Eco-Tip 3/24/19 Certifications Give Clear Signals Amid “Green Noise” By David Goldstein, Ventura County PWA/IWMD A greeting card I recently received had a statement printed on the back, “Printed on paper made from responsibly managed forests.” People overwhelmed by the “green noise” of environmental claims may not pay attention to details, but this claim was…
Eco-Tip for 3-17-19 Shelters Reuse Common Items to Help People and Animals By David Goldstein, Ventura County PWA, IWMD Some discards are difficult to recycle but wonderful to reuse. Items made from multiple material types, categories of commodities with poor markets, and items with the potential to tangle sorting lines are better repurposed than recycled.…
Eco-Tip for 3-10-19 Bottle and Can Buyback Recycling Options By David Goldstein, VCPWA, IWMD Tobie Mitchell is a recycling expert, working for the Ventura County Integrated Waste Management Division, but even she had trouble recently trying to redeem the deposits her family paid for bottles and cans. “There are so few buy-back centers that even…
Eco-Tip for 3-3-19 Mail-in Recycling Program Turns Cigarettes into Bench By David Goldstein, VCPWA, IWMD An on-line “unveiling” last month of a Ventura beach bench made from recycled cigarette butts quickly generated over 153 social media shares and dozens of comments on the Ventura Parks and Recreation Division Facebook page, as web surfers took the…
Eco-Tip for 1-13-19 School Recycling Challenge Offers Cash Prizes By David Goldstein, VCPWA, IWMD Next month, Keep California Beautiful, a non-profit organization, will coordinate a statewide recycling competition between schools. Cash prizes, funded by commercial sponsors, will be awarded to schools for placing first through fifth in each of 18 categories. That is 90 possible…
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Eco-Tip for 1-6-19 Grants for Diesel Engine Replacement By David Goldstein, VCPWA, IWMD Farmers, construction businesses, and commercial boat owners can obtain grants from the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District to fund replacement of diesel engines. Last month, the District’s board allocated over $4 million for grants. Sample application forms are now available on-line,…
For Eye on the Environment 12-30-18 Christmas Treecycling and Extra trash set-outs allowed in many areas By David Goldstein, Ventura County PWA, IWMD ‘Twas the week after Christmas and in curbside carts Were trees of Christmas past, cut up in parts. Some areas allow whole tree collection from the street. Other residents must load trees…
Eco Tip for 12-16-18 Protection from Flood and Mud By David Goldstein, Ventura County PWA, IWMD Montecito’s tragedy at the beginning of this year raised awareness of dangers posed by rain-driven debris flows. Especially those whose homes recently survived fires in their area are now concerned about the threats of flood and mud. Last week,…
For Eco-Tip 12-9-18 Are You As Smart As Your Irrigation Controller? By David Goldstein, VCPWA, IWMD For over a decade, local water agencies have offered discounts on “smart irrigation controllers.” I lost my irrigation system in the Thomas Fire and recently replaced the controller with one fully subsidized through Ventura Water. Smart controllers either sense…