The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which we’ve discussed before, is a gyre of floating garbage in the Northern Pacific estimated to be twice the size of Texas. Project Kaisei is a nonprofit group of scientists and ocean lovers who set up to study the North Pacific Gyre and the plastic debris that has collected in this oceanic region, to determine how to capture it and to study possible processing techniques that would allow the recycling of captured materials into diesel fuel. With funding from the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), the project launched its first research expedition, comprising two boats, which set sail on Aug. 2nd and 3rd from San Diego and San Francisco.

“We are very excited to be supporting Project Kaisei’s first research expedition to the North Pacific Gyre,” said Dominique Maguin, BIR President. “The Project Kaisei team has ambitious plans, which are fully in line with BIR’s mission to increase recycling and recyclability. Our members across the globe are providing industry with nearly 50% of the raw materials needed, and we can still increase this figure. The collection of waste can be improved and the recycling activities are indispensible for saving energy, gas emissions and natural resources. It is of paramount importance to leave a safe, clean and welcoming planet for future generations. Project Kaisei represents an innovative constructive approach to addressing a problem that would not have been there if recycling had been promoted and implemented by all nations. We believe that by collaborating together it will bring benefits to both of our organizations, as well as for the whole planet.”

“We are very fortunate to have garnered the financial support of BIR and we are delighted that they have become one of our main sponsors,” said Doug Woodring, Project Kaisei’s Co-Founder and Project Director. “Together with the scientific endorsement and ongoing collaboration of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, BIR’s sponsorship provides us with the necessary resources to carry out our mission this summer. We hope to be able to come back with answers to the many questions surrounding the large volumes of waste in the ocean, the damage it causes to the ocean ecosystem and the ways to fight it.”

You can follow the expedition via Google Earth.

In its continuing efforts to improve on its already superhuman diversion rate, the city of San Francisco has launched recyclingmoments.org, a Web site designed to clarify what items go in each of the city’s three curbside bins.

But to really drive the message home, mayor Gavin Newsom also unveiled “Recycle Slam!,” a retro arcade game in which players must maneuver green (food waste), black (trash) and blue (recyclables) bins into position to snag items tossed by a delinquent raccoon (one suspects the Texas version of this game would simply involve shooting the raccoon).

Give it a try, but be warned: In my experience, just catching the items is a bigger challenge than figuring out what goes where.

This collection from the blog Environmental Graffiti is the coolest assemblage of recycled cardboard art (and architecture) I have ever seen, but I am open to the possibility that there is cooler stuff out there … and will gladly sing your praises if you offer up something better. Ball’s in your court!

Earlier this week, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced legislation to increase the recycling of electronics and to reduce the use of hazardous materials in the products. The Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act comes at a time when electronics manufacturers, state and local governments, waste handlers, environmentalists, and consumers are all crying out for consistency in the handling of e-waste. Trying to juggle 50 different sets of regulations for e-waste only ends up hurting everyone and makes compliance costly and difficult. It also prevents the establishment of large-scale domestic markets to process and use this material.

What components should be included in this legislation for it to be successful and what will help it meet the needs of the waste and recycling industry?

This observation from New York Times technology columnist David Pogue came across my Twitter feed today.

Good question.

There are five days left to help decide which of ten innovative green ideas should receive $20,000 in funding. The Green Effect contest, sponsored by National Geographic and SunChips, will award $20,000 each to five deserving projects. One of the projects will be selected through online voting, while a panel of judges will choose the remaining four.

Several of the proposed projects are near and dear to the hearts of waste industry professionals. One would establish recycling collection for multifamily homes in the San Rafael, Calif. community of Canal using a fleet of large tricycles. Another seeks to eliminate waste by replacing all of the disposable cups, plates, and utensils used during class celebrations at an elementary school in Julian, Calif. with a “Green Classroom Party Kit,” washable white plates, clear cups, and silverware in a rolling storage container that can be deployed all over the school.

All of the finalist proposals seem worthy. Stop in and register your vote before it’s too late!

Usually when garbage in Italy makes the news, it’s because it’s piling up in the streets. But now Italians can be proud, as researchers working in the Tuscan town of Peccioli have developed a cutting-edge (and adorable) robot named DustCart that has the potential to replace truck-based garbage collection in the tiny, truck-unfriendly avenues that crisscross most small European towns.

In tests, residents summon DustCart simply by calling to it. It quickly rolls over and asks for a customer ID number and details on the type of trash being disposed (organic, recyclable or waste) before opening a compartment in its belly to accept it. From there it would likely take the waste to a centralized collection point.

According to the GlobalPost (click through for a great set of photos of the robot in action), DustCart is part of a $3.9 million research program called DustBot, launched in 2006 to “implement robotics in society in useful ways.” In addition to collecting garbage, DustCart is equipped with special sensors that monitor air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ozone, benzene, CO, CO2 and air temperature, making it a rolling air-quality barometer.

If writing this column has taught me anything, it’s to ALWAYS check inside envelopes (and occasionally mattresses) before tossing them out. Because you never know when they might contain someone’s life savings, the only existing copy of a will, an unpublished Shakespeare play or nude photos of a celebrity.

The latest schlub to learn this lesson the hard way is Achim Gerber, a music professor at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. Gerber, preparing for an upcoming trip to his homeland in Germany, had obtained 3,500 euros — more than $5,000 U.S. dollars — and stashed it in a white, legal-sized envelope. As so often happens, that envelope ended up in the recycling bin and, subsequently, a Greater Greenville Sanitation Commission collection center. Though it took a month of searching through 20 tons of packed paper, Gerber, with help from Greenville sanitation employees, found the envelope. He reportedly emitted a “bloodcurdling scream” of joy and hugged all assembled, who were amazed by his luck.

So I ask you: Envelopes — harmless stationery or GATEWAYS TO HELL?

Source: GreenvilleOnline.com

In the pantheon of unfortunate street names (Butt Hole Road, near South Yorkshire, England; Farfrompoopen Road in Story, Ark.; and the all-too-familiar intersection of Lonesome and Hardup in Albany, Ga., to name but a few), you could certainly do worse than Florence Garbage Road in Florence, Ore. Though it clearly lacks in aesthetics, the name is functional, as the road services the Lane County Transfer Station and the neighboring Florence Area Humane Society. That said, including the word “garbage” in local place names doesn’t exactly scream “civic pride,” so it’s no surprise that residents lobbied hard to have the name changed to something a little more becoming.

Bending to political pressure, the city council recently agreed to rename the thoroughfare New Hope Lane. Whether the new name reflects genuine optimism on the council’s part or their devotion to Star Wars was not disclosed.

Source: The Siuslaw News

We’re hearing more and more discussion of manufacturer responsibility, mostly as it applies to electronics. But what about something as pedestrian (pun slightly intended) as footwear? According to GreenBiz.com, Timberland’s new line of boots — the not-so-subtly-named Earthkeepers 2.0 — are not only made mostly of recycled material (including Green Rubber, which contains 42 percent recycled rubber tires), but also are designed to be reclaimed and disassembled into reusable or recyclable components at the end of their useful life. Certainly beats slinging them over telephone wires!