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 —

Driving all around town shopping for holiday gifts is a resource hog – too much time, too much gas, too much hassle.

That’s why I’ve turned to Amazon.com year after year to help reduce my trips into the seasonal chaos. And while this is a welcome convenience, all those boxes do generate a mountain of waste – think of how many shipments Amazon makes each holiday season!

Fortunately, most of this packaging material is recyclable. Here’s a quick rundown on how you can recycle your Amazon.com packaging:

• The cardboard box is 100% recyclable. Store the broken down boxes with your other cardboard, and take them to a Charleston County Recycling drop site for recycling.

• Recycle the invoice. There really isn’t any personal info on the invoice that can’t be found via Google, so toss it into your blue bin with your other paper recyclables. If you’re worried about identity theft, shred then recycle.

• Amazon.com marketing materials are recyclable too. Yep, those glossy paper pamphlets they throw into the box are 100% recyclable. So after you’re done reading about Amazon Prime (a great program BTW), toss those brochures into your paper recycling bin.

• Recycle the brown paper padding. Some boxes will come from Amazon.com stuffed with crumpled brown paper to protect your purchases. This material is similar to brown paper bags, and can be put in with the rest of your paper recycling.

• Dream of recycling the plastic #4 bubble padding. OK, this is the one thing from your Amazon.com purchase that can’t be recycled (along with the shrink wrap around book orders). Unfortunately, plastic #4 isn’t collected in our area.

In the end, I have to give Amazon.com credit for using recyclable materials – except for that #4 bubble pack (Hey Amazon…get on that!) The good news is we can all help keep this stuff out of the landfill. So as the packages start showing up these next few weeks, stop to think how their contents could end up in your blue bins instead of your trash bins – and make it happen. Happy holiday recycling!

It still irks me that every residence and business gets not one, but ?TWO metro area phone books each year. In today’s digital age, do we really need this paper relic? Here are some ways you can reduce your dependency on these pulpy dinosaurs:

• Use the Yellow Pages online – I bet they update it more than once each year (unlike your phone book)
• You can discontinue delivery of your Talking Phone Book by emailing distribution@talkingphonebook.com.
• You can discontinue delivery of your Yellow Pages by visiting their online portal at yellowpagesgoesgreen.org.
• Work to develop local ordinances that encourage responsible printing and distribution of phone books. Here are some ideas.

So remember, when you are deciding what to do with your old phone books, let your fingers do the walking straight to the reycling bin.

Disposable plastic bags are an absolute menace to our planet. Whole Foods offers the only paper bags made from 100% recycled paper. They also offer a Better Bag, for 99 cents, made from recycled bottles. I look forward to seeing even more reusable bags at the checkouts. Happy Earth Day!

But Jen you say, post-consumer recycled toilet paper is hard to find, expensive and just not as effective and soft. To the latter, I say, boo-hoo: humans have wiped with discarded sheep wool – recycled toilet paper is plenty soft.

I don’t want to spend much time shopping, and would like to purchase t.p. with weekly grocery store raid. Here are the stores I’ve visited, and their green options for toilet paper.

Bi-Lo
None offered as of yet. I was told they are currently looking into green alternatives.

Earth Fare
Sunrise 131 sq. ft. at $3.19, or 2¢ per sq. ft.; Seventh Generation 200 sq ft. at $3.99, or 2¢ per sq ft.;

Food Lion*
Scott Brand was all they had.
.

Harris Teeter
Seventh Generation, 200 sq. ft. at $3.79, or 2¢ per sq. ft.; Green Forest 99 sq. ft. at $1.79, or 2¢ per sq. ft.;

Piggly Wiggly
Seventh Generation 200 sq. ft. at $4.74, or 2¢ per sq. ft.;
.

Publix
GreenWise Publix green alternative 176 sq. ft. at $2.39, or 1¢ per sq. ft.;

Whole Foods Market
Seventh Generation 130 sq.ft. at $2.99, or 1¢ per sq | 200 sq. ft. at $4.49, or 2¢ per sq. ft.; | 365 Brand 200 sq. ft. at $2.99, or 1¢ per sq. ft.; Wild Oats 176 sq. ft. at $3. 49, or 1¢ per sq. ft.;

According to the cost per square foot, Greenwise from Publix and 365 from Whole Foods give you the most wipes for your buck.

I’ll admit, it looks so much cheaper and more convenient to buy from Kimberly-Clark. I’m sure it looked a lot easier to their stockholders to just cut down the Boreal Forest as well. I say stop. Don’t buy their products. I do not want to flush virgin trees treated with chlorine down the pipes, ten times a day.

*Interesting, first I telephoned, and was told, yes, they have recycled toilet paper. I had to verify. Upon visiting, their MVP toilet paper is 100% recycled paper, it is safe for septic tanks. This paper is not made from post-consumer paper. Upon further shelf inspection, I noticed a new Scott Brand offering. This new paper, from Kimberly-Clark, is made from 40% post-consumer recycled paper is a new beginning, and I was happy to note this. I did not include it’s price because the paper was as white as white can be. It can be blinding on this paper product aisle you know.

It says, “No Packaging Boxes (i.e. cereal, laundry, or soda can boxes)”, noting that cardboard can be taken to drop site. Because my bins were made before February 2007, when Charleston County Recycling began accepting paperboard packaging curbside, it has incorrect information (newer bins have bin updated).

We need all you Charleston Greenies to continue telling friends, family, and neighbors that paperboard CAN be recycled curbside right here in Charleston County. It is important for everyone to know this, because it is used everywhere in our lives. With a little eduction, we can take a big chunk out of what we’re sending to the landfill.

Paperboard information on Go Green:

• Are You Recycling Your Paperboard?
• Identifying Paperboard verses Cardboard
• Reducing Your Garbage is Easy

Paper products are great because we can easily close the loop, a green behavior critical to sustainable consumer activity. So while I was out over the weekend, I brought home a couple brands to sample.

Staples is rocking their own private stock of 100% post-consumer recycled printer paper. I picked up a ream of bright white 24lb chlorine-free paper. And even though it’s low-end multi-use paper, my inkjet didn’t even notice. Staples means it when they say “our eco-smartest laser & inkjet paper is brighter for standout texts and colors.” My only beef is that they sell it packaged in non-recyclable plastic. The reams at my office come neatly wrapped in paper, and so should the ones I buy at the store.

Target is shelving Printworks recycled multipurpose paper. Not only is it less bright and thinner, it’s made from only 30% post-consumer recycled materials. Sitting next to the Staples brand, it looks like gray newspaper. I think I’ll let this be the paper the kids use for drawing!

Happy printing!

I used a few Kleenex on Graham’s little face, and it was delightful. The tissue was extremely soft and incredibly effective. By the end of the day I found little wadded balls of Kleenex in my pockets. I threw them in the trash bin.

So, at three a.m., I googled “Kimberly-Clark”. What a professional and eye-pleasing website. Disposable hygiene with an enormous profit their stockholders love. Then, I googled “Kimberly-Clark forests.”

The web site is Kleercut.net. Greenpeace, thankfully, put pressure on Kimberly-Clark after seeing the destruction from logging in the Boreal Forest. The logging company is partly owned by, you guessed it, Kimberly-Clark. So, Kimberly-Clark has just been biggering along, making more thneeds which everyone needs.

Disposable hygiene, all white and soft and clean for us to just flush away. Only 19% of the product sold to us is made from recyclable pulp. It takes 90 years to grow a box of Kleenex.

Being a ballet dancer, and now a mom, it’s never really been in my budget to buy a lot of paper products. My mom used wash cloths and towels and rags for cleaning, as do I. We don’t use paper napkins or paper plates. I try to buy recycled paper towels and t. p., though, have you noticed the Target in Mt. Pleasant? It’s been about two months since they’ve stocked their shelves with Seventh Generation’s products. Sounds like I may have a mission.

We still have one box of Kleenex in our pantry. I’ll set it out for company I suppose. They are really soft, but they should cost us a lot more, considering where they came from.

I’ve already ordered some handkerchiefs for Chad, shhh…it’s a Christmas surprise.