From “Charleston County sees light on recycling bulbs“:

Here’s where you can throw out your compact fluorescent bulbs and other household hazardous waste in Charleston County:

• Bees Ferry Road Convenience Center, 1344 Bees Ferry Road.
• Adams Run Convenience Center, 8326 Old Jacksonboro Road.
• Hollywood Convenience Center, 5305 Highway 165, Hollywood.
• Edisto Convenience Center, 2844 Highway 174, Edisto Island.
• Wadmalaw Convenience Center, 1886 Liberia Road, Wadmalaw Island.
• Charleston County Recycling Center, 13 Romney St.
• Maxville Road Convenience Center, 6380 Maxville Road, Awendaw.
• River Road Convenience Center, 1775 River Road, McClellanville.

Starting January 28, 2008, the College of Charleston will participate in the 10-week RecycleMania challenge, competing against more than 200 universities across the country. Specifically, students and employees at the College will compete in the targeted materials competition, the per capita paper competition, the per capita corrugated cardboard competition and the per capita bottles and cans competition.

To kick off RecycleMania, students and administrators at the College have created a week of events to help focus attention on issues that pertain to recycling and sustainable practices in general. This series of events—dubbed Eco-Week—will run from January 28-February 2.

To begin the week, the BioTour Bus, an educational, non-profit initiative that is traveling around the country, will stop at Physicians Promenade on Monday, January 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to educate the campus community about renewable energies, climate change and peak oil. Also during the week, students, faculty and staff will have numerous opportunities to get involved in environmentally oriented activities, including an all-day trip to Columbia to lobby South Carolina legislators on environmental issues; a viewing of the film Kilowatt Ours; and a unique, hands-on experience entitled ‘Dumpster Diving Dinner if you Dare.’ A full schedule of events for Eco-Week is available online at the College of Charleston Chapter web page on www.scccl.org.
RecycleMania is a friendly competition among college and university recycling programs in the U.S. It provides campus communities with a fun, proactive activity in waste reduction. The main goal of this event is to increase student awareness of campus recycling and waste minimization. All participating schools are required to report measurements on a weekly basis in pounds. RecycleMania began in 2001 as an effort to recycle more waste from campus residential areas. As the competition evolved, it expanded to allow colleges to participate with only their residential areas or to expand their scope to include the entire campus.

RecycleMania at College of Charleston is being promoted by the Sustainability Committee and Alliance for Planet Earth.

CONTACTS:

Nikki Seibert
CofC Recycling Coordinator
seibertn@gmail.com
910-297-4432

Burton Callicott
Chair of the College Sustainability Committee
callicott@cofc.edu
843-953-0016

The mission of Fields to Families is to help increase nutrition to the area hungry by coordinating distribution of fresh produce obtained from local gardens and farms. (We received and distributed more than 43,000 pounds of locally-grown donated produce in 2007 alone!)

On Saturday, February 9 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Earth Fare in West Ashley, Fields to Families will hold “Pounds for Prizes” to raise awareness and gather donations of fresh produce for the area hungry. Shoppers and the community at large will be encouraged to donate fresh produce and in return, will receive an entry into a drawing for prizes that have been donated by local businesses and attractions including Earth Fare, Gullah Gourmet and Magnolia Plantation among others. All produce collected during the event will be made available free of charge to the community through James Island Outreach.

Through Earth Fare’s “Friends of Earth Fare” community program, Fields to Families will be the featured organization during the month of February. Stop by to learn more about Fields to Families or visit www.fieldstofamilies.org.

The site does not have a bin for corrugated cardboard yet, but there are five West Ashley locations that do:

• Bees Ferry Road Convenience Center; 1344 Bee’s Ferry Road
• St. Andrew’s Fire Station #3; 2590 Ashley River Road
• 1051 Gardner Road off Sam Rittenberg Boulevard
• Ashley Landing Shopping Center; 1401 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard
• West Ashley High School; 4060 West Wildcat Boulevard

During the month of January, Keep Charleston Beautiful is running its first annual Wipe Out Wireless Waste cell phone recycling drive. Cell phones, batteries, chargers and accessories can be dropped off at the following locations with community drop bins through the end of January:

• Blackbaud
• Earth Fare
• Ben and Jerry’s
• Rising High Bakery
• City Building
• Bank of America locations

Before you recycle your cellphone, be sure to remove your SIM card, disconnect service (if necessary), and make sure all information is cleared.

For the month of January, every phone donated to the Wipe Out Wireless Campaign will benefit Keep Charleston Beautiful, a local organization dedicated to a clean and beautiful city. For more information, visit the Keep Charleston Beautiful website.

There is nothing better than bringing the outdoors in to help you celebrate the season. There are lots of ways to save green and go natural during the holidays.

For the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Fall season:
Create a simple centerpiece in seconds by grouping three small pumpkins on a placemat and scattering nuts on top and around. (Go outside, we found a pecan tree in a local park!) Finally, place a candle in the middle. I accented the centerpiece with some faux leaves I had.

For Christmas:
Create a wreath or a basket… It’s pretty simple and fun. Last year, I gathered dried buds from a magnolia tree and wired them onto a wreath base. This year, I am going to try two new projects. My mom, Karen, and I recently visited the Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel and gathered pine needles, pine cones, punk tree seed pods, and acorns. (This is ok to do if you stop in the information center to let them know what you are up to.) My mom got the idea from a workshop she attended there earlier in the year—be sure to check out all of the Center’sNature, Environmental, Historical, & Cultural Programs!

The ultimate goal is to create a pine cone wreath and a pine needle basket. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. (Wish me luck!)

On another note—this year I’m switching to led Christmas lights. Check out the benefits here.

Consumer Consequences will tell you how many planets it would take to support your lifestyle on a planetary scale and provide some ideas for making your footprint a little smaller.

So I thought, well, I’m by no means as green as I would like to be, but I’m making some changes. I recycle everything I can, I drive a fuel-efficient car, and I do various things to save energy—my impact can’t be that bad… Boy was I wrong! Even with a conscious effort to make sustainability a part of my every day life choices, if everyone lived as I do now, we would blow through 5.8 earths… That’s a scary thought! It just reaffirmed that we all need to pay a LOT more attention to the way we are living, and I need to “step up” my goals for reducing my own impact on this earth.

Try it for yourself here.

Sustainable seafood refers to fish that are caught or farmed with consideration for the long-term viability of individual marine species and for the oceans’ ecological balance as a whole.

As part of the Initiative’s ongoing event series, it will hold the 4th-Annual Sustainable Seafood Festival on Sunday, October 21 at the Charleston Maritime Center. The event, which will focus on how our seafood choices today can ensure fish for the future, will be held from 12 to 6 p.m.

In addition to educational opportunities, there will be seafood sampling from area chefs, cooking demos, and beer and wine tasting. This family-friendly free harborside event will also feature children’s activities and a recipe contest for aspiring chefs. Seafood, beverages and other snacks are available for purchase. You can even buy fresh local shrimp right off the boat! For more information call 577.FISH (3474).

“When serving your party food and drinks, go for the real thing instead of disposable. If you decide to go disposable, remember that Styrofoam and plastic products are definite no-nos. Use biodegradable cups and plates made from corn “plastic” or bamboo — they’re as sturdy as paper and plastic, but they compost in just over a month.”

Place a recycling bin front and center for bottles, etc. We all know people that actually still throw even bottles and cans away. Even if your friends don’t normally recycle, they should, and a great way to help them learn is by example. Have a couple extra containers on hand to send home with people—they may be picked up free of charge at various recycling centers. (Call 720.7111, ext. 30 for more information.)

“From food to décor, buy all your party goods locally. Shop your nearest farmers market or family-owned store (vs. national chains) to reduce your carbon footprint.”

I love this one! There are so many reasons to shop locally—and we luckily have a plethora of options. Visit an area farmers market for local flowers, or your neighborhood grocer for fresh foods. I recently discovered a shop in West Ashley called Home Grown Grocery (829-A Savannah Hwy.) that carries all local seasonal fruits and veggies, fresh pasta, home grown dinners and sandwiches, pies and cakes, and a variety of party-ready treats.

“In the spirit of recycling, add a green swap meet to your next get-together. Create an at-home bazaar where guests can bring gently used items and trade everything from DVDs to kitchen appliances.”

This is a great, fun way to host a get-together. Some of my friends and I did a “clothes-swap” a few months ago and though most of the clothes went to the donation bin, we all had a great time and left with a few items.

View the entire enewsletter here.

First, it’s not too late to plant some Fall veggies! One of Charleston Home’s “to-dos” for Fall is “Grow a new vegetable.” In the article “Fall Task List,” Sidi Limehouse of Rosebank Farms shares some gardening knowledge:

“veggies like squash, cucumbers, and string beans can be planted between August 15 and September 15 and harvested within 60 to 90 days.”

Just in time for Thanksgiving! (And don’t forget, the 15th is this Saturday.)

In the magazine’s front porch section, Charleston Home’s garden editor shares some earth-friendly gardening tips:

• Conserve Water – by spreading pine straw or mulch around your plants or by planting plants that need less water, like crinum lilies, dune sunflower, and Carolina ruellia (pictured at right)

• Cut the Amount of Turf Grass in Your Yard by Half – by planting shrubs, trees and flowering plants

• Return Green Matter to the Earth – by using composted organic matter vs. synthetic fertilizers

• Reduce or Eliminate the Use of Harmful Chemicals – by seeking out natural alternatives before relying on quick fix and long-term effect chemicals

Want to learn more about green gardening? This year’s Charleston Garden Festival will focus on environmentally friendly approaches to gardening. The festival will be held at Middleton Place on October 19 – 21. Visit www.charlestongardenfestival.org.