West Lake Hangzhou

Calligraphy Museum - Shaoxing

Commercial Collection - Hangzhou

Recycling at The Great Mosque of XIan

Hangzhou National Wetland Park

Market Street in Hangzhou

Beijing Airport

Shanghai Airport

Xian Airport

What is Swap-o-rama-rama (SORR)?

Swap-O-Rama-Rama* http://www.swaporamarama.org is a giant clothing swap and do-it-yourself workshop in which a community explores reuse and creativity through the recycling of used clothing. It’s easy to make the move from consumer to creator - and it’s fun! At this Swap-O-Rama-Rama you’ll find a host of talent and tools to help you transform your new/used duds into works of your own. It will be happening at the GreenFest from 12-4, both days.

What is the GreenFest?

GreenFest, a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America, will bring together more than 400 green businesses, 150 speakers, dozens of community groups and thousands of area residents to explore and celebrate what’s working in our communities – for people, for businesses and for the environment.

Seattle’s first GreenFest will be held at the WA State Convention Center April 12-13 in downtown Seattle. http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/767/390/

What we need

Want to have even more fun? Help make the Swap-o-rama-rama happen! We need:

* Clothing donations before the event. You can drop bags of clothes off in Ballard (3029 NW 59th 98107) or West Seattle (7956 34th SW 98126).
* Volunteers to help out at GreenFest, assisting with sewing and brainstorming. All volunteers who work at least one 3-hour shift will get a free pass to GreenFest!!!!. Passes are limited, so let us know if you will be joining us so we can reserve your pass.

For more info…

If you want more information or want to help out before or during the event, please contact: Denise Henrikson, at 206-938-1809 or denise@reuseresources.org- Thanks!

“There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.” Gandhi

*Swap-O-Rama-Rama is an egalitarian community project created by Wendy Tremayne which can be found in over thirty cities around the world. For more information or to produce a swap-o-rama-rama in your area visit: http://www.swaporamarama.org

Sewing machines are generously supplied by Janome http://www.janome.com

Here’s what Diana has to say about the pictures:

The first three pictures were taken in the little town of Troncones where we were staying where plastic recycling was big… The others are of a recycling operation in San Jose Ixtapa.

Even on one’s honeymoon true recyclers go our of their way to take pictures of how things are done in other countries to share with their colleagues.

Thanks for thinking of us Diana!

I was inspired to send some of my recycling pictures in from our trip to Europe this past summer. We traveled all over, and the pictures I’m attaching are of collection containers in the park by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, collection in the canals of Venice, Italy, drop-off containers in Olympia, Greece, and (the blurry one) drop-off containers in the streets of Naples, Italy. My husband and kids think I’m a bit crazy since I’m always taking pictures of the recycling facilities and other utilities infrastructure wherever we go.

This picture was originally published in a San Juan County News release. It is being published here to accompany the article published in this week’s newsletter.

A total of 10 boxes were carried on the flat bed. All materials were sorted into the boxes on route as they were collected. No such thing as commingled recycling back then. The totes in the back held Mixed Paper. As the blue boxes filled, plywood slats were added - which increased loading height. It helped to be tall. There were low side racks for cases of refillable beer bottles and scrap metal - & maybe even motor oil? You didn’t want to make too sharp a turn with this set up.

Fibers were often ‘processed’ right off the truck into totes. Compaction was done manually via the stomp method. Cardboard was flattened and stuck in-between the blue boxes while on route. If there were more stops left on the route that day, the boxes could be swapped for empties, but it was best to “get it all in one load.”

Storage for processed materials. This site was shared with WWU’s recycling center. Paper was stored under cover in totes, and glass was sorted by color (often by work-release Juvenile Detention kids) & then crushed into barrels. The full barrels were raised high with the forklift, and then a tug on a rope tipped the barrel into the trailer used to haul the cullet to market. Totes were easier to deal with - they were just loaded into vans using the forklift and pallet jacks.

I focused on glass recycling bins, seeing how they are labeled in different languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Italian, Greek, and German.

The bin in the Paris cemetery was mostly full of faded flowers and greens, but there was also a little trash in it so I suppose they weren’t really composting the stuff.

Too bad I didn’t have a digital camera when I visited Japan, China, and Russia two years ago!

(Hover your mouse over the images to see where the picture was taken)

After almost 3 years living in Europe (the last 2 in Luxembourg) my husband, new baby girl and I will be returning to Seattle the first week of October. During this European adventure we have taken many trips and many pictures of recycling, and I hope to get them organized at some point so that I can share more with you and the DTN. In the meantime, here is one from a trip we just took (likely our last vacation of any kind since we plan to buy a house in Seattle :) )…We sailed around the Amalfi coast (Naples, Italy-ish) for 5 days and then spent 5 days on the Island of Ischia for the wedding of a friend from Portland. It is a stunningly beautiful part of the world, and I was pleased to see as many recycling bins as I did.

This picture is taken in the town of Amalfi, right next to the marina. Adeline Morgan (3 months) is in the carrier on my front.

We are excited to be moving back home to the PNW, and look forward to reconnecting. My husband will take on a new position at Amazon.com and I’ll start looking for work soon. Of course, if you know of any job leads, let me know!

Cheers,
Eden Mack (formerly Mercer)

P.S. If you post this letter, also add my “hello” to everyone who knows me, and feel free to pass on my e-mail address. I’ll be looking for lunch dates to get caught up on the past few years, and from what I’ve seen so far in the first week-ish, it has been great! Tully’s and others composting their cups?! Curbside food waste recycling?! Public recycling bins in prominent places? Congrats to all for their good work. It is wonderful to be home.

Original Post (10/31/07):
Eden Mercer has sent us one (of hopefully many) recycling pictures from her time in Europe. Thanks Eden!
We sailed around the Amalfi coast (Naples, Italy-ish) for 5 days and then spent 5 days on the Island of Ischia for the wedding of a friend from Portland. It is a stunningly beautiful part of the world, and I was pleased to see as many recycling bins as I did.

This picture is taken in the town of Amalfi, right next to the marina.

My thanks to Lisa Friend for hooking me up with a ticket for the night! I also owe thanks to my friend Liz for being my personal photographer - Brian

The targets…

The lanes…

The intended damage…

Frame One…

Frame Two… It’s a Spare!

Sharon Baker Johnson, Coordinator
Waste Management Division,
Public Works Walla Walla County

Thanks for sending in your pictures Sharon!