Janet's Green Planet

Mulchfest 2010

On Saturday, January 9th and Sunday, January 10th, the New York City ParksDepartment will host the annual MulchFest from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each day at locations Citywide. Bring your holiday tree to one of 80+ designated parks to be recycled into mulch that will nourish plantings across the city or your own garden!

This year, we hope to encourage thousands of New York households to help the environment and the community by bringing their trees to our nearest collection site — there will be over 30 chipping sites and about 50 drop-off sites throughout the five boroughs.

Remember to remove all lights and decorations before bringing the tree to a MulchFest site. You will have the opportunity to take home your mulch at designated chipping sites.

For more information about MulchFest and a list of sites in your borough, visitwww.nyc.gov/parks/mulchfest.

“Treecycle” and help NYC grow!

Citrus Greening Disease, Dont Move Citrus Plants, Trees – USDA

From the National Gardening Association.  Help protect citrus this holiday.

Citrus Greening Disease, Dont Move Citrus Plants, Trees – USDA.

Some Interesting Facts on Holiday Waste

• From Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste increases by more than 25%. Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons – it all adds up to an additional 1 million tons a week to our landfills. (EPA and Use Less Stuff)
• In the U.S., annual trash from gift-wrap and shopping bags totals 4 million tons. (Use Less Stuff)

Cards

• The 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year n the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high. If we each sent one card less, we’d save 50,000 cubic yards of paper. (Use Less Stuff)
• Consider sending an electronic card. Here is what American Greetings online has to offer:

American Greetings

Ribbons

• if every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet.

Food

• At least 28 billion pounds of edible food are wasted each year – or over 100 pounds per person. (Use Less Stuff)

Paper

• Half of the paper America consumes is used to wrap and decorate consumer products. (The Recycler’s Handbook)

Christmas Trees

• Each year, 50 million Christmas trees are purchased in the U.S. (Cygnus Group). Of those, about 30 million go to the landfill. (Environmental News Network)

Gifts

• The average American spends $800 on gifts over the holiday season.
• According to a national survey, 70% of Americans would welcome less emphasis on gift giving and spending. (Center for a New American Dream)
• About 40% of all battery sales occur during the holiday season. (EPA)

Transportation

• If each family reduced holiday gasoline consumption by one gallon (about twenty miles), we’d reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one million tons. (Use Less Stuff)

Recycle Old Holiday Lights When Going Green with LEDs

LED (or Light-Emitting Diode) lights use 90% less energy than traditional incandescent lights. If you’re planning to green your holiday display, HolidayLEDs.com is offering discounts on LED string lights to customers who recycle their older incandescent lights. The company encourages consolidating lights from neighbors, co-workers and others to reduce packaging. Cardboard shipping boxes will be recycled and lights will be shredded by a third party so that components such as glass and copper can be separated for recycling. Participants will receive a coupon for 15% off any order of energy-efficient LED string lights.