Generate Less Trash in
your Daily Work Environment
by
Angela Brantley, Solid Waste Manager
Early in the
new year is as good a time as any to
look at the way you do your work and to
possibly reduce the amount of waste
generated.
-
You’ve typed a draft document for
your supervisor. You’ve found a
misspelled word or grammar error. Do
you correct the error and run
another copy? Or are you allowed to
make the correction in RED and hand
it in for review? This small
agreement would prevent paper waste,
copier ink use and time.
-
Review your document before you
print it. Can you fit everything on
one page instead of two by changing
margins or fonts? Or possibly change
format appearance to allow for
better use of your letterhead.
- When
copying documents, ALWAYS copy
multi-page documents by using the
double-sided copying feature on your
copier, especially if you are
mailing out to the public. It saves
postage and it saves paper!
-
Review the reports you are
generating. Can the information be
sent electronically and copied only
on an as-needed basis or can you
improve the format to save paper and
time?
-
Don’t copy every email sent to you.
If you do copy an email, just copy
the important information and not
pages of non-consequential data.
- Buy
paper with recycled content. I won’t
burden you with the amount of energy
saved by using recycled paper but
it’s amazing data. Use pens that can
be re-used (replacement of
cartridges, etc.).
- Save
your copier paper that only has
printing on one side. Use them as
notepads or to stuff boxes that you
are shipping. Try to reuse as much
as you can and recycle after you’ve
exhausted its current use.
- If
you receive Styrofoam peanuts in a
box, bag them and donate them to
Mail Boxes, etc. or UPS stores. They
love to have them.
- Do
you use blueprints in your work? If
so, many schools would love to use
that paper. Email me and I can set
up a recycling program for you.
Remember
to reduce your waste AND recyclables.
Everything has a price tag attached to
it, not only what you purchase but your
time as well.
New Year's Trash for
Some Becomes Treasure for Others
by
Angela Brantley, Solid Waste Manager
The
holidays are over and now your closets
are packed full with extra things, and
the kids have decided that last year’s
toys are no longer fun to play with.
Remember to gather up your unwanted
goods and take them to either the
Last Chance Mercantile (www.mrwmd.org/departments/lastchance.htm)
at the landfill in Marina (go to their
Web site referenced above or call
384.5313 for hours) or to any of the
thrift stores available throughout
Monterey County, such as the
Goodwill, Salvation Army, SPCA, St.
Vincent DePaul or Cancer Society.
Remember, it’s tax deductible!
If you choose to go to the landfill
in Marina, there is a Household
Hazardous Waste drop-off site right
next door to Last Chance Mercantile. It
is free for all residents of
Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Seaside
and Marina (Salinas and South County
folks can visit the drop-off site in
their community, call 755.1300 for times
and site location). Take paints,
insecticides, herbicides, car oil,
antifreeze and other hazardous materials
there. These items should never go into
trash containers or down drains, they
should be disposed of at a certified
location.
Speaking of car oil, did you know
there is a car oil recycling program
throughout Monterey County? To get a
container for oil and bag for the
filter, call your waste hauler (in
Monterey call Monterey City Disposal
Service at 372.7977; in Spreckles,
Greenfield, Gonzales and Soledad call
Tri-Cities Disposal at 1.888.678.6798;
from all other cities call Waste
Management at 384.5000). The full oil
and filter receptacles can be placed
next to your recycling container on the
scheduled day of pick up.
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‘Tis the Season…Helpful Hints to Cut
Waste
by
Angela Brantley, Solid Waste Manager
-
Instead of using un-recyclable
wrapping paper, use brown paper and
personalize it with hand-drawn
artwork, stamps with interesting
patterns from rubber reusable or
cut-out photos or fun pictures from
magazines. Use a sprig of holly or
other thicker leaf with glue instead
of ribbons.
-
Remember to place a different color
recycling bin next to the trash bin
for guests to use at parties and
family gatherings. Using a picture
of a bottle or can and the word
recycle on it helps to eliminate
confusion. Pictures speak a thousand
words!
-
Styrofoam peanuts are an absolute
nightmare in the environment. Have
plastics bags available when you are
opening gifts and put Styrofoam in
bags. Take peanuts to Mail Boxes
Etc., UPS and other shipping
companies where they will reuse
them. If you don’t want to do that,
make sure the bag is sealed well and
place it in your garbage container.
The same applies for larger pieces
of Styrofoam.
- As
always, buy a reusable Christmas
tree. You have to really scratch and
sniff to figure out if these trees
are real or not. They are beautiful.
Having a small branch of cedar in
the home will give you that
wonderful smell without the fire
danger and waste associated with
live trees. If you buy a real tree,
do not buy flocked trees, as they
are not recyclable.
-
Remember to donate items to the
local thrift stores or Last Chance
Mercantile at the landfill in
Marina. More and more, the home and
garden television shows are giving
examples of reusing many items that
are considered "trash" and making
them into treasures. Contribute. A
good Web site to visit is
www.freecycle.org
-
Remember: If it goes into the trash,
the truck takes it directly to the
landfill and it will take many
years, if ever, to decompose. And
when you recycle, please don't
include plastic bags, hangars,
extension cords in the bin as they
ruin the sorting machinery.
Have a
great holiday and remember to reduce
your waste (not your waist!).
Compost: the Real
Reason Jack’s Beanstalk
was a Giant!
by Angela Brantley, Solid Waste Manager
Research has shown that the cause for
the incredible growth in the "beanstalk"
in the fairytale Jack and the
Beanstalk was due to diligent use of
compost created by the decomposition of
yard trimmings and vegetable food scraps
At least that’s my version of the
story and I’m sticking to it! Why?
Soil created by composting yard
trimmings (brown stuff) and kitchen
scraps (fruits and vegetables) is just
plain beautiful. It’s rich, dark and
chock full of the necessary nutrients
that are easily absorbed by plants.
Using compost (not ground wood products)
is far superior to using chemical
fertilizers to increase growth and
flower production; and no salt residue
is left behind in the soil.
To start composting at your home
try this ...
-
Purchase a metal trash can with a
snug fitting lid. The size depends
on the amount of yard trimmings and
food scraps you generate.
-
Drill good size holes in the
container for drainage and air.
Drill lots of them on the bottom and
up the sides.
-
Place the container in full sun and
on soil, if possible. The heat from
the sun helps with the breakdown of
foods and placing it on soil allows
the good guys (worms) to come up and
munch on the material and leave
their castings behind. Castings are
like gold to plants.
- Dig
a hole in the ground approximately 6
inches or deep enough to prevent the
can from being knocked over by
animals.
-
Place your leaves and plant
trimmings on the bottom. Putting
"brown" or dry material in the
container helps balance the wet
material (such as lawn trimmings,
food scraps, etc.). When you put in
wet material, such as food, put a
layer of dry material on top (leaves
and plants, strips of newspaper,
straw, egg cartons, etc. Using a
little bit of soil is helpful also.)
- Once
in a while, move the material
around. Good air circulation speeds
up the decomposition process.
-
Compost needs water. If it’s too
dry, it will take a longer time to
decompose. If it’s too wet, either
from watering or the type of
material you are using, it will
attract fruit flies and have an
odor.
-
Here is a brief list of items that
you should not compost:
-Animal feces
-Meat (takes too long to break down
and creates odor
-Cheese (same as meat)
The good
stuff will be at the bottom. The easiest
way to get to it is to take the can out
and turn it over. Most people who
compost have two containers. After one
is full, they stop feeding it and go to
the next container. This gives the
material in the first container a chance
to decompose fully.
Building Good Habits
by Angela
Brantley, Solid Waste Manager
Habits! Get into habits! It only
takes 21 days to get a habit thoroughly
entrenched into your brain. An easy
habit is to store cloth bags in your car
to use at the store when you go
shopping. If you fear you will run out
of plastic bags, don’t! You always wind
up with them whether you want to or not.
So, what’s the problem with plastic
bags? I won’t even go into the amount of
oil, water and chemicals used to make a
plastic bag. It’s gross! Look around you
on highways, in fields, oceans, lakes,
flowerbeds, backyards and you will see
plastic bags that have escaped! They are
horrible in the environment. They hurt
fish and birds and just look plain bad.
Our Parks Maintenance folks would
probably love to stop taking plastic
bags out of greenbelts and planted park
areas.
Many stores give you 5 cents per
bag if you use them instead of new bags.
If they don’t, ask them to start a
program that would encourage the use of
cloth bags. Cloth bags are much easier
to use when hauling groceries. They
won’t split and are easier to carry. As
a reminder, please do not place plastic
bags in your recycle bins as they tend
to destroy the separation equipment. If
you do acquire too many plastic bags,
take them back to the market you got
them from. They are supposed to offer
plastic bag recycling.
It’s almost Halloween…use a
cloth bag instead of plastic to go Trick
or Treating. They can carry LOTS of
candy!!!
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