Friday, February 11, 2011

Zoo Poo!


There's an exciting project happening at the Zoo - turning animal waste into rich, organic compost. Every week about 7-8 tons of waste including bedding, food scraps and animal waste from the main herbivore areas in the Zoo is taken to Marvin's Organic Gardens to be composted. A once a week pick up is made possible by the dedicated keepers, horticulture and maintenance staff whose jobs are to move the organic waste from one area of the park to a main collection bin in the back of the park. Nothing like transporting poo from one area to another!

Read more about the project on Cincinnati Zoo's Blog.

Monday, February 7, 2011

#5's are Staying Alive!


Ever wonder what to do with your #5 plastic tubs that aren’t currently accepted in curbside recycling programs? These plastics include containers used for yogurt, sour cream, cottage/cream cheese, margarine/butter, take-out and hummus. Preserve© created the program called Gimme 5 that gives consumers a solution to recycling those pesky #5 plastics. Drop your #5 plastics off in the Gimme 5 bins at any Whole Foods© location, or mail them directly to Preserve©. Once recycled, these #5 plastics are made into toothbrushes, razor handles, tableware and kitchenware. By recycling your #5 plastics, you are saving plastic from being added to the landfills, conserving energy and resources by reusing plastic to turn it into a new product and keeping it local by recycling in the United States, rather than sending plastics overseas. Gimme 5 bins will also accept used Brita® filters. Visit Preserve’s website to find out more information.

My husband and I recently moved a lot closer to the city center then we were previously. Now we are much closer to Whole Foods© and can easily drop off our #5 plastics there. A recent purchase of some beautiful lime green cups made by Preserve© from our favorite green general store, Park+Vine kept take out food containers out of the landfill. Start recycling those #5 plastics now!