96 gal recycling cans come to Discovery Bay, CA
Three years ago the Garaventa Family, owners of Mt Diablo Recycling Center
64 Gal Garbage Yard Waste
in Pittsburgh, CA had a grand vision and this month in Discovery Bay we get the opportunity to participate in their vision and help make it a reality.
As our bins are being delivered over the next few weeks we have choices to make that effect the way our community embraces and accepts the responsibility that has been bestowed upon us. As in “Field of Dreams,” The Garaventa Family built a state of the art 90,000 square foot recycling facility now it’s our turn to keep it busy.
Choice #1 - Are we going to challenge ourselves to truly reduce our waste? Discovery Bay Disposal is offering all residents three different sized garbage waste containers. Most of us are probably comfortable with the 96 gallon container just in case we need it. But what if we can get by with a smaller container such as a 64 gallon or a 32 gallon container? The benefits are you’ll save money on your garbage bill and more importantly you’ll divert garbage going to our local landfill. Think about it. How much garbage do you think we can sustain in Contra Costa County before we eventually reach capacity? We might not run out of capacity in the next few years but our children may have to deal with it when they are older.
Choice #2 - Are we going to change our habits? If you were going to look through your garbage today and actually separate it into the proper containers you’d be amazed. Here is a list of four types of garbage that could be either diverted or not used at all.
1) Vegetable table scraps -Store them in a waste container underneath your sink until you take the trash out. You can throw them in the yard waste or start a compost pile.
2) Paper towels and napkins - How often do we use paper towels or napkins to just wipe up a quick spill or wipe a dirty mouth. Maybe cloth napkins or hand towels could replace them and it would save money too.
3) Cardboard boxes - If you accumulate a lot of useable cardboard boxes post them on Freecycle.org and someone in your local neighborhood will pick them up to use for moving etc.
4) Plastic grocery bags - stop using them at the grocery store instead bring your own bags. There is a great website called “Bagnetic” that sells bags that hang on a hook so they don’t take up much room in your trunk.
Choice #3 - Teach our children the importance of recycling. We need to lead by example and encourage them to separate the trash. After all it’s probably one of their chores anyway. Mt Diablo Recycling offers school presentations and tours of their recycling facility in Pittsburgh. Talk to your children’s teacher about organizing a field trip or plan a family or neighborhood trip of your own. Contact Nicole Adler at (925) 692-2224, or email her at nicole@garaventaent.com.
In conclusion, let’s get excited about this new recycling program by taking action and changing. By the way did you know that currently 30% of our garbage in Contra Costa County is being diverted from the landfill at the Mt Diablo Recycling Center? Wouldn’t it be great to get it up to 50% or higher?
I invite you to post comments and ideas on what works for you. What changes are you making to make a difference.
Simple and responsible E-Waste solutions with Blue Star Electronics
Blue Star Electronics LLC
Our computers are such a personal item. They are our lifeline, They contain a lot of secure information about us and we are always upgrading them to the latest greatest equipment about every 3-5 years.
So what is one of the most responsible ways we can reduce the clutter in our office, closets, warehouse or garage? Use a reputable and responsible company to dispose of all your e-waste as you do not want to throw it into your trash and you don’t want it going into the landfill.
Blue Star Electronics is a very reputable company located in Hayward, CA. They specialize in responsibly disposing, repurposing or recycling all your e-waste. In a nutshell, the highlights of their service include: picking up your e-waste, your items get sorted back at their Hayward facility for either destruction, re-marketing, and or the products are broken down and recycled. Blue Star Electronics supports a zero landfill policy and nothing is shipped overseas to become another countries problem.
An extra benefit that they provide is erasing hard drive data utilizing software approved by the United State Department of Defense. Any proprietary materials are shredded or destroyed and you are issued a certificate of destruction.
They pick up all types of electronic equipment
Computer Systems Components (all types)
Monitors Keyboards and Mice
Printers Power Supplies
Circuit Boards Media - All Types
Data storage units- all types Sun//Cisco/SGI Equipment
All types of Test Equipment Raw Metals and Materials
Proprietary Equipment Semiconductor Equipment
TV’s VCR”S, DVD, CD Players and gaming consoles.
Bluestar and DCPC Youth Group
They have several ways to pick-up e-waste. You can coordinate a community fundraiser. Delta Community Presbyterian Church recently had their youth group coordinate a E-Waste drive by passing out flyers and barbecuing hot dogs. Their efforts filled almost two semi trucks with computers, TV’s and various other electronics. The money they raised in collaboration with Blue Star Electronics is helping fund their Winter Youth Retreat.
If you are a large corporation Blue Star Electronics will bring a truck to your location and if computers can be refurbished they can be sold back to your employees on a private weblink.
Check out Bluestar Electronics here.
They are located at 23196 Foley Street, Hayward, CA 94545
Office: 510.259.1879 Fax: 510.259.0550
Or you can email them at recycle@bluestarco.com
You can request a pick-up by clicking here.
Obtaining Transparency in Recycling Through Green Halo
What is the purpose of Green Halo? Green Halo Systems is a fully integrated web based management system that provides the necessary tools for contractors, recyclers and other businesses to transparently comply with local, state and federal recycling guidelines.
This online line software resource allows you to track, report and follow projects in real time with precision and accountability. The Green Halo project is taking a giant step forward in supporting the green movement and should play a very important role in meeting the newly enacted CAL Green guidelines.
Over time, Green Halo should be able to accurately predict how fast the momentum of the green movement will progress as builders join forces with like minded sustainable suppliers so the price of using the right materials will become more affordable. Building design techniques should take a giant leap ahead with the objective of designing with less waste. These trends should be easily visually documented in a short period of time.
As a big advocate of reusing and recycling I look forward to observing what creative and innovative ideas develop for repurposing the waste and recycled items that are introduced through this program.
Wouldn’t it be a great goal to eliminate the need for our landfills? By removing recyclable material from our landfills we can definitely slow down the rapid need for more landfill space. Our common goals should be to educate and train businesses and consumers how easy it is to change a few habits. Over time we can all collectively make a difference.
Going Green - Do you know what the 4th “R” of recycling means?
It’s time to expand our thinking and add another layer to our recycling strategy. How many of you know the 4 R’s of Recycling? What is the missing “R”? Well if you’ve been watching my events post you could probably make an educated guess. The fourth “R” is “Rot” I have listed all the composting events going on in Contra Costa County for 2010 in my events section. I highly recommend that if you don’t know a lot about composting that you attend a class. Last year I made an attempt to compost and I made a nice garbage can full of stinky sludge. The good news is after attending the class I learned about the scientific part of composting and I started over and now my composting pile is starting to do it’s job. It’s amazing what a little air will do to help in composting.
Another surprising benefit to composting is that my trash can is not full every week. Little did I know that this one small change would reduce my trash so much. I am so much more aware of what I’ve throwing away.
Did you know that composting has a significant impact of reducing the carbon dioxide released into the environment?
Composting helps the climate! The US EPA estimates that simply increasing our national recycling rate from its current level of 30 percent to 35 percent would reduce GHG emissions by 10 million metric tons of so-called carbon equivalent (MTCE). That amount is equal to the average annual emissions from the electricity consumed by roughly 4.6 million households. (2.)
There is a great article on the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority website pertaining to the impact of the 4r’s on our climate. Did you know the EPA ranks landfills the second largest source of human released methane gas?
I challenge you to think about making one small change and consider composting. Worm composting is a small way to start and it’s something you can do in a small tub that doesn’t use very much space.
Here is a link to a quick guide to worm composting at www.savvygardener.com.
What did Uplifting Green Learn Since Earth Day Last Year?
My journey this past year into becoming a more responsible, sustainable and environmentally good steward of the earth and the resources has proven to me that I can change. Through my diligent writing, research and undying curiosity of needing to know the truth, I’ve made friends and have started developing a like-minded audience.
Let me preface my accomplishments this year by stating that when I made the proactive and conscience decision to live a “greener” life I was definitely “talking the talk” but did not know how to begin to “walk the walk.” Now I have the drive and ambition to peel another layer off the onion this next year and I hope to achieve more and pass my knowledge and experience along to whomever wants to listen.
So how did I start becoming an actively conscience steward of my environment?
First, I needed a broad view of what comprises of my worldy sustainable issues. For me, I realized I consume too much of everything. I use too many resources, I aimlessly throw away anything and everything not fully realizing the impact of my actions.
What did I do with this information?
Second, I asked lots of questions. I follow treehugger.com, planetgreen, mygreenpurse, I watch “Living with Ed” I read books two especially good ones were, No Impact Man by Colin Bevin
What did I learn?
Well, everyone has there own opinions, some more drastic then others but the end result is there are many people who want to change their ways and many people are changing their lifestyles, careers and attitudes based on wanting to live a more sustainable, responsible and eco friendly lifestyle.
What did I specifically do to change this past year?
1) I made friends and I started this blog, I’ve joined many green forums and green groups. I want to know as much as I can and I want to tell everyone about what businesses and services are doing it right.
2) I made a few personal changes. I try to carry a commuter cup into Starbucks and my friends always commetn on it but I do make a statement and an impression.
3) I started really recycling. I compost my food scraps and some of my lawn trimmings. My daughter is earning money from our recycling efforts too. My trash can is usually only half full by the end of the week.
4) I joined freecycle.org and instead of buying new things I try to reuse and repurpose. It’s really kinda fun.
5) I became a Contra Costa County Bay Area Green Certified Business. That was pretty exciting and it really got me motivated to make changes around the house. We know have all CFL lighting and I’m much more aware of my energy consumption. This is an area I want to work on for the next twelve months.
What do I want to accomplish for the next twelve months?
I want to write about all the businesses in my area that are doing it right. I want to share their ideas and visions so we can start making better purchasing decisions and spend our dollars more wisely. I realize there are many greener options than I’m aware of and if I was unaware of them how could you know about them? How are we going to start supporting the right people producing the best products and services that are sustainable, responsible and eco friendly?
Two Cool Concepts I read in Go Green, Live Rich
In my opinion, I think I found my #1 green resource book for this year. David Bach & Hillary Rosner.
“>Go Green, Live Rich is about 50 simple ways to save the earth. Although I am already familiar with many of the subjects they discussed such as driving an energy efficient car, changing my light bulbs and recycling I did find several new concepts that I hadn’t thought of and am looking forward to exploring this year.
Concept #1 - Green Investing
Investing green as a way to build your portfolio. Developing more of a conscience regarding where you invest your money is something I never really thought about. As I invested in my 401K, I innocently let everyone else decide where it was going to be invested. Now that I am older and wiser (haha) I want to change the world and one way to do that is to invest more responsibly, I want to reward and endorse companies that are producing sustainable products and services that are socially and environmentally responsible. How else are we going to make a change? These days change certainly isn’t coming quickly enough through our voting power.
A couple of places to begin your research is Morningstar.com. David Bach also has his own investment alerts at www.greengreen.com
Concept #2 - Take a Volunteer Vacation
In this current economy everyone is talking about taking “staycations.” In my opinion this is not a real vacation. A volunteer vacation is 
where you save money and have a terrific adventure by providing valuable manpower on a project that is helping the plant and all its inhabitants. Depending upon the type of project you choose, you can be a place with spectacular scenery with time to spare to enjoy it. In most cases by volunteering your food and lodging are included.
A couple of places to check out are the Sierra Club www.sierraclub.org and Habitat for Humanity ” www.habitat.org
As I stated before Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying
“>Go Green, Live Rich discusses 50 simple ways to save the earth. I highly recommend this book if for no other reason than to tap into all the internet resources that are available.
Green Recycling - Recycle your old batteries in Walnut Creek
| July 9, 2009 | ||
| 9:00 pm |
Local retailers are now providing battery recycling for single-use household batteries. Those merchants in Walnut Creek who now accept batteries are: Long’s Drugs stores at 1123 S. California Blvd., 1914 Tice Valley Blvd., and 738 Bancroft Rd., and Rite Aid Drugs at 1526 Palos Verde Mall. For more information, contact Lois Courchaine at the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority atlois@wastediversion.org
