| How to be environmentally correct when wrapping gifts | | We use mostly gift bags and I save everyone of them from year to year. I cannot remember the last time I bought a new one.During the winter holidays, 4 million tons of wrapping paper and shopping bags are thrown away. Gift wrap is a $2.7 billion industry in the U.S., and almost none of it is made from Recycled Content. This year, try skipping the gift wrap and cut back on holiday waste. Use the least amount of packaging and wrapping as possible, or try alternatives to paper gift wrapping.Newspaper, fabric scraps, scarves, reusable boxes, tins and jars are great wrapping ideas. If you do buy wrapping paper, always choose recycled and save wrap and bows for re-use next year. | |
| | some earth day reading for you! | | I just read this and felt moved to share it. Remember, earth day is everyday. Save these tips -especially if you live in the US, but surely they can be adapted for other countries once there are programs for recycling available:
Recycling e-waste (From Geeks.com)
By Deloris Mansfield - Sunday, April 20, 2008More than 1.5 million tons of e-waste—TVs, computer monitors, desktop computers, cell phones, batteries etc., are thrown into landfills and incinerators around the United States every year. These electronic computer parts contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. Did you know that a typical 17-inch computer monitor contains about 2.2 pounds of lead and a 27-inch television could produce as much as 8 pounds? As a result, the toxins are released into the air and water, making e-waste a public health issue as well an environmental one. Beryllium is commonly found on motherboards and connectors and is a known human carcinogen.While both the government and the private sector agree that e-waste is a huge problem, there’s no consensus on how to solve it. There are no federal regulations that address household electronic waste. However, the European Union... | |
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