The Green Room

Marta from Toronto writes:

I am the creator of a newly launched and one-of-a-kind Canadian bartering community for individuals and groups. Our community encourages a greener lifestyle as well as curbing consumerism through bartering.

SwapSity users can swap a combination of items and skills with the option to balance uneven swap transactions with cash. For example, you can offer books that you have read and in exchange receive help with computer repair. Any uneven swaps can be equalized with cash. SwapSity is also a useful parent resource for exchanging kids’ outgrown gear, toys, games and clothes with other parents and de-cluttering your living space.

Like-minded individuals can also create customized swap groups. One of our most recent groups is a residential recycling project within a downtown apartment complex in Toronto. The group was created to encourage reusing discarded items as well as skill-swapping between neighbours living in the building. The goal of the group is to reduce the impact on the environment as well as build a sense of community among the residents.

SwapSity is free and it offers a full spectrum of user tools to help our swappers communicate with other members and negotiate mutually agreeable swaps. Once you agree to an exchange, you can just meet in person or ship locally. There is a lot of room for creative and green swaps. I invite you all to check it out!

Diana Cassa from Beeton, ON writes:

I’m trying to find information on reusing plastics numbered 2, 4 and 5 and hope you can help direct me. I freeze foods in them like homemade spaghetti sauce in yogurt containers.

Is it OK to freeze these plastics or should this be avoided? Is it OK to place them in the dishwasher? I’ve seen reports that say you should not freeze water bottles, although there are just as many that say this isn’t true. I don’t freeze water bottles — in fact, I don’t buy them at all — but I am wondering if the plastics I do freeze pose problems.

Lindsay writes:

You are not the first to ask about which plastics to use, reuse and recycle. We have tackled such an issue in our summer "Finding Solutions " edition of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletter . The nuts and bolts of it can be described as "2, 4, 5 keep yourself alive"! Those numbers are the safest to reuse, so check your containers.

From what I’ve researched, freezing is generally okay (I’d still stick with 2, 4, and 5 plastic types) but do not microwave plastics and do not put them in the dishwasher. For some plastic types, like #1, more chemicals are released when they are washed and reused. The good thing is that #1 is highly recyclable.

Marnie & Darren share thoughts on green living:

We both worked at Royal Roads University in Victoria, which is very green and my husband and I are trying to do our part.

We clean mainly with microfiber – which I’ve been using for 8 years. We have our own business called Enviro Gem. We are consultants and distributors of natural and organic cleaners. We recycle and only garden with nature. I have a bird feeder and love what sounds like a million birds in the trees in our backyard (my favorite is the Steller Jay).

What I also want to say is, instead of the government banning wood stoves when so many people need them to keep their families warm in the wintertime, why not fine the vehicles that spew out black toxic smoke? They are out driving around all year long. I walk a lot and the smell of the exhaust is really bad. It’s almost worst for your health to go for a walk!

Thanks Diane Boivin from Langley, BC for sharing your efforts on going green!

Since I saw a documentary about how plastic grocery bags are affecting the welfare of wildlife, I have stopped using them for bringing home my purchases, and instead use a tote bag. I have encouraged the ladies in my church to do the same.

I also reuse the bags I get from packaging to dispose of my waste — even paper bags from sugar and flour. I recycle whatever I can to make new and useful things for my home, or to create gifts.

I walk to the store to make my purchases, using a wheeled cart to bring home the larger purchases. I buy most of the things that I need at a thrift store, and always travel with a girlfriend to church — we almost never travel with an empty car.

I also make sure that I plan my trips with a vehicle to ensure we use as little fuel as possible, and if I could afford it, I would buy an electric vehicle.

City dwellers Ray and Vanessa from Burnaby, BC share thoughts on waste management:

My girlfriend and I live in a high-rise condo and have been diligently watching and separating all of our garbage materials that go down the garbage chute.

We send our organic waste to a friend’s house near-by for composting. We use the recycling bins for everything else. What’s left? The bulk of our waste is packaging. If we really look at what is going into our landfill, it is shocking how much non-biodegradable Styrofoam and hard plastic packaging is going into the earth.

We recently went to WalMart to pick up a bottle of air mattress repair. We purchased the bottle, went out to our truck and opened the package, took out the 1 1/4" high by 3/4" wide glass bottle, repaired the mattress, then proceeded to throw the 12" x 6" clear, hard plastic package into the WalMart garbage can.

A glance into the garbage can - and our consciences - told us that what we just chucked in there would end up in the landfill. Are consumers solely responsible for this situation? We feel we partially are, despite all the effort we make at home.

So, solutions we came up with:

1. Add organic waste bins to all apartment/condo recycling programs.

2. Make it the law that retailers and producers of harmful packaging be responsible for the waste created after the consumer takes the product home.

Karen Pugh from Brantford, Ontario writes:

Every time I pack yet another school lunch bag (ugh!), I debate the merits of the "litterless lunch" vs. filling up my dishwasher with yet another pile of plastic re-usable containers. While I understand the need to reduce garbage, I can’t imagine that using more energy to heat the dishwasher water and using all that soap is any better for our environment. I know I could handwash those dishes, but in reality, "it ain’t gonna happen." Any thoughts?

Green Room host Gail writes:

Actually, there is some evidence that a dishwasher is more energy efficient than hand washing, especially if you have a dishwasher that’s energy-efficient.

The three R’s of eco-friendliness fall into a kind of hierarchy. It’s best to Reduce as much as possible first. So, you are correct in choosing a "litterless lunch" because it will keep stuff out of the landfills. And Reusing is more important than Recycling, because recycling uses energy and it’s always better to do the best you can to reuse things (such as your food containers) rather than purchasing new things, even when they can be recycled.

Whatever you practice in preparing school lunches, the kids that are eating them are becoming encultured to it - they’ll do what you did when they make there own lunches or (in future) make lunches for others. Thanks for helping to protect nature!

Debby Harris from Richmond, BC writes:

We are a Richmond, BC company that has been producing and selling guestroom amenities (toiletries) to upscale hotels, resorts, airlines and cruise ships for 20 years. We have been concerned about the environment for numerous years. In fact, in 1998 we developed and patented a compartmentalized recycling basket called the "Waste-Not-Basket" to drive guest recycling in hotel rooms. These are now sold to over 200 properties throughout North America.

More recently, we have been introduced to a new material called PSM (or Plastarch), a biodegradable product made from cornstarch resin. Today it is being produced for products such as shower caps, utensils, golf tees, garbage bags, toothbrushes, etc. However, we are concerned about its ability to biodegrade in landfills, and certainly don’t want to produce more methane gas or other noxious emissions than if we continued providing recyclable plastic bottles for our amenity programs.

Can you guide me to an authority on plastics who can give us the straight-goods on PSM and other biodegradable materials? We certainly want to contribute to improving our environment and value your opinions.

Lindsay replies:

Your business initiative to get hotels and others recycling sounds great. There are quite a few hotels that market themselves as "green" for this very reason. With respect to your question on bioplastics, it’s a good one, although not something the Foundation has researched. I can give you some information to get you started and then you’ll need to do a bunch more reading and asking around.

Issue 1: Using cornstarch or soy instead of petroleum to make plastic uses 3-4 times less Co2, and the production uses about 68% less fossil fuels.

Issue 2: Most bioplastic bags, containers, etc. won’t biodegrade under the conditions of a backyard composter. You’d have to quiz your supplier about this in detail. How biodegradable is it? How long does it take? Can people put it in their home composter or does it need to go to a specific facility? For instance, I’ve seen claims that one product that was 100% compostable and biodegradable breaks down within 3-6 months in a commercial composter or 4-5 months in a home composter. How long will they take to breakdown in a landfill is unknwon.

Issue 3: Cornstarch-based bioplastics can be made from GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). Half the corn grown in the U.S. is GMO. This is yet another layer.

It sounds like you need to find out how long these materials take to break down in a typical landfill, unless you’re certain they will go to a specific composting facility. Best of luck with your quest!

Some municipalities (including Metro Vancouver) are trying to convince people that burning is the best solution for so-called ‘residual waste’ (the stuff that can’t be composted or recycled). Lowering consumption, reusing and cradle-to-cradle regulations for manufacturers are less-toxic alternatives. Go to http://blog.zerowastevancouver.org/ and http://americanhealthstudies.org/index.html for more info.

Marg Riddell of Elora, Ontario sends this great garden recycling idea:

I’ve found a great way to reuse, or to get four-season use of your kids’ winter sledding “Crazy Carpets”. Cut handles with utility scissors to match the handles in the front end and lay it out on the ground as a “catch-all” for weeds and garden trimmings. When you’ve finished your gardening, gather up both ends of the “sling/Crazy Carpet,” and carry to your refuse pile or compost. This stores easily requiring minimal space and is light and user -friendly. Beats using a wagon or wheelbarrow.