E-cycle Mania in Cville's Rio Hill Parking Lot!

Betty brings you coverage of an amazing event held today, January 31, from 9-3pm in the parking lot of Crutchfield. Papa Johns, UVA, the city, the county, CCDC, RSWA, Crutchfield, (who am I forgetting), Z95 and 1061 the Corner, Betty - everyone came out to help this event be a tremendous success. Bruce Edmonds of RSWA, Teri Kent of Better World Betty, along with UVA recycling crew and the Crutchfield crew are shown. Thanks to everyone's hard work today! Today, you brought it and we hauled it into boxes, onto pallets to be be shrink-wrapped and placed into the trailers!

It feels a little strange to call this a "success" when gazing out at the sea of electronics piled one upon the other 3 feet high and yards and yards long, an entire trailer-tractor truck filled, the other half-filled (with still three hours to go!), and computers, monitors, cartridges, keyboards, batteries, old phones, vcrs as far as the eye could see. Idling cars backed up all the way onto Rt. 29. Were they being sent off to the land of Forgotten Electronics? Were they going to a charity (one man asked me)? (I sent him to Betty's website where he will find the phone and location of Computers4kids to see if they would accept his comupter)

But success it was!

I don't know the numbers yet, but two tractor-trailers hauling over 400 tons each were not going to be adequate is what I overheard from the crew.

Recycling old electronics for reuse, repair, refurbishing and proper disposal is the absolute right thing to do, so thanks to everyone who came out! Pat yourself on the back because you ensured that hazardous waste and materials used in electronics (the list is long and varied: cadmium, lead, mercury, flame retardants, PCB, PVC, glues) will go to its proper burial place or find new life.

Crutchfield and their recycling provider will drive the e-tons (Can't wait to get the numbers on this one) to New Jersey to be refurbished, repaired, or dismantled for reuse, and the rest; well, this Betty doesn't want to think about that one. It was amazing to see all that waste in one place. "Incredible," said one. "Look at all these humans doing the right thing!" said another.

Humans consume, that's a fact. We like our electronics, that's a fact. For me it keeps me connected to you. But I believe we also feel good when we clean up a mess and do that right thing. That's what today was about.

For more information on e-cycling check:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/index.htm

Remember, if you don't know where to take something, try Betty's Recycling, Reducing, Reusing Search Tool. (I had a hard time loading old printer cartridges into bins almost as tall as I am knowing that most area schools (and Virginia Organizing Project) accept them and redeems them for MONEY which goes back to the schools.

A Busy Week!

Last week made it official: Better World Betty is back! Most of you know I took a small hiatus from Betty this summer, having both my kids at home and this fall, spending time on the presidential campaign. But beginnning with a meeting of the Better World Betty advisory Board on November the 5th, it's full speed ahead! I hope to have the newsletter out within the week and if you're not on that, you should be. It's where you get the inside scoop on events, future blogs, and includes a personal challenge from Betty to you. (email betty@betterworldbetty.com to get on there ASAP)

Tuesday I met with Tom Frederick and Bruce Edmonds and my fellow citizens who serve on the Citizen's Advisory Committee for recycling (which still has a vacant spot open for a city resident, BY THE WAY! Hint, hint). I am averaging about four pages per meeting - lots of interesting recycling info there. Who knew that the wrapping surrounding reams of paper is NOT recyclable and jams the recycling machines, for instance?

Then Wednesday I met with Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris about enjoyed gathering cool prizes given by generous area businesses and organizations for America Recycles Day at UVA! Feast! gave a t-shirt and reusable bag, Twice is Nice gave us a purse and tie, Rebecca's gave us a goodie bag filled with organic trail mix, etc, Blue Ridge Eco-Shop gave us Sigg water bottles exclaiming "You are what you drink - don't be plastic!", 1061 gave us new music sampler CDs, Integral Yoga gave us gift certificates, and Trees on Fire gave us a few of their fabulous CDs (the green room). THANK YOU - YOU ALL ARE FABULOUS!!

Thursday Bruce Edmonds, local recycling guru of McIntire Recycling fame, and I attended the all day event, America Recycles at UVA, joined by the Sierra Club, the Student Council Sustainability Committtee, Habitat for Humanity, the City, UVA Dining, and many others. We were all saddened by the weather, which nixed the ever-popular dumpster dive (especially since I spent the previous evening plastering Betty stickers on shoeboxes to be planted in said dumpsters so students could redeem prizes!). A dorm dumpster is emptied on the Lawn and students dive in finding recyclables, as a visual reminder and awareness-raising about the importance of recycling. Come spring, diving will happen, I trust!

I finished off the week by attending the wearable fashion show at St. Anne's Belfield, which was enjoyable, but not exactly as I expected. For obvious reasons I thought the dresses/outfits would be made of all recycled products, but this was more about creativity, imagination, and design and not necessarily environmental eyebrow-raising. I did love the music accompanied the student models: trash cans and chains and empty buckets were the percussion instruments.

Admist all the green happening my laptop had a technological malfunction (rather that than Betty having a wardrobe malfunction, I guess), so I apolgize for the delayed reporting.

It's good to be back!
BWB

A Lesson on Lids

Here I was thinking that I could do a lengthy blog on the ins and outs of recycling lids, but Bruce Edmonds, local guru of recycling says "Lids are easy!"

*Metal lids of any kind go in the metal bin (steel/aluminum)

*Plastic lids from the Number One and Number Two plastic containers are removed and then tossed into the plastic machine after putting the plastic bottle/container in the compactor (I need to go check this out because last time I recycled a few weeks ago it was still just a giant bin). That leaves out the lids of the 3-7's, which still require back door methods to recycle. Hmmm. (I guess we'll continue to use them for recycled crafts?)

(BTW: Lots of great improvements over there at the McIntire Recycling Center: they now recycle CFLs and cell phones and household batteries. Thanks Bruce!)

I say that with all sincerity and with the same sincerity wish for curbside to come back to the county!

And why not take a minute to fantasize how nice it would have a "pay-as-you-throw" system. Friends who just moved here from Ann-Arbor commented to me, "For a community which touts itself as so green community I can't believe they don't have curbside." I agree (which, incidentally is why as a citizen of the county I serve on the recycling action committee).

Peace,
BWB

Recycling with Ease, Efficiency, Effectiveness

This goes out to my lady friends Susan and Pare with whom I was chatting about the logistics of recycling the other day at ACAC. Pare is where I was two years ago with recycling: piles, piles everywhere in sight. Our garage was being overtaken! My husband threatened to throw it all out - it was driving him crazy.

And then my mother, the organized Betty Lou that she is, bought us these great stacking bins (they are plastic, but I believe the best alternative, available at organizeeverything.com). They are a total space saver and they stack beautifully clear to the ceiling if you want. And they stack nicely for us County residents who have to drive in our recycling each week. They are so easy to transport, I use them at all my son's home swim meets and at this year's MSWalk.

The best feature is the Betty sticker for decoration on the back.

The next hurdle for me was getting all the recyclables out to the garage. This sounds ridiculous but it's true. Understand I recycle everything. (regular recyclables and then I collect things that need fixing including clothes, clothes for donation, mis-matched socks, other items for donation, books for swapping with friends, wine corks for making cork boards and card holders. And the list goes on.) So I would literally be making a hundred visits to the garage per day if I didn't have a system in place.

In order to create sustainability (something that you personally can keep doing), I believe you must create ease. It really has to be easy for you. What do you have to do to make it easy?

Train your family, strategically place a basket, put recycling on your calendar. Whatever that is for you. Then the efficiency and effectiveness will fall into place.

To make it easy for us, we have a straw basket that we use to collect all recyclables on the kitchen counter and then (theoretically) at the end of the day (or two) we can it out there to sort.

Hope this helps!
BWB