The act of repairing things (or having them repaired by others) has gone woefully out of fashion. It just doesn’t seem to pay anymore. Planned obsolescence and the changed economics brought about by globalization have made buying replacements too cheap and easy. The result? A throwaway culture that dumps perfectly good resources only to mine [...]
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Holiday Guide to Reuse & Recycling
After the holidays, we’re often left with the problem of what to do with all the waste — from the platters of uneaten food to the Christmas tree to the old things that the shiny new gifts replaced. The answer: reuse or recycle them. See my new “Holiday Guide to Reuse & Recycling” for practical, [...]
Donating a Mattress
With bedbugs on the rise, it’s harder than ever to donate a mattress. But it can often be done if the mattress is clean and bug-free. If not, you may be able to recycle it. A mattress in great condition — with neither sags, stains nor pests — may find a home in your own [...]
Daily Trash: How to Reduce It
One day this month when I was on my own (sans family), I weighed all my trash — both garbage and recycling. It amounted to 2.48 pounds and consisted in the main of packaging. At that rate, I’d waste a staggering 10 tons in 25 years. In Trashy Habits, my November issue of This Green [...]
Donating and Recycling Old Clothes
In my home, when we’re through with clothes or shoes, we typically hold onto them a long, long time — not out of sentimentality, simply for lack of a convenient alternative. Typically, most of the clothes are in good condition or even “like new” — so they are obviously not garbage material. But I have [...]
Recycling Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
One objection to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) that people often raise is the problem of disposing of them safely due to the mercury they contain. Mercury is a toxin that is particularly dangerous to the developing brains of children (and babies in utero) and is suspected of posing a heart risk to adults. The amount [...]
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This Green Blog is the companion blog to NRDC's This Green Life, a green living column written by Sheryl Eisenberg for the Natural Resources Defense Council. (Subscribe to get it for FREE each month.)
Sheryl has also written "Greentips" for the Union of Concerned Scientists and designs websites for environmental groups and others with her firm, Mixit Productions.
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