Tag: recycling

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The Next Good Idea

Recycle Something New This Year

Well, not new.  I mean recycle something you have never recycled before.  I am going to start with some of those old cell phones that I haven’t ever been able to figure out what to do with.  

Secure The Call is a website you can use to do just that: recycle your cell phone.  It’s not that they recycle it in that they don’t break it down.  They repurpose it:

We’re a non-profit coalition of Police Departments, Sheriff’s Offices, Battered Women’s Shelters, Neighborhood Watch Groups, Community Service Organizations and Senior Citizen Centers. We take your donated phone and convert it into a 911 emergency only phone and give it back to our coalition partners for distribution.

If you don’t want to stop there and want to start to e-cycle the rest of your electronics, the EPA maintains partnerships with a whole bunch of retailers where you can take your stuff to discard of properly.  The list is here.

Or maybe you want to donate your old computer to a school or organization that needs it.  The National Christina Foundation is a not-for-profit dedicated to the support of training through donated equipment.  You can donate your computer to them.
Categories
The Next Good Idea

Rethinking how to live

The Greenhouse Project in the inner-city of Johannesburg is turning one urban park into a seedbed for sustainable communities.  As their website explains, the program takes a holistic approach to the city’s challenges, integrating green building and design, efficient and renewable energy, recycling, organic farming and nutrition.

It’s a good idea that certainly could be transfered to many cities across the globe.

Categories
The Next Good Idea

NYC Park Litter Collection

It’s a beautiful day in New York.  We like everyone else, seemed to be out walking.  We went through quite a few bottles of water.  And then just threw them in the trash.

How come NYC subway stations and parks don’t have trash containers that separate paper, bottles, and general garbage?  Would it be that hard to do?  Are there good examples of how other cities do it?
It was also just pointed out to me that the MTA has started a campaign to discourage people from leaving their paper on the train — a practice that I was always appreciative of (unless I found the bubblegum surprise stuck in the middle).  The absurdity of this campaign however is that instead of providing recycling bins, the MTA tells you throw the papers in the trash (along with your bottles and bubblegum).