Askthefm's Weblog » Recycling

Ghost Towns and Abandoned Places around the World

askthefm — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:48:41 +0000

Looking over my post statistics for this blog I am surprised to find that one of my most popular posts has to do with “Ghost Towns – Past, Present or Future?“. So I spent a little time this morning looking into other sites that delve into this obviously popular subject.

I am surprised at the shear number of sites to be found by simply typing in “abandoned places” into Google.com. Here are a few of the ones I like best. First is the Abandoned Places Blog (http://community.livejournal.com/abandonedplaces) a fairly comprehensive resource on the subject. Of course the main draw of these sites are the photos to be found there.

Next we have Abandoned-Places.com (http://www.abandoned-places.com/). The interface is a little confusing and hard to use, buy the pictures and attached stories are worth the effort.

From the DIRJournal (http://www.dirjournal.com/info/abandoned-places-in-the-world/) there is a wonderful article about abandoned places in the world. It has some of the better pictures from a number of sites and is a good starting summary of the topic.

I also found a pretty good post in the Atom Community (http://community.atom.com/Post/The-Six-Creepiest-Abandoned-Places/03EFBFFFF0182C7B8000800BC1459) in an attempt to define the 6 creepiest places in the world. This is a pretty daunting challenge for anyone, but you will just have to make your own judgment on whether you agree with the list.

Excerpt : “This is Gunkanjima, Japan, also known as “Battleship Island.” It once had the densest population in the entire world: 1.4 people per square meter. Do you realize how insane that is? Let me put it this way: If you were a fat guy on Battleship Island, there would technically be another person partially inside of you, like the aftermath of some horrifying teleporter accident.“

Lastly today I would like to point you to the WebUrbanist site that does a fabulous job in showcasing all sort of interesting architecture. I have two links to give you here:

1. 100 + Abandoned cities, towns, building and property (http://weburbanist.com/abandoned-buildings-towns-and-cities/).

2. Abandonment in action (http://weburbanist.com/2009/08/13/8_cities_abandonment_deserted_modern/) which showcases several still inhabited places that look to become a future abandoned places feature.

As always I thank you for your time and interest. Please take the time to Digg, Stumble Upon or add to the other social network of your choice to help me spread the word about these issues. Please forward any questions or suggestions to: askthefm@gmail.com

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Building Technology Update for July 1, 2009

askthefm — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:38:22 +0000

I have a very wide ranging collection of technological improvements for you tonight, everything from new materials for sidewalks to new safety equipment to help you find your way out in a fire!

On the recycle and reuse front we have a couple of items that help divert waste from our landfills. The first is Rubber sidewalks (http://www.rubbersidewalks.com/rubbersidewalkskeepstrees.asp) where this product reuses a discarded tire for every 1 square foot of product! Imagine a sidewalk you could remove and reinstall in a single day to fix sewer problems, not to mention the injury savings from not having raised areas by tree roots.

The next item along this same tack is a roofing single product made from recycled palstic and rubber. The article on Cleantechnica (http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/28/roof-shingles-made-from-recycled-plastic-and-rubber/) speaks of the product Enviroshake that is very durable but at a significant price point increase. Still it may be worthwhile if you are in need of some LEED ponts.

Another old is new technology is a design we all may be needing as our climate heats up is the second roof as is shown in this great post on Green Building Elements (http://greenbuildingelements.com/2009/06/25/a-roof-designed-for-our-hotter-future/). This scenario presents a low tech very sutainable solution for making your house much more efficient in all types of climate situations.

One of the neatest items I have seen lately is this Halo light concept. It would provide a ring of light in a smokey environment providing much better direction and visibility in an emergency situation. The story is here on DVICE (http://dvice.com/archives/2008/10/halo_light_cuts.php).

Lastly we have a solar plus LED parking lot light solution from Visiable Light Solar. The story on Treehugger (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/visible-light-solar-combines-solar-with-leds-for-big-savings.php) makes a great point that these very functional applications of exterior lighting makes great sense from a return on investment perspective.

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Killing the Junk Mail Habit

askthefm — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:42:56 +0000

Nothing bothers me so much as the piles of wasted paper that arrive at my home and office, advertisements that never get read or are useful for anything more than being used in any of the myriad ways we use newspaper after we have read it. It usually isn’t even good for those things and simply goes straight into the recycle bag.

Well we have some good news for those of you with post office boxes, the US Postal Service is expanding their lobby recycling program so you can responsibly dispose of that direct, or “junk” mail easily and quickly. The story can be found at Earth911 (http://earth911.com/blog/2009/03/26/usps-expands-lobby-recycling-program/).

Of course you can go a step farther and get yourself and your office off of some of these mailing lists at https://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/ or at the NRDC’s site, Catalog Choice (http://www.catalogchoice.org/).

There is even a new service where you can sign up for a virtual email box that is tied to your actual address called Zumbox (http://beta.zumbox.com/).

Excerpt:” Zumbox delivers paperless mail online – from street address to street address. What used to only be sent as paper mail can now be sent without the paper. How? We’ve created a nationwide paperless postal system with a Zumbox for every street address in the United States, including yours.“

This new service hopes to convince advertisers and other businesses to use its service for a more convenient and targeted approach although it would certainly be possible for folks to receive their utility bills and the like through the service. It is free to claim your address’s box and I would recommend it to make sure no one does for some illicit purpose!

I have even started to convert my trade journals to the electronic versions wherever possible. My goal is to reduce the paper that I must recycle by 50% by the end of the year. I have found that a well designed electronic version of a magazine is actually easier to read in some ways than the paper versions. I can carry them around with me on my Sony eBook reader meaning that my briefcase is lighter and that they are more likely to actually get looked at!

I am interested if any of you have additional strategies to help on my quest so let me know!

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Recycling News for Feb. 16 2009 – Good and Bad

askthefm — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:31:42 +0000

A recycling program as well as a conscientious effort to recycle less traditional items is at the center of most folk’s minds who manage or own buildings of any size not just around the home.

So it is interesting and little disheartening to hear that recycling is taking a hit in these hard economic times. In an article on Earth2Tech.com (http://earth2tech.com/2009/02/13/recycling-slump-eats-into-waste-managements-sales/) shares how Waste Management’s profits from recycling have gone down as a result of the times. This is of course because in part that the market for the recycled material is depressed as well. A large part of that market, recycled paper is affected simply because of a lack of need for packaging material. If we aren’t buying there is no or at least less need to package new items. This is worrying because if a significant number of the companies in this market either pull back or go under a great deal of capacity will disappear and have to be rebuilt when times start to get better, setting back the gains already made.

One of the most difficult task a facility manager faces is what to do with old furniture. Often it is simply hauled to the dump as that is the most economical alternative. Well Steelcase has a new program where it will help get that used and still usable furniture into the hands of non-profits who need it. The story on Environmental leader (http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/02/13/steelcase-helps-companies-donate-of-old-furniture/) states that this program is in partnership with the Institutional Recycling Network (http://www.ir-network.com/).

Excerpt: “The furniture can be recycled, sold, or donated, to another organization, which minimizes the amount sent to landfill. When Notre Dame moved its Law School in January, the university donated 1600 pieces of furniture to Food for the Poor, a charitable organization in Jamaica and Haiti. While it cost $14,000 to have IRN recycle it, it would have cost $20,000 to send it to landfill.“

Lastly today we have the story of Herman Miller’s Aeron Chair having achieved cradle to cradle status. The story on Geenopolis (http://greenopolis.com/media/headlines/herman-millers-iconic-aeron-chair-goes-cradle-cradle) is very complete. This certification really means that the item is designed in such a way to make it easily recycleable as well as durable in the first place.

Excerpt: “After three years of work, the Aeron has achieved C2C Silver certification from McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, adding to Herman Miller’s roster of C2C products and pushing it further down the path to eventually selling only products designed with the environment in mind.

“We’ve gone back over the last year and a half to re-engineer the arm pads as well as re-engineer a number of other components,” said Scott Charon, program manager for Herman Miller’s Design for the Environment team.“

The details on the certification and process can be found here: (http://www.c2ccertified.com/).

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HVAC Filters made from recycled materials

askthefm — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:41:45 +0000

An interesting product has come out from Alen Corporation, an air filter for your HVAC units made from 100% recycled materials. On the face of it this seems like a no brainier as long as the filters actually work and aren’t cost prohibitive.

I initially found the story on Ecofriend (http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/eco-gadgets-alen-corp-debuts-home-air-filter-made-from-recycled-plastic-bottles/) and the article while interesting is a little short on the details of the product.

For a product evaluation we need to go to the manufacturer’s website’s product page (http://www.alencorp.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=55) where we find that the overall performance is pretty good, certainly at the high end for performance and that the price point isn’t excessive. I am a long time asthma sufferer and currently use a power electro-static filter in my HVAC systems, but I may give these a try as they would give equivalent performance without the electricity cost.

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Unusual Building Materials for Feb. 8, 2009

askthefm — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:12:08 +0000

I am always on the look out for interesting and innovative materials to consider for projects and I have a couple tonight for your consideration.

The first on the serious side of this discussion is Bio-Glass by CoveringsETC. Via a story on Treehugger.com (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/bio-glass-made-from-recycled-glass.php) comes this interesting material made from 100% recycled glass. Apparently each color comes from a different waste stream, quite an interesting idea and one that bears watching. The actual company website (http://coveringsetc.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=21) is a little sparse and I hope that more marketing materials go up that expand the story.

On the less serious side comes a story also on Treehugger.com (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/15000-corks-reused-wine-store-decor.php) that is an oldie but goodie. The reuse of approximately 15,000 corks as wall covering in, what else a wine store! I agree that this ia a great reuse project.

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CFL’s dead in 2 years? Long live LED bulbs!

askthefm — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:03:20 +0000

It looks like the battle between compact fluorescent and LED bulbs is going in favor of the challenger and that the CFL’s will be at the end of their usefulness in about 2 years.

Both on Cleantechnica (http://cleantechnica.com/2009/01/29/new-3-led-bulb-lasts-60-years/) and Ecofriend (http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/eco-gadgets-newly-developed-led-bulbs-take-efficiency-to-a-whole-new-level/) there is a story about a greatly more efficient LED bulb being developed athe University of Cambridge.

The origianl story is here on the Daily Mail site (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1131183/Scientists-invent-2-bulb-60-years–theyre-greener-eco-bulbs.html?ITO=1490).

Excerpt: “Even better, the bulbs fully illuminate instantly, unlike the current generation of eco-bulbs.

It is reckoned the bulbs, which were funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, could slash household lighting bills by three-quarters.

If installed in every home and office, they could cut the proportion of electricity used for lights from 20 per cent to 5 per cent a year. As well as lasting 100,000 hours, ten times as long as today’s eco-bulbs, the LED bulbs do not contain mercury, so disposal is less damaging to the environment, and they do not flicker – a problem that has been blamed for migraines and epileptic fits.“

Sounds wonderful and I hope that they get to market sooner than the 2 years they mention in the article!

Until then and while we change over to the new wonderful LED bulbs you will need to recycle your old CFL’s right? Well here comes word via Ecogeek about a new recycling program (http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2519/). I imagine that my local Whole Foods will be partipating soon.

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Recycling News for Jan. 28, 2009

askthefm — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:07:54 +0000

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle is the mantra for today for not only is it the right thing to do environmentally it makes dollars and cents!

The topic of recycling is especially important to those of us who manage buildings as it can make or break our budget as well as improve morale and the company image. The hardest process to undertake is that of green procurement due to the potential for green washing and actual increased cost as hard is that is for me to believe. “Green” and recycled content product often command a premium in the market and although this is becoming less common it is still something to be careful of.

The Ecopreneurist website (http://ecopreneurist.com/2009/01/28/7-basics-of-green-procurement/) has a good primer on the subject and it has convinced me to try again!

Another often wasteful but necessary event that could use some greening is the act of moving. You know all of that packing material and boxes that should be reused but aren’t? Well according to a New York Times article via Environmental Leader (http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/01/27/movers-becoming-more-eco-friendly/) movers are cashing in on the our green desire. From websites listing eco-friendly movers to the use of reusable plastic crates instead of boxes it looks like the revolution has come to this industry, at least is some beginning ways.

Next we visit the dark side of recycling where the EPA has raided a company called Executive Recycling that has been accused of illegal e-wast dumping. We have all heard the rash of news stories of how our e-waste here in the developed world is shipped to the third world where it is salvaged under horrific and dangerous conditions that not only hurt the folks employed but create new contaminated areas. Not a very “green” process is it? Well we have a story again via Environmental Leader about this particilar situation (http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/01/27/epa-raids-corporation-suspected-of-illegal-e-waste-dumping/) and I for one hope if they are guilty that they are made an example of to begin to end this shameful practice.

Now on the more practical side I know that I have wondered what recycling bins to purchase for my facilities from the wide array that are available. Well we have the answer in the form of a study conducted by Sean Duffy, an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers.

He researched on what makes people recycle and accoding to him: (excerpt from Treehugger.com http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/recycling-bins-34-more-effective-when-they-have-holes.php):

“People fail to recycle for a number of reasons, including misinformation and forgetfulness; however, it is also a design problem. My coauthor Michelle Verges and I were talking over the phone about why everyone says they recycle, but if you look around, there is a lot of recyclable material in trash cans. We then went around looking through different kinds of recycling bins and trash cans, examining their contents. We began noticing a pattern: Regardless of the receptacle’s label, recycling bins with little holes in the lids contained recyclables and almost nothing else, while those that lacked those holes were basically used as trash cans. So we carried out a study having recycling bins in one building either with or without the hole, and found that the presence of the hole increased the recycling rate by 34%, which is an enormous increase.“

Imagine that, we simply better design them to fit the function and viola! I’m convinced.

Lastly we have a story on an amazing reuse of production by-products and manufacuring waste by tweaking the whiskey making process! It doubly appropriate in the whiskey translates as “water of life” in gaelic and that the process is being used to also generate renewable energy!

Via Earth First (http://earthfirst.com/scotland-makes-fuel-from-whisky/):

“Called GreenSwitch, the modular CHP unit will employ biomass made from byproducts of the distilling process and sustainably-harvested wood chips. Right next door, the GreenFields plant will turn a liquid byproduct [sic] called pot ale, into a concentrated organic fertilizer.This £34 million project will take 18-24 months to ferment, at which point the GreenSwitch plant will produce 7.2 megawatts of electricity [sic], enough to power 9,000 homes. Although still in the planning stages, the venture already won the Best Environmental Initiative Award from the Scottish Green Energy Awards last December.“

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Compact Fluorescents – Making the right choice

askthefm — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:34:20 +0000

I found a great article about choosing the right one of these bulbs for your use taking into account location and application.

There is a summary at SuperEco (http://www.supereco.com/news/2009/01/26/which-compact-fluorescent-bulb-is-right-for-you/) and the main article is at the Energy Star website: (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls_shapes).

However as the article mentions you should really consider the location of these bulbs before installing. I have several location in my house where a spiral bulb would be a mistake, such as track lighting in my stairway.

Also in outdoor locations it is better to buy the CFL’s that look like a conventional bulb in that they are enclosed. The main reason, at least for me is that the regular bulbs always become spider or other vermin nests, bu the additional protections seems to allow for a slightly longer life.

Lastly keep in mind that a CFL may not be the best application and you may want to spend some extra money on a LED bulb or a CFL that can be dimmed. All in all I can see that when the mandates to eliminate the incandescent bulbs become law I am sure I won’t have a single one left and so won’t care except from a historical viewpoint.

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Unusual Building Materials for November 2008

askthefm — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:43:33 +0000

I stumbled across a new slant on recycled building materials tonight, papercrete. It’s not exactly what you might think from the name except that is does utilize recycled paper.

At its core this is just another type of adobe construction and you should consult your local building codes before thinking of using this. I know that where I live (Southern California) the rules are pretty draconian when adobe is involved on a historical restoration so the cost may actually come close to prohibitive.

However there is quite a number of groups, comapnies and individuals that this type of construction is the way to go. The first is papercrete.com (http://www.papercrete.com/) which is just a sale site for some books and videos on the subject.

Next is Livingpaper.org (http://www.livinginpaper.org/) that has numerous articles on how to and where to etc. Of course it also market the organization’s seminars showing you how to do this yourself.

Excerpt: ” In the United States, we discard enough paper each year to build a wall 48 feet high around the entire perimeter of the country. Even though about 45 percent of discarded paper is recycled annually, 55 percent or 48 million tons of paper is thrown away or goes into the landfills. Figuring conservatively, it takes about fifteen trees to make a ton of paper.“

Green Home Building’s site has the most extensive set of links and articles on the subject (http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/papercrete.htm).

Lastly as a disclaimer as well as a caution here is the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papercrete

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