Green News

Our Commercial and Lighting Services is currently assisting the Memphis Zoo in prioritizing their facilities for efficiency improvement opportunities. The department will soon use TVA's Energy Right Solutions for business programs to provide the zoo with technical advice and financial assistance that will help them reach their goal of "going green."

The Commercial Appeal covered this and more in today's Green section: Recycling, cutting energy waste, educating public among Memphis Zoo's green efforts.

Also of note, there is a nice piece called What to do with stuff that doesn't go in recycling bin. I have pasted below. I'm especially glad to know about the tattered clothes.

What to do with stuff that doesn't go in recycling bin

Stumped on what to do with stuff you can't toss in the recycling bin? Here are my top 5 solutions to your recycling problems.

Lightbulbs: CFLs -- or compact fluorescent light bulbs -- should never be thrown away because they contain a small amount of mercury.

There are several big companies that have convenient drop-off sites and will recycle them responsibly. Lowe's, Home Depot and Ikea stores have in-store recycling bins for unbroken CFLs, and many full service-recycling centers also accept them.

Plastic bags: The last thing you should do with plastic bags and baggies is throw them away. They take thousands of years -- if not more -- to break down in a landfill. Instead, reuse them first. Even the smallest plastic baggies can be rinsed out and used again.

You can return most plastic shopping bags for recycling at almost all grocery stores. And those stores (along with Wal-Mart and Target) also accept newspaper bags, plastic wraps and plastic sandwich bags labeled with a 4 plastic resin code. Just check with your local store for details.

Batteries: They should never be thrown away because they contain heavy metals that can contaminate land and water. Instead, recycle those prized materials responsibly.

Only a handful of curbside recycling programs accept batteries, but there are many retailers and full-service recycling centers that will take your old batteries.

Earth911.org and the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. both provide online directories to help you find battery recyclers near where you live.

Tattered clothing: Most of us have given away boxes of good clothing to Goodwill or other charitable organizations. But what about old clothing or things like rags, bedding or towels that are too worn out to be reused?

Well, Goodwill wants them, too, so long as the material is not wet or contaminated with chemicals. These items are sorted and sold for recycling or other uses, such as sofa stuffing.

Ink and toner cartridges: Every year, hundreds of millions of ink and toner cartridges are used in this country. And 70 percent of those end up in our landfills. Printer cartridges are easily refilled and recycled.

You can also get paid to turn in your old cartridges. You can earn anywhere from a few cents to $20 or more per cartridge.

There are a number of online sources that will supply a prepaid shipping label to mail accepted cartridges in exchange for cash. Or you can turn in your used cartridges for recycling at Office Max, Staples and Office Depot and earn a few dollars of store credit.