Apple recycles iPods and cell phones

Apple is making it easy - as easy as one, two, three, in fact - to recycle your used iPods and cellphones.

All it takes is a quick form to fill out, print the free mailing label, and cart it to your neighborhood post office. Simple, eh?

Says Apple:

Apple’s commitment to responsible environmental citizenship includes ensuring that an iPod is properly disposed of at the end of its useful life. The recycling program covers your iPod or any cell phone — regardless of the manufacturer or model. Apple’s recycling program makes it easy for you to help protect the environment.

This after much ballyhoo about Greenpeace's attacks on Apple's lack of green initiative. Take that, Greenpeace!

We're looking for a few good board members.

Recycling Jackson is looking for a few good men and women.

In fact, it seems like we're always searching for board members. New ones come and go, term limits boot others out - it's the usual story with a small non-profit organization.

Now we need at least two board members to help out our green cause. If you've always wanted to help make an environmental impact in Jackson, this is your chance.

Our board meets once a month, usually on the third Monday at 5:30. We have several committees, including site operations (for our Brown St. drop-off location), education and outreach (to get our word out in the schools and community), marketing (stuff like this blog, our quarterly newsletter, ads, and press releases), membership, and e-waste.

We're a working board, which means we do a lot of the heavy lifting for Recycling Jackson ourselves. For instance - as the marketing chair, I design the newsletter, update the web site, and send our press releases when we have something to say. We don't pay anyone to do that work for us - we do it all ourselves.

And hey, if you like getting your hands dirty, there's plenty to be done.

Our board is the perfect spot for environmentalists, home recyclers, waste management wonks, or anyone who gives a darn about the world and our place in it.

You can develop skills like community relations, networking, city and county political negotiations, and knowing the difference between cardboard and paperboard. Cool, huh?

For more information, or to ask us any questions, drop us an e-mail (recyclingjackson [at] yahoo [dot] com). There's no tests or quizes or gauntlet to run through. We just need passionate people who care about recycling.

Hope to hear from you.

- by Dave Lawrence, RJ VP

What a good neighbor

"About four years ago Mitzi Cranmore decided to start recycling to make her household green.

'After finding out how easy it was, I realized that one house does not make a difference,' Cranmore said.

She realized she could further the cause by educating students about recycling."

One of our very passionate helpers was in the paper - check out Mitzi's profile at the CitPat!

Aquafina is tap water, and therefore is nothing special.

That's what the Simple Dollar author says in a great rant on the evils of plastic-bottled water. The author says to think about the cost, the environmental impact, and the fact that it is plain ol' tap water.

Preach on!

How to: recycle glass

Recycling Jackson accepts glass bottles, as do most of the in-town drop-off sites.

Here are some guidelines, thanks to Better Homes and Gardens, and what to do and not do with your glass.

Do recycle

unbroken food and beverage containers, such as applesauce jars, ketchup bottles, wine and beer bottles.

Don't recycle

baking dishes, ceramics, windows, mirrors, and vases. They're made differently than containers and can contaminate. Donate household goods (like the baking dishes and vases).

Eventually, your recycled glass becomes food containers, tiles, landscaping and fish bowl pebbles, and road surfacing (kind of weird to think about, isn't it?).

Really, we just like the cool shattering sound when you toss a glass bottle in with the rest.

Whole Foods says 'BYOB'

Whole Foods won't say paper or plastic - they'll say bring your own.

That's thanks to their new "Bring your own bag" (or BYOB) program, outlined on their site here.

When you bring your own bag to any Whole Foods shopping location, they will give you a refund of 5 cents per bag. They also have their own canvass bags, as we've lauded before, available for the usual 99 cents.

But what about paper? Says Whole Foods:

We aren’t trying to settle the "paper vs. plastic" debate. We say "reuse!" instead. But when you don't reuse, we provide 100% recycled (and recyclable) paper bags.

Help keep sites clean.

Unfortunate news from the CitPat on Friday. C'mon, Jackson - we can do much better than this:

Trash dumped at recycling center upsets officials

Friday, January 25, 2008
By Kristin Longley

A white, 6-by-8-foot sign looms over the Summit Township recycling center: ``Free recycling depends on good sorting and preparation.''

Unfortunately, not everyone is getting the message.

Officials increasingly have noticed improper use of the recycling center, located at the township offices, 2121 Ferguson Road.

People are dropping off unaccepted materials or leaving their recyclables outside the labeled green bins, said township Trustee Gordon Heins.

Use of the center is free to anyone and open 24 hours a day.

``This could be closed down, and we don't want to do that,'' Heins said. ``It's a very popular site and only a few people are ruining it for the rest of us.''

In the past several weeks, wooden pallets, plastic foam, mechanical parts and unflattened cardboard have been found at the center. Once, officials found a plastic tub containing unidentified materials left near the bins, Heins said.

The overhead sign clearly lists the accepted materials, which include cans, glass, plastic bottles, newspaper, magazines and paper.

The recycling center opened in 2004. It was not expected to cost the township beyond building the concrete slab on which the bins sit. But the recent problems have cost both time and money.

Scattered papers and other trash prompted township leaders to add a three-sided wooden fence around the center for about $1,800, Heins said.

Still, local firefighters and township officials, including Heins, frequently have to tidy up the area, he said. Fire Chief Scot Harvey said firefighters often help clear away unaccepted materials.

``We don't mind picking up, but the biggest issue is it's getting worse,'' Harvey said. ``It's taking more and more time, and it looks bad.''

The city of Jackson's recycling center, 209 W. Louis Glick Highway, is experiencing similar problems, said SanDee Porter, public works assistant.

Pieces of furniture and other nonrecyclable items are packed between bins. Staff members visit the area two or three times per week to pick up garbage and broken glass, she said.

``A lot of people are abusing it,'' Porter said. ``Something needs to be done.''

Northwest Refuse in Blackman Township handles the recycling centers in Summit Township, Jackson and six other sites in Jackson County, said Bill Thomas, resource recovery coordinator. Sometimes, complaints arise from an overflow of recycling materials, he said.

The bins are emptied at least every Friday, and staff members check them when trucks are in the area. People can call Northwest Refuse if the bins are overflowing, Thomas said.

``For the most part it's a community effort,'' he said.

Heins said people who witness misuse of the Summit Township site are encouraged to contact the township office at 788-4113.

``We don't like garbage. We don't like trash,'' he said. ``This is a real privilege, and we want to be able to continue it.''