Recycling Anyone?!

Does Your Recycler Take #7 Plastics?
What Is a #7 Anyway?
And, What About the Naysayers? Does Recycling Even Work?

Where do you pitch that empty plastic shampoo bottle, OJ jug, or margarine tub—the recycle bin or garbage can? What do those little numbers on the bottom of plastic containers mean, anyway? I’m the first to admit that the numbering system and chemical-soup names for plastics with their “polys” and “thylenes” aren’t exactly sexy or memorable. But there’s got to be a method to this confusing madness, right?

As a contributor to Delta Sky magazine, the most widely read in-flight magazine, for their new Green Scene department, I took a field trip to the Burbank Recycling Center (can you see the tractor getting lost in all that mess behind me?). In preparation for my two-part recycling series (June & July ’07 issues) I met with my longtime recycling guru—Kreigh Hampell—who runs this award-winning facility.

Click on the June cover to read my Green Scene article, "The Numbers Game." And, the July issue, "Recycling—Is It Working?" where we reveal the fascinating scoop on what’s really happening with all this waste... (i.e. these snapshots show a SMALL portion of the 300 tons brought in daily to this facility—only one of many in Los Angeles). While it’s true that one man’s trash is often another’s treasure, the sheer numbers may have you shaking your head. And yet, through this behind-the-scene look, you’ll not only be newly inspired to run up and bear hug your recycling pick-up driver, but perhaps dial down your consumption, even just a little. Small efforts really do add up big time…

A “Green” Airline?! Isn’t that an Oxymoron?

Everyone knows that air travel guzzles alarming rates of fossil fuels, so I was impressed when Duncan Christy, the Editor in Chief at Delta’s Sky magazine, explained to me that Delta had launched a worldwide carbon offset program for their customers—the first U.S. Airline to do so. When I learned more about the details of their partnership with The Conservation Fund—a leading environmental nonprofit—and how Delta has made donations for each passenger (and gives customers that option when booking flights), plants many thousands of trees for their employees, is incorporating over 600 electric vehicles with zero emissions into their fleet, and has joined forces with Habitat for Humanity (for starters), they really won me over—even without the free peanuts or miniscule packs of weird pretzel snack mix.

Could this be a Sign?

The first time I entered Leeza Gibbons’ studio to tape our “Green Hollywood” spots for the radio, my father’s photo fell out of nowhere (my purse/computer bag?) and drifted to the floor—landing between us, his broad smile beaming up at us. Dad, who always encouraged my environmental efforts and was a frequent camper amidst giant sequoias and redwoods, died nearly 5 years ago, and I hadn’t seen that photo of him in ages. “Lin, it’s a sign,” Leeza said. “That means you’re on the right path!” The next time I drove to her studio to tape our Green Hollywood Memorial Day special, I parked, turned the corner toward her building and saw this Heroes billboard directly overhead across the street. It was so new that no one in Leeza's office (including Leez) had yet to see it—despite its obvious lofty perch. Coincidence? This is L.A., after all, where dramatic effects are the norm. But this one really stopped me in my tracks!

In short, it’s Leeza and Sky, and their growing Green Teams—holla to Vincent Acuri, Dana Miller, Duncan Christy, Katherine Clark, Judd Hooks, and Mickey McLean!—who are my real-life heroes, doing what they can to entertain, inform, and inspire while putting their spotlights and microphones on the “inconvenient” issues that effect us all. Whether Leeza and I are conversing on air about Al Gore’s macro-global view in conjunction with our friend Ed Begley Jr.’s more micro living suggestions (anyone else try catching rainwater from the roof or cooking from a backyard solar oven?), the truly convenient truth is that each one of us can champion our Earth Mama. The longer we wait, the more heroic we’ll have to become.

What do you think; is it time?
When might be a better time?

‘Nuff said about that!

Food for Thought:
Sivertsen Book Recommendations (just a few… can’t help myself)…

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
By Barbara Kingsolver
If you’re having challenges eating “right,” and feel a gnawing guilt for the 1,500+ miles the average piece of food atop your dinner plate has traveled, this book’s for you. After reading Barbara Kingsolver’s memoir of her year of eating locally, never have I been so moved to amp up my organic gardening skills (planting 2x the lettuce and tomatoes I did last year), or bond with local farmers. Short on time? Who isn’t? Treat yourself to the audio version of this masterpiece; the CD’s are melodic. But be forewarned; your kids may not share your enthusiasm for learning about the peculiar growing habits of asparagus and rainbow chard—but strap ‘em in and tell ‘em to sit tight anyhow. Some of Kingsolver’s homegrown passion is bound to rub off. My pizza-obsessed teenager just lumbered downstairs and made himself a salad!
Learn more about it at Amazon.com

 

Eat, Pray, Love:
One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
By Elizabeth Gilbert
If I could write like this, I fancy I’d die forever blissed out. But then again, Elizabeth herself might say that her wit and literary talent were sharpened on the rock-hard surfaces of divorce and debilitating depression. In that case, rather than aspire to be her—wow, it’s tempting—I’ll just read everything she ever writes. (If she lived nearby, I’d raid her recycling bin for scribbled-on scratch paper.) Not an environmental book, per say, Gilbert’s inner and outer travels—her laugh-out-loud memoir chronicles three months eating in Italy, three months praying in an ashram in India, and three months trying to find life balance in Indonesia—remind us that the world is a magical, mystical place to experience and explore, and that human beings, however flawed, are at their core, divine.
Learn more about it at Amazon.com

Green Out!

LS