Twice as Nice is a better price for natural resources making Re-use a useful thing to remember.
How do wasteful ways impact our great city? San Diegans throw out enough recyclables to make waste piles in Petco Park, from infield to outfield, from dugout to nosebleeds… five times over each year. Now imagine if we not only reduced landfill waste but re-used natural resources as well.
How Can I Help? Season 2, Episode 5: Twice as Nice (Reuse Materials)
Come Again (Episode Summary)
San Diego is a beautiful place, and people flock here to live, work and play, attracted by our natural resources. But everyone living, working, and playing here creates mounds of trash… over seven pounds per person per day. With a population of over 1.2 million, that adds up fast… to nearly 9 million pounds a day, or about 1.68 million tons annually. At this rate of waste disposal, the City’s only landfill, the Miramar Landfill, will likely be filled to capacity and close in 2020. Unless we all work together to reduce and recycle our garbage we could trash the unique beauty of San Diego and risk squandering our tax dollars to pay fines of up to $10,000 per day for failure to meet California’s 50% waste diversion mandate.
Swap sustainable stories at Kobey’s Swap Meet which has been serving San Diego with great bargains, unique items and hundreds of garage sales for over 30 years. Launched in 1976 at the Midway Drive-In with only thirteen sellers. In August 1980 the swap meet moved to the nearby Sports Arena. In 2010, Kobey’s Swap Meet at the Valley View Casino Center is still San Diego’s biggest outdoor market, drawing close to 25,000 shoppers and nearly 1,000 sellers weekly.
Each member of the Kobey family has played a part in the market’s accomplishments, from Monte the business patriarch who opened the market in 1976 to his grand son, Anthony Pretto, who is preparing for his own leadership role in continuing the Kobey business family tradition. Explore all the options for Re-Use at this iconic San Diego event, Kobey’s Swap Meet.
After we complete the meet its off to greet Cheryl Sharp of The Reuse People to demolish the lack of promotion for deconstruction which takes apart a building instead of bringing it down with a bulldozer to re-use nearly everything. Picture a typical home… Now take out the windows, wires, walls, doors, cabinets, counters, foundation, fixtures, floors, appliances, toilets, tubs, and what your left with is The Re-Use People…Building Materials Distributors in San Diego since 1993. Providing construction materials from deconstruction projects instead of demolition projects destroying useful natural resources to put in the landfill.
Now that we can understand the economic impact from diverting resources from the landfill through Re-Use we’ll discover how the community and environment truly benefit from an expert at the San Diego County of Public Works Department. Filming at Architectural Salvage in Little Italy provides a perfect backdrop to get the background on why Re-Use is important. Relax as we get Green Yourself Tips on Re-Use from Michael Wonsidler of the County of Public Works, his simple tips and convenient tricks will have you re-using right away.
Enjoy another Green Yourself Tip with the creative and easy to craft T-shirt bag to give your grocery items a comfortable and customized cool look that matches your green living and sustainable style.
Finally, surf’s up with Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego chapter to explain why something is wrong with single-use plastic bags for the planet. Discover the details on why producing plastic is not good for oceans, animals and ourselves just For Your Information.
Re-use this information by telling your friends, neighbors how to make re-use easy to use and makes everything Twice as Nice
Double Up
Many of our landfills are reaching full capacity or closing, and all components of our environment, air, water, as well as open spaces are increasingly threatened. To reduce our wasteful attitudes and lifestyles out of sight can no longer mean out of mind. Actually, with minimal effort, we can all help to solve our current solid waste disposal problems. Start with Re-use and you can double up on a product so new ones aren’t manufactured and ultimately disposed of.
Personal Benefits of Reuse:
Save money Conserves natural resources
Saves valuable landfill space Get the most out of the products you buy
Many items we throw away every day have the potential to be reused for their original purposes or for new ones.
The Reusable Suspects
Paper
The fibers in paper tend to get shorter and shorter until they can no longer be recycled. Most paper fibers will eventually have to be composted incinerated or landfilled, but meanwhile we can still do our part by delaying their entrance into
the waste stream. Paper and paper products make up almost 40% of the waste stream, the largest contributor to the waste stream.
Sustainable Solutions:
> Newspaper is recyclable but it also may be reused to prepare or clean-up messy jobs or as a packing material.
> Cut up any no longer used one-sided documents and use it for notepaper kept by the telephone or for shopping lists.
> Write shopping lists on opened or junk mail return envelopes and carry your coupons inside them.
> Wrap postal packages in previously saved brown paper bags.
> Instead of putting it in the wastebasket, turn a box into a wastebasket, or container for source separated materials.
> Reuse small boxes to organize desk and dresser drawers.
> Reuse gift wrap for gifts or line shelves and drawers with it. Reuse gift bows and also use pretty paper bags as gift wrap. Be especially mindful of reusing wrapping paper during birthdays and holidays.7
> Tired of those pre-approved credit card applications, call one of the following to get your name off those lists:
Experian (formerly TRW) 800-353-0809
Trans Union 800-680-7293
These paper preservation techniques will surely have you reducing by reusing in no time.
Plastics
We are bombarded by plastic for its superior storing abilities and cheap price. Plastic is leakproof, airtight, durable, moldable, lightweight, retains and resists heat and cold. Plastics are more difficult than paper to recycle and last thousands of years in the landfill…
So, it is especially important to make the most of their reuse potential.
Sustainable Solutions:
> Shopping bags make up a large portion of the plastic in our waste stream. Stay simple with sustainability by bringing a reusable shopping bag. Most supermarkets have them available, but remember to re-use and bring the bags back for efficient environmental reuse.
> Turn a plastic bottle into a funnel (for your home, business, or car) by
cutting off the top half.
> Use plastic bread bags to bake your toes inside your child’s wet shoes or have a bag in your car for those days when you get caught in the rain with your favorite shoes on.
>Rather than buy refreezable “ice” containers for your picnic coolers, or for camping, use empty plastic bottles. Mouthwash bottles are perfect; filled with water they are reusable in your freezer over and over, and when they thaw out you’ve got cold drinking or washing water.
Although they may ultimately reach the waste stream, even a one-time detour for plastics is helpful in waste reduction.
Glass
Unlike paper and plastic, container glass is totally and perpetually recyclable, yet only a fraction of it is recycled. All glass can be recycled in San Diego. Before recycling, however, glass jars can be very practical for in-home storage of just about anything as they are water and air tight.
Sustainable Solutions:
>Turn a pickle jar into a cookie jar or punch holes in the top of a small jar to create a shaker for spices like cinnamon, salt or grated cheese. A jar with a punctured lid will also make a great air freshener if filled with spices or potpourri.
>Keep your buttons and bits of miscellaneous or change in jars and know at a glance what’s inside.
>Use a large, attractive jar as a goldfish bowl.
Metals
Often we think of recycling as the only answer to our solid waste problems. Metals are endlessly recyclable and it takes 95 percent less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to process it from ore and steel is the most recycled material in the world. Before you recycle, however, consider reuse as the alternative that uses no resources except your imagination!
Sustainable Solutions
> Use aluminum foil that was used in cooking as a cover for cooked food to keep warm before serving or to help store leftovers in the fridge.
> Use a tuna can with both top and bottom removed to cook a perfect poached egg.
> Other empty metal cans can be used as pencil holders, cookie cutters, muffin/cupcake molds, measuring cups and to store screws.
Motor Oil
Used motor oil can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Improper disposal of motor oil can result in uncontrolled migration to the ground or surface waters, creating a potential public health or environmental hazard due to contamination. Motor oil can be recycled.
Sustainable Solution:
To do so, put it in a clean, plastic container with a tight lid. Don’t mix it with anything else. Take it to a service station recycling center, or other location that collects used oil for reuse.
Tires
Tires are a major solid waste disposal problem. Discarded tires make perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and they tend to rise to the top of landfills. They don’t degrade unless the conditions are highly controlled, and when burned they can emit poisonous gases. Their great durability is just what makes them so difficult to dispose of. Most landfills will not or cannot accept them.
Sustainable Solutions:
There are many innovative ways in which tires can be used by municipalities for
public uses, and individual should look for items made from used tires. Some current tire reuses include: Artificial reefs, Here are some current tire reuses:
Artificial reefs, roofing material, playground equipment, shoe soles, floor mats, bumpers, sandals, asphalt and if not severely worn, tires can undergo a retreading process and be used again. Support efforts to recycle, retread, and reuse tires.Just For Kids
Kids can be terrific engineers of reuse. Giving them free reign over your discarded papers, cardboard, scraps and packaging keeps them entertained, exercises their creativity, saves money and supplies and gives them something to call their own.
If you don’t have children, just call your local elementary school or day care center and offer items useful for craft projects. Websites like Throwplace create a network for users to list items online they would like to give to nonprofit organizations, businesses or individuals.
It is unlikely that you’ll have to suggest ideas to children on what to construct; they’ll probably have ideas of their own. However, here are some projects to try: (Always use safety precautions, of course!)
> Have a puppet show! Use a cardboard box for a stage, create a fabric scrap curtain, make glove or sock puppets and use an old sheet or tablecloth as a backdrop.
> Use milk cartons covered in colorful paper to make lightweight building blocks. Use cookie, cracker, cereal, etc. boxes for a variety of sizes.
> Construct a train from a can and a small box. Use bottle tops or sewing thread spools for wheels and other cans and boxes for cars, Remember to keep small objects away from young children.At Home
>Freeze water in an empty aspirin or other small bottle as a cold compress.
>Use old toothbrushes to scrub hard to reach places, such as plumbing fixtures.
>Cut a hole in the top of an oatmeal container to make a yarn dispenser.
>Keep a sponge and towel closer than a roll of paper towels to only use when necessary.
>Use stale bread for croutons, crumbs, stuffing or french toast.
>Reuse small boxes to organize desk and dresser drawers.In the Office
> Make two-sided copies when possible
>Use one-sided scrap paper for drafts and notes.
>Circulate memos or send e-mails instead of making numerous copies.
>Save and reuse inter-office envelopes.
>Avoid Styrofoam, but reuse Styrofoam peanuts.
>Bring reusable dishes, mugs and utensils to work.
Finally
Get Creative – Reuse can satisfy your natural urge to construct, work with your hands and conserve. Be sure to add your Reuse ideas to the Eco Diego comments on this page to help urge the community that our trash can be a treasure trove of Double Up opportunities.
Some people have gone so far as to build houses with bottles. Most of us won’t go this far, but with a little imagination and energy we can get creative with reusable items!