There are more than 4,500 recycled-content products available, and this number continues to grow. In fact, many of the products we regularly purchase contain recycled-content. The following list presents just a sampling of products that can be made with recycled content: Aluminum cans Car bumpers Carpeting Cereal boxes Comic books Egg cartons Glass containers Laundry [...]
Posts from ‘May, 2009’
Buy Recycled
Product labels can be confusing to consumers interested in buying recycled because of the different recycling terminology used. The following definitions might help clarify any uncertainty regarding manufacturers’ claims. For more detailed guidance, view a summary of the Federal Trade Commission’s brochure Sorting Out Green Advertising Claims or their Official Guidance for the use of [...]
What Not to Compost
Do NOT compost the following: * Black walnut tree leaves or twigs o Releases substances that might be harmful to plants * Coal or charcoal ash o Might contain substances harmful to plants * Dairy products (e.g., butter, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, yogurt) o Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and [...]
What to Compost
* Animal manure * Cardboard rolls * Clean paper * Coffee grounds and filters * Cotton rags * Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint * Eggshells * Fireplace ashes * Fruits and vegetables * Grass clippings * Hair and fur * Hay and straw * Houseplants * Leaves * Nut shells * Sawdust * Shredded newspaper [...]
Composting Organic Materials
ard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 23 percent of the U.S. waste stream, as documented by EPA. An estimated 56.9 percent of yard trimmings were recovered for composting or grasscycled in 2000, a dramatic increase from the 12 percent recovery rate in 1990. Accompanying this surge in yard waste recovery is a composting industry [...]
Composting benefits
Compost Can… * Suppress plant diseases and pests. * Reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers. * Promote higher yields of agricultural crops. * Facilitate reforestation, wetlands restoration, and habitat revitalization efforts by amending contaminated, compacted, and marginal soils. * Cost-effectively remediate soils contaminated by hazardous waste. * Remove solids, oil, grease, and heavy [...]
Compost is organic material that can be used as a soil amendment
Compost is organic material that can be used as a soil amendment or as a medium to grow plants. Mature compost is a stable material with a content called humus that is dark brown or black and has a soil-like, earthy smell. It is created by: combining organic wastes (e.g., yard trimmings, food wastes, manures) [...]
Yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream.
Yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. That’s a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead! Composting offers the obvious benefits of resource efficiency and creating a useful product from organic waste that would otherwise have [...]
Steps to Recycling a Product
Recycling includes collecting recyclable materials that would otherwise be considered waste, sorting and processing recyclables into raw materials such as fibers, manufacturing raw materials into new products, and purchasing recycled products. Collecting and processing secondary materials, manufacturing recycled-content products, and then buying recycled products creates a circle or loop that ensures the overall success and [...]
Benefits of Recycling
* Recycling protects and expands U.S. manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness. * Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration. * Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials. * Recycling saves energy. * Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. * Recycling conserves natural [...]