#Beach day #clean up day =) #OurOcean2014

 

We told you about clean up #OurOcean2014 a little over a month ago but we figured that while the weather is still so nice out we would remind you that organizing a beach clean up is even easier by visiting this page: https://wastetracking.wordpress.com/2014/06/27/looking-for-a-good-weekend-activity-look-no-further-than-ourocean2014-and-giveback/

There’s information on what to do before and during a beach clean up, and adding #ourocean2014 to your social media posts while organizing this will help your event gain visibility. If you have any questions of want to invite us, please Tweet us @WasteTracking we can also help you spread the word!

 

 

Upcoming Eco-Related Events

We searched the web to find eco-related events around the world so that we could direct you to effective websites.

The best results were from Eventbrite:

http://www.eventbrite.com/directory?q=eco&loc=San%20Jose%2C%20CA&sort=best&slat=29.28&slng=-101.43&vp_ne_lat=62.4293&vp_ne_lng=-59.2393&vp_sw_lat=-3.8681&vp_sw_lng=-143.6143&crt=regular&

The Planet Friendly aims to bring people together over ideas that matter all around the globe!:

http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/

If you want to host your own eco-friendly event we have tips on how to throw a party that doesn’t end up with a bunch of garbage strewn around your venue:

https://wastetracking.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/the-greenparty-how-to-throw-a-green-party/

If you want to invite @wastetracking on Twitter we can also help you promote an eco-friendly event!

 

Also, did you know that latex balloons are 100% biodegradable?

The Biggest Factor in How Much We Recycle Is…

The number 1 factor that effects whether or not someone will or will not recycle is their knowledge about what can be recycled. Yolonda Wright conducted 200 surveys to see what factors play a key role in determining the likely hood that one will recycle.

Yolonda wrote about UC Berkeley’s first Recycling Summit, 2001 that promoted campus recycling by increasing access to recycling and refuse containers, the campus bought recycled paper and even established a materials exchange.

In addition to one’s knowledge (a distinction was made between general knowledge and “knowledge about what can be recycled), demographics, knowledge of recycling bin location, age, area of study and more factors were considered.

Our blog has a lot of ideas for those who are already motivated to recycle. We also talked about people in correctional facilities that recycle quite a bit thanks to the training that they receive during their positions. For more about sustainable jobs, please click here and Yolonda’s study can be found here.

Do you find this easy or hard to believe? Let us know what you think on Twitter http://twitter.com/wastetracking

Shocked that some cities still need to consider construction recycling

Just read in the news that Burlington, Vt. is currently considering recycling their construction waste…

The good news is that the city is starting the process of making recycling construction waste a requirement for building permits.

Although this was shocking news for us, it does make since that because construction is on the rise in the Berlington, Vt., this is just now being addressed.

Best wishes to the city and their diversion efforts!

 

Source: http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/story/d/story/burlington-considers-construction-recycling/13736/AJ_hUwH6BkmMlficA-2YRw

Another great Green article from WasteTracking.com

Track your recycling at WasteTracking.com

Follow WasteTracking.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wastetracking

For those in #robotics, #construction and #waste, prepare to be amazed by @zenrobtics

The ZenRobotics Recycler currently separates Metal, Wood and Stone from mixed construction and demolition debris. The separator received the Global Cleantech Cluster Association’s Later Stage Award for Best in Waste Management at the end of 2013 and ZenRobotics Ltd. is working on increasing the features of this product. Separating mixed construction and demolition debris is important because currently people perform their arduous task and their labor could be use very effectively elsewhere in waste facilities. Not only does this take a dangerous and tedious task off of the hands of waste facility employees, but this robot even improves recovery rates and sorting efficiency.

Jaakko Särelä, CEO of ZenRobotics, says that ““It is already clear that clean technology will develop to a globally significant business sector. What is now needed is a national strategy for the development of environmental technology”. The minimum amount of reclaimed debris that the sorter can reclaim annually is 12,000 tons with the potential to sort up to 60,000 tons. In addition, the sorter little energy, and only costs $1.36/hour to operate.

 

Source: https://mygreenhalo.wordpress.com/

Another great Green article from WasteTracking.com

Track your recycling at WasteTracking.com

Follow WasteTracking.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wastetracking

How do planners decide where to build a waste station?

In New York, there were lawsuits that sought to lock out the construction of a controversial waste-transfer station from the East River at E. 91^St St. in Manhattan.

The plaintiffs, argued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in issuing the city a construction permit saying that they failed to look hard at the environmental consequence of building the station at that aforementioned location.

On the contrary Manhattan Federal Judge Paul Crotty said that the decision to build a 10 story waste transfere station on East 91^st St. is “rational and well-supported”.

 

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/judge-dismisses-lawsuits-seeking-block-construction-upper-east-side-garbage-transfer-station-article-1.1863023

 

Another great Green article from WasteTracking.com

Track your recycling at WasteTracking.com

Follow WasteTracking.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wastetracking 

 

 

#Smart Table Has a Full Cycle #Design

This short (under 4 minute) film illustrates a full cycle, mixed use table that lets people cultivate, garden, cook, eat, wash dishes and repeat.

If you don’t have the time to watch the whole cycle unfold, then here’s the CliffsNotes, Wiki, or actually StudioGorm version of it:

 

Source: http://www.studiogorm.com/flow2.html

Another great Green article from WasteTracking.com

Track your recycling at WasteTracking.com

Follow WasteTracking.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wastetracking

“Japanese Demolition” Non-Disruptive and Incredibly #Eco-Friendly

This is a common way to demolish tall buildings

This is the before and after image of Taisei Corporation’s Ecologoligal Reproduction System (Tecorep)

A Japanese company has a revolutionary approach to demolishing tall buildings that reuses as much as possible, doesn’t disrupt the surroundings (in contract to the common demolishing method which involves blowing the building up), and is much more eco-friendly; this reduces the carbon footprint by 85%!

Taisei Corporation is the genius behind this method and it developed the Ecologoligal Reproduction System (Tecorep) that demolished the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka in a quiet and eco-friendly way that was previously unheard of. Time lapse videos of this process shows: the hotel shrinking as a crane inside of the hotel places interior debris outside of the building meanwhile a temporary floor gets built so that the crane that recycles energy from lowering the debris can get lowered and the process can be repeated until the hotel is significantly lowered.

This video shows someone from Taisei Corporation standing in front of the hotel, there is footage inside of the demolition and footage from the quiet outside so that you can see the building shrink. This is definitely a must see if you haven’t yet. Please tell us what you think @wastetracking on Twitter.

#Troubleshooting worm bins for composting

Earlier this week, we posted about a how you can vermicompost and create, rich, anti-fungal earth for your gardening! Well, the info graphic that we posted is Sustainable America’s most popular infographic this year, so they made a trouble shooting worm bin guide and sent is to us!

For those of you who struggle to keep your worms happy or have questions about gardening with this compost or worm casings, please see this article.

Another great Green article from WasteTracking.com

Track your recycling at WasteTracking.com

Follow WasteTracking.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wastetracking

New washing machine uses less #water, #energy, and #chemicals

It’s not news that certain parts of the world have drought emergencies right now but Xeros has an new invention that is helping reduce the travesty. Xeros came out with a polymer bead laundry system which comes with enormous savings and benefits that currently attracts mainly commercial locations. This new laundry system is currently impacting the hotel, gym, and hospital industries in a great ways.

By reducing consumption in commercial laundry, hotels can conserve valuable resources, gain competitive advantages, market themselves as green to increase their brand value and improve customer loyalty in addition to reducing costs.

The Xeros washer works by utilizing the hydrophilic properties of polymer beads. Scientists at the University of Leeds School of Textiles discovered that these beads, mixed with a small amount of water and a special detergent act as magnets for stains and dirt to clean laundry better and more gently than traditional methods. These reusable polymer beads also last for hundreds of washes before they need to be recycled and the Xeros polymer bead laundry system uses 80% less water, 50% less energy, about 50% less detergent and results in better cleaning results compared to traditional methods.

(Sources: http://www.waterworld.com/articles/iww/print/volume-14/issue-3/features/wiser-washing.html

And

http://mygreenhalo.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/what-uses-80-less-water-50-less-energy-about-50-less-detergent-and-results-in-better-cleaning-results-compared-to-traditional-methods/ )

Another great Green article from WasteTracking.com

Track your recycling at WasteTracking.com

Follow WasteTracking.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wastetracking