What do you recycle?

It's not just plastics, glass bottles, cans and paper that is recycled out in California.  They have recycling stations like this right on the side of the road for recycling oil.

What do you recycle?  Write to me and I'll post it here.  You can also send photos to me at lindasantoro@comcast.net

Que reciclar?  Escribir y me dicen.

Cosa riciclare?  Scrivere e raccontare di me.

Que voulez-vous recycler?  Ecrivez et dites-le moi.

Was tun Sie recycein?  Schreiben Sie mir.

Czego recyklingu?  Napisz do mnie i powiedz.

Vad vill du atervinna?  Skriva och beratta.

Ano ang gagawin mo recycle?  Sumulat at sabihin sa akin.

Miss Santoro

Composting in CT

This is a photo of the Kirby girls (CT natives) who have put two seasons  (summer and fall) of leaves and scraps of food into that big green composting bin for the winter.  It comes out looking like this. Perfect for the garden in the spring.  They will use this as mulch around their bushes.

This has helped them REDUCE the amount of trash they had to throw away and the mulch will help keep their bushes healthy.

Thanks for sharing your photo Mr. Kirby!

Have you ever composted?  Do you do something else to help keep our planet healthy?  Share your stories and photos with me by sending them to lindasantoro@comcast.net

Plastic Bags are banned!

Countries around the world like Uganda and Kenya have banned the use of flimsy, plastic bags. That means it is actually illegal to use plastic bags.    Cities in the United States are now starting to ban plastic bags as well.  In March 2007 San Francisco was the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags. 

Plastic bags can take a very long time to break down.  Many people are trying to use reusable cloth bags instead now.

You might want to write to your local politicians to push for a plastic bag ban in your town. The students from Team Marine (read the blog below) actually marched around town, went on interviews with the local news and tried to get as much support as possible.  Did they succeed?  Find out by going onto their website:   www.TeamMarine.org

COOL KIDS!

I recently met the members of Team Marine out in Santa Monica, California.  This is a team of high school students who are doing all kinds of things to help our planet.  They had a big display of artwork they had created out of bottle caps.  They even made a suit out of them!

Interested in checking out more of their work?  Click on this website:

http://www.teammarine.org/index.php

If your school has a team of students working to help our planet please email me and tell me

lindasantoro@comcast.net

I'll post your story!

MORE IDEAS YAY!

Here are some great suggestions from Sandy in CT

Instead of using a clothes dryer, people can use a drying rack to dry clothes

Microfiber towels can be used over and over to dry home surfaces or hands instead of using paper towels

REDUCE the amount of water you use each day by using the dishwasher instead of handwashing dishes - but make sure it is FULL when you run it

Recycling in Cairo, Egypt

The zabaleen (Arabic for garbage collectors) are people in Cairo, Egypt that go door to door and collect large piles of trash. Then they go through the piles and sort everything.  They recycle and reuse most of the trash they find.

This is another photo from Cairo, Egypt.

Can you tell what this man is recycling?

Write to me and take a guess.

Miss Santoro

Photos by Ryan Holland

Special thanks to Shawn Baldwin for the contribution.

Another way to reduce how much electricity you use.

Here is a great suggestion for saving electricity -

Unplug all appliances and other electrical devices when ever you are not using them.  It will not only save energy, it will save money on your electric bill.

 Ethan, age 9, Providence, RI

Thanks Ethan!  

I've seen some people write a list of how many outlets they have in each room. Just before they leave their house they look at the numbers for each room.  They might keep that information posted on the refrigerator, by a light switch or in some other handy place that will help them remember it.   Then they can see how many outlets they should check before they leave each day.  

Holiday Tip:

This may be a tough time to try to save energy since many people like to decorate their homes with lights.  If you do like to decorate, try switching to LED lights.  They use less energy and  don't get as hot. 

Happy Holiday Season to all!  

Keep writing.

Miss Santoro

 

Earth Friendly Art

Elementary students in Japan RECYCLE many items found around their house to create art projects.  The elementary school in Komaki has art shows where every piece of art is made out of recycled materials.  

Send me a photo of an art project you made out of recycled household items.  You can send photos to santorol@glastonburyus.org

Miss Santoro