Let’s start with the alarming figure.

500,000,000,000

It’s the number of plastic bags used worldwide each year – almost a million plastic bags used every minute.

Amazing, overwhelming, shocking, gross – what can you do?  Recycle yours.

But not just the plastic bag, recycle all of them – grocery bags, produce bags, dry cleaner bags, ziplock bags, clear plastic film, the shrink wrap around that new iPhone, the clear plastic the movers/shippers wrapped around all those boxes, or stones and tile for your yard.  All of it, just about any clear plastic.  But how?  A separate garbage pail, a canvas bag under the sink, maybe just a plastic bag – one in the kitchen, one in the laundry room – collect them from everywhere.

In a week, you’ll be both disgusted and pleased by the amount of clear plastic you keep out of the landfill.  Once a week, or once a month, stuff it all into one plastic bag – bring it to the grocery store for recycling, or put it on top of your recycling bin for collection, if your city accepts plastic bags.  Do not put them individually into your recycling bins -individual plastic bags jam the conveyor belts of the recycling center’s manual inspection stations.  Bag them, and put them on top of the bin.

All these plastic bags will come back, as carpets, backyard decks, even shopping carts.

Do your part, put this valuable plastic back to use, not in the landfill.  And, keep bringing those canvas bags to the grocery store; keep saying no to a bag at the convenience/hardware/candy store; keep putting your kid’s lunch in tupperware instead of bags.

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1. Cereal box bags – Of course the cardboard box can be recycled, but the inside plastic bag can be recycled with all your other plastic bags with the recycling collection (if your community recycling plan offers it).  Bag all your plastic bags and put them on top of your recycling bin for collection or bring them to your grocery store for recycling.  Make sure they go on top of the bin, not mixed with the rest of the recycling; otherwise they clog up the conveyor belts at the recycling center.

2. Sneakers – Nike offers a program that recycles all the parts of sneakers – turning them into surfaces for tracks, tennis courts and basketball courts.  Drop any sneakers at any Nike store, or host a shoe drive.  http://www.nikereuseashoe.com

3. Crayons – Got crayon bits?  Crazy Crayons keeps old crayons and parts out of the landfill and melts them into new crayons.  No sorting necessary, but they’ll only take US made crayons because some from China contain lead, so only buy US made crayons.  http://crazycrayons.com/recycle_program.html

4. CDs/DVDs – For the cost of shipping, GreenDisk will recycle your CDs.  They’ll also take mice, keyboards, cell phones, cords – all sorts of techno-trash.  http://greendisk.com

5. Batteries – It’s illegal to put these into the landfill!  Drop them at the fire department or local hardware store, or leave in a plastic bag on top of your recycling bin (if your community recycling plan accepts batteries).

6. CFL bulbs – These are also hazardous waste and cannot be tossed.  No municipal collection exists yet (read press your Council person), but you can bring old or even broken bulbs (in a sealed plastic bag), to any Home Depot or Ikea store – look for the drop box at the customer service counter at Home Depot, or the lighting department in Ikea.

7. Packing peanuts – Don’t toss these, instead bring them to a local packaging store – bring them your shipping boxes too so they can get a second, third or forth life.  http://loosefillpackaging.com

8. Ink cartridges – These are worth about $1 each – schools are constantly fundraising with collections for these, or try: http://recycleplace.com

9. Toothbrushes – Here’s a cool one – a toothbrush subscription.  They send you new recycled plastic toothbrushes on a pre-determined schedule, then they take back the old ones and use them to make plastic lumber for things like picnic tables.  http://www.preserveproducts.com

10. Old stuff – Before you put anything in the trash, offer it up for free on craigslist.com or freecycle.org.  Usually there’s someone out there that wants what you have, especially if it’s free, and they’ll come pick it up!

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First free weekend after Thanksgiving, brought many of us to think about a tree for the holidays.  But if that left you with a paper or plastic question, read on.

The good news on real Christmas trees is that about 98% of them are grown on tree farms these days, so you’re not pulling a tree from the woods, killing animal habitats, clear cutting, etc.  These tree farms are often in areas not well suited to growing other crops.  Another green benefit – one acre of trees can produce enough oxygen to sustain 18 people.  Also, tree farms provide habitat for birds and other wildlife, and for every tree cut, at least one sapling is planted to replace it.

OK, enough Google factoids, what about fake trees?  A lot of petroleum and energy go into their manufacture, so they are not the best green decision.  On the other hand, if it saves you taking the family SUV to a far off tree lot every year for 30 years, then you might actually save a little oil.
Then there is the live tree option.  Personally I’ve gone through all these tree types, a fake tree as a kid (fond holiday memories of putting together rather than buying the family the Christmas tree), live trees, and a potted pine that we carried indoors for about four Christmases until it grew to big to carry.  It now lives in a San Francisco backyard.  The potted option is nice, but only if your house isn’t too warm and you don’t keep it inside long.  The problem is, do you want another pine in your yard in a year or three?  Personally if I’m going to add a tree to my garden, I’d prefer a fruit tree.

Which brings up another option – for a few years we decorated the indoor family Ficus.  It looked quite cute all lit up for the holidays, then in January, it went back to it’s role as a corporate looking nondescript green thing next to the living room couch.   In San Francisco, the Friends of the Urban Forest are offering potted trees for individuals that you essentially rent for the holidays.  You get to pick from trees such as a Magnolia, a Strawberry Tree, or a Tristania to bring home, decorate, then return to be planted along the City’s streets.

If you opt for a real tree, the most important thing you must do is make sure it’s composted afterwards.  Do not let it get into the landfill.  Municipal green pick-up or chipped in your own yard or compost pile will ensure that the nutrients in the tree are used again.

Also, think small – you don’t need to outdo the Joneses with an 11 foot tree.  It’s fun putting lights on a five foot pine, and the kids can reach every branch!  And, for energy savings, try to keep the lights to a minimum, or switch to LED strings.

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