Recycling post-gardening

Hello!

I decided to make a short article about recycling some of those gardening items that you usually are stuck with after planting your newly bought flowers and veggies!

That's right, you know what I'm talking about: The plastic trays and pots of your starters.

The ability to mold and shape plastic while creating a light but strong part attracts a wide variety of industries, including the gardening industry. 

Greenhouses and local businesses will use these pots and trays because they are cheap but sturdy enough to withstand the lifespan they are required to endure. The question you should ask as a consumer is: What do I do with all these trays after I am done?

- Check if you could reuse those pots and trays for something else. Reusing is always the greatest source of waste reduction

- Check if the greenhouse you bought the plants from will take the pots and trays. In some cases they re-use them for future plants!

- If those two options fail you, then see if the material is recyclable. Normally these trays and pots are provided in 3 different types of materials: #3>HDPE< , #5 >PP< , #6 >PS<. In normal cases these are labeled somewhere on the outside like the pictures below. 

Keep in mind that if the material is #6 >PS< then you cannot place it in your normal recycle bin. You should confirm with your curbside pick up to see if they can take those, otherwise find a local recycling center that can deal with #6 >PS<.

In the case of #3>HDPE<  and #5 >PP<  you are able to recycle them in your normal curbside recycling. Nonetheless, try the first two options before recycling them :) 

What happens if there is not label and I nor the greenhouse will reuse it? When in doubt, trash it out. Trust me, it is for the best. If you add a non-recyclable plastic to the stream you might be harming the whole recycling process more than helping it

Follow these little advices and remember to have fun gardening :)

4 things you can do at work to produce less trash

1.- Do not use foam cups for coffee/tea/water

Every day, approximately 1,369 tons of Styrofoam is buried into U.S. landfills.

Most work places in the US do not have a recycling bin. Even if they do, foam cups (#6 PS) are very difficult to recycle. Think about the fact that Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam coffee cups every year.

Bring your own mug and your own water bottle. You will not only reduce your waste, but you might be doing a favor to your health. Encourage your co-workers to do the same, maybe with a positive quote on your cup!

Image taken from this Etsy Store

2.- Print on both sides of the paper

The average American office worker is estimated to use a sheet of paper every 12 minutes—a ream per person every two and a half working weeks—and to dispose of 100-200 pounds of paper every year.  U.S. paper consumption is over six times greater than the world average.

In simple words:
A lot of people in USA is trigger-happy when it comes to printers. It only takes a second more to change the options to two sided prints and save one sheet of paper.

Think about the amount of paper you are wasting. If you must print only on one side, then try re-using the other side for taking notes or printing again in a later occasion.

(If you do not want to do it for the planet, then do it for the money: This wonderful guide presents a business case on how reducing paper consumption saved money to Bank of America, Nike and others)

3.- Bring silverware, reusable napkins or even your own plate!

Why not go easy with the single-use plastics and bring your own silverware to eat? It is as simple as grabbing 1 spoon, 1 knife, 1 fork and put them in your work bag. Extra brownie points if you have a reusable napkin.

You don't think this is something that is worth to do? There is a case study from Minnetonka Middle Schools shows how these schools were able to prevent 6,712 pounds of trash while saving $23,000 over three years by switching plastic utensils for reusable.

If money nor the environment are motivators for you...

Where was your own cutlery before using it?
Where was the plastic one? Are you sure that it was in a clean place?

Plastic cutlery is not the only single used items: paper plates are a common item at office kitchens. Why not have a plate at work that you can use for your meals instead?

4.- Unsubscribe to all those magazines you don't really read

1 ton of coated paper for magazines needs anywhere between 8 to 15 trees. Let's face it: How many of the magazines you actually read this year? Maybe is time to unsubscribe.

Crazy ideas that are not so crazy

Hello everyone,

New year, new you!! This is the time were everyone is set to hit the gym, get better at managing their money, find love and even a new job! but... what about the environment? Have you set any goals to reduce your carbon footprint ? (NEWS FLASH: You don't even need to do any math)

These are some BOLD ideas on re-using for 2020 which I intend to follow:

1. - Remember all those times that you did not needed a bag but the cashier put your things in a bag and just to be polite you did not say anything? Well...

Wild thought #1: Learn to say to the cashier beforehand: "I am  strong and independent child adult that does not need a bag to move these items that soon will be devoured while watching Netflix", or just "hi, I don´t need a bag"

We should be polite but also aware of what we are doing: You have two small items, do you really need a bag, really?... really??

But let's just say that you need a bag. This situation brings me to my second point:

2. - Remember that plastic bag that holds the other plastic bags you got at the supermarket and now it is called "The bag of bags"? 

Here is wild thought #2: Why not make "the bag of bags" slimmer and re-use those PLASTIC bags?

Let that sink in for a minute: Why is this not a thing?  This is the greatest, cheapest and best way for you to reduce your carbon footprint. Let's go to reasons:

A.- These bags are handed to you, for FREE. Which means you really don't need to buy a re-usable bag to have a bag you can re-use...

In fact there are studies (Click here to be wiser! or here) on how your reusing habits and the materials of your reusable bags are more harming to the environment than the mistakenly known as "single-use" plastic bag (it is just a name, not a characteristic)

B.- A handle broke? What about a hole in that plastic bag? That sucks! but, did you know you can recycle those bags in the grocery stores where you got them? WAIT, so.. I can use it many times and if it breaks, I can recycle it so they can make other products? Hm... it sounds like a win-win to me, again. Reusable bags, although sturdier, face a bigger challenge on the recycling scheme due to the material they are made of.

C.- Plastic bags are thinner than actual trash bags, which means that trash bags are more damaging to the environment, and also they cost you money...

YOU+FREE BAGS+REUSING+RECYCLE=ALL-WIN

D.- Do you have PAPER bags at home? Re-use them, too! Have you ever thought how you can actually use the paper bag as actual paper or even as a gift wrap? Yeah! Just turn the bag into a sheet again, cut the sections you will use and there you go: a REUSED, RECYCLABLE, FREE gift wrap. 

My personal advice: I am not discouraging to use your reusable bag if you have them already. Please do, otherwise they are not accomplishing their goal, but be conscience of your options before taking action. Do not go for paper bags: They require more energy to be manufactured than plastic, consume more gas in transportation and substantially more water to produce them. Also, they are clearly not designed to be reused.

Knowledge is power!

3. - Remember all those times that you were at a restaurant and clearly got defeated by the size of your meal? Probably you asked for a "to-go container" and received a white Styrofoam container (#PS-6) that now is filled with grease and cannot be recycled...Your tum tum will be happy, but mother earth will not :( 

Wild thought #3: Why not bring your own "to-go" container when you go to restaurants??

Right now you must be:
- Asking yourself "Well, that is a good point, why have I not done this before?"
- Do this guy have no sense of class? Bringing his own Tupperware/Pyrex container to restaurant?

I am not asking you to bring a foot long Pyrex tray. But you can have a bag with a container in your car for casual restaurants meals. Here are good reasons:

A.- You are clearly making a small, but significant change in reducing the usage of one of the most difficult plastics to recycle

B.- You know where your container has been at all times - sort of. But, you don't know where that white Styrofoam container (#PS-6) was stored before it was handed to you... Yeah, now the idea sounds more appealing, eh?

There you go. These are 3 completely simple, but efficient ways you can help your environment. 

NOW GO AND: