greenerMIAMI

Can't recycle at home in Miami Dade County? Fix it.

One of the things that we most often get emailed about here at greenerMIAMI is "how in the heck can I recycle?" And the answer isn't always an easy one. However, through the help of the research done by Luiz Rodrigues and ECOMB, we realized that there is a better answer.

Most of us live in apartments or condominiums in which recycling is not offered. Here's the interesting part: it's the law - they have to offer it. It's been the law in Miami Dade for 15 years, in fact. And so, we've put together a page to get you the information you need to know in order to help that law go into effect at your residence.

If you are going to go through the process of trying to get your condo or apartment complex to recycle, please comment on this post and keep us posted throughout the whole process. Hopefully your tips and hard work will make it continually easier for the rest.

To see the details of the recycling ordinance and suggestions on how to make it work for you, please check out:

How to Get Your Condominium or Apartment Complex to Recycle.

Good luck and may the force be with you!

Recycle That Tree

Time to take down that Christmas tree and get started with 2007? Don't put your "real" tree in the trash! Recycle it and let it become the gift that keeps on giving - mulch! Miami Dade is now accepting trees that are CLEAN of ornaments and tinsel. Drop them off at the following locations between 7am and 5:30pm. Locations in green are also chip distribution locations.

North Dade: 21500 NW 47 Avenue; West Little River: 1830 NW 79 Street; Golden Glades: 140 NW 160 Street; Sunset Kendall: 8000 SW 107 Avenue; Eureka Drive: 9401 SW 184 Street; Moody Drive: 12970 SW 268 Street; South Miami Heights: 20800 SW 117 Court

Call (305) 594-1500 for more info. See original flyer (pdf).

Live-Blogging: Miami Dade County Recycling Workshop

I'll be live blogging this meeting now.

We are on a month to month contract with our provider right now - BFI. Ask that the commission extends the relationship with BFI until we continue the RFP (request for proposal?) process. I believe that he said that they would like to consider an every other week recycling curbside on Wednesdays.

The manager IS committed to having a curbside recycling program.

Currently weekly, dual-stream - meaning that the glass/cans are in a separate container than newspaper.

Recycling Meltdown

The Herald has a piece today that discusses how the county is taking a look at curbside recycling. Meaning: it's expensive and they are considering changing it or maybe even eliminating it. The article has two audio "podcasts" with interviews with Roger Carlton, asst. Miami-Dade County manager and Miami-Dade Solid Waste Director Kathleen Woods-Richardson.

There is also a recycling workshop at the county which is happening either right now or soon. It will immediately follow the 9:30am Infrastructure & Land Use Committee. You should be able to follow the discussion via a live webcast here.

I need to get caught up on this issue. In the meantime, any discussion on the topic?

Thanks for the tip to Rick of Stuck on the Palmetto.

How to: Recycle Phone Books

Want to recycle your old phone books but don't know how or where?

If you have Miami-Dade recycling curbside pickup, you can put them out on top of your newspapers through November.

If you have City of Miami recycling pickup, phone books can be recycled from November - February.

If you don't have recycling available to you, we recommend that you drop them off at a paper recycler. We have confirmed that this one accepts the phone books, while others didn't. Miami Waste Paper, 2120 NW 14^th Ave, Miami (map). 305-325-0860. Monday - Friday 7 am - 5 pm, Saturday until 12 pm. You can simply drop them off, or if you have a lot, they will pay you $1 for 100 lbs.

Finally, if you want to stop the trash before it starts, we recommend that you complain to the source.

Miami Beach 411 Helps Us Recycle

As you may know, greenerMIAMI has tried to make it a priority to provide our readers with options on how to get rid of their junk and trash in the right way. That means donating items that could still be useful to others, recycling materials that can be used to create new products, and properly disposing of potentially toxic materials.

Well, it looks like greenerMIAMI isn't the only one trying to make it easier for Miamians to do the right thing! Miami Beach 411 has created it's own set of resources for recycling & disposal.

What's really a cool tool, and one that I'm excited they took the time to create, is a Miami Recycling Map, a Google API with various recycling, donation, and disposal locations shown directly on the map.

They've also created a Recycling section, with links to other local resources for recycling, including our own page and Miami Dade Solid Waste. Also available en español. Check it out, and think about what (and where) you are going to toss before you toss it!

Related: greenerMIAMI's A-Z Donation & Disposal Guide

Poll Results: Recycle from Home

For our first poll, we asked you: Do you have the ability to recycle from your home?

Of our small sample, 71% can and do recycle, while 29% can't and want to. These results were surprising and encouraging to me, a person without the ability to recycle from home. Any thoughts or comments from our readers? If you answered yes or no, tell us if you live in a condo or house.

Take our new poll: How "green" is your office?

From Blue to Green: The Military & the Environment

Post contributed by Don Bosch of the Evangelical Ecologist.

Some folks that drop by the Evangelical Ecologist are surprised to find out I'm a Navy environmental scientist. "Didn't know the military even had environmentalists!" is an email I get a lot.

I mention this as a disclaimer ahead of the Q&A session that follows below.* But secondly, I understand where they're coming from. Since its inception our military has had a great track record of doing good things. But as an industry over the past half-century or so, it's also had a rather notorious reputation for environmental problems, and a lot of it well deserved.

As the country tuned into environmental stewardship in the '70's, the military (along with the rest of U.S. industries) got its wakeup call. Mostly through fines and notices of violation that tied up military lawyers and base commanders in paperwork and depositions and expensive fines and cleanups, but through public relationship nightmares and legitimate health issues too.

After two decades and hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup and disposal costs, military minds decided to find a better way. The 90's became the Pollution Prevention decade. Every military base around the world dug through its repair shops and hazmat storage lockers to find more eco-friendly ways of doing business. DoD loaned its green ideas to other industries and began working with communities surrounding military areas, influencing the country the way President Clinton and others had envisioned.

Today, making military ecology more effective (and cheaper for taxpayers!) is a priority. Recycling is a great example. At the urging of blogger Rebecca Carter, Greener Mag's Harlan Weikle tracked down Eric Vichich, the Recycling Program Coordinator at MacDill Air Force Base at the recent Recycle Florida Today conference. Harlan suggested I get with Eric mano y mano and see what the boys in blue have been up to. Setting aside any friendly rivalries (Go Navy - Beat Air Force!), here's our Q&A. I think you'll be surprised at some of his answers.

Donation & Disposal Guide Update

Go to greenerMIAMI's complete A-Z Donation & Disposal Guide.

Our A to Z guide is growing, and we owe it all to our readers. Since starting this guide, we've received lots of helpful suggestions for donations.

Reader Anne told us about Miami Waste Paper, an industrial style place that doesn't mind if individuals drop off their cardboard or newspaper. In fact, they pay up to $3 for 100 pounds!

She also pointed us in the direction of the Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE. "The ReStore sells donated building materials, tools, and appliances to the public at discounted prices. The profits help finance Miami Habitat's housing building efforts."

Reader Gus told us about SoBe Thrifty, and when we forgot to post it, reader Zeb reminded us what a great store it is. It is part of Care Resource, "South Florida's oldest and largest HIV/AIDS service organization serving both Miami-Dade & Broward Counties."

So please, keep those suggestions coming! We want to make this a really complete resource! Thanks Miami!

Video: Recycle or Die

Very strange, but it has a few interesting facts in it. Recycle or Die, a comedy.