Please vote ! It just takes a second... the project is 38th - let's get it to
the top 2 to win $250,000!!! We could get rid of styrofoam in the High School,
get their organic kitchen garden up and running (and surely Mark Warford (Asst Principal - Bethlehem Middle School) can't spend all
that money on just the High School - he thinks some of it could be used for other
school's gardens, too!!
Please send to your contacts to vote, too! Last
day is March 31st!
Kate Kloss - Principal, Dan Rain, Harriet Jaffe, Mike Klugman and I (Leslie Trosset), have put together some fun green activities at Elsmere School in honor of Earth Day, Wed. April 22nd.
We've planned a variety of week-long activities and guest speakers, including:
New Capri Sun, Kool-Aid, Honest Tea Drink Pouch recycling program that earns Elsmere's PTA 2 cents per pouch collected. Checkout www.terracycle.net.
Lunch trash daily weigh-in. We'll weigh the lunch trash everyday and see if through recycling, not wasting food, and using re-usable containers will help reduce waste.
Planting a strawberry bed with Dan Rain.
Green "Spirit" Day - wear green, eco-friendly shirts, organic shirts, earth shirts, etc.
A visit from Enviroman - our very own Middle School Asst. Principal Mark Warford will speak about the environment.
A visit from a wildlife rehabilitator.
A visit from Cornell's 4H who will bring their energy bike - pedal to see how much energy it takes to light a regular lightbulb vs. a Compact Florescent (CFL).
A visit from Sharon Fisher - our town's recycling coordinator, who will discuss recycling.
On Thursday, April 2, 2009, I video'd Sharon Fisher - Town of Bethlehem Recycling Coordinator as she shared information on recycling and discard of unwanted items, including old applicances, metals, paper, glass, cans, and the all confusing plastic. The Rupert Road Transfer station is for town residents only.
The biggest lesson learned for me was on the subject of plastic recycling. The town of Bethlehem ONLY accepts plastic BOTTLES 1 & 2. You have to reuse or toss all of your plastic food containers, even if they are labeled with a #1 or #2!
The town of Bethlehem can only recycle #1 & #2 BOTTLES:
juice
water
vitamin water
milk
any 1 & 2 bottle with a neck
Toss or reuse these containers:
butter
sour cream
peanut butter
berry containers
cooked meat trays
deli containers
any other container, even if it is labeled as a 1 or 2
Pre-1980 the Rupert Road facility was used as a landfill for municpipal trash and you'll see the large mound in the video. Around 1980, they were no longer allowed to accept the trash but they kept the facility open to accept items such as: tires, electronic items, old TV's, microwaves, refridgerators, paper, metals, plastics, cans, furniture and more.
If you choose not to pay a hauler, you can bring your regular trash there for a smaller fee and they will transfer it to the Albany Landfill where some of our haulers bring the trash they pickup curbside.
For more recycling details, please visit the town's web site, call Sharon Fisher - Recycling Coordinator at the town at 439-4955 ext. 1510, or leave a comment below.
Freecycle.org is a non-profit movement of people all over the world who are giving and getting stuff for free.
Locally, there's an Albany, New York Freecycle group with over 4,000 members.
Members offer or request items such as:
furniture: tables, chairs, beds, couches
kitchen appliances: large and small from stoves to microwaves to blenders
clothing: adult and children
toys
perrennials
animals and accessories: free kittens and dogs, dog crates
you name it
It's free to join and once you do you'll have access to the local Yahoo group where all the items are posted. As with all online groups, there are rules to follow and all items must be free. An online moderator helps keep all postings on track.
Instead of throwing out stuff you no longer want or use, offer it up on Freecycle and see if there are any takers. Your stuff doesn't always need to be in great condition; there are people who love to refinish or recover furniture or tinker with broken cameras, camcorders or other electronics. Whatever you do, never throw electronic items in the trash. Save it for the Town of Bethlehem's annual electronic recycling day which occurs in October.
The goal is to keep perfectly usuable items out of our landfills. Here is Freecycle's mission:
"Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community."
Join Albany New York's local chapter of Freecycle and do your part to reduce the stuff in our landfills.
Recycling paper packaging from the dozens of products that enter our home each week helps reduce our trash by at least 50%.
Instead of tossing the paper packaging, break it down and set it aside in a large bin or bag and then every few weeks bring it to the park and ride lot at the end of Rte 32 bypass. Look for a big bin labeled GreenFiber.
Once you start paying closer attention, you might be amazed how many of the products you buy contain paper packaging. Here, in this picture, is a small sampling of some of the products we buy that contain paper packaging.
Here's a sampling of what GreenFiber collects:
newspapers
cereal boxes
brown paper bags
paper packaging
magazine
phone books
office paper
cardboard
It's so easy to recycle this paper. Instead of throwing it away, we just fold it and set it aside in a big bag. Then, every few weeks when I'm heading to the Town Park, Line Drive ball fields, or a friends house, I make a quick stop at the park and ride bins and empty the bag into the Green Fiber bin.
Best of all, a company called GreenFiber takes the cardboard from bins all over the country and turns it into natural fiber insulation for your home or business! That's right, you can head right over to Lowes in Glenmont and buy it. Very cool.
Looking to go green in your business? Call GreenFiber and ask about their recycling plan where they pay you for your paper. They'll even bring a bin to your business.
