Dear Recycle Lady,
What are tree-corridors? I think they are found in forests, but I am not sure. Love Trees
Dear Love Trees,
Tree-corridors are ecological pathways that connect forests fragments, thus allowing wild animals to move freely between areas to migrate, breed, and find food. They are found particularly in the Rainforests that have been cleared and left in large, fragmented areas. Some 500 years ago Brazil’s Atlantic Forest was the size of South Africa, but today over 90 percent of this global biodiversity hotspot has been deforested to make way for booming industries such as soy, sugar cane and cattle ranching. The Rainforest Alliance is helping to connect these fragmented forests with green tree-corridors to “provide a lifeline” for animals, threatened species, and pollinators. Research has shown that when patches of forest are isolated from each other, pollinators are less abundant, and plants frequently fail to reproduce. Connecting forests that have been broken up by clearcutting with a pathway of trees, shrubs, and native plants creates a richer biodiversity of plant species. Pollination by bees, bats and hummingbirds is increased when they can travel from one part of the forest to another. Healthy forests are an important part of the solution for global climate change.
Dear Recycle Lady,
I went to the Recycling Center last week to deposit my recyclables and, much to my surprise, the bin for aluminum foil and pans was covered over with cardboard. I thought aluminum foil was one of the recyclables that could be recycled over and over again without losing quality. Why isn’t the Recycling Center accepting foil and pans anymore? Distressed Recycler
Dear Distressed Recycler,
The main reason the Recycling Center is not accepting aluminum foil and pans is that there are no buyers for small amounts of used aluminum. In order to have enough foil and pans for a buyer to consider purchasing them, the Recycling Center would need to collect an extremely large amount of clean, dry aluminum foil and pans. Donated foil and pans would need to be kept in storage until that amount was collected and unfortunately, that amount of storage space is not available. A secondary problem is that not all foil and pans placed in the bin are clean and dry. It only takes a few bits of food or grease to contaminate clean foil and pans and make them unrecyclable. Have you considered reusing your foil? Just wash it in hot soapy water, rinse, dry, and smooth it out. Your piece of foil will be almost as good as new. Foil is also a good scissor sharpener. Fold up a piece of aluminum foil four or five times, depending on the strength of the foil, then cut though the folds several times. Your dull scissors will be as sharp as you want them to be. Another use of foil is to hang a few strips of aluminum foil in the branches of your fruit trees to help keep birds away from the fruit on the trees. Balled up aluminum foil is a good way to remove the gunk left after grilling those delicious steaks!
Dear Recycle Lady,
Is there a recycling program for crayons? I have a whole bag of used or broken crayons that I hate to throw out. Hopeful
Dear Hopeful,
Yes, there is an excellent recycling program that recycles used, broken, stubby, old or unwanted crayons: the nationalcrayonrecycleprogram.org. According to National Crayon Recycle Program
(NCRP), more than 60 million crayons are discarded in the U.S. every year and most of them end up in a landfill. Since crayons are made of a petroleum by-product, paraffin wax, they are not biodegradable and take decades to decompose. The NCRP has partnered with the Crazy Crayons Company to create new fun-shaped crayons from recycled crayons. They also upcycle crayons to children in need of crayons and offer playful activities that can be therapeutic for traumatized children. The goal of both organizations is to “bring a smile to a child’s face.” Ship crayons in a sturdy box to: National Crayon Recycle Program, 8110 S. Houghton Rd. #158, Tucson, AZ 85747. Leave the color wrapper on the crayon even if it is torn as it makes the color of the crayon easily identifiable, and the wrapper is later recycled. Recycled crayons can also be purchased on this site.
Interesting Information; Hydrophones that detect and record underwater sounds are used for the analysis of various underwater phenomena, including marine life communication and environmental monitoring. Thus, the ocean can eavesdrop on whales’ songs and other deep ocean sounds!
Have questions about recycling, or interesting information about recycling? Send questions or requests recycleladywv@gmail.com. Dear Recycle Lady is sponsored jointly by the Greenbrier Recycling Center and Greenworks Recycling.
