Site Updates: Another political poll and new spring pictures

Hi everyone, just wanted to point your attention to the site's new poll and slideshow, located on the sidebar.

March's Green Thing: Lay off the meat

March's Green Thing isn't something that immediately comes to mind when thinking of environmental conservation (at least for me), but it's a great idea--if you can handle it, that is. Green Thing is asking its members to make their meat "rarer" (get it? It's funny), in an effort to lessen the environmental impact (CO2 emissions, fossil fuel consumption, etc) of the world's meat industry. It's a great idea, and I'm definitely going to give it a shot; the planet's more important than my weekly In-N-Out habit!

If you haven't joined Green Thing yet, what are you waiting for?

Ask Dr. Green: Is styrofoam recyclable?

I got a question a few weeks ago from Doug Scott, a student at City College of San Francisco. He asks,
"If styrofoam is not recyclable then why does it have a recycling emblem on it? And what does the number six inside the emblem mean? Who will take it and recycle it for me?"

Click "Read More" below to find out the answer.

Styrofoam is one item that can't be recycled in a conventional recycling bin, at least in San Francisco (I believe other cities may have different standards). But since styrofoam (or Polystyrene) is a plastic, it has been assigned its own "recycling symbol," which in fact has little to do with whether or not it can be conventionally "recycled". Apparently, depending on where you live, only items with recycling symbols 1 and 2 (and sometimes 4, 5, and 6; click here for a full rundown) will be accepted by community recycling systems. That said, there are private companies that will accept your old styrofoam packing materials; click here to find a location near you.