Article: Boston’s bid for zero waste: when less really is more

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Lately, I ran across an article in a Christian Science Monitor Weekly magazine (June 19, 2017 version) about Boston’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and how cities are beginning to take the lead in becoming greener, even when the United States was pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Previous attempts have been made by other cities in becoming a zero carbon emission city, but have failed when trying to maintain the progress. Boston is learning the mistakes made by other cities and is understanding them to be able to not repeat them again. More information about this in the link below.

Article:Boston’s bid for zero waste: when less really is more

What can you do for your community to be green?

Video: How Nigeria is Dealing with its e-trash

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With technology improving, there’s bound to be an increase in e-trash along the way. With developing countries like Nigeria being bombarded with old electronics, most of them have come up with solutions to deal with them. Ifeanyi Ochonogor founded E-Terra Technologies Limited, a company in Nigeria that sorts through electronic parts, pick out components to be properly thrown away or sold for profit, and help clean up for their communities.

Not only are they preventing from any hazardous chemicals from getting into their soil and natural resources, but they are demonstrating to their community of taking action against trash.

Kalamazoo Klassic 5k, used second prototype bag

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On June 18, 2017, I ran the 39th annual Kalamazoo Klassic 5k (the Hill, the Will, the Thrill) with one of the Pick’n Run backpack – the second prototype. It is my second time running the 5k race, but is my first time to run it with the second prototype bag. Other times I would run with it during training.

During the race, I managed to pick up at least 11 pieces of trash off the street. Now also, I used the bag to put away 4 additional pieces of trash I made after eating two granola bars, and drinking a cup of gatorade and a bottle of fruit punch since there were no trash cans nearby. I knew that I could throw them away afterwards. Below are the photos of the trash I managed to pick up with the backpack in it:

 

 

 

Yosemite Half Marathon, used the backpack – prototype 1

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A month ago, my daughter (Naya), my sister (Betsy), and I ran the Yosemite Half Marathon.  It was the 1st half-marathon for my daughter (she did wonderfully), and the 4th half-marathon for my sister, and my 7th half-marathon.  My sister and I had run the Yosemite Half Marathon last year (when it was in October), and we wanted to run it again.

This time, I ran a race for the first time with one of the Pick’n Run backpack prototypes….the first prototype.  I have used the prototype on shorter, practice runs, but never in a race and not at the half marathon distance (13.1 miles).

I was able to pick up trash during the race, put it in the backpack, and then easily empty the trash at various trash locations, which tended to be at various mile markers.  See pictures below of the race, and the backpack usage.

 

Article: This Company will Refurbish your Used Shoes, Recycle & Create New Pairs for Needy School Kids

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I can relate to the need of changing shoes, whether it is after the sole wears down, when my feet couldn’t fit in them, or when the fabric rips apart. I usually try to make some use out of them without discarding them in the trash, but couldn’t think up a use for all of them. When I try to think of a company that recycles used shoes, I couldn’t think of one, until I read this article: This Company will Refurbish your Used Shoes, Recycle & Create New Pairs for Needy School Kids.

GreenSole is the company that works with used shoes for a cause of providing shoes for people in villages who need them. It was founded by Shriyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami, who are athletes in Mumbai. So far, they provided 50,000 shoes to people around the world. If you have a pair of shoes that you want to donate to a company that recycles them, visit the website of GreenSole and follow the steps of donating.

Volunteers Picking Up Trash

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While researching articles on the app Nuzzel to share on Pick’n Run, I came found three articles on individuals and groups of volunteers who pick up trash on beaches, recreation areas, and even on a stretch of road. Each story is interesting in terms of why individuals pick up trash and the positive impacts they have on the environment and people around them from just picking up trash.

6,700+ Volunteers Pick Up 78+ tons of Trash from 146 Miles of Texas Beaches is about an annual event called Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup, which involves volunteers picking up trash at different locations. This year’s event involved 6,772 volunteers, who picked up a total of 156,699 pounds of trash from 28 locations along Texas’s coastline.

Volunteers pick up 4 tons of trash from Fall Creek Recreation Area is about a woman named Jennifer Moss, who led a clean-up crew of 50 volunteers at the Fall Creek Recreational Area, and picked up a total of 4 tons of illegally disposed trash.

This Guy Picks Up Trash on the Side of the Road Just Because is an article recognizing a young man who is picking up trash along a stretch of road in East Bridgewater for no intentional reason except contributing to a good cause that he wants to.

These stories are worth looking into, and possibly inspire you to pick up trash for your park, neighborhood, or beach. It is a simple act that can go on for a life time.

Davis Legacy Soccer Tournament

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This past weekend I was at my daughter’s soccer tournament in Davis, California.  It is interesting to see volunteers picking up trash during the tournament. I thought it was nice they were doing it, as it definitely made a difference with less human-made trash laying around the soccer fields.

The volunteers from the local soccer club that was hosting the event, and were in pairs.  Thus, it wasn’t one person alone picking up the trash.

And come to find out, after talking with the volunteers, their trash pick duty was part of the requires volunteer hours they have to do with the club.  So the initiative wasn’t on their own accord.  This is interesting as we work on building out the motivation model with PnR and trying to provide less friction and more enjoyment for picking up trash.

Article: When it Comes to Litter, Let’s be More Like Mike (Dukakis)

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To get a person to take action, you usually need to set an example for them to follow. Elizabeth Gehrman sets an example for people by picking up litter off the streets in Boston wherever she goes. She refers in her article how she is following the footsteps of former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who has been a one-man cleaning crew during his years (and demonstrates to the public of taking action of picking up litter).

She then later discusses about the amount of roadside litter that has decreased since 1968 (61% was what the nonprofit Keep America Beautiful has calculated), but how there is still about 51.2 billion pieces of litter laying around in parks, walkways, and roads in America. It is up to the individuals to take action of picking up litter to make their location pleasant, or let litter lie around in the public eye.

In Minnesota: Taking a tour, and picking up trash

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Here is an example of combining a tour of an area with picking up trash.  It takes place in St. Paul, Minnesota:

To make this happen, individuals from 3 different organizations worked together:

The individuals to picked up litter along two streets:

  • Syndicate street
  • Griggs streets

While picking up trash along these two streets, the individuals learn about the future of a Griggs Street park via an hour long tour.  The park will be on 5 acres that the Trust for Public Land recently purchased in the city of St. Paul. The property is near the Skyline Tower housing development, which is home to 500 or more families.

 

Earth Week begins tomorrow, Monday, April 17th — Leave No Trace

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Tomorrow, Monday, April 17th, starts Earth Week. To start the week off on a positive note, here is an article about the Boulder-based, member-driven organization, Leave No Trace:

The organization is looking to motivate people to pick up trash in a public open space this week, and when doing so, photograph themselves with the piece of trash, tag @LeaveNoTrace on Twitter and/or Instagram and use the hashtag #LeaveNoTrash.