Recycling news for Earth Day

From: jacqueline_gillis@hms.harvard.edu
Subject: Recycling news for Earth Day

Hi all:
Wanted to share the details of the upcoming Electronics Recycling Event sponsored by Intel as well as Styrofoam recycling event.

Here are all the details:

WHEN: Collection starts on Friday, April 29 from 12-6pm; on Saturday, April 30 from 8am-2pm.

WHO: The event is open to the entire community and provides the opportunity to dispose of electronic-waste properly. There is no residency requirement to for recycling.

WHAT: Items accepted for recycling include computer monitors, CRTs, fax machines, copiers, typewriters, CPUs, DVD or VCR players, radios, telephones, cameras, microwaves, and stereo equipment. Items NOT accepted for recycling include large home appliances (stoves, refrigerators, etc.), air conditioners, and electronic devices that contain liquid/gas.

WHERE: We will be located in the Stop and Shop Parking lot; section is indicated by the yellow box.

DONATION: A minimum donation of $10 and $20 will be requested from individuals and businesses, respectively. Donations will benefit the United Way of Tri-County, and Intel volunteers will be on hand to assist with unloading recyclable electronics from the vehicles.

Hope this helps.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Also if you are interested in recycling Styrofoam, I have found this event that worked out well in the fall when I did it. They seem to do it 2x a year and it is run by Refoamit.com. Just what you need in your garage, stock piles of Styrofoam:)
You can bring:
* Packing blocks
* Packing peanuts (must snap)
* Produce and meat trays (no biodegrable ones)
* Take out containers
* Hot cups such as Dunkin Donuts and Honey Do (We can not take Starbucks and most McDonalds because they have cardboard infused on them.)
* Trays
* Plastic utensils (Must be kept separate from any of the above Styrofoam pieces)
* White insulation sheets

Event occurs April 30, 2011
Grace Church, Framingham, MA, 10-3, 76 Salem End Rd., Framingham, MA Open to residents and non-residents of Framingham! This event is part of Framingham's Earth Day Celebration.

Share these events with any one else you think may want the info.

Jackie Gillis

GOT HEET?

Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) organizes free weatherization parties to teach volunteers how to lower their energy bills and carbon emissions. The work takes place in homes or nonprofits where we improve a building while teaching important skills.

The labor is free to the home-owners/tenants. They only pay for materials, unless they are low-income, in which case we raise the money for materials. All Cambridge residents are eligible to have HEET work on their homes. Just email us.

Anyone can sign up to volunteer for our events. You gain hands-on skills on how to lower energy use. According to a survey of our volunteers, 76% go on to use these skills in their own homes.

We do a thorough audit before each event to make sure we pinpoint the work that will effectively lower energy use. Our audits include a blower door test, combustion analysis, and more.

We continue to monitor the energy use of the buildings we work in to ensure we have been successful. On average we have lowered electricity use by 10% and heating by 11% (controlling for heating degree days, or how cold the winter was). All this is accomplished in just three hours of team labor.

The work we do concentrates on air-sealing (stopping drafts) and electrical and water efficiency. The majority of the work we teach can be done yourself using materials you can buy at most hardware stores.

For volunteers who want to learn more, we also offer an introduction to the more challenging work in the attic and using the blower door.

At our events, neighbors meet each other and work together, building community. They also see everyone working together on energy efficiency, demonstrating that energy efficiency is something people like us should, and do, take action on.

We call our events "barn-raisings" after the historical barn-raisings of 18th and 19th-century rural North America, in which a community came together to assemble a barn for one of its families. Neighbors worked together, pooling strengths and tools to take on tasks too big for any one of them. Fighting climate change is a task too big for any one of us as well.

Latent members of Hudson Climate Action Network ARISE!
We have work to do.

natural cleaners

natural cleaners
what can I do?
Avoid products with these words on the container: chlorine, ethylene/ethyl, butyl/alkyl, benzene, phenol and formaldehyde. Buy green products or make your own:
all-purpose cleaner: soap and water; or two tablespoons of baking soda in a litre of water.
stain remover (surfaces): sprinkle with salt and lemon juice, leave for a while (a few hours for really bad stains) and wipe clean.
stubborn stains: as a paste, baking soda and a little water removes stubborn stains from coffe cups, doors, appliances etc.
carpet freshener: sprinkle baking soda before vaccuuming.
eliminating odours: cat litter trays – baking soda; fridge – baking soda/water paste.
removing grease: vinegar (white) with salt.
disinfectant: (kitchen chopping boards, bathrooms and toilets) spray with white vinegar, then spray with hydrogen peroxide solution; wipe clean.
oven cleaner: make a paste with equal parts salt, baking soda and water, paste onto oven walls, leave for a while (overnight is good), then wipe off.
metal polish: vinegar or lemon juice (don’t use baking soda on aluminium as it will attack it).
furniture polish: ½ cup lemon juice with a teaspoon of olive oil, apply with a soft rag.
window cleaner: 1 litre water, ¼ cup vinegar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, shake, keep in spray bottle and use like ordinary window cleaner.
drain cleaner: ½ cup baking soda, then ½ cup vinegar, leave for 15 minutes, then pour down a kettle of boiling water.
washing dishes: buy green washing-up liquid (see links) – phosphate free.
air freshener: open the window; cut lemons or baking soda in a dish; in the kitchen, simmer cinnamon and cloves.
toilet cleaner: spray with vinegar and water mix around rim, pour cup of vinegar and couple of spoons baking soda into a bowl, leave for 15 mins, brush and flush.
rust remover: scour with cream of tartar.
mould remover: spray with equal parts vinegar and water, leave for 5 minutes and wipe clean.
laundry liquid: green products (see links).
stain remover (clothes): equal parts vinegar and water; for grease, mix borax and water, rub in and wipe off.
laundry bleach: don’t use chlorine-based bleaches; ½ cup washing soda in wash cycle; ½ cup lemon juice in rinse cycle; hang washing out – sunlight is a natural bleach.
dry cleaning: don’t do it – wash woollens with mild soap and cold water.

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Goodbye, Hudson!

I'd meant to post this last month, but I've been a bit busy, what with moving and settling into a new place and all.

I recently moved to Ohio. But on my last full day in Hudson, walking to do an errand in town, this scene greeted me, in the walled creek, running between Main St. and South St., that feeds the Assabet:



Of course, I was shocked and angry. Who could be so base as to dump their old TVs into the river? The river! I was carrying my camera, so I snapped this photo. Then I went into the Ace Hardware, whose property borders the offended section of river; I told them about the dumped TVs. They seemed confused that I would mention it to them. I had presumed that, as a town business, they would feel some notion of pride of place or responsiblity toward cleanup. I guess not. But they suggested letting the city know. Town hall is a block away, so I headed over there and reported the illegal dumping, not expecting any immediate response. They took the information pleasantly and I left.

Later in the day, when I passed the spot again, I was surprised and pleased to see a city flatbed truck parked near the spot bearing the two TV sets. The river was clear. Was it a just a slow day in Hudson? or did civic pride or sense of responsibility of place put this task high enough on the priority list to merit same-day attention? That choice faces each of us in our daily lives, in countless instances: do I pick up that litter? do I drive or walk to the store for that small item? do I offer that neighbor or friend a few CFLs for their home?

You have been a good temporary home for me, Hudson. Farewell!

Ben Gorman

Christmas with No Presents?

by Colin Beavan (Yes Magazine article)

One family’s daring experiment: Christmas without all the stuff.

	Colin Beavan plays with his daughter Isabella at Washington Square Park near their home. As creator of the “No Impact Man” blog, Beavan and his family committed to living in the middle of New York City without making any net impact on the environment. Photo by Paul Dunn for YES! Magazine

If Christmas is about presents, then in 2007, my little family and I had no Christmas. I mean, we had the caroling and the uncle playing the piano and the cousins running around with my three-year-old, Isabella, and the grandfather coaxing her to sit on his lap and the good food.

We had, in other words, an amazingly good time.

What we didn’t have, though, was the average American’s $800 hole in our bank accounts, gouged out by Christmas-present spending. Nor did we have the credit card debt still unpaid by June. Nor the forcing of smiles for gifts we didn’t really want. Nor the buying of extra luggage to bring home those unwanted gifts. Nor the stressful rush of last-minute crowds at the mall.

Without presents, you see, we didn’t have the sensation that I, at least, normally associated with Christmas—the stress. And without stress or presents, it’s not Christmas, right? But of course it was. It was the best of Christmas, the part that, research shows, makes people happiest. It was all the upside without the downside.

Let me back up

For the rest of this article, please visit "Yes Magazine."

State starts a green era

(Boston Globe July 3, 2008)

Law encourages renewable sources; Utilities expected to help cut costs

Law encourages renewable sources; Utilities expected to help cut costs

By Beth Daley Globe Staff / July 3, 2008

Governor Deval Patrick signed a landmark energy bill yesterday that does away with long-standing obstacles to building renewable power projects in Massachusetts and making homes and businesses more energy efficient.

The Green Communities Act was hailed by environmentalists as among the most innovative efforts in the nation to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to encourage use of clean technologies that don't contribute to global warming.

The law will probably result in utilities' designing customized plans for homeowners and businesses to cut energy costs and providing rebates to pay for measures such as installing insulating windows and more efficient boilers. Homeowners and businesses will be able to rent solar panels from utilities to avoid expensive up-front costs, and the law makes it easier for homeowners who have installed wind turbines or solar panels to sell surplus energy.

Supporters said the new law could save hundreds of millions of dollars through energy efficiency, helping to hold down consumers' electric bills as energy prices are skyrocketing.

"I am here today to sign into law the best clean energy bill in America," a jubilant Patrick said during a signing ceremony at the Museum of Science. "Climate change is the challenge of our times, and we in Massachusetts are rising to that challenge."

Massachusetts has long been a leader in energy legislation, and it is taking part in a regional effort to reduce greenhouse gases from power plants. Patrick has set an aggressive goal to increase solar power in the state by 600 percent in four years.

The law "maintains Massachusetts' status as a state leader," said Patrick Hogan of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a Virginia-based environmental policy think tank.

Business leaders praised the legislation, saying it could stabilize electric rates in New England, already among the highest in the nation. Utilities, including NStar and National Grid, said they have long focused on energy efficiency but are eager to ramp up the effort, as well as to provide solar power to customers.

"It pushes us to a new level," said Tom May, NStar's chief executive. "We get to cross the street to our customer side and help them with energy choices . . . such as windmills in a neighborhood or solar panels. It's helping them reduce their carbon footprint."

Among the law's major provisions:

A requirement for utilities to invest in energy efficiency when it is cheaper to do so than it is to buy power. Historically, companies would simply buy more power when demand went up, which over time would lead to construction of very costly and polluting power plants. Now, utilities will have to invest in energy efficiency if to do so is equal to or cheaper than buying power. The law will also use at least 80 percent of the revenue from the regional effort to cap power plant emissions for efficiency programs, such as home energy audits to identify how to save on energy bills. For remainder of article see Boston.com