Greenversations

About the Author: Michelle Gugger graduated from Rutgers University in 2008. She is currently spending a year of service at EPA’s Region 3 Office in Philadelphia, PA as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

There are many successful paper recycling programs that schools start every year and their efforts certainly make a big difference. For example, 28 schools in Central Virginia started a paper recycling program in 2007 and have been able to collect more than 156 tons of paper to date. The 156 tons of paper that they recycled have saved more than 2,000 trees, 823,000 gallons of water, and 411 yards of landfill space.

Why not become a climate ambassador and educate your classmates about the benefits of paper recycling? By recycling your schools used paper, you can save water, energy, landfill space and you can reduce the impacts of deforestation and global climate change.

If you are interested in starting a paper recycling program at your school, here’s a guide for you to follow to help make your program successful:

• Talk to your principal about setting up a collection for paper waste and finding a local paper recycler.
• Educate your school about the importance of paper recycling and what bins to recycle their used paper in.
• Organize a club to help make sure that the bins are being used properly.

You can make a big difference by starting a paper recycling program at your school. With every ton of paper that your school recycles, the EPA estimates that you can help save 7,000 gallons of water, 3.3 yards of landfill space and reduce one ton of carbon from entering into the atmosphere. So, become involved in helping your school protect the environment – start a paper recycling program and educate others on the importance of recycling. Be sure to let us know if you plan on starting a paper recycling program and why.

About the Author: Loreal Crumbley, a senior at George Mason University, is an intern with EPA’s Environmental Education Division through EPA’s Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).

The use of electronics has become a major factor in our everyday life. Sometimes I find myself carrying around three or four electronic devices at a time. Our society has changed into a fast paced electronic friendly culture. In the late 1980’s home computers were introduced to our society and less than 20 years later almost every home has a computer. The advancement in technology has allowed people to carry portable phones, computers and music devices. The manufacturing and use of electronics has dramatically increased. This increase in electronic use has also increased the necessity to recycle old electronics. Recycling electronics helps reduce the pollution that is created when manufacturers create new appliances. There are many ways to reuse and recycle these appliances.

Donating old electronics can be a good way to keep electronics from entering the waste stream. Donating used electronics to charity organizations will benefit low-income families that cannot afford electronic equipment. Electronics can also be donated to schools and other non-profit organizations.

States and local governments have been working with manufacturers on creating places to recycle and reuse old appliances. There are many places that you can take used electronic appliances such as local electronics retailers, repair shops, charitable organizations, and electronics recycling companies. Many manufacturers accept used appliances free of charge. I would suggest contacting the maker of your appliance and see what sort of recycling initiatives that they have. Here is a website that identifies local electronic recycling companies by just typing in your zip code http://www.eiae.org/ .

The manufacturing process of electronics uses lots of energy and resources. Essential resources like metal, copper, and plastics are always used in the manufacturing of electronics. By recycling electronics we will be able to reduce the amount of valuable resources used and recycle the used resources. For more information on recycling electronics please visit these websites:

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/index.htm

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/plugin/recycleit.htm

If you know of any other cool places to drop off old electronics fill me in!!!

About the author: Michelle Gugger graduated from Rutgers University in 2008. She is currently spending a year of service at EPA’s Region 3 Office in Philadelphia, PA as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

Earth Day is a day for citizens to give back to their environment. It is a day that Americans have celebrated since 1970 in efforts to create a healthier and more sustainable planet. This year, it will be celebrated on April 22, 2009. Millions of people will come together to participate in volunteer opportunities throughout the country. Whether they will be cleaning up parks, clearing streams, planting trees or participating in hundreds of other types of environmental activities, the importance of their volunteerism is that they will be reducing the impact on the environment that we have all been creating. A great outcome in return from their work is that they will be able to really see the results of their efforts and know that they are making a difference. I encourage all of you to become involved in Earth Day activities too. There are many advertisements on the internet looking for Earth Day volunteers that you can register for. You can also go to EPA’s Earth Day website that will show you volunteer opportunities in your area. If you can’t find anything close to your neighborhood, I encourage you to start your own event. There are many things you can do, some examples of Earth Day activities that you can plan include:

• Storm water marking. In groups you can label the storm drains in your community to educate your neighbors about water pollution. Contact your community’s water department for the storm drain marking toolkits.
• Organize an Earth Day fair at your school or community center and invite your neighborhood. Educate them by creating environmental skits or by handing out information. Most organizations give out free publications as a part of their outreach efforts. EPA’s publication website can be found at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/publications.htm
• Plant native trees and plants around your community. Native plants are better for the environment because they provide wildlife, filter pollutants and absorb CO2 - a greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change. Go to http://www.plantnative.org/reg_pl_main.htm for more information.
• Start a recycling collection at your school. Examples of things to recycle include: ink cartridges, batteries, paper, books, newspapers, plastic bags, cell phones and magazines. A recycling center locator that will show you where you can recycle your collection materials can be found at http://earth911.com/.
• Vistit www.epa.gov/climateforaction/ for more ideas.

Can you think of any other Earth Day activities to be involved with on April 22nd? Be sure to let us know. Earth Day is a great opportunity to reduce our impact on important environmental issues like climate change, water pollution, air pollution and toxic land contamination. Last year an Earth Day activity in Philadelphia brought 15,000 residents together which created the largest one-day, citywide cleanup in America. Together, they were able to remove over 2.5 million pounds of trash and 48,000 pounds of recyclable materials. Their efforts cleared 3,500 blocks of litter and hazardous materials making the area a cleaner and safer place to live. Get involved too!!!! Become a climate ambassador in your community. Your efforts will support a good cause and make a great impact.

About the author: Loreal Crumbley, a senior at George Mason University, is an intern with EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education through EPA’s Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).

Across the globe, climate change has become a major subject of concern. A significant change in the Earth’s climate has caused the average temperature on the Earth’s surface to increase. This has become one of the most important issues of the twenty first century; and as young people, we play a major part in the fight against climate change. We are the future leaders of the world and the most threatened by climate change. Now is our time to take action and become leaders in this crisis by becoming Climate Ambassadors. You can become leaders and stand up to polluters by spreading awareness about climate change and how to reduce energy use and waste. Becoming a Climate Ambassador allows middle school and high school students to take charge on this important issue and inspire others to address climate change and children’s health.

It is easy to become a Climate Ambassador. Visit these sites and find out what issues you are passionate about, then you can play a more effective role in reducing climate change. Some examples of things you can do are:

• Motivating students to give presentations on climate change and children’s health to their schools, youth organization or other students. This will help spread information on climate change and motivate others to become active. EPA has created a presentation that students can use to increase climate change and children’s health awareness.
• Getting people in your community, your school or school district involved in ENERGY STAR pledges and challenges. The pledges and challenges encourage conservation throughout homes and schools.
• Recruit a leader from your community, school, or other organization to issue a climate change and children’s health proclamation. This proclamation will encourage youth to take action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy, and creating a new climate for action! Check out EPA’s sample proclamation.

Since we are all contributors to climate change, we can all work together in creating a new climate for action! I think it is important for all us to come together and work towards creating a healthier environment. Because as you know, we are the future leaders and the future of our world lies in our hands. As young people, we will be the most affected; we need to step up and take a stand in creating a better world. Become a Climate Ambassador and motivate others to do their part for climate change and children’s health!

About the Author: Michelle Gugger graduated from Rutgers University in 2008. She is currently spending a year of service at EPA’s Region 3 Office in Philadelphia, PA as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

Cell phones are, on average, only used for 1 ½ years before they are replaced. However, only 10 percent of our replaced cell phones are actually recycled each year. According to the EPA, most people are not recycling their old cell phones because they are unsure of what they should do with them. For this reason, many people either save or throw out their old phones.

Fortunately, for the many of us looking to get rid of our old phones, recyclers have been able to make things easy for us. Many organizations will take our old cell phones and pay us for them. There are also many organizations that promise to help others if we donate our old cell phones to them. Here are a couple of the websites that will use our donated phones to benefit others:

• The Collective Good website allows you to donate your phones to charities. Additionally, they promise to plant a tree for every box of cell phones they receive from you.
• Donate your cell phones to American soldiers and you can help connect them with their families and friends overseas.
• GRC Recycling is a website that will use your donated cell phones to support many charitable non-profit organizations.

Also visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/plugin/cellphone/cell-recycling-locations.htm for lists of additional recyclers.

By donating your old cell phones to these or similar organizations, you will not only help a lot of people, but you will be able to help the environment too. 150 million cell phones are taken out of service each year, if Americans recycled just 2/3 of those cell phones, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 630,667 tons of CO2 and save enough energy to power more than 194,000 U.S. homes for a year. Donating your old cell phones is one easy way that we can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy. Informing your friends of where they can recycle their old cell phones or starting a collection at your school are both easy things that you can do to become a climate ambassador. I know that you probably have a lot of other great recycling ideas. What do you do with your old cell phones? Is there something that can be done at your school or in your community? Let us know your ideas on how we can reduce the waste we create from constantly replacing our cell phones. Also, check out what other things you can do to become a climate ambassador.

About the Author: Loreal Crumbley, a senior at George Mason University, is an intern with EPA’s Environmental Education Division through EPA’s Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).

For many of you, spring cleaning is just around the corner. I don’t know about you but my family has already begun cleaning our home. Washing windows, dusting, cleaning pipes, washing and packing away winter necessities are just a few things families do when cleaning.

We all use household cleaners, solvents and detergents. Most household shelves are filled with toxic substances. Ordinary household cleaners and solvents contain materials that can pollute our air and water systems. These materials contain acids, volatile organic compounds (VOC), lye, and other toxic chemicals. The release of these toxic chemicals into our environment can cause air pollution, as well as soil and groundwater damage. Contaminating our air and water can threaten human health and other organisms living in our environment.

We can limit the amount of toxic chemicals that are released into our environment by changing how we clean our homes. To begin non-toxic cleaning, you should use natural methods to clean your home. Some examples are:

• Baking soda is frequently used to reduce the effects of odors in water and in the air. Many use baking soda to freshen-up carpets and as air fresheners. It can also be used when cleaning kitchens, bathrooms and windows.
• Vinegar and lemon juice can be used to clean scum and grime off of dishes. They are also good when cleaning copper or brass objects. Vinegar can be used when cleaning bathrooms, kitchens, floors and appliances.
• Bar soaps can be used in the place of bleaches, ammonias, and detergents. When doing laundry these detergents can be harmful to our environment and sometimes cause allergies and skin irritation. Bars soaps are less toxic and can reduce allergies and skin irritation.
• Hang drying your clothes can be an alternative to using a dryer. Chemically loaded fabric softeners are sometimes used in dryers; hang drying can eliminate this as well as reducing the amount of energy you use in your home.

These are just a few tips to non-toxic cleaning around the home. I’m sure lots of you have your own special home recipes that you use. Please let me know; we all need to reduce the amount of toxics that we release into the environment.

Remember it is our job to keep our environment healthy and beautiful!! Keeping our environment clean and safe will protect the earth and our health!

About the Author: Michelle Gugger graduated from Rutgers University in 2008. She is currently spending a year of service at EPA’s Region 3 Office in Philadelphia, PA as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

I remember all throughout school, all the plates and cups in the cafeteria were polystyrene.  For the students, if we were buying lunch we had no choice but to use the polystyrene dishware.  Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t know the negative impacts on the Earth that we were all creating by using these products, or that because polystyrene is non-biodegradable, the dishware that I threw out after lunch would still be floating around in the environment today and continue to do so years from now.

Polystyrene creates waste that just does not go away.  In what ways then do you think polystyrene will impact our environment?  One of the most important ways, I feel, will be the health of our land and water environments.  I’ve already seen polystyrene dishware floating around in streams and in parks.  This is not only ugly to look at, but it’s also dangerous for the animals if they eat it.  In addition to affecting our land and water environments, polystyrene impacts our environment by releasing pollutants into the air.  In 1986, the EPA identified 57 chemical byproducts that were released into the air through its production and many of the pollutants are known to cause serious health effects such as the reduced functioning of the lungs and nervous systems.  Check out Earth’s Resource’s website to learn about the ways polystyrene can affect our health and environment.

So let’s reduce our impact!  Reduce air pollution and the waste in our environment by taking action.  How can you do this?  Can you think of ways to influence your school to change their polystyrene-only policies?  How?  Every year Americans waste enough polystyrene that it could circle the Earth 426 times.  Let’s protect our health and keep our environment clean by reducing this waste—and choose a different alternative to polystyrene.

Editorial Correction: The first version of this blog posting incorrectly used the term styrofoam® instead of polystyrene foam. Comments to the blog also reflect this misuse of the term. The DOW Chemical Company is the owner of several registrations for the trademark Styrofoam® which is used on Dow’s plastic foam insulation and construction products for use in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, and on floral and craft products. The term was incorrectly used in the blog as a generic description of foam products. We regret the mistake and any inconvenience this may have caused.

About the Author: Michelle Gugger graduated from Rutgers University in 2008. She is currently spending a year of service at EPA’s Region 3 Office in Philadelphia, PA as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

This bag is made from recycled juice containers and sewn together to make a tote bag. I was given this bag as a gift, but I’m sure you could find one you like by doing a search on the internet for “recycled juice bags” or some similar search term. You could also probably easily make this on your own if you’re good at sewing.

I wore this bag a lot last summer and so many people would stop me on the street and ask me about it. If you know of anyone who likes wearing things that stand out, this tote bag would be a perfect present for them. But more importantly than wearing this for fashion reasons, this bag is a great way to reduce waste through reuse. Think of all the waste that you and your friends create at lunch with your juice containers. Also, think of all the bags that you could be saving by using this tote bag to go shopping. These recycled juice bags come in different styles and they even make recycled juice pencil containers and back packs as well. I was hesitant at first about wearing something like this because it looks so different from what everyone else is wearing. What would you think about wearing something like this?

About the Author: Loreal Crumbley, a senior at George Mason University, is an intern with EPA’s Environmental Education Division through EPA’s Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).

As some of you may know the EPA manages the President’s Environmental Youth Awards (PEYA). This program involves young Americans who are dedicated to helping protect and create a better environment. Each year young people across the United States are invited to participate in this program. The program recognizes students for their work in school classrooms, youth organizations, summer camps, and individual projects. The youths who win PEYA awards are environmental stewards who have worked on projects to promote environmental awareness and community involvement.

I know there are plenty of PEYA candidates across this country who have worked to improve the environment and the community that they live in. Visit the PEYA website for more information on the program and the application form.
 
There are a few eligibility requirements that you must meet before applying:

1. The project can be done by an individual student, but it must be completed while students are in kindergarten through 12th grade
2. Participants must be citizens of the United States, its territories, or lawfully admitted to the U.S for permanent residency
3. The project is sponsored by at least one adult.

Qualified applicants will receive a certificate honoring them for their efforts to protect human health and the environment. Once an application and project are submitted to the Regional office for consideration in the national competition, a regional recognition certificate is issued. The regional recognition certificate program is conducted year-round; therefore applications can be submitted at any time, however the submission deadline for consideration in the PEYA National Award Program is December 31st.

The national competition is conducted once a year consisting of all of the projects submitted to the Regional office. After this deadline, the regional award panel for each of EPA’s 10 regional offices will review the applications and select an outstanding project to represent that region and receive a presidential plaque at EPA’s National PEYA Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

I’m sure you are all are wondering what types of projects have won the national awards. Some included climate change, electronics recycling, water quality monitoring, and air quality reform. For more in-depth project descriptions please visit our PEYA website.

I urge you to apply for this prestigious award. Your efforts to protect our environment should be rewarded!!! If you have any questions about the PEYA program leave a comment and I will get back to you!!

About the Author:  Loreal Crumbley, a senior at George Mason University, is an intern with EPA’s Environmental Education Division through EPA’s Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).

Many of you may be looking for effective green tips.  One tip I can offer you is to recycle used coffee grounds. Coffee mixed with soil can be used as a natural fertilizer. Used coffee grounds provide gardens with an abundant source of nutrition. Recycling coffee grounds is not only beneficial for gardeners but it helps in reducing the amount of waste going into landfills. When coffee grounds are dumped into landfills they create methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Methane is known to be more harmful than carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas that causes global warming. If we are able to keep coffee grounds out of landfills we’ll be one step closer to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.

Coffee grounds contain a high amount of nitrogen. When scattered across soil before rain or watering they will slowly release nitrogen into the soil. When compost is mixed with coffee grounds it causes the soil temperature to rise and stay hot for long periods of time. The high temperature kills weeds and will allow your garden to flourish beautifully. Coffee grounds are acidic, which benefits “acid loving” plants.  For instance roses, camellias, blueberries, and azaleas all flourish when sprinkled with coffee grounds.

Recycling coffee grounds also helps to feed worms, and keeps troublesome insects away. Earthworms love to feed on used coffee grounds; it helps them grow and reproduce. Having lots of worms is an excellent way to keep a healthy garden. It is important to have worm activity in your soil; this mixes the soil and helps in mineralizing your vegetation. As you all know the odor of coffee is very strong, the odor can sometimes be too strong for humans. In the case of insects like ants, slugs, and snails the odor works as a repellant.

There are many places you can find used coffee grounds. Some good suggestions include local coffee shops, gas stations, schools, or your workplace. You could ask coffee vendors to save coffee grounds for you, and coordinate a time to stop by and pick up your “green fertilizer.”

Other uses for coffee grounds:

1. Can be used to dye paper or clothes
2. Can retouch furniture
3. Can be used as flea repellant, rub on pets (dog, etc.)
4. Can repel odors around the home
5. Can be used when cleaning grease

Learn more about recycling used coffee grounds, and remember recycling is one way we can keep our environment natural and beautiful!