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Composting

The home composting allows citizens to use their organic waste in their own backyard or garden. This type of composting promotes the decomposition of organic waste per share of micro organisms, saving environmental costs (pollution) and economic aspects of transportation and disposal of such waste in landfills.

Should do the following steps for home composting:

1. Choosing the location of the composter
The composter should be placed in an easily accessible place during the year, with a mix of sun and shade, preferably on top of the ground, in permeable surface and under a leaf tree, which gives shade in the summer and sun in the winter.

2. Choice of composter
There are several types of composter on sale, as the rodent-proof composters. However, you can make your own composter, from a cardboard box of wood or plastic, with holes underneath, to prevent odours and to facilitate the entry of microorganisms.

3. Composting

Materials needed:
Organic materials
Water
Garden composters
Scissors (to reduce the size of the waste to be composed)
Rake (to rake the material for composting)
Thermometer
Watering can

The composite materials

Greens:
Remains of raw vegetables
Remains of fruit and barks
Coffee grounds, including filters
Rice and cooked pasta
Green leaves
Bags of tea Cereals herbs (without seeds)
Remains of cut grass and flowers
Crushed egg shells

Brown:
Hay
Straw
Wood chips and sawdust
Dried leaves Twigs

Materials not to composite:

Meat, fish, shellfish, dairy products and fats
Excrement of animals
Waste gardens treated with pesticides
Diseased plants or infested with insects
Ash from coal
Herbs with seeds
Textiles, paints, batteries, glass, metal, plastics, medicine, chemicals.

(source: http://www.confagri.pt/Ambiente/AreasTematicas/Solo/Documentos/doc68.htm )

Rules of Separating


First of all, it is necessary to separate the materials recyclable. Then you must clean and check if there are no remains of product inside. You should squash the package to reduce space and facilitate its transport. Finally, if the package contains another type of material (for example the covers) should be removed. Now, just put the products in their containers.



(source: http://www.pontoverde.pt/ )

Advantages of Recycling

The recycling of plastics brings some social and economic benefits to the society, highlighting the following:

• Reducing the volume of garbage collected that is removed to a landfill site, providing increased of life and lower costs of transport;
• economy of energy and oil, because plastics are derived from petroleum;
• create jobs, With reduction of social pressure;
• lower prices for the consumer of products produced with recycled plastic;
• notable improvements in the process of decomposition of organic material in landfills because the plastic waterproof layers of the material decomposed, hampering the movement of gases and liquids;
• contribution to the reduction of environmental degradation as a whole and forests, in particular, to replace wood and paper.

(source: http://www.ipt.br/atividades/inovacao/exemplos/plastico/definicao/ )

Green recycling banks


Glass


Deposit:

- Bottles of water and juices
- Bottles of olive oil
- Big bottles- Bottles of jam
- Jars (no cover)
- Bottles of olives and pickles
- Bottles of wine and beer



Don’t deposit:

- Plates
- Construction materials
- Bottles of perfume
- Windows, glazing, mirrors
- Lamps
- Cups
- Jugs
- Crystal

- Glasses

(source: http://www.pontoverde.pt/ )

Curiosity about recycling



Daily, each of us is responsible for the production of about 1.3 kilograms of waste. At the end of the year are nearly 500 kg. of waste, 9% are plastic packages.

The energy saved by recycling a glass bottle is enough to keep a lamp of 100 watts lit for 4 hours.

For every ton of glass used in the manufacture of glass includes saving 1.2 tonnes of original-raw material.

One ton of recycled paper avoids the killing of 15 to 20 trees.

The production of recycled paper means saving water needed in the production of paper and reduces the cutting of trees, therefore contributing to a sustainable forest.

Five plastic bottles recycled lead to enough polyester to make a short-sleeve shirt in XL. For a pair of pants 10 bottles are enough, and 25 bottles provides material for a sweater.

Each 100 tonnes of recycled plastic prevents the extraction of a tonne of oil.

Due to the low weight, the use of plastics in cars reduces fuel consumption by 4%.

The recycling of plastics saves oil and natural gas, the two raw materials more used.



A can of a drink can be infinitely recycled without losing its quality.

Recycling one ton of wood waste prevents the killing of 40 trees.

One ton of recycled paper saves between 15 to 20 trees and in the production of this recycled paper are spent 2 to 3 times less energy.

The glass is completely recyclable, to obtain 1 ton of glass you simply need to recycle another ton.


(source: http://energiaebjosesaraiva.blogs.sapo.pt/29091.html )

These are the children of our future..

Yellow Recycling Bank

Plastic
Deposit:
- Big Bottles of water
- Bottles of cooking oil
- Packs of butter and margarine
- Bottles of juice - Plastic Bags
-Tubes of mustard and ketchup
- Bottles of vinegar
- Bottles of bleach
- Vases
- Bottles of shampoo
- Bottles of cooking oil
- Packs of detergent and hygiene products
- Containers of liquid and solid yogurts
- Plastic Films - Packs of chips and snacks
- Plastic Cups - Plastic lids - Bags of raffia (potatoes and onions)

Don’t deposit:
- Big bottles of fuel
- Buckets - Video Cassettes
- Pens - Hangers
- CD's and DVD's
- Cork stoppers
- Plastic cutlery

Metal
Deposit:
- Cans of drinks
- Metal tubes of toothpaste
- Cans of preserves
- Metal lids from glass bottles
- Aluminium Trays
- Cans of powder milk
- Empty Aerosol
- Metal caps from the champagne
- Cans of condensed milk and fruit

Don’t deposit:
- Appliances
- Batteries and battery
- Pots and pans
- Tools
- Metal cutlery

Packages of Cardboard for Beverages
Deposit:
- Packed milk
- Packed wine
- Packed juice
- Packed cream and tomato pulp

Curiosity
How to make recycled paper

Material:
• paper and water
• basins: flat and deep
• bucket
• wooden frame with cloth or nylon straight sieve
• hollow wooden frame (without screen)
• blender
Newspaper or felt
cloth
sponges or rags
line clothes and preachers
Press or two planks of wood
concave sieve (with "belly")
table

Procedure:
A - Preparing the pulp: Prick the paper and let it sauce for a day or a night in the flat basin, to soften. Put water in blender and paper, the proportion of three parts of water for a paper. Beat for ten seconds and disconnect. Wait a minute and beat again for another ten seconds. The pulp is ready.

B - Making the paper:
1. Pour the pulp into a large bowl, larger than the frame.
2. Place the frame on the hollow frame with canvas. Soak the frame vertically and throw it in the bottom of the basin.
3. Hold them still in a horizontal position, and slowly, so that the flesh is deposited on the screen. Hold the excess water drain into the basin and carefully remove the hollow frame.
4. Turn the frame with the flesh down on a paper or cloth.
5. Remove the excess water with a sponge.
6. Lift the frame, leaving the sheet of paper craft still wet on the paper.

C - Pressed the leaves For your paper craft sheets to dry faster and the interlacing of fibre stays stronger, make piles with the newspaper as follows:
• Stack three sheets of newspaper with paper craft. Merge with six sheets of paper or a piece of felt and put three more sheets of newspaper with paper. Continue on to form a stack of 12 sheets of paper craft.
• Place a pile of leaves in the press for 15 minutes. If it does not press, put the pile of leaves on the ground and push with a piece of wood.
• Hang the sheets of paper with the paper craft until the clothes line dry completely. Remove each sheet of paper of the newspaper and make a pile with them. Put this in the press stack for 8 hours or inside a heavy book for a week.



Source: http://www.compan.com.br/fazerpapel-html

Electron Point
The Amb3E launched the electron Point, a container where you can deposit the electrical waste and electronic equipment (WEEE) for recycling. This network of WEEE collection is available, initially in major shopping malls Sonae Sierra, an unprecedented initiative in Europe.
The modules were placed at various shopping centres and have the capacity for about 500 kg of small appliances, up to a diameter of 55 cm.

Garbage container

Deposit:
- Remains of food
- Used diapers
- CD's and DVD's
- Paper and card with fat
- Pots, pans, cutlery, etc ...
- Plates, glasses and cups
- Tapes - Windows and mirrors
- Hanger - Dirty paper kitchen towels
- Dirty napkins and paper handkerchiefs

Sources:
http://pro.corbis.com/images/42-17371322.jpg?size=572&uid=%7B52E6E21A-407A-444D-B61C-77D467C4E3AF%7D
sociedadepontoverde

Incineration

Incineration is a process by which waste, particularly the non-biodegradable materials, toxic or contaminants, are burned in a high oven, at a very high temperature (above 1000 º C),and being the final products of incineration of organic material, non –biodegradable, carbon dioxide, water vapour and heat energy. The garbage can be incinerated in a central specially constructed for this purpose or through the use of a high furnace of the cement and metallurgical industry of co-incineration.

Advantages of co-incineration:
- The cost of treatment per ton is about three times lower;
- The rate of destruction is higher than that of the incinerators, due to temperatures in the high furnaces of cement to about 1450 º C or more (about 2000 º C), near the area of flame, far higher than 1200 º C of the incinerator;
- Does not occur production of solid wastes, because of the ash from the combustion of waste being dissolved in the structure of the cement, while in the traditional process it would have to be deposited in a landfill;
- You do not need a complementary treatment of gases, nor is the production of liquid or sludge, due to the cement kilns it has a natural alkaline environment, resulting from the use of limestone as raw material, therefore natural gas washers, neutralizing its acidity.

Disadvantages of incineration in cement:
- The ovens do not a homogeneous distribution of temperature, presenting a hot tip near the flame and a cold end in the opposite side, not ensuring that it does not completely avoid the unwanted formation of toxic compounds such as dioxins;
- Emission of gases by cement kilns are below those required for the incineration plants;
- When the operations are stopped, the filters no longer work and release the gases without no treatment, by the chimney, since the filter sleeves, to retain the dust, are unable to retain more volatile gases, such as mercury;
- The study of the effects in terms of public health, of the incorporation of slag from the incineration in cement, are not fully conclusive, it is still unknown their total toxicity.

Advantages of waste incineration:
- The dramatic reduction of space / volume occupied by garbage;
- The elimination of bacterial and viral contamination;
- The decrease in the amount of land to be mobilized for the construction of landfills;
- Reduction of contamination of soil and water due to runoff resulting from accumulated waste;
- The profitable energy waste, since the heat resulting from their burning can be used for heating and production of electricity;
- The quick disposal of hazardous waste;
- The combustion gases are free of dust and neutralized, which does not happen in the open air dumps;
- In the case of co-incineration, the reduction of the amount of raw material and fuel that must be used for the production of cement.

While the burning is not, for now, a completely clean process it is at least the process most efficient in the elimination of certain hazardous wastes and reduction of the volume of garbage accumulated, and also to its energy recovery. However, it should not be considered the single and total solution for the disposal of waste and should be integrated into a comprehensive system of waste management, including the processes of sorting, recycling, composting and safe disposal of waste with (actual) health check.

Source:Diciopédia 2005

Vermicomposting
The vermicompost or compost performed almost exclusively by earthworms, emerges as the single option to recycle food waste and to obtain humus with excellent properties for fertilization of soil, without using synthetic fertilizers, preserving the environment and taking advantage to know it’s better to be alive.

Choose the location of the composter:
The vermicompostor (receptacle for worms) should be placed on a site for the development of earthworms.

Material for construction of vermicompostor
Box or plastic timber with lid and about 60 x 30 cm base and 25 cm high Drill 0.5-0.6 cm in diameter Land Gloves

Eco centre
The Eco centre is a wide park with large containers, used to store the materials in eco points (in big quantities) and wooden packages. Besides these, the Eco centre also stores rubble, branches of trees, old appliances, mattresses, pallets, boxes, furniture, computers, etc...

Wood
Deposit:
- Boxes of fruit and vegetable garden- Packages of wine - Wooden pallets - Packages of cheese
Don’t deposit:
- Packages containing cement, bitumen or tar.- Wooden containers coated with materials that are not easily removed.

Source: sociedadepontoverde

Recycle batteries
The batteries, when discarded in rubbish dumps or landfills, release toxic components that contaminate the soil, affecting the flora and fauna of the surrounding area and the man in the food chain.
Due to its toxic components, batteries can also affect the quality of the product in the composting of organic waste.
Moreover, its burning in incinerators is also not a good practice, because their toxic wastes remain in ashes and part of them can evaporate, contaminating the atmosphere.
The toxic compounds found in batteries are: cadmium, lead and mercury. All affect the central nervous system, liver, kidneys and lungs because they are bio-accumulative. Cadmium is carcinogenic, lead can cause anamia, weakness and partial paralysis, and mercury may also cause genetic mutations. Therefore, being placed in a correct place, the risk of contamination becomes smaller and also the batteries can be recycled.

Blue recycling bank

Paper and cardboard

Deposit:
- Boxes of cereal
- Writing paper
- Envelopes
- Boxes of biscuits
- strapping of packs of bottles
- Papers for printing
- Wrapping paper
- Cardboard boxes of eggs
- Telephone lists
- Letters
- Paper bags of bread
- Bags of food for animals
- Boxes of pizza (without fat)

Don’t deposit:
- Sticker paper
- Bags of cement
- Plastic paper
- Wipes and diapers
- Aluminium paper
- Dirty paper handkerchiefs
- cardboard with fat
- Kitchen paper towels and dirty napkins
- Containers of chemical products

Source: sociedade ponto verde

Advantages of Recycling
The recycling of plastics brings some social and economic benefits to the society, highlighting the following:
• Reducing the volume of garbage collected that is removed to a landfill site, providing increased of life and lower costs of transport;
• economy of energy and oil, because plastics are derived from petroleum;
• create jobs, With reduction of social pressure;
• lower prices for the consumer of products produced with recycled plastic;
• notable improvements in the process of decomposition of organic material in landfills because the plastic waterproof layers of the material decomposed, hampering the movement of gases and liquids;
• contribution to the reduction of environmental degradation as a whole and forests, in particular, to replace wood and paper.


Sources:
http://www.cra-recycle.org/weekly_bullet_files/recycle%20can%20guy%20for%20weekly.jpg
wikipédia
sociedadepontoverde

Recycling

Recycling is the term used to describe the reuse of materials for a new product. There are several types of materials that can be recycled, such as glass, paper, plastic and metal. Recycling can only be used when the material turns back into its original, that is, there is a transformation of the product to become again as it was originally. In contrast, re-using consists in turning a product in another. When the paper is recycled it never stays with the same features, because it gains a different colour, texture and weight. Aluminium is one of the few materials that after the process stay’s with the same characteristics.

Source: wikipédia

Procedure of composting:
I. Cut the brown and green waste into small pieces.
II. At the bottom of the composter place randomly thick branches (promoting aeration and preventing compaction);
III. Add a layer of 5 to 10 cm of brown;
IV. Add at most a handful of soil or compost ready; contain microorganisms that quantity sufficient to start the process of composting (the waste themselves also add that contain microorganisms), it should be noted that large amounts of land added reduce the volume of useful and composter compress the material, which is undesirable;
V. Add a layer of green;
VI. Cover with another layer of brown;
VII. Regue each layer in order to maintain an adequate moisture content. This content can be measured through the test of sponge ", ie whether to squeeze a small amount of material of the stack, get the hands wet but not dripping, moisture is adequate.
VIII. Repeat this process until you get about 1 m high. The layers can be added all at once or as the material will become available.
IX. The last layer should always be to add the brown, to reduce the problems of odour and the spread of insects and other pests. The leaves and grass cutting of waste accumulate in a very small space of time and in large quantities.
If you have big quantities of leaves that do not fit in the composter:
• Bury some in the soil;
• Use them as a cover around the foot of the trees and plants;
• Make a pile in the corner of the garden, the leaves will degenerate rapidly;
• Keep them in plastic bags, store in a dry place and accessible to the composter that adds to their needs.

For the waste of cutting grass:
• Place composter in small quantities at a time and add brown materials (waste cutting of grass tends to acquire a pasty structure and create odours);
• Leave this waste exposed to the sun to dry; it will become carbon-rich material (brown materials), which can be mixed to the same green waste.

There are various materials that can be recycled, and each material has a different colour to appoint its container.

In Brazil there are the following eco points:
• Blue - paper / cardboard
• Black - wood
• Green - glass
• Orange - hazardous waste
• Yellow - metal
• White - waste clinics and health services
• Purple - radioactive waste
• Brown - organic waste
• Gray - not generally recyclable waste, mixed or contaminated and not possible to separate

Back in Portugal, there are only these:
• Blue - paper / cardboard
• Green - glass
• Yellow - plastic and metal
• Red - batteries
• Black - organic and / or any of the other

Note: currently there is, in large supermarkets, the electron point that serves to put the old appliances.

Source: wikipédia

Composting can be carried out in different ways:
• in large centralized facilities;
• in farms or agricultural or farming;
• in small units of the family (and in this case is called home composting).
In the case of composting in centralized facilities, we must distinguish clearly between two possible situations:
• the case where the waste is collected in the conventional way, all mixed together, then separated partly by mechanical and manual processes in the sorting stations before being sent to composting
• the case in which the selective collection at the door of each house of biodegradable waste that can be directly diverted to composting.

The first situation has the advantage of not to make any change in the system of collecting rubbish and consequently no need for investment by municipalities or associations of municipalities in the education of citizens for the separation of waste.
The disadvantages associated with this process are clear: after the waste has been mixed at home it’s very difficult to make proper separation, and it is even impossible to remove certain waste of small dimensions. Several scientific studies show that the compound produced in these situations is of poor quality and found to be contaminated, for example, by heavy metals in batteries, plastic, pieces of metal and glass.
Besides the problem of poor quality of compost produced, we must emphasize the costs of the proceedings and the problem of alienation of the population of the solving environmental problems.
The costs for public health are serious and so far, not made by the competent authorities.
In the second situation, since the waste is separated at source, no longer poses the problem of contamination, at least in a way so serious. But for the separation at source result, it is necessary to rethink the circuits of waste collection and invest in awareness campaigns and environmental education of the population.
Most municipalities still do not recognize the organic matter, the importance and priority that is needed.

On farms there is a big production of organic waste which if not treated properly can lead to serious pollution sources. The droppings, remains of plants and wastewater compounds with hay, straw, wood chips can be used as natural fertilizer in agriculture.




Sources: http://architecture.myninjaplease.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/composting.jpg
http://www.esb.ucp.pt/geo/myfiles/compostagem/compost/intro3.html

Rules of the three R's

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce
The reduction is the main way to stop the excess waste. First of all, industries must adopt cleaner processes, and the packages of products should be lighter, with the objective of reducing the use of energy. The consumers should not consume in excess and waste.

Reuse
There are several products that can be reused and that in a short term can reduce household waste. There are products that are reusable and / or with refills, which lets you use the same package several times. The consumer should take something reusable before, because it only brings benefits to the environment.

Recycle
Recycling is the conversion of an old product into a new, which saves energy resources. To make this recycling process, it is necessary the division and the transport of materials to a special centre, where the transformation occurs.

Source: http://ciencias3c.cvg.com.pt/reciclagem