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.

#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!