Some of you may know that besides my work at Green Renters, I have my own small craft business where I make items from vintage and reclaimed materials. So I was excited to recieve a copy of Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts ( Leisure Arts #4802) (Perfect Paperback).
Energy efficient light bulbs (otherwise known as compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFL’s ) contain a small amount of mercury which is a toxic metal and every product containing mercury should be handled with care.
Recycling is the best way to dispose of used CFLs.
In Victoria you should take them to your nearest Council Civic Centre for recycling. Or you can take fluorescent tubes to a Detox Your Home permanent drop-off facility,such as the Darebin Resource Recovery Centre. It is free.
You can also take your fluorescent tubes to a Detox Your Home mobile collection.
NSW households should utilise the free household chemical “Cleanout” program managed by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change. These are held regularly, and details are available on the www.cleanout.com.au website.
As a last resort, burnt-out or broken CFLs should be wrapped in newspaper and placed inside a plastic bag, firmly sealed, and then placed into your household rubbish.
You should NOT place CFLs in your kerbside recycling collection because they can break during transport and contaminate recyclable items.
CDs have become a bit obsolete of late with the increase of digital downloading, so what do you do with them then? They can’t go in the normal recycled (only a couple councils let you do this) and if you throw them in the bin then they will end up in landfill… not a good option.
Ever wondered what to do with you old, scratched or unloved CDs and DVDs? Most people have a stash of old data CDs at the back of their drawer that are in need of a good recycling! So Eco Innovators has organised the first CD Swap Meet Melbourne to be held on Thursday 4th march 2010 at a nice little drinking hole called the Edinburgh Castle Hotel in Brunswick.
pic from here
Curtains have many benefits in keeping out heat and sunlight. Ask around your relatives, most people seem to have a spare pair of the rubber backed insulated curtains stashed in a cupboard somewhere.
Alternatively you might like to pick up a pair cheaply at a charity shop or ebay or even make your own. Make some ties whilst you are there, you’ll want them open in the mornings. Here’s a great easy tutorial, making curtains is pretty much just about sewing straight lines which get easier with practice!
I would hazard a guess that a lot renters are like us and don’t have access to a car, this often makes getting rid of (or should I say passing on or recycling) unwanted goods quite difficult and you you generally end up waiting a year until the next hard rubbish collection. Not only does this clutter up your already small property but most council dumps’ green credentials can’t be relied upon either.
Enter Green Collect, an excellent service that collects and recycles many of your unwated items and even employs staff from disadvantaged backgrounds, so really, there’s nothing to lose!
If you have other items to be collected, some other good resources are:
http://www.phoenixfridges.org.au/
http://www.greenpc.com.au/
http://computerbank.org.au/
http://www.zoo.org.au/Calling_on_You
1. Stay home and celebrate
Seriously, I ‘ve always suspected that NYE is the night for people who don’t go out any other night of year.
As green planet suggests
if you stay home and host your own ring-in-the-new shindig, you’ll save transportation emissions—and, of course, money. You’ll also be able to better control the environmental impact of your night, from sending out email invitations to preventing the food and paper waste that comes from bars and restaurants.
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I was excited to see this living wreath on Design Sponge this week. It looks pretty easy according to the tutorial but I’m going to amend a current wreath I have rather than buy any materials. I’m making one of these tonight. It’s a great way to reuse garden cuttings from the last few days and looks great!
