A Recycling Challenge

Challenge yourself this new year to recycle more than you did last year. Even if you did a great job of it in the past see if there are ways you could improve. Maybe one way of improving is to remind and or educate friends, neighbors and work colleagues to do more. For me this year I want to make sure any old electronics make it to a proper recycling facility instead of the garbage can. We are fortunate to live in such a pristine region of this country called Canada. It's not just the natural scenery it's also how we deal with garbage and recycling that sets us apart. I've been to other countries were things are quite dirty and polluted because people don't deal with garbage and recycling properly. Let's keep up the good work and find ways to do it even better.

Recycling

Recycling takes time but if you work it into your regular routine it will only take minutes.

In Vancouver we can see recycling taking place everywhere even our city street side garbage receptacles have slots for plastic bottles and aluminum cans. At least this allows the homeless or street people to take these recyclables to a local facility for some extra pocket change.

Strangely enough when we visit the United States it seems as though they aren't as studious about recycling. There seems to be less opportunity to drop recyclables into appropriate containers. The malls are a for instance. Their malls usually only have garbage cans and no recyclable cans.

Do you agree with me? Let me know.

Environmentally Friendly and its different faces

So much is made of being environmentally friendly. If someone buys a SUV they're branded as being cruel to mother earth, unless it's a Hybrid of course. But buying new energy efficient stuff doesn't necessarily mean that mother earth is better for it. The manufacturing carbon footprint of Hybrid vehicles is enormous as compared to regular gas or diesel vehicles. And what happens to the batteries in the Hybrids when they need replacing? Keeping an older model car in tip top shape will keep it from the landfill; stop you from buying a new vehicle; keep your hard earned money in the bank!

Plastic - a quick history

Can you imagine life without plastic? From it's first inception in 1862 by Alexander Parkes, plastic has taken on many different forms. All these forms come into contact with us on a daily basis. Just take a look around you there is plastic everywhere. Imagine back to the old TV sets and old stereo consoles of the 1950's and 1960's. All of these were housed in wooden cabinets. Today all these components are housed in plastic and metal, saving trees but still causing lots of pollution. Look inside of all new automobiles, plastic is everywhere. In the medical field plastic is used extensively. Disposable sterile plastic syringes ensure no transmission of disease. Plastic gloves keep germs from passing one to another. Since the 1980's plastic lenses for eyewear gave the wearer more protection and less weight on the nose. Soft contact lenses exist only because of the development of plastic. Underground sewer and drain pipes are made from plastic. In fact plastic can be made so resilient that it not only won't rot and decay but it can withstand high pressure and high heat as well. Copper pipes in home plumbing are often replaced with plastic. This blog is too small to cover all the usefulness of plastic. I just wanted to hi-light some areas before I start to look at the negative impact that plastic has on our earth.

The 3 R's - REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

The 3 R's of reduce, reuse and recycle may be a bit of a "cliche" but their value is even more important today than it ever was.