The Bite
Don’t bank on it. For some financial institutions, more than just the dollar bills are green. Check how yours measures up, and if you don’t love what you see, don’t get Mad(off) – just switch to a greener bank.

The Benefits

• Investing in sustainability. Some institutions have waste and pollution reduction initiatives, and help green companies get good terms on loans.
• Maintaining good assets. Most green banks are on the smaller side, but they offer services – such as online banking – just like the big guys, so you can bank from wherever you are.

Personally Speaking
The best thing about Mike and Toshio’s accounts at New Resource Bank? It refunds up to 10 ATM fees (for using other banks’ machines) per month.

Wanna Try?

• New Resource Bank – eco-bank that gives preferred loans to green companies and nonprofs, and has a LEED-certified HQ.
• Permaculture Credit Union – cooperative bank owned by its members (so you get more of a say in its policies).
• ShoreBank Pacific – the first U.S. bank with a green mission, it offsets its enviro-impact and even offers accounts geared toward kids; co-founded by the eco-org Ecotrust.

More info

• Green America – ranks the megabanks from best to worst, from an environmental perspective.

Americans pay more than $4 billion in ATM fees each

If 10,000 people put their money in a green bank, we’ll support planet-conscious banks and help grow the green economy.

http://www.idealbite.com/

 Are you king of paper conservation in the bathroom?

The Bite
You rule – then you must already recycle your toilet paper tubes.  But if you don’t (and a lot of us don’t), try making it a habit.  A little tube goes a long way toward earning that crown.

The Benefits

• A greener world for your heirs. A family of four uses about 240 rolls per year – add up all those tubes, and it’s a lotta landfill space.
• Not such a royal pain. It’s tempting to just chuck ‘em, but we’ve got tricks that make recycling a little more convenient.

Personally Speaking
Diehard recyclers that we are, we were pretty surprised when we polled our editorial team and about a third of us admitted to tossing toilet paper tubes once in a while.

 Wanna Try?

• Keep a separate basket just for recyclable paper next to the trash can in your bathroom.
• If you’ve got a plunger next to the toilet, you can put the rolls onto the handle and stack them until they reach the top of the handle, then transfer them to your recycle bin.
• When you reach for a new roll, put the old tube into the bag or box the toilet paper came in, and keep it up until all the new rolls are gone.

DLTK’s Crafts for Kids – more than 100 kiddie crafts that use toilet paper tubes.

World Environmental Organization – 15 ways to reuse tubes (no kids necessary).

www.idealbite.com

If 10,000 people buy one fewer box of dryer sheets, we’ll avert the weight of 13 dryers in trash.

The Bite
Follow the bottom of this screen, where we link you up to dryer balls that fluff and soften your laundry – free of the toxic plastic PVC, and no disposable dryer sheets necessary. The cash + eco savings = something to croon about.

The Benefits

• Striking a waste-free chord. You can reuse dryer balls over and over – most will last you several years. And attention vegetarians: most dryer sheets contain tallow, an animal byproduct.
• More (bank)notes. Boxes of dryer sheets can cost $5-$10 for 50 washes; some of our options are even free.
• Tuning out PVC. Your average dryer ball is made from PVC, which releases carcinogens during production.

Personally Speaking
We’ve found that the balls actually work better than sheets, but they can be loud…

Wanna Try?

• Wool Dryer Balls – made from wool by a work-at-home mom ($7).
• DIY Bite: try an old tennis ball – they work almost as well. Or make your own wool dryer balls from yarn.

Like this tip?  Here are a few related tips to check out:

If 10,000 people replace their bleach- or ammonia-based cleaner with a biodegradable alternative for one year, we’ll keep 400 bucketfuls of toxic chems from begriming our planet.

If 10,000 people wash only full loads, in a year we’ll save the water weight of 1,890,400 Prince Charmings.

From www.Idealbite.com 

Posted on November 20, 2008 | by Emily Main      

GOOD PENNY
Reusable coffee mugs

BAD PENNY
Disposable cups

DID YOU KNOW?
Each time you reuse a container instead of drinking coffee from a disposable cup, you save .5 lb of CO2. If every Starbucks customer switched to reusable mugs, it would prevent the release of 2,040,061,237 lbs. of CO2/yr., the equivalent of every San Franciscan’s driving their car to New York.*

A Reusable Gift
Aladdin’s Sustain line of colorful, insulated coffee mugs will inspire green cheer, regardless of whom you buy them for. Recycled & Recyclable Tumblers are made from 100 percent recycled, 25 percent post-consumer, BPA-free #5 plastic—which is one of the safer plastics on the market, but not widely accepted for recycling. So when your mug wears out, you can send it back, and Aladdin’s recycling genie will take care of it for you. At $9.99 a piece, you’ll want to buy one for everyone you know. Throw in some organic, fair trade, bird-friendly, Rainforest Alliance coffee, too!

*Statistics: Carbon Rally; Stanford University’s SustainableChoices.

HEALTH TIP
“Microwave-safe” plastics leach Bisphenol-A; use glass ovenware. For more news and a BPA-free pumpkin pie recipe, click here.

DAILY PENNIES TIP
Want to avoid Bisphenol-A? See GreenerPenny.com for tips on canned foods.

For more ideas, see our Green Gifts blog.

THANKSGIVING
This Thanksgiving, keep your kitchen free of toxic Teflon fumes…learn how from the Green Man and our cookware tips.

SHARE
Let your friends know! If you like what you read, tell them about
GreenerPenny.com. If you’re not already a subscriber, and would like to receive a free weekly newsletter, please send an email to greenerpenny@gmail.com with “subscribe” as the subject line.

© Mindy Pennybacker 2008

Greener Penny | 433 West 21st St. | New York | NY | 10011

THE HOLE IN THE OZONE IS SHRINKING.
Environmental awareness and action are finally starting to pay off. The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has actually shrunk 20 percent since 2003.

PANDAS ARE DOING BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT.
You probably haven’t lost sleep over Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing lately, but according to an official survey by the World Wildlife Fund and the State Forestry Administration of China, the giant-panda population is 40-percent higher than previously thought.

By Kelly Marages

http://www.marieclaire.com/world/news/reasons-to-be-happy?link=emb&dom=yah_life&src=syn&con=blog_datingdiaries&mag=mar

Persons & Representatives of Agencies Interested in the Regional Transportation System:  

The final review draft of the Midlands Tomorrow 2035 Regional Long Range Transportation Plan is posted on the CMCOG website (www.centralmidlands.org) for your review.  We will be accepting written comments on the plan through December 8, 2008.

If you have any questions before then, please contact Reginald Simmons, CMCOG Transportation Director, or me at 803.376.5390 or by email at transporation@centralmidlands.org.

Thank you for your interest in improving transportation throughout the Greater Columbia region.

FOR SALE!!

The Sierra Club has wall calendars ($12.95) and engagement calendars ($13.95) for sale.

	The most popular nature calendar ever published
	Stunning images of flora and fauna
	Week-by-week format with 57 full-color photographs
	Gift-boxed
	Spiral bound, measures 6 1/4″ x 9 1/4″

	A bestseller for thirty years — over 8 million sold
	All the grandeur of the North American wilderness
	Spiral bound
	Gift boxed

Get Yours Today!!

Call 803-256-8487 for details.

Welcome to Recycling Matters, a monthly e-mail update on recycling in Lexington County!

Solid Waste Management (SWM) Closings for July 4
On Friday, July 4, the Lexington County Landfill, all 12 Collection and Recycling Centers, and SWM’s administrative offices will be closed. For more information, contact Lexington County SWM at 785-3325.

Residential curbside collection in the unincorporated areas of Lexington County will not occur on Friday, July 4; those residences regularly served on Friday will be picked up on Saturday, July 5. For additional information, please contact your provider directly : Johnson’s Garbage Service, 754-5537; Southland Sanitation, 256-7276. 
 

Transform Your Trash Summer Reading Art Contest

The Lexington County Main Library is celebrating their summer reading theme – Catch the Reading Bug @ Your Library – with a recycled art contest! Students are asked to create a bug-themed freestanding sculpture made of at least 50% recycled materials and drop them off at the Main Library by August 3. Entries should be no larger than 3′ by 3′ feet. For additional information, contact Lexington County Main Library Youth Services at 785-2630.

Be on the Lookout for “Recycle Lexington County” Ads

As part of a SC DHEC Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling grant, Lexington County Solid Waste Management is running a weekly quarter-page recycling ad in the Lexington County Chronicle June 12 through July 10. Attached is a copy of the ad for you to print out and/or share with others.  

It Has a Recycling Symbol, So Why Can’t I Recycle It?
Lexington County residents can recycle all plastic bottles, jugs and jars, regardless of the number on the bottom. But why can’t you recycle other plastic items since they have the recycling symbol on them? In the case of plastic, the recycling symbol is actually a little misleading. Although the presence of the symbol implies that the plastic item is recyclable, the symbol is actually only intended to identify the plastic resin from which the item was made. Recyclability is ultimately determined by markets for the plastics, which right now, is only bottles, jugs and jars. Other plastics should be reused when possible and/or disposed of in your household garbage. 

Solid Waste Doesn’t Take a Summer Vacation

Do your kids think that trash just disappears once placed at the curb or taken to one of our Collection and Recycling Centers? Not if they’ve been to a landfill. Consider scheduling a tour of our landfill and transfer station this summer. Your kids will learn that trash doesn’t just disappear, as well as the importance of recycling economically and environmentally. We prefer to do summer tours on Thursday mornings, before it gets too hot, and preferably for groups of 5 to 15. Contact Mary Pat Baldauf at 785-3340 for more information. Mary Pat is also available for summer presentations to camps, Bible schools, civic/social clubs and other organizations.

Local Lawn Mower Exchange Receives National Award
The 2007 Richland-Lexington Lawn Mower Exchange, a partnership program that offered electric lawn mowers at a reduced price, recently received a 2008 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties. Over 150 gas mowers were exchanged during the event, resulting in emission reductions of 7 tons per year for carbon, and 14 tons per year for volatile organic compounds (a precursor to ozone). Discounted Neutron battery powered mowers are still available; click here for details. Program partners include Lexington County, Richland County, the City of Columbia, SC DHEC and Keep the Midlands Beautiful .
  

Get Your Green Hour

The South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) is introducing the Green Hour Program – designed to get kids outside, and away from electronics, for at least 1 hour every day. The SCWF has developed a Green Hour Passport for kids to track 20 hours spent outside, and then return it to the SCWF for special prizes!  For more information and top print your Green Hour Passports, visit SCWF’s Web site.

For more information on recycling in Lexington County, visit the Lexington County Solid Waste Management/Recycling Web site.  

Save Gas This Summer

Send Us Your Scrap
We’ll not only put it to good use, we’ll also send you a free TRASHformation as our way of saying thanks!

Send us any of the following items and receive free one pair of Keeping Tabs earrings, color of your choice, or a three-pack of ReWrites, which we’ll select. Check back often; our list changes on a regular basis.

Record Albums, 10-Inch/78 rpm: These are records from the fifities and earlier and are smaller than the ones we had in the 70s and 80s. I won’t be playing them, so it doesn’t matter if they’re scratched!

Old Computer Keyboards: And once I get the parts I need, I’ll even recycle them!
Metal Twist-Off Lids: The ones from glass beverage bottles of Snapple, Yoohoo, Ben and Jerry’s Milkshakes and Starbucks Frappucino.

Depleted Gift Cards: The plastic ones from Starbucks and other store chains.

Colored Pop Tabs: We get plenty of silver ones; we’re looking for green, blue, purple, orange and red. Most commonly found on energy drinks and organic sodas.

If you have anything else you think is cool and aren’t inspired to do anything with it,  send us picture (jpg, please) via e-mail. If we can make it into something else, we’ll gladly take it off your hands and send you a TRASHformation as our way of saying thanks.To submit your scrap, first complete the Send Your Scrap form and then mail your shipment to TRASHformations, PO Box 7064, Columbia, SC, 29202. If you’re in the Midlands area and want to drop off instead of mailing, just indicate that on the form; we’ll contact you to make arrangements. http://www.trashformations.com/home.html