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Why California Recycled 80% of Glass and the Rest of the U.S. 30%

November 21, 2008 – 2:08 pm

article originally published in The Daily Green
Why California Recycled 80% of Glass and the Rest of the U.S. 30%
Evidence that Nickle and Dime Deposits Work

By Dan Shapley

California is on pace to recycle nearly 80% of the glass introduced into commerce in 2008, according to the latest statistics — up from 71% in 2007.

Meanwhile, while the U.S. rate of glass recycling is increasing — to 28% in 2007 from 25% — it lags far behind the rate in California.

Why?

According to the Glass Packaging Institute, the industry group for glass container makers, it all has to do with those nickle and dime deposits some states place on glass containers. (That, and targeted initiatives in some states, like Colorado and North Carolina, to require bars and restaurants to do a better job recycling their customer’s detritus.)

Evidence: glass beer and soft drink bottles, which are the most likely to have bottle deposits, were recycled nationally at a rate of 34.5% in 2007 (up from 30.7% in 2006). The rate of recycling for wine and liquor bottles, meanwhile, remained flat at 15%.

The figures also reinforce the notion that bottle deposits on additional beverage categories would make a world of difference in increasing recycling rates, and decreasing landfill clogging. Most beverage deposit laws were passed in the 1970s when carbonated beverages — beer and soda — dominated the industry. Now, bottled water, iced tea, energy drinks and other non-carbonated beverages are major players, but customers buying them aren’t charged a deposit, and so are given no incentive to redeem them for cash when they’ve finished drinking them.

In some states, like in New York, expansions of the bottle bill have been held up for year by political bickering and lobbying by various factions of the beverage and grocery industries. Reports like these remind us why that lobbying has to be defeated by common sense. There’s no reason all glass can’t be recycled, or why plastic beverage containers of all stripes shouldn’t be given a second life … and a third and fourth and …

About GPI The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) is the trade association representing the North American glass container industry. Through GPI, glass container manufacturers speak with one voice to advocate industry standards, promote sound environmental policies and educate packaging professionals. For more information, visit http://www.gpi.org.

Related links from The Daily Green

33 Amazing Items Made from Recycled Materials
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/recycled-gifts

What Do Recycling Symbols on Plastics Mean?
http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/recycling-symbols-plastics-460321

100+ Green Gift Ideas
http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/green-gifts

20+ Ways to Give Without Giving “Stuff”
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/best-green-gifts

One-of-a-Kind Uncle Sam Sculpture Made from Cardboard
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/community-news/
cardboard-uncle-sam-55111805

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Green
Copyright © 2008 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Being Green

Guest author articles presented on Being of Life — the Blog are protected by copyright laws. Article used with permission from the respective author. Please contact the respective author for reprint rights.

By Steven Barrymore | Posted in motivation, Reading Room | Tagged california recycling, conservation, dan shapley, economy, environment, glass packaging institute, glass recycling, recycle, TDG Community, the daily green | Comments (0)

45th Anniversary John F. Kennedy (JFK) Nov. 22, 1963 – 2008

October 20, 2008 – 2:41 pm

45th Anniversary John F. Kennedy (JFK) Nov. 22, 1963 – 2008

November 22, 2008 will mark the 45th year since the loss of our thirty-fifth President – John F. Kennedy – a war hero, civil rights advocate, a leader in the commitment to the space program. November 22, 1963 John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

To commemorate the 45th Anniversary of JFK – a tribute bumper sticker is now available.

CLICK – 45th Anniversary John F. Kennedy

By Steven Barrymore | Posted in life, Reading Room | Tagged 1963, 35th president, 45th anniversary, assassination, civil rights, dallas texas, JFK, john kennedy, Nov 22, sam pate, space program, war hero | Comments (2)

Brother Can You Spare $700 Billion?

September 27, 2008 – 9:22 pm

September 27, 2008
Brother Can You Spare $700 Billion?
written by Steven Barrymore

My friend and I were discussing America’s economic issues while watching the first 2008 presidential debate between Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama, and he asked me if I thought that America is still a world power. I thought for a moment and answered with, “No”.

I am a child of the cold war, atom bomb and the duck and cover games we played at school when the disaster siren sounded, or if we saw the flash of a nuclear detonation. As if hiding under a desk at school was going to protect from a nuclear blast. Our government thought this best for our safety.

During these times, America was a world power. In technology, war making and the economy. We were strong because we had what other nations in the world did not have. But times and the globalization of resources and technology have changed that. Nations have come so inter-dependent on one another.

Go ahead, and cut a check for $700 billion if this action will booster the economy. But don’t cut that check unless you can explain where our money is going, and what it will be used for. We have a right to know!

The advantage I believe that America has over all the other nations is our resolve. Our resilience in bouncing back after adverse situations. The American people go through hard times, yet have the ability to get past the difficulties and move on with their lives. We as Americans are a world power in that regard.

Brother Can Your Spare a Dime?

Do you know someone in need during these difficult times? Can you spare a bag of groceries? Can you buy someone in need a $20.00 gas card? How can you show them that you care? Just as we are inter-dependent as nations, we are inter-dependent in our communities. We can help each other.

Copyright 2008 Steven Barrymore. Being of Life — the Blog. All rights reserved worldwide. This article and /or pictures may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission from the author Steven Barrymore. View the magical photographic print collection from Steven Barrymore at Images Magical http://www.imagesmagical.com/

By Steven Barrymore | Posted in Reading Room | Tagged 700 billion, brother can your spare 700 billion, budget, economy, world power | Comments (1)

I Think — So I Say

August 10, 2008 – 2:07 pm

August 10, 2008
I Think — So I Say
written by Steven Barrymore

I was thinking about the mental and emotional path that is followed in life. A winding path of thoughts and feelings that take us down a road of responses and experiences. I think so I say. I think so I am.

From the moment we are born. Our parents and the society around us program our thinking. They are our culture, and culture is shaping our lives. Visual, Auditory and Tactile experiences program our relationship to the world around us. The sensory experiences of Seeing, Hearing and Touching send training messages to our brains.

I Think So I Am

These messages wire the connections in our brains programming how we think and what feelings we associate with those thoughts in our body. Depending upon this programming, life can be thought and felt as a pleasant experience, or an awful experience.

Is a deaf or blind person immune from this programming? I would think not. Life is based on the totality of the experience. A loving touch or a slap on the hand defines our relationship to that experience. Our sensory input defines our lives.

Sensory Deprivation

During the 1970′s American psychologist Harry Harlow [1] performed experiments on baby rhesus monkeys. These baby monkeys were placed in isolation boxes soon after birth and kept there for various amounts of time ranging from 30-days to a year. The general findings after these time periods elapsed was that the isolated monkeys became socially withdrawn, showed signs of depression and were unable to interact successfully with other rhesus monkeys.

Social programming experiences early on in life are beneficial in preparing for our integration into the world around us. Yet it is this social programming that we received that determines how we interact with our world and, importantly, how we view ourselves as individuals within our world.

I Think — So I Am

You are older. Your programming is pretty much complete at the base level for your integration into the culture. You have learned about the good and bad things in life as defined by culture. You have become socially acceptable at home, work and in the world around you. You are a citizen of life.

But you are not happy. Your programming has left you with thinking that is self-demeaning, critical of others around you, and a feeling of helplessness. You now question your thoughts. Your thinking has become confused with over-lapping cultural messages. Can you break free of all this chatter in your head? Yes you can. By reprogramming your thoughts.

I Affirm

Earlier this year I had heard that the author Louise Hay had created a video movie titled You Can Heal Your Life. We all can benefit from a good life healing, so I visited Louise Hay’s web site www.louisehay.com to find this video movie. I found a pay per view streaming version which I opted for (the DVD version is also available). For approximately 90 minutes I watched various well known authors, public motivational/spiritual speakers, and persons in the general public talk about their life experiences and the healing that took place when they changed their thoughts. These thought change actions are called – Affirmations. Most of us have heard of affirmations. Single statements repeated over and over again.

I am not a big fan of affirmations. Simply because I forget to do them. Old programming I guess. But after a few days of practicing some of the examples given in You Can Heal Your Life, I found these affirmations to be beneficial. The affirmations I was doing calmed old non-beneficial thought patterns and opened my thought process to a new more harmonious way of thinking.

Will I continue to do affirmations? Sure I will. I found them to be fun, and at times difficult as I had to face what limiting statements I received from the culture that I made ‘true’ for myself. I encourage you to visit Louise Hay’s web site. You may also find affirmation statements to start your practice on the internet. Best to you and what you now affirm to be true for your life.

1. Wikipedia contributors, “Harry Harlow,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harry_Harlow&oldid=231040986

By Steven Barrymore | Posted in being of life, life, motivation, self development | Tagged affirmation, culture, society, thinking | Comments (1)

Mini-Blogs

July 6, 2008 – 4:11 pm

July 6, 2008
Mini-Blogs
written by Steven Barrymore

Idle Hands Are The Devil’s Workshop. So the saying goes, and what have I been building in my workshop lately? Designing and creating, the term that best comes to mind is, mini-blogs. An online service called Squidoo provides the place to build these mini-blogs. The word Lens is the name Squidoo uses for these user creations; a focal point of interest on a subject.

Squidoo’s logo is a depiction of a swimming squid, with the body or head represented by a huge protruding blue eyeball.

Some Lens Masters have created over fifty of these focal points evolving them to the Giant Squid category in this ocean of mini-blogs. I am still standing on the sandy beach viewing this ocean with only a handful of Lenses.

One Lens that I have created is a humorous guide on the use of Monkey Laborers in the workforce. What type of monkey is suitable for which job? How do you pay your monkey? Video demonstrations provided and reader feedback is encouraged in this Lens. Have a focal point of interest you want to share — try Squidoo. Click on the link below to see Monkey Laborers | The New Workforce

By Steven Barrymore | Posted in life, Reading Room | Comments (0)