Great article on one man who is making a dramatic difference in helping to save the environment. His proactive approach is a great step in the right direction and a lesson for all.

Thanks.

As I was reading the different experiences and comments, I felt empowered to gather again the plastics at home and separate them from everyday trash. I need more guts and perseverance like Pat and the others to do what we can for a better earth.

I’m very much willing to receive emails for more inputs about recycling projects at maritel@gmail.com.

A few years ago at my previous satellite office of about 50 people, the confidential papers were placed in a few large wheeled plastic 65 gal. HIPAA-compliant locked containers with a handle and a narrow recessed paper slot in the lid which were emptied periodically by a company contracted to shred confidential documents. No other waste was recycled. I received permission to start on my own recycling paper, plastic, glass, and metal cans, and the company ordered a blue plastic 23 gal., 30 inch tall trash container marked with recycling symbol, which was placed in the break room next to the vending machines. I printed a list of recyclables and non-recyclables from our city recycling program, posted it on the wall above the container, spread the word by email, used the trash can liners from the cleaning crew, and took a full bag home with me every few days to place in our blue plastic wheeled 65 gal. city curbside recycling container. Also I kept an eye out at the office for the empty cardboard paper boxes and other cardboard boxes. This worked well for about six months when the company stepped up and contracted a recycling company to provide a lidded plastic 65 gal. container placed in the break room which they emptied weekly. I plan to ask permission at my new office to do the same.

I agree with Paul Palmer above that we need to also look at other possibilities in addition to recycling; that’s probably why the phrase “REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE” was adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (see their website). In particular, did you ever notice how much of the packaging of the products we buy every day is NOT recyclable? We need to encourage manufacturers to use more recyclable materials or when possible, no packaging at all, and we need state and federal laws to enforce these practices. And I agree with Pat as above: “…anything that can be created by man MUST be made of renewable sources and must be able to be reused, reclaimed, recycled, repurposed or fully biodegradable or some form of all of the rest.”

Thanks Joe (the can man)

A recent emailer from this site hade me to revisit and I was surprised to see that not only have the comments and suggestions continued, but “Earth 911″ has developed a special slot just for the wrapping paper element. It has been several months since I was last here so I am impressed that the forum has continued.

With that being said, let me offer one nuggett to the panel – and if you will, bear this in mind for anythine you may post to a thread – if you are really asking for some specific information, it could be helpful to have an email for folks to respond to. I have received several notes from folks asking for very specific suggestions, ideas, directions, encouragement, etc. and I have been most glad to offer whatever bit of help I could to them. I would love to know how those efforts are going.

There was one man in Washington DC that wanted to start a recycling program in the complex he manages. This complex was 3 units total and each “unit” has something like 20 floors, with 18 (more or less) rooms per floor. He wanted some ideas on how to set it up as funds was not an option and I told him how I would go about it. That was back at the first of the year so I would really love to know how that is going.

Now to make a few quick responces – “mcorpc c” I understand you work in a casino in Navada. It really surprises me that Los Vagas does not have some kind of recycling program in place ether public or (especially) private. You may have to do a lot of work to get aplan into place for your casino. Here is what I would do. I would get out the phone book (on a day off of course) and start talking to people in the waste industry to see what kind of interest you might be able to turn up. From there you would have to continue to knock on doors and rattle some bushes – at that point you would activly looking for people and or companies that could do something – perhaps one could contact the casino and offer to pick up the materials from them for free IF they at least collect it and put it in one spot for them. I anticipate there is a very large fee assiciated with a casino generating so much wast that is going to a landfill so perhaps study the numbers and sho the powers that be that “…if we recycled 10,000 lbs of plastic a week, we could drop the landfill fees by $4000 each week…”.

That is just a place to start – give it a try and see where it goes – just don’t do something that would de comprimising to your employment, in this econimy, keeping the employment you have is a good thing!

To: “Amilcar”, “Anestasia Tonge”, “Jeannette Morris”…You folks are in a much more difficult environment that we are here (usa) state side. What I would suggest for each of you is to start making calls and visiting local government officials, and even private enterprises to see who would be willing to step up and take the lead for such an effort. You may also try doing a LOT of research to see who in your region BUYS scrap materials and contact them to work out a means of them taking delivery of your waste. If they do not do it directly, perhaps they know of someone who could help.

The key for any effort is to start talking to other people and ask questions, always look for answers and never give up! I believe that by talking to the right people, that pretty much anything is possible.

As for “Jerry Guzman” the bartender – send me a note to my email address and I will have a series of questions to ask you and hopefully I can help you to find a solution to your delimma.

Now – having said all of that…I am NOT an expert at any of this! I am a fallable human just like anyone else – I just happen to feel that we humans create far too much waste and as stewards of our (ONLY) planet – we must be more responsible for our actions and stop wasting our natural resources for the sake of convienence. If I had my way, anything that can be created by man MUST be made of renewable sources and must be able to be reused, reclaimed, recycled, repourposed or fully biodegradeable or some fome of all othe rest. It is a pipe dream, but if one must dream, might as well dream BIG right?

Anyway, I will close here. I hope that some of this helps each of you in your efforts to make a difference. Just start talking to folks, call officials, do research. We are the ones that created the waste problem and it is up to us to fix it. It will not happen over night, but the more we try, the better off we all will be.