Mommy Goes Green

We’ve all got an old stroller ( or 3 ) hanging out in our garage.  If it’s time to get rid of it, don’t put it in the garbage! You have two better choices:

1.  Sell or give it away on Craigslist or Freecycle – there is likely someone in your neighborhood that needs it and a little extra cash in the pocket couldn’t hurt either.

2.  Recycle it – BabyPlanet can take old strollers and recycle 100% of the parts towards new items.  All you have to do is mail it to them :

ECA Inc.

2710 S. 13th Street

Springfield, Illinois 62703

Toys ‘R’ Us is hosting the ‘Great Gear Trade-in Event‘ and is accepting used baby gear such as high chairs, strollers, car seats, cribs and play yards in exchange for 20% off new baby gear.  There is a list of participating brands so make sure to check first before taking them in and the event goes through Sept 20.

I do. not. like. clutter. I don’t like having things in or around my house that are not useful.  I regularly make trips to Goodwill, participate in children’s clothing consignment events and put items on Craigslist or eBay.  It just makes me feel more organized and cleaner when our home and life isn’t cluttered.

Lately, a pile of junk has been piling up along the side of our house – the side no one but I can see.  Old motorcycle tires, a bag of cement left in the rain, and unusable pieces of wood.  I waited (patiently impatiently) for my husband to get rid of them but after 2 summers of staring at the pile, I decided to take care of it myself.

So, with about 15 minutes worth of research and phone calls, I found out where to take our junk – and not to the landfill.  I had my husband load up the truck with all the junk in our garage and along side the house that we weren’t using anymore – it ended up being a lot more than wood, cement and tires.  A landscaping company took all the wood and bag of cement and the tire center took the motorcycle tires – all for a whopping $8.  The best trip of the day was to a recycling facility that took everything else for FREE – satellite dish, steel bars, broken plastic storage tubs, and old plastic outdoor furniture. 

I love that our old stuff won’t be sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years – it will be getting a new life.

If you’ve got junk to get rid of, try these tips to find somewhere to take your stuff :

1.  Dial up Earth911 – it’s a website where you can enter the stuff you want to get rid of and it will tell you what locations will take it in your zip code.

2.  Call your recycling service and ask what other items they might take at their facility, beyond their curbside service.  Our facility was 10 minutes away and took a lot of stuff for FREE. 

3.  If you don’t have curbside recycling service,  call your garbage service and ask for recycling facility recommendations.

4.  If you have electronics to get rid of, find local recyclers here.

5.  If you have hazardous materials, make sure to dispose of them properly.  Hazardous materials include things like batteries, paint, CFL bulbs, propane tanks, pesticides or lawn chemicals, household chemicals (bleach, cleaning supplies) or motor oil.   Many communities have hazardous waste collection events or a facility specifically to take these items.  IKEA stores will take batteries and CFL bulbs inside their store.

Now, I’ve seen the garages in the neighborhood, I know I’m not the only one who needs to get rid of junk – take a load off (literally) today!

It happens almost every time I get a prescription medication – I have a couple pills leftover.  I am TERRIBLE at remembering to take medication more than once per day. I can’t remember what I’ve done with these leftover pills in the past ( maybe thrown them in the trash ) but for the last two years, I’ve held on to any extra pills planning to “dispose of them properly”.  Well, now is the time.  

SmarXt Disposalis a partnership between Fish and Wildlife Service,  the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.  It is a campaign to educate the public on the most responsible way to dispose of medication – safeguarding lives and protecting the environment.

Pharmaceuticals enter our water from three sources:

1. medicine that has passed through someone without completely metabolizing
2. flushing unused medication down the toilet
3. pouring unused medication down the drain

According to SmarXt Disposal, most scientists have concluded that there is no short-term aquatic life effects due to medication in the environment but work is continuing on evaluation the long-term effects.  The studies also suggest that it is unlikely that the current quantities of medications in the environment are harmful to human health.

Still, I’m not comfortable ingesting even small amounts of medication, regardless of what the ‘current studies show’.  We all know how frequently research changes.

There are a couple ways to dispose of unused medication properly ( prescription or OTC ).  First, see if there is a drug Take Back program in your community, currently 18 states have programs.   Second, contact your local hazardous waste program as they may have organized hazardous waste collection sites or events and take unused medications.  If none of these options exist, dispose of any extra medication ( prescription or not ) in the following way:

1. pour medication into a sealable plastic bag – if the medication is solid (pill or liquid capsule), crush it or add water to dissolve it
2. add kitty litter, sawdust, or coffee grounds (for example) to the plastic bag to make it less appealing to children and pets
3. seal the plastic bag and put it into the trash
4. remove and destroy all personal information on medication containers and recycle them

While sending unused medication to the landfill doesn’t seem like a great choice, it is definitely a better alternative to putting them down the drain or toilet.

What does that recycling symbol on plastic mean?  On most plastics, you will find the 3 arrows with a # in the middle indicating the type of plastic the product is manufactured from.   This number also helps indicate whether or not it is recyclable in the area you live in.  You might find that only a couple types of plastic are recyclable curbside and you may need to store the other plastics and periodically deliver them to another facility.  For example, our recycling curbside service takes a lot of different plastics but I store plastic bags/wrapping and hard plastic containers ( from toy packaging) and take them to a recycling facility about once a month.

1 – PET – Polyethylene terephthalate – commonly used in soft drink and water bottles

2 – HDPE – high-density polyethylene – made from petroleum and commonly used in laundry bottles and milk jugs, plastic bags, plastic lumber and hula hoops

3 – V – vinyl or PVC - rigid plastic, over 50% of PVC manufactured is used in construction.  When used with plasticizers ( to make it softer and flexible), it’s commonly used in hoses, water beds, pool toys, inflatable structures and shower curtains.

4 – LDPE – low-density polyethylene – made from petroleum, it is commonly used in plastic bags, six pack soda can rings, playground slides and food storage containers

5 – PP – polypropylene – commonly used in ropes, rugs, food containers, medical plastic items and dairy containers ( like yogurt )

6 – PS – polystyrene – found in disposable cutlery, CD/DVD cases, and smoke detectors. Foamed polystyrene is used in packing materials, insulation and foam drink cups.

7 – O – other - variety of plastics not fitting in other 6 categories.  Currently controversial polycarbonate with bisphenol A (BPA) is a #7 plastic.

Another great opportunity to recycle products you can no longer use.

Through the Calphalon ReNew program, when you buy any Calphalon Unison Nonstick cookware set, Calphalon will take ANY old cookware set and recycle it for you.  They’ll pay the shipping fees to get it to them and send you 2 cotton reusable bags in return.

The COTTON. FROM BLUE TO GREEN.® denim drive is a call-to-action to donate denim and give it “new life” by converting it to UltraTouch^TM Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation. The insulation is then provided to communities in need to assist with building efforts. It takes about 500 pairs of jeans to recycle enough denim to insulate one average-size U.S. house. Currently, 75,000 sq. ft. of insulation is being manufactured from the 2008 collections. Habitat for Humanity affiliates will be receiving insulation in the spring of 2009. Cotton Incorporated and its partners will participate in installing the insulation in approximately 75 houses as a means of providing much needed housing for areas of the country affected by natural disasters.

If you donate your jeans in June, it will help National Geographic Kids sets a Guiness Book World Record for the world’s largest collection of clothes to recycle.  This is a great way to get your kids involved!  Here’s how to participate:

1. The denim must be used.
2. The denim can be any brand.
3. The denim can be any color or size but must have been worn by a human (no doll clothes!).
4. Please print out this form and include it with each package!
5. Send as many jeans or denim items as you wish to:

NG Kids / Set a Guinness World Record
P.O. Box 98001
Washington, D.C. 20090-8001

For shipments that cannot be delivered to a P.O. box:
NG Kids / Set a Guinness World Record
1145 17th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

Jeans must be received by June 30, 2009!

With my 2 year old quickly approaching her 3rd birthday, I’ve been scouring the Internet for her first “big girl bed”.   While my primary choice was an adorable wood bed painted antique white, the greener side of me thought I should I make an earnest effort to find a used alternative.   Not only because buying used is a great way to save money and reduce consumption of new goods, but the bed also has likely off-gassed somewhere else ( assuming anything I bought had adhesives or paint finishes containing VOCs ). Well, my search finally paid off over the holiday weekend when I found an antique white iron bed for 1/4 of the original cost.  I can’t wait to put together her new room!

While I wouldn’t call myself ‘thrifty’, I have become much more cost conscious in the down economy.  My “shift to thrift” has come from both a desire to simplify our finances and to lessen my impact on the environment.  Whether you are a true blue thrifty person or just finding the thrifty side of yourself, search these sites for your next need.  From well know options like eBay to lesser known like BookSwim, these sites provide the opportunity to reduce, reuse and recycle!

GENERAL GOODS

Craigslist is divided up into states and cities so you can find what you are looking for locally.  This site is usually my first go-to site for used goods, particularly furniture, appliances, automobiles, large toys, and sporting goods.  It also lists local garage sales.

Freecycle and Throwplace is just that – free stuff!  Users post their unwanted items and members respond to arrange for pickup. 

eBay is the mass online auctioneer with goods from all over the country and more.  It’s a great place to look for unique or rare items.  You can narrow your search down to local auctions to save money ( and carbon footprint ) when shipping.

ShopGoodwill is a bit like eBay in that all goods are auctioned but the bonus is that purchases benefit the charity and it’s employment programs for disabled people. I found an array of items from designer handbags to automobiles to televisions to knick knacks.

BOOKS and MEDIA

Your local library may seem like a no brainer but somehow between college and motherhood I totally forgot they existed.  I’m a weekly visitor now.  In addition to books, you might find your local library to carry DVDs, CDs, or computer games and all borrowed for FREE.

Bookswim is the Netflix of the book world and if you’re an avid reader, it’s a great option for you.  For a monthly fee ( starting as low as $9.95 ), you can hold onto several books at a time and when done, swap them for the next item on your list.  I love not being 75th in line for a new release.  They also have college textbooks – now where were they when I was in college?

Paperback Swap allows members to swap books with other people around the world using a point system.  When you send a book to a member requesting one, you’ll receive credit.  Use your credits to request books from other members – there are currently 3.5 million books available!

Swap A CD and Swap A DVD work the same as Paperback Swap.  Send requested CDs or DVDs to other members and in return, find the ones you want.

CHILDREN’S GOODS

Zwaggle is a children’s items swapping site.  Once you pass along gently used items, you earn points to choose ‘new to you’ items from other site members.  You can also create a Wish List to be notified when something you are looking for is available.

Hand Me Downs is an online classifieds site where you can buy, sell, give away or donate your new and “gently used” baby gear, toys, clothes, childcare services and more.  They pull together and organize the best baby/child/mom listings from around the web AND combine them with handmedowns.com listings posted on their site to create a one-stop destination for busy parents.

DiaperSwappers is an online community buying, selling and trading cloth diapers.

Have a favorite thrifty site that we didn’t mention? Let us know!

A Cottage Industry is hard NOT to love! I stumbled upon it about a year ago and have followed it faithfully. The author, Tracey Buxton, chronicles her love for ‘junkin’, repurposing old furniture, baking cupcakes and loving T.J. Maxx ( me, too! ).  She writes openly about her faith and fears and her loyal following always has an encouraging word for her.  She’s got some sass, too, which I love – as long as it’s not coming out of my daughter’s mouth!

Tracey can take the most downright ugly piece of furniture and turn it into a treasure and she does it time and time again for friends, family and her booth at a local antique shop.  She constantly inspires me to shy away from new furniture for a well loved piece that I can craft into my own personal treasure. 

A Cottage Industry has also recaptured my interest in visiting antique faires, markets and garage sales.  When I was a poor college student, my roommate and I would often visit on the hunt for fun finds for our little 2 bedroom cottage.  We’d come home with our loot and paint it or repurpose it with love.   Over the years, with less time on my hands and more money in my bank account, I turned to buying new at some of my favorite retailers.  Not to say that I’ve stopped buying new but I have a wonderful renewed interest in scouring garage sales and antique stores for my next bookend or candlestick  ( some of my favorite collectibles ).

Tracey’s newest venture is partnering with her friend, Tracey, ( there are 2 Traceys! ) to turn a hidden gem of a cottage into a wonderful event center to host vintage faires, bridal and baby showers, and rehearsal dinners.  I can’t wait to see the turn out!

DO YOU BLOG?  Have your blog featured on Mommy Goes Green, for guidelines, read here.

If your curbside recycler will not take #5 plastics ( apparently most communities do not accept #5, mine happens to ) - send them to Preserve.  They will transform them into new kitchenware, tableware and personal care products.

Preserve Gimme 5 accepts the following for recycling:

• Clean plastic with a #5 stamp in it.
• Preserve products
• Brita pitcher water filters. Click here to learn how to recycle your Brita filter.

If you live near one of these locations, drop the plastics off.  If not, mail them ( ground shipping ) to Preserve at:

Preserve Gimme 5
823 NYS Rte 13
Cortland, NY 13045