TheGreenGirls.com Weekly Wrap Up (8/3/08)

Homemaade hydrogen car, Tips to help tough out the economy crunch, & a way to reuse those old plastic bags. Plus a treat. Who we’re stalking on Twitter.

Wrap your presents the “green” way

Lebanon’s Bedouins: neither nomads nor citizens
Hiam Abu Ragheb has big dreams for her 19-month-old triplets despite being a Bedouin without papers in Lebanon. Her sons will be doctors — Bahaa a gynaecologist and Saad a surgeon — and her daughter Nazek will be a lawyer or journalist.

Read more on AFP via Yahoo! News

‘Take Four Loko off shelves:’ Kutztown mayor concerned for students and residents’ welfare
Kutztown Mayor Sandy Green and Kutztown University President F. Javier Cevallos sent letters to local distributors to take Four Loko off of their shelves last week.

Read more on Kutztown Area Patriot

CU & Boulder’s Best 2010… as chosen by you
When it comes to picking the best in Boulder, nothing beats going straight to the source.

Read more on Colorado Daily

Holiday hot dish
Love it or hate it, the green bean casserole is a fixture at Thanksgiving.

Read more on Tulsa World

Wrap your presents the “green” way
The holidays are full of presents and with presents come the wrapping paper, but there are some simple steps to go green this holiday season when it comes to your holiday wrapping.

Read more on WWLP Springfield

Food-grade PP recycling moves closer, says WRAP

SKYLINE (15, 92 mins)
Gargantuan alien spacecraft descend over major cities of the world and cleanse the dying planet of its pernicious human parasites by hoovering up the stupefied inhabitants.

Read more on Chichester Observer

In the Neighborhood
Battle Creek firefighters battled a house fire at the corner of Jay and Bartlett streets Thursday evening.

Read more on Battle Creek Enquirer

Police forced to scrap surveillance balloon – because it can’t cope with wind and rain
A police force has had to scrap a surveillance balloon because it couldn’t cope with bad weather.

Read more on Daily Telegraph

Pools confirmed for NCC
The Fiji Football Association today announced the pools of the upcoming National Club Championship which will be played on a zonal basis.

Read more on Fijilive

Food-grade PP recycling moves closer, says WRAP
The organisation is aiming to reduce dependence on virgin PP in the manufacture of food packaging and divert waste from landfill while boosting the UK market for recycled PP.

Read more on Food Production Daily

Tuesday wrap: TSX closes lower, investors worry Chinese rate hike may slow country’s economy

Integrated FMS Introduced For Eclipse Jet
Innovative Solutions & Support Partners With Personal Jet Company An Integrated Flight Management System (FMS) has been introduced for the Eclipse Twin-Engine jet by Eclipse Aerospace and Innovative Solutions & Support.

Read more on The Aero-News Network

Aspen Skiing Co. has a few tricks up its sleeve
The Ullrhof restaurant at Snowmass will boast a new interior and menu this season. ASPEN — The Aspen Skiing Co. won’t have any flashy new chairlifts to show off when the ski season starts five weeks from today, but there will be some fresh twists on the slopes.

Read more on The Aspen Times

2010 car sales may be higher than expected
Malaysian motor vehicle sales may be higher than expected, reaching up to 590,000 units by year-end, according to Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua). Perodua’s managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said the current sales momentum may carry the total industry volume above the Malaysian Automotive Association’s forecast of 570,000 units. “Based on current (sales) trends, it is …

Read more on Business Times

Malaysian Motor Vehicle Sales May Reach Up To 590,000 Units, Says Perodua
RAWANG, Oct 20 (Bernama) — Malaysian motor vehicle sales may be higher than expected, reaching up to 590,000 units by year-end, according to Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua).

Read more on Bernama

Tuesday wrap: TSX closes lower, investors worry Chinese rate hike may slow country’s economy
The Toronto stock market closed sharply lower Tuesday, led by losses in mining and energy stocks as new efforts to slow the Chinese economy and a stronger American currency sent oil and metal prices tumbling.

Read more on Investment Executive

Wrap Funded Project Closes Electrical Recycling Loop

Indesit has become the first company to successfully incorporate recycled content derived from the UK waste stream within white goods on a large scale. The project delivers substantial savings in raw materials and costs.

Indesit, in collaboration with WRAP and Axion Recycling, spent many months investigating the potential to extract plastic materials from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and recycle them for use in the manufacture of new products.

The project has enabled Indesit to introduce a new cover plate on two premium washing machine models – Hotpoint Aquarius and Ultima. The plate uses 100 per cent recycled content, sourced from UK WEEE, representing a step change in UK manufacturing. WRAP now plans to work with other companies to further explore the benefits of this innovative approach.

The material has been produced using shredded plastic waste recovered from domestic fridges, and made into a high grade polymer that has a similar weight to the virgin plastic it is replacing. As a result, the CO2 emissions, cumulative cost and raw material savings from this activity are significant.

The results of the project coincide with the launch of new research from WRAP, which reveals that many consumers would favour an electronic product containing recycled content at point of purchase, if price, functionality and reliability were equal to a substitute item. This collaboration project demonstrates the technical feasibility of closed-loop recycling in electronic products – and the economic and environmental benefits of the approach.

Peter Maddox, Head of Manufacturing at WRAP said:

“This groundbreaking project has demonstrated that closed-loop recycling in electrical equipment from UK WEEE is commercially viable on a large scale for the first time, with no negative effect on performance. We encourage other manufacturers to follow this example.

“Our recent research has also demonstrated that some consumers are willing to buy products that contain some recycled content over those that do not – further strengthening the business argument for this approach.”

Mike Birch, Environment Manager at Indesit Company, commented:

“Having successfully completed the trial, we now plan to roll out the innovation to a range of our washing machines and washer dryers that are produced each year. The cumulative cost and raw material savings will be significant. For us the improved price was an enabler to help deliver a project with environmental benefits – we felt it was the right thing to do.

“We are now considering how further environmental improvements and savings can be made by using recycled content within other components and parts, throughout our manufacturing operation.”

Companies that are interested in realising valuable business benefits by working with WRAP on similar projects should visit the website http://www.wrap.org.uk/manufacturing

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WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.
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Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
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More information on all of WRAP’s programmes can be found on www.wrap.org.uk

Visit Green Rewards eco friendly shop to read more about green charities and projects.

Eco-Friendly Gift Wrap – by Shiho Masuda

Shiho works some Christmas magic on this plain brown bag, using a recycled Christmas card and raffia. This video was recently featured in “asiancemagazine.com”: www.asiancemagazine.com Song is “Carol of the Bells” by the Carpenters.