Another way in making small strides towards a sustainable lifestyle is by supporting your local and eco-friendly businesses. By doing so, you are supporting your community, as well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions from having to transport goods from place to place. Check out this Cincinnati Green Businesses map that showcases various local and/or green businesses throughout the tri-state area. Find out who in your area sells eco-friendly products, serves organic ingredients in their restaurants, and incorporates sustainable practices in their day to day operations.

Buy local! Go Green!

Remember back in the “Recycling Basics” blog post when we talked about the benefits of recycling your paper, plastic, aluminum and glass? Well don’t forget about other items that can be recycled at specific drop off points throughout the city. Items such as your computer, television and other electronics are recyclable items that don’t want to end up in the landfill.

By recycling these items, you are:

• reducing the release of greenhouse gases
• saving energy because less energy is being used to manufacture new products
• protecting trees and prevents destruction of natural habitats
• conserving natural resources such as wood, water and minerals
• curbing landfill growth by keeping 70 tons of waste a year from being deposited

Both Hamilton County and Butler County are offering computer and TV recycling drop offs to their residents. Read below for more details, or visit their websites.

Hamilton County Residents Computer & TV Recycling Drop-Offs

Where: 2trg, 11085 Kenwood Road, Blue Ash, OH 45242

When: June 1^st through June 30^th, 2010

Hours: M-F 9am – 4pm; Sat. June 19 9am-2pm

Bring: proof of residency

What: CPUs, hard drives, personal copiers, docking stations, monitors, scanners, printers, cellular telephones, televisions, hard drives, tape and disk drives, VCR and DVD players, circuit boards, cables, mainframes, servers, terminals, fax machines, PDAs, back up batteries, chips, keyboards, mice, modems, computer speakers, CD Rom drives, and laptops.

For more information, please call 946-7766 or visit www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org.

Butler County Residents Computer & Television Recycling Drop-Offs

Where:    Butler County Engineer’s Office, 1921 Fairgrove Avenue, Hamilton, OH  45011

When:     2nd & 3rd Saturdays – April through September, 2010

Hours:     9am – 1pm

Bring: proof of residency

What: CPUs, hard drives, monitors, televisions (all formats – cathode ray tubes, LCD, plasma, etc.), desktop printers, scanners, fax machines, cell phones, cordless phones, VCRs, DVD players, compact discs

*Limit of 2 televisions and 5 computer systems per household.

For more information, please call 887-3653 or visit http://butlercountyrecycles.org/index.cfm?page=collectEvents.

Remember learning about the 3 R’s way back when? Reduce, reuse, and recycle! Those three words are still just as important, if not more important, than they were years ago when we first started hearing them. Every day, the average American throws away 4.5 lbs of garbage. Add that up over the course of a week, a month, a year, and you have a ton of garbage. Believe it or not, residential waste makes up 55-65% of the municipal waste stream. Thankfully, this means that consumers and households can make a significant difference in reducing our everyday waste. What’s one of the easiest ways to combat all this trash? Create less of it. You can do this by consuming less, reusing more, and of course, recycling.

What does it mean to recycle, exactly? Recycling is the process of collecting materials that would otherwise be trash and turning them into new products that can be resold and used again. For example, all of the carpet in the Zoo’s Education Center was once plastic. That’s right! The carpet is made out of recycled plastic. The bridge that crosses over Swan Lake is also made out of recycled plastic. What items in your house are made, or can be made, out of recycled materials?

It’s getting easier and easier to recycle these days. Check out your local solid waste district to find out how and what specifically can be recycled in your county. In general, you can assume to recycle paper, aluminum, glass and plastic bottles/jugs #1-7. These items can go directly in your curbside recycling bin, or in any drop off location throughout the city, without having to be sorted. Many area schools collect paper or aluminum cans, and receive a certain amount of money for the amount of paper or cans they collect. Help support your city schools while being environmentally responsible at the same time!

Recycling is a win win situation for all involved. Check out some of the benefits of recycling -

• reduces the release of greenhouse gases
• saves energy because less energy is being used to manufacture new products
• protects trees and prevents destruction of natural habitats
• conserves natural resources such as wood, water and minerals
• curbs landfill growth by keeping 70 tons of waste a year from being deposited
• saves money because recycling programs cost less than waste disposal programs and you can receive money for turning in certain recyclable products
• creates jobs

Where Can I Recycle?

Visit your county’s solid waste management website to find out how and where to recycle in your county.

OHIO:

Hamilton County

Butler County

Warren County

Clermont and Adams Counties

KENTUCKY:

Boone, Campbell and Kenton

Campbell County

INDIANA:

Dearborn County

Southeast Indiana Counties

Sources:

Rumpke Recycling

Hill, G. & O’Neill, M. (2008). Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living. New York: Villard Books.