Now that it’s summer vacation, why not spend some time with your kids learning how to keep our planet healthy? After all, it’s theirs to inherit from us — and for their children to inherit from them. Here are some ideas to help get you started:

• The great outdoors. When you’re at the beach, park, or playground, point out garbage that you see on the ground. Discuss how trash can affect wildlife, who might eat the trash and get sick, or hurt by sharp edges of cans or tangled up in loose string. Have on hand some bags and plastic gloves so you can clean it up.

• Recycling. Kids love to sort things, so why not put them in charge of household recycling? Letting them decorate recycling bins can make the activity personal and fun. They can draw a picture on each bin for the item that goes in (depending on your local recycling), so that even the youngest can help. Explain how recyclables must be sorted properly so that they can be processed easily at the recycling facility. If possible, take a field trip to your local facility for an up-close look at how it all works.

• Stories. The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, is an environmental classic that can give kids an idea of why taking care of the earth is important to everyone. In addition, there are many other titles that are fun and informative. Visit your local library and ask your librarian for suggestions (librarians love when you do this, and they are experts on their book lists).

• Look around the house. We usually think about the kitchen as being the hotspot for finding recyclables, but there are many items throughout the house that can be reused or recycled. Are there old stuffed animals or plastic toys (think birthday party goodie bags) that are no longer actively used or in working order? Instead of throwing away that small paper tube when the toilet paper is used up, put it in with the paper recycling. Old clothes and toys can be donated (in fact, even clothes that aren’t usable can often be recycled into new fabrics). Be creative!

• Make recycling a game! There are plenty of ideas for making recycling fun. Check out rethinkrecycling.com, sciencekids.co.nz, and epa.gov for cool activities and crafts.

With a little planning and a little imagination, you and your kids can not only

have a lot of fun going green this summer — you can do the planet some good. Happy recycling!

It’s that time of the year again, when Americans coast to coast pack up the kids and hit the road for a little R&R. But just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean you can’t be responsible with your waste. Here are a few things to consider as you plan your trip:

Bottled water may come in handy when you’re on the road, but consider using reusable containers or bottles made from recycled plastic. Estimates indicate that it costs nearly 7 times as much water to manufacture and transport a single bottle of water produced and bottled for you than it does for you to refill your own reusable water containers. Using your own bottles reduces waste, saves money, and relieves the burden of recycling along the way or at the end of your trip.

Most places have some sort

of recycling program. Call ahead or check town websites to see what’s available in the area you’ll be visiting. Be specific with your questions — what sort of materials can be recycled, when and where you can drop off your items, and even whether or not composting is available (for your picnic table scraps!).

If you’re particularly eco-minded and can’t find any local resources, consider bringing your recyclables home with you. Sure, a bin or bag takes up some space in your car, but in return your home community will benefit from the sale of your recyclables by using those funds to offset the cost of the recycling programs.

Ranging from plastic, such as yogurt or lunch meat containers and aloe vera bottles, cardboard boxes, such as toilet paper rolls and toothpaste boxes, or aluminum, such as sunscreen containers, remember that all of these items are recyclable items used on your family vacation!

Some people will throw away just about anything. College humor has rounded up a gallery of some pretty bizarre things found in garbage cans. It’s hard to decide which is the weirdest, but number 11 might fit the bill.

Speaking of bizarre, the annual cleanup of one UK beach uncovered a number of strange items, including a bulletproof vest and a set of dentures.

Most communities have a regular household waste disposal for hazardous materials, but most don’t usually get the kind of items that this one town did, including mercury stored in mayonnaise jars.

Camping gets you out into the great outdoors to enjoy fresh air and the beauty of nature, but nature includes a number of wild animals that are likely to show an interest in your garbage. There are a number of animals commonly attracted by the smell of food and garbage such as raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, and even some birds, but bears are the most dangerous of them all. Proper storage of your garbage while camping and hiking can prevent a bear encounter as well as a big mess in your campsite, including the destruction of expensive gear and camping furniture.

The method in which you take care of or store your garbage depends greatly on the type of campground you are visiting. Developed campgrounds are likely to provide clearly marked garbage bins and employ staff who empty the bins regularly for safety. The frequency of the garbage pickup depends on the size of the campground. When camping in backcountry or un-serviced campgrounds, finding your own garbage storage solutions is important. Even with garbage bins provided, there are several important things to remember:

• Never leave food or garbage unattended overnight or when leaving the campsite
• Take garbage to provided bins right away
• Always secure the lid of the provided bin after dumping your garbage
• Notify campground staff of any overflowing garbage bins

Besides the smell of food in the garbage, anything with a strong smell may draw the attention of bears. Aside from food, bears may be attracted by other items, including toothpaste, shampoo, soap, insect repellant, perfumes, deodorant, and feminine hygiene products. These items should not be left around a campsite and should be secured properly just like your garbage.

Depending on how you choose to camp will determine what type of garbage storage options you will need. Those traveling in a motor home or hard-walled travel trailer might be safe leaving garbage inside the camper; however, it’s important to be aware that bears can access a camper, especially through a window or screen door that is not closed. Even in an RV it’s best to follow proper garbage storage procedures. Most RV owners tend to camp in well-developed campgrounds where garbage bins are readily available. Tent campers and those using any kind of soft-wall camper need to be more cautious. Never store garbage of any kind in a tent, no matter whether it’s a small tent or a large one, or in a soft-walled camper. Consider your camping equipment and the right garbage storage for your needs.

If you are camping in an undeveloped campground or in the backcountry, you will need to take measures to ensure that your garbage is out of reach when you sleep or are away from the campsite. Garbage should always be kept away from sleeping areas and the area where you have set up your cooking gear, including your cook stove and, of course, all food. The washing and bathing area should also be far away from the garbage and cooking areas.

If you have a vehicle, store all food and garbage inside with the doors and windows closed. It’s preferable that you park your vehicle as far away from the sleeping area as possible in case a bear comes along and wants to investigate.

A bear hang is a common method used to hang up your garbage in the trees and out of a bear’s reach. Remember that bears are excellent climbers, so hanging the garbage in one tree is not a deterrent. Garbage should be hung in between two trees as far out of reach as possible. A bear hang has certain requirements in order to be effective, including being at least ten feet off the ground, at least 4 feet from the trunk of any tree, and a minimum of 100 feet from the sleeping area of the campsite.

It’s essential to keep a clean campsite and ensure garbage is secured whether you are in a large developed campground or out in the wilderness. Any campground can draw the attention of hungry raccoons, squirrels, and bears. Proper garbage storage is the best way to avoid a big mess and a potentially dangerous bear encounter and is an important part of your camping gear.

10 Things You Never Knew about Trash Cans

In day-to-day life, people don’t think a lot about garbage cans. They are one of those things we take for granted until we actually need them. But that’s unfortunate, because the history of modern waste disposal is both interesting and enlightening. From the practices of ancient Native Americans to today’s high-tech waste management industry, it is remarkable how humans have learned to deal with their garbage. Art exhibitions and modern designers have even elevated garbage cans to works of beauty. These days, trash cans aren’t just a way to get rid of our food wrappers – they can be a clever way to advertise a business or cause.

Cool Facts from the History of Garbage and Garbage Collecting

Garbage has been around as long as humans have roamed the earth, and there are actually people who study it! Here are some interesting tidbits from the course of human history:

1. Garbage is an area of academic study. The history and science of garbage has been studied for many years by experts known as garbologists.
2. We’ve found many creative ways to get rid of our trash. Over the course of human civilization, people have dumped, buried, burned, and recycled in an attempt to remove garbage; luckily, we are now putting more and more effort into reducing waste.
3. We don’t necessarily create more waste now than we did millennia ago. As early as 6500 BC, Native Americans, in what is now Colorado, may have produced about 5.3 pounds of trash per day – more than the average New York City resident generated in 1911.
4. The Mayans had some interesting waste-disposal methods. They boasted exploding, burning trash dumps and solved their in-home garbage issues by simply covering them with dirt. Out of sight, out of mind!
5. Dumps are totally classic! Athens, Greece created the first municipal dump in approximately 500 BC.
6. Littering is worse than you realize. If you don’t think waste management is important, consider that the lack of an effective disposal system likely played a major role in the spread of Bubonic Plague. When people throw their garbage out the window, it tends to create a wonderland for rats.
7. One man, one can. Peter Durand patented the “tin can” in 1810, setting the stage for the beginning of the trash can as we know it today.
8. Oh, America. As recently as 1908, Americans were disposing of garbage in bodies of water, along the ground, and by feeding their food waste to pigs.
9. We may owe modern recycling to a world war. The scarcity of resources caused by World War II resulted in a push for Americans to start recycling paper, rubber, scrap metal, and tin cans.
10.  The government got their hands dirty with waste management. The 1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act and the 1970 formation of the Environmental Protection Agency ushered the U.S. into a new era of dealing with trash.

The Garbage Can Revolution

Since their humble beginnings, garbage cans have become a mainstay in the lives of modern Americans. They keep refuse away from of our nice, clean homes while we wait for the garbage collector to take it away. In public, garbage cans give us a place to throw our trash so we don’t just drop it on the ground.

Garbage cans are a functional necessity, but they can also be beautiful. In 1930s Denmark, Holger Nielsen set out to create the Vipp bin, an attractive trash can for his wife’s beauty salon. Five years earlier, the Museum of Modern Art debuted its “Machine Art” show, which treated industrial implements, like trash cans, as objets d’art. The exhibition horrified art critics, but delighted the public – and isn’t that what good art should aim for?

Since Nielsen’s pioneering garbage can design, designers have created bins in materials ranging from metal to rubber to plastic, and in every size and shape imaginable. Considering the success of the industrial art revolution, the Vipp bin, and its well-designed descendants, it’s safe to say good-looking garbage cans can generate some big business.

Putting Your Brand on a Garbage Can

Advertising on trash cans can be both affordable and effective. Strategically-placed bins in public areas are highly visible and used by virtually everyone. When you have spent the past ten minutes looking for somewhere to put your candy wrapper, smart advertisers know seeing their message on a trash can associates their company with convenience and relief. Garbage cans are also an effective location to display important social messages.

Public garbage cans can even be engineered to maximize the impact of the advertisements they carry. Specially designed trash cans, like Securr’s, are optimized for the right size and placement of an advertisement. The durable construction of these trash cans stands up to the elements and protects your advertising investment.

But it’s not enough just to have your brand on a garbage can; you also need to create an ad that will keep your audience’s attention after they’ve disposed of their waste.

Here are some tips to consider when creating a garbage can advertisement:

1. Location, location, location! Make sure your garbage can is placed in a high-traffic area frequented by your targeted audience.
2. Bigger isn’t always better. Securr garbage cans are designed to accommodate advertisements in sizes that grab attention without being obnoxious.
3. Be clever. The most memorable ads make people laugh and think. Clever catch phrases – or even trash-related puns – are smart ways to keep your message in the mind of your audience.

With the right concept, placement, and design, you’ve got the recipe for a garbage can ad that potential customers won’t soon forget.

Tell Your Friends!

 From ancient trash heaps to clever modern marketing vehicles, the history of garbage disposal is as fascinating and creative as it is practical. If you find the evolution of waste disposal as captivating as we do – or simply want to boast about your knowledge of Mayan trash exploding methods – share this with everyone you know on Twitter or Facebook.

From creative waste disposal to compulsive hoarding to super cool garbage trucks, there’s no shortage of bizarre garbage stories in the news. Here are a few that will make you laugh, scratch your head, and maybe even start to sing:

• On April 21, one year after the tragic bombings, the Boston Marathon went off without a hitch. With heightened security and a record-breaking crowd, finding a place to dispose of waste was almost impossible. Not wanted to litter the beloved city’s streets, folks did the best they could, using mailboxes when they couldn’t find a garbage can — or when garbage cans were locked. Any port in a storm!

• This photo was tweeted by the New York City Fire Department, showing a garbage truck dangling from a parking garage in Queens. Luckily, the NYFD was able to rescue the driver, who escaped with only head and neck injuries.

• You might not have heard of the Collyer brothers, but the pair are infamous for their bizarre behavior and compulsive hoarding during their life in Manhattan in the early 1900s. In fact, their legend is so great that firefighters today use the phrase “Collyer’s Mansion” to refer to a dwelling of hoarders that is so filled with trash and debris it becomes a serious danger to the occupants and emergency responders.

• Last year, a Pennsylvania woman was arrested for assaulting a trash collector when he passed her home because her garbage hadn’t been put out yet. Um, overreact much?

• Usually, major cities struggle to find ways to manage an over-abundance of waste. Not so for Oslo, who can’t get enough of the stuff. The Norwegian capital uses garbage-burning power to fuel around half of its city. Due to increased recycling rates, finding enough trash is so difficult that they’ve been forced to import waste from other countries, including as far away as Ireland.

• Would you live in a garbage truck? If it looked like this, you just might!

• Most of us have accidentally thrown away something valuable. Some of us (especially parents) have surreptitiously thrown away things we consider trash that someone else loves (sorry, kids). But this might be the worst story about throwing away something that couldn’t be farther from garbage — a woman who threw away her cat. On purpose.

• Finally, as the gold medal winner for Most Awesome Way to Get People to Manage Their Waste Properly, here is Taiwan’s Singing Garbage Truck. For real.

Ah, where would we be without batteries? They power our cars, our devices, our kids’ toys, and so much more. In fact, Americans purchase nearly 3 billion dry-cell batteries every year to power radios, toys, cellular phones, watches, laptop computers, and portable power tools. That is a whole lot of batteries! But what to do with them when they’ve used up? Throw them away? Recycle?

The truth is, the garbage can is not the best place for your used batteries. Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel, which can contaminate the environment when batteries are improperly disposed of. When incinerated, certain metals might be released into the air or can concentrate in the ash produced by the combustion process.

One way to reduce the number of batteries in the waste stream is to purchase rechargeable batteries. The main advantage of using rechargeable batteries is that it reduces the number of batteries that need to be produced and disposed of. However, safe disposal is needed for rechargeable batteries because 80% of them contain nickel cadmium, a carcinogen.

Recycling all batteries

keeps heavy metals out of landfills and the air. Recycling saves resources because recovered plastic and metals can be used to make new batteries. Many states have regulations in place requiring battery recycling. In some areas, the local recycling agencies actually collect used batteries for recycling. In other areas where local recycling agencies do not offer collection services, you might have to get in touch with regional-based battery retailers who have collection schemes to get your used batteries recycled.

Battery fun fact: Fifty times more energy is needed to make batteries compared to the amount of energy the batteries can give out. So use your batteries carefully!

Interested in reducing your household waste? Consider composting! Composting might seem complicated and cumbersome, but it’s actually easier than it looks — and before you know it, you’ll have an excellent source of nutrients for your spring garden.

The fastest way to get finished compost for this year’s garden is to make an active, or “hot,” compost pile. By providing a steady supply of water and air to the pile, you’ll encourage the microorganisms that drive the composting process to work faster. Here are the five key steps for making compost in about 30 days.

There are certain things that we all find ourselves using in our everyday lives, no matter how environmentally conscious we strive to be. Most of us drive a car, use a computer, have electric lighting. But when such things run down their life-spans, you can’t just simply put them on the curb without doing some damage to the environment. Here’s how to properly dispose of common items so you don’t leave a toxic footprint:

Motor oil: In most states, it’s illegal to pour motor oil down the drain — or even on the ground.The only proper — and legal — way to get rid of motor oil is to place it in a clean plastic container with a tight lid and bring it to a location willing to take it off your hands, such as recycling centers or car service stations. One important note is that used motor oil shouldn’t be mixed with anything else — such as paint, gasoline, solvents and antifreeze — because that will render it unsuitable for recycling.

Electronics: Have an old TV or computer hanging around your basement? Don’t just put it on the curb. The most environmentally friendly way to dispose of e-waste is to donate it for reuse or drop it off at a recycling center. The EPA offers many e-waste reference tools, from directories of local and government-supported drop-off centers to manufacturers’ mail-in recycling and trade-in programs.

Paint: Oil-based paints, coatings, stains, varnishes, paint removers and strippers qualify as household hazardous waste (HHW) because they contain chemicals that can be harmful to humans, animals and the environment. HHW items should never be disposed of in the trash or down the drain. Oil-based paint should be brought to a local collection agency, but latex (or water-based) paints can be dried out and the cans recycled.

Light bulbs: Fluorescent light bulbs and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) — while much better for the environment than regular

light bulbs — contain a miniscule amount of mercury (about 5 milligrams) that is released when the light bulb is broken. All florescent bulbs should be taken to a certified household waste facility.

Bottom line — think before you trash!