avoid using a cover page.  Print and Photocopy on Both Sides of your Paper - Change the setting of your printer or photocopier to allow double-sided printing or photocopying and reuse paper which has been printed on one side.  Switch to Electronic Invoicing - By switching to electronic invoicing, your company can reduce paper invoices, envelopes, postage and cut costs. Reuse Old Envelopes for Internal Mail - Used envelopes in good condition can be reused again for internal mail. Just cross off the old address and write down the new address of the receiving department in your company or organization

082509
Are you wondering what to do with all those things you can’t recycle like yogurt containers and egg cartons?  Why not consider donating them to your local elementary school for their art program or a local child care center.  These places go through a lot of resources every day and they can reuse a lot of our so called trash to make treasures and memories our children bring home.  An oatmeal container makes a great drum, yogurt and butter containers can store small objects or be used to mix paint, egg cartons make great sorters.  Even if you no longer have young children, you can supply some of the community support to help educate all of our our children. Be sure to call the school or child care center to be certain they have the need and the room to store these items. 

082609
Why not repair things rather than replace them when they break? This is the EM and I’m Chasidy Hobbs.  Repair is another form of "reuse". New is not always better, nor it is always necessary. You'll be helping your environment and your pocketbook will thank you too! There are countless guides to help you repair anything from dishwashers to personal computers.  Also, area hardware stores often have free classes to learn these skills.  This should be a consideration when we make our purchases.  We should buy items that are durable, and we should maintain them and have them repaired when necessary.  If we do this, many things can not only last a lifetime, but can be passed along from generation to generation. If something is truly unusable for its original purpose, try to be creative and think of how else it might be used. When you are done with it, think if someone else might be able to use it.

082709
Save paper at home by following a few more easy suggestions.  This is the EcoMinute and I’m John Macdonell.  We receive phone bills, bank and credit card statements, and other utilities or government agencies’ statements every month or on a regular basis through the mail. These envelopes, paper bills and statements often end up in the recycling bins or simply thrown away. To prevent the paper waste from being created in the first place, request electronic bills and statements. Check with your current companies and organizations on whether they provide such electronic services. Sign up if they do or request them if they don’t.  Consider reading your newspapers and magazines online, and for those you do still get in paper version - pass them along to a child care center or other facility. 

082809
Do you have a piece of furniture that has seen better days?  Instead of trashing it, why not give it a facelift?  Refurbishing is not only a cost-effective means of reusing existing furniture, but it also reduces energy usage and provides many environmental benefits. There are numerous websites where you can get great suggestions on ways to refurbish old furniture.  One suggestion was to replace the top of a worn table with a mosaic or decoupage; in fact one idea was to use broken tiles, old bottle caps, and pieces of favorite china which had been broken and give new life both to the furniture and the china and keep them all out of the landfill.  Other ideas are to paint, refinish, recover, decoupage with fabric scraps, or buy an inexpensive slip cover. 

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With all the attention lately surrounding recycling the other two R’s deserve some consideration. This is the eco-minute and I’m Chasidy Hobbs.  The more you reduce your consumption, the less you have to think about reusing and recycling. Rather than buying individual packaged foods, buy in bulk and use re-usable air-tight storage containers. This not only reduces your waste, but also your grocery bill. Need some ideas for re-using? Turn your toilet tissue bag into a garbage bag; use empty glass or plastic jars and tubs for food storage; turn those clothes too tattered to donate into rags for cleaning; use old newspapers for cleaning windows and mirrors; old aluminum foil can be used in place of a steel wool pad; fill empty plastic bottles with water, freeze, then use them to keep your ice chest cold again and again. All of these ideas not only reduce your consumption, but they also save you money.