What's Terracycle?

Terracycle has become my new favorite word. What is it? Its a company based in New Jersey which upcycles/ recycles hard-to-recycle substances.

Upcycling is a process of converting items into useful products without changing the structure of the item. Its essentially reusing. They try to upscale waste and if they can't, then they will recycle them. How are they able to recycle materials that traditional recycling programs cannot. Find out about their novel process here.

They have several different collection programs for items that we normally throw in trash bin. Have you wondered what to do with your toothbrush when you want to discard it? How about chips bags? How about energy bar wrappers? your child's food pouches?

And its free! You just have to signup online. You can download shipping labels for each of the brigades, collect and ship. The best part is, they will donate money to your chosen non-profit organization. Say, you join snack bag brigade; for each snack bag you send, they will donate $0.02 to your charity.

I stopped eating chips three years back since they come in bad packaging. Thanks to Terracycle, I can enjoy a bag of chips once in a while. I work for a company with 10000 employees. There are about 2000-5000 employees in my building. I tried talking them into collecting the chips bags. Company's facility department is looking into implementing it. Meanwhile, I have started collecting chips bags impatient to wait for action. I use coffee cartons as collection boxes. I have setup 9 such boxes in three wings of the building I work in. I keep expanding everyday.

I have been collecting for a month now. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction. Yesterday, I picked up 20 bags from these boxes. My co-workers are very co-operative. They press the bags down and bunch them together. Thank you Terracycle and thankyou fellow TIers for supporting this effort!

Milk and juice cartons

     If you have been following my blogs, you know why I hate Tetrapaks so much. I hope to explain my reasons again in this blog. Food packaging industry has changed so much over the last 10 years. Their motive has been to preserve the freshness of the foods longer and enable longer shelf life. It might sound like a worthy effort but its not since its done with total disregard to the environment.
     Recycle industry has made several strides over the last few years. But for every one of their achievement, they are faced with a new challenge from the packaging industry. Years back plastic bags were considered non-recyclable. Now, many grocery stores take them back. Small plastic caps were not  recyclable before but now they are. Only type 1 and 2 plastics used to get recycled before. Now, my city accepts any plastic type with a logo on it. All of this varies with the recycle collection program that is available in the area where you live.
     In the last couple of years, I have been learning what is truly recyclable and what is not. Then, I choose items that come in recyclable packs. This might sound like a lot of work but I have benefitted a much from it. I look and feel great! As a rule, junk food comes in bad packaging. Cutting them out completely has transformed me over time. In fact, you can start noticing tangible results in as little as one month. In two months, people close to you will see it. After three months, everybody will be noticing it.
    Back to Tetrapak. Why is it bad? It looks like an good old milk carton but its not. Its a sandwich of  paper, metal, plastic layers. The metal in the pack increases the shelf life somehow. The food packaging industry is so proud of this invention that they put all forms of food in these (chips packets, coffee sachets, TETRAPAKs, etc). While individually these materials are completely recyclable, when they are made into such packages, its impossible to separate out the individual resources.
   The company wants you to think that you are drinking out of a cardboard box, thats why the outside is paper. The innermost layer making contact with the food is plastic and we don't know what grade plastic it is. You are better of drinking from type 1 plastic can and recycle it responsibly. Have you ever wondered why Tetrapak hides its logo under the folds of the carton?
   I have been trying to adopt a vegan diet. Vegans usually substitute milk with Soy milk, coconut milk or almond milk. All these speciality milks come in Tetrapaks. Thats why they come with long shelf lives and they can stay out of the fridge in the grocery store. We live off of nutrients that the earth provides; if we are not KIND to our earth, the nutrients will not nourish us. We will realize this sooner or later.
   There are good options out there. Just find them and demand them. Please start caring about this issue. I can point you to one great product that I found at Green Grocers in Dallas. Its organic soy milk in plastic milk jar! Hurray for women! Men might want to enjoy soy in moderation. Here's a photo of the product.

Thanks for reading. I got a little engrossed in this topic. Hope you enjoyed it!

Why say NO Tetrapak?

For a while I used to think Tetrapaks are good. They look like good old cartons but they are not. They are a combination of paper, metal and plastic (hence non-recylable) Plastic being the innermost layer touching the food. Yikes! Found this information only a few months back and was devastated to find that most of the milk cartons that I was meticulously cleaning and recycling were going to landfill.

I avoid Tetrapaks like plague. But last weekend, I got sick while traveling. So, I had to get the coconut water to feel better. My flight got delayed and I needed to charge my phone. I sat down by the charging station and separated the various layers and salvaged some recyclable material.

You might say, I can't be like that! Ok, be your way. Just try to avoid buying anything that comes in Tetrapak. Thanks for reading!

Gecko Hardware

Its a new hardware store in Dallas. Its not a regular hardware store. They have several different eco products in their store. I found this door mat which is made of up-cycled old shoe soles. It is made of 100% recycled resources.

The store has other green products: 35% recycled washable mat, household items, kitchen items, sporting & camping goods, garden center and of course tools.  The staff is friendly and helpful. I like their collection of unique items. Please go check it out, you won't be disappointed.

I love the look and use of this mat at my door

Since, I am leading a carbon neutral lifestyle, I visited the store on my bike and took the train back home. 

Responsible minimalism

I wanted to become a minimalist for a long time. About a year back, I moved from a one bedroom apartment to a studio to get rid of stuff. I got rid of some stuff and stopped there. Every weekend, my goal would be to reduce the amount of stuff I have. It was always a moving target. Today finally, I got rid of some of the stuff I have been long holding on.

I hold on to things not because I am attached to them. I just don't know what is the responsible way to get rid of them. Today, I took my old cosmetics to Home Chemical Waste Disposal Center in Dallas. My experience was so pleasant. I just had to show my license and utility bill. So, if you are wondering how to get rid of a bottle of mineral oil, a gallon of beach or any hard to recycle item, check with a HC3 (Home Chemical Waste Disposal) near you. Here's a picture of all the cosmetics I disposed.

Many people are grasping the idea of reducing clutter. I think that it has the most value when done responsibly. Today, I feel very light since I also got rid of clothes, bags and shoes at a drop box.

What's your water?

With the summer approaching so fast, I want to talk about the water we drink. I often wonder why people drink bottled water? Why people think that bottled water is safer? I watched the documentary, "Tapped" which discredits each of the reason that comes to my mind. Tap water is more regulated than bottled water. Bottled water is self-regulated by the companies. In most cases the bottled water is just tap water.
Plastic bottles leak toxins into the water and  we are paying to drink that!
By buying bottled water, we are choosing with our dollars to support/cause:
1. Pertrochemical industries - People who live near those industries suffer from chronic illness and we indirectly support that.
2. Water companies - They make huge profits often exploiting communities that live around those pristine water bodies.
3. Pollution - Only 20% of the water bottles consumed in US gets recycled. Its sad that the bottled water competes with tap water and the city has to take up the job of recycling. Only a few states have been able to impose a deposit per bottle to ensure recycling. When you buy a bottle, you see 5c or 10c with states codes. It means the consumer pays 10cents more in those states and will get that back when they take it to the recycle center. Ofcourse, water companies have lobbied heavily in state legislatures to not bring this law into effect in most states.
  Some of the bottles reach the water ways and pollutes marine life. Bottles and other plastic reaching sea, decomposes and forms small shiny colorful pebbles which are attractive to fishes. It again reaches our system when we eat those fishes.

  Some say, I recycle the bottles, its it good enough? I say NO, its always better to reduce consumption.
I tried to summarize most facts from the movie but I suggest you watch it to make your choice. There are plenty of options to filter water at home if you don't trust tap water. So, what's your water?

Reduce methane at home

Did you know that organics in landfill is a major source of methane generation? Don't take my word for it. Check the facts at cool2012 campaign.

Organics like food, paper products and yard trimmings when dumped in landfill get decomposed anaerobically due to lack of oxygen. This improper decomposition produces lot of methane, one of the green house gases responsible for Global warming.

Each year we fret so much in the summer and wonder if it is Global warming. Of course it is. Stop fretting and start helping. There is lot of guidance at Compost guide and HowtoCompost . My friends in India can find a composter here.

I live in an apartment and have a indoor composter. It works well with most of my organics waste but there are some limitations. If you have a yard, you can choose among worm composter, tumble composter, composter bins or a compost pile. I have heard that tumble composter is very easy to use.

I am excited that two of my friends have started thinking about composting. One is going to start a worm composter and other one will start with a kitchen composter. I hope they will comment here on their progress.

So, what's your compost?