Recycling Electronics

As the holiday season is coming and going, you may have received new electronics of some sort. Now, you could just toss the old ones, but there may be a greener (and more profitable!) way to dispose of old electronics.

STWF, our organization, is looking into collecting electronics (in particular, cell phones, but we'll take anything you need to recycle!) for a fundraiser. The organization that we're looking to work with is Gazelle.

Now, we need your feedback. Would you be willing to donate your old electronics to us in order to recycle them through Gazelle? Do you think Gazelle is a good organization, or have you recycled your cell phone through another organization?

Please view the website (http://www.gazelle.com/) and tell us what you think about recycling electronics!

Live Christmas trees vs fake Christmas trees

**Excuse this for being two days late, I'm a horrible blogger at the moment**
In the last STWF meeting, we touched on this subject briefly. Is it more environmentally friendly to buy a live tree or a fake one? Lets weight out the pros and cons.
Pros(live tree):
* buying a tree can become a family tradition
*the trees are renewable resources
* compostable
*smell great
Cons(live tree):
*fire hazard
* more work
* allergies
* non re plantable (if you buy it without the bulb)
* less trees in the environment
Pros(fake tree):
*last for years
* easy to set up
*almost no effort into up keep
Cons(fake tree):
*made from non renewable petroleum
*cannot be recycled
* the environmental effects that go into making the tree
Many people have their own ideas. So decide, real or fake? Leave us a comment!


Work cited: http://www.thelaboroflove.com/articles/the-pros-cons-of-artificial-versus-real-christmas-trees/

Cheap Fun

If you're reading this, you're probably on a computer. Well, depending on how long you've been on the computer, it may be time to turn it off and do something else (and I don't mean go watch television).

As we become more dependent on technology, we forget to value the simple things that we had before. Some of these things are actually low-cost and low-energy:

1. Hiking (If you're in San Diego, Florida Canyon is amazing!)
2. Camping
3. Walking
4. Enjoying old photo albums
5. Reading

What are some things that you do that require no electricity/energy consumption? Leave a comment below!

The holidays are here(:

Now that Thanksgiving is over, everyone is starting to shop for the people on their gift lists without breaking the budget. Why not splurge a little bit on the ones you love by not buying wrapping paper this year. Instead use newspaper to wrap up gifts or old shopping bags. Why not try an STWF reusable tote? You'll save money, and the environment. Merry Christmas, mother earth.

Going Vegetarian One Day at a Time

As many of us are looking forward to the holiday season where we will be stuffed with turkey, ham, sausage and all other kinds of delicious meat; it might be the time to consider cutting back (or completely eliminating) on meat.

How, you may ask, does cutting back on meat help the environment?

1. Forests are cut down in order to make room for all the grassland needed to support cattle;
2. and not only do those cattle take up tons of room, we need to produce more food to feed them! For every one pound of meat, at least 5 times that (5lbs.) of food was consumed.
3. Less water is needed to sustain a vegetarian diet than a diet that includes meat (although, you can help out just by reducing the amount of meat eaten).
4. Saves the environment, as cattle produce 130 times more waste than the human population which would save a lot of rivers from pollution!
5. The amount of energy used to produce and transport meat amounts to roughly the 1/3 of the U.S.'s energy consumption.

Lastly, going vegetarian is usually a healthier alternative (unless you have some sort of health condition) and it will make you feel better! If you're not ready to commit to a vegetarian lifestyle, please try to go meatless for one day a week (Fridays, anyone?) and add additional days if you begin to enjoy your vegetarian days!

Alternative sources of protein:

-Kidney beans
-Chickpeas
-Soy
-Oatmeal
-Tofu
-Peanut butter
-Yogurt
-Milk