a little more crunch

How about a little more crunch? If you enjoy what you read here at Crunchy Greenola, you might also enjoy what I write over at Green Prophet. Green Prophet is written by a group of writers in Israel who are interested in promoting an environmentally sustainable future for Israel and its neighbors.

To check out my first article at Green Prophet about organic farm volunteer opportunities, click here.

greening your printer cartridge

Printing is nasty business. There's the toxic chemicals that go into ink, virgin paper, and the plastic that cartridges are made of. Not good. But there are ways to make your printing a little greener:

Only print something if it is really necessary. Do you really need print outs of those documents? Maybe emailing something to yourself or carrying something on a disk-on-key would work just as well.

Print double sided copies. Cut your paper consumption in half by getting full use of that paper.

Refill your ink cartridge. Some cartridges may be refilled with an ink needle, eliminating the need for a whole new plastic cartridge.

Recycle your used printer cartridges. If you live in Israel, then Office Depot stores will accept your used printer cartridges, recycle them, and even offer you credit towards your purchase of another cartridge. Office Depot also sells recycled printer cartridges (but not for every printer cartridge model).

le plastique, ce n'est pas chic

Translation: plastic is out. Reusable is in. Reusable cotton bags, to be exact, courtesy of Eco-Chic. Eco-Chic, an Israeli company, recently began marketing it's reusable, compact, strong, natural cotton string bags through stores (mainly health food stores) and it's website with the purpose of reducing plastic bag consumption in Israel. According to Eco-Chic's website, the cotton bags are strong enough to hold 2-3 plastic bags' worth of items but are compact enough to fit in your purse without taking up too much space.

According to the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, 430 million plastic bags are distributed in Israel every month. These bags, which far outlive their users by hundreds of years, end up polluting rivers, waterways, landfills.... It's an ugly situation. A law has been proposed to the Israeli Knesset to levy a fee on plastic bags that would have to be paid by consumers, but who knows if that'll go through. Either way, it's obvious that the reduction of individual plastic consumption is up to individuals.

Eco-Chic bags are available in stores all over the country - their website lists where their bags can be found in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Petach Tikva, Gadera, Zichron Ya'acov... and the list goes on. But if these bags aren't for you and you're feeling creative, you could make your own bag from cloth scraps or follow No Impact Man's advice and make shopping bags out of old tank tops.

don't leave a paper trail...

... or a paper footprint. Everyone knows the basic paper things that you can recycle - newspapers, old school papers, magazines... But what about all of the other paper products that we don't usually think of recycling? How about recycling your cardboard cereal box, your empty toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, gum wrappers, wrapping paper, cardboard boxes? All of these can be recycled as well.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, paper waste constitutes 25% of the volume of all waste in Israel, and annual paper consumption is 700,000 tons. Only about 30% of all consumed paper is currently recycled. Recycled paper is used in order to produce products such as new paper, toilet paper, cardboard, and egg cartons.

The paper recycling companies in Israel include Amnir, KMM, Tal-El, S.G. Grisa, and Amek (08-5793489). If you don't know where to recycle paper in your area, or if you own a business and would like to arrange to have your paper waste picked up and recycled, contact one of these companies. Many of them offer pick-ups from businesses.

know thine enemy: plastic

In order to conquer the enemy you have to know the enemy. And enemy, your name is plastic. We may live in a small country, but there is nothing small about our consumption of plastic here in Israel - especially in recent years. Approximately 600 million large beverage bottles and 300 million small beverage bottles are consumed in Israel each year, with a 10% - 15% annual growth rate. Plastic constitutes 28% of the volume and 11% of the weight of Israeli waste.

In 2005, the average Israeli citizen produced 1.8 kg of garbage every day - a total national waste of 4.2 million tons during that year. This amount increases by 4% - 5% each year and by 2010 the space used to bury waste will be all used up.

Pretty scary stuff, right?

There's an upside, though. Separating and recycling your waste at the source (meaning, in your house before you take out the trash) could lead to a 60% reduction in the amount of waste transferred to waste burial. Only 20% of the plastic bottles produced in Israel are currently recycled, but if more of them were recycled it would make a big difference in the amount of space required to dump our garbage. (Or, alternatively, you could stop drinking bottled water altogether and get a Brita, whose filter can also be recycled.)

But first you have to know what you can recycle. Most people already know that you can recycle empty bottles from water, soda, etc. But did you know that you can also recycle the empty bottles from your shampoo, cleaning supplies, cosmetics, and cooking supplies? In fact, you can recycle any plastic container marked with one of the triangular recycling symbols above except for the yellow symbol with the number 3 inside. The stamps are usually imprinted on the bottom of the bottles.

For more information about plastic recycling in Israel, see the Aviv Recycling website.

recycled toilet paper (it's not what you think)

I promise you, it's definitely not what you think. I'm not going to go into what it is you might think recycled toilet paper may be... but trust me, it's not that. Emphasis on the recycled paper and not on the recycled toilet paper.

Toilet paper is a product we use constantly, and most brands are made from virgin paper. Meaning, lots of trees are cut down so that we can use toilet paper. If you calculate how many trees that means for your own personal consumption, I don't know the math, but it's gotta be up there. And it could be easily avoided.

Shmurat Teva (שמורת טבע) toilet paper, which is available in most supermarkets, is made of quality paper fibers that were specifically sorted and collected for the purpose of making toilet paper. Although it comes in plastic packaging (for packages of 32 rolls), the company emphasizes that the minimal plastic wrap can be recycled. I made the switch about a month ago, and can't really tell the difference (except for that it doesn't smell like pineapples or roses like some other brands of toilet paper which, frankly, I think is a very good thing). And it's definitely not gross... if the whole "recycled toilet paper" thing still freaks you out. I promise.

brita is brighter

In some parts of the country (like Kiryat Shemona), the tap water is tastier and healthier than bottled water. I live in Tel Aviv. And that is definitely not the case here. But I am not going to resort to drinking bottled water and consuming countless plastic bottles. Yes, the bottles can be recycled, but that's still a huge amount of plastic on a regular basis that I'd rather avoid. Think about it this way: if you consume one 1.5 liter bottle of water a day, that adds up to 31 bottles a month as opposed to the one Brita filter you'd use over the same period of time. That's why I have a Brita filter and pitcher (and no, I'm not working on commission to help them promote their filters).

The filter itself is made of plastic, though, so a couple of months ago I called the Brita offices in Israel to find out if they are part of the Brita company's recycling program in Europe. I finally got to speak to a very nice woman called Ilanit who told me that they were starting to recycle filters in Israel and that I could collect a few of my used filters and somehow get them to her (she suggested a few different methods of doing this). My tiny household of two only uses one Brita filter every month and a half, so at this rate my contribution of filters to be recycled by Brita isn't going to encourage them to continue with their recycling program. So if you're out there, living in Israel, and you use Brita filters - I'd like to encourage you to contact Ilanit (03-9762448) or whoever else you can speak to about recycling the filters in order to encourage Brita to continue with their new program. (If you live in the US and want to encourage Brita to start their recycling of filters then please see Beth's posts on the subject at Fake Plastic Fish).

five recycle, six recyle, seven recycle, more!

I know I told you about Freecycle already, but someone told me about Israeli websites that operate according to the same idea and serve as a place for people to give and receive items. They're great websites, and all allow you to search or post items according to categories. They are Agora, Altezachen, and Barvaz. Worth giving a shot!

one recyle, two recycle, freecyle, four

Freecycle. Until recently, I didn't really understand what this catchy name meant. I mean, I got the "free" part, and I got the "recycle" part, but I didn't really understand how they went together. Wasn't recycling always free?

Until I joined the Freecycle Tel Aviv group, which is part of the larger Freecycle network. Freecyle is a grassroots, non-profit movement of people who are giving away and receiving items for free (and preventing stuff from ending up in landfills). You can easily recycle paper or aluminum cans or plastic bottles, but it's a little harder to figure out how to recycle that kitchen appliance that's in good condition but that you just don't use, or that old piece of furniture that you don't want anymore. You would feel bad throwing those kinds of things away, but just don't know who would want them. Enter freecycle. Freecycle connects people within the same area so that those trying to get rid of things can post a message to the group and give their items to someone nearby. Conversely, if someone is looking for a particular item, he or she can post a message to the group asking if anyone has one to give away. Unlike craigslist, this all takes place without the exchange of money. It is truly "free recycling".

The Freecycle Network, which was recently the subject of a New York Times article, is composed of 4234 groups with 4,449,618 members around the world and it is constantly growing. Recent items I've seen offered on Freecycle Tel Aviv include closets, printers, scanners, small ovens, furniture, and more. The people offering these items are genuinely happy to give them away.

There are additional freecycle groups in Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Yokneam Ilit, Zichron Yaacov-Alona, Herzliya, and Ramallah. Even if you have nothing that you want to "freecycle", its worth joining the group - you never know what you might find.

recycling my... toaster?

Two weeks ago my toaster died (I haven't had toast since). But I couldn't bring myself to dump it with the rest of the regular trash and have it outlive me, my children, and my grandchildren in some landfill. Not only would the plastic not biodegrade, but the metal part of the toaster would disintegrate fairly quickly and trickle into the water system. So my toaster has been collecting dust in my apartment ever since.

This morning on Freecycle someone posted a link to a company in Israel that recycles all kinds of electronic devices. The company, Snunit Recycling, is based in Pardes Hana but has collection days all over the country. The company also has a free recycling notification email service, so if you want to know when they'll be collecting items in a certain city or area they will let you know.

Snunit Recycling collects any type of device that is operated either by electricity or batteries - communications equipment, computer devices, home electronic appliances, etc. They then break the materials down and reuse whatever materials may be reused (plastics, metals, etc.) and transfer hazardous materials to an appropriate facility.

I can now feel good about giving my toaster another life.

a novel idea

I love to read. Especially during the winter. Who doesn't love to curl up with a cup of tea, a blanket, and a good book?

The downside? Books are made of paper, and paper is made of trees. And I love trees. As with many other things, though, the energy and resources required to support our reading habits could be significantly reduced if people did one simple thing - share. Borrow books from a library, buy used books and then re-sell them, share books with friends, and... swap books with strangers.

How can you swap books with strangers if, well, you don't know them? For the English readers out there, there's a great website called AngloBooks that allows people to post whatever books they have lying around, see what books other people have, and swap. The service is free, and there are book swappers listed from all over the country (Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Raanana, Rechovot...). All kinds of genres are available, ranging from literature, to travel, to mystery and romance novels. Signing up is very easy, too.

Happy book sharing!