Colleen Lanier Christensen: February 2011 Archives
Last month, I came home to yet another set of phone books sitting at my front door. Yet, I haven't had or used a phone book at home since I lived with my parents. Who needs them, after all, when everything can be found online, often in a more updated form? Despite survey results showing that most American adults have already stopped using phone books, over 500,000,000 yellow pages directories are printed and distributed in the U.S. every year.
So what can you do?
Help cut down on paper and energy use by opting out of home and business phone book delivery and do your searching online instead: opt out is available at the industry site http://www.yellowpagesoptout.com/, though you may also be able to contact your local phone book distributor.
If you're like me and already received unwanted phone books, check out these 17 ways to creatively re-purpose your directory. Once you've gotten all the use out of them you can, be sure to recycle them. Any recycler that accepts mixed paper should be able to recycle them.
No, we’re not talking beer bellies, but rather BigBelly solar trash compactors.
Two BigBelly compactors have been installed at the recently completed Midway Crossings project. These intelligent trash cans use renewable energy to compact up to 169 gallons of trash into a 32 gallon bin.
Not only do the BigBellies run on clean, renewable energy, they are also extremely efficient. In fact, one compactor can operate for an entire week on the equivalent energy it takes to brew a pot of coffee!
By significantly reducing the demand for collection by garbage trucks this new system at Midway Crossings can cut CO2 and other vehicle exhaust emissions by 80%.
This alley was one of the better ones I saw last Thursday, but they are unlikely to improve any time soon as these important city arteries won't be plowed. How are alleys and side streets looking in your neighborhood?
