reuse

August 22 2022

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

Beckey Watson Uncategorized Back to School, college, DSW, recycle, reduce, reusable, reuse, Soles4Souls, tips

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!

July 25 2022

Tips for a Plastic Free July

Beckey Watson Uncategorized mesh produce bags, Plastic Free July, recycle, reuse, single use plastic

You 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!

June 29 2022

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

Beckey Watson Uncategorized Children's Museum of Richmond, Grants, plastic bottles, recycle, recycling, reuse, water refilling station

Congratulations 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.

June 24 2022

Cville TimeBank receives $500 Green Grant for Repair Café

Beckey Watson Uncategorized $500, award, C'ville, Charlottesville, Grants, Green Grants, recycle, Repair Fair, reuse, TimBank, Time Exchange

We’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!

June 19 2022

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

Beckey Watson Uncategorized $1000, award, Fix-it-fair, Grant, Grants, Green Grants, recycle, recycling, reduce, repairs, reuse, Southwest Virginia, Upper Tennessee River Roundtable

In 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.

Repairing 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!

January 3 2022

Out With the Old

Beckey Watson Uncategorized eWaste, haul-away, old computer, recycle, repurpose, ReStores, reuse, TV

New 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!

June 18 2021

16 Frogs Awarded Green Grant!

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized award, ghost streams, Grant, green, Green Grants, plastic bags, recycle, reduce, reuse, waterways

It’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.

June 14 2021

$1,000 Grant Award Will Make Beautiful Music

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized award, Beautification, Grants, Green Grants, instruments, music, recycle, reuse

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.

June 13 2021

Parish Day School Awarded $1,000 Grant!

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized Grants, Green Grants, Pre-school, recycle, recycling, reduce, reuse, School

Congratulations to Parish Day School, in Virginia Beach, for their award of $1000 for their Recycling program! We’ll be announcing one each day during the month of June.

Parish Day School of Eastern Shore Chapel is a preschool in the Hilltop area of Virginia Beach, providing children ages 2-5 with an accredited and high quality preschool education. Parish Day School will implement a broad-reaching recycling program to encourage teachers, students, and families to reduce their waste stream. They will recycle classroom supplies; repurpose items such as paper towel rolls, shoeboxes and wine corks for art projects; and serve as a drop off location for difficult to recycle items, such as coffee pods, that will be processed through Terracycle.

Grant funds will be used to purchase a small compost bin for the kitchen staff, recycling bins for classrooms, and boxes required for processing items through Terracycle.

June 8 2021

Green Grants Award Salutes Tech for Troops!

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized e-waste, Grant, Grants, laptops, recycle, recycling, reduce, reuse, veterans

Congratulations to today’s award of our 2021 Green Grants: Tech for Troops in Richmond will receive $1000 for its Recycling program. We’ll be announcing one each day during the month of June.

Today, recognition is given to Tech for Troops (T4T), a veteran-focused non-profit whose mission is to prevent homelessness and poverty among veterans and transitioning active-duty military personnel by providing those in need with the technology, career, and life skills needed to successfully join the civilian workforce.

T4T’s e-waste recycling program hosts community e-waste drives throughout the year. The public is invited to drop off their unused tech equipment at partnering companies in several different communities for safe and sustainable recycling. Funds will be used to pay for truck rentals and gas needed to collect and transport donated technology during two e-waste drives this year.