go green 2012
DESCRIPTION
Daily Nonpareil's Go Green 2012TRANSCRIPT
A special supplement to The Daily Nonpareil
Teaching young recyclersSee Page 2F
Wait, before you throw that away...
See Page 3F
Reusing: A great way to go green
See Page 6F
Sunday, March 11, 2012
DENNIS [email protected]
Young people in the Council Bluffsarea are learning to be “green,” and thatthat even small efforts at recycling mate-rials may result in a cleaner planet.
Shannon Meister, education coordina-tor for the Council Bluffs Recycling Cen-ter, has played a significant role in thateffort. Hired in 2007, she has spent count-less hours speaking to students in the
schools about theimportance of conserva-tion and recycling.
“Once you get thekids recycling, they’llconvince the parents,”Meister said.
She estimated thatshe spoke to 1,666 peo-ple last year; 3,002 in2009; and in 2008,2,675 people. That’s a
lot of people.Her recycling push has yielded
results. Council Bluffs district schoolshave started “commingled recycling,”which means putting all recyclables intoone bin. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scoutsare among the groups that will visit theRecycling Center at 4441 Gifford Road.
“We have teachers bringing studentsinto the recycling center to see how theprocess works,” Meister said. “We tell thestudents where their trash goes, becausethey don’t think about it. There’s no land-fill in Pottawattamie County so our trashgoes to Mills County. We ask, ‘What hap-pens when landfills fill up?’ The more youcan recycle, the better. We know if kidsrecycle at school, they’ll carry it into thehome.”
Children are visually-oriented, andthis field trip to the Recycling Center willhelp them understand more about whathappens to the items they help to recycle.
The importance of the “Reduce, reuse,recycle” motto can be illustrated this way:Recycling one glass bottle conserves theelectricity required to operate one 100-watt light bulb for four hours.
Student groups are getting involvedwith the conservation efforts. The stu-dent council at Longfellow ElementarySchool and a student group at Kirn Mid-dle School are involved in recycling pro-jects, and Lewis & Clark ElementarySchool also has a recycling club, Meistersaid.
The Council Bluffs Recycling Centerhas decided to encourage greater partici-pation through a “Celebrate Recycling”art contest. It’s open to all third- andfourth-grade students in the CouncilBluffs and Lewis Central schools as wellas Heartland Christian and St. AlbertCatholic schools.
The idea is to promote ways toreduce, reuse and recycle. Schools canwin $1,250, $1,000, $750 and $500 if oneof their students becomes one of the fourwinners.
Each school will prejudge the studentart and submit two entries for the con-
test by March 30.Winners also will see their posters
replicated and displayed on the sides ofthe recycling trucks throughout thesummer.
There are simple ways for studentsand their families to get involved in con-serving and recycling at home, Meistersaid.
■ Unplug the Wii or Playstationwhen it’s not in use
■ Use the new CFL light bulbs■ Take hazardous waste items to the
Recycling Center.■ Purchase some reusable bags at the
grocery store. Using these bags cutsdown on the demand for single-use plas-tic bags.
■ Set up a composting bin in thebackyard to recycle household foodwastes and yard materials such as lawnclippings into fertilizer for a garden.This can be a long-term project lasting
weeks or months depending on the typeof composting equipment used.
“In the summer school program withCouncil Bluffs schools, we built compostboxes out of kitty litter containers,”Meister said. Adding soil, shreddednewspaper “and red wrigglers from abait shop” results in a serviceable com-poster.
“You can mow your lawn and leavethe clippings there,” Meister said.
■ Another Council Bluffs summerschool program has shown students howto reuse old compact discs – “spreadpeanut butter on both sides, cover themwith bird seed and hang them in a treeor bush” – and how to make bird feedersout of old plastic bottles.
“The more you can recycle, the bet-ter,” Meister said.
For information, contact Meister atthe Recycling Center, (712) 328-4985, orgo to cbrecycles.com.
2G Sunday, March 11, 2012 The Daily NonpareilGo Green
Teaching young recyclersOne educator
believes ‘if kidsrecycle at school,
they’ll carry itinto the home’
Submitted photo
According to Shannon Meister, education coordinator for the Council Bluffs Recycling Center, students in the sum-mer school program at Council Bluffs schools built compost boxes out of kitty litter containers, adding soil, shred-ded newspaper “and red wrigglers from a bait shop” to make serviceable composters.
Meister
It’s been said that cats havenine lives, but so does paper.
And, aluminum and steelcan “live” indefinitely.
Products made from thesematerials can be recycled overand over again, according to arecycling expect.
“Paper can be recycled up tonine, 10 times,” said ShannonMeister, education coordinatorfor the Council Bluffs RecyclingCenter. “Aluminum and steelcan be recycled indefinitely. Popcans can be recycled back totheir original form in 30 to 60days.”
While more and more peopleare recycling all the time, somuch is still being thrown awayneedlessly, Meister said.
“Up to 80 percent of trashcould be recycled,” she said.“And, at least 50 percent of thetrash is paper.”
Most types of paper can berecycled, Meister said. Theseinclude newspapers, notebookpaper, office paper, junk mail,magazines, envelopes, tissuepaper and glossy paper.
“All the ads in a newspapercan be recycled,” she said. “Mostnormal wrapping paper can berecycled, though not the foilkind. If it creases easy, it proba-bly can be recycled.”
Cardboard can be recycled,
as well as paperboard likecereal boxes, she added. Papertowel rolls are also recyclable.People, though, should not recy-cle plastic plates or cupsbecause of obvious contami-
nants, Meister said.Besides being recycled back
into daily items, paper is nowbeing used to build warehousepallets, instead of wood, shesaid.
Perhaps most important,recycling paper reduces theneed to cut down trees.
“The more paper that isrecycled, the less trees to be cutdown,” Meister said.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide,a greenhouse gas, to breatheand grow, she said. The moregreenhouse gas there is escap-ing in the air, the warmer theplanet becomes.
Plastics are also recyclable,but only a few are beingaccepted at the moment by theRecycling Center. Residentsshould recycle Nos. 1 and 2,Meister said. Plastics No. 1 aresee-through water and pop bot-tles, while No. 2 consists of milkjugs or colored plastic containerlike those for laundry deter-gent.
Plastics Nos. 3 through 7 arenot being taken at the momentfor lack of a market of thoseitems, Meister said. If in doubton what is being taken, Meistersaid that if the item has a “neck
and a twist top,” it’s probably aNo. 1 or a No. 2.
The more plastic that isrecycled, the less oil is neededto produce these items, shesaid.
Aluminum cans like popcans and steel cans used forsuch foods as soups are recy-clable, also. In fact, they can berecycled over and over, Meistersaid. It’s possible that peoplemay buy the very same popcans they recycled two monthsearlier, she said.
Like plastics, recycled alu-minum and steel cans takemuch less energy to recreate asopposed to creating new cans,Meister said.
Any glass container or bottle
can also be recycled, she said.The lids, however, should bediscarded.
Plastic bags that grocerystores use can be recycled,though Meister suggested toreturn those to the stores. Ittakes a long storage time forthe Recycling Center untilenough of those bags are col-lected to ship out, she said.
And please, she added, don’tdiscard regular trash in therecycling containers.
To keep recycling growing,people should continue to pur-chase reusable items to encour-age more markets for them,Meister said.
“The more recycled itemsyou buy, the better.”
Sunday, March 11, 2012 3GThe Daily Nonpareil Go Green
Wait, before you throw that away…
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For a brochure listing curbside recyclables and schedules, visitcbrecycles.com.
The Council Bluffs Recycling Center, 4441 GiffordRoad, receives most of its recyclables from the curband containers at city grocery stores, but manyother items may be dropped off.
Recycle items for free
GREENG It’s soeasy to
With such a global focus
on the deteriorating condi-
tion of the environment and
how humans contributing to
its demise, many people are
setting goals to participate
in a sustainable lifestyle that
incorporates a series of
green goals for the upcom-
ing year.
It's not just the oil spills or
rainforest depletion that's
raising concerns for the
environment. Even things
like the roads we drive on
can prove harmful. For
example, according to a
Carrying Capacity Network
conference held in
Washington, D.C., every
year in the United States
roughly 1.3 million acres of
unpaved land is paved over.
And what's going on those
roads? Cars. There are
more than 250 million cars
and trucks in the United
States, and Canadians are
not far behind Americans.
According to the World
Resources Institute, Canada
ranks as No. 8 out of 178
nations in production of car-
bon emissions.
Although sometimes the
environmental outlook can
seem bleak, there are many
small- and large-scale ways
individuals can make a dif-
ference. For eco-conscious
people who want to start
making a difference, here's
a list of ideas to get started.
* Raise chickens. There
has been a greater interest
among suburban and urban
residents in raising live-
stock. Chickens make
sense because they are
not large and can be a
home-based food source,
producing eggs or meat if
desired. It's possible to
get eggs from hens with-
out a rooster, and you
may not need a large
amount of space to
house your bird. They can
be kept in a small coop or
allowed to roam free in a
yard in a bird run. Check
with your city or town to
be sure it's legal to raise
chickens, then do your
research on the best
breed and space needed
for where you live.
* Simplify beauty reg-imens. In many cases,
there's no need to pur-
chase costly beauty serums
and washes that may or may
not contain harmful chemi-
cals. As it turns out, many
things can be made at home
from food sources. Dry skin
can be treated with a blend
of avocado and honey.
Cottage cheese can calm
redness. There are those
who are even proponents of
washing your face with pure
oil. Chances are even if you
don't resort to all homemade
beauty products you can
significantly cut down on the
number of store-bought
items you use.
* Look for personalhygiene alternatives. Most
people already know about
switching from disposable
diapers to cloth
a l t e r n a t i v e s
(almost 30
billion dis-
posable
diapers
are used and disposed of in
the United States each
year). But there are other
disposable items that con-
tribute to personal waste.
Instead of traditional female
hygiene products, choose
reusable cups or cloth items
instead of disposable pads
and tampons. Some advo-
cate the use of bidet-type
toilets to reduce dependen-
cy on toilet paper.
* Rethink clothing pur-chases. When shopping for
new clothes, choose durable
or even sustainable prod-
ucts, such as those made
from hemp or organic cot-
ton. Another alternative is to
buy used clothing or partici-
pate in clothing swaps.
Consignment stores and
thrift stores are other popu-
lar places to find used cloth-
ing.
* Give experiences, notgifts. Does that child need
another toy that will end up
forgotten after a few days?
Instead of gifts that need to
be bought and stored, con-
sider tickets to a show, les-
sons for dance or martial
arts, trips to a zoo, or other
life experiences that can be
enjoyable and build memo-
ries.
There are many ways to
be eco-friendly now and in
the years ahead. Think
about your lifestyle and fig-
ure out the small
things you can
change that will
make a big dif-
ference down
the road.
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Earth Day has been around for
more than 40 years, and during that
time, it has inspired millions of people
to increase their awareness of, and
their appreciation for, the environ-
ment. Since the dawn of the twenty-
first century, people increasingly have
adopted eco-friendly lifestyles and
attitudes, and the continued embrace
of environmentally friendly practices
and principles has made the struggles
of Earth Day pioneers, like former
United States Senator Gaylord
Nelson, more than worth it.
Nowadays, children grow up learn-
ing about the environment in school
and at home. For example, many
households participate in their com-
munity's recycling programs, and such
households are raising eco-conscious
children, perhaps without even recog-
nizing they're doing so.
While a transition to a more eco-
conscious lifestyle might not be seam-
less, it's far easier than many might
suspect and even easier for kids who
have yet to develop a lifetime of habits
that might not be so eco-friendly. With
Earth Day on the horizon, the follow-
ing are a few ways parents can get
their kids involved in activities or
lifestyles that benefit the environment.
AddressEating Habits
Over the last several years, the
opportunities to eat in an eco-friendly
manner have increased dramatically.
Organic foods have grown more and
more popular, and parents can use
this growing trend to teach their kids
about the environment. When shop-
ping for groceries, choose organic
products that weren't grown with pes-
ticides or harmful chemicals and
explain this difference to kids.
Shopping locally provides another
opportunity for parents to involve food
when teaching kids about the environ-
ment. Explain to kids that shopping
locally reduces reliance on fuel
because products don't need to be
shipped, be it through the air or on the
ground, to your community, minimiz-
ing fuel consumption.
Teach Conservation Techniques
Conservation provides another
easy opportunity for parents to instill
eco-friendly ideals in their children.
Conservation is about reducing waste,
so conservation techniques don't
involve sacrifice. Instead, they involve
being more responsible when it
comes to using our resources.
Parents know full well the constant
reminders kids need when it comes to
dental hygiene. But use these daily
reminders about brushing and floss-
ing as an opportunity to impart a les-
son about the environment. Instead of
keeping the faucet running while
brushing your teeth, turn the faucet off
and encourage kids to do the same.
When they ask why, explain that this
helps conserve water, and show them
how it's just as easy and effective to
clean teeth without the water running
as it is when the faucet is on. This
teaches kids that conservation is sim-
ple and often just requires minimal
effort to make a big difference.
There are additional lessons about
conservation that parents can impart.
For instance, when grocery shopping,
always make a list before leaving the
house and explain to kids that you do
this so you don't have to make two
trips to the store and waste the gas
that the second trip would require. In
addition, encourage kids to turn the
lights off when they leave a room to
better conserve energy.
PurchaseRecycled Products
Recycling is a practice that many of
today's kids grew up with, and as a
result, many of them might take it for
granted, failing to fully realize the pos-
itive impact they're making whenever
they recycle. If recycling is as natural
to kids as breathing, then it's no sur-
prise they might not recognize its
impact.
One way parents can address this
issue is to purchase products made
from recycled materials. A host of
products are made from recycled
materials, from the paper you put in
the printer to the toys under the tree
onChristmas morning. Explain to kids
why you're choosing these products,
and let them know such products
wouldn't be possible without their own
recycling efforts.
Another way to help kids realize the
value of recycling is to make crafts
from recycled products. For instance,
make a papier mache globe to cele-
brate Earth Day by using old newspa-
pers as your primary material. Such
lessons show kids their efforts make
an impact and increase the likelihood
they'll continue this eco-friendly
lifestyle well into adulthood.
Earth Dayis a great
teaching opportunityfor parents
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6G Sunday, March 11, 2012 The Daily NonpareilGo Green
Reusing: A great and easy way to go greenMETRO CREATIVE CONNECTION
Chewing gum as an artmedium? Beer as a hair serum?Surprisingly, these items andmany more are reused every day,playing a host of roles they werenever intended for. Before itemsare relegated to the trash, indi-viduals can think about waysthese same items can be reusedand reincarnated into severalother purposes.
Today’s younger generationshave grown up in a time whendisposable items are de rigueur.But long before disposable itemsbecame the norm, men, womenand children were forced tomake due with items that werelong past their expiration dates,even reusing them in new ways.While this practice might havebeen replaced by the conve-nience of disposable items, eco-conscious citizens can stillembrace this old and environ-mentally friendly trend.
■ Find out if it can be fixed.An appliance on the fritz or a toythat has lost a part might notneed to be discarded. Before find-ing the trash can, find out if theitem can be fixed. It may take ashort inquiry to the company orthe work of a handyman to
repair a broken item and set itright again, but such efforts areworth it.
■ Polish pots. With thoroughcooking and oxidation, copperpots and even steel ones canbegin to look dingy. Regular, oldbeer can be used as a polishingagent to get them to sparkle.Because of beer’s subtle acidity, itcan help boost shine withoutstaining the metal like a higher-acidity liquid would.
■ Embrace newspapers’ ver-satility. There are millions ofnewspapers printed and used
worldwide. The average house-hold may have one or morenewspapers delivered eachweek, and newsprint is also usedfor junk mail and advertise-ments. While recycling does helpcut down on newspapers, thereare other ways to put old papersto good use. Line the bottom ofrefrigerator drawers with thepaper to catch spills and elimi-nate odors. Use shredded paperas kitty litter or in bird cages.Wrap unripe fruit in newsprintto help it ripen faster. You canalso place newspaper at the bot-
tom of a planting bed before youcover it with soil or mulch tokeep away weeds.
■ Give old jeans a new life. It’shard to part with that favoritepair of jeans sometimes.Whether they’re stained or sim-ply don’t fit anymore, you canturn the denim into somethingnew. Doll clothes are easilycrafted from scraps of denim. Or,why not turn pieces of deniminto a durable, reusable shop-ping bag to take to stores? Apatchwork quilt made of squaresof denim can be used as a picnicblanket or beach throw in apinch. Jeans can also be donatedso the less fortunate can benefitfrom the clothing.
■ Swap and share. Beforebuying anything, find out if oth-ers might lend you things thatyou need. You may not need aspecialized power tool for morethan a day or so, and borrowingitems can allow you to do a testdrive of sorts before you actuallymake a purchase. There aresocial networking sites thatenable people to connect withothers to share and swap thingsthey have. One may have abounty of backyard produce toshare while another may have a
collection of paperback booksready to be read. Clothing, babyitems, toys, and the like can eas-ily be shared or given away. Oneof the more popular neighbor-hood activities these days is tohost a clothing swap party,where participants bring a setnumber of clothing items theyno longer use (that are in goodcondition) and everyone swapsthings to refresh theirwardrobes at no cost.
■ Recycle items to protectgadgets. Turn a child’s emptyjuice box into a case for yoursmartphone. Knit or sew a coverfor your new tablet or e-readerwith scraps of fabric or yarn.Remember those worn jeansfrom before? Make a pouch tostore your GPS device so it canbe moved from car to car.
When individuals thinkabout the items they havearound the house and how theycan be repurposed, there is lesslikelihood those spent items willend up in the garbage.
If swapping items seems likethe ideal concept for you, visithttp://swapforgood.org/ and findout how you can get startedswapping your used items forsomething else.
Submitted photo
Newspapers can be put to many different uses instead ofbeing trashed or recycled.
How potty training your toddler helps save the worldMETRO CREATIVE CONNECTION
You’re already separatingcans and plastics from regulartrash. Your light bulbs are CFLor LED. Each of your shower-heads have been replaced withlow-flow models. There’s ahybrid car in the driveway. Whatmore can you do to help improvethe environment?
If you’re a parent to a toddler,encouraging him or her to pottytrain a little earlier can be a con-siderable help to the planet, par-ticularly if you’re currently rely-ing on disposable diapers.
According to statistics postedby the Real Diaper Association,27.4 billion diapers are con-sumed in the U.S. each year.Around 90 percent of single-usediapering products go directly tolandfills. While there is no realway to determine how long ittakes a disposable diaper todecompose, estimates suggest itcan take between 250 to 500years.
While disposable diapershave environmental implica-tions in their disposal, they alsoaffect the environment in theirmanufacture. Bleached diaperscontain traces of dioxin, a toxicbyproduct of the bleachingprocess. There are also otherchemicals used to increaseabsorbency. Chlorine, water,petroleum and other substancesare also used in abundance toproduce disposable diapers.
Many families now realizethat cutting out diapers fromtheir lives is a way to reduce theamount of trash considerably.How can you eliminate diaperuse apart from switching to clothvarieties?
Potty training.There is no magic formula in
determining when your child isready to potty train. But ifyou’ve been putting it offbecause it inconveniences youbut your child seems interestedin the idea, it could be worth a
shot.Many experts say that a child
will show readiness clues that
can indicate he or she is able totry training. These include beingabout to get to the potty inde-pendently, being able to commu-nicate somehow (either verballyor gesturing) that he or she hasto relieve him- or herself, andthe ability to pull pants up anddown. Being curious about thepotty and wanting to sit on it areother signs.
Many children are ready tostart training at age 2. Keep inmind it can take several months,even up to a year for the child tobe completely trained. Thismeans using the potty for solidand liquid waste both day andnight. Most girls are diaper freein the U.S. by 36 months andmost boys in the U.S. by 39months.
If you are considering pottytraining, keep these pointers inmind.
■ Don’t try it during a stress-ful time, such as during a moveor when you are vacationing.
Wait until you have an uninter-rupted stretch of time.
■ Consult with friends andfamily about the methods theytried. Then use their opinions todevelop your own plan.
■ Cold turkey is often thebest way to approach pottytraining. Once diapers are takenaway, don’t return to them, evenif it is tempting to do so.
■ Stores sell thick, absorbentunderwear that can be wornwith a plastic cover during thetraining process to protectagainst leaks and damage to carseats and furniture.
■ Involve your child in theprocess. Let him choose his pottyseat and underwear styles.
■ Don’t get discouraged tooeasily. It can take severalmonths for the concept of train-ing to really set in.
■ Keep a potty nearby so thatthe child doesn’t have to runlong distances to make it to theseat.
Submitted photo
Many families now realizethat cutting out diapers fromtheir lives is a way to reducethe amount of trash consider-ably.
Sunday, March 11, 2012 7GThe Daily Nonpareil Go Green
RECYCLE THOSEOLD ELECTRONICS
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION AND OUTREACH
AMES – “Go Green” is an appropriate Marchcheer, what with a day for celebrating allthings green and the green-ness that comeswith spring’s arrival. But going green to createa more sustainable home or community doesn’thappen overnight. According to two Iowa StateUniversity Extension and Outreach specialistsit takes thought and action, and they have tipsto get families and communities moving in theright direction to healthier lifestyles,economies and environments.
“Sustainability is achieved when there’s arelatively equal balance among our social,environmental and economic values,” saidKristi Cooper, ISU Extension and Outreachfamily life specialist, ISUEcofamily bloggerand an Eco Family Conference organizer. “Thisis the ‘triple win.’ It’s simple, yet marvelouslycomplex.”
Cooper described this simple complexity interms of local foods.
“Buying local food reduces the amount oftransportation needed,” Cooper said. “Thismeans lower food costs and fewer greenhousegases, addressing both economic and environ-mental values. Buying your food at a farmers’market lets you meet the person who grew yourfood. You can provide input on how your food isproduced, thus addressing social and environ-mental values.”
Cooper encouraged individuals and familiesto pick one thing that motivates and intereststhem – it could be as small as choosing wholeunprocessed foods at the grocery store to join-ing a local food cooperative or growing foodsthe family likes to eat. Cooper suggests fami-lies also consider these actions:
■ Get an energy audit from your local utilitycompany – it’s easy and they often provide freeitems, discounts and advice on being more effi-cient.
■ Choose to not drive the car one day aweek.
■ Refuse to buy stuff you don’t need or any-thing in excessive packaging.
■ Freecycle – donate or give away what youdon’t use instead of tossing it in the trash. Fixwhat is broken.
■ Take your own mug for your favorite bev-erage refill.
■ For goods not produced locally, choose fairtrade products.
■ Buy your next garment or gift at the con-signment store.
■ Take a shorter shower.■ Spend an hour outdoors enjoying nature.■ Start a compost bin indoors or outdoors.■ Get a rain barrel.■ Replace part of your high maintenance
lawn with perennial food-bearing native plants.Setting goals important for communities and families
People sometimes are amazed that a com-munity the size of Fairfield (fewer than 10,000people) is aggressively addressing sustainabil-ity.
“In Fairfield we take a top-down and bot-
tom-up approach,” said Scott Timm, ISU Exten-sion and Outreach community economic devel-opment specialist working with the city of Fair-field on sustainability issues. “The top-down:We’re working on policy, on expanding ourenergy portfolio; we’re looking at how we cancreate and work on our own energy needs. Butthen there’s also action that needs to be hap-pening on the ground – with residents. That’sthe bottom-up work that we’re doing.”
Timm’s daily focus is on meeting Fairfield’scommunity sustainability strategic plan goals.
“My work is about helping local governmentwith big picture decision making; but it’s alsoabout teaching skills and working with resi-dents and homeowners on things that they cando to lead more sustainable lives,” he said.
Timm believes any community can becomemore sustainable – but residents must plan andbe serious about it. Every community has dif-ferent needs, so the first steps should include awell thought out and purposeful plan.
“A plan with buy-in from all sectors of thecommunity makes it possible to achieve suc-cess, and it opens serious funding streams,” hesaid.
For communities wanting to become moresustainable, he recommends starting with afacilitated working session involving represen-tatives from all segments of the community andreally examining community sustainability suc-cesses and gaps, then creating an action plan.
On the personal level, he suggests that fam-ilies take time for a similar review. Look aroundand determine what needs to be dealt with. Is itthe electric bill, a more productive garden, ordesire to live more with less? Identifying somepersonal goals, working towards them andbeing successful will not only achieve sustain-ability, but personal satisfaction.
Cooper agreed.“I appreciate the perspective of taking
responsibility for our choices,” Cooper said. “Ihave waited on experts to tell me why and whatto do, and expected the institutions in my life tomake it happen. Then I realized that I was giv-ing up my personal power to influence my ownquality of life. I am learning every day ways Ican be more sustainable.”
Iowans aim to create a moresustainable home, community
Earth-friendly laundry tips
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■ Opt for cold water when possible, and consider a natural gastankless water heater, which heats only the water you need whenyou need it. And with a natural gas dryer, you can dry on averagetwo loads of clothes for the same cost as one electric dryer load.
■ Avoid conventional detergents containing harmful pollutants.Instead, use homemade or natural products.
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You may be coveting that latest and greatest cell phone ortablet computer, but what should you do with your old ones?
Each year, Americans generate approximately 2.4 milliontons of used electronics, according to the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency and the Gen-eral Services Adminis-tration.
Don’t toss themout with the trash.Instead, recycle elec-tronics at a certified“eCycling” facility,which lessens pollu-tion and helps sup-ports local jobs.
Improper dis-posal of electron-ics, such as ille-gal dumping,can harm peo-ple and theenvironmentthrough therelease of suchsubstances aslead and mer-cury.
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The Daily Nonpareil Sunday, March 11, 2012 8G