Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: recycling

recycling stories: 36 news summaries

1 - 20 of 36 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

green & green

 Target Will Pay Shoppers
 to Bring Their Own Bags 

Large retailers join smaller niche stores to offer rebates for reusing

Oct 19, 09 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Target and CVS will reward customers for using reusable shopping bags, and the efforts could take a billion plastic bags out of circulation. Though some retailers—notably Wal-Mart—have been slow to hop on the eco bandwagon, initiatives at smaller chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have met... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • recycling • plastic bags • pollution • shopping • environmentalism • CVS • Target • retail shopping • pharmacy • drugstore • reusable bags • rebate

Kick in the Butt: Soft Toilet Paper Battle Gets Messy

The plusher paper invariably comes from virgin wood, not recycled content

Sep 24, 09 11:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - The environmental campaign against soft toilet paper is heating up, as manufacturers keep pushing the fluff factor—"Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective," the Washington Post notes—and environmentalists want the industry to go all recycled. The softer rolls US... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • environmentalism • toilet paper • logging • environmentalists • paper industry • paper products • old growth forest • softness

(Newser) - If you missed out on cashing in on that clunker in your driveway, your next chance may be no farther than the kitchen, USA Today reports. Stimulus funds that will give consumers rebates as high as $200 for replacing old, inefficient appliances with newer models are due to start flowing... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • electricity • washers • clothes dryers • kitchen • utilities • refrigerator • home appliances • Cash for Clunkers • freezer • stimulus funds • women's issues

(Newser) - A combination of penny-pinching and environmental concern has pushed bottled water sales off for the first time in at least 5 years, the Washington Post reports. In 2008, consumption of bottled water fell for the first time this decade. “It's an obvious way to cut back,” a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • bottled water • recession • beverages • Nestle • oil consumption • environmentalists • packaging

 America's Worst 
 Recycling Cities 

Cities who divert the least from landfill named and shamed

May 13, 09 6:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - The average American city recycles about a third of its waste, but the lack of any unified national standard for trash disposal means some cities rate way, way, below average. Mother Jones lists those with the biggest trash piles:
  • Oklahoma City recycles only 3% of its waste. Households have
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • trash • landfill • garbage • cities • Oklahoma City

(Newser) - Despite their reputation for being unfriendly to the environment, several ski resorts have become more sustainable, says Treehugger, which lists seven of the nation’s greenest mountain getaways.
  1. The Aspen Skiing Company, Colorado: This four-mountain resort said to be at the center of the green movement began eco-friendly initiatives
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • greenhouse gases • carbon footprint • biodiesel • wildlife • Aspen • Colorado • skiing

Colo. Resort Town Mulls 'Pay as You Throw' Trash Plan

Vail program would encourage recycling

Feb 2, 09 1:28 PM CST
(Newser) - A Colorado resort town is trying out a newer, greener trash collection program, the Denver Post reports. The new “pay-as-you-throw” system would charge residents of Vail based on how much junk they throw away each week, but provide curbside recycling for free. More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • trash • Aspen • Colorado • resorts • Vail

Inaugural Ball Flaunts Fashion Made of Trash

Cans, plastic bags, campaign signs make up 'trashion' lines

Jan 13, 09 12:05 PM CST
(Newser) - Stuck on what to wear to that upcoming Washington gala? How about a shower-curtain-and-aluminum-can cocktail dress? Or a canvas-scrap-and-rusty-nail gown? The actual “trashion,” created by recycling advocate Nancy Judd, will be showcased at Saturday’s Green Inaugural Ball, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fashionista even has a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • fashion • recycling • inauguration • fashion designer • environmentalists • inauguration ball • Nancy Judd • trashion

Texting, Research Laws
 to Hit Calif. in New Year 

Student journalists, bottled water also targeted by lawmakers

Dec 29, 08 3:40 PM CST
(Newser) - A texting-while-driving ban isn’t the only new law Californians will wake up to on Jan. 1. The San Francisco Chronicle lists some other new regulations:
  • Drivers can now mount a GPS system in the lower corners of their windshields.
  • It will become a crime to publish the
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • bottled water • journalist • text message • GPS • scientific research • driver distraction

Recession Has US Recycling Industry in Dumpster

Scrap fetching a fraction of the price it used to—if it's not cheaper to send it to landfills

Dec 8, 08 8:55 AM CST
(Newser) - With the economy tanking, recyclable material is selling like, well, trash. Mixed paper, which sold for $105 per ton as recently as October, now fetches $20-$25, the New York Times reports. “It’s awful,” said one recycling rep, who says her yard is packed with refuse that can’... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • environment • recycling • trash • financial crisis

analysis

 Gray Smog Conceals 
 a Greening China 

Green innovator gets unfair rap as environmental offender

Nov 11, 08 4:26 PM CST
(Newser) - The world's attitude toward China's environmentalism is "hypocritical and decidedly unfair," writes Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360—this coming from someone who has "literally held my nose at the foul air." Yes, China's "development zeal" has it doing "the bad things that most... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • environment • recycling • environmentalism • Beijing • green energy • innovation • green technology

Kids Take Green Lessons
to Heart, Then to Home

Kids are America's new eco-police

Oct 10, 08 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - They’re watching. No, not surveillance cameras; the growing population of “eco-kids”—children who, lectured on sustainability at school and elsewhere, are pushing green practices at home. They rummage through garbage bins, agitate for hybrid vehicles, and even even turn off the water while parents are brushing their... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • environmentalism • children • hybrid car • sustainability • green home • solar panels

 Kegger-Plagued College Town
 Paves With Rubber

Iowa college town ditches concrete for more flexible solution

Aug 20, 08 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sloppy keg delivery has taken its toll on sidewalks in the Campustown area popular with Iowa State University students, the Ames Tribune reports—but officials aren’t cracking under the pressure. Instead, they’re installing rubber sidewalks to replace pavement battered by years of abuse from offloaded beer barrels. Made... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • green technology • keg • rubber sidewalks • Iowa State University

 Houston Too Ornery to Recycle

'Independent streak,' cheap landfills have reuse rate at 2.6%, worst among US cities

Jul 29, 08 1:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - While other Texas cities are working hard to separate their garbage, Houston still considers recycling to be sissy stuff, earning the oil town the worst recycling rate of 30 top US cities. Houston recycles just 2.6% of its trash, the New York Times reports, while San Francisco is at... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • Texas • garbage • Houston

 Recycled
 'E-Waste'
 Can Be Toxic 

Old TVs, PCs can pollute developing countries

Jul 7, 08 5:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Recycling old computers, cell phones, and TVs may sound like a good idea—but be sure you know the destination before you dump such material, USA Today advises. While such “e-waste” recycling programs are springing up everywhere these days, some pose a threat. Often, the materials end up in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
environment • recycling • toxin • developing countries • consumer electronics • e waste

 Britons: New Trash 
 Laws Are Rubbish 

Controversial UK measures get tough on waste

Jun 27, 08 4:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - In the midst of a garbage overload, the UK is cracking down on trash with strict new rules, sparking a backlash among Britons, the New York Times reports. Many areas now pick up trash only biweekly, and accept only regulation amounts. Some reject recycling bins tainted with garbage. In response,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
environment • recycling • trash • garbage • Britain

Sony Gets Green Thumbs-Up in Electronics Rankings

Nintendo lowest on Greenpeace list of environment-friendly manufacturers

Jun 25, 08 4:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sony and Sony Ericsson are Greenpeace’s model tech citizens, topping a list of eco-friendly electronics companies. The environmental activists look at industry players’ use of hazardous chemicals, responsibility for obsolete products and—new this year—corporate policy toward climate change and other energy issues. Sony Ericsson was the first... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • Greenpeace • Nintendo • Nokia • Sony • Sony Ericsson • hazardous chemicals

 When in Venice,
 Can the Water Bottles 

Legendary city pleads with tourists to use public fountains

Jun 4, 08 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Faced with a mountain of discarded plastic bottles, Venice is asking 19 million tourists to quit drinking mineral water and use the city's 122 public fountains. Beginning Thursday, visitors to the Piazzale Roma will be handed reusable plastic bottles and a map showing fountains that city officials claim are "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • Catholic Church • plastic • Venice • Earth Policy Institute • waste disposal management • mineral water • World Environment Day

For Sale: Stadium Seating,
Lightly Used

London Olympic planners eye passing along parts of arena

May 27, 08 10:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - If Chicago wins its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, it might follow more closely in London 2012's footsteps than expected. The cities have begun discussing the possible sale of large parts of London's new stadium to Chicago, the Guardian reports. The deal could result in 55,000 seats... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • 2012 London Olympics • stadium • Chicago Olympics • stadium financing

 Broken Tech Becomes 
 Gold Mine, Literally 

Commodity prices have 'urban miners' panning discarded electronics

Apr 28, 08 2:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - No matter how broken it is, your old cell phone is still valuable to some people. That’s because it, like most electronics, is loaded with copper, iridium, gold, and other commodities that are becoming more expensive by the day. “To some it's just a mountain of garbage, but... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recycling • gold • commodities • consumer electronics • copper

1 - 20 of 36 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


from our news partners