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"Ghost" marshmallow brownies for Halloween

Have a Boo-tiful, Sustainable Halloween

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"Ghost" marshmallow brownies for HalloweenHolidays are fun, and should be enjoyed by kids and adults.  But a quick look at the offerings on store shelves for Halloween decorations and treats can be very scary!  Lots of single-use plastic decorations, plastic-wrapped candies, and over-the-top costumes that can be expensive and, well, plastic-y.

We hope you’re saving your treasured decorations for Halloween (and all holidays) from year to year.  If you’re getting tired of them, organize a family or neighborhood swap over a cauldron of cider, to “shop” for new-to-you decorations and kids’ costumes.  It’s a great way to avoid buying new items and can be done in the setting of a nice gathering. Use pumpkins for decorations that are beautiful and colorful sans carving.  They can stay in place into November for Autumn decorations and/or made into roasted pumpkin seed snacks, pumpkin pies.  Anything left can go to the compost pile.

It’s hard to avoid plastic-wrapped single-serve candy, but there are options.  If you’re attending party with neighbors, friends, or family that you know well, maybe you can make homemade cookies, popcorn, or small portions of bulk candy in kraft bags.  There are some individual servings of candies packaged in paper, such as M&M’s fun size servings that are wrapped in paper (and packaged in a recyclable plastic bag).  “Junior Mints” come in cardboard boxes that can be recycled.  And Reese’s cups, Hershey kisses, and other candy is wrapped in recyclable foil.  You could also consider handing out pencils or themed erasers.

Making a costume for yourself or for kids is where the creativity and fun kick in!  Cardboard boxes can be turned into tombstones for your front yard, or costumes such as a Rubic’s Cube, dice, or rocket ship. Start a Scout troop, classroom, or neighborhood costume swap to score costumes that are new-to-you.  Used clothing stores often are stocked with donated costumes, or regular clothes that can be upcycled into costumes, such as a dress a stuffed black dog that just needs glitter added to an old pair of sneakers to be transformed into Dorothy and Toto.  Or a graduation gown that would make a wonderful wizard!  There are plenty of ideas online.

With a little planning, your Halloween fun doesn’t have to end up in the trash can, headed for the landfill.  Reuse what you have, shop strategically, and swap with others to celebrate in a boo-tiful way!

Words: Say No to Plastic, graphics of plastic cups, bottles, containers

There’s a New R in Town

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Words: Say No to Plastic, graphics of plastic cups, bottles, containersYou’re probably familiar with the 3 R’s — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – and maybe you can sing along with Jack Johnson’s song that introduced the concept to kids in a cool way.

But there’s a new R in town:  Refuse!

Yes, reducing and reusing are still vital activities.  It’s the effect of recycling that’s being scrutinized.  Things have changed since we first met the green “chasing arrows” on the bottom of a plastic item to suggest that it’s recyclable or made from a recyclable material.

According to MIT Technology Review, July 11, 2024, “Those little arrows imply a nice story, painting a picture of a world where the material will be recycled into a new bottle or some such product, maybe forming an endless loop of reuse. But the reality of plastics recycling today doesn’t match up to that idea. Only about 10% of the plastic ever made has been recycled; the vast majority winds up in landfills or in the environment.”

While recycling was a way for municipalities to make money in the past by selling waste to be recycled, there are fewer markets for the recycled material, and it’s costing local governments money to collect and transport recycling.  Many have discontinued curbside recycling programs.

This is where Refuse comes in.  We have the ability to choose which products we use or purchase and which ones we refuse.  Single-use plastic (SUP) items have an average working life of 12 minutes, according to most sources.  That means there’s only about 12-15 minutes from the time you open the plastic fork or straw from its plastic wrapper, use it, and throw it away.  If you refuse the plastic utensils (and there are some cool reusable utensils to have on hand, including second-hand metal ones from the thrift shop) or drink your soda without a straw, you’re refusing to add to the SUP problem!

You can refuse to use disposable plastic cups for use around the house, and choose products you purchase that offer alternatives to plastic, such as food containers made from cardboard, six-pack rings that are compostable, bulk food products instead of individually plastic-wrapped items.

I hope you’ll give a warm welcome to the new R in town when you can carry your own refillable water bottle,  bring your own produce and grocery bags, use cloth covers instead of fighting with plastic wrap on leftovers, and refuse to be part of the plastic problem.

It’s good for the environment and good for you!

School 3 R (300 × 300 px) (1)

Back to School 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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Have a Sustainable Back-to-school this year! There’s so much that can be done to stay environmentally conscious while preparing for in-person classes again.  Here’s just a few ideas to consider.

Put a fun twist on the end-of-summer party by hosting a backyard school supply swap in your neighborhood!  People can bring surplus inventory from their Costco pencil deal, and swap with all the extra packages of notebook paper you stockpiled in the back of the closet last year.  Markers, glue sticks, gently used binders – all can be useful to others this school year.

Moms of younger kids could also have a clothes swap, while middle school girls might enjoy a pop-up backyard boutique featuring everyone’s outgrown clothes!  Add a mirror and some charity shop accessories for fun.  Teens might be better at buying (and selling!) clothes online – here’s an article with the scoop on the most popular websites to try.

Remember that DSW Shoes accepts gently used shoes.  That will help you clean the excess out of your closet, plus you’ll earn 50 points as a VIP member.  Best of all, you’ll be helping others through the Soles4Souls nonprofit.

Heading to college?  Don’t just put everything in the trash can as you unpack.  Find the recycling bins around campus for your collapsed cardboard boxes and many other products.  Don’t see any?  So now YOU can be the person who starts the effort to get recycling in place on campus!

Try using washable cotton rounds, complete with mini washing bag.  They’re great for removing makeup and applying skincare items, and don’t end up in the landfill like the disposable ones.

Switch out disposable K-Cups for a refillable one.  Or if you’re more likely to grab a cup of joe in the student center, take a reusable travel mug to fill instead of getting a disposable cup.

Here’s a tip that keeps on giving:  rent or buy used textbooks. It reuses what’s already out there, saves money, and you can sell the purchased texts when you’re done with them.

There are a lot of ways to live more environmentally conscious, both at school and at home.  Look for ideas on Pinterest, or for new products on Etsy.  And it can be fun to challenge your friends and family to do the same!

Lady shopping for bulk food

Tips for a Plastic Free July

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Lady shopping for bulk foodYou may have heard the reference to “Plastic Free July,” but are you wondering what you can do about it within the constraints of your time and budget?  There is significant amount of plastic waste comes to and from our homes that we do have control over.

According to the 2021 Keep America Beautiful Litter Study, plastic films, both general use films and food-packaging films, such as candy wrappers or snack bags, represent the second and third most littered items in America.

You can choose to keep plastic waste from coming into your home by being selective of how your food products and take-out food are presented.

First and foremost, BE PREPARED!

  • Put reusable shopping bags and mesh produce bags in your car, ready to use!
  • Carry a reusable bottle of water with you to work, school, errands, or wherever life takes you. Many public places now offer water refill stations.  Hopefully that trend will continue to increase.
  • Find some beautiful mismatched stainless-steel cutlery to take with you when you pack your lunch, or keep them at your desk ready for a soup or snack. Wash, rinse, and repeat!
  • If you want to use a straw, there are many alternatives available to the plastic throw-away ones restaurants offer. Or you can get a ready-to-go kit of utensils and straw here.

And consider making some small changes:

  • Instead of disposable dryer sheets, try Friendsheep Eco Dryer Balls that naturally soften and fluff your laundry by gently tumbling in your dryer. Their movement helps separate your fabrics allowing the heat to better flow between them, reducing wrinkles, static cling, and drying time.
  • Patronize local restaurants that offer take-out food in recyclable or compostable containers.
  • Many grocery stores have sections that offer bulk sales of rice, nuts, and grains that you purchase by-the-pound with no packaging (except for the one you bring to reuse!)
  • Shop at your local farmers markets for unpackaged produce, which you’ll take home in the reusable mesh bags you keep in your car 😉

I hope that you’re finding simple swaps and alternate ways to avoid your reliance on single-use plastic in your life!

Children smiling

$1,000 Award Goes to the Children’s Museum of Richmond

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Children smilingCongratulations to the Children’s Museum of Richmond for their Green Grant award of $1,000 in the Recycling Category!  By installing a water refilling station at their downtown location, they will offer families the opportunity to refill water bottles brought from home.

Community volunteers created the Children’s Museum of Richmond in 1981, with the goal of designing a place to inspire young children to develop their imaginations.  Their mission is to inspire growth in all children by engaging families in learning through play.

Through its 40+ year history, the museum dedicated its efforts toward further serving our local communities by bringing even more opportunities to learn and play closer to where our visitors work and live.

The Children’s Museum of Richmond’s Downtown location currently has several water fountain areas for families to use during their visit. However, they do not have a place for families to refill water bottles that they bring with them. The Museum does offer individual plastic bottles of water for sale at the front desk. The water refilling station will help the Children’s Museum reduce its own waste footprint by limiting the number of plastic bottles sold.

The Children’s Museum serves children 0-8 years old and their families. As an educational institution, they know the importance of teaching foundational skills and knowledge to the youngest citizens. Funds received from the Green Grant will be used to purchase a water refilling station.  This will allow the Museum to expand its environmental education by talking about the water refilling station and the benefits that it provides. Information and signs at the  refilling stations, along with parent-led and teacher-led prompts, will explain the impact of plastic on Richmond, Virginia, the United States, and the world at large.  This will be a practical addition to the Museum as an educational tool for those that visit.

The hope is that by setting the example of refilling water bottles, rather than depending on single use bottles of water, it will introduce good habits at an early age.  Providing children with a strong sense of environmental ethics while they’re young will make eco-friendliness second nature to them as they grow up.

Cville TimeBank Logo

Cville TimeBank receives $500 Green Grant for Repair Café

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Cville TimeBank LogoWe’re about a week away from announcing the last of the thirty grants in June as part of our 12th Annual “Green Grants” Program!

To help repair broken items, the Cville Timebank has been awarded a $500 grant for its Repair Café initiative.

The Cville Timebank is an organized exchange system through which members earn Time Dollars for time spent helping other members. One hour of service earns one Time Dollar, and everyone’s time and service are valued equally. Cville TimeBank keeps track of service offers, requests, exchanges, and Time Dollars.  Some recent examples are learning how to make sushi, one member repairing an heirloom quilt for another member.  And a request to dig four post holes was answered by a member who had that ability and time to offer that service!

At a Repair Café event, hosted by Cville Timebank, folks bring their broken stuff to be repaired by volunteers for free. It’s a fun, friendly way to keep perfectly good stuff out of the landfill and spend some quality time together as a community.

Funds awarded by the Green Grant will go towards putting on the Repair Café and purchasing supplies needed for repairs, such as replacement electrical cords and plugs, assorted sewing supplies, bulbs, batteries, tape, glue, and gloves.  Cville Timebank expects about 50-75 attendees, each allowed to bring in up to three items for free repair.  All those items will be put back into service and kept out of the landfill!

What a great way to reuse what we already have – congratulations Cville Timebank!

Man at workbench

$1,000 Green Grant Awarded to Upper Tennessee River Roundtable

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Man at workbenchIn an effort to encourage reusing and fixing items that are owned, instead of throwing the item away, the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable will host a Fit-it-fair with funds awarded as part of our 12th Annual Green Grants Program.

The Upper Tennessee River Roundtable provides environmentally beneficial programs to a wide range of communities ranging from cities to rural counties.  They will organize the Fix-it-fair in partnership with Keep Southwest Virginia and the Clinch Valley Soil and Water Conservation District at the local farmers’ market in Russell County.

The event would have “fixers” for mending, furniture repair, small appliance repair, electronic repair, bike repair, handyman, and jewelry repair.  Community members will sign up for time slots online and bring their items in during that time on the day of the event.  Repairs will be made at no cost to the residents.

Green Grant funds will be used to offer a small stipend to those who are repairing items, as well as costs of signage and repair supplies.

Upper TN River LogoRepairing items gives people a chance to hold on to items that have sentimental value, or ones that have a second life in them, and it avoids those items being added  unnecessarily to the landfill.  The area in Southwest Virginia has a strong community with a love for things with historical significance and fixing things in creative ways so, it is expected that the community would celebrate this event wholeheartedly.

We look forward to seeing how many items can be saved by skilled “fixers” and hope to share pictures of this great community event!  Congratulations and good luck!

Blocks with 2021-22

Out With the Old

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Blocks with 2021-22New Year’s is a time to say, “Out with the old, and in with the new,” but what DO you do with all the old stuff?  There are a lot of options for responsible ways to repurpose or recycle the items you want to get rid of — without sending them to the landfill.

If Santa brought you some new kicks, it’s time to go to your closet and sort out the old shoes you’re not wearing any more.  You can donate unused or gently worn shoes to Soles4Souls.  They partner with women’s shelters, veterans’ organizations, children’s programs and schools to get shoes and clothing to those who need it most.  There’s even a little something in it for you too!  You can drop off your donated shoes to DSW shoe stores and they will apply 50 points to your DSW VIP account!

Did you take advantage of Black Friday sales to purchase a new laptop?  Or are you like many people who have a small collection of old electronics gathering dust and hiding in closets?  You can donate working or non-working laptops, desktop computers, iPads, tablets, cell phone, and many other items to Tech for Troops, located in the Richmond area.  They will wipe your data and secure hard drives before recycling usable parts or redistributing working electronics to Veterans in need.  Here’s a full list of what they will accept for donations.  If you live in the Shenandoah Valley, ALC Recycling is dedicated to keeping computer and electronic waste out of landfills.  They even offer free pick-up.

In addition to dropping off old electronic equipment, Best Buy offers haul-away options for a small fee if you purchase a large TV, appliance, or fitness equipment; or you can order stand-alone pickup for a fee even if you didn’t purchase something from them.  Yes, it will cost you a little bit of money, but just imagine the space you’ll gain if you get rid of that exercise bike or treadmill in your bedroom, or that old freezer in your garage!  The units are responsibly recycled by licensed, third-party recycling partners.

Maybe you rearranged your furniture, or purchased a new dining room set in anticipation of resuming family gatherings?  You can donate your old furniture to ReStores, which are nonprofit home improvement stores that directly support local Habitat for Humanity efforts.  There are more than 20 ReStore locations across Virginia (find yours here) that accept donated material from building contractors, manufacturers, and the general public.  You can even shop their inventory of new and gently used goods that are available at a fraction of the retail price.

These are just a few organizations that will help you rid your home of unused items in a way that will make you feel good about the organizations you help, or just knowing that you’re doing what’s right for the environment. That’s a win-win for all, and a great way to start off a new year!

Frog Sculpture

16 Frogs Awarded Green Grant!

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Frog SculptureIt’s easy being green, says the 16 Frogs Citizens Panel, in Blacksburg, who will receive a grant award of $1000 for its Recycling program!

The 16 Frogs Citizen Panel is a public arts project with an environmental conscience. Sixteen bronze frog statues are placed strategically through the Town of Blacksburg to call attention to the freshwater under and around the streets and buildings. Most are resting above “ghost streams,” and each has a story to tell.

Reusing, reducing and recycling are at the heart of the 16 Frogs message because every single person, group or business can take part in protecting shared water resources. The Panel will use grant funds for design work, screen printing, and packaging of branded, reusable flatware packs, and reusable produce bags to promote environmentally healthy habits by reducing the use of disposable products.

Every year, government, non-profit, civic and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for grants for $500 to $1,000 describing how they plan to tackle an environmental concern in their community regarding Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.  Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different environmental programs and projects all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity of their partnership with Altria, as well as additional support from Coca-Cola, WestRock and Keep America Beautiful.

 

Altria Logo

Coca-Cola Logo        WestRock Logo         

 

Xylophone

$1,000 Grant Award Will Make Beautiful Music

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Xylophone Southern Virginia Botanical Garden, in Halifax County, will receive a grant award of $1000 for its Community Beautification project.  We’ll continue to announce one award each day during the month of June.

The Southern Virginia (SOVA) Botanical Garden provides a range of services to the community.  The Gardens include a Native American Garden, Children’s Teaching Garden, Butterfly Garden and Healthy Harvest Community Garden. The Botanical Garden provides internship opportunities and educational programs for students, as well as distributing produce from the garden to community members in need.

The SOVA Botanical Gardens will use funds from their Green Grant award to create a Music Garden.  Studies show that music is therapeutic and improves overall emotional health.  Instruments to be created and installed include a metal xylophone made with recycled metal, a PVC pipe outdoor music wall, and a metal Drum Tree from recycled materials.  Through this project, the Southern Virginia Botanical gardens can improve the health of residents and further become a safe community gathering space.

Every year, government, non-profit, civic and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for grants for $500 to $1,000 describing how they plan to tackle an environmental concern in their community regarding Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.  Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different environmental programs and projects all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity of their partnership with Altria, as well as additional support from Coca-Cola, WestRock and Keep America Beautiful.

Altria Logo

Coca-Cola Logo        WestRock Logo         

 

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