By Alex Mardikian Recycling books and magazines is a good idea. Reusing these is an even better one. Do you know that each ton of recycled paper can save up to 3 cubic yards of space in landfill, 380 gallons of oil and save 17 trees from being cut down? It also saves 4000kilowatt of […]

Mandatory on-pack “eco-labelling”, featuring a new combined colour and number system, could provide a cost-effective solution to the challenge of simplifying recycling for consumers, without costing councils millions, according to SUEZ. Despite a plethora of recycling labels and symbols, there is currently no consistent, universal, guidance to help consumers make more sustainable choices when shopping […]

Monica Strauss pulls on a pair of plastic gloves every morning to dig through blue recycling bins set out on curbs in parts of the city. Strauss, a Phoenix Public Works employee, is methodical as she approaches each blue bin and sorts through the paper, cardboard boxes, plastic waste and other contents. She jots down […]

Packing peanuts are the oil sludge of packing materials. If you have some lying around, reusing packing peanuts is always preferable to throwing them out, but if you’ve banished eco-unfriendly packing materials, there are plenty of alternatives that either make use of waste or provide a usable material for the recipient. 1. Newspaper: Balled up, […]

If the brilliant late-1980s TV show “MacGyver” has taught us anything, it’s that you can repel a gang of thugs, break out of prison, and build a functioning spacecraft with little more than a paper clip, a C battery, some twist ties and an empty tube of toothpaste. Yes, OK, fine, MacGyver was fiction, but […]

Recycling was shaken up by China’s trash ban. On January 1, China stopped taking 24 types of waste and recyclable items like plastic and paper from overseas. China was the biggest buyer of New Zealand’s waste and recyclables. The change meant councils had to find other overseas buyers for recyclable waste, but that came with a whole new set of recycling guidelines […]

Friday was a good day for recycling. The first commercial airline hit the skies fuelled by repurposed waste carbon, Canada started turning old fire hoses into hammocks for zoo animals and Jacinda Ardern opened an Auckland building mostly made from salvaged material. But, when at home Kiwi’s still can’t get their recycling bins right. Kiwis […]

At the Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station on Fruitridge Road, three forklifts with whiny motors work in unison to move bundles of materials while on the other side of the building, a piece of heavy machinery rumbles as it moves a mountain of cardboard. Above it all are catwalks and ramps and two miles of […]

It’s human nature — by the time a recipe is finished, we can’t wait to toss the leftover mess into the garbage. Things like pumpkin guts, coffee grounds, and pickle juice are usually throwaways, as a result. But coffee grounds can actually be used to fertilize plants, and carrot tops can add flavor to tons […]

One year after China promised to ban certain recyclables from import, North American recycling programs are making changes to what they’ll accept. Glass and certain types of plastics are among the materials that will be sent to the landfill instead. Bethel Park and Erie County, Pennsylvania; Candler County, Georgia; and St. Albert, Canada, are just […]