Photo Friday

Hello! It's Friday again, which means time for another photo! Today's photo comes from last weekend's Yard and Tree Waste Free Day in Ames! Did you see us there? We were very impressed with these two bikers from Cycles Recycling who brought in yard and tree waste in the greenest way!

Photo Friday

Happy friday everyone! This weekend is our Free Day at the Yard & Tree Waste Site in Ames. We figured a wood related picture would be best! This is from a wood grinding job we did last year.

Photo Friday

Wow! How about this weather? We're happy to let it stay, and we don't even mind the April showers forecasted for the weekend. It's definitely a good Friday today!

Our Wood Waste Site in Ames opened up this week! We're excited to get to work with our neighbors to take all of their yard and tree waste. In honor of that today's photo is another shot of our Grinder! Check it out!

Look at that closeup! Make sure you share your photos from this week in the comments!

Photo Friday

Happy Friday everyone! The high here is forecast at 65 degrees! What a turn around from last week! Next week our Wood Waste site is opening in Ames, IA, so we thought we would show you a picture of our wood grinder!

Be sure to share your favorite photos from the week in the comments!

Featured Article: Secret to ordering healthier food is seeing how far you have to walk to burn it off

Many restaraunts have already started to show health information next to your ordering options, but do you think your impression of the information would change if you realized how much you had to walk to burn it off? That's the theory explored in this article.

We're all for people eating healthier, but we're also wondering what impact this could have on food waste. Would it leave more people wasting their food, or saving it for another time? That's our hope, but we can't decide if it'd actually happen. Either way, these statistics are very interesting, and 3 miles for a 20 oz. soda definitely puts it into a very relatable unit. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

Read the article here.

Recycling Information Visualized

Yesterday we found this great graphic that shows just how huge the impact of waste can be, in terms that actually make sense to us. Today's blog post is just us sharing this great infographic with you. What are your thoughts? Does this make the issue of Recycling (organics and otherwise) anymore real to you? Let us know! 

Infographic found here.

Photo Friday

Happy Friday! Today's photo also comes from our Dodge City location.

Did you  get a great photo recently? Share it in our comments!

Green Your Holiday: Valentine's Day

Valentine's day is this Thursday. For this holiday people in the U.S. will spend over $14 billion on gifts for their sweethearts. While that's nice, that can also lead to a lot of waste and a large carbon footprint. Today we have a few greener options to keep in mind when spending money on the ones you love this holiday.

1) Organic/Fair Trade Flowers

Flowers tend to be a traditional gift for this holiday, so spend a little extra time to look for those that are organic/fair trade. They're out there and fairly easy to find, you just have to look! While the impact isn't huge, it does make a difference! You can even buy these flowers online! Check out this guide to buying organic/fair trade bouquets online.

2) Local Wine

Another common tradition is wine. If you're over 21, try to purchase a local winery's wine. It's a great way to explore what's available in your community, support a local business, and green up, considering the transportation of importing bottles from all over the country and world. 

3) Eco-Friendly Jewelry

This one sounds odd, we know, but it's very important. Low carbon footprints and friendly sourced gemstones can make a large impact on the environment, but it can all make a positive impact as many sustainable jewelry is also carefully sourced to be conflict free. This article has some great information on why and how to purchase green jewelry. 

4) Something DIY-ed

Homemade presents still carry a lot of sentimental value, even in today's world. Make your own present for your beau and they'll be touched, and you can be a little more green! Check out this website for upcycling craft DIYs- and reuse something while you're creating that perfect gift.

5) If You Can't Do, Buy

With the rise of sites like Etsy, it is also easy to find that great reuse present, without requiring you to have any skills at DIY! Looks around on sites to find a cool, reused object item and your green loving Valentine will love it!

Do you have any other eco-valentine present ideas? Share them in the comments!

Featured Article: Everything You Need to Know About Buying in Bulk

Today's featured article is all about buying in bulk. Buying in bulk can be a great way to lower your wrapping waste, and lower your food waste. This article takes you through the tips and tricks of shopping in bulk and being efficient at it. 

As the article points out, don't automatically think of Sams or Costco. The beauty of buying in bulk is that products aren't pre-packaged, so you can buy as much or as little as you like or need. 

This article is a great read, so check it out and find all the secrets to buying in bulk, and don't forget to compost food waste that you do still generate.

Read the full article here.

Featured Article: School Districts Going Green With GreenRU & Chamness Technology

Today we're featuring a piece by GreenRU, all about the work we're doing with them to help reduce organics going to the landfill in a couple of school districts in Iowa. It's great work, and has been a very eye-opening experience to the schools and ourselves as to how much food and other organic products are wasted.

Read more here.

Featured Article: Students Ask Lawmakers For Compost Bill

We love featuring articles about people who are trying to make a greener difference on our blog, however this time we got a chance to sponsor some of them as well. This team of students went to the state legislature to do a waste audit and show them the true effect of organics on the waste stream, and to ask them to consider a bill that would help to make Iowa a little more green through composting.

Check the story out, they're a dedicated group of students and their story is a great show of progress. Read about it here.

Photo Friday

Hello everyone, and happy Friday! This friday morning is pretty foggy here in Central Iowa, but we'll let you be the judge yourself with our photo friday post!

Photo Friday

Hope all of you had a great week! Here's this week's photo!

Featured Article: Simple Ways to Reuse & Recycle Your Holiday Decor

The new year is here and with it comes the chore of taking down holiday decorations. Since taking down is a lot less fun than putting up, it's easy to think that maybe it's time to toss some older decorations. However, sending that decor to a landfill is just no good! So, today's article goes over just a couple easy way to reuse old ornaments in a fresh, new way.

Check out this article, and find a new way to refresh ornaments, lights, holiday cards and wrapping paper! Which is your favorite? Do you have another craft that you like to reuse holiday ornaments for? Let us know in the comments!

Read the article here.

Tips for a Sustainable New Years Party!

2013 is nearly upon us, and with it, a slew of parties and get togethers to celebrate the new year! If you're hosting a party this year, there isn't any better way to ring in the new year than by being green with your party! These tips are sure to help you have a fun and eco-friendly get together!

1) E-Vites: Rather than sending out traditional invitations, which waste paper, envelopes, and stamps, why not go the easy route and either send out evites or just invite your guests over the phone? This will save you a little bit of money and just think of that paper waste you've avoided!

2) Look for Locally Grown: For food and drinks, there isn't anything better than locally grown. You know it's fresh and there's a lot less emission waste associated with buying local. It even has the added plus of supporting your local community!

3) Use your own dishes: While washing up afterwards may seem like a pain, most of us have dishwashers these days and removing all those plastic/paper/styrafoam plates will make a huge impact!

4) Decorate Responsibly: Let's face it, your house is probably still decked out for the holidays, and getting a bunch of "2013" banners and hats that will just end up in the garbage the next day isn't exactly good for the earth or for your bank account! Skip out, or make your own upcycled decorations!

5) Don't forget your resolution: Making a green resolution is a great way to promise yourself that the change will stick. Whether it's simply to remember to recycle more, starting your own compost heap, or just switching to all LED bulbs in your house, these little promises can make a difference in the long run!

Photo Friday

Hope all of you had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday week! We managed to snap this week's photo outside of our office the day after Christmas, when it was pretty chilly outside!

Did you catch a great shot this week? Be sure to share it in the comments!

Green Gift Wrapping Ideas

During the holidays it is easy to excuse that ever growing pile of barely used, discarded paper because we use it to wrap presents. However, most of this paper isn't recyclable and is heading straight to the landfill every year. Instead of filling a landfill, why not try one of these green gift wrapping ideas?

Brown Paper Packages tied up with string

There is something classic about presents wrapped this way. They're simple, but still nice looking. Using a heavy stock brown paper can be a great choice if you have some careful gift un-wrappers. You could re-use this paper for shipping items, but for the holidays they can be used to make pretty parcels for under the tree. You could also reuse old paper shopping bags to wrap with brown paper. This paper is also recyclable, so you don't have to send it to a landfill once the gifts are unwrapped!  If you like the gift tags on these check them out here. They're free to download! 

Use What's in Your Recycling Bin

Old newspaper can make some surprisingly elegant wrapping! It reuses something that you can recycle, and it curls like ribbon, so it can be just as festive! This picture tutorial explains the method pretty well. 

Reusable Shopping Bags

Reusable shopping bags make great gift bags- it's a present in itself! Another great idea might be a purse. These can be tied simply with a ribbon and they look festive and bright, but don't end up getting tossed out the next day. 

Recycled Wrapping Paper

There are many vendors who now offer 100% Recycled paper with a minimum of 50% post consumer waste. These papers are already recycled and you can find them in a variety of styles, thickness, and colors. The top vendors we've found include Fish Lips, Botanical Paperworks(which offers seed paper, so your giftee can plan the paper later) and Of The Earth.

An Old Sweater

You know your friend who's a bit of a wine collector? Well, now you have a sustainable method for their gift! Sections of an old sweater can be great gift wrapping. The sleeves work especially well for bottles, check out this easy tutorial to make the wrap pictured above here. 

These are our favorite green wrapping ideas, do you have some other ideas? Be sure to share them in the comments! 

Photo Friday

This week we had our grinder up at our Headquarters, and we snapped a couple of pictures of it doing its thing! Check it out!

Did you snap any great pictures this week? Be sure to share them here in the comments!

Featured Article: H&M Launches First Global Clothing Collection Recycling Program

Innovation in the fashion industry isn't new, but H&M are taking that call for innovation to a sustainable place with their new program. Soon you will be able to take used clothing to H&M stores for recycling. H&M will be the first company to start a worldwide program like this one. H&M already works to use organic cotton, does not discharge hazardous chemicals, and saves water.

This program is interesting purely because it is the first one to be implemented in the United States and worldwide. The company is partnering with I:Collect in this effort, however we could not find a website for them to determine what exactly they will be doing with the collected clothing to recycle it. H&M's website lists re-wearing, reuse and recycling as potential end results for the collected garments.

We're trying to decide how sustainable this program will be. The company could have a large impact, however they're also giving the people donating a coupon, to give them incentive. This is nice, but, as the article pointed out, won't that just add another article of clothing to the waste stream? We like to think if you donate once you will donate again, so this might not be a huge concern, however, it is definitely one to look into.

What do you think? Does this program sound like it could make a real change? Would you take your clothes there, and shop at H&M more because they offer this recycling program? Let us know in the comments!

Check out the full article here.

Homemade Gift Ideas

This month is a big one for gifts. If you're trying to be green or just avoid the stores, homemade gifts can be a good and heartfelt option for gifts. If you're stumped on what to make for a homemade gift, check out some of our favorites!

Cork Trivet DIY

 Maybe you have someone on your list who's a total foodie, or maybe just someone who has their own kitchen for the first time. Either way, one easy and useful gift is this trivet. It works well for your hot pots and pans, and it has a fun and almost rustic charm.

Clay Pot Snowmen DIY

We love these adorable little snowmen that can be used to decorate your home throughout the winter season. We aslo think it'd be easy to make these guys a little bigger- using a bigger pot, ball and sock, to make a fun winter lawn or entryway ornament.

Cute Coaters DIY

 These fun coasters make great gifts for everyone because you use scrapbook paper to make the tiles, so you can personalize it to anyone you know!

Pantone Chip Magnets DIY

 This gift is great for the designer or artist you know, and it's a fun and easy little craft that looks so nice that it could have been bought from a store!

Teacup Lights DIY

 These fun little candles are a great way to use old cups that have darling details but might not match your dish ware.

Knit Cowl DIY

 As the weather turns chilly it is always good to remember that cowls and scarfs make great holiday gifts! This cowl looks like it would keep you cozy and warm even on the coldest of days.

Fabric Key Chain DIY

Reuse scrap fabric and make cute little gifts. This is great because it will definitely make the keys stand out, and can be very personal for your giftee!

Garden Path Stepping Stones DIY

Perfect for the gardener in your life, these stones will brighten up any garden! This tutorial is pretty basic, so you can personalize as much as you'd like!

Candy Plant DIY

 Gifting candy can seem almost too easy, but not with this craft! While the craft is easy for you, it shows the effort behind the simple idea. Fun way to gift food during the holidays and year round!

Bath Salt DIY

Who doesn't love a relaxing bath? Now you can give the gift of one with these great bath salts! Give everyone their favorite scents in a relaxing bath.

Lanyard DIY

 The tutorial page presents this as a craft for teachers, but really it seems like it could work for anyone with keys! It's fun and can include the recipient's favorite colors or patterns!

Reversible Coffee Cup Sleeve DIY

This is the perfect gift for the coffee drinker you know. Imagine all the cardboard we could save from the landfill if people used these instead of coffee cup sleeves. 

Bird Nest Necklace DIY

If you're particularly crafty these birds nest necklaces are beautiful and elegant little gifts that everyone is sure to love!

Do you have any other great DIY gifts? Which of these is your favorite? Be sure to share in the comments!