Reduce | I Commit to Green Blog

21 Feb 2012

PaperKarma App Sets Out to Reduce Junk Mail Waste

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A look at how the PaperKarma app works to reduce paper waste. Photo: PaperKarma

If you’ve ever found yourself at your mailbox, baffled by the fact that you’ve received nothing but a pile of junk mail that will only find its way to the trash, there’s an app for that.

PaperKarma, a smartphone application released in early February, reduces your paper junk mail with the snap of a picture and is available on both the iPhone and Android markets.

The application uses your smartphone’s picture-sending capabilities to see which companies are sending you a stack of junk. Then, they contact the sender and ask them to unsubscribe your name.

This isn’t a foolproof system, PaperKarma states on their website. Some companies don’t have an actual list from which to remove your name and rather bombards mailboxes with junk addressed to “resident.” Still, most ethical companies will unsubscribe people that don’t want their mail.

In the digital age, it’s easy to expect that unsubscribing from a junk mail list would be quick and instant, but often companies will pre-address your mail for months at a time. After a while, though, you should see your junk mail greatly reduced, PaperKarma says.

PaperKarma will check in after some time to make sure you have, in fact, been unsubscribed.

READ: 8 Ways to Reduce Your Junk Mail

21 Feb 2012

Will Mardi Gras Beads Be Recycled?

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Community groups in New Orleans are working to collect and reuse the estimated 25 million pounds of plastic Mardi Gras beads that come through the city every year. Photo: Flickr/Mark Gstohl

An estimated 25 million pounds of plastic beads make their way through New Orleans every Mardi Gras, according to the Los Angeles Times. And because they can’t be processed by local recyclers, they often end up as litter in nearby waterways or dumped in landfills.

But several local community groups are working to collect this year’s Mardi Gras beads and reuse them at other events.

The Arc of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit that provides jobs for individuals with mental disabilities, has introduced a “Catch and Release” float that encourages party-goers to toss back their baubles at the end of the parade, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Collected beads are bundled and resold at discounted prices for next year’s festivities or for other celebrations throughout the year, including St. Patrick’s Day.

The trailer was showered with 1,000 pounds of beads during its debut at a Feb. 5 parade in Metairie, La. – 1,000 pounds of plastic that will be kept out of the landfill, Margie Perez, Arc’s recycling coordinator, told the Times-Picayune. The float will follow two other parades this season.

VerdiGras, a nonprofit that aims to green Mardi Gras, also collaborated with Arc this year to pilot a parade-route recycling program, setting out bins for beads, paper, plastic and aluminum along a six-block stretch of Feb. 11’s Krewe of Pontchartrain parade.

Arc will also be collecting unwanted beads at four locations throughout New Orleans and the neighboring cities of Metairie and Westwego. Last year, Arc accumulated 100,000 pounds of beads through school bead drives, bead recycling bins stationed at grocery stores and donations from private citizens.

SEE: Mosaic Made From Mardi Gras Beads

16 Feb 2012

Scrap Wood Finds New Life in Contemporary Korean Kitchens

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Designer Yong Hoon Choi builds a kitchen out of discarded wood used for overseas shipping. Photo: Yong Hoon Choi

Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, is home to the country’s largest port and is the fifth busiest port in the world. With all those ships making stops in the sunny city of 3.6 million people, plenty of waste piles up, including scrap wood that encases a variety of goods. That wood sourced from across the globe does its job protecting bulk cargo, but is just thrown away after those same ships leave Busan for other destinations.

Originally from Busan, designer Yong Hoon Choi now lives in Seoul but frequently visits his hometown and spends a lot of time at the city’s busy seaport. He became fascinated by the waste left behind as the result of the 13 million shipping containers that pass through Busan annually. Choi realized that wood could be put to good use, and an idea that challenges how Koreans design their homes was born.

The Forgotten Room

Influenced by his time living and working abroad in Los Angeles and New York, Choi decided he wanted Koreans to rethink how they build and design their living spaces.

Although South Korea is now a global focal point for new trends and design, interiors generally do not reflect Koreans’ keen sense of style. In fact, most kitchens in Korea are strictly a functional space and boast little except drab Formica surfaces and prefabricated cabinets. So despite the genuine hospitality Koreans show to visitors, that warmth does not translate into most home interiors.

PHOTOS: Stunning Recycled Glass Countertops

Choi sees two opportunities in the stacks of scrap wood through which he rummages when he visits Busan; to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfills and to design cool kitchen cabinets and surfaces.

10 Feb 2012

Okabashi Closes the Loop on Sandal Recycling

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Okabashi’s line of sandals and flip-flops not only contain up to 25 percent recycled plastic, but can be returned to the company for recycling at the end of their useful lives. Photo: Okabashi

Shoes made from recycled materials are not a new green fashion trend: New Balance, Puma and even Manolo Blahnik have all turned waste into new kicks.

But Georgia-based Okabashi goes a step further: Not only are its sandals and flip-flops made from recycled plastic, but the company also takes back its old shoes for recycling at the end of their useful lives.

Okabashi’s line of sandals, which comes in an assortment of styles and colors, are molded from a blend of plastics called Microplast, making them vegan-friendly. While the amount of recycled content in each shoe depends on the material available, an average pair of Okabashi sandals contains 15-25 percent recycled plastic.

When customers are ready to retire a pair of well-worn Okabashis, they can mail their shoes back to the company’s Buford, Ga. factory and receive a coupon for their next purchase. Okabashi’s team cleans the old shoes, grinds them down and blends the recycled plastic pieces with new plastic. The workers then remold the plastic mixture to produce a new pair of sandals, achieving a closed-loop recycling process.

READ: What is a Producer’s Responsibility?

The company also incorporates the plastic scraps leftover from production into the plastic mixture to make new shoes, making their manufacturing process virtually waste-free. The 2 percent of re-ground material that Okabashi can’t recycle in its factory is sent to a partner company to be made into other plastic products.

According to Okabashi, the company recycled over 100,000 pounds of plastic last year, diverting 10 tractor trailers full of waste from landfills.

READ: New Balance Makes Plastic Bottle Sneakers

Priced at $20 or less, each Okabashi sandal is designed for optimal comfort, featuring a massaging insole, arch support and ergonomic foot beds.

08 Feb 2012

Waste Management Tests New Efficient Trucks

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The following is an op-ed piece by Wes Muir, director of communications for Waste Management. It does not describe the views or opinions of Earth911.

For better or for worse, garbage can be heavy, wet and bulky. This has presented a challenge for cities, private citizens, businesses and waste collectors alike since the days of horse-drawn waste collection vehicles. This year, a new waste collection vehicle could change the landscape of waste collection for the better in the United States.

For decades, European cities have used a technologically unique vehicle called the “Rotopress” in the collection of waste, and this year, for the first time, Waste Management will introduce the Rotopress in North America. The Rotopress’ distinctive design improves collection efficiency and mechanical reliability, as well as reduces odor and noise in comparison to traditional collection trucks.

Improved design

The Rotopress, designed by German company Faun, has a cylindrical barrel that rotates waste like cement in a cement mixer. This rotating barrel mixes dry and wet waste, reducing free liquid in the system and distributing the weight of the waste more evenly within the barrel. This mixing process virtually eliminates leakage from the waste, which cuts down on odor and wear-and-tear on the machine caused by corrosion. The even distribution of waste also allows the vehicle to carry more waste per trip and decreases stress on the mechanisms.

Streamlined mechanics

The corkscrew design of the rear loading-truck has no blades and fewer moving parts than conventional haulers. This simple design ensures that fewer pieces get jammed, diminishing repair costs and inconvenience caused by vehicles pulled out of service. The “decoupled chassis” of the tractor trailer swivels on a hinge, allowing drivers to safely negotiate small residential roads and commercial alleys.

READ: A Day in the Life of a Recycling Driver

Increased fuel efficiency

The vehicle’s ability to carry up to 4 tons more waste than a conventional collection vehicle means that they take fewer trips to the landfill, which saves fuel. On top of that, the Rotopress is operated by a compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered truck, which emits nearly zero air particulate matter and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent. These vehicles will add to Waste Management’s fleet of more than 1,400 CNG-powered vehicles, progressing toward the company’s sustainability goal to reduce fleet emissions by 15 percent and increase fleet efficiency by 15 percent by 2020.

This new vehicle will be piloted in San Diego, Sacramento, Milwaukee and Camden, N.J., so keep an eye out for them in your neighborhood.

07 Feb 2012

Colgate Pledges to Reduce Waste

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To curb waste, toothpaste giant Colgate-Palmolive Co. has partnered with TerraCycle on the Colgate Oral Care Brigade® since 2010 - a collection program that provides a second life for toothbrushes, floss containers and toothpaste tubes and caps. Photo: Flickr/theimpulsivebuy

Colgate-Palmolive Co. has pledged to reduce the waste it sends to landfills by 15 percent by 2015, according to the company’s latest sustainability report.

In the report, the company also committed to cutting the environmental impact of products and packages by 20 percent by 2015 through increasing the use of sustainable materials and recycled content.

In addition to cutting packaging weight, Colgate hopes to increase post-consumer plastic content to an average of 30 percent in all PET bottles by next year to meet sustainability goals.

The company’s recent global redesign of some toothpaste tubes and caps reduced consumption of non-renewable energy and natural resources by 30 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by about 50 percent, the report said.

The company also plans to reduce water and energy consumed in the manufacturing of its products by 40 percent and 20 percent respectively, according to the report.

READ: Pantene To Use Sugarcane Plastics in Packaging

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