A Blog by WARM Training Center
recycling
Recycling Small Appliances
Aug 1st
Heya Jacob,
I’m trying to figure out how to get rid of some of small, non-functioning appliances for my partner. She doesn’t want anything to end up in a landfill, which I understand and applaud, but there’s gotta be a solution. I know in Cali, there are places that will try to fix and then give away, and if that’s not possible, will strip and make sure whatever is recycleable will be handled properly, but I can’t seem to find anything comparable in either Detroit or Ann Arbor. I’ve also called a few scrap dealers but they deal in bulk and with bigger, commercial equipment. I’ll keep hunting around, but I thought you might have an idea….
– L in Detroit
For working appliances there area a lot of options now, but for broken appliances… well, small appliances can be a challenge. Here’s what I can suggest for now:
Some big box stores have extensive recycling programs now. For example, Best Buy takes a lot of things. Go here for a nice list of what they will and won’t take.
But some things, like toaster ovens or blenders, are still on their “no” list.
You might try Goodwill, which will sometimes take broken materials and fix them.
Otherwise, the best advice I’ve heard is to look up appliance repair shops and contact them to see if they want it for parts.
I hope this helps. Let us know what you find out!
Detroit Incinerator Seeks $4.2 million in Tax Credits
Mar 15th
The Detroit Incinerator, which burns the vast majority of trash collected in the city of Detroit, as well as from several surrounding communities, is applying for a brownfield tax credit of $4.195 million.
The City of Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority will host public hearings Thursday on the Brownfield Tax Credit for the Detroit incinerator.
An informational session will be held at 5:30 p.m. The hearing on Detroit Thermal, which would purchase steam from the incinerator, begins at 6 p.m. and will be followed at 6:30 p.m. by a hearing on the incinerator, to be owned by Detroit Renewable Energy.
The meetings will be held at the College for Creative Studies in the Walter B. Ford Classroom Building Auditorium on Frederick Douglass Street, between Brush and St. Antoine.
Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20110314/NEWS05/103140325/Incinerator-hearings-held
Next Weekend – One Key to Making Green Affordable
Jan 7th
We know that saving energy and water will save money, but the cost of regular construction materials is a place where Green Building can get a bit trickier. Many great innovations have been developed to make construction materials greener, yet many of them come with a price premium. But the key to making green materials affordable is re-use. This is especially relevant for those DIY home fix-ups, because you don’t pay yourself for labor. As I’ve said before, we’re blessed with a bunch of great local re-use centers for construction and remodeling materials. And next weekend, the local Habitat for Humanity ReStores are having a huge winter sale, with many items 50% off.
It’s just Friday and Saturday, Jan 14-15, so get there early and enjoy the shopping.
EECBG Case Studies
Dec 17th
Looking for some case studies about local government implementing energy efficiency projects? Look no further:
The Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office, WARM Training Center, and State of Michigan Energy Office have collaborated on case studies that highlight the challenges for local governments in implementing energy efficiency projects:
Check them out here:
EECBG Case Study 1: Small Governments tells the story of little Yale, MI and its quest to reduce the amount of energy used in the city hall, as well as to be able to see out the windows. Luckily, their city manager sought help from many different organizations around the state for help in making this quest a reality. Due to his persistence, the retrofits are underway!
EECBG Case Study 2: Single Stream Recycling is an account of the challenges and victories of Huntington Woods, MI and SOCRRA as they fought to implement a pilot single stream recycling program in the community.
EECBG Case Study 3: Workforce Development regales us with the tale of how the City of Warren facilitated partnerships between many organizations to integrate workforce development into its green roof projects.
EECBG Case Study 4: Lighting Retrofit tells about what was saved (energy) and what was gained (better lighting) as Lathrup Village implemented a lighting retrofit project in their city hall.
EEECBG Case Study 5: Joint Purchasing is the story of six communities who banded together with the help of the Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office and saved over $40,000 in lighting supplies through joint purchasing for their lighting retrofits, equivalent to $0.68 cents/capita for residents in those communities.
EECBG Case Study 6: Historic Buildings recounts the story of the preservation and restoration of both historic character and energy in the 130 year old one room school house turned library in tiny Ray Township, MI.
Recycling Homes
Jan 5th
Do you know of a firm that recycles homes, saves cabinets and appliances?
- Doug, Brighton
Home Deconstruction
Yep, Detroit has a deconstruction nonprofit. They’re called The Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit. They’re great. They de-construct houses to reuse the materials. You can find them at www.aswdetroit.org
Also, Habitat for Humanity has the ReStore program. While there are many of these around the state, I’m most familiar with the first (and largest?) in the state: Detroit’s. They take donations, but they also do a certain amount of “cherry-picking” – so not full deconstruction, but removing some items before demolition for re-use. You can find them at www.habitatdetroit.org/Restore
These places are great because they save materials from the landfill, they help provide jobs (compared to demolition which provides many fewer jobs) and they then provide construction materials to the community for far more affordable prices than buying new. Everyone wins!