Earth Week Field Guide: The Righteous Recycler
Posted by: Deborah Stein
Filed in:
news
3:00PM, Wednesday April 22nd 2009
Big ups for Earth Day! On Monday, we gave you the skinny on Freegans, and yesterday we profiled Locavores. Today, we’re loving on the Righteous Recycler. You know, that friend who picks your Diet Coke can out of the trash and keeps it until you pass a recycling bin, unplugs all electronics, and composts foodthings in her kitchen.
Did you know that every aluminum can that is thrown away will still be around 500 years from now? [Recycling Revolution] — Here are some more facts about our wasteful world that inspire Righteous Recyclers:
- Trees Are The Bees Knees. Recycling a ton of paper saves 17 trees, which absorb 250 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. It also saves enough oil to power a car halfway across the country and enough kilowatts to light a house for six months. [DoSomething.org]
- Too Much Fill, Not Enough Land. There are almost 4,000 landfills in the U.S. Every year, they absorb the 214 million tons of municipal solid waste that’s generated. [Berkeley Lab]
- Vampire Energy Slayers. Thirteen percent of American household energy use is from electronics we think are off. Yep, even when techno-gadgets are “off,” they’re still sucking power, if you keep ‘em plugged in. Even worse, Americans spend an average of $4 billion per year on these vampiric devices. [Yahoo]
Ready to convert? It’s super easy. Follow the lead of your fave recycler. Here’s how long it’ll take you each day to start being like her:
- 5 Minutes: Wash and separate your recyclables, and take them to the curb on schedule.
- 2 Minutes: Learn the recycling rules in your neighborhood.
- 2 Minutes: Unplug your _______ (fill in the blank: cell phone, iPod, Wii, laptop) when you’re not using it.
- 1 Minute: Discard all perishables in a kitchen bin for composting. You can use the mulch in that garden you’re going to start, just like Michelle Obama.
TheFrisky.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network
Humble Bee
wrote on April 22 2009 @ 03:47 pm: [report]
I’m that friend. I always embarass my sisters when I pick cans at the park, or anywhere we go, I toss it in my car and take it home. I save all my cans and glass bottles and recycle them and actually get money for them.
My mom and I planted abo0ut 4 trees and they are all blooming, Guava, peach, lemon, & orange.
Katrina
wrote on April 23 2009 @ 06:52 am: [report]
Me too! I pick up bottles, cans, and paper out of the garbage and put it in the proper bins. Not to mention which, since Coke is doing that cap code thing, I’ve gotten a free magazine subscription from using codes from other peoples’ bottles.
I also unplug my computer whenever I’m away for a while, although since I’m in a dorm composting in my room would likely get me a fine.
Lynn
wrote on April 23 2009 @ 09:13 am: [report]
I don’t compost, but I do live in the middle of the woods…so any perishables just get chucked over the side of my porch into the trees. I’m sure I have some very happy animals living around my house
It drives me insane when people don’t recycle, but I try not to be too in-your-face about it or make other people feel inadequate. When I would go to a party in college it drove me BONKERS that all those beer cans and bottles were just going in the trash instead of the recycling. When we had parties at our house, I’d spend the morning after separating everything out. My roommates thought I was nutty, but it would be painful to put those things out for the garbage truck! Everything I can recycle, I do. The garbage man picks up paper, plastic, glass, and cardboard. Grocery stores take plastic bags and shrink wrap. People think I’m weird about it but hey, I would like fresh air in 30 years.