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Written by Trey Granger, courtesy of Earth911.com

Before you deposit the next beer or wine bottle into your blue bin, here are a few things to know about recycling your favorite sand-based product:

1. It has the quickest turnaround of any curbside product, back on store shelves in as little as 30 days
2. There’s a strong market for recycled glass, and the demand is not currently met
3. A good portion of glass that you place in your recycling bin is not actually recycled.

What is Downcycling?

According to O-I Global, the leading glass manufacturer in North America, about 1.6 million tons of glass are downcycled, translating to almost 40 percent of the 4.2 million tons collected annually for recycling. Furthermore, this 4.2 million tons represents only 25 percent of total glass manufactured, as shown in the chart below.

Let’s start by explaining what happens to all this glass that isn’t reprocessed into new containers. To do this, we need to understand the concept of downcycling.

Downcycling is the process by which materials are recycled into a product of lesser-quality. An example for glass containers would be fiberglass or using it as an additive in concrete or ceramic tiles. The decision to downcycle glass is usually based on the quality of material, but who makes that call?

“This is most often the decision of the Material Recovery Facility (MRF),” says Paul Smith, O-I’s Global Sourcing Manager of Cullet. “Aggregate use of glass is important but limited in application. The recycling rate through MRFs could improve.”

One of the issues is the popularity of single-stream recycling, where all materials are collected in one bin. The materials are then separated at the MRF using a system of magnets, eddy currents and other machines, with glass being separated based on its weight.

During this process, glass tends to be crushed, which lowers the quality and increases the chances it will be downcycled. Smith says crushing can be a negative because large sizes are preferred when it comes to reprocessing glass into new containers.

Read the rest of this article here.

Courtesy of Environmental News Network and Reuters

The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere will undergo a $350 million “green” retrofit that its owners said on Wednesday will make the 110-story office tower a beacon for environmentally sound space.

Plans call for the 1,450-foot Sears Tower to reduce its electricity consumption by 80 percent and water usage by 40 percent. It will be renamed the Willis tower later this summer in a deal with new tenant global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings.

To achieve the savings, owner American Landmark Properties and its partners plan to:

- Replace the 1973 tower’s 16,000 tinted single-pane windows and create a “thermal break” between Chicago’s frigid winters and hot summers and the interior.

- Install gas boilers equipped with fuel cells, which generate electricity, heat and cooling.

- Revamp the tower’s 104 elevators and 15 escalators to cut their electricity usage by 40 percent.

- Conserve 24 million gallons of water with new restroom fixtures and “condensation capture.”

- “Harvest daylight” by installing systems that automatically dim lighting based on available natural light.

- Install solar panels to heat water.

- Erect wind turbines on building setbacks, if possible.

Article continues here.

As a native of Kansas City you can imagine how thrilled I was to learn about the new green prefab achievement in my home town.  I learned about it from one of my favorite publications, Natural Home.  They did a wonderful feature on the house, which you can read in its entirety here.

The 1,200 square feet house is a two-bedroom, one-bath home (remember in the eco-sphere small is good!) and is perched on stilts atop a hill. It has a wonderful view of downtown.  It was designed by architecture students from the University of Kansas (KU), who are part of a program that focuses on sustainable and affordable design.   It’s an excellent example of affordable, green design.

The home was built in six modular units in nearby Lawrence, Kansas. Then they trucked 40 miles to Kansas City and assembled.  The house was designed and built over five months by the KU students.  The owners paid around $150,000 for the house.

Natural Home also produced a nice video on the house – check it out.

So as far as I can tell there are now THREE great reasons why this is the time to get rid of your old hunk o’ junk and upgrade to a cleaner, greener car.

1) It is the right thing to do for the environment. Remember your car is one of the biggest ways you personally contribute to global warming.
2) There are ridiculous deals on cars right now.  Dealers are suffering and you can negotiate with abandon.
3) Congress has just passed the “Cash for Clunkers” legislation that will allow consumers to get up to $4,500 for turning in an inefficient vehicle and buying a new, more efficient one. 

So hop to it people!

The new bill would even allow consumers to buy a wide range of vehicles — including large pickup trucks — with the government money when they scrap an older, less-efficient model.  The cars that are offered for trade-in must get 18 MPG or less, be built in 1984 or later, and be in operating condition. The new car purchased must be at least 22 MPG for a car, 18 MPG for a light truck or 15 MPG for a heavy-duty truck. To learn more about the requirements for the new cars click here.

The proposed program would subsidize the purchase of 600,000 to one million vehicles,

Father’s Day is this Sunday– but then I’m sure you already knew that. (Don’t worry– I can’t see your look of panic.)  Why not make this the year that you fete your father the green way.  No more silly neck ties, dumb polo shirts, or $4 greeting cards.  We’ve got some great ideas for you, naturally.

Give the gift of your time.  What does your dad really want more than anything else? To know that you love him and want to spend time with him.  So take him out for brunch, or on a hike, or out to see a comedy show.  Spend time just the two of you.  No plastic packaging required!

Give another experiential gift.  Does your dad secretly want to be a rock star? Get him some guitar lessons.  Does he bang the tennis ball around? Get him a session with a tennis pro. Do you live near the ocean? Get him a surfing lesson.  Remember that learning new skills keeps us all young at heart.

Make dad a love collage.  Make like you’re 12-years-old again and cut up photos from magazines and paste them on a big sheet of paper.  Show dad how you feel about him through visual images and text clippings.  It will make him feel young again and it will be a very personal gift. And you’re recycling!

If stuff is not more your style, we have some good ideas too. How about a comfy hammock for pops to laze away in the summer breeze? Or how about a solar charger for your dad’s phone and iPod? Or some comfy organic cotton pajamas or a robe (both on super sale now).  One of our favorite green merchants, Gaiam, has all of these and much more on sale (you get $20 off orders of $100). Just click here to visit Gaiam and use code AFGRN6 to get your savings. Must order by June 30.

When all else fails, resort to power tools.  What guy doesn’t love a drill or a chain saw? It’s weird, but true. CPO is a company that reconditions power tools– that’s right, recycled tools.  They have great brands like Makita, Bosch, Ryobi and much more.  You’ll save money too.