Aluminum pull tab purses help craft new beginnings

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Pop Tab PurseNormally, I blog about how to find good uses for things that you have but no longer need by selling, recycling, donating or re-purposing those items. I am also fascinated with people who are able to turn throwaway items into things of value.

A great example of this is found in a story in The Oklahoman written by Carla Hinton a couple of weeks ago. “Pop tab purses connect Oklahomans to Uganda” tells how women in Uganda make purses and accessories out of aluminum pull tabs to pay living and educational expenses for African women who were victims of Joseph Kony‘s Lord’s Resistance Army.  Rosemary Nyirumbe, a Catholic nun in Uganda, teaches the girls at St. Monica’s Girls School how to sew the purses.  She and Rachelle Whitten formed Sisters United, LLC to help sell the products.  When I can find more information on where to buy the products, I will post it.

Paper or plastic?

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BYO BagThe first time I was confronted with the question, “Paper or plastic?” felt like a test that I was not prepared to take.  What is the correct answer? Searching online I found sites that went into a great amount of detail about how plastic and paper bags are manufactured as well as how they could be recycled. Some of the articles attempted to measure the total environmental impact of each product.  This article, More Than Meets The Eye from The Washington Post a few years ago provides a good comparison of the two choices.

Some local governments are helping simplify the question by either banning plastic shopping bags (other than certain biodegradable plastic bags) or levying a fee on each plastic bag used. Fees range from 5 to 25 cents per plastic bag.

After finally studying for this test, I found that the answer to “Paper or plastic”  is neither of those choices.  A reusable canvas shopping bag is the correct answer.  They should have put that answer on the test!

Recycling scrap? There’s an app

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Locator feature on iScrap App

Nearby scrap yards are shown on the iScrap App Map

The iScrap App makes it easy to find the closest scrap yard.  The Locator feature pinpoints nearby scrap yards on a Google map. Phone numbers were also listed for most of the scrap yards shown in the Oklahoma City area.  Each listing has a place for the company’s email, website and hours of operation, but most of that information was not yet shown in this area.  Regional price ranges for copper, brass and aluminum were listed.  The yards have the option of listing their pricing, but I could not find many doing that.

Another interesting feature on this app is the Metal List. Each item on the list has a picture and description for easy reference. For more information visit iScrapApp.com.  The app is available for all digital devices.

April 28th, 2012 – the happiest day of the year (for a recycler)

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Could it get any better than this?  Not only is April 28th a Free Shred Day at the Waste Management Recycle Center at 5519 NW 4th in Oklahoma City, it is also the date for recycling ammunition, tires, computers and pharmaceuticals at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This collection service is only open to Oklahoma City residents. Just bring an Oklahoma City water bill stub as proof of residency.  For more details on what items are accepted or not accepted, please visit the City of Oklahoma City website.

Recycling pays in Oklahoma City

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Blue Bin

Blue Bin

Did you know that the City of Oklahoma City has a weekly contest for those  participating in the Curbside Recycling Program?  The contest is called “Blue Bin Instant Win” and is available to those in Oklahoma City receiving a utility bill from Oklahoma City and are eligible to participate in the curbside recycling program.

One customer’s name will be electronically drawn each week. If that customer set out a little blue bin for collection that week, and it contained acceptable recyclables, then that customer will win a $100 Visa gift card.  For more information visit  the contest page their website.

Recycling… there’s an app for that

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My Recycle List

Recently, I found an app that makes recycling a whole lot easier.  Also, it was in my price range…free.  It’s called My Recycle List and it’s available  in the App Store.  This app allow you to “quickly find recycling locations nearby” utilizing either a GPS or zip code search.   You pick from a list of items that can be recycled and the app finds nearby locations accepting those items for recycling.   The app provides recycling locations throughout the U.S. and parts of Canada and includes in-app interactive maps.  You can also create lists for future reference. For more information visit MyRecycleList.com

Check it out!