Consumerist
retail
Posts Tagged “
Recycling
”
Home Depot has started a nationwide compact flourescent light bulb recycling program. "At each The Home Depot store, customers can simply bring in any expired, unbroken CFL bulbs, and give them to the store associate behind the returns desk." CFL bulbs contain mercury and can be damaging to the environment if thrown into regular landfills. [New York Times]
retail
post office
Don't Reuse That USPS Priority Box, It's Illegal
7 News in Denver reports that a Colorado man has been officially warned that reusing a United States Postal Service "Priority Mail" cardboard box is a violation of federal law. We're not even talking about mail fraud but simply reusing them for other types of shipping. Could reusing these boxes actually be a federal crime? Find out more about this outlaw... More »
recycling
City Sues Man For Not Having Any Trash
You would think city would be giving a guy a special bonus for not producing any trash, but San Carlos, CA is suing 53-year-old Eddie House for canceling his garbage service. House says he recycles most about everything by driving to the recycling center himself, gives food scraps to his dog, sells larger items or gives them away on craigslist, and burns his backyard clippings. Reports The Examiner: "House says he stopped his service with Allied Waste about a year ago after realizing that his garbage cans were nearly always empty. "It's just me and my dog, so I don't have a whole lot of garbage to begin with and I recycle everything," he said." Town ordinance requires that everyone contract with Allied Waste for at least once a week pickup. The city says they were alerted to the situation after neighbors complained he was burning garbage (a not-so-very green move). House says he was only burning firewood. "I don't understand a city ordinance that requires you to fill up a can. That's downright foolishness," said Mr. House.
City sues man for canceling trash service [The Examiner] (Thanks to Nathan!)
environment
Whole Foods Will Eliminate Plastic Bags, Says "Bring Your Own"
Whole Foods says that by Earth Day 2008 they will be eliminating plastic bags and instead offer only paper bags or reusable bags made from recycled plastic bottles for $0.99. More »
ew
Used Condoms Recycled Into Hair Bands?
Used condoms as hair bands? We're all for recycling and everything, but this story pushes boundaries of good taste... and public health. More »
good to know
IKEA Will Recycle Your CFLs For Free
If you have an IKEA store near you, give them your old CFLs and they'll recycle them for free. CFLs contain small amounts of mercury and should not be thrown away or recycled with glass bottles. More »
You don't have to spend $30 at Petco to gussy up your small dog in embarrassing winter wear, says the MAKE blog. Just find an old argyle sock and follow their simple, six-cut pattern. Warning: it makes a hat, too! [makezine.com]
The last time you bought a mattress, the store probably offered to take your old one away for free. Trouble is, mattresses are hard to dispose of and expensive to recycle. They can't be compressed easily in landfills, and have to be manually torn apart or put in expensive machines to even partly recycle them. They suggest you look for "green" mattresses online, and take good care of your current one so it will last as long as possible. [Seattle Times]
on the cheap
Knit A Dishrag Out Of Old Clothes
Got some old clothes you were going to to throw away? You can cut them up and knit a dishrag out of them! The resulting dishrag is actually really cute, we imagine you could use it for something more glorious than scrubbing pots. More »
recycling
U.S. Airlines Not Recycling?
According to Reuters: "U.S. airlines and airports send more of their trash to the dump than the country as a whole, losing the chance to save emissions through recycling, according to an environmental group's report." More »
dell
