Welcome to The Loop Issue 23 Sep/Oct 2003 A Bimonthly Newsletter for Friends of www.closetheloop.com In this issue: Building a better world in 4 days Teach them to Care, One at a time School is starting, take THIS test! Spider Silk, Stronger than Steel? Playground Improvement Grants Marketplace: Exceptional Products Propose an Article ========================== Building a better world in 4 days The National Recycling Coalition is having their 22nd Annual Congress & Expo in Baltimore, MD Sep. 14-17th, 2003. Here you can attend sessions on getting Getting Closer to Zero Waste, Surplus Property Programs at Colleges: The Real Reuse, Lessons from Recycling Entrepreneurs: Sailing Uncharted Waters, Making a Dent in Construction and Demolition Debris, The Challenge of Recycling in a Highly Mobile Society, and much, much more! For more information, please visit the NRC website at: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/congress/programinfo/interest.htm If you come to the NRC Congress & Expo in September, please visit Close the Loop in booth 1035 hope to see you there! Teach them to Care, One at a time You know the days when you're running the kids from soccer to dance & grabbing a quick bite to eat from the drive-thru & they hand you a stack of napkins to clean an Army & a 2 handfuls of ketchup packets, etc that don't get used & get thrown away or ruined in the car? Next time, check the bag before you drive off & hand them back the extras & just say you'll just take what you need, thanks! Hopefully, this will get them thinking to be less wasteful, save money & resources too. School is starting, take THIS test! This could be the most important test you take this year! If you as a parent or your child have never take the INTERNET SAFETY QUIZ for children & adults, please do it now. Take a minute & click on this link for the INTERNET SAFETY QUIZ provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. I guarantee you will learn something newyou & your children will be safer for it! http://www.missingkids.org/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId= 714 Stronger than Steel Spider Silk? There are over 35,000 species of spider and most make spider silk. Spider silk is incredibly strong -- it's stronger than steel at the same weight and thickness. Someday, it could be used in a wide range of products from biodegradable fishing lines to medical sutures to bulletproof vests. Why do you think the average person should care about the project? Well, there are several reasons. First of all, there has been a lot of interest in spider silks as a novel biomaterial. So, in the future [] expect to see a whole line of products out there made from spider silk -- things like biodegradable fishing lines, medical sutures, different kinds of rope, and also things like bullet proof vests. Basically, there's a whole diversity of spiders out there and they are all doing something a little bit different. By studying these different silks and by looking at silk genes we'll be better able to design these biomaterials that we can use. The preceding text is based on a segment of the Earth and Sky radio program which aired on July 6, 2003. Copyright 2003 Byrd & Block Communications Inc. To read the entire transcript, come to www.earthsky.org/2003/es030706.html Playground Improvement Grants Applications due October 15th, 2003 Whether it's rehabilitating a community athletic field, building a safer playground, preparing a watershed or greenways plan, developing an abandoned rail corridor, protecting a critical natural or open space area or constructing a snowmobile or ATV Trail, the Bureau of Recreation & Conservation's Community Conservation Partnerships Program can provide communities and nonprofit organizations with the technical assistance or grant funding to undertake these and other types of recreation and conservation projects. Please visit: http://www.dcnr.state.....pa.us/brc/grants/ Marketplace: Exceptional Products INNOVATIVE NEW PRODUCTS THIS MONTH - 100% Recycled Garden Glass can be used for decorative landscaping, in fish ponds with a light shining on it, sparkles like diamonds! Also can be used as aggregate. Made in Pennsylvania from recycled glass bottles, the newest trend in unique, environmentally-friendly landscaping. 100% Recycled Material Landscape Timbers for retaining rubber mulch or creating raised beds, available in 8' sections, 6"x6" nominal dimension, weight approx. 42 lbs each, delivery available anywhere across the US. The perfect alternative to pressure treated lumber. It is resistant to rot, insect infestation and UV damage and it won't crack, chip, splinter or fade. These timbers are lightweight, easy to install & low maintenance. Butterflies made from recycled soda bottles available in 3 sizes, just beautiful! Coming soon100% Recycled Fencing Rubber Mulch - Now available in bags in 9 colors! Is there a recycled product that you're looking for but haven't been able to find? Put our recycling resources to work for you in finding what you want, just send us an email! For more information on rubber mulch or any of these products listed, please visit: www.closetheloop.com or call us at 866.629.8414. Propose an article If you have an informative article that you would like us to feature in an upcoming newsletter, please email your article to closetheloop@msn.com. If we use your article, a link to your web site will be featured as well. As always, we are interested in any comments or feedback and would love to hear from you! Inspirational Quote: "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got" Sheryl Crow (Soak up the Sun) |
