Green Group Gets Better Every Month!

Last Thursday was our forth official Bennetts Brook Green Group meeting, a group which has formed due to all of our overwhelming desires to better our lives through sharing of environmentally responsible ideas among each other. It started as a neighborhood idea for my sister in law (frequent GLR contributor Melissa) and her neighbor Julie and the primary members are in fact in their community but as each month goes on, Matt and I (as well as my Mom most months) are finding the short drive out there well worth our time and small emission contribution.

This month we had a guest speaker Laurie Sabol who is the Clerk for the group MassRecycle and wow was she ever fantastic! Not only did she give us all little gifties of pencils created from recycled US currency but all of us left with a wider view of so many interesting topics.

Much of what we discussed was locally related information to Ayer, MA but all can be applied to our planet. For example Laurie discussed how she has toured the facilities of some local recycling plants to get a feel for the entire process. I thought that sounded like a pretty cool idea for a field trip and just about every state has one! Also she shared with us information on the initiative Massachusetts is undertaking to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags everywhere. This too is something worth looking into nation wide.

With MassRecycle Laurie jokes that she is ‘just a Secretary’ but she was so knowledgeable when it came to topics such as the Waste Ban (a statewide ban that legally prohibits throwing in the trash such items as glass, monitors, yard waste and a myriad of other items) and what the state has done to catch and prosecute (mostly companies) those who are non-compliant, that I knew she was far more than just a Secretary, Laurie is certainly an advocate for the planet.

She additionally shared with us some websites, one of which is informative on a national scale:
masstoss.com
cleanup.org which will lead you right over to earth911.com.
(You may have read about Earth911 on GLR back in December last year)

All in all the group was extremely chatty and full of so many great tips that it would take a novel just to talk about all of them so I will leave this post with Laurie’s amazing contribution of time and dedication to her cause.

Have you considered hosting a green group in your local community? It is fun and a great way to meet new people with a common interest!

After the Holiday Comes the Clean Up and Clear Out of Toys

In my house we live by the ‘one out one in’ rule. If I purchase something new it is generally due to the fact that something else has completely worn out, broken, or become outdated to a point where it is no longer functional and has already made its way to a recycling center or charity. Since it is just my husband and I there are far fewer family members to determine the supposed need for the item in question. Even though we do not have children we do own some board games, stuffed animals of sentimental value and other items that are deemed “kid”. These items are a small portion of our overall possessions but for those with children it becomes necessary to locate an alternate solution for all of the toys the children in question no longer find appealing.

A friend of mine collects all of these toys and other items her children outgrow in a given year and sells them on craigslist to families who are looking for a toy in that growth stage at a reduced cost. She collects this money over the course of the year and uses it to completely finance their summer vacation. In the past few years she, her two sons and a friend have been taking tours of all the major league baseball parks in the country, seeing games and touring the cities they are located in. The trips are a lot of fun for everyone and they are making far greater memories by selling these items instead of placing them in boxes in the attic.

Not all people have the desire to spend their time uploading photos and descriptions of items onto an internet selling or auction site but there are many additional ways to recycle without going through all of those steps. Why not check in with local preschools, public schools, churches, hospitals or other charitable organizations to see if they would be able to utilize the toy in question. Another great way to recycle a toy is to check with local community organizations to see if there are families who have fallen on hard times and are in need of assistance. For new families in the neighborhood why not put together a gift basket of formerly loved toys that are still in great shape. This will help the family save a great deal of money and introduce the child to something they may not have had the opportunity to acquire otherwise.

Earth911 is a website dedicated to discussing the benefits to recycling just about anything from toys to bicycles to eyeglasses. They provide great tips for recycling parts of children’s toys like batteries or electronic components. As the world of technology improves, toys can become outdated faster but throwing them away leads to tons of e-waste being placed in landfills. Recycling these toys will help keep over half of all toxic waste out of landfills and stop potential pollution of waterways. In addition it will ensure less air pollution as emissions are not being released to construct something new.

Now that the holidays are winding down families are attempting to find space to store all of the new items that have come into their home and one of the easiest ways to do it is to recycle the old. What may seem boring to one child might just be the best gift ever to another.