Email from Medfield Green, with a full calendar of events and lots of of good information –
We hope you will join us for the next session which will be this Thursday January 24th from 1-2 pm in the Medfield Library Meeting Room. Please feel free to come if you can, and bring a friend or not. It is definitely a low-key casual discussion and you are welcome to come once or every time.
Last Thursday we talked about recycling and trash reduction. Some notes and thoughts are below.
January 24th we will discuss Energy Conservation and etc. We will share information about the Thermal Imaging done in Medfield by Sagewell, Home Energy Assessments, choosing your electrical energy supplier and other energy saving tips.
January 31st will focus on learning about chemicals in our enviroment and how to keep the bad ones out of our bodies. Dana Ravech will speak about how to “Clean Green” and we will also talk about Personal Care Products and Lawn Care.
February 7. to be determined. What would you like to know?
Some notes and tips from our January 17th meeting on Recycling:
Take a few minutes to watch the videos:
The Story of Stuff
The Story of Bottled Water
www.storyofstuff.org
1. Reduce what you are consuming.
Opt out of unwanted catalogs & junk mail (www.catalogchoice.org)
Choose products with less packaging
Can you invest in a few items that will help you reduce waste? My favorites are a seltzer/soda maker, dry cleaning bag, water bottle, coffee mug, cloth napkins & shopping bags (did you know you can buy a tag for $1 at CVS that will give you $.25 extra bucks everytime you use your own shopping bag?).
How about sharing yard tools with a neighbor instead of getting your own for use occasionally?
2. Reuse
Visit consignment and thrift shops first.
Get a library book or e-book instead of a new one
And when you are done with something, try to give it a new life. See the Medfield Green Reuse/Recycle Guide for local places to donate items. http://www.medfieldgreen.org/uploads/M.Green2011_Reuse.3.17.11.pdf
Visit freecycle.org and sign up for the local Walpole or Millis groups. Here you can give away items to folks looking for them. No money is exchanged. I’ve had great luck getting rid of latex paint I didn’t need (someone painting murals loved it!), also kids toys and some other household items I didn’t know what to do with. I always try freecycle first. It is usually very quick with someone coming to pick up the same or next day. It’s worth a try to find a home for something that you’d otherwise send to the incinerator.
Use the Swap Area at the transfer station. As the saying goes, “One man’s trash is another’s treasure.”
Participate in Medfield Green Day. It is a one-stop reuse and recycle donation event. We bring together many charities so you can bring your items to a single spot. This year MGDay will be held on Saturday May 4th from 9 – 12 at the American Legion. Details for this year will follow but here is a link to the flyer from last year. http://www.medfieldgreen.org/uploads/MGD_website_flyer_for_website.pdf If you’d like to know more or to get involved you can contact Donna White at 508-359-0197.
3. Recycle
Recycle all you can, especially aluminum & paper. Both of these are easy to recycle and mean so much to the enviroment if we can keep from deleting new resources.
Make sure you are familiar with the transfer station policies or those of your waste removal company.
Plastic Bags do not go in single stream recycling (even if they have a # on them) but can be recycled at the local grocery stores. Here is a link to details about which bags can be recycled. There are so many that can. www.plasticbagrecycling.org
Textiles are never trash. Who knew? There is an afterlife for even the most dilapidated torn and tattered, stained and worn-out clothing, shoes, belts, purses, draperies, cloth shower curtains, pillows & stuffed animals etc. They must be clean & dry but if they are, don’t throw them out. Instead, donate them to an organization like Goodwill. If they are clearly rags or worse (but clean & dry) put them in a bag and mark them rags. They will get turned into rags or insulation or carpet padding. And by the way, Goodwill gets paid for this! If they have some life left, Goodwill will try and sell them at a thrift shop or will sell them to someone who will use them or turn them into rags. I like donating to Goodwill because I know they start with the products having a chance at reuse locally and then have a complete stream where products can move down the chain but still have a life beyond the incinerator.
4. Repurchase
When you have the opportunity, choose something made of recycled materials to close the loop. If there is more demand for these products, then the price paid for the recycled materials will be higher and more people will benefit.
5. Rot
Start a compost pile in your yard. The Medfield Garden Club often sells bins at a great price. Watch for this!
Hope this is helpful.
Megan
Megan B. Sullivan
508-359-8274
Medfield Green
http://www.medfieldgreen.org
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