How Should I Get Rid of That?

April has arrived, and that means Earth Day is right around the corner. At Mill Valley Patch, we think dedicating just one day to the environment isn't enough. That's why we're declaring April to be Earth Month. For each of the next four weeks, we’ll be running regular stories about how you can go green in ways you may not have expected.

An oft-used phrase in conservation is Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. For this week’s edition we spoke to Devi Peri, the education coordinator at Marin Sanitary Service, for some ideas of items you can recycle or reuse that you might not have expected. Here are five:

1. Cork. You’re cleaning up after a dinner party where your guests helped you polish a few bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. Before sending the cork from those bottles straight to the trash, think of ReCork, which has recycled more than 14 million corks to date and partnered with companies like Sole that reuse the cork to make shoes and sandals.

Local restaurants like Small Shed Flatbreads, La Ginestra, Vasco, Bungalow 44 and Piatti recycle their wine bottle corks with ReCork, according to its website.

“Most people just throw them in the trash, and some think they’re compostable,” Peri said.

2. Athletic shoes. A number of companies have stepped up in recent years to offer ways to recycle used sneakers, including Nike. The shoe behemoth’s Reuse a Shoe program takes any athletic shoes – no shoes with metal parts, mud or water, cleats, dress shoes, sandals or flip-flops – at dropoff locations around the country. That includes NikeTown in San Francisco and the Nike Factory Store in Petaluma.

In turn, Nike turns the material from the shoes into one of three types of what it calls Nike Grind. Nike Grind Rubber, made from the shoe's outsole, is used in track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles, playground surfacing and even new Nike products. Nike Grind Foam, made from the shoe's midsole, is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts, while Nike Grind Fiber, made from the shoe's fabric upper, is used in the creation of cushioning pads for facilities like indoor synthetic courts and wood courts. 

3. Compact flourescent lightbulbs. Sales of eco-friendly CFLs have risen in the past two years, but while they use less energy and last seven times longer than normal bulbs, their disposal has presented an ongoing problem, according to Devi.

“People just don’t know that these things don’t go into the landfill,” Peri said.

Unlike regular bulbs, CFLs contain mercury, so they can’t be thrown in the trash because the mercury could seep into and pollute groundwater and soil. Most people simply don’t realize that the new bulbs can’t just be thrown into the trash like the old bulbs, Peri said. Instead, CFLs can be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility at Marin Sanitary Service in San Rafael.

In conjunction with the environmental organization Green Tsonga several years ago, Peri and others distributed CFLs and adorned their boxes with stickers notifying users that the bulbs contained mercury and shouldn't be thrown in the trash.

4. Construction/demolition. Drywall, carpeting, the padding underneath carpeting and a bevy of building debris can be either composted or recycled. Drywall, for instance, can be composted, Peri said.

“A lot of landfill waste is created during remodels,” Peri said. “It’s one of the biggest things that causes waste in our Marin landfills.”

5. CD jewel cases. You’ve finally ripped all your CDs onto a hard drive or your iWhatever and now you’re ready to dump them. What do you do with all those plastic jewel cases? We found a blog from South Africa with a very creative re-use of them as makeshift photo frames. Check it out.