Waste and recycling

It started with a guilt trip.

As is the custom these days, when digital-media strategist Toby Daniels sets up meetings, he goes out for coffee. When he would meet with Graham Hill, the founder of TreeHugger.com, Hill would bring along one of his side projects--a ceramic coffee cup in the manner of an old, diner-style paper cup, which he sells at WeAreHappyToServeYou.com.

"Every time I used to meet Graham, he used to bring me one of these ceramic coffee cups sort of as a way to suggest I shouldn't be drinking my coffee out of a … Read more

Metal recycling is the sleeper growth industry in green tech.

Specialty metals, such as lithium and indium, and rare-earth elements, such as neodymium, are required for production of many green-technology products, including batteries for hybrid cars, LED lights, fuel cells, and solar panels.

But to ensure future supply of these resources, recycling rates needed to increase substantially, according to a report from the United Nations Environment Program. Preliminary findings were issued Thursday, with a full report planned for later this year.

The recycling rates for specialty metals are only about 1 percent, according to a U.N. panel on metals … Read more

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico in conjunction with Chevron is breaking ground Thursday on a 1-megawatt solar farm on land owned by Chevron Mining near Questa, N.M.

The concentrator photovoltaic systems (CPVs) are being provided by Concentrix Solar. The solar farm, which was originally announced in February, will provide power to the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative through a power purchase agreement it signed with Chevron. Kit Carson is an electricity cooperative that supplies power to rural New Mexico communities in Taos, Colfax, and Rio Arriba counties. The solar farm is scheduled to be up and running by the … Read more

Can older incontinent people be a source of new energy? Absolutely, says Japanese automation firm Super Faiths. In a society where elder care is a growth industry, the company has developed a series of recycling machines that turn used diapers--a bulk of them the adult variety--into fuel for biomass boilers and stoves.

We've seen machines that recycle office reports into toilet paper. Well, Super Faith's SFD Recycle System machines address the malodorous problem of tons of used diapers from hospitals and nursing homes going into landfills or being incinerated as waste.

The machines automatically shred, dry, and sterilize … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--With its sleek architectural lines, extensive acoustic setup, and cultured patrons in fancy garb, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall is generally considered an elegant place. On May 9, however, the stage at the home of the San Francisco Symphony will be covered in garbage.

Sewer pipes, deck railings, dresser drawers, bike wheels, saws, bathroom fixtures, and bird cages. Symphony musicians will bang, clang, tap, and thump on these and other bits of detritus as they perform Junkestra, a composition played with 30-plus percussive instruments made entirely of objects scavenged at the San Francisco Dump.

Davies "is definitely not used to seeing garbage onstage," says Nathaniel Stookey, the composer of Junkestra. "It doesn't go with the velvet seats."

Then again, musically savvy audience members expecting to hear something akin to toddlers beating pots and pans may come away surprised--Junkestra's odd acoustic mix sounds way more world music than garbage music. (Listen to the third movement in the audio player at right).

"I had no idea when I started writing this piece how beautiful the instruments could sound...I was very surprised by how rich the palette was," Stookey says. "It's really not just a bunch of banging. It sounds like an orchestra. It just sounds like a very strange, exotic orchestra."

Stookey composed Junkestra in 2007 while participating in an artist-in-residence program sponsored by San Francisco waste management company Recology. He collected his sonorous stash by heading onto city trash piles in a helmet, safety goggles, gloves, and steel-shank boots and, amid giant moving tractors, testing the musical potential of discarded objects. He then placed his findings in a shopping cart, which he pushed down city streets back to his studio.

The 12-minute Junkestra, which is always performed with the same assemblage of instruments, has drawn listeners to San Francisco warehouses and public squares, and in 2008 helped mark the opening of the redesigned California Academy of Sciences building in the city's Golden Gate Park. At its May 9 Davies debut (PDF), the audience will hear Stravinsky's Octet for Wind Instruments, Prokofiev's String Quartet No. 2, and Ravel's Piano Trio alongside the strains of pans and oil drums.

The May performance will also mark the official release of a new Innova Records Junkestra CD conducted by Benjamin Shwartz and performed by members of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. The CD includes all three movements of Junkestra, plus a dance remix written by Stookey. … Read more

Ford Motor announced Wednesday that 85 percent (by weight) of each Ford vehicle made now is recyclable.

Apparently, CEO Bill Ford's misspent youth carousing with "known and suspected environmentalists" back in the day has paid off. And it seems to be the little things that count, according to Ford Motor.

In addition to the usual car parts that have been recycled for years, Ford has also been adding sustainable raw materials or recycled materials for components in select cars.

Ford's use of components like splash shields and engine covers made from post-consumer recycled plastics has prevented an estimated 25 million to 30 million pounds of plastic from going into landfills, according to company statistics.

The 2010 Ford Taurus, for example, will be the 11th Ford vehicle to have seat cushions, seatbacks, and headrests made from soy and biomass-based foam. Ford-produced vehicles that already have this include: the Ford Mustang, F-150, Focus, Flex, Escape, Expedition, Econoline, Mercury Mariner, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln Navigator.… Read more

Microsoft announced Wednesday its joining Dell and Goodwill Industries International in their ongoing recycling program.

Goodwill, in addition to being a used clothing and furniture repository and store, is also a place where people can drop off their old electronics.

Through a program started in partnership with Dell in 2004 called Reconnect, participating Goodwill centers allow people to drop off their used computers and related peripherals to be recycled for free.

You can now add Microsoft products like Zunes and Xboxes to the list of electronic items Goodwill accepts.

The program is not completely convenient as there are many states … Read more

This may very well be the beginning of the end for the paper game manuals found in console games. Game publisher and developer Ubisoft on Monday announced that it would no longer be shipping them in its future console titles on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

In their place will be an in-game manual that provides the same types of information about controls, game credits, and other legal information. This is the same kind of offering Ubisoft's been doing with its PC games since last month. According to the company, the first console title to feature such a … Read more

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.--Wal-Mart Stores pushed forward with a risky sustainability initiative at a time when its public image was suffering. But ultimately the company's rationale for "going green" was purely economic, according to former CEO Lee Scott.

Over the past five years, Wal-Mart has put in place a number of initiatives including renewable energy at stores, reducing waste in packaging, and creating a sustainability index of its suppliers. Its actions have raised suspicions and admiration from outsiders, politicians, and employees.

But the effort has endured because the motivation was purely economic, said Scott, who was the … Read more