www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

Recycling

Reduce the amount and toxicity of trash you discard. Reuse containers and products; repair what is broken or give it to someone who can repair it. Recycle as much as possible, which includes buying products with recycled content. Okay, you might find it strange that somebody would have created a page about recycling. But, you must remember, that most of us come from a generation (in America) where waste was considered the norm and anyone who recycled was considered either a hippie or an eccentric. Nevertheless, my wife and I have been very conscientious about recycling since early in our marriage in the late 70s (relying on a local California co-op, etc). Of course the rest of the country didn't come 'round until the 2,000s but that's okay - better late than never!

"And Man created the plastic bag and the tin and aluminum can and the cellophane wrapper and the paper plate, and this was good because Man could then take his automobile and buy all his food in one place and He could save that which was good to eat in the refrigerator and throw away that which had no further use. And soon the earth was covered with plastic bags and aluminum cans and paper plates and disposable bottles and there was nowhere to sit down or walk, and Man shook his head and cried: 'Look at this Godawful mess.'" - Art Buchwald, 1970

Click Here for my page on Earth Friendly things and ideas!

Recycling Quick Facts:

• Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees, two barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. Trash to Can
• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months. Environmental Defense Fund
• Recycling creates 6 times as many jobs as landfilling. Colorado Recycles
• Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70%, water use by 50%, and air pollution by 20%. Environmental Defense Fund
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours. Eco-Cycle
• If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees--or about 26 million trees per year. California Department of Conservation
• The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year - or enough energy to last Los Angeles residents for eight years. Steel Recycling Institute
• If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save: 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water. Seventh Generation Co.

Plastic bags:

We visited Australia in 2005...

Worldwide, it's estimated that 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year. That's over one million bags per minute! In the United States we use one-fifth the total world production or about 100 billion plastic bags per year. Only one to three percent of plastic bags are recycled - the remaining 97 percent ends up in landfills, streams, trees, or floating in oceans. Plastic bags are usually made of polyethylene - it takes about 12 million barrels of oil, each year, to manufacture the plastic bags used in America. It's estimated that the bags, when not recycled, will persist in the environment for a thousand years...

GOMI
Pronounced "Go-Me"
(Maybe a backwards acronym for,
"Interesting Materials Omitted in Garbage!!??")

It wasn't until the mid 2000s that I, myself, heard the term "GOMI." I don't know if it was meant to be some kind of marketing ploy, or just another fad that was going to fade away but I certainly like the idea of reusing junk that's been thrown away! Anyway, when I finally got around to searching for a true definition of Gomi, I found this on Marque Cornblatt's GOMI Style website: "Gomi is a slang word meaning trash or junk. It's originally a Japanese word for dust or garbage, but it's now used to describe anything that we discard or no longer value. It was introduced to English speakers by the best selling fiction writer, William Gibson, who is also credited with coining the term 'cyberspace' back in the 1980's. Gibson used the word gomi frequently to describe the near-future dystopia of our material culture gone haywire. 'Rubin, in some way that no one quite understands, is a master, a teacher, what the Japanese call a sensei. What he's the master of, really, is garbage, kipple*, refuse, the sea of cast-off goods our century floats on. Gomi no sensei. Master of junk.'" From The Winter Market, by William Gibson (1986)

I also found this bit of Gomi info, from Conrblatt himself, while searching around YouTube:
(I transcribed it myself off one of his videos)

"There are TV shows, magazines, and web sites, even a whole cable network, all dedicated to DIY which stands for Do it Yourself. The information is out there and people are realizing that the junk in their garage can be made into some pretty cool design. There hasn't been a name given to this movement yet but now there is GOMI. Gomi is so much more than dumpster diving it's a way of life, and one that does the Earth a favor by stressing recycling and reuse over conspicuous consumption."

- Mark Cornblatt, GOMI Style

My son is fluent in Japanese and assures me that the word "gomi" mean trash or garbage. He adds that the word "gomibako" litterally means "trash box." Anyway, whether a promo for somebody's TV show or just a catchy sounding Japanese word, I think the idea of "Gomi" is a great one that needs to be adopted everywhere! We've all seen the horrendous amount of waste accumulating almost everywhere - let's try reusing some of it! - Roger J. Wendell
Golden, Colorado 2008

This page:

The idea for this page hit me, like a ton of (recycled) bricks, while I was entering one of our local grocery stores here in the Denver area on March 13, 2005. It had just quit snowing, a few hours earlier, and I was about to conduct some family shopping after having climbed Mt. Morrison through the cold and drifting snow just 10 miles west of town. As I entered the store a young man, immediately in front of me, gulped down the last of his soft drink and threw the aluminum can in the trash at the store's entrance.

Not an unusual sight except two whole paces further, into the store, was the recycling counter!! Unfortunately I've witnessed this indifference (laziness) all around our society. Even in my work place, where I received Eco-Cycle's award for instituting a worksite recycling program (1994), people will go out of their way to avoid using our blue recycling containers and, instead, throw their cans and computer paper into the regular trash!

Recycling, especially in this day and age, is just too easy not to do! The advantages to our society, and our planet, are huge - if we could just get people to do the right thing. In my aluminum can example, above, it's not just the aluminum, ore, mining, and manufacturing that's saved every time a can is recycled - Reynolds Metal Company says that 97% of the energy used to produce an aluminum container can be saved by simply recycling it! And, the energy that's saved is enough to run a television set for three hours!!! Also, think of how much green house gas could be kept out of our atmosphere through such action!

Aluminum is just the tip of the iceberg - by seriously recycling glass, plastic, metal and a host of other materials we could reduce green house gas emissions, reduce energy consumption, reduce landfill space - all while increasing our quality of life! All it takes is just a little bit of effort - every crumpled soda can, discarded newspaper, or plastic bottle are candidates for a better environment and a better way of life!

In 1995 Eco-Cycle honored me, and other business recyclers around Boulder County, with this cute little award (you can click on it for a more complete view). Although I didn't live in Boulder I did spend most of my working hours there and was able to convince my employer (we had over 450 employees at the time) to embark on an ambitious recycling program that was of great benefit to not only our employees but the entire community as well. Eco-Cycle has been a leading innovator in community recycling since the 70s - I hope even more communities will adopt their methods and philosophy as well!           [Note: I have a bunch of pictures of Eco-Cycle below, just click Here...]

A Typical Week at Our House:

I think the two of us, in our home, generate an average of 15 to 20 pounds of recycling each week. That's probably more than most because we go to great lengths to remove whatever we can from the regular weekly trash pick-up. Also, we occasionally pick up bits of trash recyclables lying in the street during our evening walks around the neighborhood. Additionally, I'm lucky in that I work relatively close to Eco-Cycle so it's easy for me to drop stuff off on my way into the office.

Typical recycling week

The picture, at left, was taken on Sunday, May 22nd (2005). I weighed it on the scale and it came to about 16 pounds net - a pretty typical load that included steel food cans, the metal backbone from a school binder (plus the cardboard backing to that same binder), one coat hanger and its little paperboard clothing shield, the little metal "teeth" off the cutting edge of an aluminum foil dispensing box (plus the box itself, as paperboard), a few glass jars, a couple #2 plastic garden pots, numerous plastic bottles, office paper, magazines (they have high clay content and are processed somewhat differently than office paper), a few newspapers (we don't subscribe but seem to end up with a few each week anyway), a few used nuts, bolts and metal pieces from my work bench, plus all kinds of paperboard (toilet tissue tubes, facial tissue boxes, shoebox, etc.) and one soymilk carton.

25 Gallon Trash Can

This picture is a good representation of the amount of trash we generate at our home each week. The recycling container is in the picture for size reference as I usually take it to Boulder's Eco-Cycle with me each week. The bicycle is in the picture not only as a size reference but to emphasize another aspect of the "reduce" and "reuse" philosophy. In this case it's a three decades old Panasonic ten speed that's served duty as my local commuter bike - requiring no additional bike purchases other than some gearing and wheel upgrades because I now live on a steep hill! As for the trash can, its contents represent a week's accumulation of mostly usual stuff - a few table scraps that won't work well in our compost bins, a drink cup that has way too much wax in it for current recycling operations, certain food containers that aren't recyclable at this time, a piece of carpet square that served as a ground cloth while I worked on our cars, etc. Our main goal, of course, is zero waste but I think we're off to a pretty good start (at least by American standards!) with just a few pounds of garbage going to the landfill from our house each week!

A Not So Typical Week at Our House!

A small television

Occasionally I have an old TV (especially because we have no television reception in our neighborhood west of Denver!), stereo, or other appliance that can't be repaired or used for anything else so I attempt to dismantle it and recycle what pieces I can. Again, I'm sure that in places like Europe or Japan it's pretty easy (and even required!) to dispose of these items in places other than a landfill. But, even in early 2008 (when I got rid of this small black and white TV) it's still tough to recycle used and worn appliances here in the U.S. What I've been doing for many years, as illustrated in this photograph, is to dismantle the appliance as safely as I can and removing the bits and pieces that can be recycled while dumping what's leftover in the regular garbage. In the case of this small, portable television I was able to successfully remove a few dozen screws, retaining clips, electrical shields, connecting wires, and a bit of CRT frame for metal recycling. Although most of the casing was made of an unidentified plastic I was able to remove some small metal rods and grounding strap that was keeping everything together. Additionally, I was also able to dismantle a portion of the receiver's "RF" section - recycling small portions of shield and even some of the very tiny copper coils inside that portion of the receiver. Since this particular television was so small it didn't take a lot of time and energy to dismantle it looking for recyclable parts. Nevertheless, it's hoped that some day there will be a way to completely salvage all of the materials in an appliance like this - until then we'll have to the best we can by hand!

Completing the Circle/Closing the Loop:

When we purchase items that have been made from recycled materials we're "Closing the Loop." In addition to saving energy, we're also preserving our natural resources and reducing waste - stuff I mentioned earlier on this page. Although there is a growing market for recycled content products the demand isn't as high as it should or could be. Let's all do our part in completing the cycle. Let's not only recycle as much as we can but also buy recycled products whenever possible. Always look for the recycle symbol product packaging.

Here, at my house, we've been able to purchase all kinds of recycled products: typing/computer paper, toilet tissue, car parts, building materials (thanks to Resource in Boulder!) and virtually all of our regular clothes (thanks to a variety of local thrift stores!). We're also pretty good about using, many times over, those flimsy little plastic bags they give you for practically any purchase. Whenever possible we tell 'em to keep the bag (why not save a plastic tree?) and either carry stuff out in our own hands or one of those cotton grocery bags that we brought along. In early 2005 my wife and I noticed that Wild Oats Natural Marketplace started dispensing salads and other small food items in what they call "Compostable" carry-out containers made from corn - fantastic!!

Zero Waste:

I flew out of Bruxelles in '07

"Zero waste is a philosophy and a design principle for the 21st Century; it is not simply about putting an end to landfilling. Aiming for zero waste is not an end-of-pipe solution. That is why it heralds fundamental change. Aiming for zero waste means designing products and packaging with reuse and recycling in mind. It means ending subsidies for wasting. It means closing the gap between landfill prices and their true costs. It means making manufacturers take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products and packaging. Zero waste efforts, just like recycling efforts before, will change the face of solid waste management in the future. Instead of managing wastes, we will manage resources and strive to eliminate waste."

Summary:

Montezuma, Colorado

It's imperative that we reduce, reuse and recycle for not only the planet's health, but also for our own well-being. And, although these concepts may sound "radical" to some, they've actually been around a very long time. As any survivor of the Great Depression can tell you, it would have been unthinkable to waste anything during those trying economic times. And, the same holds true for people living in difficult circumstances around the globe today - wasting anything is simply unthinkable. So, our time has come as well - by acting consciously we can reduce our own consumptive ways thus lessoning our impact on an already overburdened planet. It's the least we can do! Roger J. Wendell - Golden, Colorado

Eco-Cycle
Building a Zero Waste community
in Boulder, Colorado!

Okay, I'll have to admit that I love Eco-Cycle! Even though our trash-removal company does some recycling I've been taking our family's recycling, on a weekly basis, to Eco-Cycle since 1994. Why? First because they recycle not only 1s, 2s, and 5s but they take all kinds of metal, paper, and glass products. Plus, you can see that they really do make good use of these materials - unlike some companies who have been known to throw large quantities of recyclables into regular trash when market conditions aren't favorable. And, finally, they way they've configured their drop-off center is almost too convenient to believe - it really is very handy!! Anyway, it didn't hit me until January '06 to actually take some photos of Eco-Cycle while there during my weekly visit. Although Eco-Cycle may not find some of these photos very flattering I can assure you their operation is well organized and efficient - I just happened to catch them as they we're preparing huge piles of recycling for train transport. Too bad more communities haven't attempted what Boulder and Eco-Cycle have accomplished - the world would be a much, much better place!

I've always loved Boulder County as well, click Here for my Boulder page!

ReSource
Boulder's source for used building Materials!

Donation Receipt

What a great idea! Simply drop stuff off for a tax receipt, or, stop by to purchase used (but good condition) building materials at a great price! Every city needs and operation like this - it makes perfect sense! Their website is: http://www.ResourceYard.org

Composting:
Recycling Nature!

Tami and I have been composting for many years - saving nearly every table scrap or yard clipping for our composting bins. Nathalie Vasilou, in an article titled Brown Gold [The Journal of Health & Healing - Volume 27, Number 1, 2006] defines composting as, "The process of transforming organic wastes into nutrient-rich humus through controlled decomposition."

That's a pretty fancy description for what takes place in nature all around us - things die and decompose back into the soil. Vasilou also said, "Building good soil is a goal of most gardeners. And one of the best ways to do this is with compost. This brown treasure can be an especially valuable fertilizer; it costs basically nothing to produce, increases organic matter in the soil (thus increasing water retention and soil aeration), and provides a pantry of nutrients for the plants grown. In fact, if made from a wide variety of materials, compost often will contain trace elements not found in commercial fertilizers!"

Composting in my backyard:

In our backyard there's a "ton" of wildlife that we're glad is around. However, some creature was pretty serious about trying to chew through our plastic recycling bins (each is made out of recycled plastic) so I added a metal strap to the configuration (photo at far right). Other than that there have been no problems with our current composting configuration!

Our 2 composting bins

Stirring tool

Snow on our bin...

Looking in...

Inside our bin

Metal guard against animals

City of Norman, Oklahoma

It's obvious that composting is not only good for the soil but it helps reduce landfill requirements and lessens the burden on water treatment facilities when we don't use those nasty sink disposals! Anyway, I love composting and was very pleased to run into a huge public facility that's run by the City of Norman, Oklahoma. Located just off State Highway 9, Norman's facility is large, efficient, and very user friendly. Here are some pictures I took in May, 2006:

The lady in the bottom left-hand photo said I could take her picture - I warned her that it would end up my web page! Notice the "steam" rising from the compost being lifted by the tractor's shovel in the upper row? Vasilou said, "If the pile is built well, a metal implement (such as a pipe or crowbar) stuck in its center about one week after building it, may be too hot to hold!"

Links:

Back to Roger J. Wendell's Home Page...

Abbey | About | Blog | Contacting Me | Copyright | Disclaimer | Donate | Guest Book | Home | Site Index | Solutions | Terms, Conditions and Fair Use
Copyright © 1955 -