“The R- Words” A HOW-TO-GUIDE: REDUCE, REUSE and REPURPOSE

Solid Waste Reduction Together we can make a difference! Intentionally blank

• Cover and this page - not in page count Project Description & Acknowledgements

The purpose of this manual is to stimulate your interest in accepting the challenge to • Rethink your strategies for purchases and trash • Reduce the waste you create, • Re-use, Re-use and Re-use… • Recycle… • Repurpose … ...the many items that we use and that pass through our lives each day… The Coral Bay Community Council would like to acknowledge the many partnering organizations and people who have worked with us over the past year to spread the word and engage the community in improving our solid waste disposal and waste reduction practices, including Dr. David Minner and Gifft Hill School’s EARTH program, the VI Waste Management Authority, the Island Green Living Association, and the St. John Community Foundation. CBCC Staff members Scott Eanes and Michelle Branson were instrumental in this work. This manual was produced under a grant by the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are solely the responsibility of the Coral Bay Community Council and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Rural Utilities Service. Copyright @ 2017 Coral Bay Community Council, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN-13: 978-1975770679 ISBN-10: 1975770676 Reduce, Re-use, Recycle & Compost Facing our Virgin Islands National Companies here in the VI – hotels Responsibilities: and big box stores – have special Reduce our waste. Re-Use items and responsibilities, as part of their corporate Recycle commodity materials like metals, cultures – to lead the way in responsible paper & plastic – and hazardous materials waste management – for their own direct like batteries, chemicals & oil and waste – and for their customers’ resulting fluorescent bulbs. “trash”. Customers and Employees - Ask them to help lead us – Together we can! Resident & Business Responsibilities – Especially on cardboard recycling – a very Choose what you buy carefully, significant waste stream here. Fully use and re-use it, Plan for how you will dispose of it. Incentives and Funding – Prepay for Recycle or Dispose properly! Recycling. Example: single-use beverage containers of all kinds should have a Business, Restaurant Responsibilities -- legislated surcharge & refund scheme -- to Recognize that tipping fees are to pay for get them out of the waste stream & into the actual costs of running the landfill. To recycling. lower your cost --make another choice – like composting, baling cardboard, and Government Responsibility for overall providing to a recycler to ship off-island. waste stream aggregation, separation strategies, and infrastructure investment. Rethink!

• Reducing the amount of trash being stored each day in our overflowing landfill starts with every resident and business. • “Rethinking” our choices for supplies, food, construction, and fun – everything that is a physical item (or resource) that we touch and use… • Before we buy – • Do we need it? Is there another alternative? • Could we choose less packaging to toss? • When we no longer want it – • Can it be Re-used, Recycled, or Re-purposed?

• WE NEED TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF TRASH (WASTE) WE CREATE! REDUCE WASTE CREATION

Reduce the amount of waste you create Think before you purchase, Do you need it? Can you repair or use something else you already have? Can you buy it used from someone else on island? Reduce what you purchase When you are deciding what to buy: Which item has less “throw-away” packaging ? Always avoid plastic and Styrofoam (decomposition takes forever) When eating out or takeaway – can you use less single use items? Less plastic and Styrofoam?

LESS TRASH, LESS WASTE, LESS COST Easy Shopping Ideas: Don’t buy “Throw Away” Items

• Choose fewer cleaning products – use • Buying items for outdoor use? --like multipurpose or natural furniture, hoses, doormats • Bring reusable shopping bags • Check to be sure it is labeled UV • Avoid items double packaged Resistant, will not rust (avoid steel), and is sturdy enough for years of use. • Avoid plastic containers, if you can. • Avoid “throw away” items only good for • Buy in bulk – without individual one season. packaging • Paint, Recover, and Refinish for freshness • Use cloth diapers, if possible each year. Reduce Buying Specialized Cleaners in multiple plastic containers…

Natural Cleaning Products Natural Cleaning Ideas • To remove mold in the shower: Mix 1 part • Baking Soda – cleans, deodorizes, softens water, scours. hydrogen peroxide with 2 parts water in a spray bottle. Wait at least 1 hour before rinsing or • Lemon – one of the strongest food-acids, showering. effective against most household bacteria • Borax – (sodium borate) cleans, deodorizes, • Try a water- dampened rag or mop first – no and disinfects. added cleaner at all may be needed for general dust and dirt on surfaces, doors, and floors. • White Vinegar – cuts grease, removes mildew, and odors. • Window Cleaner: Mix 2 teaspoons of white vinegar • Hydrogen Peroxide with 1 quart warm water. • All-Purpose Cleaner: Mix ½ cup vinegar and • Remove mold and mildew: Use white vinegar or ¼ cup baking soda into ½ gallon water. lemon juice full strength. • Rub a lemon across a cutting board to disinfect the surface. For more natural cleaning products and ideas: http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.ht m#healthyhome More “Reduce” ideas

• Get a water purification system or portable safe filtration system to avoid buying water in disposable containers or reuse your containers. • Take reusable shopping bags to the grocery and other shops. • Receive your billing statements via email instead of US mail. • Take reusable silverware and a cup with you to food stands to avoid using throw-away single use plastic items. • Keep and reuse food jars and other containers for all kinds of household and gardening uses – rather than buying new specialty items • What is your favorite way to “Reduce Trash” ? Reduce Food Waste

Put perishable food in the front of your refrigerator Buy locally Give extra away Grocery Businesses: Buy items with longer freshness dates Compost in Your Yard - A great way to reduce your waste & make soil

Can you compost your vegetable and food waste and your yard waste? Do you use cut bush to create brush berms on your steep slopes to reduce erosion? Simple Rules for Composting: Browns and Greens

1. Browns are dry leaves, newspaper, cardboard, recycled paper, straw or mulch

2. Greens are kitchen scraps, coffee Composting is creating a rich soil grounds, rotten fruit, and green leaves supplement (called humus) through encouraging the natural decomposition of You want a mixture of about 25-30 parts organic materials – food, leaves, grass, paper to 1 part: Browns to Green. and more. Tips to make your compost pile work: Once created, the humus can be added to the • Keep your pile moist, not too wet, or soil around your plants to help them grow. too dry • Turn the composting pile once a week, Food accounts for 20%-30% of all waste. and make sure it is aerated

Composting keeps food waste out of the DO NOT USE: meat, dairy, oils, landfills where it creates methane, a grease, bread, rice, pasta, weed greenhouse gas. seeds, or treated wood Re-Use & Recycle

We often use “Recycle” to mean all activities of Re-use, Recycle and Repurpose and turning our trash into resources, not just thrown into the landfill as garbage. It’s a great headline! Technically, according to the EPA, Recycling is “remanufacturing good into a new product – like metals, plastics and paper. Re-Use and Repurposing – are using items again or finding different uses for them – so many choices! What are yours? Reuse – Reuse - Reuse… and again … Reuse!

• Use Washable Containers for storing food items – • Your Used Items and Construction excess – never throw-away plastic bags may be “gold” for others – Share…. • Choose refillable products • FOOD from rental villas – or excess – give to churches to distribute, Give away clothing & • Reusable coffee mug small items to yard sales --especially fundraisers for Animal Care Center and Humane Society. • Reusable water bottle • Washable containers for lunches/ snacks • BUY LOCAL USED ITEMS- shop yard sales (Note – So much of our shopping is via away from home internet these days, that this probably doesn’t • Refill single-use water bottles with water, mark with hurt local vendors as much as we might fear.) name of family member, and keep cold in fridge • Recharge with an electric charger - the batteries and re-use and reuse… in solar garden lights – so they last many more years. • Minimize purchasing single use items – especially in plastic • Use rechargable batteries in your devices. Give away good food to churches for distribution to homeless & needy:

On St. John:

In Cruz Bay at Our Lady of Carmel Catholic Church Office – 9-5 M-F dropoff. Also takes clothes, especially need men’s clothing for homeless.

In Coral Bay at Emmaus Moravian Church – call first: Rev. Isaac at 776-6713, also clothes and household items (note: the damage from Hurricane Irma will change the location of drop-offs)

Give away clothing to churches above and to yard sales Buy & Sell Used Items

Resource Depot St. John On line & St. Thomas • Reuse Emporium on St. Thomas www.ReUseUSVI.com

Give to and buy from yard sales and on line: • https://virgin.craigslist.org/

• St John Virgin Islands Yard Sale

• Sell old “fancy” electronic equipment on EBAY – customer pays shipping worldwide. Go to: http://iglavi.org/ • Local classified ads in newspapers Repair & Resell Business

Small Repair Business DIY- Do It Yourself Opportunity • Repair what breaks – You can do it! • Handy? Turn this into a small • If you are handy, and know what’s business and sell repaired wrong – Google your product model - ex: “repair W324xt” and learn how small appliances. to do it. • Especially out of rental • Then enter the exact part number on villas… EBay search– and it will probably come up and be cheap and shippable • If you’re a handyman start a via USPS to the VI – easily! repair business REPURPOSE Turn your old items into something new!

Be Creative and Resourceful: Old clothes can become colorful rag rugs Use trash and beach litter for Art Projects What are Your Best Ideas? REPURPOSE OLD T-SHIRTS: Produce Mesh Bag 1. Take an old T-shirt and turn it inside CUT Into RAGS… or out. Fold it in half and draw a bag No Sew T-Shirt Tote: shape. Double knot 2 strands together across the bottom 2. Cut through both layers so you have and pull to lengthen two identical pieces. You can leave the From: shirt's hem intact or snip it off. http://ecoscrapbook.blogspot.com/2014/04/tutoria 3. Stitch the two pieces together all the l-no-sew-t-shirt-bag.html#!/2014/04/tutorial-no- sew-t-shirt-bag.html way around, leaving the bag's opening untouched. 4. Use a ruler and ballpoint pen to draw dashes across the fabric. Important: Leave room four inches from the top for your handle. 5. Using scissors, snip along the lines, making sure to stagger your cuts. Cut a longer slit two inches from the top— this will be your handle—and shape the sides if you wish. 6. Then streeeeeetch the bag. 7. That's it! If you wash and dry your bag, the slits curl up a bit and it looks even better. You can use them for produce, as the name implies, or at the beach. From: http://www.deliacreates.com/greeneasy- knit-produce-bag/ Turn T-shirts into Rugs: SUPPLIES & TOOLS: •T-shirts in 6 various colors •Scissors •Ruler •Hot glue •Felt DIRECTIONS: 1. Cut a piece of felt the desired size of rug. This will be the backer and a base to work from. Set aside. 2. Using scissors, cut just below the armpits of the T-shirt to create a tube of fabric. Take the body of the T- shirt, starting at the top, cut a 1" strip and continue all the way around spiraling until there is one long piece of fabric 1" wide. Wrap up the fabric strip to keep it from getting tangled and making it easier to work with. Repeat this with the remaining T-shirts until there are 6 balls of fabric. 3. Glue the ends of three colors of fabric together to secure them. Braid the three stripes together. To integrate other colors cut one of the three fabric stripes and glue another color end to that cut end. Continue braiding. 4. Throughout the braiding continue to add in other colors to vary the color pattern throughout the rug. 5. Take the beginning end of the braid and glue it to the center of the rug. Tuck under the end when gluing in place so a clean edge is visible. Continue gluing the braid in place wrapping it around the center point. 6. Depending on the size of rug the length of the braid will need to be extended. 7. To finish off the end of the rug, glue the raw end by tucking it under the previous row to hide the unfinished end. *A carpet pad will be needed to keep the rug from slipping on smooth surfaces. Another alternative is to add grip to the back of the rug.

Check the internet to learn lots of other ways to make Rag Rugs and other projects that repurpose old items. T Shirt Skirts

http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/easy-upcycled-t-shirt-skirt/ Wine Bottle Citronella Candle • 1/2-inch replacement torch wicks • 1/2-inch x 3/8-inch copper coupling with stop • 1/2-inch copper tube cap • 1/2-inch teflon tape • 1-2 bags of marbles. • Tiki fuel • 1/2-inch funnel – to pour Tiki fuel • http://helloglow.co/diy-wine-bottle-citronella-candles/

Wine Bottle Planter

• Clean your bottle. • Fill the sink with ice water • Tie a cotton piece of yarn around the bottle 5-6 times. • Roll the string off of the bottle and soak it in acetone/nail polisher remove for about 10-20 seconds. • Slide it back on and set the string on fire. (Make sure to spin the bottle to get an even cut.) • Right before the fire goes out, completely submerge it into the icy water. (It should snap in half easily, if not… try the process over again. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get the bottle hot enough. DON’T GIVE UP!) • http://www.cheapcrafting.com/for-the-home/diy-self-watering- wine-bottle-planter/ It’s not Trash – It has Value!

• Have you found ways to reduce your waste & save your money in this book? • Do you have new useful things? • Like fun projects for kids and you to do? • Like potting soil from your compost? • Great used furniture and appliances from Yard Sales • Things you repaired yourself!

Thank you for helping to Preserve Paradise

Post Hurricane Debris Collection Categories

Usual Roadside………. Myra Keating Clinic Parking Lot Roadside……

Pay attention for more instructions for after hurricane debris pick-ups. Let’s get it all disposed of properly.

Your Reduce and Reuse Goals:

• 1. • 2. • 3. • 4. • 5.