It’s the time of year. Flowers, balloons, cards and candy. A few tips and helpful reminders are listed here. Flowers and plants can be composted. Please remove any container or plastic wrap/plastic sleeves before composting. Only the actual plant part should be composted, “If it grows, it goes!” Plastic containers (hard/rigid plastic) can be recycled…
This came up again last weekend so I wanted to remind you all that in the City of Austin, black Styrofoam and black plastics can be recycled! Black Styrofoam The Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center will accept most foams. It will not accept the 80’s/fluffy/disintegrate-y type foam shown above on the right, but it will…
I just learned about the Buy Nothing Project/group about a month ago. I’m used to seeing, reading, and writing about posting about (for or away/give or want) items on craigslist, Freecycle, Marketplace and our neighborhood social media platforms. My neighbors started mentioning our area’s Buy Nothing group as a way to re-purpose/re-home/donate items. It’s awesome.…
We’ve all seen these. Many of us have ended up with them, willing or not. There are local charities that are ecstatic to accept donations of unopened utensil/cutlery packs! You may have to do some research at first. As I am informed of organizations accepting donations I will update this post. Mobile Loaves & Fishes…
A new but recently frequent topic I’ve been asked about is if plastic berry, salad/greens and sushi boxes can be recycled in the blue single stream carts. Yes they can! You do not have to remove the stickers, just rinse, dry and throw them in the recycling cart. Reminders: Pull the berry juice pads/the white…
I love seasonal beverages! They’re my favorite treat! I love to try the holiday flavors that come out at this time of year. Unfortunately I’ve discovered that Trader Joe’s, my husband’s favorite place to treat me, is not earth friendly with their seasonal beverage selections. I dislike calling out a specific company, but there were…
Thanksgiving is almost upon us! Here is a quick possible checklist for Thanksgiving recycling and composting! Obviously this will be for anything not eaten or washed (if reusable)! Please use the results to determine how you want to begin! When shopping consider if an item will be recyclable, compostable, or trashed. Turkey Wrapper goes in…
One of the big changes one can make going zero waste is reusing containers. Glass and metal will hold up over time and stay in the recycling stream longer. Plastic can in many cases be recycled as well, but only a few times. Health concerns may affect the type of material you choose. Also consider…
This article originally appeared in the October 2019 edition of the Front Porch Flyer. Holidays can offer an exercise in creativity and reuse, and an opportunity to connect with neighbors. Here are some ideas to “green” your Halloween: Candy/Treats Try to find boxed/paper candy that can be recycled/composted: Nerds, Dots, Milk Duds, Junior Mints, fake…
More environmentally friendly kitchen scrub options Most kitchen sponges or scrubbing items are made of oddly shaped plastic, a combination of soft and hard plastics, or a combination of different materials which make them difficult to separate and/or recycle. Unless you are going to purchase the TerraCycle Kitchen Separation Zero Waste Box most of these…