Posted by no more rubbish on 07 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
There has been some interesting discussion on the tanking of markets for recyclables on the Grassroots Recycling Network’s listserve. You might want to check this out - GreenYes
Posted by no more rubbish on 04 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Not sure if you’ve ever suffered from wrap rage? Read on…
wrap rage n. Extreme anger caused by product packaging that is difficult to open or manipulate.
“Studies in Britain have shown that injuries caused by packaging cost the National Health Service about $25 million a year. These are not industrial accidents. They occur in homes every day, predominantly, but not exclusively, among the elderly.”
—Nick Richardson, “The mounting toll of wrap wrath,” Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), February 27, 2004Note: This form of fury also goes by the names package rage (1999), packaging rage (1998), and even can’t-open-the-package rage (2001).
And in Britain “in just one year, 67,000 people got injuries ranging from cut fingers to sprained wrists, from just wrestling with wrapping.”
But wouldn’t you know, someone has designed a handy gadget to solve the “problem!” Argh! Don’t buy the gadget…let’s just stop buying so much stuff in the first place. With luck, if we slow down our spending, manufacturers will quickly get the message, figure out how use fewer resources and create less of an environemental impact with their packaging design. Put pressure on them with your wallet and save yourself bodily injury and trips to the emergency room.
Posted by no more rubbish on 03 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: News
Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, a multi-year initiative designed to alleviate “wrap rage,” features recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of excess materials such as hard plastic clamshell cases, plastic bindings, and wire ties. The product itself is exactly the same—we’ve just streamlined the packaging. – 11/3/08
19 packages converted, 90 million to go.
They’ve also launched other projects across the company to reduce waste and save energy.
Posted by trashslasher on 27 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: events
“What do we want?”
“Garbage!”
“When do we want it?”
“Now!”
Clean-Up Group
Yes, the 26 students, staff and faculty who participated in Parkland Reads’ College Clean-Up - Part 2 were indeed hungry for garbage. Wearing fashion-forward lime, reflective vests and gloves, adrenalin coursing through their veins, they broke into five groups and energetically covered the inside of the College. Within 45 minutes, all groups had returned, bearing small bags of trash and much larger bags of recyclables. It was particularly noteworthy that the ratio of recyclables found to trash was about 7 to 1. Many, many pop bottles and quite a lot of paper and cardboard were the bulk of the recyclables.
Trash and recyclables
After the clean-up, a drawing was held to give away 4 copies of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash. The happy winners are shown below.
Many thanks to everyone who participated and supported this endeavor. A special thank you to Marsha Reardon for helping to organize and promote both College Clean-Ups. If you are interested in finding out about other volunteer opportunities at Parkland, please contact her at 353-3302 or mreardon@parkland.edu.
Next semester we’re hoping to do more clean-ups, so stay tuned for details!
Posted by no more rubbish on 27 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: News, Resources
Elizabeth Royte passed along information about a couple of programs that may be of interest. Cut and pasted from a recent email:
Here’s something on RecycleBank, the program that gives vouchers for goods in exchange for recyclables. Some communities with Recycle Bank include:
RecycleBank is now in 10 states and claims that the communities using this system are averaging a 40% landfill diversion rate.
People who are interested in sustainability issues might want to sign up for e-mail from the Grassroots Recycling Network (grrn.org). They have a list called GreenYes (it’s listed in the left-side nav bar on the home page) where people write in with questions, experts lurk, answer, debate. They cover all kinds of recycling, EPR, composting, language for local ordinances, etc. It’s a searchable database and it made reporting Garbage Land a whole lot easier. I highly recommend it.
Cheers,
Elizabeth
Posted by no more rubbish on 25 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: News
Elizabeth Royte, me and a Big Pile of Mushroom Compost in Champaign, Illinois.
Posted by no more rubbish on 22 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Resources
Follow along as Jon Rolls in the UK embraces a week of Zero Waste. Today is day three for the Rolls household. http://jrzerowastechallenge.blogspot.com/
Could you do this for a week?
Posted by no more rubbish on 22 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: events
Do you sometimes notice various kinds of trash inside Parkland and wish someone would pick it up? Can you imagine yourself spending an hour involved in this worthy endeavor?
The Parkland Reads College Clean-Up - Part 2 (this time indoors) will take place this Friday, October 24, from 3 - 4 pm. We’ll be recycling everything that we can and also generally noting the kinds of trash that we find.
The Clean-Up Project is sponsored by the Office of the President, Parkland Reads, Student Government, Sustainable Campus Initiative, and Student Life.
Gloves, bags, treats and the admiration of the Parkland College community will be provided. Please join us!
To sign up, e-mail: parklandreads@parkland.edu.
Posted by no more rubbish on 22 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Resources
This blog, from a women in the UK, is an interesting read. She began by taking part in a Zero Waste challenge in March and her book, The Rubbish Diet will be published in 2009. http://therubbishdiet.blogspot.com/
Posted by no more rubbish on 20 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Book discussion, events
Curriculum Discussion for Parkland College Faculty.
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008, 2:00-4:00 pm, D116
Are you interested in using Garbage Land in your classes but not sure how? Would you like to discuss curriculum ideas with your colleagues?
Join Jennifer Satterlee and Lynne Scott to discuss ideas for integrating the book and activities related to its themes into your spring semester classes.
Reserve your spot by emailing CenterForExcellence@parkland.edu or calling ext. 3767.
