That said I went on the site to check out where to recycle, my light bulbs, batteries and electronic devices that are gathering cobwebs in the garage. Some stuff is free to recycle, others are not. Also the site is down in San Diego and I live 30 miles north. (OK I get that, but)

Now Recycle San Diego is about ‘your easy e-waste solution’ but they have cardboard, asbestos, auto parts, mattresses listed on the site.

Personally, I didn’t find the site that helpful. If they are really encouraging recycling in San Diego, they should have listed Give-Away Sites , ways to reuse products and other resources. Apple is recycling computers (not listed) and where do people who do not drive recycle things like hearing aid batteries?

Another issue not addressed is medical waste, syringes, prosthetics and the like, where do people go for that?

Since it is new and they do have a Blog on the site, I could not make a comment- what is the point of that??

They need to get their Facebook page up, as a reminder to all people, make sure you link your FB page to the site. Suggesting places that recycle and ways to reuse on Facebook is a great integration. It is way to funky and doesn’t really work well.

The rest of the Press Release

As part of its campaign to raise awareness of the urgent need for responsible recycling, Recycle San Diego is expanding its efforts to increase local recycling practices by simplifying the research process.

County residents can easily research recycling centers around San Diego just by typing a waste category, a city name, or a ZIP code into the free search engine that’s now available on Recycle San Diego’s homepage.

“Our search tool and blog help people get the information they need without having to look through the Yellow Pages or search Google multiple times,” says RSD president Jeffrey Harding.

Recycle San Diego’s services include electronics recycling, light bulb and battery recycling, hard drive destruction, and custom IT asset management. They also offer convenient pick-ups, free eWaste collection events, and educational materials for families, communities and schools.

Who is Recycle San Diego?

Recycle San Diego’s mission is to prevent e-waste contamination of our landfills by providing community outreach, education, and free electronics recycling solutions for consumers and companies.

www.RecycleSanDiego.org

Here is what I learned and I would have to say many cities will have similiar programs.

1.) Getting rid of e-waste can be free- There seems to be at least an event monthly you can drop off e-waste for free. Start your pile and wait for news or plug in recycle ewaste… city..

2.) Lightbulb recycling is difficult. Home Depot and Staples used to (double check) take back light bulbs. Check earth911.com for other alternatives.

3.) Challenge is mattresses- I just had Salvation Army pick up 2 mattresses, yet other non-profits may not take them, no matter what the condition.

I know they are e-waste, but recycling is an important subject, I would like to see them expand and if they only want to address e-waste, then deal with every issue, reuse ideas, different types of batteries and more.

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SAN DIEGO — Nearly five tons of garbage was removed from the San Diego River bed in Mission Valley during cleanup events over the last couple of weeks, Councilwoman Lorie Zapf said Tuesday.

The refuse removal focused on areas near Qualcomm Stadium and the overpasses of state Route 163 and Interstate 805, according to Zapf.

Source

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Farmers, ranchers, the county and the Imperial Irrigation District are increasingly dealing with the issue, Candace Nelson, Farm Bureau spokeswoman, said. If trash is dumped, it is the responsibility of the landowner to pick it up, she added.

“And for any type of hazardous material, it’s extraordinarily expensive to clean up, sometimes running into the multiple of thousands of dollars,” Nelson said.

Besides tires, materials most often dumped include furniture, mattresses and large appliances. But what many do not realize is that most items can be disposed of properly at no cost, Nelson said. For a guide to dispose of property people can go online to the Web site www.ivrma.org

Full story at /www.ivpressonline.com/news/ivp-news-illegal-dumping-burdening-property-owners-20110212,0,7383631.storySimilar Posts:

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Photo:Flickr- Drunken Monkey

Illegal Dumping in San Francisco costs taxpayers $4 Million a year for clean up and rewards being offered to report illegal dumpers.

Residents might want to think twice about dumping that mattress on the street corner because the Department of Public Works is cracking down on people who put unwanted items on city streets.

The department began telling residents through a campaign launched in November that dumping anything on city streets is illegal. If caught, they can be subject to fines of up to $1,000.

“We just don’t have the resources to keep sending staff out to pick up these items left out on the streets,” said Mohammed Nuru, deputy director for operations at Public Works.

Nuru said the cost of sending someone to pick up the items range from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the number of items that need to be removed throughout the week.

On average, the department receives 17,000 calls a year about illegal dumping and hauls off 10,000 tons of such garbage, costing taxpayers more than $4 million annually.

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Illegal Dump Spots in Oakland- Photo:oaklandnorth.net

I know that many people think that I am over the top about litter and illegal dumping. I cannot tell you how much it disturbs me when I read articles about this. Oakland, California is 78.2 Square Miles, the population is approximately 300,000. When I read that over 1o,ooo cases of illegal dumping are reported that means about 128 cases of illegal dumping per square mile, or 30,000 people in the whole population/business illegally dump in the city of Oakland, California.

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Green Expo- October 30 in Santa Ana, California

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As a chocolate lover, I have switched to only organic and or Fair Trade Chocolate and now to find a locally sourced organic chocolate company is a huge deal for me, as I try to support local businesses and only buy organic or Fair Trade chocolate any more.

The reasons why I switched are multi-fold but primarily it is to the the amount of child and slave labor used in the harvesting and growing of cocoa beans through out the world and we Americans spend $13.7 Billion on cocoa and chocolate a year. By purchasing organic or Fair Trade we are helping farmers grow responsibly and not supporting child labor. I also like to buy local and now I have a source for my chocolate cravings!

Organic Raw Chocolate

Açaí

Caramel

Goji

Maca

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San Francisco Trash 23rd St between Treat and Capp. Photo; Flickr-fredsharples

I love San Francisco, one of the greenest cities in the USA. They are forerunners in banning plastic bags, recycling and more. But the litter is everywhere even though there are trash cans on the street (overflowing)

SAN FRANCISCO — Last fiscal year, The City spent more than $15 million picking up litter, but the results are drawing mixed reviews.

Amid shrinking resources, the Department of Public Works is becoming creative with stretching its dollars and generating revenue. The City adopted a 20-cent fee on the sale of cigarettes to help pay for the cost of cleaning up discarded butts. That fee is under review and may be lowered by Jan. 1 due to legal concerns…

Last fiscal year — from July 1, 2009, to June 30 — Public Works spent $38.8 million on cleanup, ranging from such things as graffiti removal, illegal-dumping pickup and street cleaning. That includes the $15 million spent on picking up litter, paying for manual block sweepers, crew supervisors, salaries and materials, among other costs. This fiscal year’s total cleanup budget is $35.8 million….

Taking out the trash-Various kinds of litter found on San Francisco streets:

Small    Count

• Chewing gum    41.1%
• Small glass    22.9%
• Small paper    6.6%
• Cigarette butts    10.0%
• Other materials    3.1%

Large    Count

• No-brand-name towels,
• napkins    16.7%
• Printed material    9.6%
• Miscellaneous paper    8.0%
• Miscellaneous plastic    4.7%
• Receipts    4.2%

Source: Department of the Environment’s 2008 litter study

Cleanup costs What the Department of Public Works spent cleaning up litter in the 2009-10 fiscal year:

• $15,116,683 Bill for manual block sweepers, green machines, crew supervisors, other personnel, contracts, materials, support services

Public Works’ efforts:

• Since 2008, it has conducted 209 eco-blitzes, or targeted and increased cleaning services on busy streets
• It has performed 29 night walks, which target clean-city education and enforcement on streets with a large number of businesses open at night

Source: Department of Public Works

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Trashy-streets-remain-a-problem-103839724.html#ixzz10q2c7JszSimilar Posts:

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The city of San Pablo won a $1.8 million grant last week to clean up the creek, remove culverts and add trails in hopes of someday bringing back visitors and possibly even steelhead.

Ultimately, the city hopes to extend the creekside path until it connects the Bay Trail with the Ridge Trail, providing a continuous greenway from the hills to the bay through some of the East Bay’s most impoverished neighborhoods.

“It’s uplifting that a funding stream believes in us,” said City Councilman Leonard McNeil, a San Pablo resident since 1956. “I like to think we’re the little city that could.”

Wildcat Creek is one of the East Bay’s larger watersheds, beginning in the hills east of UC Berkeley and flowing northwest into Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, through San Pablo and Richmond, and into the bay.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Hercules won a $1.8 million grant to restore 5.2 acres of marsh; Petaluma won $850,000 to restore the Denman Reach of the Petaluma River; and Oakland got $2 million for Lake Merritt.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/19/BAK81FF4Q9.DTL&feed=rss.news#ixzz10CQyw5oQSimilar Posts:

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Photo:Mike Jory/Times Herald

Hypodermic needles, broken furniture, old tires — you name it, and chances are it’s been illegally dumped in Vallejo.

In fact, the Vallejo Public Works Department reports that illegal dumping has gotten so out of hand that the one employee assigned to picking up all that trash — a full-time job, believe it or not — occasionally has to call for back up.

“It’s just horrible,” Vallejo Maintenance Superintendent John Cerini said. “It’s having a terrible impact.”

The problem also can be measured in tons. All that garbage piling up in alleyways and fields tips the scale at about 140 tons a year, not including electronics and tires, according to the Public Works Department.

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