While more flying is great news for people who love to travel, it’s bad news for the environment. Flights were responsible for 2.4 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2018 — a figure expected to grow more than threefold by 2050. In the face of aviation’s rising emissions problem, the United Nations created … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? We spend billions each year on something that’s forgotten in minutes. According to a report from Sundale Research, Americans spent $12.7 billion on gift wrap in 2017. The majority of wrapping paper, ribbons, and gift bags are not recyclable in most circumstances, according to Earth911. The glossy, laminated finish makes gift … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? While more flying is great news for people who love to travel, it’s bad news for the environment. Flights were responsible for 2.4 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2018 — a figure expected to grow more than threefold by 2050. In the face of aviation’s rising emissions problem, … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Organic food is produced without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and hormones. Food that does not meet this criteria is often called non-conventional and conventional practices are more taxing on our soil and water. While all of the impacts of conventional agriculture have nott been studied yet, disruptions to natural food chains, toxic … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Employers often make decisions about waste based on how they can save money, and how they think their competitors are spending. Employees can influence these decisions by drawing attention to issues that impact their satisfaction at work, particularly if they make positive changes that can be advertised for public relations. Maybe … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? It is nearly impossible to leave your home and not see trash where it does not belong, especially if you live in a densely populated area. THere is lots of reason you bump into litter, from a blustery wind, to a curious raccoon, to a careless neighbor. Whose job is it … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Packing lunch may save you money, but it’s not helping the environment to throw-away bags, packaging, and containers each day. Consider the packaging for foods specifically designed for lunches – personal-sized fruit cups, chip bags, and yogurt. Can you buy one larger package and make your own portions? Can you bring … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? When you think of being green, your first thought might be of lush green trees, and for good reason! In addition to offering you a nice, shady place to sit in the summer, trees do a ton of work to help improve the environment. One of the biggest ways that trees … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Bad news for those of us who like to take long, hot showers- your cleaning routine is a huge water-waster! According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average shower is only 8 minutes long, but uses a whopping 18 gallons of water (https://www.epa.gov/watersense/shower-better ). And baths are even worse, using … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? If you are trying to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing your vehicle emissions is a great place to start. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about 28% of the greenhouse gas emissions being released into the atmosphere come from vehicle transportation (https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks ). Additionally, driving a car requires … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Your food often travels a great distance before it lands on your plate, and both the transportation and production of large-scale produce production takes a negative toll on the environment. Shipping food across the globe requires the use of busses, trains, airplanes, and ships, which all use oil and generate massive … Continued

What Is A Rain Barrel? A rain barrel is a container that is connected to your house downspouts in order to collect rainwater running off the house. The water travels down the downspout and gets stored in the container for future use. Rain barrels can be purchased from your local hardware store or made from … Continued

Last week we discussed the importance of recycling and where you can recycle if you do not have a city-wide recycling program. This week we will cover what you can recycle. It is extremely important to follow the recycling guidelines of your city to ensure that what you put in the recycling bin will be … Continued

What is happening? The City of Cleveland has not renewed its contract for recycling, so the contents of our recycling bins are now headed for the landfill every week.  Mayor Frank Jackson confirmed that the recycling contract had not been renewed because it becomes too costly to sort recyclable materials and blamed residents for not … Continued

What is Happening? The Trump administration finalized a substantial rollback of EPA rules and regulations under the Clean Water Act that will make it easier to discharge pollutant into America’s streams and waterways. The Clean Water Act was enacted in 1948 and significantly amended in 1972 with the goal to establish regulations around discharging pollutants … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? The Minimalism Challenge was developed by The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. It is a slightly easy way to remove clutter from your home and life. The premise is simple: Each day for 30 days, you get rid of that number of items. Day 1 is 1 item, Day … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Almonds are a great source of nutrients, including antioxidants, fiber, protein, and magnesium. For anyone that wants to decrease negative environmental impact, almond milk is an alternative to dairy intake. A study of a dairy farm in Ohio stated that nearly 30 gallons of water was used per cow per day … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Upcycling, or creative reuse, is a creative way to reuse and repurpose something to extend its value and life cycle. Taking an older item that may show some wear and tear and redesigning it to serve a better and more beautiful purpose is the best part of upcycling. Upcycling is not … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Drink Local. Drink Tap. celebrates it’s annual run/walk event, 4 Miles 4 Water, each spring. The 4 mile distance commemorates the average distance many people around the world have to work to collect water daily. We’re only asking you to do this once. This year is DLDT’s 10th anniversary, so you … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? Single-use silverware, plates & cups typically dominate summer cookouts. As we know from other single-use plastics – these will more than likely end up in landfills or oceans. In fact, single-use silverware and plates are such an issue in marine pollution that the European Union confirmed a provisional agreement to restrict … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? More than 13 billion pounds of paper towels are used each year in the USA, and we by far consume the most paper towels worldwide. To make one ton of paper towels 17 trees and 20,000 gallons of water are polluted. Plus, paper towels aren’t recyclable.   The Top Five Countries … Continued

Why Take This Challenge? The average US annual plastic bag usage per resident: 3651. Plastic bags are made to be single use – so where do they all go when you’re done? When they’re not piling up in landfills, you’ve seen them blocking storm drains, littering streets, stuck in trees, and filling the oceans where … Continued

March 31, 2020 | Pembroke Strickland, DLDT Associate Board Member Why Take This Challenge? Here we are in the middle of a global pandemic with most people still shuttered in place at home in an effort to save lives. There is no denying that we are all in this together and now, more than ever, … Continued

Guest Post By Pembroke Strickland, DLDT Associate Board Member Why Take This Challenge? Whether you work at a small mom & pop shop or a big corporate organization, there are steps you can take to learn more about recycling in the workplace and how to improve. A good first step is to reach out to … Continued