Guest post by Lewis Davies

Stock up on eco-fuel for winter by recycling autumn leaves

Autumn is a spectacular season heralding the end of summer with a cascade of red, brown and golden falling leaves. Most of us appreciate nature’s beauty at this time of year, but consider the task of raking up and bagging the leaves to be a painful chore with little benefit. However, the leaves that fall from the trees in this season are a great source of carbon-neutral fuel that we can stock up on to last us through the winter.

Bagging up leaves (and other so-called “garden waste”) for the refuse collectors to take away, and pile on top of already heaving landfill sites, is a tragic and unnecessary end to their lifecycle. For those of us with a stove, cast iron or clay chiminea or firebowl we are passing up on the chance to do a little bit for the environment – and for our wallets.

Rather than add to the problem during the autumn we can simply recycle the leaves into eco-logs. All you need to do this is to get your hands on a log maker, which are available from most good garden centers or through online eco-stores.  These handy little tools basically compact the waste into logs with the use of a sheet of newspaper. Of course, you are not limited to just recycling leaves. Any recyclable household or garden waste can be recycled so the benefits of the log makers can be utilized all year round.

This leads on to the benefits of the fuel, which is both eco-friendly and free. It’s eco-friendly because the carbon that it emits when burnt is exactly equal to the carbon it absorbed over its lifetime. In essence you cannot get a more carbon neutral fuel. You may consider, therefore, that logs bought from the local garden centre to also be carbon neutral, but you must also consider the amount of energy which was used to both cut the trees down and then to transport them. This may add up to quite the carbon footprint, which is something you can avoid altogether.

Secondly, there is the matter of cost. If you have trees in your garden, or in a local park, then there is no cost in simply using these as raw materials for your logs. Indeed at this time of year you can often see bags of garden waste piled up next to houses waiting to be taken away the next time the refuse truck drops by. Why not do everyone (and the earth) a favour and ask if you can take them home to make yourself some free chiminea fuel?

In my experience with my kids this can become a very enjoyable way of teaching the value of recycling in a way that children can see the benefits of getting involved. A roaring fire by the chiminea in winter is a great reward for doing your bit for the environment and your wallet.

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Lewis is an outdoor living eco-living enthusiast and writes for Chimenea UK

Conservative estimates rank computer usage right up there with the airline industry for its harmful effect on the atmosphere, making it responsible for up to 2% of the total problem. To put your mind at ease, that doesn’t mean your household PC is all that nasty. That figure includes all the industrial server farms, government supercomputers, and college networks. Unfortunately, there are a lot more of them than you might think. Even your average grocery store has a server room somewhere in it to run the “back office” (accounts receivable and inventory control) and “front office” (cash registers and checkout system) components of its operation.

So how much damage does your average PC do? Running one 8 hours per day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year will use 400 kilowatt hours or 180,800 grams of carbon dioxide (452 grams – just shy of a pound – per hour X 2,000 hours). That sounds like a lot but when you consider that a home PC accounts for less than ten percent of the average home’s energy bill (according to MR. Electricty AKA Michael Bluejay of Michaelbluejay.com) it’s not that big of a number in the overall picture. Your water heater, furnace, and refrigerator are much bigger carbon offenders.

But as my mother always used to say “every little bit helps.” So here are some ways to go greener and keep your high-speed digital lifestyle to which you’ve become accustomed.

1.  Use the power management tools your PC manufacturer gave you!
   All modern PCs come with the ability to regulate their own power use. You can easily set your computer to enter a reduced consumption mode (sometimes called sleep or hibernation) and even power itself down completely if it remains idle for a certain length of time.
2. Unplug your machine.
   Even when it’s off, your PC uses about a Watt per hour. This is what’s known as phantom draw. The only way to cancel this out is to unplug the machine entirely.
3. Plan your day with the planet in mind.
   When you think about it, there’s really no reason to leave your PC on all the time while you’re in the other room, outside, or otherwise engaged. Also, consider doing everything you need to do once as starting up and shutting down your PC repeatedly consumes more energy than just letting it idle.
4. Avoid the next best thing.
   PCs seem to age quicker than Dorian Gray. If you buy one that’s top of the line in December and it’s outdated by July. However, resist the temptation to buy a whole new system. Manufacturing a PC is an extremely carbon intensive task. Not only that, PCs contain all sorts of toxic waste, heavy metals, and other harmful materials that we don’t need more of in landfills. When you need to upgrade, consider upgrading piecemeal, it will save you money and the environment a headache.
5. Shop smartly!
   A large number of PC manufacturers have begun to build earth friendly (or at least friendlier) computers in response to the consumer desire for products that are better for our planet. One of the first was Dell. Believe it or not, they have a whole line of Eco-Friendly computer Accessories, some of which are made with up to 70% recycled materials, contain fewer heavy metals and some, like this PC, whose cases are made out of sustainable bamboo!

Lastly, when it comes time to get rid of your old computer, think green. Does your computer still work? Could a local non-profit or school organization use your computer (or parts from your computer)? Do you have a charity-based resale shop in your area such as a Goodwill Industries retail store? Do you have anyone in your family (a young child or an older adult just learning the ropes of the computing world) that could use your old PC? Why not give your PC a second life?

One important note: when giving/selling any PC it’s best to thoroughly destroy all personal data on that computer. “Deleting” it isn’t enough. There are free software programs available that will completely overwrite any data on your hard drive, rendering your machine a blank slate, and safeguarding any potentially harmful information you wouldn’t want anyone to have. See Killdisk.com for one such example.

When your PC is broken and finally “useless” don’t just throw it away. Ecycle your old machine. Many manufacturers offer free recycling services for machines purchased through them. Your local recycling center may also have electronics recycling services available. Recently, Staples has announced that it will recycle unwanted electronics (though not TVs) for free at any of their retail outlets across the country. See Gcycle.org for more recycling options for all of your technological gadgetry!

Be smart about your used electronics, they’re not just trash.

Related articles

• Managing E-Waste: Battery and Computer Recycling (everydayhealth.com)
• Computing Your Karma: Recycling Your PC (chicagoist.com)
• Take It To The Computer Recycling Center (thinkoutsidethebin.com)

Sometimes called “booms”, they come in long sausage-looking shapes tied together so they can be strung around an oil spill, creating a perimeter to absorb the spilled oil.  Typically, these booms are thrown away or even burned as fuel.  Chevy has come up with a new way to deal with the leftovers.

They are being recycled and turned into the parts for Chevy Volts.  The booms are spun in a centrifuge, removing the oil and leaving the plastic core.  The plastic is then melted and formed as plastic vehicle parts.  Cool huh?

Chevy is not just using the booms for raw materials.  They also use leftover plastic packaging from their other car plants and tires from testing facilities.  Around 75% of each plastic part in this program is from the recycled material, the other 25% new.  This program will use 227 miles of dirty oil booms and divert 212,500 pounds of waste from landfills.

The ultra-green car market is really getting competitive as evidenced by this new variation on sourcing materials.  Hopefully we will see more competition in the form of new vehicles brought to the market.  As much as I appreciate having two options for totally* green cars, it would be nice to have a long list of options to choose from, and cheaper ones too.

*I don’t consider the Chevy Volt nearly as green as the Nissan Leaf

Source

The robot uses tactile sensors, weight measurement, 3-D scanning and spectrometer analysis to determine material type.  It then pulls the material off a conveyor belt to be recycled.  Anything left on the conveyor belt is assumed to be waste.

Currently, all construction materials are treated as waste.  However much of the material is metal or plastic, meaning it can be recycled using conventional technology.  The robot can currently detect about 50% of recyclable materials.  But imagine the possibilities as the robot learns to make more accurate decisions.  By learn, I mean be taught.  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Source

Related articles

• Trash-Sorting Robot Could Reduce Waste Going to Landfill by 50% (treehugger.com)
• Robot designed to sort trash for recycling (gizmag.com)

Sawdust Logs

One of the most readily-available and cheapest recycled fuels, these are logs or briquettes, often referred to as eco-logs, heat-logs, or chim logs, and they’re made from 100% sawdust, which is often waste sawdust sourced from sawmills. The sawdust is compressed into log shapes, so these logs don’t contain any harmful chemicals or binding agents and are perfectly safe to use around the house and garden – even for barbecues.

Since the moisture content is much lower than that of wood, sawdust logs burn at a higher heat, and release fewer particles and creosote (making them a great choice for wood stoves), and they will burn longer and give out more heat than wood, too. Since they are made from waste sawdust, you can pick these up for a surprisingly low price and simply store them in a dry place until you need them.

Fire Logs

You can also find fire logs, made from recycled wood or paper and bonded with wax. These are good for burning outside and will burn for a long time, but if you’re burning them in a wood-burning stove, you should leave the door open. These should not be used if you’re planning on barbecuing, since the small amount of smoke they give off may contaminate the food, but they are a good no-mess solution for outside fires and chimineas. They are generally designed to be used one at a time, so they’re great for using on a smouldering fire or for starting a fire.

There are other options for recycled fuel – and inspiration may be closer than you think!

Around the Home and Garden

There are a variety of Logmakers available which will allow you to make fuel from torn-up junk mail, cardboard, and garden waste. The fuel you make can then be stored for later use and not only is it free, it’s a viable alternative to recycling or composting. You’ll have to apply some common sense to what can and cannot be burned, of course. Shredded paper, junk mail, cereal packets, egg-boxes, torn up toilet roll tubes, nut shells, teabags, wood shavings, sawdust, and dry leaves are all great for making fuel.

Here are some more ways of getting free fuel from your garden:

• Fallen leaves – gather up dry leaves and pack them loosely into a paper bag for the fire.
• Green garden clippings – e.g. woody shrubs, trimmings from the herb or vegetable plot, twigs and soft green foliage. These should be dried in the sun for a day or two before burning for a more efficient burn and less smoke.
• If you have a lot of thick, woody cuttings, such as branches from bushes or hedges, or smaller tree branches, these can be used for fuel as well, but they should be split and dried briefly first.

Finding a reliable source of ethically produced and sourced fuel is an absolute must – and it can even save you money whilst being kinder to the environment!

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Laura Philips is a green and outdoor living enthusiast and writes for The Chiminea Shop.

Midsummer often prompts many of us to shear our locks and don cooler hairstyles to help us survive the heat. As I recently had my own coif chopped up and saw the heaps of hair collecting around the chair, I began to wonder if there aren’t some ways to reuse this particular resource. Here’s what I dug up…

• Donate your hair to Matter of Trust to  help soak up the oil spill. It’s doubtful hair alone can halt this recent catastrophe, but considering that around 2600 spills happened last year, donating hair from your family (even pets) can be a great help. Hair is made into super absorbent mats or stuffed into old nylons, which are applied directly to spills or to sewer drains, to catch dumped oil before it gets into the water supply.
• Give it away to a child in need. Locks of love accepts lengths of hair 10 inches and over and turns it into wigs for disadvantaged children suffering from long term hair loss.
• Throw it out the window. Birds can use the hair to make nests. I recommend this sparingly, as it’s probably not a good idea to overwhelm the local environment with human hair.
• Keep deer and other pests away from your garden. Stuffing old nylons with human hair and placing them strategically around your yard will keep unwanted animals away humanely with human scent.
• Throw it in the compost bin. Give that soil some nutrients!

Preserve makes personal hygiene products, such as toothbrushes and razors, and some table and kitchen ware, out of recycled yogurt cups and other grade 5 plastics. In addition to just designing with recycled material, they make it easier to recycle their products when you’re done using them. The Preserve toothbrush is packaged in a slim pouch with a business reply label and prepaid postage. You can mail in your old toothbrush when you’re done using it and the plastic handle will be recycled into other Preserve products (nylon bristles are always new). You can even sign up on their website for a toothbrush subscription and schedule for Preserve to send you a new brush on a regular schedule.

At $2.99 you can only feel good about turning a typically disposable personal product into a cycle of reuse. Not to mention a chance to reinstate the interesting producer-customer back and forth relationship that many companies have given up in favor of expansion and disposability.

Ingredients:

1 Geo Metro

1 Electric forklift

1 Electric motor

a dash of spare parts

a smidge of random batteries

Bake for a few weekends of hard work, and voila!  The result is a medium speed, medium range, cheap-as-heck electric commuter car.  This one was built by 2 DIY’ers in Toronto to get them from point A to point B for little cash, no pollution, no noise.

It’s called: The Forkenswift!

Read more at their website.

Dear EarthTalk: I work for an office equipment company selling copiers, fax machines, computers and printers. Each year new models come out making old ones obsolete. As a result, we have loads of trade-ins with nowhere to go. What can we do with this old equipment? – Jeff P., Worcester, MA

Electronic waste, or “e-waste” as it’s called, is a growing problem in the United States and abroad, as obsolete or broken computers and other electronic equipment are taking up increasingly precious amounts of landfill space and potentially leaking hazardous substances into surrounding ecosystems.

The nonprofit Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition reports that 70 percent of the heavy metals in U.S. landfills are from discarded electronics—even though the e-waste itself accounts for only two percent of the trash by volume. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that Americans trash two million tons of unwanted electronics each year—six times the amount they recycle. To make matters worse, U.S. companies often ship old equipment to poor nations whose landfills and incinerators are ill equipped, subjecting already struggling populations to lead, cadmium, beryllium, and other contaminants.

So what can be done? If your old units still work but have merely been eclipsed by newer models, then by all means donate them to a needy cause that will either put them to good use or resell them to help fund their programs. You’ll earn a tax deduction for a charitable donation and, by keeping the equipment alive, prevent the manufacture of new units and thus, if ever so slightly, reduce the footprint of your operations.

But not every charity accepts old equipment, and no one wants to spend all day calling around to find one that does. A good place to look, then, is Goodwill, which will accept your equipment and then sell it through any one of its 1,500 retail stores across the country. Proceeds fund programs to help the disabled, illiterate, homeless, and those on welfare by providing job training and placement programs. The Salvation Army runs similar programs and also typically accepts donated old office equipment.
Another option is to donate your equipment to needy schools, either directly or via a service like iLoveSchools.com, which helps teachers find free supplies and equipment for their classrooms. The National Cristina Foundation also matches donated technology with needy schools and nonprofits. Also, the website GreatNonprofits.org maintains a list of charities in need of various types of office equipment. You can also offload equipment via Freecycle, a free service that helps find homes for unwanted stuff.

While finding a new home for your old gear is preferable, recycling is also an option. Recyclers harvest parts from old equipment that can be reused or resold. Several websites, including My Green Electronics, E-cycling Central, and Earth911, list electronics recyclers across the U.S. Some of these vendors will charge a small fee to recycle an item for you; others may do it for free. Also, Office Depot, Staples and some other stores will take back used electronics—even if not purchased there—usually for a small fee.

Contacts:
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Goodwill
Salvation Army
iLoveSchools.com
National Cristina Foundation
GreatNonprofits.org
Freecycle
E-cycling Central
Earth911
Office Depot
Staples

Image credit: George Hotelling, courtesy Flickr

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