Extended Producer Responsibility: Dell Did It, Now It’s Apple’s Turn!
by Erin O’Leary

Imagine a mountain that stretches a mile high and covers six acres, but instead of granite twinkling with fresh snow, this mountain is compiled of the 315 million or more obsolete computers in the United States. Lurking inside this growing mountain are brand name electronics, like Apple’s iPods, which contain toxic chemicals. Our kids need Apple to extend a helping hand and take back all their old equipment before it gets thrown away and pollutes our groundwater...Tell Steve Jobs: Don't Be a Mini-Player, Take Back All Your Toxic Trash!

Eco-Cycle Honored with Three Awards

Eco-Cycle programs and staff honored with the Wirth Chair Award, NOVA Award, and CDPHE Environmental Leadership Program.

Victory at the Capitol: Recycling Bill Becomes Law
by Linda Smith

Break out the noisemakers and champagne – for the first time in decades, we’ve succeeded in passing recycling legislation at the state level! The combination of a liberal majority in both houses and the hard work of Eco-Cycle and many other members of the Colorado Association for Recycling (CAFR) resulted in the banning of used motor oil, lead-acid batteries and whole tires from landfills, beginning July 2007. Nearly every other state in the union banned these materials from their landfills years ago, so we figured it was time Colorado’s state legislators place a landfill ban on something – anything! – and change the rules about what is and is not acceptable in a landfill.

Our Local Fight Against Landfill Expansion: Shouldn’t We Try Recycling First?
by Linda Smith

If we build it they will come. Invest big dollars in an incinerator, and we’re committed to feeding it with all our waste materials. Build a landfill and we’ve invested in burying our resources. Develop a resource recovery park, however, and we’ve set in motion a system that is designed to support reuse, recycling, and composting. The infrastructure our community invests in today determines how we manage our resources.

Environmental Choices: Businesses, Products & Services That Offer Better Choices For The Environment
by Ed Green and Erin English

What's green and what's not in the latest edition of Environmental Choices. Featuring: Green Diamond tires, Goddess Gear, Resource Revival, EcoLogical Mail Coalition, and Wolfgang Puck's Disposable Instant Hot Latte.

Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson Sign PVC-Free Pledge
by Marti Matsch and Erin English

Pop quiz: how well do you know your plastics beyond what’s OK to throw in the recycling bin? Do you know what your infant’s teething ring is made out of? What is your software packaged in? Do you care? Well, there’s one plastic in particular you should familiarize yourself with, and that’s Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC – a material often referred to as the “poison plastic,” as its negative effects on our health and the environment are many.

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