Post 12: And the outcomes are......

So, we have took some pictures form 2 weeks past and some pictures from this week to make a little comparison on our project's progress. And this are the outcomes. The pictures was took in Desasiswa Saujana    by the way. This desasiswa has already provided some place for the students to recycle in the pantry.

These are the pictures from two weeks ago.

And these are the pictures from this week. 

It's not much of a progress but it is still something. We'd like to thank everyone who recycles their stuff instead of throwing it away :-)

Entry 11 : THANK YOU GUYS! :-)

We have received two pictures from our fellow USM students both residing in Desasiswa Saujana.

Here is the first one, sent to us by Norhayati Binti Fadzil, a first year student from the School of Social Sciences. See guys, this is what we want. Don't throw the bottles away!

The second picture was sent to us by Siti Nabilah Binti Mohd. Yusof, a first year student of School of Mathematical Sciences. She even gathered the paper shred from her cutting. Way to go, Nabilah! Don't recycle the plastic bag together though! :-)

And last but not least, a picture from yours truly. Hahaha. This is a take out I ordered form McDonalds. They are made up from recyclable materials, so why don't YOU recycle them too if you order a take out from McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC and etc.

Thank you guys for sharing. The rest of you, send us your picture too! We would GREATLY appreciate it!

xxx

Entry 10 : What you should NOT recycle

Here is a list of items that most curbside recycling centers will not take:

1. Styrofoam and Packaging Supplies - It is best to reuse or donate these items.

2. Gift Wrapping Paper - This type of paper is of such poor quality that it is not accepted by recycling centers. Most paper that is coated in wax, aluminum, or plastic is not accepted because the recycling process is too expensive to be profitable.

3. Pizza Boxes and Take-Out Food Boxes - Whether it is cardboard, Styrofoam or plastic, these items are not accepted by recycling centers because the food can contaminate the recyclable materials. Also, wet or greasy cardboard can jam recycling machines so it is best to let the cardboard dry out before recycling and to protect it from rainfall while waiting for curbside pick-up (Source: RiverWired).

4. Plastic Credit Cards - Fake or real, these cannot be recycled due to the type of plastic the card is made out of.

5. Plastic Hangers - Not enough plastic hangers are being recycled for it to be profitable. It is best to reuse or donate any unwanted hangers (Source: Real Simple).

6. Mirrors - The chemicals in this type of glass cannot be mixed with glass bottles and jars. It is best to donate unused mirrors to your local thrift shop.

7. Mustard-Colored Envelopes - The dye in these envelopes is too difficult to remove for it to be recycled. This is an item that I had recycled for many months until I was notified at work that these envelopes are not accepted. Don't worry if you have recycled these though, the recycling centers can filter these of their system.

8. Shower Curtains and Liners - Most shower curtains and liners are made of PVC which is not accepted by recycling centers because when it is melted down it can contaminate the chemical makeup of the recycled material (Source: Real Simple).

9. Deodorant Sticks - The plastic dial on the bottom of the stick is not recyclable therefore recycling centers will not accept these items (Source: Real Simple).

10. Plastic Lids - These items are made of a different plastic than the rest of the bottle so they can not be recycled. Make sure to remove all lids from soda bottles, juice containers, milk cartons, and other food products and toss them.

11. Wipes and Sponges - Any type of cleaning cloth cannot be recycled because of the cleaning chemicals in the cloth.

12. Batteries and Car Parts - Even though your curbside recycling center might not accept these items; many other places will properly recycle or discard of them.

13. Broken Glass - There are obvious dangers for workers handling broken glass so it is not accepted.

14. Mobile Phones - Curbside recycling won't accept cell phones, but you always have the option of mailing the phone back to your cell phone company with the prepaid envelops the offer when you purchase a new phone.

15. Ink Cartridges - It is best to have these refilled; it not only saves the earth but saves you money.

Entry 9 : Some fun facts!

1. Every year nearly 900,000,000 trees are cut down to provide raw materials for American paper and  pulp mills.

2. Every year we generate around 14 million tons of food waste which is 106 pounds of food waste per person 570,000 tons of this is composted for a 4.1% recovery rate. The rest, or 13.4 million tons is incinerated or landfilled and occupies 6.3 million cubic yards of landfilled MSW.

3. Americans throw away about 28 billion bottles and jars every year.

4. Americans make more than 200 million tons of garbage each year, enough to fill Bush Stadium from top to bottom twice a day!

5. It takes a 15-year-old tree to produce 700 grocery bags.

6. Disposable diapers last centuries in landfills. An average baby will go through 8,000 of them!

7. Each year American throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups. Even 500 years from now, the foam coffee cup you used this morning will be sitting in a landfill.

8. In 1995, Americans recycled 9.5% of all plastic packaging, including 26% of all plastic bottles. Most of the plastic recycled is #1 PETE soda bottles and #2 HDPE milk bottles. Most of the #3 through 7 plastics are not easily recyclable.

9. In 1996 Americans recycled 21.6 million tons of corrugated cardboard for a 73% recovery rate in 1996 (industry data) By tonnage, corrugated boxes are the most recycled product in the waste stream. Corrugated boxes produced in the U.S contain 37% recycled content.

10. In 1998, 62.8% of the 102 billion aluminum cans produced were recycled. That totals 64 billion cans , 46 billion more than in 1991, Aluminum can recycling saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore. Energy savings in 1998 alone were enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for ten years.

11. The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) estimates that the 36 billion aluminum cans landfilled last year had a scrap value of more than $600 million. Over the past twenty years we've worth over $12 billion on today's market. Some day we may be mining our landfills for the resources we've buried.

12. There were 270 million scrap tires discarded in 1998, 84% of which were passenger car tires, 15% were from light and heavy trucks. These tires weigh 3.4 million tons. 177.5 million of these tires are being reused, mostly chipped and burnt for their high BTU content. Somewhere between 500 and 800 million scrap tires are in scrap tire piles across the US. Each passenger car tire contains 7 gallons of oil.

13. 98% of lead acid or car batteries are being recycled. Also a large number of rechargeable Ni-Cd batteries are being recycled. You can usually take these batteries back to where you bought them for recycling too.

Credit to http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/solidwasterecyclingfacts.htm for their informations :)

Entry 8: Send us your pictures!

If you guys have any pictures of recyclable materials that you gather before you recycle them all together, please, send us the picture by tweeting the picture to us or by simply commenting in any of our post. We would love to share your efforts to recycle with other readers :-)

This is our twitter address https://twitter.com/#!/recycleUSM

Share guys! After all sharing is caring.

Click click away! :-)

Entry 7: Sustainable Campus

What is a sustainable campus?

The university is seen as a microcosm of the local and global community. In the campus, social relationships thrive in the population, there are governing structures, resources are consume and waste generated, and economic activities and transactions take place. More significantly, the university is a place where knowledge is created and transferred and ideas and creative solutions take root.The campus is a fertile ground where the seeds of social change are sowed amongst the campus, local  and global  communities. Cultivating better and more informed decision making is crucial to the achievement of sustainability.

     

A sustainable campus is not only the protection of the local ecosystem. One framework visualizes the ecosystem enveloping and supporting the people within the campus community. Both subsystems must be mutually supportive for the entire system to be healthy.  Each of the subsystem has five major issues which must be monitored and assessed to achieve campus sustainability. The ecosystem comprises air, water, land, materials and energy while the people system is made up of knowledge, community, health and well-being, governance and economy and wealth. In operational terms campus sustainability must  involve three major  activities, namely, administration (or operations), education (or academic departments) and research. It must also extend its reach to the local community. 

The administration’s actions have major impact on sustainability through appropriate design, repair, maintenance and renovation of  buildings, landscaping, procurement policies, waste management, energy management, transportation policies, health services and lodging, food and catering services.  Education is the key to change unsustainable lifestyles. Students and staff must be provided with learning opportunities in the real world environment to integrate knowledge and concepts of sustainability to local practices and applications.  Research at the university in the areas of ecology, environmental issues, green design, ethics, culture, food production and so on will contribute to short and long-term impacts. 

The local community including alumni, the business community,  utility suppliers, transportation providers, vendors, community organisations, and local chapters of professional associations can contribute  towards campus sustainability by providing expertise and support.  In turn, outreach programmes by the university will extend sustainability to the local community

Source: http://redac.eng.usm.my/html/USWM/SUDS/KampusSejahtera-Lestari-2007.pdf

Entry 6: The Recycling Loop

What Is The Recycling Loop?

The three symbols is actually stands for the three steps in recycling process.

1st step : Collection of the recyclable materials through curbside or other kinds of collection facilities.

 2nd step : Taking the old materials and making it into new products. 

3rd step : Buy products made from materials taken from products that you would have thrown away. 

Entry 5: What Will Happen If We Don't Recycle?

So, just want to share this lovely article on what will happen if we don't recycle with our dear readers.
One little effort, even one plastic bottle recycled, can make a change for the future. Do your part in saving the mother Earth :-)

Landfills

The landfills are filling up fast. Most of them are getting full and closing down.  In New York, 14 sites have closed in the past 10 years. All of Seattle's sites will soon be full. We're running out of space to put all the trash. Some of the hazardous waste in landfills gets into the groundwater and pollutes it. When common garbage is burned, it can release dangerous gases into the air. Each year Americans throw away 1.6 billion pens, 2 billion razors and blades and 220 million tires. They discard enough aluminum to rebuild the entire U.S. commercial airline fleet.

Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect keeps the earth warm when functioning normally. For the first time in history, human activities are altering the climate of our entire planet. In less than 2 centuries, humans have increased the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 25% from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests. Almost 20 years after the clean air act passed, millions of Americans still breathe dirty air. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over seventy six million people live in areas where the clean air standard is exceeded.

Ozone

Ozone, the primary component of smog, is a gas formed when nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons combine in sunlight. In the atmosphere, ozone occurs naturally as a thin layer that protects us from the sun's ultraviolet rays. But when it's formed at ground level, it's deadly. Lung damage from ozone polluted air is a risk faced by roughly 3 out of 5 Americans. Ozone smog is responsible for extensive damage to pines in California and in the Eastern United States. It's also to blame for crop losses in many agricultural states. As ozone diminishes in the upper atmosphere, the earth receives more ultraviolet radiation which depresses the human immune system. It will affect the well being of every person on the planet.

Hazardous Waste

Advanced nations manufacture some 70,000 different chemicals, most of which have not been thoroughly tested. Careless use and disposal of these substances contaminate our food, water, and air. We enjoy the convenience of such chemically derived products as plastics, detergents, and aerosols and yet we are often unaware of the hidden price tag associated with them. Eventually they find their way into water and/or the ground via landfills and drains.

Groundwater

Because we have not understood groundwater, and how vulnerable it is, we have been careless. Gasoline and other harmful liquids have been allowed to leak from underground storage tanks into the groundwater supply. Pollutants seep from poorly constructed landfills. Groundwater is polluted by runoff from fertilized fields and industrial areas. Homeowners contribute by dumping household chemicals down the drain or on the ground.

Plastic

No one really knows how much plastic is fouling the oceans, but a recent report estimated that up to 350 million pounds of packaging and fishing gear may be lost or dumped by fisherman and sailors each year. Millions of pounds more may come from individuals, private boats, and factories.

Pollutants

Sulfur and nitrogen oxide pollutants released by coal burning electric power plants or motor vehicles are spewed into the atmosphere. There they are changed chemically and they fall back to earth as acid rain or snow. This destroys plant and animal life in streams, damages forests, and even erodes buildings.  Every day people move into places on the planet where only plants and animals used to live. Forests are cut down. Wetlands, oceans, ice caps, and prairies are invaded.

Thanks to: http://www.squidoo.com/recycle-pollution#module88088151 for the lovely article.