This means you can start throwing plastics labeled #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7 into your blue bin along with the #1 and #2 plastics. They will accept all plastics except plastic wrap, plastic bags, and Styrofoam (all things you can easily avoid using with minimal effort). And don’t forget, they also started accepting cardboard for curbside pickup in April – epic awesomeness!

The Charleston Post & Courier had this quote from Charleston County Council member Colleen Condon:

Expanding Charleston County’s Recycling Program to recycle all plastics #1 through #7 allows us to provide better service to our citizens and move closer to our 40 percent recycling goal with this important step.

Cheers to the Jenny and the CCR team, the Council, and everyone else who made this happen. I know it’s been a long time coming, and something that all of us local greenies have been hoping for. In fact, it’s the most common question we get from Go Green readers, and now I have the answer they want to hear!

Tri-County Carolina Yard Experience is based on the Carolina Yards & Neighborhoods program, which helps people work WITH the environment around their property – not against it. Sounds cool!

This is a free, environmental event focused on the home landscape-including environmentally friendly gardening practices, recycling, rainwater harvesting, pond management and much more!  Hands-on demonstrations and educational displays by county extension agents and Master Gardeners.

A ton of local sponsors, including Clemson Extension Tri-county Master Gardeners, DHEC, and Charleston, Berkeley & Dorchester County Recycling, have made this free event possible. On Saturday, March 13th, head down to the The Charleston Exchange Park, Ladson SC from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and get your green yard on!

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezpage/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Green Business Challenge will help local businesses, property owners, and residents focus on sustainability and become more energy efficient. This pilot program will kick off later this year, and they are asking interested parties to sign up soon (technically by January 21, but I’m sure they’d budge on that deadline a little). The competition format will benchmark local businesses and conclude with awards handed out by Mayor Joe Riley. This is a great chance to green up your business AND get a little recognition. Details after the jump >>

The Green Business Challenge is a voluntary friendly competition that takes participants through a process of benchmarking the energy use of a building using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. It also helps them pursue a variety of conservation and efficiency opportunities over the course of a one-year program.  The program concludes with an evaluation of participant progress towards goals, and successful achievers will be publicly recognized by Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr.

The Green Business Challenge is a partnership with the City of Charleston. It is a free assistance program that will not result in any penalty should you begin but later decide you no longer wish to participate. The City is seeking interest from local commercial property managers, business owners, and office tenants to participate in a pilot demonstration program. Your participation in the Green Business Challenge will result in reduced operation costs as well as the amount of pollution and waste generated from your property and/or business.

We ask that if you are interested in the program, or simply wish to support the idea of creating this program, that you return a letter of interest and/or support to Brian Sheehan, Director of Sustainability, 75 Calhoun, Charleston SC 29401 or e-mail a copy to sheehanbp@ci.charleston.sc.us, no later than close of business on Thursday, January 21, 2010.  We appreciate your support and look forward to working with you in the Green Business Challenge.

Good luck everyone!

SC Biz Magazine says,

The sustainability director will create long- and short-term goals and lead projects that promote environmental sustainability within city government and in the community. The new director also will lead some green initiatives the city has already pursued.

I really like the sound of that – a leader. The City of Charleston has organized a Green Committee, created some bike paths, and recently launched some public recycling options, but I feel that very little real progress has been made since Major Joe Riley signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2005 (almost five years ago!) Remember, movement and progress are not the same thing – I’m hoping that Brian’s leadership can help convert some of this local movement into real progress.

Brian, I cannot wait to meet and work with you. The Charleston community is ready and willing for you to lead the charge – just be sure we are running toward something BIG, and not something that’s simply “better.” Charleston is the perfect size to really make a difference, and I hope you brought some of that great Portland ingenuity with you! Good luck!

And back to the “unneeded” part (every year some phone book advocate shows up touting the greatness of their publication for small business advertising…yawn). Both The Real Yellow Pages and The Talking Phone Book have great online directories, so I think this year I’ll cut the cord and begin using them. Why use 3,800 pages of paper to do something the Internet can do faster, cheaper, and with less impact on the environment? To stop the phone book from being delivered to your home or business, you can simply opt out! Here’s how:

• The Real Yellow Pages: Fill out this form.
• Talking Phone Book: Email their distribution department.

If you want to take it up a notch, here are some great ideas from YellowPagesGoesGreen.org on how you can work with your local goverment to establish better practices for the distribution of phone books.

I also feel that while the drop sites give motivated recyclers an option, they are only part of the solution. I see scenes like the one above on every trash day, and sometimes the cardboard is actually broken down and stacked in a pile – they’re doing everything but driving it to the drop site! I know there is an issue with the trucks/equipment, but Charleston County needs to figure this out. If you feel like I do, and think cardboard recycling rates would soar if it was picked up curbside, then let the Charleston County Environmental Management team know — Call: 843.720.1111 Email: publicinfo@charlestoncounty.org Write: 13 Romney Street Charleston, SC 29403 —

Charleston Waterkeeper was founded in September 2008 to preserve and protect the integrity of Charleston’s waterways by defending against pollution and contamination. Their focus is on our three major rivers and the tributaries that feed into them. By being an advocate for water, listening to local residents, and working with local officials, Charleston Waterkeeper is making a positive impact on our waterways that will last for generations. I really dig their abandoned boat program.

Please visit Charleston Waterkeeper online, Facebook, or on Twitter. If you want to get more involved, become a member by making a donation.

• April 18 – Charleston County Earth Day Festival
• April 18 – Green Village Tour Run
• April 19 – Kiawah Island Resort Greenival
• April 22 – Keep Charleston Beautiful Earth Day Celebration
• April 22 – Sustainable Seafood Initiative Dinner
• April 22 – Sea Island Habitat Wetland Planting
• April 24 – Go Green Night at The Charleston Battery
• April 25 – Sewee Center Earth Day Celebration Nature Tour
• April 28 – Green Day at MUSC

Here’s a shot where it looks like someone had some semi-useful items (wood scraps and a used window?), so they left them for “someone else to pick-up.” I bet they got their wish. I like how the glass window is blocking the public bike path – surprise!

Every time I go to my local recycling drop site in Mount Pleasant, I’m reminded why I started this Recycling Fail column. Too often, people are leaving far more than just recycling: trash, pumpkins, leaves, carpets, giant boxes, furniture – it’s a problem. And while it’s fun to see the photos (check out our growing Flickr set), we’ve got to take care of these drop sites so that our community and Charleston County can continue to recycle successfully.

Charleston County Earth Day Festival
This year’s event will be back in Park Circle on April 18, and should top the 7,500 attendees and over 70 contributors who participated last year. Just like last year, we’ll have our table set up with some interactive sustainability activities.

Charleston Green Fair
Wow, how awesome was last year’s event?!? The 2nd annual Charleston Green Fair will be on September 27, and promises to be bigger and better than last year. It will feature local businesses, organizations, food vendors, and musicians…we’ll be here too!