Resource for the Responsible Recycler

Ever wonder what to do with those old phones, single-use batteries, wire hangers, extra materials from some building project, anything that you know doesn't belong in the garbage? Well there's a resource that can lead you to the answer, and it may be right in your neighborhood.

Earth 911 is a search engine that helps you find recycling resources in your state, city, and zipcode.

Now there's no excuses for not recycling and leaving all those pounds of reusable things in your trash. Get to it!

Earth 911. Enjoy.

Singing the praises of the Klean Kanteen

My 17-month old daughter has been using the same cup for about six months now.

You might think of it as gross, neglectful even, but I beg to differ. I think it's one of the smartest things I could do as a mother.

This cup is free of hormone-changing BPA, doesn't break down or leach chemicals when warmed or washed, and it is virtually unbreakable.

She uses the Klean Kanteen, and no I'm not getting paid for this post. (I wouldn't mind it, though.) The APEX sippy lids are swappable so if they get gross I can get new ones, but I am pretty thorough when washing it, so I don't have to do that.

I am writing this post because as soon as I get a chance to shimmy on down to Park+Vine (because I just found out they have them) and I am going to get myself one, so that I may avoid even being tempted to buy a bottle of water. What a waste.

Maybe I'll even get my coworkers a Kanteen for Christmas/Kwanzaa... Hmmm...

Books I've been meaning to get around to.

My brother once told me this story about something called a 'Roundtoit.' He said one day while at his childhood friends' house they were in the garage playing and they showed him one; a 'Roundtoit.' His friend explained to him, just as he explained to me that it was a very special item, very hard to find. A lot of people would never see it.

Get it?

I know I'm corny. LOL. Well, the point of the story is, is that I have several books that I'd recommend/love to read based on their reviews and topics and if anyone has read them I would love to hear their takes. Here's my shortlist:

Green Collar Economy by Van Jones
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Slow Food Nation, by Carlo Petrini
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
Hot Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman

So this is just a shortlist, but once I get a 'roundtoit' reading one of these, that is, (or scanning the pages as my daughter screams to use it as a coloring book) I will definitely post a review.

In the meantime, have you any recommendations? Reviews?

I wish I was a little bit greener...

Anybody remember that song, "I wish I was a little bit taller?" That was my jam way back in the day.

In the song, the rapper talks about all the things he wishes he could do or have. When I think about transitioning my life to being green, I start to wonder if the little baby steps I take (recycling, reducing energy use, changing light bulbs) make a difference. Many environmentalists would say, yes. Honestly it just makes me feel better to do certain things.

Anyhow, I always think about what my life would be like if I were 100% green.

Each morning I would get up, from the sound of alarm --powered by an outlet in a home powered by solar and/or wind-- untangle myself from my organic cotton sheets and blankets and take a very short shower using my low-flow showerhead.

I would clothe myself in organic cotton (and/or other sustainable material-clothes) from the underclothes to the fancy scarf that would grace my natural shea butter-moistened hair. Business casual dress, of course.

I would then proceed over my bamboo floors to my recycled-material countertop to pick up some goodies and then to my bamboo kitchen/dining table and chair to eat my breakfast made from seasonal fruit from my own garden. Before tossing the scraps in the compost I'd pack a lunch of fresh veggies from my garden tossed with homemade pasta (If I go all the way, I gotta go all the way).

Next I'd be off to work on my bicycle, (no driving!); burning calories as I frolic through traffic and I'd arrive at my destination rejuvenated. (or exhausted)

Then I'd fulfill work duties on recycled paper. Whether I be a professor or a writer in my green life, I haven't decided, but I'd be sure to cut any unecessary carbon emission.

Going home would also be rejuvenating. On the way I'd think about the fresh homemade bread I'd bake from all organic ingredients. (No meat, because that's not green! It takes loads of carbon emission to slaughter animals).

I'd read by the fireplace used to heat my home. Listen to radio, perhaps and then get some peaceful rest in my no-voc painted, nature-ally decorated, organically insulated home.

Wouldn't that be nice.


Am I forgetting anything? I wish I were a lot greener. I'm like one thousandth (.0001) of the way there.

Does anybody watch '60 Minutes' or am I just old school?

Anyhow, whether you (my fictional audience) watch 60 Minutes or not, last night I watched a horrific investigative news story on there about where some of our E-Waste really goes.

If you do not know what E-Waste is, it is basically the electronic junk (tvs, phones, cpus) that's too old, broken or simply out-of-date that nobody wants. The reporter referred to this place as the innovation age's dirty little secret. As I stare at my iphone waiting for quitting time to pop up, I would agree. I didn't know.

Any guesses?

The answer is some place called Guiyu, China. A little town where all the water is contaminated with toxic chemicals formerly in your Dell, where the women struggle carrying children to full-term, and where the men run gangs to maintain the wasteland and jump reporters and crews who try to expose them.

In addition, what bothered me is that my fear of being green for nothing has come to be. My father, who is the skeptic of all things green, claims that the recycling company doesn't recycle. He thinks they just dump the stuff they collect somewhere in the trash. Well in essence, this is exactly what happened in the story.

A company called Executive Recycling basically held an E-Waste event in some neighborhood and made people think they would recycle these goods, which I do believe they were paid to host.

Long story short, when 60 minutes followed the crate of stuff that was supposed to be recycled, all the stuff ended up in China. This wasteland of a place is only there because people thought they were doing the right thing and someone lied to them. I hope the green movement isn't all about lies. I know some of it makes me feel better as a person because I am less wasteful, but this is a little discouraging.

Read the story, here.

Good counter to alternative energy

I read this article on The Root this morning and I had to take a minute to think about how green issues/energy is being put in front of troubles the black community faces (and have faced for years). Do I agree? I don't think so. Do you agree?

It Takes Green to Go Green

Simply Stated

Do people of color care about the environment?

I do. Check out this blog. I knew I wasn't the only one.

Weekend Ups and Downs

This weekend was great for two reasons. Not only did I get to spend a great deal of it with my family; I also got to educate some of them about being green. I even convinced one of my aunts to recycle.

My brother, who turned 33 last week decided to host a shin-dig at his home in Columbus. Let me just first say that my family loves to celebrate. Even if we only have a little money to do it, we just tell everyone to BYOB and we get it poppin'. So while 'politick-in' by the trash can telling everyone about my daughter's Klean Kanteen, I decided to start a trash bag for recycling. I am so different now, that when I see glass I just think of it being here when nothing else is. It will be an artifact...artifact times 1 trillion. So while talking and encouraging the folks, my recycling bag even caught on for a while. People were throwing their cans and bottles into the recycling bag. After a while it seemed like I didn't have to stand around and tell them for them to do it. However, after more than a while, the little trash got full and people started throwing their food trash into my recycling bag. At the end of the night when I was helping....excuse me... I mean watching everyone clean, I noticed that my recycling efforts had been virtually unsuccessful and that I'd have to spend the rest of the night continuing to make my brother feel guilty about hurting the environment.

"You have to teach your kids that when you throw things away, they never really GO AWAY!" I fumed. "Take them to a landfill," I said, "and explain how it works. GLASS NEVER BREAKS DOWN!!!" I hope I got through to him. I know that I got through to my aunt who said she only recycles newspaper. Now I'm thinking of getting shiny new recycling bins to every relative whose address I have, even if they become dog baths, I still feel like I gave it some effort.

Sunday was 20 times better than Saturday. I got to see my grandmother, I got recruited for designing the family reunion t-shirt, and I had a meal, in my mother and father's home that came entirely from their garden. I was blown away because my father is the same man who denies anything is happening to polar bears and denies global warming entirely. "You're greener than you think!" I tell him. The food tasted excellent and felt extremely good going down because I knew exactly where it came from. We had red potatoes, red cabbage and chicken (which did not come from the garden, but we'll get there...lol). I was extremely proud. I think I'm wearing the folks down, guys!!!!!!!!

While I'm sure that people do this all the time, I'm honestly not sure how many of my people do this all the time, which is why I am so excited about it.

Turn up that AC!

Here's an article worth reading about green air conditioning technology.

While I'm on this recycling kick...

Follow this link to the Story of Stuff. It's pretty interesting.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

My adventures in almost not recycling.

When I moved to Cincinnati, I had no idea how to green my living because I live in a large apartment complex. Now in East Harlem, recycling was readily available in front of the Pathmark on the corner. I remember when I got there I used to see all these people just recycling for the good of the earth! I was so intrigued. Then I looked a little closer and I saw that these people were getting paid to do this and all over the city I would see the same people digging in the garbage for recyclables. It was apparently a profitable career for some! Anyhow - back to Cincinnati -while I knew that recycling bins were available to people in houses, I did not know that I would have to share one with my aunt that lives across town, or find a recycling center in my neighborhood. Because my will to be good to the earth affects the way I sleep at night, it wasn't long before I found the City of Cincinnati's Recycling program and directions to a recycling center near me. So the S.O. and I loaded up a pamper box with all of our cardboard soap and graham cracker boxes, our aluminum and our plastics #1, 2 and 3 but when it came to taking out the recycling, no one wanted to do it. Our dumpster is right behind the complex, so that's easy. But shuttling the trash, sorry, recyclables in the Kia and to a recycling center was a chore we both ignored. So it piled, and it piled and we had a few unwanted visitors enjoying the remnants inside the box. It was then that I begged the S.O. to take it to the recycling center near us and dump it. Reluctantly, he loaded it up and hauled it all to the market but when he got there, he said no one around knew what he was talking about. So for about three days, we rolled around with recycleables in the trunk and backseat. I thank God that none of my friends came to visit or needed a ride anywhere because I didn't want to have to explain the smell and the inconvenience it had been to recycle. It meant a lot to me, however, so I did not give in to dumping it all in the dumpster behind the building. In the end I found the little Rumpke Recycling Center next to the downtown library and Voila! We are one step greener.

Now if I could just get the S.O. to bike to work.... and take the recyclables with him! LOL

I'm a terrible influence...but I'm back and greener than ever

Sooooo......I'm back!

I have to be honest and say that the reason I wasn't blogging was because I was not being as green as I thought I should be to be running a "green blog," but now I am living greener than ever and convincing others to be green, too.

For instance, my momma is now inquiring about putting solar panels on her roof; my S.O. - who now refuses to use plastic grocery store bags and growls with anger if a clerk forgets to use our bags; my anti-green-but-doesn't-know-how-green-he-really-is Deddy, who is growing a beautiful garden full of veggies; my brother who has stopped paper towel consumption and anybody else in the grocery store who sees me with my assortment of canvas bags and my baby with her Klean Kanteen. TOGETHER WE'RE GREENIN' IT UP YALL.

Since college, I was always a firm believer in changing my little corner of the world. Some call it grassroots, or think global act local, or just word-of-mouth; but whatever it is, I am on the track to doing that and I couldn't be prouder. I am currently in Cincinnati and would like to make the black and green connection with this little corner of the world. With my blog this time around I plan to localize topics. I would also like to highlight black issues AND green issues and the two together.

For today, I want to leave you with the most simple green practice, which I just learned how to do appropriately as an apartment complex resident: Recycling.

Most cities have websites that tell where recycling sites are and how to get a bin for your home. Cincinnati's is http://rcc.org/pubsrv/pages/-10147-/ It's important for us all to remember that trash is never really 'thrown away' it is tossed into a landfill and homes and parks are built on top of it. It contaminates our water and drains our resources. Most cities and businesses even have electronics recycling, CFL recycling, computer recycling. Just about anything you've used can be recycled. Pay attention.

Everbody wants to be green this week...

Earth Day is this week, so now everybody wants to pretend that they care about the earth. Well, yall knew that I cared since way back, so I'm not one of those fakers. The fact that I'm getting back to blogging this week is not coincidental, there's just a lot to talk about... I could no longer stand by and keep all these black and green thoughts to myself.

I've been watching the Today show and although 60% of the information given in the four hours is useless, they have been talking about the harm in using certain plastics. Now, I knew that plastic was terrible because it takes forever to break down in a landfill. I also knew that bloggers all over the world are getting rid of all the plastic in their homes and consulting others on how to stay away from it. [Here's just one] I also knew that plastic is not natural and made of chemicals that could potentially be damaging. I didn't know that it's almost impossible to avoid at home, in the kitchen, in the car, EVERYWHERE. I also didn't know that although NBC is in bed with other companies that sell plastic products, I didn't know that they would maintain that Bisphenol A, one of the harmful chemicals in plastics 3,5,6 (don't quote me, read the story ppl) is indeed harmful according to more than a few stories and more than a few experts. I didn't know that different types contain different chemicals that can do different things, especially to children. This is where my concern lies.

One of the studies claims that this BPA could be the reason why girls reach puberty earlier and this chemical also heightens some cancers. And I thought it was the hormones in the chicken! That's enough for me to stop using it; the plastic that is. How about you? I just have to find some glass sippee cups. I also have to do some research. This is TV we're talking about, and just like blogs, I don't believe anything I haven't seen twice.

This one's for Joe

Ever wonder what it would be like to run your laptop from solar power?

Well, here's your chance!

Thanks TreeHugger

My bad yall.

Please bear with me. I'm transitioning right now.

Before I decided to move, I'd spend 8-10 hours of the day staring at a computer screen and trying to find all the black and green news I could (while working, of course). Now, I'm spending up to 24 hours chasing an 8-month old, starting a business and driving back and forth from some Ohio town to another. Yeah, that's right, I decided to move from the hustle and bustle of the big city to a nicer, quieter, loving-er place. I would say cleaner, because aesthetically it is but in terms of carbon emissions it is not. (I think) New York to Ohio. Which would you choose? Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about things I could be writing as I wipe spit peas off my shirt, like:

...how organic baby food comes in plastic packaging (So what?) and
...how I could get this small town to ban plastic bags like San Fran. If they can do it, we can too! , or
...how I want to put a solar panel on the old family house I may rent; Can I do it myself? , or
...why my father still doesn't believe global warming is real hmph, why was it like 60 degrees the other day, pops?! , or
....how there's a lake flowing in Antartica is that normal? or
...how we decide our next leader will have a real effect on the planet. When you find one link for that let me know. Until then, I'm busy researching each one!

So for now, meditate on these things and I'll be brainstorming some more during Sesame Street. Until next time...

Yeah, I'll get to that....

This has been my 2008 motto so far for putting off my blog and putting off beginning a healthier lifestyle. I mean Kwanzaa break was delightful, but to extend it another week would be just unacceptable. So here I am and I extend my apologies.

So because last week everyone was talking about resolutions, perhaps I should also begin the year talking about resolutions (that I'll keep for a month or two), or not. While it seems quite ambitious to offer a green tip everyday or promise to do something green in my life everyday and tell you about it, I don't really roll that way. I am a fan of the gradual change process. What do you think? How do you make changes that stick? Do you plan to make any green changes?

I made a resolution one year to take everyday as it is new. This advice has proven to be the best advice I'd ever taken from an overheard conversation or someone on the radio or on some website --I still can't remember where I heard it. However, in addition to that advice, I have made the promise to myself this year, to remove JUNK from my life. This means JUNK food; old JUNK that cannot be reused or made into anything else; JUNK music/tv/entertainment that is not good for my family (it will be hard to give up Divorce Court :( JUNKy personal care products (not natural), plastic JUNK that I don't need, I am going to stop buying unnecessary JUNK --just junk altogether disgusts me. You know sometimes when I am in a greeny mood I go to the mall and just think all this JUNK is just future trash. Because America has this fashion thing, we know how to make stuff old, undesirable, unfashionable and it ends up in a landfill. Think about it. I hope you can feel me on this one. While old habits indeed die hard, I feel that if I make a commitment and stick to something so simple yet meaningful I can indeed do it.

I have done this with paper bags and I will soon move to reusable ones. I am working toward keeping a full organic pantry. It will be a while before I can buy a hybrid, but I know that's what I'll get if I can't find one of those electric car dealers in Ohio by the time I'm ready. I know I have many more changes to make and stick to like reusable water bottles, faucet filters, compost piles and getting the entire family to recycle, but if I just did it all at once I wouldn't have anything to blog about.

Stick with me and we'll figure out all this green stuff out together...

Happy New Year