Green, the Color of Life

I got hooked on green after a trip to an amazing place in Washington D.C., the National Building Museum. They were having a special green exhibit - a whole house constructed inside of the museum and filled with green products and ideas.

I immediately wrote several columns for a website on real estate and housing that I contribute to on a regular basis and now those columns have turned into a forum on green homes that has been active since November 2008.

There is an RSS feed from that blog below, but come visit the site itself. And please come back here often as there will be a short feature on green several times a week and hopefully lots of green ideas and tips.

We finally get it. It has taken forty years, but at last we know that we must use the old Yankee maxim "Use it up, wear it out, make it do" to which we can now add "and recycle it when you're through."

Recycling opportunities are available in most communities for aluminum. plastic, metal cans, paper, cardboard, and glass but recyclers will accept only what they can sell and some places there is not a good market for some of these items. In my town, for example, the waste company will not take metal or glass. Still, if you can tell the difference between a Pepsi and a creamed corn can recycling household discards is pretty straightforward.

Except for plastic!

Until I really got into green I thought the little triangle with arrows on a yogurt cup or a deli take-out container simply meant "recycle me." I never even noticed the tiny number inside the triangle. Well, whoops! That number indicates what type of plastic you are holding and whether it can be easily recycled.

Here is a quick guide to the numbering system developed by The Society of the Plastics Industry.

#1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE.) Used in water and soda bottles, medicine containers, some jars. Almost all recyclers accept it to turn into new bottles, insulating fill for coats and furniture and car bumpers.

#2: High Density Polyethylene (HDPE.) Often opaque and heavier than PETE; found in household cleaner bottles and milk jugs it is recycled into toys, engineered lumber, and rope.

Type #3: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). Used in pipes, outdoor furniture, shrink wrap, plastic bags, liquid detergent containers. Not accepted by all recyclers but big chain groceries have a receptacle at the entrance to accept plastic bags for recycling.

Type #4: Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is used for filmy plastic bags from the dry cleaners and the fruit and vegetable aisle, trash bags, and food storage containers. The containers may be picked up at the curb but the bags go back to the grocery store.

Type #5: Polypropylene (PP) used for bottle caps and drinking straws. It is not commonly accepted curbside or by recycle centers. Remove the bottle caps from water bottles - some recyclers will landfill the whole bottle if the lid is on it.

Type #6: Polystyrene (PS). Used for "Styrofoam" food containers, meat trays, and packing peanuts. This is reprocessed into rigid foam insulation, cassette tapes, and other items but not always accepted curbside.

Type #7 (or perhaps no number): Other. This material is sometimes a mix of types and is hardly ever accepted by recyclers.

If you aren't sure what you can recycle in your community, call your local trash hauler for the acceptable numbers.

Real estate customers can help their customers wade through a green jungle of claims - sometimes called "greenwashing" - with a new real estate promotional item we found. The Green Home Guide is customized for each individual agent with his or her brand color, business card info, name on every page, and best of all, a first page devoted entirely to the agent's profile., The small book is set up so the agent can print out as many copies as needed and is cheap enough to hand out at open houses, home shows, or to email to customers all at once, or in installments.

The same company markets a quarterly newsletter than is also customized with business card info and a space for agent input in each issue. The newsletter focuses on green home products, not the usual stuff like green dish washing soap, but the real thing; high tech air conditioners, innovative counter material, eco-friendly floor coverings. It is perfect for keeping in touch with a farm or driving customers from Facebook or Twitter to register for a subscription.