Happy Stan's Recycling > Recycling Guide

Recycling in Schools
Urge schools to provide environmental education and to teach about source reduction, recycling, and composting. Also, where available, use recycled paper for letters home, trip diaries, homework drafts, toilet paper, etc.

Pack a Waste-Free Lunch
Many of the pre-packaged lunch items available today offer a convenient way of getting lunch made, but they come with the environmental cost of lots and lots of packaging. Instead, purchase (or rummage around your house to find) a reusable lunch bag or box, and reusable containers for the food and drinks. (When looking for backpacks and lunchboxes, avoid PVC plastic, which may contain lead.)

Then get creative and make fresh, healthy lunches for your kids, using items from your own garden or the local farmers' market. Get the kids involved in planning and preparing.

Let the Sun Shine In
Rather than using electricity - open curtains and let the sun shine into your home during the day. The sun is the brightest and least expensive source of light available.

Rain Water Collection
We all know that when it rains, it pours; but with the right rain barrel, all that rainwater can be saved! Water conservation is important because it decreases the high demand for domestic water in which residential irrigation can account for up to 40% of consumption. By collecting rain water and storing it in rain barrels you’ll have water for future use, whether it’s for watering the garden or just keeping it handy for emergency situations.

60 Ways to Go Green
Want to know how you can reduce your carbon footprint and be more ecologically friendly as a family? Although this is a UK based guide, it still has some practical tips that will help the environment!

60 ways to Go Green

The Green Guide
Looking for a site that explains how you can make a difference day to day? The Green Guide from National Geographic does just that. It offers a good balance between indepth articles and simple tips.

Visit the Green Guide

Natural Easter Egg Dyes
Easter is coming and you've got your free-farmed or organic eggs—so why not dye the shells naturally, too? There are a number of vegetable- and fruit-based dyes that offer a broad range of beautiful colors and are better for you and the environment than artificial colors.

The following materials will give a range of intensities and surface textures to create a unique Easter egg basket or tree. Measurements where given are approximate; play with additional spices, vegetables and fruits for different results. Canned vegetables will work in place of fresh or frozen, but their colors will be paler. Also, herbal and black teas will give you varying shades of greens, reds and browns.

Pink/red:
Pomegranate juice, red onion skins, beets or the juice from pickled beets, pickled red cabbage juice, chopped rhubarb stalks, cranberries or cranberry juice, raspberries, red grape juice

Orange:
Yellow onion skins, paprika

Dark orange:
Chili powder

Yellow:
Orange or lemon peels, carrot tops or shredded carrots, celery seed, ground cumin, ground turmeric

Green:
Spinach

Greenish yellow:
Yellow Delicious apple peels

Blue:
Red cabbage, canned blueberries or blueberry juice, blackberries, purple grape juice

Lavender:
Small quantity of purple grape juice, violet blossoms plus two teaspoons of lemon juice, small quantity of red onion skins

Brown/tan:
Dill seeds, black walnut shells, strong or instant coffee, tea

The Month of Love
February is the month where love is celebrated, usually in the traditional way of red roses, red-ribbon wrapped chocolates, and red heart-shaped Valentine’s cards. Here a few more tips.

Instead of driving to a restaurant for a Valentine’s Day dinner, take mass transit or cook a romantic dinner from home.
Bake cookies or other goodies for your valentine and package them in reusable and/or recyclable containers as gifts.
Buy cards that use recyclable paper, send e-mail cards, or make your own.
Buy organic flowers or live bushes, shrubs, or trees that can be planted in the spring.

Treecycle
Christmas trees can also be recycled to use as mulch around the landscape. You can chop or grind smaller branches for wood chips to use in flower, tree and shrub beds. Larger branches can be cut into smaller bundles for winter protective mulch around newly planted perennials and small shrubs. Be sure to remove the branches in spring, when the plants begin to grow again.

Many communities have special pick-up service for discarded holiday trees. The trees are usually chipped up for use as mulch in parks and other city properties. Check local newspapers, or call the local street department for specific information in your area.

Reduce Your Waste
Avoid buying food or presents with excessive packaging, don't accept a plastic bag every time its offered, and use rechargeable batteries - not disposables - for all toys, electronics and other battery-operated gift.

Precycling
Precycling is the step before recycling. This is the process of making a conscious choice to purchase or use products and services which will have a less harmful effect on the Environment.

Enjoy Autumn
Spend time in nature - it not only reminds us what we’re fighting to protect, but it boosts serotonin levels and has been proven to speed recovery among the sick and improve attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in kids.

Avoiding Harmful Substances
Cut out toxic pesticides, carcinogenic and hormone-disrupting chemicals by buying organic food, shampoos, deodorants, etc.

Strike a Match
Just the thought of flicking a Bic is enough to make Willie Nelson drive his biofuled bus off a cliff. The plastic casing and butane in lighters are made from Petroleum. Matchbooks are made from recycled paper.

Reducing Dependance on Batteries
Reduce toxicity. Recycle your batteries and use batteries with reduced mercury. Try to use rechargeable batteries or eliminate use of batteries entirely e.g. use a wind up or solar flashlight or radio.

Being Careful with Water
Pay attention to how you use water. The little things can make a big difference. Every time you turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth, you're doing something good. Got a leaky toilet? You might be wasting 200 gallons of water a day.

Let the Sun Shine In
Rather than using electricity - open curtains and let the sun shine into your home during the day. The sun is the brightest and least expensive source of light available.

All Purpose Cleaner
Use hot water, soap and borax, or use 1/2 cup "washing soda" per bucket of water. Avoid ammonia, which attacks your lungs, and chlorine which forms cancer causing compounds when released into the environment.

Glass Cleaner
Use alcohol to remove residue commercial glass cleaner. Then a mixture of 50% white vinegar and 50% water. Glass cleaner emits ammonia mist, which you breathe. Ammonia is a poison that usually has no warning label.