Promote recycling, composting, and waste reduction
These past four months, we have discussed ways in which we can wisely use our resources so Blacksburg can be a sustainable, special place. Sustainability assumes that resources are finite and must be used wisely in order to meet our needs while making sure future generations can meet their own needs. This includes decreasing our …
We have talked a lot about the need for a circular economy that keeps returning items, or the materials from which they’re manufactured, to the system to be used again and again, instead of the mostly linear economy we currently have in which items are manufactured, used and then disposed of. One of the key …
Week 18 Recap: Reuse or Repair Something You Already Have Instead of Buying New Read More »
By now, hopefully it’s pretty obvious that a major component of sustainability includes careful consideration of our purchases and making sure we get the maximum life out of the “things” we use. We’ve talked about sustainable gift-giving, buying smarter, reducing our use of single-use plastics, choosing reusables, buying secondhand items, and donating items so others …
Week 18: Reuse or Repair Something You Already Have Instead of Buying New Read More »
To truly break away from the take-make-waste cycle we need to put things we no longer need or want back into the cycle so others can use them. Continuing to just pile up stuff in our houses makes it more likely it will end up in the landfill as it becomes outdated, obsolete, or maybe …
Week 17 Recap: Donate or Give away Something You No Longer Need Read More »
Last week we talked about using secondhand sources for items new to you. This week we’re going to now talk about the other side of the equation – Donating or Giving Away Something You No Longer Need. To truly break away from the take-make-waste cycle we need to put things we no longer need or …
Week 17: Donate or Give Away Something You No Longer Need Read More »
If you attended our June Lunch and Learn program, you heard our Vice President Viverjita Umashankar talk about our current linear economy and how we need to convert to a circular economy. Putting so many resources into products that just end up in the landfill, often after only one use, is not sustainable. This week …
Week 16 Recap: Use Secondhand Sources for Items New to You Read More »
Every thing we use and throw away has an impact on the planet. Unfortunately, once we are done with something it doesn’t disappear – it has to go somewhere. Too often, that somewhere is our trash can. This take-make-waste (or Linear) way of living is not sustainable and doing irreparable damage to our environment. This …
Week 16: Use Secondhand Sources for Items New to You Read More »
As we look to implement last week’s action to reduce single-use plastic, we talked more this week about how to accomplish that by choosing reusables to replace them. Most of our current “throw-away” lifestyle started as recently as the 1950s when the plastics and chemical industries sold the American public on the convenience of single-use …
Last week’s discussion about reducing our reliance on single-use plastic was a great introduction to this week’s action – Choose Reusables. Decreasing (or eliminating) our use of plastic is a wonderful goal, but for it to be manageable, we need to find other options to use instead. And we have to remember that plastic isn’t …
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that only about 9% of plastics get recycled. The rest end up in the landfill…or the ocean and other waterways…or littering the landscape. We thought this was the perfect week to talk about reducing single-use plastic because July is here and that means it’s Plastic Free July! Plastic Free …
