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| What
Eco-friendly Bed and Breakfasts do? |
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 Conserve
and protect the ecosystems and cultural heritage of their
area.
Promote
local natural attractions.
Build
environmental and cultural awareness.
Minimize
the environmental impact of conventional
tourism. |
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One of
the many challenges facing Innkeepers today is how
to demonstrate the specialness of your Inn over conventional
lodging. Ecotourism is an important trend  more |
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BnBscape
Promoting Eco-friendly Bed & Breakfasts in USA and
Canada. |
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Online
Directory for "Ecotourism", "Earth-friendly
Inns", "Certified Green Inns", "Ecological
Tourism", "Sustainable Tourism", and espontaneous |
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| Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle |
Modern
societies produce an excessive amount of waste. The costs
of doing so include the spreading of landfill sites as
well as the damage to the environment caused by the manufacturing,
distribution, and ultimate disposal of products.
The slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle", prescribes
three strategies concerning solid waste management and,
therefore, the reduction of the environmental impact associated
with these materials. Environmentally
aware consumers can produce less waste by practicing
the three strategies or the “3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle".
They buy products that are less toxic or contain less
packaging, use reusable containers and other refillable
items, maintain and repair apliances, participate in
recycling programs, and prefer products made from recycled
materials. |
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| REUSE |
| RECYCLE |
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| Reduce
waste |
| Every little bit
of trash avoided does make a difference! |
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Become informed about the
environmental impacts of the products you buy and
search for better alternatives. |
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Don't buy more than you can use. |
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Choose products with less packaging. |
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Choose products with recyclable or reusable
packaging. |
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Buy products in bulk to save on packaging. Many
health food stores have bulk bins where they sell
everything from grains to cereal to cleaning products. |
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Buy concentrated products and refills. |
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Carry reusable shopping bags or boxes. |
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Avoid disposable items as posible, for example 'one-use'
cameras or disposable nappies. |
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Avoid purchasing plastic #3, PVC/vinyl |
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Buy ice cream in a cone instead of a cup
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| Reduce
paper waste: |
| _Replace paper napkins
with cloth napkins |
| _Replace paper towels
with a set of cloth towels/napkins and just wash
and reuse |
| _Purchase bleach-free
toilet paper that is made from the highest post-consumer
waste content you can find (80% minimum) |
| _When printing documents,
consider once-used paper and/or bleach-free |
| _Make note pads from
once-used paper |
| _Leave messages for
family members/roommates on a reusable message board
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| Don't throw,
compost! |
| Did
you know that about 25% of your trash is compostable?
Lawn clippings, shrub and tree trimming, leaves, and food
(except for dairy products, meats, and grease) are organic
food just waiting to be returned to the soil. So instead
of sending your green waste and food to the landfill and
end its usefulness, recycle the natural way, by COMPOSTING!
There are several ways to begin.
You may purchase a composting bin, make your own, or
designate an open area in your yard for a compost pile.
A food scrap container located in the kitchen should
be small enough to empty often to avoid unnecessary
odors. Now the fun begins!
Compost needs four essential ingredients: |
_ Nitrogen
(greens)
Any green organics such as houseplant or flower
trimmings, lawn clippings (if you aren't grasscycling),
contain nitrogren. All vegetable and fruit scraps
are also in the nitrogen group. |
_ Carbon (browns)
Brown (dry) grass and leaves, paper and cardboard
(shredded or in small pieces), plus bread and grains. |
_ Oxygen (air)
The bin or pile must be turned occasionally to allow
air to circulate through the mixture. |
_ Water (moisture)
Keep your compost mixture moist but not dripping
wet. |
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| Mix: |
| Apply equal amounts of browns and greens,
water to keep moist, and turn occasionally. Make sure
to avoid food items that contain grease and oils, any
meat or dairy products, and fish to avoid odors and rodents.
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| Red worms: |
| Throw in a few red worms to hasten the
composting process along! Those red wigglers love the
warm environment, multiply quickly, make wonderful compost,
and provide great bait for fishing! |
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| Wait: |
| After about 2-4 months, a rich, dark
soil will replace the garden and food scraps. |
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| Congratulations! |
| With a little effort and lots of organics,
you have made your own compost AND reduced your trash
by approximately 25 percent! |
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| For more information on composting,
check out these web pages: |
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| California
Integrated Waste Management Board - |
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| US
Environmental Protection Agency - |
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| Reuse |
| Every little bit
of effort on "reusing" does make a difference! |
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Look for products in reusable,
refillable or recyclable packaging. |
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Use rechargeable batteries rather than single-use
batteries and ask your local council about how to
dispose of batteries properly. |
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Use glass bottles, plastic bags, aluminium foil
over and over again before recycling or disposing
of them. |
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Reuse envelopes/wrapping paper and scrap paper |
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Repair items instead of throwing them away |
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Hold a garage sale. |
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Visit Recycler's World, one of many web sites that
facilitates buying and selling used products.
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Donate unwanted clothing, furniture and white goods
to charities. |
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Donate your old computer equipment. |
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Donate your old eyeglasses to Lions Club, For-Eyes,
Pearle, or Lenscrafters. |
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Donate your old cellular phones to Collective Good.
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| Recycle |
| Why Recycle? |
| Because every little bit of effort
on "recycling" does make a difference! |
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Recycling generates civic pride and environmental awareness. |
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Recycling helps prevent environmental pollution. |
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Recycling saves natural resources. |
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Recycling conserves raw materials used in industry. |
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Making products from recycled ingredients often uses much
less energy than producing the same product from raw materials.
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Recycling reduces the amount of material dumped in landfill
sites and helps our waste disposal problems. |
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Goods are used productively and prevented from becoming
litter and garbage. |
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| What can I recycle? |
| Most items can be recycled — but
only when there’s a market for the finished product.
So, make sure you buy products that foster the recycled
market. |
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| GLASS |
100 percent recyclable.
Household bottles and jars are made from a melted mixture
of silica (sand), soda ash and limestone. Glass manufacturers
can use your old glass in this process. |
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| How to recycle glass: |
| _ Designate a recycling
bin for glass |
| _ Recycle all glass
containers, not just bottles |
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_ Use glass bottles, plastic bags, aluminium foil
over and over again before recycling or disposing
of them. |
| _ Rinse containers |
| _ Remove lids, corks
and caps - labels can remain |
| _ Sort glass into
refillable and recyclable (check message on bottles
to see which type they are) |
| _ Find out if your
local school, scouts or guides collect glass for
fundraising |
| _ Place ONLY glass
in bins |
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| PLASTIC: |
| Try to identify and separate the different
types of plastic. The Plastics Industry Association has
introduced a voluntary system of product coding to help
recyclers and the public. |
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| Types of plastics: |
PET Polyethylene Terephthalate
HDPE High Density Polyethylene
UPVC Unplasticised Polyvinyl Chloride
PPVC Plasticised Polyvinyl Chloride
LDPE Low Density Polyethylene
PP Polypropylene
PS Polystyrene
EPS Expanded Polystyrene Includes
all other resins and multi materials (eg laminates)
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| Consider this when you recycle
plastic: |
| _ Reuse plastic containers
and bags |
| _ Sort plastics into
different types |
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_ Rinse containers and remove lids |
| _ Rinse containers |
| _ Ask your supermarket
to recycle plastic bags |
| _ Look for the code
number on any plastic item you buy and try to choose
those which can be recycled in your local recycling
program. |
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| ALUMINIUM: |
| The production
of primary aluminium from bauxite requires great amount
of energy. Once it reaches its metallic form, aluminium
can be recycled indefinitely. Recycling
aluminium uses only 5 percent of the energy needed to
produce new aluminium. This saves coal in energy production
in power stations and reduces emissions to the atmosphere. |
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| How to recycle aluminium: |
| _ Designate a recycling
bin for aluminium cans |
| _ Remove other objects
(e.g. straws) that could ruin new aluminium |
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_ Encourage your school or workplace to recycle
aluminium cans |
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| OTHER
METALS: |
| Reusing and recycling
metals such as lead, copper and steel, conserves our raw
material resources for the future. Processed metals and
many alloys require less energy to recycle than to mine
and process. Lead can be recycled
from old car batteries. Service stations and car battery
retail outlets will generally accept car batteries for
trade-in, or you can take them yourself to a metal recycler
for recycling. Do not empty out battery acid before
delivering the batteries to a collector.
Don't throw away copper from hot water
systems, copper pipes or old car radiators - take them
to a scrap metal dealer. Electric cabling and wiring
contains copper and aluminium, which can be recycled.
The plastic coating found on some wiring can be removed
by metal recyclers in a process called 'granulation'.
Using this process, the plastic is removed and the copper,
aluminium and any steel present are separated magnetically
for recycling.
Brass retrieved from old household
fittings can be restored for use in old houses.
Steel and iron
can be reclaimed from car bodies and engines, disused
household or industrial equipment and building materials.
Most household steel scrap is in the form of human and
pet food cans. Scrap metal dealers may take clean, de-labelled
cans but may not be able to offer payment for them.
Steel cans, including aerosol, are accepted in many
kerbside recycling programs. |
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| How to recycle metal: |
| _ Take it to your
scrap metal dealer or local drop-off centre (ask
if you can be paid for for returned metal goods) |
| _ Don’t include
fire extinguishers, gas bottles, or shock absorbers
— they have the potential to explode. |
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| PAPER: |
| Recyclers can produce a variety
of recycled paper products such as printing paper, envelopes,
toilet paper and tissues. Lower grade paper is usually
used to make products such as cardboard and insulation.
Demand for old newspapers can fluctuate. Their short
fibres are unsuitable for recycling uses but good as
packaging material, insulation material or being recycled
back into newsprint. |
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| How to recycle paper: |
| _ Before recycling,
make two-sided copies, use the blank side of used
paper for notepaper and re-use envelopes |
| _ Use recycled paper
as much as possible. |
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