Keeping an eye on the planet-glasses or contacts?

Find places to recycle eye wear at RecyclerFinder.com

People who require vision correction may not stop and think about the environmental impact of their choices. Some people prefer contact lenses over eyeglasses because they are less bulky. Other people prefer not to hassle with lens cases, soaking solutions and remembering when to replace their disposable contacts. When basing their decision on its impact on the planet, is there a clear choice?

Because contacts and eyeglasses are both so small, it is difficult to imagine either having a significant negative effect on the environment. However, the manufacture of polycarbonate, a material often used to make eyeglass lenses, requires the use of toxic chemicals. Contact lenses are sold in blister packs that are also often packaged in cardboard packages. Contact lens users may go through up to 15 12-ounce bottles of solution per year. With more than 100 million people in the world using contact lenses, that is a lot of waste.

The amount of lens solution required depends on the type of lenses. Daily use contact lens wearers are less likely to go through several bottles of solution per year, but they will discard more packaging than wearers who change their contacts less often. When it comes to glasses, frame-less styles use less raw material.

Regardless of the type of lens used, wearers can help save the planet by recycling as much as possible. In many countries, glasses can be recycled through a variety of organizations. Recycling options are also available for the cardboard and plastic packaging that houses contact lenses. Recyclefinder.com can help lens wearers find local facilities to recycle their eyewear so they can help the environment and produce less waste.

Find places to recycle eye wear at RecyclerFinder.com!

Advertisement

How does cigarette smoking harm our planet?

Find places to recycle anything but cigarettes at RecyclerFinder.com

The detrimental health effects of cigarettes in relation to the body of a smoker are well known, and are actually printed on most advertising and packaging. There is even research that suggests the smoke that is exhaled can have adverse heath effects on people, children, and pets that are in the immediate area. One area that is not often considered, however, is the environmental impact that the entire process of smoking has on the planet and its population.

The amount of resources that are spent in order to produce a pack of cigarettes is much higher than some other products. The agricultural methods that are used to produce tobacco use an excessive amount of water and deplete the nutrients in large areas for many years. The plants themselves sometimes have negative reactions with surrounding fields, making it impossible to integrate the crop. The genetic engineering that is involved in creating drought and disease resistant tobacco plants has also caused problems with germination in surrounding areas.

A single cigarette requires paper that is produced from trees, and the filters are made in such a way so that when a smoker is done, the filter still contains many of the thousands of chemicals that are produced. Cigarette butts account for a large percentage of the waste from many countries and can take up to 25 years to decompose. When improperly disposed of, the butts can be consumed by animals in the environment and can cause intestinal blockages. Even after the butts have broken down into component parts, the chemicals from the treated tobacco can contaminate an area so it is unhealthy for habitation.

There are few immediate solutions for many of these problems. Campaigns to reduce or stop smoking are the most effective way to prevent damage to the environment and to people. Advanced agricultural methods can help reduce the water and energy needed to grow tobacco, and new materials can make cigarette filters that are recyclable, although without strong governmental regulations the chemicals they contain can still be harmful.

Find places to recycle anything but cigarettes, at RecyclerFinder.com!

Recycling Shoes for the Environment (and Others)

Recycle these ASAP please!!!

In the past, when shoes became unwearable, they were thrown away or taken to the landfill where they added to the existing piles. Today, recycling is a friendlier solution for getting rid of worn-out footwear. Not only does this create a cleaner environment, but the components produced through recycling can be used to create new products. This process prevents landfill overflow and creates an atmosphere of stewardship and sharing among societies. How do people get started?

The easiest way to recycle footwear is through a program like Nike’s ReUse a Shoe, which breaks them down and uses the resulting nylon, rubber, and foam to create products like Nike Grind, a component in athletic mats, or even new footwear to donate to others. Nike’s website lists over 200 drop-off locations around the world where people can bring athletic shoes and LIVESTRONG wristbands to be recycled or donated.

While Nike focuses mainly on preserving a trash-free environment, other programs such as Crocs Cares, Soles4Souls, and the Cinderella Project focus on donating. These organizations collect worn Crocs, athletic footwear, and high heels to donate to impoverished communities across the globe. For example, Crocs Cares donates Crocs to developing nations to prevent the spread of disease; the Cinderella Project donates formal evening wear and accessories to teenagers who cannot afford them for proms and formal dances. Websites for each of these groups list locations and contact information for donating gently used pieces.

Finally, for those who wish to recycle within their local communities, Recyclerfinder.com provides a free application for computers and mobile devices so people can search for nearby facilities. Plenty of options exist for turning shoes into usable materials or for donating them to a worthy cause, both of which keep them out of the landfill and on people’s feet where they belong.

Find places to recycle shoes at RecyclerFinder.com!

Funny Raccoon Commercial – RecyclerFinder.com

This funny commercial is making people laugh while helping the environment. Check it out yourself YouTube – Funny Raccoon Commercial

RecyclerFinder.com - Funny Raccoon Commercial

Find places to recycle anything @ RecyclerFinder.com

Green Fees-how much is golf costing our environment

I can't miss with my new Taylor Made Nuclear Driver XXXXL!

Few people actually pay attention to the damage to the environment that occurs when golf courses are built. This is not due to apathy or stupidity – it is simply the result of ignorance of and lack of information that surrounds the topic. With increasing awareness and concern for the environment, many people are coming to terms with the idea that many of our modern conveniences, such as courses for golfers, are actually causing more harm and costing us more in “green fees” while much better alternatives are available.

This is in fact a very pertinent topic as golf-related tourism is increasing around the world. This sport is spreading to many countries where the ecology is sensitive to change, and this heralds a new era for environmentalists as they try to combat the spread. These courses are particularly damaging in the sense that while they may look green, natural, and appealing to the eye through landscaping efforts, they actually wipe out all pre-existing plants and animals in favor of a landscape devoid of true nature. This leads to a false dichotomy – it looks like the outdoors, but golf courses are as far from nature as a sprawling asphalt parking lot.

To build a course, investors choose a site that is appealing to golfers – many of whom are in the upper and middle classes. Traditionally, these sites are around or within sprawling suburbs, but recently, a new form of golfing courses has emerged that caters to a sense of exoticism. Courses located on mountaintops, in jungles, and by coasts are becoming increasingly common as they attract huge numbers. These present many environmental problems as these areas are especially sensitive to destruction.

Once a site is selected, regardless of where it is – the landscape is decimated in an attempt to open up the space so needed for golfing. Trees are scythed down and the soil is churned up, destroying the homes of birds, mammals, and insects alike. All courses call for tightly manicured lawns – this signals the most pervasive form of environmental damage in the business. In order to grow the unnaturally vibrant grasses for golf, pesticides and fertilizers are used extensively. The grass is of an unnatural variety, unable to grow without close tending. It demands incredibly high levels of water, which is sucked up from the surrounding water table and causes a high loss of water to the nature surrounding the courses. In turn, the pesticides and fertilizers dumped on the grass dissolve into the ground water, causing extensive pollution of the ground water, and surround lakes and streams.

I think a deer just fell in the hole!

This sport is far from being ecologically friendly. It kills plants and animals alike with ambivalence, and the end result is a destroyed environment. Greater alternatives to outdoor activities would be simply purchasing land to preserve in its natural form, for use as a hiking, birdwatching, and nature refuge – not destroying it for something that only cheaply imitates the outdoors. That all sounds great and everything but I’m not willing to give up my golf game.

After all is said and done, new course architects and designers are slowly starting to address and accommodate environmental issues with respect and designing courses with drought resistant plants, grasses that require less pesticides and water, and even integrating the environment into the course design reducing the need for terra-forming. Now if they can only make the fairways wider and the holes bigger!

Find places to recycle your old golf clubs @ www.RecyclerFinder.com

Make Green By Going Green – Cash For Trash

People are making money turning their scrap into cash at RecyclerFinder.com

People are making money using RecyclerFinder.com to locate recycling facilities that will pay you cash for your scrap. Every day thousands of household items and electronics are mindlessly discarded or hulled to the curb for pick-up. What most people do not know, however, is that these objects can earn a respectable amount of money if given to recycling companies for processing. Who does not want to earn extra cash?

RecyclerFinder.com assists the public with identifying what recyclable items are of interest and directs individuals to appropriate recycling locations in the area. Items such as refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers and similar items – also called white metal – can be recycled for a cash return. Metals such as copper and stainless steal can be deposited at the same recycling locations. With copper prices near all-time highs, the return on deposit is well worth reclaiming copper wiring, tubing and other copper-rich items. RecyclerFinder.com makes the process of recycling easier.

In addition to metal, paper and plastic recovery programs other personal and household merchandise can also be recycled. Items such as cell phones, old rechargeable batteries, printers and computers all have unique reprocessing systems specific for the particular category. Companies will pay individuals for outdated cell phones and electronics and cover the cost of shipping by supplying pre-paid containers.

By providing facility locator services, RecyclerFinder.com decreases time spent in finding a recycling company and increases the probability that items that should be recycled will be. Every step taken to refrain from unloading products that can be recycled benefits the environment, businesses, economy, and adds a little more cash to the bank account.

Find places that pay for scrap at www.recyclerfinder.com

What is a living building?

Living Building

A living building is a green economy initiative that is defined by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CRGBC) as a building that is able to generate all of its energy resources with renewable nontoxic sources. The living building also treats and captures all of its own water.

A living building, to be considered legitimate, must be able to be certified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), a subsidiary of its Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design (LEED) program. certification can mean that a building is eligible for many tax breaks and other types of parks.

The CRGBC, in order to promote the idea of a building that could live on its own, actually launched a challenge to the construction and design communities to pursue adding sustainability in the environment surrounding the building. As of today there are more than 60 different projects spanning North America which are trying to meet the high standards of the LBC group, which are even higher standards than the LEED program.

The first building that was considered for this much higher standard of green sustainability was the Omega Center for Sustainable Living, in Rhinebeck, NY. This building is a 6200 square-foot single-story building which serves many businesses in the area. It features rain gardens that use water runoff in order to irrigate the surrounding plants, solar panels for energy, heating and cooling system that is geothermal, and a 4500 square-foot greenhouse that recycles wastewater.

Living Building Concept

The building also incorporates a design that capitalizes on the natural light flowing into the building, minimizing the need for electric lights. The building is also, most importantly, “net zero,” meaning that the building uses no more energy than it generates. This is the top criteria for certification by the LBC. The building must operate for a full year before it can be considered for this type of certification.

There is one reason above all that the concept of this type of a building has not yet hit the mainstream – the cost. The cost of creating any kind of net zero building that generates only as much energy as it uses is especially high, and there is as of yet no way to bring that cost down. However, the concept of this type of building is definitely possible in the future, as builders begin to source locally for materials and local economies gradually warm themselves to the concept of a green economy which can create jobs.

Many distinguished educational institutions have caught on to the idea of this living kind of building, and are conducting experiments, both thought and actual, which vet the concepts that the current projects are testing in the field. Many studies are expected to be released about this concepts in the coming years.

Find recycling centers near you at www.recyclerfinder.com

How Cities are Enforcing Recycling Laws

Find recycling facilities near you at RecyclerFinder.com

Remember Audi’s 2010 Superbowl ad portraying “Green Police” engaging in quasi gestapo tactics, hauling away citizens not properly recycling? The marketing executives at Audi may have been more on the cutting edge than we know.

Though the ad mocks government intervention in the everyday lives of citizens, it is actually targeted to a green conscious audience. The automobile being featured is diesel powered but boasts lower emissions than gasoline fueled vehicles.

Audi’s depiction is an increasing reality. In Dayton, Ohio, the city has equipped each resident’s trash bin with a type of tracking chip which catalogs what residents are putting in the bin, according to FOX News. Other cities, including Flint, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio and Boise, Idaho are tracking their citizen’s refuse. Call it the trash police.

In fact, the city of Cleveland actually issues $100 fine for homes that do not meet the municipality’s recycling guidelines.

Like any other story, the trash police scenario has more than one side. There are benefits to such monitoring but those benefits may be outweighed by the cost of privacy concerns.

* The “Green” Argument

Cities are engaging in these new enforcement provisions to reduce costs. For instance, not sorting your trash means a trip to the landfill. The landfill isn’t infinite. Eventually, the landfill will be full.

Cities looking to cut costs can find revenue savings by cutting down on having to sort trash. Separating glass, plastics and other materials makes the conversion from refuse to reusable material more simple. That reduces not only time but cost.

Moreover, any tracking devices cities use tell them useful information. It helps them identify habits. That translates into marketing revenue. It also means green conscious residents will qualify for rebates. Those rebates encourage other citizens to become more prudent in separating their trash.

* The “Privacy” Argument

Of course, with any government tracking comes concerns about privacy. The social website Facebook has come under fire from both private citizens, elected officials and consumer rights advocacy groups for its “tracking” of subscribers.

The same concern goes for tracking trash. Call it the “slippery slope” phenomenon. Privacy rights organizations and advocates believe once any government engages in keeping tabs on its citizenry, there is little recourse. Moreover, once instituted, tracking becomes more wide spread to other facets.

The bottom line is recycling is not only environmentally responsible, it does reduce costs. The trick is to balance public stewardship with personal rights.

Find recycling centers near you at www.recyclerfinder.com