Tag Archives: recycling

5 Ways Cardboard Can Keep You Warm This Winter

  By Donna DeForbes | January 9, 2014 - 5:30 am |
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Ways Cardboard Can Keep You Warm | Eco-Mothering.com

This is a guest post from Paul Taylor As the winter months take their toll on your house, consider alternative—and simple—methods to keeping warm. Whether you use a gas furnace, electric heating, wood stove or other method of heating, you probably have something in your possession that can make a world of difference in energy efficiency. That ally is cardboard. Cardboard is much more than box storage for knick-knacks. It can be a great insulator from the cold, especially the thicker corrugated versions. Where in your home can you use cardboard to promote heating efficiency? Windows By taping sheets of cardboard onto your windows, you prevent the cold from radiating in and the warm air from being cooled by the surface. If you provide approximately one-half of an inch of space between the glass and the material, you won’t have to worry about condensation soaking through the paper-like surface. Remove … Continue reading →

How to Recycle in Just 15 Minutes a Day

  By Donna DeForbes | September 19, 2013 - 5:30 am |
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recycle-sign

This is a guest post by R. Beechum. It takes approximately 700 years for a plastic bottle to completely decompose in a landfill. Sadly, about 50 percent of the waste present in landfills today is made up of those same plastic bottles. Meaning that unless you’ve bought a ticket on The Axiom (from the eco-themed movie Wall*E), this might be a good time to learn a thing or two about recycling. Recycling in the past could be a time-consuming task that involved washing out cans and bottles, removing labels, buying separate trash cans and sorting, sorting, sorting. But it doesn’t have to be that difficult. If you’ve been a reluctant recycler all your life because the task seems too time-consuming or daunting, well, in the classic words of Bob Dylan: “The times, they are a changin’.” By learning some tricks of the recycling trade, you can help the planet without spending your whole day over … Continue reading →

Top 10 Stats That Will Inspire You to Recycle

  By Donna DeForbes | August 30, 2013 - 5:30 am |
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Reasons to Recycle | Eco-Mothering.com

Recycling 1 six-foot stack of newspapers saves the life of one 35-foot tree. If we recycled all the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a Sunday, we’d save 26 million trees per year. Recycling 1 aluminum can saves enough energy to run your television for three hours. Recycling 100 cans could light your bedroom for two weeks. Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled. Glass can be recycled an infinite number of times. Recycling just 1 glass jar equals enough electricity to power an 11-watt CFL bulb for 20 hours. Recycling 20 plastic bottles saves enough energy to power an air conditioner for two hours. We generate 21.5 million tons of food waste each year. If we composted that food, it would be like taking 2 million cars off the road (in terms of greenhouse gas reduction). Every ton of paper recycled saves 7,000 gallons of water. If … Continue reading →

7 Green Boating Tips for the Whole Family

  By Donna DeForbes | July 30, 2013 - 5:30 am |
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Eco-Friendly Tips for Boaters | Eco-Mothering.com

This is a guest post from Jeremy Simmons. Boating places you in the natural environment and often feels serene, so it’s hard to reconcile the fact that recreational boating can be harmful to the environment. The whole family can pitch in by learning more about safe boating and ways that default practices may add contaminants to local waterways. Take these steps to minimize your ecological footprint and help protect the waters you enjoy while boating. Each effort you take will help protect the environment. Recycle You may already be recycling the food and beverage containers you consume onboard, but chances are, you can recycle a lot more of what you use on the boat. Batteries, cabin light bulbs and cleaning product containers can all be recycled through municipal programs or take-back programs at retailers. Hazardous waste such as paint containers and oil can be disposed of through municipal hazardous waste … Continue reading →

How to Safely Dispose of an Old Car Seat

  By Donna DeForbes | July 23, 2013 - 5:30 am | ,
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Proper Car Seat Disposal | Eco-Mothering.com

We’ve held on to Sofie’s convertible car seat just in case we had a second child. That doesn’t appear to be happening, and now I’m ready to clear out much of the baby stuff that’s hogging precious storage space in our basement. Which brought up the question: What can I do with her old car seat? Can I Donate It? A car seat can only be passed on to someone else if it has never been in an accident and has not gone past the manufacturer’s expiration date. Even though Sofie’s 2006 car seat is accident-free and still in good condition, it is too old to safely donate. Most manufacturers list an expiration date on the seat, and if you can’t find one, six years is often considered the limit. Why? The materials degrade over time, especially from the intense ultraviolet light coming through car windows. This compromises their safety … Continue reading →

Top 5 Benefits of Yard Sales

  By Donna DeForbes | June 14, 2013 - 5:30 am |
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Benefits of Yard Sales | Eco-Mothering.com

As a kid, I always liked yard sales from the community sale in our church parking lot to the humungous annual event in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Of course, the prices are good, but more than that, there’s something about the friendly vendors, the assortment of items, the potential of what you might find. While I am nowhere near the level of being a “yard sale junkie,” they have become a mainstay in my life. Here’s why. Finding Unique Treasures Like this Indian tapestry, which had I seen it in a store or magazine, I may have admired but never would have bought it. We got it for $25 at a yard sale. An Indian friend saw it hanging in our living room and said it would likely sell for $200 new. It gets tons of compliments and I never tire of looking at its kaleidoscope of colors and texture. … Continue reading →

Top 5 Recycling Bins from Around the World

  By Donna DeForbes | April 12, 2013 - 6:00 am |
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Recycle Bins Around the World | Eco-Mothering.com

With Earth Day approaching (April 22), I was doing some research on recycling and stumbled upon these visuals of recycle bins in other countries. So varied and unique! It’s nice to see that recycling can be stylish too. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates These sleek, stainless-steel bins debuted in 2010 with solar-powered advertising space on the receptacles. Excellent dual eco purpose. Italy These stylish bins come from Italian architect and designer Gianluca Soldi. Soldi, who specializes in bio-architecture, first presented the Ovetto (Italian for “egg”) Recycling Bin at the 2008 London Design Festival. The containers are made of recycled polypropylene and come with brightly colored applique stickers to identify the separate compartments. Switzerland In the typical style of Swiss clean design, even their trash bins looks sleek and pretty. These particular bins were photographed in downtown Lausanne. Egypt These are cute little shapes, with the emphasis on “little.” Apparently, the … Continue reading →