photo by Flip Nomad (Flickr CC)

We’ve got two bits of eco-news from Asia this weekend.

First we’re off to Vietnam to see how megacity Hanoi is coping with a growing waste problem with the help from scientists in Germany.

Enormous amounts of waste, a rising population, over-crowding, and an aging infrastructure: Vietnam’s capital Hanoi is a perfect example of a fast-growing megacity. Scientists at Darmstadt University have developed a pilot project that combines wastewater treatment, waste disposal and energy production in one. Their goal is to design a biogas plant for Hanoi that digests waste to generate electricity and heat.

–Deutsche Welle

Next we jet over to Shandong Province in China, where a cute pair of baby white Bengal tigers strut their stuff in custom made clothing at a local zoo. The tiger species is endangered, with only 210 white Bengals remaining in the wild.

Check out the video from ITN.

Image by ackinderma (source: stock.xchng)

Yes I admit I’m an avid coffee drinker. I love the taste and the smell of fresh coffee, especially in the morning. If you’re like me, this top 7 list of great eco-tips will help you enjoy your coffee beans and spare the environment at the same time.

1) Use reusable filters instead of paper ones.
Reusable filters come in many variations and forms, from organic fabrics to stainless steel over gold plated versions. Any of those will do great in reducing your coffee making waste and carbon footprint. Some coffee making machines also come with permanent filters, if you are looking to purchase make sure this feature is available.

2) Choose your coffee wisely.
All beans are not equal when it comes to mother nature. Make sure your coffee is organic, shade-grown and fair trade (it should say so on the label). According to Wikipedia organic coffee is coffee that has been grown according to organic farming standards and techniques, without the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Fair Trade coffee then again is coffee that is purchased directly from the growers for a higher price than standard coffee.

3) Use your own coffee mug instead of one-time use (!) plastic or paper cups.
At home and at the office, make sure you always use your own coffee mug instead of plastic or paper cups. Most coffee machines will allow you to do that. If you are confronted with a coffee machine that automatically spews out a paper or plastic cup filled with coffee and there is no way around, consider asking for a different machine or find a spot and bring your own.

4) Consider energy consumption.
Some coffee machines will turn themselves off after your coffee has been brewed, others will have timers you can set to avoid unnecessary energy waste. In most cases small coffee machines will consume less energy than bigger espresso ones, that need more power to grind and brew coffee. When and where possible, go for the smaller alternatives.

5) Try to avoid chemicals to clean you coffee machine.
Most smaller, simpler coffee machines will do fine with vinegar for cleaning. Producers of more sophisticated machinery will often sell their own cleaning solutions, often packed with chemicals. Consider this before purchasing your coffee machine.

6) Reuse your coffee grounds.
Although most people disregard coffee grounds as waste, there are a number of cool ways to recycle it around the house. Coffee grounds can be used as garden fertilizer when mixed with soil, as repellant for ants and snails and as deodorizer in fridge and freezer.

7) Drink less coffee.
As with everything, less usually means more for the environment. With coffee, drinking less is probably good for you too. Of course that is if you can resist the sweet smell and taste of it. If you can’t, use the tips above to make your indulgence as eco-friendly as possible.

photo by Dino Abatzidis (atomicshark on Flickr CC)

Asking someone whether he or she would mind drinking a glass of water that has already passed through a human body might be a misleading question.

Of course all water on Earth has been ‘recycled’ by evaporation and then returned in the form of rain. But in the more direct sense, i.e., by human technological means, many of you have already consumed recycled or ‘reclaimed’ water, whether you know it or not.

Cities on the Thames River in the UK – London being the biggest example – use reclaimed water in their drinking water supply. Raw sewage is treated and then emptied into the Thames upstream and then the river water is further treated in reservoirs, some of it eventually coming out of London taps.

In related news, only yesterday the California state Senate passed a bill allowing greywater (water containing human waste) systems in homes and businesses.

The great big State of Texas is also moving forward with major plans for recycled water usage.

From KDAF TV (Dallas/Fort Worth):

The Big Spring plant, which will take sewage that has already gone through a wastewater treatment plant and treat it further before blending it into a pipeline with lake water, should be operational by late 2012, said John Grant, general manager of the Colorado River Municipal Water District, which is building it. It appears to be the first plant of this kind in the state, and one of few if any in the country that are taking such a direct approach to sewage reuse.

On the antipodean side of the planet, governments in Australia are looking at options for recycled water usage in industry and green spaces.

The ‘yuck’ factor in drinking recycled water is understandable, and is irrelevant when applied to watering golf courses and front lawns with reclaimed water. But those who live in arid areas and mega-cities may have to get used the idea of drinking water that has at one time already been drunk.

When all is said and done, in one way or another, we do it anyway.

recycling sculpture in Australia; photo by Tama Leaver (Flickr CC)

Around the world, ambitious artists are creating sculptures out of disused materials.

In Denizli Provence, Turkey, University students from 12 countries are constructing a sculpture of the ancient city of Hierapolis and the Pamukkale travertine (the natural carbonate terraces the city sits atop) out of 40,000 recycled plastic bottles.

The students have so far collected 30,000 plastic bottles for the sculpture project, with the hope of raising awareness about the environment and recycling in Turkey.

As part of the project “From Waste to Art” developed by the European Youth Association and supported by the Denizli Municipality and Denizli Municipal Assembly, students have started working on the statue at Denizli’s Pamukkale University under the coordination of university lecturer Feryal Beykal Orhun.

–Anatolia News Agency

Read more about that project here.

An outdoor picnic table surrounded by chairs fashioned from old toilets filled in with concrete isn’t exactly what you’d expect to find in a park in the Islamic Republic or Iran. But what I don’t know about Iran could fill a small server in Silicon Valley.

In Lavasan, northern Tehran, Iranian artist Nasser Vaziri has created a 1,000 square meter sculpture garden out of recycled materials. The result is Iran’s first open-air museum.

The museum is dedicated to the culture of Iran and blends together the country’s history, modern art and environmental appreciation.

–Al Jazeera English

Check out the video report below.

Meanwhile in London, authorities are searching for a bit of historic recycled art that was stolen from the Barbican in May. Read more about this unfortunate bit of “high art looting” in the Evening Standard.

Image by bugeaters (source: Flickr)

Researchers from Microsoft and the University of Virginia are developing the idea to use cloud computing data servers as central heating units in  private homes. In their paper, entitled The Data Furnace: Heating Up with Cloud Computing“, the academic researchers argue that data servers could easily be installed in homes and office buildings and could be used as a source of heating.

Traditional data centers housing hundreds of computers are intensive power users. In the United States alone, they account for nearly 1,5 % of total energy consumption, and the current trend of cloud computing is believed to further increase that share in the future.

A big part of the energy consumed by data centers goes to cooling systems, to keep servers and computers from over-heating. With this new approach, the researchers are looking for ways to recuperate the produced heat, instead of wasting extra energy trying to cool the units down.

In order to make their plan work, nothing extraordinary needs to happen. The small data centers (containing forty to four hundred processors) can easily be integrated in the existing central heating as a conventional electric heater. Because installation is fairly easy, and existing infrastructure of houses and offices can be used to house the small data centers, no new space needs to be created and the cost per server, alongside the energy gain, is also significantly reduced.

photo by Mark Cato (hoi polloi on Flickr CC)

Los Angeles Times columnist Susan Carpenter spent two years trying out several sustainable lifestyle practices in her California home – from compost toilets to keeping her own chickens – and wrote about the results.

Which ones were worth the time and money and which were duds?

After two years, the green retro-fittings Carpenter is most please with are her gray water system and her Photovoltaic solar panels, followed by rainwater barrels. Since she lives in a small house in sunny, dry southern California and keeps a garden, this should not come as a complete surprise.

Her forays into growing her own food and using compost toilets were – for reasons both practical and personal – less successful.

The idealist in me finds value in every improvement, but the realist can’t deny that some have been far better in terms of payback — if not financially, at least morally. The systems that easily fold in to my busy life are the ones I’ve enjoyed most.

–Susan Carpenter, LA Times

For those who don’t know, gray water or “greywater” is wastewater from household usage that isn’t sewage (blackwater). So any water from laundry, bathing, doing the dishes, etc., can be used for irrigating gardens or can be recycled. If a household doesn’t use harmful detergents, greywater can be used directly without going through a purification process.

Having a gray water system installed saves Carpenter around 2,000 gallons/7,500 liters of water per month.

Read the entire article in the LA Times for more details on Susan Carpenter’s eco home experiments, including some easy and practical tips to save money while reducing your environmental footprint.

photo by Edinburgh Greens (EdinburghGreens on Flickr CC)

There used to be jokes about going “condom fishing” in dirty city canals, but now an ambitious EU plan aims to encourage professional fishermen to haul recyclable plastics from Europe’s suffering seas as part of their catch. This could mean a significant shift in the normally environmentally harmful behavior of commercial fishing.

EU fisheries chief Maria Damanki unveiled bold plans to eliminate the practice of fishing boats throwing back unprofitable, yet edible, catch. Smaller, younger fish or less valuable species are routinely thrown back in the ocean, usually dead. In some areas 2/3 of the catch is simply tossed overboard.

Fishermen who clear plastic will be subsidised initially by EU member states, but in future the scheme could turn into a self-sustaining profitable enterprise, as fleets cash in on the increasing value of recycled plastics. Cleaning up the rubbish will also improve the prospects for fish, seabirds and other marine species, which frequently choke or suffer internal damage from ingesting small pieces of non-biodegradable packaging.

–Guardian

Fishermen are strongly against this wasteful practice being banned, because they fear it will affect their profits. An innovative, ambitious idea, which may soften their opposition to sweeping new EU fishing regulations, is the proposal of paying fishermen to use special nets to catch plastic waste, thereby cleaning up the environment they depend on while earning money through recycling.

Read more in the Guardian.

photo by (Flickr CC)

Minerals used in electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptops are becoming increasingly scarce. Despite this, large quantities are thrown into landfills when such high-tech products are considered obsolete, something that unfortunately occurs with increasing frequency (see Moore’s Law).

The European Parliament is proposing stricter standards for the recycling of e-waste.

From a Deutsche Welle report:

The Parliament wants member countries to be collecting at least 85 percent of electronic waste by 2016. Depending on the type of device, it wants a reuse quota of 55 to 75 percent. It also wants to introduce stricter export regulations to hinder illegal waste exports. Those could require companies to prove they are exporting functioning electronic devices instead of waste products.

While Europe exports huge amounts of electronic waste to developing countries for recycling, the European Parliament would also like to export its safer recycling standards. This could be a challenge to enforce or even inspect.

It’s also a challenge to recycle electronic waste, as many who have tried to recycle a laptop battery will know.

What’s worse is that some of these rare earth elements used in electronics are conflict minerals sourced from warzones in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where profits from mining minerals such as coltan, cassiterite, wolframite, as well as gold, fuel bloody fighting. Meanwhile miners work as forced labor or for a few dollars a day and at great personal risk due to unsafe conditions. Many of the miners are also children.

Something to consider next time when you think you just “have” to have the latest iPhone.

Image by Boa-sorte&Careca (source: Flickr)

The residents of the nearby town of Terzigno, just outside of Naples, have been violently protesting for over a week, as a reaction to the smell and filth pile up from a local dumpsite. They are planning to open a new trash-dumping site in a close by nature conservation area.

According to EU Environmental Commissioner Janez Potocnik, the violence and conflicts between the residents of Terzigno and the local police shows that Italy has been unable to resolve the garbage crisis since the last one in 2007. Potcnik stated that

“The Campania Region still has no waste management plan and the Acerra incinerator, the only one existing in Campania, is not functioning properly and is already at full capacity. This means that in Campania, the authorities are neither able to carry out a program to dispose of the old bundled waste nor to manage the new daily waste production.”

In March, the EU already established that Italy is not following EU regulations when it comes to garbage disposal. Last Saturday, Potocnik threatened with sanctions and fines if the situation is not resolved quickly.

As a result of this warning, Italy feels left out by Europe as the country would rather see the EU help find a solution to the problem than getting judged from a far.

Politicians blame the garbage problem mainly on the camorra, the local organized crime. The city of Naples, as well as the surrounding areas, have suffered from garbage wars for years as a result of corruption. Giuseppe Pisanyu, chairman of the anti-mafia commission, says to be aware of this problem and believes structural changes are needed to help fight this problem.



Image source: green.ebay.com

I don’t know about you, but I like eBay. Like most I suppose, I’m not so fond of all the tiny hidden costs for every tiny little feature the site offers, but then again every business needs to be sustainable. Apart from that, I love the recycling philosophy that lies at the base of this business concept. And now, with the Green Instant Sale launched last week, eBay just became even more eco-friendly (so I’ll forget about the tiny hidden costs just for now).

Imagine you have a more or less recent gadget you want to get rid of but you don’t want to go through the whole eBay process to sell it online. Well, just by answering a couple of easy questions about your item, eBay gives you an instant offer, as well as a free shipping label to get the product send out free of charge! The best part is, even if your gadgets are not worth anything anymore or if they are not part of the gadgets that can be traded in for some money, you can still ship them to eBay for free and they will take care of the recycling part. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Additional information:

eBay Green Instant Sale portal

photo by Axel Bruns (Snurb on Flickr CC)

In a quaint return to yester-year, 60 towns in France have replaced some of their recycling and rubbish collection trucks with horse-drawn carts.

The ambient sound of clip-clopping hooves was surely part of the reason for this change, but the horses are more mobile in some narrow streets than the noisy and cumbersome trucks. Plus, they eat grass instead of fossil fuels and produce fertilizer for any gardener not to proud to scoop some off the street.

Though there have been failures and drawbacks to these schemes, but some have been successful. A similar idea with donkeys in Italy, has had clear economic advantages:

In Sicily, another place bringing back four-hoofed transport, Mario Cicero, mayor of 14th-century town Castelbuono, disagrees. He pioneered glass and cardboard collection using two packsaddle donkeys in 2007. Three years on, Cicero has done his sums and calculated a cost saving of 34%, as well as winning over a sceptical population and putting more donkeys to work.

–Guardian

If the animals are healthy and treated well, this could be a good idea, as long as it’s well regulated. New York’s cruel handsome cab industry makes me have reservations, however.

Read more on this story in the following Guardian article:

French towns swap rubbish trucks for horse-drawn carts

Image Source: Stock.Xchng. By: Truebadour.

Despite the problems the environment faces and the ever-growing trend of “going green”, there are people out there who still only think of themselves. They don’t care about changing their life to help the planet; they’d rather change the planet to help themselves. Fortunately, there are ways to help both–without harming the planet. So, if you know someone who is very stubborn or skeptical about switching to a greener lifestyle, you might want to pass this information on to them as (yet another) incentive.

Here’s a sample list to give you an idea of how going green can help you save money:

• Riding a bike to school with your kids, rather than driving them, could save you $220 per year.

• Making home-made cleaning products from kitchen ingredients (like salt, vinegar, or lemon), rather than buying cleaning products from the store, could save you $200 per year.

• Eating leftovers for your meals, rather than cooking a new meal every night or going to a restaurant, could save you at least $520 per year.

• Investing in hand-me-downs or secondhand clothing from a thrift store or consignment shop, rather than buying new clothes from a department store, could save you $250 or more per year.

• Joining a carpool or rideshare program for work transportation, rather than driving yourself, could save you $1000 per year!

Making those switches alone could save you a total of $2190 per year. That’s some pretty sweet savings already—and it’s not even the full list! If you’re wondering where the list came from, well, I’ll tell you.

These awesome little tidbits are from Shift Your Habit.

A few weeks ago, I was at the library, looking for some books on green living, when I stumbled upon this book that’s filled with tons of ways to go green and save money while doing it. In most cases, books or websites will tell you how you can go green, or even why you should, but they never really tell you what it will cost you or what you will save in the process.

For example, borrowing books from the library instead of buying them from the store could save me up to $200 per year. And if I grow my own organic vegetables instead of buying them from a store (or even a farmer’s market), I could save up to $800 per year.

It’s really nice to have an idea of the numbers when it comes to switching to a greener lifestyle. With a few thousand dollars in savings, you could make even bigger switches, like adding a renewable energy system to your home or trading in your gas-guzzling car for an EV (or even a bicycle!).

Now, I am aware that this book might not be in your local library, or even a bookstore, but have no fear! Shift Your Habit is also a website. You can check out tons of awesome articles and green saving tips at ShiftYourHabit.com. Head over to the site now and find out how shifting YOUR habits can save you money and ultimately, save the world.

By Heidi Marshall

image credit: London Permaculture (Flickr CC)

A headline in the Telegraph states ‘new research found that returning used drinks containers to the shop could save money, reduce litter and boost recycling’.

Really? They needed to do new research to figure that out?

Well I guess they did, but I wonder what if involved: observing that drink companies made more money by mass-producing plastic bottles destined for the side of the road or, if you’re lucky, the dump?

The UK phased out bottle deposit schemes 20 years ago because companies didn’t care about anything but profit. No change there, so the government, which has strong public support on the issue, will have to force them to do roll back the clocks as it were.

Popular travel writer and President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England Bill Bryson is quoted in the same Telegraph article:

What sensible nation would not want to capture and recycle its precious and finite resources? What discerning people would not want to enjoy a litter-free environment?

Government studies show that it will cost to create an infrastructure for depositing and will cost consumers more to buy bottled drinks, though CPRE research says it will save consumers in the long run, because people will clean up after themselves rather than leaving local councils to tidy up all their trash. I guess they mean tax money, not pocket change.

The real shame is that they should have never stopped the old bottle deposit scheme in the first place, but the fact that a drink will cost more will encourage reuse, which is actually better than recycling.

Psychologically, it’s a nice feeling to get a bit of cash back after shoving cans and plastic and glass bottles into the eager mouth of a deposit machine. It’s like getting paid to feed a giant ugly Tamagotchi. They should build the new machines with greedy lip smacking and belching sound effects.

European countries like the Nordic nations, Germany and the Netherlands have such systems, as do Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Canada and the US so get with it, UK!

In short, until someone invents inexpensive, benign nanobots who will eat our trash and turn it into eco-friendly Mercedes Benzes, we can and should go back to some schemes from ‘the good old days’.

Additional resources:

Guardian – In praise of … deposits on bottles

BBC News – Call for deposit charge on drinks bottles to cut litter

What is Clean Up The World Weekend? Simply put, it’s a weekend set aside for people to help clean up our world. More specifically, it’s a weekend for people to get together and clean up all the trash in our world. You can clean up the trash on a city block, in a park, at the beach, in a forest, in a parking lot, or anywhere else you can think of.

Once collected, or even while collecting, be sure to separate the recyclables from actual trash. If any of the items are in good enough condition, you could always use them for craft projects or find other ways to reuse and repurpose them.

In addition to the clean up portion of the weekend, cities around the world are holding events and activities to get people involved. This could range from tree planting, to guest speakers, to educational programs, and more.

To find out more about the big event and if there are any activities happening in your area, check out the official site here!

I will be cleaning up local hiking trails, parks and creeks. What will YOU be doing this weekend?

By Heidi Marshall

The municipality is going to give each household two different garbage cans: one for rubbish, one for recyclables. Each will have a micro-chip inside.

This is all part of a new automated trash collection system. Micro-chips will be placed in both your recycling bin and your waste bin. Each chip generates a report that tells the city how efficient their waste collection services are. But it will also tell them if you’re using your recycling bin.

Click here to read more about it on the City of Cleveland’s official website.

The chairman of the agency, Lord Smith, warned that the amount of illegally exported e-waste is rising and that in addition to health and environmental concerns, it is also a threat to British national security, due to the risk that sensitive information could still be stored in the computers’ hardware.

He said that waste from the UK, which includes computers, monitors, televisions and DVD players, is sent to countries in west Africa where valuable but toxic metals are removed by workers, many of whom are children.

–Telegraph

E-waste from local governments is also being illegally exported to African countries including Ghana and Nigeria. This can be the result of local authorities using unauthorized ‘recyclers’ or recycling firms cutting corners by simply shipping e-waste to developing countries rather than paying for more expensive recycling processes.

Illegal recycling is a problem that authorities are attempting to tackle across the EU, where on only a third of discarded electronic equipment is believed to be recycled according to European regulations. Rotterdam in the Netherlands is a major hub for the illegal export of electronic waste.

But even though the Dutch have led the way in cracking down on illegal e-waste exports – the European Union banned the trade in the mid-1990s – only 3% or so of the containers in Rotterdam are checked. In an average week one shipment may be caught, which could mean several containers holding 800 monitors each.

–BBC News

For more on the story, check out the following two articles:

Telegraph – Government computers illegally exported as waste

BBC News – Europe breaking electronic waste export ban

Additional resources:

Greenpeace – Where does e-waste end up?

Greenpeace – Illegal e-waste export to Nigeria tracked down

Following the e-waste trail – UK to Nigeria

Photo taken by Heidi Marshall

Reusable bags can be found everywhere these days. You’ll find them mixed in with handbags, at the airport, or by the checkout line. In most cases, those available in grocery or department stores range between 99 cents and $2.99. Other places (such as the airport) will charge you $10 and up for one of theirs.

While using a reusable bag is a great thing (and certainly better than the “paper or plastic?” issue of the past), the cost of them can add up fast—especially if you buy a handful from each store you go to. Say you buy 5 bags, at a cost of 99 cents, from every store you regularly shop at, which would equal $4.95 per store. For the sake of the article, we’ll say you might go to an average of 9 different stores on a regular basis, including: grocery, retail chains (such as Walmart), and maybe a couple of random clothing stores. The amount you spend on 5 bags per store ($4.95), times the number of stores you go to on average (9), equals $44.55—that’s almost $50 spent on reusable bags alone!

Fortunately, there is a way you can still get reusable bags and eliminate the cost of them: by making them at home, and I’m going to show you exactly how to do that. If you have any old clothes, towels, or other fabric (such as curtains) lying around, you could easily turn them into different sized reusable bags. This is a great way to reduce your spending, reuse something old or worn out, and you could even donate them or sell them (thus, recycling).

Before I start on the instructions, however, I want to make 2 things clear:

1. The thicker the fabric you use, the more durable and sturdy your bag will be. Thin fabrics may make it easier for the bag to rip or fall apart, and they might not be able to hold as much weight as those made of thicker fabrics.
2. A lot of pattern instructions may tell you to clip the seams, press the seams, add lining, or use bias tape. I will not be doing that in these instructions. If you want to do those things, or add anything extra (such as pockets or closures), that is up to you. Thesesteps will simply give you a very basic idea of how to create a reusable bag.

Now, on to the instructions! I should also probably add that each step will include links to pictures that go with most of the steps (to show you how the progress should look, more or less).

1. First of all, you will need to measure and cut your fabric. I used an old/damaged pair of blue jeans to make my bag and I cut the fabric into 7 pieces:

• 1 front piece (14 inches wide, 16 inches long)
• 1 back piece (14 inches wide, 16 inches long)
• 2 side pieces (10 inches wide, 16 inches long)
• 1 bottom piece (10 inches wide, 14 inches long)
• 2 handle pieces (3.5 inches wide, 16 inches long)

You can adjust the width and length of each piece to what suits you.

2. Next, you’ll want to pin together the 16 inch long edges of the front piece and one of the side pieces with the right sides together. This means that the parts of the bag you want to be on the outside (such as a picture or words, or basically the nice looking part of the fabric) will be placed together (click here for a picture of the right side vs. wrong side of fabric). Once they are aligned and pinned, sew along the pinned edge. When you are finished sewing the pieces together, if you flip it over, it should look like this. You’ll notice that you can see the seam but not the stitches.

3. Repeat step 2, except this time you’ll be pinning together the back piece and the other side piece.

4. Now, you should have 2 larger pieces: the front connected to the side, and the back connected to the other side. What you’ll want to do in this step is pin the other edge of the front piece to the other edge of the side piece that’s connected to the back piece, and then sew them together.

5. Now you’ll have a really long piece sewed together that should go something like: back piece, side piece, front piece, side piece. Take the back piece and pin it to the only remaining edge of the last side piece, and sew together. If done correctly, the fabric should roughly look like a box shape, with the side pieces on each side and the front and back pieces between them.

6. In this step, you will be pinning the bottom piece to the bag. Make sure you match the sides properly (long edges of the bottom should be pinned against the front and back pieces, shorter edges should be pinned to the side pieces) and don’t forget to pin the right sides together. This is basically what it should look like (the wrong sides are out).

7. We’re almost finished! Now, we are simply going to hem the opening at the top. Just fold in the sides, pin and sew. You can adjust it to whatever you’d like. Mine was about 1 inch, which you can check out here.

8. Now we’re going to deal with the straps (or handles). The first thing you’ll want to do is hem the long sides of each handle. Just fold, pin and sew like you did in step 7. They should look something like this when you’re done.

9. The last step! You are simply going to pin the handles to the bag and sew—that’s it! Well, almost. Take the bag and find one of the top corners, which connects a larger piece (the front or back) with a side piece. Measure about 3 inches along the top edge of the larger piece, starting at that corner. This is where one of the ends of the handle will be placed on the inside of the bag. You’ll want to do the same at the opposite end of the same piece. Fold the handle ends, pin and sew. It should look something like this. Then simply repeat this step for the other large piece/handle, and you are done!

That’s all the basic steps on How to Make a Reusable Bag. I know the outcome might seem a bit crude, but as stated before, you have the option of adding extras once you’re finished (or as you go along). Feel free to add lining, batting, pockets, buttons, zippers, or whatever else you feel like. If you get stuck on a step, check out the pictures or post a comment and ask for help!

By Heidi Marshall

photo by Nika (nika2 on Flickr Creative Commons)

When I lived in the US we separated our newspapers, cans and some plastic bottles and put them into a container to be collected by a truck once a week. In Sweden we divided glass (both dark and light), metal, plastic, paper, batteries and light bulbs in a special structure in front of my apartment building. In Ireland we just chucked everything into a big tip to be sorted through at a processing plant and then sold to the UK, which also has its own methods of recycling.

Below are two separate video reports by Al Jazeera English on two very different systems of recycling – though in some ways they are not so different from each other, it turns out. One in Cairo, Egypt and focuses on local waste, the other is in China, where a huge recycling industry imports trash and turns it into cash.

Cairo’s proficient recyclers

Cairo has one of the most efficient garbage recycling systems in the world, and that’s due to the community of garbage collectors known as the Zebbaleen.

China recycling world’s junk

It is the world’s biggest importer of waste, taking in plastics from the US, for example, before transforming them into new products to be shipped back to Western countries.

Graham Land

Image Source: Flickr.

Last week, I gave you a list of green home improvements you can do around your home for free. Many news articles will lead you to believe that you need to spend thousands of dollars on renewable energy devices, renovations, and new appliances that you may not really need (or can afford). So, I gave you a list of things you can do in the bathroom, kitchen, or while doing cleaning and laundry that wouldn’t cost a single penny and over time can do just as much good as an upgrade that may cost several thousand dollars (or more).

As promised, here is the second part to the list. Check it out!:

Home Office:

If you must leave the computer or printer/copier on, make sure it is set to sleep or stand-by mode.

When you make prints or copies, always make them double sided (rather than printing on one side of paper). This way, you’ll use half as much paper and save trees in the process.

If you have any used paper you don’t need any more (such as paper that has printed material on one side, but is blank on the other side), you can always use it as scrap paper or for taking notes.

If you have a choice between printing material or saving it to a disk or CD, always go with the disk/CD option!

Also, anything that can be sent via e-mail to co-workers, clients, employees, and so forth should be, if you are allowed to do so.

Always recycle office supplies when you can. This includes paper, printer cartridges, and other electronics. Staples is one office supply store that recycles some of these things. Check other stores in your area (such as Best Buy or Office Depot) to find out if they have any recycling programs available.

Lawn and Garden:

To clean debris off the sidewalks, patio, porch, or out of the garage, use a broom instead of a hose. This conserves water.

Check around the yard for standing (stagnant) water to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds. This can include pots, wheelbarrows, buckets, bird feeders, and other such items.

Before you water the lawn (or any other outdoor plants you might have), check the weather forecast. If there is rain heading your way, you can give the hose (or sprinklers) a break and conserve water.

Only water the lawn to the point of being soaked once a week. This will encourage a healthy lawn, even in hot conditions. If your lawn still appears dry, don’t water it more often! It will improve once cooler temperatures return.

Also, when it comes to watering your lawn or garden, only do it in the early morning or evening when it’s cooler outside. This way, there’s less chance of the water evaporating (unlike during the hotter times of the day).

Compost! Always compost your yard clippings when you can. If you don’t have enough space to compost, check if there’s a yard debris recycler in your area. Earth911.com may also have some suggestions on this.

General Home Improvements:

Place furniture, such as desks, tables, and chairs near windows. This way, you can take advantage of the natural sunlight during the day, rather than wasting electricity on a lamp.

Always turn off and unplug electronics or lights when they are not in use.

If you have light fixtures that hold more than one light bulb (such as some ceiling lights), don’t feel obligated to fill every socket. For example, some ceiling light fixtures will hold 4 light bulbs, but you can see just as well with only 1 or 2 bulbs in use.

Any appliance that produces heat (such as the oven or a washer) should only be run during the cooler times of day in the summer months. This will cut back on the heat in your home and the need to run cooling devices, such as fans or air conditioners.

On hot days, close all windows, curtains and blinds. This will reduce solar gain and prevent all that nasty hot air from coming into your house. At night time, open the windows to take advantage of the natural cool air, instead of running fans or air conditioners.

If you do use an air conditioner, you should clean the filters every month to keep the appliance running in good condition.

During the colder months, you should set your thermostat no higher than 68 degrees. Also, to keep warm, instead of turning the heat up, you can always throw on more layers of clothes, open all the curtains or blinds during the day (except on north-facing windows) to soak up the natural sun, and close all doors to rooms that are not being used so the heat doesn’t spread to unnecessary areas.

That’s all the tips for this week. Next week will be the third and final part of this particular segment, and will include information on transportation, recreation, and your pets!

By Heidi Marshall