Give More Love and Less Waste This Holiday Season

The holidays have officially arrived! It’s time to spend some quality time with the people we love and reflect upon all the things in our life that give us a reason to be thankful. With all that you’ve helped us accomplish so far this year, we have a lot to be thankful for in our offices! We’re thankful for dedicated volunteers who continually show up cleanup after cleanup and never let their passion for our planet fade. We’re thankful for beautifully clean beaches, litter-free landscapes, and healthy habitats. We’re thankful to be serving a cause that is so near and dear to all of us – creating a zero waste, litter-free, and environmentally engaged San Diego region.

We’re also thankful to know we’ve got supporters like you to help us do even more for our communities moving forward. There are several ways in which you can help support ILACSD this holiday season:

Participate!

In our offices, we’re beyond thankful to all of our volunteers! Each and every one of you makes the work we do possible. While our volunteers have already made such a huge impact on San Diego, there is still work left to do. If you have time off for the holidays, use that opportunity to register for one of our final cleanups or workshops before the New Year and help end the year standing stronger than ever for a clean San Diego!

Spread some joy by introducing your loved ones to your love of volunteering!

 

Educate!

Spending time with your loved ones over the holidays? Share with your friends and family what you’re thankful for this year, like your ability to make a difference for the environment and your community! Invite those special people in your life to join you at a cleanup or zero waste workshop to learn more about ILACSD. Or talk to them about how we can all take small steps to positively impact our planet – like by reducing our food waste! If you host dinner, consider supplying your guests with reusable containers for leftovers with a little environmental love note!

Celebrate!

Holiday festivities go hand in hand with gift giving. While we all understand that consumerism isn’t the best for our environment, there are ways we can be eco-friendly with our gift exchange. Give the gift of going plastic free with reusable alternatives to single use items. Check out the ILACSD online store for reusable water bottles, straws, sporks, cups, and totes! Not only do these items make terrific holiday gifts or stocking stuffers, your purchases directly help our environment by providing the necessary resources needed to host our 250+ cleanups throughout the county in 2018. Oh, and don’t forget that a cloth napkin can make for an awesome alternative to wrapping paper (this helps decrease the 2 million tons of wrapping paper that will end up in a landfill this year)!

Cloth napkins make a great gift AND gift wrap so you can skip the wasteful wrapping paper!

 

Donate!

Are you considering making a financial gift this season to support environmental classroom education, community cleanups, and recycling resources? There is no better time than #GivingTuesday! #GivingTuesday is a wonderful opportunity to give back to the causes we care about online while sharing the stories of why they matter. Make a difference on Tuesday, November 28th by making a #GivingTuesday contribution to ILACSD. Your gift makes a tremendous difference, no matter the size! And don’t miss the opportunity to share your support on social media with an “UN-selfie.” We want to hear why a healthy environment is important to you so tag @ILoveACleanSD on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and use the hashtags #GivingTuesday and #ILACSD.

Whatever way you choose to celebrate this season, the ILACSD team wishes you a very safe, happy, and clean holiday!

Three Easy Actions to Take for a Greener Office on America Recycles Day

Today is the 10th annual America Recycles Day a nationally recognized day and an initiative by Keep America Beautiful that promotes ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle in our everyday lives. America Recycles Day is dedicated to the individual actions that people can take that create a collective difference for our environment! Having normal “blue bin” style recycling in the office is an awesome start, but let’s take a look at some other ways to boost your recycling program (if you don’t have a recycling program in place, check out our previous blog post that can help you get one started). Here are three easy ways you can enhance your workplace recycling in celebration of America Recycles Day.

Deal with the Graveyard of Dead Electronics: Recycle Electronics

Electronics are all around us, especially in a workplace. So what happens to all of those electronics when they kick the bucket? Electronic waste, also known as e-waste, should be properly recycled with a certified e-waste recycling company. Printers, computers, laptops, fax machines, phones (yes, most offices have landlines) can all be taken to a recycling location or a temporary collection event. Some businesses even offer to pick these items up from your workplace. Start by designating a spot in your workplace to collect electronics that are no longer working and can no longer be repaired (you can search for repair options on WasteFreeSD.org ). When you want to recycle the collected e-waste, simply use the search bar on WasteFreeSD.org by typing in a specific item, “E-waste Collection Event”, or “Electronic Waste Pick-up”.

Make sure everyone in the office knows where to drop off any electronic waste to be recycled.

Donate Before Ditching: Give Unwanted Office Supplies and Furniture to a Thrift Store

Does your workplace have way too many paper trays or stockpiles of old binders? Did your office go through a remodel and now has a bunch of outdated office decor? Don’t toss these items! Give your supplies and furniture a shot at finding a new home by donating them to a thrift store. Start by letting your colleagues know about the collection of unwanted office supplies, where they should drop off their unwanted supplies, and give them the opportunity to grab something they might need from the collection before it’s donated. Head over to WasteFreeSD.org to search “Thrift Stores” if you don’t know your nearest one. You can even find a local thrift store or organization that specializes in just second-hand furniture if you recently upgraded your office furniture.

Recent workplace renovations? Donate your unwanted office furniture or supplies to a nearby thrift store!

Stop Wasting Half the Paper Supply: Print Double-sided

A staple in almost any office is a large industrial printer. And chances are your office goes through a ton of paper. Remember to recycle that paper first off! Ensure that each cubicle, office, and room has a recycling bin and clear signage indicating the types of items that should be placed in it. But there is also another option to cut down on wasted paper: printing double-sided. Change your printer’s default setting to printing on both sides to reduce the amount of paper used. Another option is to have a pile of “previously printed on paper” that has an unused side. Utilize paper from this pile to manually feed into your printer for one-sided print jobs or for scratch paper!

Set those printer default settings to print on both sides of the paper!

Keep Up the Recycling Momentum

Don’t let your recycling efforts fade after America Recycles Day ends. Keep the conversation going! Each workplace should have a designated recycling champion…that can be you! Kindly remind your co-workers about recycling guidelines, reward anyone you catch “green-handed” (recycling correctly or contributing to the donation pile), and celebrate your workplace achievements with all of the staff. Don’t wait until the next America Recycles Day to implement a new practice and remember to provide your team with resources that make recycling crystal clear.

For more information regarding recycling, visit the Resources Page at WasteFreeSD.org or register for an upcoming workshop.

Craft Beer Meets Cans

It’s Beer Week here in Sunny San Diego, the craft beer capital of America (sorry, Portland). So it comes as no surprise that the latest craze in beer packaging has reached the craft breweries of San Diego (drum roll please) …CROWLERS! If you can’t guess from the name, crowlers are basically aluminum can versions of growlers (just remember “G” for glass and “C” for can). These 32-ounce aluminum cans (available at select breweries) offer another way to package beer on-the-go or bring home a larger batch of your favorite rotating tap!

We stopped by to see our neighbors over at Stone Brewing to check out the can alternative to growlers!

Being an organization full of recycling enthusiasts, this got us thinking…are crowlers the better option when it comes to recycling? Let’s take a look! When it comes to aluminum cans, cans have a few qualities that make it a far superior to its other beverage packaging competitors. According to our friends at Ball Corporation, aluminum is an infinitely recyclable material (meaning it has no limit to the number of times it can be recycled). With the material being so easily recyclable, it’s simple to make sure a can doesn’t end up in the landfill. In fact, in San Diego County, residents and businesses can toss aluminum cans in their curbside recycling bin. Not to mention, Californians have the opportunity to earn a little cash when they recycle aluminum cans at a local CRV (California Redemption Value) recycling collection centers. You can find a nearby CRV collection center by using the search bar on WasteFreeSD.org.

Alex at Stone gave us a firsthand look at the process of filling up a can version of a growler.

 

In addition to the convenient recycling methods for aluminum cans, they have a pretty astonishing life cycle. Recycled aluminum cans get turned into new cans in as little as 60 days and each aluminum can is composed of an average of 70% recycled content! Unlike its beverage packaging competitors, aluminum cans rarely get down-cycled to make other products that are usually not recyclable which means the aluminum gets reused endlessly to make more cans. On top of all of that, the process of making one aluminum can from recycled cans takes up to 92% less energy than making a new aluminum can from virgin material!

This contraption seals the top onto the can making your beverage easily portable and keeping it fresh!

If the recycling qualities haven’t convinced you that crowlers are a worthwhile option, there are a few other factors to consider: shelf life, cleanliness, and portability.  Growlers keep beer fresh for up to 3 days, whereas crowlers keep beer fresh for up to a month! The Crowler has the superior qualities of aluminum, like the ability to block out light and oxygen keeping your beer tasting the way it was intended. Unlike growlers, you won’t have to worry about getting a Crowler cleaned to avoid funky odors or residue. Crowlers are easier to pack for camping, can go in areas where glass containers are prohibited, and are convenient to take to holiday gatherings (they make great gifts for beer-loving friends too)!

Just remember to drink, crush, and recycle your aluminum cans when you are all done! Here’s to your next 32-ounce cheers! (I know I’m looking forward to this one!)

Coming Together for a Cleaner San Diego

Volunteers power all of our cleanups, like our two annual countywide cleanups, Creek to Bay and Coastal Cleanup Day.

As the days cool down, the chill in the air hints at the year coming to a close soon. At ILACSD, we are taking this time to reflect on yet another successful year working to keep our community clean and safe for everyone alongside a dedicated, committed team of volunteers, sponsors, and donors. Thanks to your generous support in the form of time, energy, and financial gifts, together we have accomplished some incredible things this past year.

In 2017, YOU came together with I Love A Clean San Diego to accomplish incredible feats. Together in 2017 we:

Removed 400,000 lbs of litter | Mobilized 32,000 volunteers | Educated 28,000 students

These are just a few of the tremendous outcomes we have carried out together, but that’s not all! As a direct result of your support in 2017, we conducted 265 countywide cleanup events and delivered 650 educational presentations on the importance of caring for the environment (we even managed to have a little fun while we were at it too!). Our efforts will have a lasting impact on future generations. We feel honored to be working alongside you to make our San Diego a place where everyone has the opportunity to revel in our countless majestic outdoor spaces.

Students at our Annual Kids’ Ocean Day love to enjoy the beach while they clean it up!

As we prepare for another year, we ask – will you help us do even more in 2018? Financial gifts to ILACSD ensure that our education, recycling, and community cleanup programs teams are able to reach all parts of San Diego County and provide this important work.

Every donation helps so much!

$50 can equip 25 volunteers at our cleanups with reusable work gloves.
$100 can supply the equipment to clean and beautify one community park.
$250 can provide 50 underserved youth with the transportation needed to participate in Kids’ Ocean Day.

We hope you will help us do even more for the community we all love in 2018! Visit CleanSD.org to make your tax-deductible gift today.

Oh, and don’t forget #GivingTuesday is coming up on Tuesday, November 28, 2017! Be sure to follow ILACSD on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Share you support on social media with an “UN-selfie” and use the hashtags #GivingTuesday and #ILACSD.