It Takes A Village ….

The EPA (Enviromental Protection Agency), has released the 2007 recycling report. It takes two years for the EPA to gather the data and crunch the numbers.

Last year Forced Green reported the 2006 numbers with hopes of bettering those very good numbers in the 2007 report.

Well here you go:

Materials Recycled               2006            2007

Aluminum Cans                   45.1%          48.6%

Auto Batteries                      99%              99.2%

Glass Containers                    25.3%           28.1%

Paper and Paperboard         51.6%           54.5%

Plastic HDPE Milk
and Water Bottles                 31%               28%

Plastic Soft
Drink Bottles                         30.9%           36.6%

Steel Cans                          62.9%           64.3%

Tires                                   34.9%          34.8%

Yard Trimmings                   62%              64.1%

Total Waste Generated
(Million Tons)                        251                254

Total Recycled and
Composted
(Million Tons)                         82                  85

Total Percent Recycled        32.5%          33.4%

On average, we recycled and composted 1.5 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.6 pounds per person per day.

The only real number that went down was the Plastic HDPE Milk and Water Bottles, which is due to people changing from bottled water to reusable individual water containers – a very good thing.

The ‘Green Phone’ just rang …. it’s Mother Earth … she said to tell you “thanks kids, keep up the good work, “…. she sends her love.

Good job people!! Give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back!

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Pictures are worth a thousand words!

Many of you have heard of the movement to stop using bottled water. This video will enlighten you as to the facts surrounding the bottled water lifespan.

Please take a moment to view and please feel free to comment.

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Start a Trend: Commit to Earth Day Resolutions

Earth Day celebrations are over and you are wondering what you can do to contribute. But, you don’t know what or where or how. So, here are some small steps we can do right now. Because what may seem like insignificant actions by each of us, results in giant steps as a whole. Some are old and some new. So feel empowered for going green with little or no effort and money:

Wash clothes in cold water, they get just as clean.

Switch from bottled water to reusable bottles, fill with filtered tap water.

Blanket the hot water heater and turn down the temperature, water heating is the third largest energy expense in the American home.

Don’t drive, walk a mile to lunch, you will burn 100 calories and if all American did this it would avoid the same amount of CO2 pollution as taking 4.3 million cars off the road.

Put the following items on power strips with on/off switches, switched off until needed:

Hair dryer
Kitchen counter top items: coffee pot, toaster, blenders, and such
Entertainment center electronics.
Computer equipment

Recycling batteries website: rbrc.org – This site lists dropoff sites for recycling batteries of all sorts.

Go to earth911.org to find a recycling site near you.

Setting your refrigerator to 38-42 degrees will make it run 25% more efficiently.

Put a brick in your toilet tank.

Tape a note to the bottom of your mirror, above the bathroom sink – “SHUT OFF THE WATER WHILE BRUSHING”.

Reusable bags reduce the amount of crude oil and natural gas used to make plastic bags reducing the amount of waste in landfills, waterways and oceans.

Switch out incandescent bulbs with CFLs or LEDs‘ are twice as efficient as florescent bulbs and ten times more efficient than incandescent bulbs.

Each commuter train passenger can reduce their carbon footprint by greater than 65% every time they ride —— Americans save 855,000,000 gallons of gas a year by taking public transportation.

By doing some or all of these items will definitely reduce your carbon footprint. So, make everyday, Earth Day.

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