Eco Earth Manor Blog

I found this great article by Christina Lords in NewCastle News about an amazing effort by two companies, Mr Scrappy Recycling and Friendly Earth to keep Washington green! What inspiring businesses!

If residents are looking to replace used pots and pans, old garden tools, or aging aluminum ladders, Jeff Gaidjiergis will take them all — and then some.

Gaidjiergis, more affectionately known to some Newcastle residents as Mr. Scrappy, said most people have scrap metal, electronic waste, and countless other odds and ends items that have been collecting dust around the house and they don’t even know they can be recycled.

“The most asked question I get is, ‘What else do you take?’” he said. “It’s all about just trying to educate people. Everyone of them who asks me that question has stuff stored up that I break down and recycle.”

As people make home improvements or update appliances, Gaidjiergis said many people don’t know where to turn to get rid of their metal and electronic waste or old items.

Mr. Scrappy Recycling can accept any item with metal or electronic components, including TVs, microwaves, computers and computer parts, heaters, industrial equipment, car parts, lawnmowers, and more.

Gaidjiergis, a member of the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce, said he has been building a scrap recycling business for the past year by offering to pick up materials from residents’ homes for free.

His business coverage has grown from Everett to Tacoma, and includes residential and commercial pickups.

“Every time I’d go to the dump or just make a trip going to the Dumpster, I’d see all kinds of metal and wire — stuff that just doesn’t go away,” he said. “I always thought that there’s got to be a better way. My main goal now is to keep that stuff out of landfills.”

As more people across the globe become increasingly reliant on electronic products, limiting the amount of those appliances that go into the waste stream will become even more critical, said Rex Young, of Friendly Earth.

Friendly Earth, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle and also a member of the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce, holds several events every month to pick up electronic waste throughout the Seattle area.

Facilitating ways for residents to properly dispose of their ewaste can also eliminate harmful chemicals and hazardous materials from entering the environment and drinking water, Young said.

“A lot of people don’t really know why they need to recycle electronic waste,” he said. “They’re not aware of the contaminants associated with those products and toss them in the garbage.”

All items that are still functional that are picked up by Friendly Earth will be reused if possible. If they can’t be reused, all of the items are processed domestically and won’t be shipped overseas.

“We try to reuse any kind of product we can, because that’s the most obvious and most efficient way to recycle anything,” he said. “Some of the stuff we get is still in great condition. It’s still working, so we can help facilitate finding a new home for it.”

Some of the items donated benefit organizations like area homeless shelters, Young said.

What to know

Learn more about Friendly Earth at www.friendlyearth.org, and find them on Facebook.

Make an appointment for Gaidjiergis to pick up scrap metal or electronic items by calling 425-591-3320. See a list of products he collects at www.scrappyrecycling.com.

Found this great article in the Spring/Summer edition of the “takin’TRASH…and more“ newsletter put out by Thurson Solid Waste in Washington state.

Glass Aggregate

Crushed glass is a cost effective substitute for sand and gravel and it is available locally at Concrete Recyclers on Black Lake Boulevard. This glass cullet is used for a variety of construction applications, including backfill, roadway construction, drainage medium, and utility bedding. It is also approved by the state Department of Transportation for nearly 20 construction uses.

Businesses that produce glass aggregate, like Concrete Recyclers, receive glass from solid waste haulers and then crush it into small, non-sharp pieces.

Toilets to Tiles

Doing a home remodeling project and looking for ceramic tile? Why not use tiles created from old toilets? As of November 2010, Fireclay Tile had collected more than 150 tons of recycled porcelain from old toilets, bathtubs and vanities. Located in northern California, Fireclay collected the materials in partnership with two Bay Area recyclers.

Fireclay Tile’s recycled tile products feature more than 70 percent locally sourced recycled materials, more than 50 percent of which is post-consumer waste. Materials include recycled waste glass, recycled waste granite dust, recycled porcelain, and spent abrasive materials. For information, visit fireclaytile.com. Look for the “Debris Series.”

Click to watch this video on the production process at Fireclay Tile: watch?v=o9sDQbV07zY&feature=player_embedded

I read this fascinating article in Ode Magazine. Read on, and you’ll feel better about plastics and the possibilities!

The final destination for most cars—after they’ve served their time in a scrapyard, that is—is a 10,000-horsepower shredding machine that, in about 60 seconds, rips them into fist-size chunks of stuff. This material is then whisked away on a conveyer belt and sorted for recycling. A magnet pulls out the steel and other ferrous metals, while a separator takes care of the non-ferrous metals, like copper, brass and aluminum.

But petroleum-based plastic—and there’s a lot of it in cars—presents a problem. Plastics range greatly in type and grade and therefore can’t be recycled together, but their densities and electrical properties are similar and often overlap, making them nearly impossible to separate. That’s why they’re typically bundled together with other tough-to-recycle material (rubber, wood, fabrics, foam) and shuttled off to landfills or burned in incinerators. Mike Biddle, president and co-founder of MBA Polymers, thinks that’s unacceptable.

“Burning [plastic] is obviously not the best thing to do for the environment and reburying it is a waste of a natural resource,” Biddle says. “Why pump oil out of the ground when we’ve already put so much energy into making these materials? Let’s just use them again.”

Click here to read the full article.