Changes in Packaging Impact Recycling Right in Santa Cruz

Page 4 Spring 2016

Changes in Packaging … packaging material is clamshell and (Continued from Page 1) blister packaging—those plastic shells ❝❞ that cover new toys and other products What’s New? in a kid-friendly, squeezable plastic pouch. and the clear, hinged boxes that hold deli Check out the new Plastic pouches may also hold yogurt, rice, foods and produce. Clamshell packaging, Recycle Right! videos soup, coffee beans, cat food and snack which is designed for single-use and has on the City website. foods. Pouches are made up of polyester, practically no value in the recycling market, You can find out exactly aluminum foil, polyethylene, Mylar and is therefore destined for the landfill. Most what’s recyclable in your more, plus added spouts, caps, straws “clamshells” are made out of PET (plastic curbside recycle cart and or zipping mechanisms of various other resin code #1)—a highly recyclable plastic. what’s not. The short types of plastic. This packaging is almost However, clamshells are produced from (831) 420-5160 videos are divided into impossible to clean and difficult to recycle. a process known as “thermoforming,” www.cityofsantacruz.com different materials, so if If you and your kids love squeezable snack which changes the composition of the PET, you have questions about pouches, there is a reusable “kindness making them different from PET plastic Spring 2016 metal recycling, glass pouch” available from Squooshi™. bottles, which are blow molded. This slight or plastic bags, you can Have you ever noticed a number on the difference makes clamshells undesirable watch that segment. Be bottom of a plastic container? The plastic for most plastic buyers, thus making them informed and recycle industry started the coding system in 1988 not worth collecting for many recyclers, Changes in Packaging Impact Recycling right in Santa Cruz. Go to: www.cityofsantacruz.com/recycleright. with numbers 1-7. They placed the number including the City of Santa Cruz. Visit the City of Santa Cruz Recycling Center this summer! Learn firsthand what inside the chasing arrows “recycle” symbol Packaging can be beneficial in that happens to your recyclables and get answers to your recycling questions. Tours are Walk down the aisle of any grocery store landfill or in the environment where they quality; in theory, the glass from the 1700s layers are part of the reason that cartons are to help the recycling industry. Unfortunate- it protects a product, but the minute you and you are faced with a dizzying array of will take hundreds of years to break down. still exists as glass today. Glass stays local not recyclable in Santa Cruz. Cartons get scheduled for the third Friday of the month in June, July, and August, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. ly, the plan backfired because the number get home from the store, how much of the Call 421-5591 to reserve your spot. products and packaging. There are literally When plastic debris ends up in the oceans with strong recycling markets in California. mixed in with paper which is a problem for does not guarantee that the container can be packaging you just bought goes directly into thousands of different products that we of the world, the impacts can cause physical Highly recyclable metal cans are being us since the local paper mill that buys our recycled; it only indicates the type of resin the trash? The Environmental Protection purchase and use every day. Most products harm and potential chemical hazards to the edged out in favor of aseptic shelf-stable mixed paper does not want cartons. that the plastic container is made from. One Agency (EPA) estimates that containers come in some sort of packaging, and, more marine environment. cartons for products like soup, almond milk The newest packaging craze is plastic non-recyclable plastic is polystyrene (PS), and packaging make up one-third of the often than not, the packages will contain Humans have been storing food in and juice. These hybrid (multi-material) packets and pouches. Apple sauce that which is plastic resin code #6. Meat and total solid waste stream in the United States plastic. containers for thousands of years. Food cartons contain paper fiber, as well as once came in a glass jar is now packaged eggs are two products commonly found and only about 2 percent gets recycled. Protective packaging is a $22 billion was sold in glass jars for the first time in layers of plastic and aluminum. Multiple (Continued on Page 4) A fun environmental in foam trays and cartons which are not According to Stanford University, “We business which continues to evolve. the 1700s and metal cans in the 1800s. recyclable. Polystyrene plastic can be a bit discard our own weight in packaging Constant new and innovative packaging The modern age of food packaging began celebration for the tricky, since not all of it is expanded foam. every 30-40 days.” So choose wisely in design makes things very difficult for the in 1890 when crackers were first sold in Sushi trays and most to-go coffee cup lids the grocery store and think about what recycling industry. We are witnessing a waxed paper sleeves inside a paperboard whole family! don’t look like the white foam that we as- happens to all of the packaging when you rapidly changing waste stream, with new, box. Plastics began to appear during the sociate with polystyrene, but they are and, are finished with the products that they single-use, impossible-to-clean, multi- 1920s and ’30s as a result of chemical therefore, cannot be recycled. contain. Select items with less packaging or material packaging with no end-of-life company experiments during the war effort. April 16, 2016 Another prolific and problematic recyclable packaging whenever possible. recycling solutions in sight. Convenience Fast forward to 2016, and we are faced with and lower shipping costs seem to be the 6,000 different substances that are approved www.SCEarthDay.org prime directive, so manufacturers have by government agencies to come into switched from highly recyclable glass and contact with food. metal containers to new, durable, light- Glass bottles and jars have been Mark Your Calendar for weight and “fun” plastics. The durability replaced with plastic containers for of plastic is the very reason it becomes so products like juice, peanut butter and problematic ketchup. Although plastic bottles and jars Bulky Item Pickup Day when are recyclable, most are exported to China GARAGE SALE WEEKEND discarded. and recycled only once. Plastic bottles are Large, broken items are difficult Every piece 4 processed into polyester fiber for carpet, to dispose of. Think about pre- of plastic that polar fleece jackets and stuffing for sleeping cycling when you shop for a new has ever been bags. Glass, on the other hand, can be appliance, mattress or couch. produced recycled over and over again with no loss of Stores often offer a take-back still exists Three Recyclability Factors service. When they make home somewhere. 1. The City of Santa Cruz Resource Recovery Facility was designed and built to deliveries, they will remove the All too often, accept traditional recyclable materials—bottles, cans, jars, paper and cardboard. old, broken item that you are those pieces It was not designed to accept the steady stream of new, light-weight, plastic June 4 & 5 replacing. Or take advantage of of plastic 8 packaging that we are seeing today. Bulky Item Pickup Day. If you end up in a 2. It would take many months to collect enough of these new plastic materials to have an old refrigerator, washing fill a shipping container. And since many of the new pouches and cartons are machine, couch, television or difficult to clean, plastic bales waiting months to be shipped could attract pests other bulky item that you wish to get rid of, schedule a pickup. The City of Santa Cruz and produce foul odors. Appliance and Bulky Item Pickup date is Saturday, June 25. To receive this service, you 8 3. Currently, there is no viable end market for these low-grade and hybrid plastic must be a City resident. Call Customer Service at 420-5220 between June 6 and 23 to materials. That may change in the future, but for now, if it has no viable market, it schedule a pickup. This is a great time to use the free service tags that you received in the won’t be collected for recycling. mail with your Refuse and Recycling newsletter at the beginning of the year. 8 Bye Bye Mattresses

Fifteen to twenty million mattresses are disposed of each year in the United States. Eighty percent of the material in mattresses has the potential to be recycled into useful products. The City-wide spring garage sale weekend will be held on June 4–5. Whether you are a California passed the Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act in UCSC student moving on or a City resident doing a bit of spring cleaning, this is the sale 2013. The Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) is the product for you. The City sponsors garage sale weekend to promote reuse in our community. For stewardship organization tapped to implement the statewide more information go to www.cityofsantacruz.com/garagesales or call 420-5591. mattress recycling program, known as Bye Bye Mattress. The 4 Market Photo courtesy of Santa Cruz Farmers’ program’s primary goals are to increase mattress recycling opportunities and decrease the impacts of illegal dumping. The 8 We want your suggestions, The Santa Cruz Public Works Department provides the City of Santa Cruz is now part of the new mattress recycling questions and comments! City of Santa Cruz with a variety of services including engineering design, traffic engineering and maintenance, program. City residents can deliver mattresses and box springs storm water management, street maintenance, resource to the Resource Recovery Facility FREE of charge. There is a Tips to Avoid Excess Packaging recovery management, wastewater management, flood limit of five mattresses and/or box springs per visit. The City control and parking control. The Public Works Department is not providing a free pickup service for mattresses. As in • Choose products with less packaging. is committed to bringing the Santa Cruz community the the past, residents may call Customer Service at 420-5220 • Carry your own reusable water bottle, coffee mug and shopping bags. highest possible quality of life. to schedule and pay for a special pickup or use Bulky Item • Purchase food and beverages in packaging that is easy to recycle, such as Public Works Department Funded by City of Santa Cruz Public Works Pickup Day on June 25. aluminum cans, glass bottles and paperboard boxes. 809 Center Street, Room 201 Copyright© 2016 Please note: Businesses and large producers are not • When possible, buy dry goods in bulk and store them in glass jars. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 City of Santa Cruz Public Works and Eco Partners, Inc. eligible for this program. Santa Cruz businesses may recycle Bottles and cans are highly recyclable and accepted in Santa • Purchase basic ingredients for your meals rather than pre-packaged food. All rights reserved. mattresses and box springs at the Resource Recovery Facility Cruz curbside carts. 831-420-5160 4 • Minimize to-go packaging. Dine in the restaurant rather than ordering take-out. for a fee of $12 each or free of charge when delivered to the PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER WITH 70% These containers are hard to recycle and NOT accepted in the • Shop at your local farmers market to avoid pre-packaged produce. www.cityofsantacruz.com POST-CONSUMER NEWS CONTENT, USING SOY INKS nearest commercial recycler, which is Goodwill of Silicon Valley in San Jose. 8 Santa Cruz recycling program. • Save and reuse plastic bags from produce, bread and cereal. Page 2 Spring 2016 Page 3 Spring 2016

When trash See the work Plastic bitten by fish in the North This is your Atlantic ocean was speaks of these artists: found during the 5 5gyres.org Photo courtesy of 5 Gyres, Gyres SEAChange v Chris Jordan: www.ChrisJordan.com Sometimes art shocks us. Sometimes it who works in photography, installation, and Expedition. v Alejandro Durán: www.AlejandroDuran.com brain on water tells stories. Sometimes it educates us. And video. His work explores the intersections often, it does all three. That is especially of humans and nature, particularly points at v Fabrice Monteiro: http://FabriceMonteiro.viewbook.com/ Blue Mind: The Surprising Science true of four artists working to transform which the natural world is overwhelmed by v Vik Muniz: http://VikMuniz.net/ That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or trash into fine art while exposing the the developed world. His series, “Washed Under Water Can Make You Happier, devastating effects that Healthier, More Connected, and Better our trash can have on our at What You Do by Wallace J. Nichols environment. is long of title and wide-ranging in Chris Jordan has content, making this book difficult to spent years documenting Fast Facts on classify. While he fills it with facts America’s love affair with Earth Day, Earth Day, and scientific concepts, the author stuff. Jordan believes that statistics – and photo does not hide his true colors; he is a collages that represent them Read All About It! Microplastics zealot. Nichols’ aim is not so much to – can tell stories about our inform as it is to preach, to spread the n good news of what he calls Blue Mind. culture. His first series to Each year, 8 million tons of plastics So, while the facts and science are focus on waste as a subject enter our oceans; that is equivalent to was “Intolerable Beauty,” dumping a truckload of plastics into the instructive, the real charm of the book which included huge photos © iStock.com | Squaredpixels ocean every minute. lies in the stories of people Nichols of various types of electronic n Plastics in the ocean do not biodegrade, introduces to the reader, along with the waste. His series, “Running but rather break into smaller and quotes he sprinkles amply throughout the Numbers,” which he smaller pieces. When combined with the text. began in 2006, featured Van Curaza is one of the characters The Prophecy, Untitled #1 (Courtesy of Fabrice Monteiro | Mariane Ibrahim Gallery) microplastics, such as microbeads his signature large-scale in personal care products, released Nichols uses to deliver his doctrine. photographs that depict a specific quantity Up: Transforming a Trashed Landscape,” Helping children learn more about the environment this Earth Day is as easy as directly into waterways, the majority 5gyres.org Photo courtesy of 5 Gyres, Once a professional surfer, Van fell of selected items, such as five minutes of looks at plastic pollution from the ocean giving them a book. No matter their age or interest, there’s a book out there for kids of plastics in the ocean are less than 5 victim to drug and alcohol abuse. office paper use (15 million sheets), 30 that washes ashore at Sian Ka’an, Mexico’s What can you do to reduce wanting to learn about or help our world. millimeters in size (less than 1/4 inch). Using the research of others, Nichols seconds of aluminum can consumption largest protected reserve, home to the n Microplastics and the chemicals microplastics pollution? describes how the neurochemical (106,000 cans), five minutes of plastic world’s second largest barrier reef, and a For the shopping teenager: Get Real by Mara Rockliff. Frank and honest, Get Real explains to teenagers issues about our consumer system and how their buying that attach to them in the water can 1. Avoid products with microbeads mechanisms of addiction and substance beverage bottle use (2 million bottles), a UNESCO World Heritage site. contaminate the food chain, including power can influence the environment—hopefully for the better. before the product ban goes into effect. abuse are similar to the day’s worth of retired cell phones (426,000 Durán writes, “Over the course of seafood products eaten by people. Look for the words “polyethylene” or gratification surfers For the hopeful middle-schooler: Not Your Typical Book About the n phones just in the U.S.), and an hour of this project, I have identified plastic waste In 2015, the federal Microbead-Free “polystyrene” on the ingredient label. how many writers, Environment by Elin Kelsey. The world is not doomed if we do something about it. enjoy pursuing their pas- paper grocery bag consumption (1.14 from fifty nations on six continents that Waters Act became law. This law 2. Wash fleece and other synthetic fabrics painters, and poets have Kelsey explains to young people what’s happening to the world now and how they time. After regaining his million brown bags). have washed ashore along the coast of requires that companies stop using less often. This also saves water and drawn inspiration from can not only learn more about it, but can also enact positive change. own sobriety, Van started Jordan writes, “This project visually Sian Ka’an. I have used this international tiny beads of plastic in personal care energy. the water. Creative For the philanthropic bookworm: Think…Before You Throw It Away by Operation Surf to help examines these vast and bizarre measures debris to create color-based, site-specific products, where they were used as 3. Don’t litter, and pick up the litter you people impact how Kelsey Rae. In this story, a little girl hears the plea of recyclables thrown in the trash all kinds of people enjoy of our society in large, intricately detailed sculptures.” The installation features abrasives, by July 2017. Microbeads see. Take part in beach and other litter others perceive, think prints assembled from thousands of brightly colored plastic bottles filling a and learns how important children are in changing the way we treat trash. the benefits of surfing. are commonly used in facial cleansers, cleanups. about, and feel about smaller photographs.” He continues, “My footpath, soccer balls intermingled with For the bug-obsessed preschooler: Noisy Bug Sing-Along by John His clients include fel- toothpaste, and cosmetics. 4. Close the lids on your trash and their experiences, their underlying desire is to emphasize the coconuts, and fishing line turned into palm Himmelman. See and hear bugs that live in our environment but rarely get to see n low recovering addicts, Fleece and synthetic clothing shed recycling cans or carts when you place surroundings, and their role of the individual in a society that is tree roots. center stage. Kids can learn which bugs make the noises they hear outside and try to at-risk youth, the termi- microplastics into the water with them at the curb. life. Nichols states, increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, Although a bit surreal, his crafted imitate the sounds themselves. each washing. In fact, a fleece jacket nally ill and physically 5. Carry and use reusable shopping bags. “After all, what is and overwhelming.” landscapes are not unlike the scenes we For the hungry poet: What’s in the Garden? by Marianne Berkes. Rhymes sheds about 2,000 pieces of plastic Say “no thanks” to single-use plastic disabled, and veterans creativity but a form of He subsequently continued to explore see at real beaches where trash has washed give children just starting to read a chance to learn about food eaten right from the per washing. Wastewater treatment bags. suffering from PTSD. optimism that there is waste in his art – and specifically waste ashore—or rather, returned to shore. garden. Once the kids complete the short poems, recipes tell them how to make a plants do not have the ability to screen Sources: “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future These are not people more that can be done?” in our oceans – more closely. His 2009 Durán explains his goal, “The resulting snack including the star ingredient. these tiny pieces, meaning they end up of Plastics” (2016), Project MainStream, a collaboration of the who might typically take series, “Midway: Message From the Gyre,” photo series depicts a new form of World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and up such a challenging There is creativity in all Remember to reuse books. Here are three easy ways: in both the discharged water and the McKinsey & Company; “Scientific Evidence Supports a Ban displayed the undisturbed bodies of dead colonization by consumerism, where even sludge that is composted. Learn more on Microbeads” (2015), Society for Conservation Biology; and demanding activity. professions. People often 1. Give away or sell old books. birds, bellies full of plastic bottle caps, undeveloped land is not safe from the far- in this short video: https://youtu.be/ “From Fleece Jackets to Your Food: The Scary Journey of But the focus, challenge, return from a cruise, a found lying on the shores of Midway Atoll, reaching impact of our disposable culture. 2. Buy used books. Microplastics” (2015), National Geographic and Adventurers fishing trip, a weekend RMkkYAf18Xk. and Scientists for Conservation camaraderie, and physi- 2014 (used with permission) Photo © Jeff Lipsky, a cluster of islands more than 2,000 miles The alchemy of ‘Washed Up’ lies not only at the lake, a trip to the 3. Borrow books from your local library. cal demands of the sport Wallace J. Nichols from the nearest continent. Then in 2016, in converting a trashed landscape, but in the leave the participants beach, or even a walk he turned to desert plastic pollution with project’s potential to raise awareness and feeling calmer and happier after a session. along a creek with a better attitude and “Camel Gastrolith,” which features plastic change our relationship to consumption and It’s a condition surfers describe as being renewed productivity in their jobs—Blue bags and shards of plastic, metal, and glass waste.” QUOTES “stoked,” and after reading that section, a Mind at work again. found in the stomach contents of dead Working across the globe, in coastal Top 20 Things That Are non-surfer might be motivated to get them- In later chapters, the author connects camels. Senegal, photographer Fabrice Monteiro REQUOTED The greatest threat to our selves to a beach and take some lessons. the dots that bring people from feeling Alejandro Durán is a multimedia artist collaborated with costume and fashion planet is the belief that better to feeling compassion and improving designer Doulsy (Jah Gal) and models Going, Going, Gone! The same is true of Nichols’ descriptions of Washed Up: Vena, 2011 (Courtesy of Alejandro Durán) their behavior. He offers evidence of 1. Typewriters diving and fishing. Page after page bursting to create his series, “The Prophecy.” The someone else will save it. “mirror neurons” at work; the same parts of images, which are fantastical, show over- 2. Floppy disks with the author’s enthusiasm makes you the brain are activated watching someone do sized figures which appear to be djinns, or 3. CDs in the mail (AOL oddly motivated to try something new in or Robert Swan, 1956- a task as are employed in performing that supernatural creatures, in costumes created sent out over a billion on the water. © iStock.com | Saso Novoselic with trash and debris mingled with natural discs from 1995-2006.) © iStock.com | zoff-photo Polar explorer The author goes on to describe the task oneself. This is the physical mechanism objects. The imposing figures rise above 4. Compact and familiar hazards of stress in the modern upon which empathy is built. What Nichols humans, emerging from the landscape to disposable cameras, lifestyle. Multi-tasking and constant presents is that a water environment brings issue warnings or perhaps judgments. as well as film and distractions leave people jittery and unable us many benefits to mitigate the negatives Monteiro says of the project, “I negatives to focus. In addition to affecting their of modern life. One of those benefits is an imagined stories—like the Earth would be 5. Game Boy health, it affects their ability to create. increased sense of peace and connectedness mad and send a representative to talk to the 6. Phone books Nichols offers Blue Mind as a path to to others. If we have pleasant memories of humans and tell them that they have to be 7. Encyclopedia sets mindfulness, that state where people are certain places which bring us happiness, we aware of what is going on.” 8. Printed dictionaries actively noticing new things. Activities in will act to protect those places from harm. Finally, the documentary “Waste Land” 9. Postcards (Now it’s or on the water, even proximity to water, In this way, the rush one feels catching follows New York artist Vik Muniz back to all about “selfies” on is offered as the most expedient path to a a wave or a fish instills concern for our his home country of Brazil where he works Instagram.) renewed state. As evidence, he describes oceans, lakes, and rivers. with pickers who go through the garbage 10. Home phones, landlines and long 15. Newspaper classified ads at Brazil’s largest landfill to find items to distance phone calls 16. “Blockbuster” and other movie rental sell. With their cooperation, Muniz turns 11. Paper maps and travel guides stores trash into art. The documentary is available 12. VCRs and VHS tapes 17. Pay phones on DVD, on the iTunes store, and through 13. Cassette tapes and boom boxes 18. Answering machines the streaming service Hulu. Learn more at 14. Calling 411 for information or calling 19. Fax machines Lemaire Channel, Antarctica www.WasteLandMovie.com. “TIME” 20. Ash trays Page 2 Spring 2016 Page 3 Spring 2016