The Scout Report -- Volume 24, Number 45

Ever wondered how or where to recycle something? The chances are pretty good that Earth 911 will have an answer. This resource offers a comprehensive recycling search directory that covers the United States and Canada. Users simply enter the item they want to recycle and their postal code to be presented with a list and map of the nearest facilities accepting that item. Earth 911 also provides a thorough collection of recycling how-to articles that do an excellent job of explaining this sometimes complicated process. In addition to these foundational resources, Earth 911 is regularly updated with new articles, stories, shopping guides, podcast episodes, and quizzes about waste reduction and sustainable living to inform, assist, and engage readers. Earth 911 was created in 1991 as a recycling hotline in Arizona and by 1997 it had expanded to a nationwide website. In 2000, the same year that their coverage expanded to Canada, the US Environmental Protection Agency awarded Earth 911 the Earth Day Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. [JDC]

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The familiar slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle" reminds our consumption-driven society to be mindful of our waste, but recycling frequently receives the bulk of the attention. The Freecycle Network (TFN) offers an avenue for the reuse of working items whose current owners no longer need or want them. The way it works is fairly straightforward: after finding their local group and creating a free membership, users can post listings of items they want to give away (items must be "free, legal and appropriate for all ages"), respond to others' offers of items, or even post a request for an item they're looking for. TFN's emphasis on reuse upholds its mission "to build a worldwide sharing movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community." Following its beginnings as a grassroots organization started by Deron Beal in 2003, TFN is registered as a nonprofit in Arizona and as a charity in the UK. As of this writing, TFN is made up of more than 5,300 local groups run by volunteer moderators in over 110 countries, for a total of more than 9.3 million members worldwide. [JDC]

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While recycling at home is important, it is by no means the only place to reduce waste. Led by the nonprofit Keep America Beautiful, Recycling at Work is a nationwide voluntary initiative "challenging businesses, government agencies, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to commit to increasing workplace recycling by 10 percent." Here, visitors will find numerous resources to help them start or expand a workplace recycling program, such as Recycling at Work's 10-Step Action Plan and a collection of free tools and communication templates to help implement the action plan and boost employee engagement. Recycling at Work's front page currently spotlights an April 2015 study on "the most effective infrastructure to increase recycling (both quantity and quality) in office settings," with links to the study's 126-page report, a fact sheet, and a webinar recording presenting the study's finding. Other useful content includes case studies submitted by Recycling at Work pledge partners to share their experiences and best practices, as well as the list of helpful links to other recycling resources and programs. [JDC]

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The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) is a regional nonprofit organization whose mission is "to minimize waste, conserve natural resources, and advance a sustainable economy through facilitated collaboration and action." While the eleven northeasternmost US states are the primary geographic focus of NERC's programs, the organization's leadership extends beyond those borders. Visitors to NERC's website will find ample resources to explore, such as the organization's blog that is updated weekly with articles for general audiences on topics related to waste management, and state-specific recycling information and relevant links for each of the eleven states in NERC's purview. Their site also includes information on its many current projects, including the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse and the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse. This site also features a searchable database of reports, guides, and other resources, most of which are "the result of original research, grants, and projects." Founded in 1987, NERC is led by executive director Lynn Rubinstein and a diverse group of state recycling authorities and industry experts, as well as non-voting advisory members representing a wide variety of businesses, organizations, and other stakeholders. [JDC]

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A Brief History of Household Recycling is an interactive timeline written by Sarah Goodyear for CityLab. The second part of a four-part series on urban breakthroughs, this resource employs bright colors and engaging design using archival material, photography, text, and graphics to present the history of recycling beginning with the onset of World War II in 1939 and extending to 2015. Intended as a concise overview rather than as an exhaustive report, this timeline highlights especially noteworthy occurrences, such as in 1980 when the city of Woodbury, NJ became the first US city to make recycling mandatory, noting that "People throw trash on [the mayor's] lawn in protest at first, but within three months Woodbury reaches 85 percent compliance." While much of the timeline focuses on American events, countries other than the US are discussed here as well, such as Germany, which adopted "a national ordinance that makes manufacturers responsible for the disposal of their packaging materials after the consumer is done with them" in 1991. [JDC]

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Readers who are curious about comparing different countries' recycling participation rates may be interested this article from Resource, a UK-based magazine and communications company focused on "sharing knowledge to present waste as a resource." Here, Resource explains a 2017 analysis conducted in partnership with Eunomia Research & Consulting, an independent environmental consultancy with offices in four countries. They highlight how variations in the way countries quantify their recycling rates can lead to misleading comparisons, such as how "Sweden, for instance, has achieved a 99 percent rate - but that's only true if you count combined heat and power energy recovery as a form of recycling." Using data from Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the analysis found that after adjusting for countries' differing methods of measuring and reporting their municipal recycling rates, Germany leads the world with an adjusted rate of about 54 percent, followed closely by Taiwan, Wales, and South Korea. Written for general audiences, this article also links to the study's full report with data tables and explanations of their methodologies. [JDC]

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In January 2018, China implemented a policy that drastically restricts the plastic waste it imports from other countries. Until that time, most plastics that were globally exported for recycling went to China, so this change in policy has had a significant effect on the recycling industry. The Jambeck Research Group at the University of Georgia, led by environmental engineering professor Jenna Jambeck, researches issues related to plastic waste. Here, visitors can access the full text of the June 2018 research article, "The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste trade," published in the journal Science Advances, as well as the study's supplemental material, dataset, and a 30-second animation. Using data from the United Nations Commodity Trade Database, the study calculated that since 1992 China cumulatively imported about 45 percent of the world's plastic waste for a total of roughly 106 million metric tons (MT). The study also found that as a result of China's policy change, by 2030 approximately 111 million MTs of plastic waste will have nowhere to go under "business as usual" conditions. Interested readers may also want to explore other parts of this site to learn about related research. [JDC]

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While many environmental initiatives aim to increase recycling rates, Plastic Free July focuses more on the "reduce" part of the three Rs. Plastic Free July began in 2011 as a local effort in Perth, Australia, and since then it has grown into a global movement with millions of participants worldwide. As its name suggests, participants aim to reduce or eliminate single-use plastics from their everyday life "because every piece of plastic that was ever made is still in existence. [...] Recycling is important but it's never going to be enough." Visitors to the Plastic Free July website will find a plethora of tips and resources for living plastic-free covering virtually all aspects of life, as well as inspiring stories and links to numerous external resources. In the toolbox, readers will find a helpful action picker that offers suggestions for ways to get started and includes a rating that visualizes the positive impact each action would have. This section also includes a number of case studies detailing how people and communities have undertaken this challenge, which for many has become a year-round lifestyle change. [JDC]

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The rapid expansion of consumer electronics worldwide, such as cell phones and computers, has given rise to the question of what to do with electronics after they become obsolete or unusable. Due to their often toxic contents like lead and mercury, electronic waste (commonly termed e-waste) poses a significant risk for both humans and the environment. "The Circuit: Tracking Down America's Electronic Waste" offers readers an in-depth look into this issue. This investigative journalism piece was sparked by a two-year investigation by the Basel Action Network (BAN), which revealed that the largest electronics recycler in Washington state had been surreptitiously exporting hazardous e-waste to Hong Kong. Here, reporters Katie Campbell and Ken Christensen explain the significance of BAN's investigation and use it as a springboard for further explorations into the problem of e-waste, noting that "the United States produces more e-waste than any country in the world" and it "has no federal laws banning the export of e-waste." This article is part of a longer series that was produced in 2016 by Oregon Public Broadcasting, KCTS 9 in Seattle, and Earthfix, a public media partnership in the Pacific Northwest. [JDC]

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The nonprofit The Story of Stuff Project was founded in 2008 by Annie Leonard after her 2007 animated documentary about consumer society, The Story of Stuff, went viral. Here, visitors can watch all of The Story of Stuff Project's short movies online, most of which are in the same style as the original video (which is also available in both Spanish and English). Many of these videos provide annotated scripts, which include detailed footnotes with source citations. The resources section offers educators free learning tools for students from Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i backgrounds intended to help "teenagers explore the relationship between their consumption, their faith, and the health of the planet," as well as an activity for 3rd and 4th-year high school French learners based on a translation of The Story of Stuff. This website also offers Citizen Muscle Boot Camp, a free four-week online course for future changemakers, as well as a reading guide to accompany Leonard's 2011 book, also entitled The Story of Stuff. Following the success of The Story of Stuff Project, in 2014 Leonard became the executive director of Greenpeace USA. [JDC]

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I Want To Be Recycled is a multimedia public service campaign offering visitors a fun, educational resource to "discover how your garbage gets another life" through recycling. The how to recycle section provides basic information on recycling helpfully categorized by the type of material, including myths and facts about each category with links to additional external resources. In the recycling journey section, readers can explore how six types of household waste go through the recycling system to become a new product. In the interactive game Super Sorter, readers operate their own animated recycling facility by strategically placing sorters to keep up with the increasingly complex stream of waste and earn "cash" to upgrade their facility for greater efficiency. This campaign also helps visitors find their local recycling facilities and includes numerous links to other recycling information sources. Available in both Spanish and English, I Want To Be Recycled was created by the nonprofit organizations Ad Council and Keep America Beautiful. [JDC]

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Funded by the National Science Foundation, TeachEngineering is a robust digital library of standards-aligned K-12 STEM curriculum materials. This particular lesson was designed for students in grades 3-5 and meets Next Generation Science Standards. In this lesson, students become familiar with the concept of the 3RC (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Compost) and learn about the steps of integrated waste management and the role that engineering plays in this process. This lesson also links to three hands-on associated activities where students "look at the effects of packaging decisions (reducing) [and] observe biodegradation in a model landfill (composting)," and use recycled materials to build towers in teams of three. The lesson plan and activities all include learning objectives, downloadable handouts, detailed instructions, and breakdowns of the time required, and interested educators could likely complete all four portions over a one-week span. Contributed by the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program in the University of Colorado-Boulder's College of Engineering, this lesson is one of ten in TeachEngineering's environment curricular unit. [JDC]

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Washed Ashore is a striking and thought-provoking nonprofit community art project based in Bandon, a small city on Oregon's southern coast. Founded in 2010 by artist and educator Angela Haseltine Pozzi, Washed Ashore consists of more than 70 sculptures depicting seabirds, fish, sea turtles, and other marine life, all painstakingly constructed out of more than 20 tons (and counting) of plastic debris that has washed onto beaches on the Pacific coast. Visitors to Washed Ashore's website can explore numerous photo galleries and videos about the sculptures and the process of creating them, and also learn more about the problem of marine debris. Educators should check out the learn section, where they will find the project's educational initiatives and an extensive, well-developed Integrated Arts Marine Debris curriculum funded by a grant from NOAA, including an introductory recorded webinar for teachers. Washed Ashore has multiple traveling exhibits of its sculptures and ongoing exhibitions in Bandon and at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Those interested can find the locations of current and upcoming exhibitions under the exhibit tab on the homepage. [JDC]

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The Steel Recycling Institute (SRI) provides information on various aspects of steel recycling and sustainability in North America. Founded in 1988 as a grassroots effort within the steel industry focused only on the recycling of steel cans, the SRI now promotes the recycling of all steel products and highlights related research. Recycling information is categorized into automotive, construction, and packaging, with construction having the most robust offerings. The SRI also provides information on steel recycling in general. Under the life cycle thinking tab, researchers and analysts interested in life cycle assessments can request access to life cycle inventory data on various steel products from a study conducted by SRI and the World Steel Association. This trade association website is produced and maintained by the Steel Market Development Institute, "a business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute," which works to "[increase] and [defend] the use of steel by developing innovative materials, applications and, in general, making steel the highest value material in the automotive, construction and packaging markets." [JDC]

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For readers who want to stay up to speed on developments in the worldwide recycling and solid waste industry, Waste360 is a valuable resource. Describing itself as "the leading information, event, commerce, and education provider to the solid waste, recycling, organics, and sustainable communities," Waste360 offers comprehensive, regularly updated industry news from a business perspective. The site is searchable and well-organized, with categories such as recycling, collection & transfer, and landfill easily available from both the home page and the menu. One particularly interesting section is Waste360's ongoing special report on China's Changing Import Regulations, which it launched in 2017 after China announced policy shifts restricting its waste imports. Although Waste360 is intended for professional audiences in the waste industry, its language is accessible and appropriate for general readers as well. Waste360 is a publication of Informa, a UK-based international company serving diverse sectors within the global knowledge economy. [JDC]

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The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), which bills itself as "the voice of the recycling industry," is a nonprofit trade association that represents about 1,300 recycling companies operating in the United States and in 41 countries worldwide. ISRI offers its digital visitors an overview about and resources on various recycling commodities, including its 96-page 2018 Scrap Recycling Industry Yearbook, which provides up-to-date information and statistics on the global recycling industry, as well as an explanation of its history, how it works today, and the economic and environmental benefits it provides. Readers may also be interested in the interactive map that allows users to explore the economic impacts of the recycling industry in each state, based on a 2017 study ISRI conducted on this topic. Under the news & publications tab, ISRI provides numerous white papers, position statements, and recycling presentations, which are all downloadable as PDFs. The advocacy & compliance section contains information on the policy issues ISRI holds as important to its members. [JDC]

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We featured Garbology in the 12/10/2015 issue of The Scout Report. In addition to its Flash-based animated game, this fun site offers a number of educational resources for teachers, students, and families.

This excellent interactive site, which won a Webby Award and an award from the American Association of School Librarians, takes students on a journey into garbage. Along the way, young readers learn which items should be reused or recycled and which should be composted. Each time a student drags a piece of trash (or a banana peel, or a can) to the right receptacle, an interesting fact appears on the screen. For example, putting the plastic bottle in the recycling bin calls up this bit of trivia: Americans make enough plastic each year to shrink wrap Texas. Putting an item in the wrong bin produces comical results. A fun and engaging site, young readers will learn important lessons about our trash and our world.

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