Created by the Producers Guild of America Foundation and PGAGreen.org to provide a new resource for film and television professionals looking to turn their productions green. With over 1,100 vendors offering sustainable and energy saving products and services, The Green Production Guide aims to take film and television green one production at a time.
I just love this company.
Great color temp, long life, low energy consumption… They also make dimmable LEDs and offer the largest variety of bulb bases I’ve found so far.
What to do with the trash!?!
With so many new “eco” products on the market, it can be overwhelming. Does this go in the trash? recycling? composter? Do I have to rinse it first?
When standing over the waste receptacle(s), you’ve already moved past the point of caring about what you’re holding; you just want to get rid of it.
But there are important things to consider:
- Biodegradable items, for instance, should go in the trash so they don’t clog recycling processes.
- The plastic rings on anything should be cut so they can’t end up around the neck of a small animal.
- Why not rinse your recyclables so the trash doesn’t stink, or become a home for bugs, by the time it reaches the waste center?
- Remember too that if we can keep toxins and contaminates out of the products we use, we’ll also minimize the poisonous effects our trash has on our soil and water supplies. (I’m builidng a list of future-friendly vendors which will be posted asap.)
Taking a second to remember that more hands will touch what you’re about to toss (the waste management staff), may help us remember to be as respectful as we can be when considering how we handle our trash.
Here are some eco-logical steps/tips that will aid our clogged waste management services in helping the earth :)
Most common waste groups :
(there are others, but most small businesses and homes deal with the following day-to-day)
Group 1 - the nasty stuff (e-waste, toxic waste, cooking oils, etc.)
Group 2 - recyclables
Group 3 - biodegradable and compostable products
Group 4 - other trash
How to handle each group:
NOTE: Groups 1 & 2 should never end up in a landfill.
GROUP 1
Cooking oils
Oil is lighter than water and they don’t mix; they tend to spread into thin and broad membranes that hinder water oxygenation. It is because of this that one liter of oil can contaminate as much as a million liters of water.
a) RE-USE - Use as fuel, or a home lubricant, or sell to others to use as fuel.
b) RECYCLE - Fill a container with a proper lid, and make sure that it is sufficiently cooled before you do so. Also, it is better if the cooking oil is not mixed with other substance such as water or petroleum products, as this will severely hamper the oil’s recyclability. Used cooking oil is recycled into several commodities such as soap, cosmetics, poultry feeds, and more.
E-waste
Electronics are full of heavy metals, chemicals and other materials that either won’t break down in a landfill or will leach toxins into the earth and water supply.
a) SELL - Companies like Green Electronics Exchange, at the Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills, CA will inspect your items and make you a fair offer. They either refurbish and resell the items or recycle them for parts.
b) RECYCLE - Recycling centers, city trash pick-up services (free once each year - call the number on your trash collection bin) and even stores like Home Depot or Best Buy also have receptacles for the nasty stuff. Home Depot takes in light bulbs, even CFLs. And Best Buy takes: printer ink cartridges, used batteries, tvs and much more. And if they won’t take something, find more resources near you at mygreeelectronics.org.
Toxic and other waste
Examples include antifreeze, pesticides, motor oil, spot remover, ant traps, the e-waste mentioned above and anything poisonous or questionable :)
a) Visit earth911.com to find a drop location near you.
b) Wear plastic gloves when handling (leaking batteries, etc) and place the trash in a strong plastic bag or box that will NOT leak.
GROUP 2
Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, plastic, metal, textiles, and electronics. Materials to be recycled are sorted, cleaned and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing.
a) CLEAN - Rinsing is greatly appreciated by the people working in the recycling centers. I’ve seen (and smelled) what they deal with each day first hand. Nina Shen Rastogi wrote a fabulous article on SLATE.com which goes into more details, but in the end, you don’t have to waste a ton of time/water washing every morsel from your recyclables, but a good strong rinse will keep bugs, bacteria and stench to a minimum.
b) SEPARATE - Keep recyclables separate from the rest of your trash. (Take your plastic grocery bags back to the grocery store, they’ll have a recycling bin near the front of the store.)
GROUP 3
Biodegradable and compostable products are made from organic, natural materials like corn, reed grass and bagasse (sugar cane). These products come from annually renewable resources and are sustainably manufactured, non-toxic while in use and decompose back into the soil. Visit worldcentric.org for tons more info.
BTW, I love Bagasse products, which are made from sugar cane fiber leftover from juice extraction and are very sustainable products.
Compostable products
a) INDUSTRIAL COMPOSTING FACILITY
Products that are labeled ‘compostable’ should enter an industrial composting facility to fully degrade into organic matter. If your city has a composting facility, place these products in your compost collection bins to be picked up. Compostable products will typically degrade in 30-120 days in an industrial composter, depending on the product size and material used. NOTE: Call your local waste removal service to see if they have an operational Windrow Facility.
b) BACKYARD OR HOME COMPOSTER
If your city doesn’t provide industrial composting, you can dispose of compostable products in your backyard or home composter, but they will take longer to degrade.
c) REGULAR GARBAGE
If you do not have access to a compost facility or a home composter, dispose of the compostables in the garbage. This option should be your last resort as waste does not easily biodegrade in landfills. NOTE: Do not put compostables into your recycling! They are not recyclable and will contaminate the recycling process.
Biodegradable products
a) REGULAR GARBAGE
Products that are labeled as ‘biodegradable’ can be disposed of in your garbage. NOTE: it is important to remember that landfills lack the microorganisms and oxygen required for waste to biodegrade in a timely manner, so you should still try to minimize your use of items that are not recyclable or compostable.
GROUP 4
Whether re-purposed, incinerated or placed in landfills, advances are being made when it comes to the rest of our trash and we can help by minimizing our contributions to the trash stream every day.
In 2009, the TAU announced some exciting research about the possibility of “a coating [for] windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt? Expanded battery storage capacities for the next electric car?… A breakthrough in assembling peptides at the nano-scale level that could make these futuristic visions come true in just a few years.”
Still searching for current data/commercial applications. I’ll keep you posted. So far, I’ve just found this product, but haven’t verified yet if it’s the same thing the TAU article was referencing.
Reduce, Recycle, but Where does the waste go?
Recycling is only part of the solution. When waste removal services minimize landfill by recycling AND composting, then we’re really onto something more sustainable.
Crown Disposal (Lamont Windrow Facility)
Waste Management (link to their 2010 Sustainability Report)
‘Where Does the trash go? As the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America, Waste Management collects on average 100 million tons of waste per year. Our goal is to determine the best end use for the materials we are charged with handling. In partnership with our customers, we provide expertise on reducing and repurposing waste, and we are striving to expand our recycling programs to reclaim raw materials that can be introduced back into the supply chain. Our waste-to-energy facilities reduce the volume of trash by up to 90 percent, save valuable landfill space and generate electricity using waste as fuel. Where the disposal of waste is necessary, our landfills are a secure disposal alternative and are tapped as a source for renewable energy.’
“Before the industrial revolution, all food was organic.”
Here’s a great list of future-friendly caterers you may want to consider for your next shoot. (this list is mainly LA, but google “eco catering” to find vendors near you)
http://www.greenalicious.tv/services
The Green Truck (vegetarian)
Seedling Catering (vegetarian)
Local Harvest (A good resource for locating farmer’s markets)
DIY article on eHow (tips)
Eco Catering Supply (supplies)
ecoproducts.com (supplies)
Let’sGoGreen (supplies)
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Some interesting facts about eating local and organic (read the full article at: RedBookMag)
Is buying organic better for the environment?
Organic farming reduces pollutants in groundwater and creates richer soil that aids plant growth while reducing erosion, according to the Organic Trade Association. It also decreases pesticides that can end up in your drinking glass; in some cities, pesticides in tap water have been measured at unsafe levels for weeks at a time, according to an analysis performed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). (To find out about the safety of your tap water, visit the EWG website at ewg.org/tapwater/yourwater.) Plus, organic farming used 50 percent less energy than conventional farming methods in one 15-year study.
When is it worth the splurge?
If you can afford it, buy local and organic, recommends Fromartz. Farmers’ markets carry reasonably priced locally grown organic and conventional food; to find one in your area, go to localharvest.org. If you can’t always afford organic, do spend the extra money when it comes to what the EWG calls the “dirty dozen”: peaches, strawberries, nectarines, apples, spinach, celery, pears, sweet bell peppers, cherries, potatoes, lettuce, and imported grapes. These fragile fruits and vegetables often require more pesticides to fight off bugs compared to hardier produce, such as asparagus and broccoli. Download a list of produce ranked by pesticide contamination at foodnews.org, an EWG website.
When shopping for organic foods, always look for the USDA seal on any kind of packaged food. For meat and dairy, this seal ensures you’re getting antibiotic- and hormone-free products.
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Also, check out these pros & cons of an organic diet from InsideYourDiet.com
Pros:
- The food is pure, fresh, and in its most natural state.
- There are no harmful chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides used, so food and handling is safe for you and the farmer.
- Foods that are organic claim to be more nutrient rich and contain higher levels of anti-oxidants and other vitamins and minerals.
- Organic meats, cheeses, eggs, and dairy products are supposed to be completely free range and void of antibiotics and added hormones.
- Organic farming practices are gentler on the earth.
- There is less soil contamination allowing for less pollution and harm to groundwater and animals.
Cons:
- Organic foods tend to be quite expensive and on average cost almost sixty percent more for produce and almost one hundred percent more for meat and dairy products.
- Recent studies have found that nutrient levels in organic produce equaled that of non-organic produce.
- Another recent study found that organic produce still contained pesticide residue although it did contain less than non-organic items. The study found that twenty-five percent of organic produce had at least trace amounts of pesticides, while seventy-seven percent of non-organic produce had the same levels of pesticides.
Could this advance help shrink the Great Garbage Patch?
Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of plastic, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an area of swirling trash that doubles in size every decade… and is now believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas. But what can be done? Maybe a floating processing center? But then what do we do with the processed refuse? Well, maybe this is an idea.
The ground-breaking Envion Oil Generator (EOG) gave its first public performance at the Montgomery County Solid Waste Transfer Station in Derwood, Maryland recently.
The EOG can be fed almost any petroleum-based waste plastic and will convert it into synthetic light to medium oil for less than USD$10 per barrel. As with crude oil, the synthetic oil can then be processed into commercial fuels or even back into plastic. Read the Full Article at: GizMag.com
The Pacific Gyre isn’t the only place that garbage is collecting in our oceans.
Here are some informative links to follow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pacific_Gyre
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm
