Talking Trash

PFAS in an abbreviation for “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” which are manmade, highly stable fluorinated chemicals. Because PFAS compounds do not break down easily in nature, they are referred to as “forever chemicals.” Since the 1940s, thousands of PFAS...

Have an old pair of eyeglasses you no longer wear hanging around in a drawer somewhere? Donate them! There are several programs that collect old glasses for reuse by those who need them. According to OneSight, a nonprofit “committed to eradicating the global...

If you are connected to solid waste management in any way, “circular economy” is a buzz phrase that appears often. We want to move away from our “linear economy” toward the “circular,” but what exactly is in the circle we seek? The Ellen MacArthur Foundation offered a...

You pick up the remote, but no matter how hard you press the buttons, it won’t work. It’s time for new batteries. Once you find the new batteries you need, what should you do with the old ones? So much to do and think about when all you wanted was to sit down and...

Thanks to our friends at the City of Burbank Public Works for sharing these great tips. This is adapted from an article which appeared in the Winter 2021 edition of Reduce, Reuse, Rethink, a publication produced by Eco Partners, Inc. for the Burbank Recycle...

In summer of 2020, the United Nations released a report, “The Global E-Waste Monitor 2020,” highlighting how much electronic waste (e-waste) the world creates and where it goes. This report found that 53.6 million metric tons (Mt) of e-waste was generated in 2019, a...

It’s trash day. Those passing by homes and buildings glimpse unwanted items peeking out of trash carts and dumpsters: a rusty snow shovel, an old golf club, and a broken store mannequin. Most of us see worthless junk. But a gifted few see this everyday discarded trash...

Paper looks at fastest growing waste stream — textiles Last summer, Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) released a white paper, “Textile Recovery in the U.S.: A Roadmap to Circularity,” to describe the textile waste stream and provide recommendations to best reduce,...

“Mess and clutter stand in the way of our productivity, stress us out and keep us stuck. Our stuff stands in the way of the lives we dream about,” writes Lindsay Miles. “When I think about why I was hoarding stuff in the first place, there were a couple of reasons....