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!)

“Spring into Action!” Spring Valley Community Cleanup

Take advantage of cooler temperatures and join ILACSD at our “Spring into Action” Spring Valley Community Cleanup on Saturday, December 2nd from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the Spring Valley County Park – 8735 Jamacha Blvd, Spring Valley, CA 91977.

We encourage volunteers to bring their own reusable items such as –water bottles, work gloves, and buckets to promote zero waste practices and help us in our mission to have a zero waste, litter free and environmentally engaged San Diego region!

All volunteers are required to fill out a waiver form to participate and anyone under the age of 18 needs a parent or guardian signature.

We hope to see you there!

For a map and directions, click HERE.
For the waiver, click HERE.
Register today!

Free Recycling Event

The City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department is hosting a FREE Recycling Event with support from the State of California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery, CalRecycle. Items that will be accepted at this event are: oil, antifreeze, oil filters, car batteries, household batteries, and fluorescent bulbs. This service will be offered from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM on Saturday, January 27, 2018, at Qualcomm Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, San Diego, CA 92108.

Transportation Requirements: Maximum limit for transportation ~ 10 Gallons

To search for a location to recycle used oil and oil filters in your neighborhood, visit CalRecycle’s website at Calrecycle.ca.gov/UsedOIl/Reports/CenterSearch.

NO BUSINESS WASTE ACCEPTED.

This is not an ILACSD volunteer opportunity.

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.

San Diego Schools Step Up Their Recycling

At I Love A Clean San Diego, we work to lead and inspire our community to actively conserve and enhance the environment so that our children can enjoy this beautiful region for future generations to come. That’s why we believe in engaging with local schools to instill in them environmental values and habits at an early age.

Did you know that the average elementary school student drinks 133 servings of milk or juice per year? For the average elementary school, that means students consume approximately 75,000 carton beverages per year – that means more than 6 billion cartons are consumed in schools every year!

With carton recycling now available in over 60% of the country, including San Diego, we want to spread the word that you can recycle your cartons and help everyone improve their recycling habits.

Congratulations to Teirrasanta and Cherokee Point Elementary schools for leading by example. Take a look at the great work they’ve already done:

Tierrasanta Elementary won the San Diego Unified School District’s Most-Improved Recycling Award for 2016-17 by boosting their recycling diversion from 10% to 25% (by weight) over the course of just one school year. Through increased classroom recycling efforts as well as lunchtime recycling of cartons, lunch trays, and other recyclables, Tierrasanta students were able to reduce trash service, dramatically improve recycling rates, and save the school money.

Tierrasanta students use a helpful recycling station set up to stay mindful of what goes where when lunchtime ends!

Diverting 95% of all lunchtime waste is an extraordinary feat, and that’s exactly what Cherokee Point Elementary of San Diego Unified School District accomplished last school year. Students and staff joined together to ensure liquids, cartons, lunch trays, and food scraps were kept out of the trash and out of our landfills. The school’s Green Team students encouraged other students to properly sort their waste and take on litter pickup to keep campus clean.

Cherokee Point Elementary’s Green Team helped students sort their garbage leading to a 95% diversion of lunchtime waste!

School recycling programs not only encourage children to learn about the importance of recycling, but they also enable communities to recover large quantities of valuable materials, like beverage cartons. To start or enhance carton recycling efforts at your or your child’s school in San Diego, visit cartonopportunities.org. Our partner, Carton Council, has created materials specifically to help parents, teachers, and administrators get started.

Chula Vista Zero Waste 101 Workshop

Join us for an informational and interactive workshop focusing on zero waste practices! On Saturday, November 4th, 2017, I Love A Clean San Diego will be partnering with the City of Chula Vista to host a Zero Waste 101 Workshop in the Chula Vista Hills Garden from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM. We will identify the importance of a zero waste lifestyle, inform residents on resources the City of Chula Vista provides, and help attendees get started by sharing tips and tricks they can implement at home and on-the-go. Activities will include educational booths, a swap n’ shop (remember to bring items for this!), kids craft, and make-and-take station. All attendees will be entered in our raffle for sustainable prizes!

Demonstration Garden Highlights Four Key Principles of Sustainable Landscaping

The San Diego County Water Authority unveiled a renovated demonstration garden at its Kearny Mesa headquarters designed to inspire more residents to create outdoor spaces that achieve multiple environmental benefits.

The four key principles of the Sustainable Landscapes Program.

The approximately 3,000-square-foot garden provides a tangible example of the recommendations of the San Diego Sustainable Landscapes Program, or SLP, and highlights four key principles of sustainable landscaping.

Here’s what to look for when visiting the garden:

  • Healthy, Living Soils: Healthy, living soils rich in organic content feed a complex soil food web. The soil holds water like a sponge and has nutrients for better plant health. Healthy soil may also play an important role in carbon sequestration. The garden has a 1.3 in layer of compost mixed into the soil and is topped with 3 inches of mulch to suppress weeds and reduce evaporation.
  • Climate-Appropriate Plants: A large selection of beautiful groundcovers, shrubs and trees is compatible with San Diego’s mild Mediterranean climate. These plants use less water and exhibit diverse colors, textures and shapes, while providing endless design opportunities. The garden uses more than 20 varieties of very low to moderate water-use plants, placed in hydrozones where plants with similar irrigation needs are grouped together.
  • High-Efficiency Irrigation: A smart irrigation controller adjusts water automatically in response to site and changing weather conditions. High-performance distribution components regulate pressure and are tailored to fit the exact watering needs of different plants in the landscape. The garden has inline drip irrigation and rotating nozzles to maximize water-use efficiency.
  • Rainwater as a Resource: Sustainable landscapes make the most of rainfall onsite. By slowing its flow, water is captured from rooftops and other hard surfaces so it can sink into the soil or be stored for later use. The garden demonstrates rainwater harvesting through a bioswale and detention basin next to the building and rain barrels along the entryway.
Visitors can check out the exhibit sign to learn all about key sustainable landscaping principles.

The garden also features an exhibit-quality sign to introduce visitors to key sustainable landscaping principles. The sign includes a QR Code that enables visitors to use their smartphones to quickly locate related SLP resources at sustainablelandscapessd.org.

Smaller signs throughout the landscape identify specific plant types. Free brochures on sustainable landscaping featuring the landscape’s design plan and plant palette are also available for visitors to take home.

Mexican Bush Sage at the Demonstration Garden.

To learn more about water conservation incentives, programs, resources and more, go to watersmartsd.org or follow SDCWA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Encinitas Green Business Workshop

Join us for an informational and interactive session focusing on zero waste business practices. On Wednesday, November 1, 2017, I Love A Clean San Diego will be partnering with the City of Encinitas to host a Green Business Solutions Workshop at the Encinitas Library. We will identify the importance of a zero waste lifestyle, how to implement these practices in your business, and the environmental and economic benefits of going green. Whether you work in an office, a restaurant, or in retail, we will have valuable information for all business models. This will be a great opportunity for you to network and share ideas for creating a more eco-conscious workspace.

Restore Ramona Cleanup

Celebrate the beginning of a new month with ILACSD and the Ramona Parks and Recreation Association on Saturday, October 7th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM for the Restore Ramona Cleanup! Volunteers will meet at Ramona Community Park, 913 Elm St. San Diego, CA 92065 for a chance to treat the community this October!

We encourage volunteers to bring their own reusable items such as – water bottles, work gloves, and buckets to promote zero waste practices and help us in our mission to have a zero waste, litter free and environmentally engaged San Diego region!

All volunteers are required to fill out a waiver form to participate and anyone under the age of 18 needs a parent or guardian signature.

We hope to see you there!

For a map and directions, click HERE.
For the waiver, click HERE.
Register today!