Topic: Waste and Recycling

Recycling Centers Overflow, but Economics Still Solid

The prices once commanded by paper, metal, and plastic are collapsing along with the stock market. A main factor: China, factories idle, is no longer accepting so much of our old stuff as raw materials. Is recycling headed for the ...READ»

San Jose Developing First U.S. Organics to Energy Waste Biogas Facility

San Jose, California announced yesterday a plan to develop the country's first organics-to-energy waste biogas facility on a 40 acre plot of land. The kinks of the plan are still being worked out, but if all goes well, the ...READ»

Kimberly-Clark Wipes Away Its Eco Guilt With Recycled Toilet Paper

We've covered the destructive practices of tissue and toilet paper companies extensively--specifically, the destructive habits of bathroom tissue giant Kimberly-Clark. But now the company, often criticized for using virgin fiber ...READ»

Naked Juice Brings PET Bottles to the Mainstream

Mainstream beverage distributors haven't managed to muster up the energy to produce 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles--until now. Naked Juice became the first nationally distributed brand to use PET (polyethylene ...READ»

A Better Recycling Plan for Boston?

Will you help me create a better recycling plan for Boston? I live in Cambridge and commute to Boston every morning. I subscribe to the print edition of the New York Times and read it every morning as I commute into work on the T. ...READ»

Are Studios Making Flimsier DVD Cases to Save Money or the Planet?

Warner Home Video is releasing new DVDs in cases that contain 20% less plastic. As a result of the effort, the company will reduce carbon emissions from its home entertainment division by 31%--and slash materials and shipping ...READ»

Never Say Never

Claim: "We never simply throw away." Reality: We sometimes do.READ»

Would You Feel Safe Driving Across a Recycled Plastic Bridge?

Bridge safety has been a hot topic lately, mainly because of the recent Bay Bridge nightmare that saw a cracked load-bearing beam come crashing down onto rush-hour traffic. But amidst all the news of unstable steel beams, the U.S. ...READ»

How TerraCycle Plans to Takeover the Garbage Industry

Fast Interview: In this Q&A, TerraCycle founder Tom Szaky talks about why eco-friendly products don't have to be expensive, his quest to corner the trash market, and why his wife performed in Carnegie Hall in a dress made from recycled juice pouches.READ»

• The Global Electronic Waste Problem

Looptworks Upcycles Textile Scraps Into Clothing

American Apparel is attracting attention (as usual) for selling its Bag-O-Scraps to consumers, but a new company called Looptworks is actually taking excess textile waste and turning it into limited edition clothing. In other words, ...READ»

Sony Stores Expand GreenFill Electronics Recycling Effort

Electronics recycling is notoriously difficult--so difficult, in fact, that Greenpeace has an entire campaign devoted to improving it. But Sony took a giant leap forward yesterday in making recycling easier with its GreenFill ...READ»

A Provocative History of the Canvas Bag Craze

Canvas tote bags are becoming de rigueur for both the eco-minded and the fashionable: Clever, name-brand designs abound, while the disastrous environmental impact of plastic bags is reaching mainstream awareness.  Design Observer ...READ»

Responsible Fast Food?

McDonald's today releases its second "corporate responsibility report" (the first appeared in 2002--and I guarantee you that nearly every word written about it will wryly point out the hypocrisy of such an effort from a company that ...READ»

Universal Fiber Rescues Your Old Carpets From Landfills

Why should ugly old carpets be relegated to landfills? That's the thinking behind Universal Fiber's new ReFresh Fiber, a nylon fiber made out of post-consumer Nylon 6,6 carpeting from landfills. Universal Fiber just won New York ...READ»

The Plastic Recycling Dilema

Recycling should be the easy way to get people involved in helping the environment. Too bad the businesses behind it are blowing it.READ»

Green Business: Plastic Potion No. 9

Recycling should be the easy way to get people involved in helping the environment. Too bad the businesses behind it are blowing it.READ»

• The Global Electronic Waste Problem

Best Buy Begins Pilot Recycling Program

Best Buy [NYSE: BBY] has announced that it will expand its existing recycling programs in 117 of its stores, with the potential for a nationwide expansion to all 900+ stores if the new pilot program goes "sucessfully," ...READ»

Sustainability as a Work in Progress

Talk of Green Design is dominated by examples of products made of recycled materials, but sustainability is about more than materials. It’s about material sourcing. It’s about manufacturing processes. It’s about shipping and ...READ»

Crowdsourced City Design: 4 Designers Take on San Francisco

Last month, GOOD Magazine and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) asked city officials to present a "call for problems"--ways to improve local public education or create a more effective citywide recycling ...READ»

Best Buy Begins Pilot Recycling Program

To date, Best Buy stores gladly accept mobile phones, ink cartridges, batteries and other items for recycling, but the yellow-rag retailer is looking to become the go-to place for free recycling of bigger electronics as well -- even if the items weren't bought at Best Buy.READ»

50 Ways to Green Your Business

Half-a-hundred options for cleaning up your business, from the universal (catch that rainwater!) to the specific (lose the plastic bowls!). Mix, match--join in.READ»

Delphian School Presented with "Oregon Green School" Award

This article is an excerpt from the McMinnville News-Register, By Yvette SaarinenWestern Oregon Waste recently presented an Oregon Green School award to the Delphian School, a private school located in Sheridan. Delphian’s ...READ»

Sony Ericsson Releasing Phones Made From CD Cases and Water Bottles

Sony Ericsson released two new phones fashioned out of recycled materials today--the long-awaited GreenHeart C901 and the Naite--in an attempt to both boost its environmental credibility and reduce company carbon emissions 20% ...READ»

Waste is...well, Just A Waste!

In a recent blog, I told you about a trip to Walmart and how they have slashed waste in all of their stores, saving money and the environment at the same time. The more I talk about this, the more I realize how many companies are ...READ»

Five Nights Before Chirstmas

Going green for the holidays? Need a new TV to while away the long winter days? Spread some green digital cheer. No ba hum bug for the signal switch over next year. With this little ditty, you can become quite witty. See Santa's reasons for going green with your TV this holiday season.READ»