Daily Loaf

Seeing as this Sunday is America Recycles Day, I’ve been in the recycling mood and racking my brain for different ways to do so. Then I stumbled upon something wonderful: cash (or swag) for recycling! We could all probably use some extra dough these days, and just for the act of recycling you can make a profit.

RecycleBank is a website where you can register to earn points toward gift certificates for food and other goods just by taking out your recycling every week. After registering, you receive a chip to be placed on your recycling bin. That chip is then scanned when the recycling is picked up and your items are weighed. The information then gets transmitted back to RecycleBank and you receive 2.5 points for every pound of items you recycled. You can earn up to 450 points per week and 5,400 per month. Those points can then be used to get certificates for items from over 1,500 participating businesses, like CVS, Chick-fil-a, Kraft, Kashi, Foot Locker, and Kohl’s. Points can even be redeemed for passes to museums and can be donated to organizations and charities like the Ocean Conservancy.
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We are told that we must recycle. So we put our cans, glass and plastics in our curbside bins. Or we collect our bits and drive them to the nearest recycling station. Maybe we even take old electronics to swap shops to keep the chemicals from leeching into the ground.

But what about the less obvious stuff? What about recycling our own hair?

Think about it. We’re always shedding it, and our heads always (sometimes) replenish it. If it doesn’t get tossed in the waste bin, it gets washed down the shower drain where it creates an icky clog that the eeeevil commercials tell us we need to use chemicals to unclog. So save your hair (and your drain pipes) and try some fun ways to keep using it.

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Forget the term ‘recycle’, these days people are turning everyday found objects into pieces of usable art by ‘upcycling’. According to the Sustainability Dictionary, upcycling is “the process of converting an industrial nutrient (material) into something of similar or greater value, in its second life. Aluminum and glass, for example, can usually be upcycled into the same quality of aluminum and glass as the original products.”

For some great examples of unique home decor made from upcycled items, check out this article from The Daily Green. It features items like a chair made out of those old ‘Walk/Don’t Walk’ lighted street signs, one-of-a-kind baskets that are woven from scraps of insulated copper telephone wire, chairs and a table made from a wine barrel, and a wall clock made from bicycle parts. I’d have to say the most ‘out there’ piece featured is the oil lamp made from an old surplus military grenade – a surefire conversation piece for your coffee table.

For more great upcycled home decor ideas, see the article One-of-a-Kind Recycled Home Decor, which features items that utilize easier to find mediums to repurpose. (Because I’m sure it’s easier to come upon reclaimed wood and old storage boxes than it is to find old grenades.)

Do you remember the old VHS cassette tapes that have long been replaced by DVDs? Do you ever wonder what became of all those outdated tapes? Many of them, no doubt, ended up in landfills but some of them have actually been put to good use. Many of them are being used to design beautiful cosmetic bags and handbags for your fashion pleasure. You’ll be amazed at just how lovely these items look especially when matched up with one of your favorite outfits.

Recycled VHS cassette tape handbags and cosmetic bags are a real piece of art. They’ll go with anything and they can be used for any occasion regardless of whether its business or social. They make great gifts for the holidays or as a gift for yourself when you feel like you deserve something special. The handbags are designed in several different sizes and shapes to suit most any taste or need. You’ll find they have enough room to carry all of your necessities.
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Recycled Innovations Contest:

Eco-Innovators are those who think outside of the can to create treasure out of trash. The City of Largo’s Recycled Innovations Contest encourages innovators to make a useable creation for photo submission in their online event.

All entries must be made of 75 percent or more recycled or material that would otherwise be discarded. Contrary to a recycled art show, Recycled Innovations are items that may be reused in daily activities. Accepted entries will be functional items made of materials that can be diverted from the waste stream.

The City of Largo’s Recycled Innovation Show will give participants the opportunity to get their designs noticed across Tampa Bay and beyond. Innovative prizes will be awarded to the greatest innovators in various age categories: Tiny Innovators, Junior Innovators, Tween Innovators, Techie Innovators, and Macgyvers.
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Things are really starting to get organized at the CL office as we’ll continue to show you with part 3 of their green office makeover. The Sales, Marketing, and Classifieds departments get into the action next! I had the pleasure of working hands-on with James (Ad Director), Joran (Marketing + Promotions Director), and Terri (Classifieds Manager) in their workspaces. My plan for each department was to follow the 4 Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle) to create more space and better organization in their areas.

The video starts off with London (Operations Manager) painting the stage in CL’s new event space – that’s just for fun! As the camera pans through the lobby, I’d like you to note that the very special “something” we created for the community is finally revealed. It’s CL’s Community Center! It’s a very cool place for members of the community to bring their business and event flyers and place them on the table or bulletin board to share with others. This center also contains CDs and other items that CL wants to share with you – for FREE! So stop by and take a few! This is one way CL is recycling items and giving back to the community at the same time. A pan to the main hallway of CL’s offices shows that items previously blocking a clear passageway through the offices have been strategically moved to other more appropriate areas to allow for an easier, safer, and more visually appealing walk through CL.

Video after the jump
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Fixing sprawl and redesigning suburbia- Grant Rimbey CNU explores a possible strategy towards improving existing sprawl. Fixing the sprawl that we have, along with sprawl demolition and recycling, are strategies that could be employed in the future as a new green industry.

Nation’s largest solar facility to be in DeSoto County by next year- Florida Power and Light is currently building the nation’s largest photovoltaic plant in DeSoto County, a $173.5 million, 25 megawatt solar generating facility.

Fresh: New Thinking About What We’re Eating screening – What’s wrong with the mega-industrial food industry- Struggling small farms, problems with food safety rules and the mega-industrial food industry, and a film about all of the above.
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Scattered about me are books and magazines. On one the poster child of the climate change movement, the polar bear swimming in icy clear water. Audubon chose the title Sink or Swim: Another Assault on the Arctic and How You Can Help Stop It. In all honesty, I think it’s too late. We are currently witnessing the fifth or is it the sixth mass extinction since life first emerged from the slime or rocks or whatever that latest scientific findings happens to suggest. But remember when compared to our life spans this extinction will take an insanely long time. So the urgency just doesn’t seem to be there, because if it did, then we would all be in the streets marching on Washington, D.C. and the United Nations demanding that something be done yesterday.

Another magazine, the April/May 2009 issue of Free Inquiry, has a time bomb on its cover. The number on the clock 6,790,064,816. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of August 16, 2009, at my time of 10:15 a.m., the human population is 6,845,146,634.  In 1960, it was 3 billion. By 2044, 9 billion. That’s a 6 billion jump in less than 100 years. For me, this is the number one problem plaguing Homo sapiens. There are just too many of us, which leads to greater and greater demands on water and food, both quite finite. And the energy demand will only increase GHGs if viable alternatives are not found – think China and India. If human population growth does not slow down, we will not have the resources to feed everyone. I have to smile when I think about the town hall meetings and the misinformation being propagated with end-of-life issues and death squads. If we don’t stop breeding who knows. Sounds like a great story for a movie, though. Oh wait! It’s already been done - Soylent Green.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

St. Petersburg College’s new Natural Science, Mathematics and College of Education building is certified LEED® Gold- St. Petersburg College recently announced that for the second time in as many months, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded LEED Gold certification for one of its new campus buildings.

Best of the Bay of the Day: Best organic smoothie- Believe it or not, algae and bee pollen add up to a delicious drink called the Spirulina Power Buzz. Read this to find out where to get one.

Tips to improve gas mileage (and save some green)- Do you have a lead foot or drive an inefficient automobile?  Here are a few simple tips to improve gas mileage and save a bunch of green!

Living Sustainably in Tampa Bay: Darren Brinkley, owner of REAL Building- Brinkley is the owner of REAL Building and home that he built for his family in St. Petersburg is the first home in Florida to achieve the LEED for Homes Gold Rating.
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Everyone needs a good quality wallet and there is none better than The wallet from English retreads. This is a stunning but practical wallet that any man would love to receive. It’s a bi-fold wallet that is designed with a bill holder for cash and four credit card pockets. Its simple but functional design makes it one of the best wallets available today. It’s also an eco-friendly product because it’s made from recycled inner tube.

When you open up the wallet, you’ll notice circular cutouts on both sides of the front two credit card holder slots. This exclusive design gives the wallet more flare, which in turn makes it more unique and fun. If you’re searching for the perfect gift for the loved one on your list, consider this item. It’s an excellent choice they’ll surly love and definitely a conversation piece.
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I’m a green office specialist and I’ve been privileged to be a contributor with the Creative Loafing Green Community since its launch this April. Sharing my green office tips through my posts recently led to an unexpected proposition from CL’s online producer, Stephen Hammill. The proposition: to come to CL’s office and consult with them on their office cleanup and reorganization project. Happy to assist my green partners in any way I could, I agreed.

I arrived at CL’s office at 810 North Howard Avenue in Tampa on July 1st for the consultation, workplace and workspace needs assessment, and walk through. I was met by their smiling and enthusiastic operations manager, London. We were joined shortly by Joran, their marketing director, who began to immediately follow us around with a camera (that was kind of creepy at first, but I eventually got used to it).

At the conclusion of the needs assessment, the scope of work became clear.

Video after the jump
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Our love for fancy, multi-layered toilet paper has major environmental consequences. Did you know that what you wipe with has a huge impact on the world?

I bet most of you probably never thought about it, but it takes a lot of trees just to wipe your butt. Millions of trees are cut down each year, then turned into pulp and bleached just to make that soft, cushy two- and three-ply toilet tissue that most of us deem a necessity in our lives.

I came upon this entertaining little video that really puts into perspective what goes into what we wipe with and “how our love for incredibly soft and fragrant paper is causing more environmental harm to the world than our love for gas guzzling SUVs, big houses, or fast food.”

Video after the jump
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

TRA’shion Fashion and Art Show 2009 (photos) – The fabulous trashionistas were out in force for ARTpool’s annual TRA’shion Show, and photographer Chip Weiner caught all the recycled green glamour.

Letting go of addictions: Using alternative methods to release addictions of any type- Kelly Rothwell gives us alternative methods such as energetic healing, visualizations and affirmations, that can be used to not only cope with such addictions but to understand the reason behind the addiction and let it go for good.

Living sustainably in Tampa Bay: Dave Starman’s biodiesel fueled car and green lifestyle – The first in a series of profiles, by Jack B., of individuals who are living sustainably in Tampa Bay. This profiles Tampa Bay resident Dave Starman.
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Wondering what to do with those items in your house that you don’t know how to or where to recycle, and don’t want to just throw them away? Why not get crafty and rework those items by making them into handy things you’d actually use?

I found these great sites that are dedicated to making useful items by recycling and repurposing what most people would just throw away.

-Recycle This features ways to use over 600 items and has over 8000 suggestions of ways to reuse, repurpose or recycle things that would otherwise go in the trash. They’ve covered items from around the home, office and garden, things for particularly hobbies or sports, and random bits of technology that have broken or are just out of date.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Steps to becoming greener: Reducing your waste, reusing and recycling: Joshua Poll gives some useful tips for ways to start reducing, reusing, and recycling things you thought you could just throw away.

Genetically engineering cows that will produce less methane, reducing greenhouse gases: Geneticists in Canada are trying to engineer a cow that produces less methane, resulting in less greenhouse gases, reports Brian Roberts.
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Here are numbers 5 and 6 from my list of 12 ways to start living greener and smarter.

Picking up trash on the ground is part of living green, if we all took 10 minutes a day and cleaned up the waste and trash we walk over, everyday, it would make a difference, not only in our environment but in taking pride and investing in our communities.
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The greening of our community starts with you. Here is a brief outline of 12 things you can do immediately to live smarter:

1. Turn your food scraps and yard waste into compost to replenish your starving soil.

2. Start a worm bin, worms eat food waste (garbage) and turn it into nutrient rich, organic soil.

3. Collecting and use rainwater, graywater and air conditioning runoff to water your plants.  Also, conserve the water you use by being conscious when you have the water running. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s one item Wayne Garcia missed in his comprehensive environmental piece, “Dreaming of a green Christmas”: recycling your old/broken sex toys.

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