News

Just like any other market, the recycling market has its highs and lows. Nowadays, we hear so much about how our environment is in desperate need of our help and how we need to change our habits to benefit the environment. At times, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the outstanding numbers presented to us on the amount of waste produced (take the Garbage Patch for example), and the amount of effort it would take for us to see improvement in our environment. You might think that recycling and waste reduction are not powerful tools against pollution, however, they are more useful than you think.Read More →

By Cassie McClure and Suzanne Michaels It’s time for the daily pickup at the Mountain View Market Co-Op on El Paseo: Anna Ball is picking up kitchen scraps to help feed her five pigs and 150 chickens. The bags are piled high with rinds and peelings from fresh fruits and veggies processed by the CoOp’s juice bar. Nagisa Suzuki, the Co-Op’s general manager, helps her load the trimmings from the prep kitchen to her minivan. It’s a perfect form of recycling! Instead of tossing the organic material into the trash for decomposition and methane production in our local landfill, the store works with local farmers andRead More →

By Cassie McClure and Suzanne Michaels  At the beginning of 2018, China turned the global recycling industry upside down. Overnight the “land of the rising sun” went from being the largest recipient of most of the world’s recyclables to rejecting most of the international ships loaded with recycling due to contamination issues (China lowered the acceptable rate to point-5 percent) or because the recycling was full of materials they suddenly no longer accepted. The impacts were global. Las Cruces’ nationally-recognized “Cadillac” curbside recycling program took a punch to the stomach – after 10 years of success and awards. But that’s old news –now it’s sixRead More →

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is the common slogan you hear almost everywhere, and is the common goal of most environmentally friendly efforts. However, it seems like most of the emphasis is placed on recycling alone. We often hear about recycling and the benefits that come with it, as well as the great opportunities if we recycle and reuse already? The “three R’s” are a good way to remind us how we can help our environment, and most importantly, how we can waste less. You might ask yourself, how important is waste reduction? Waste reduction ensures that you will be using your products to their fullest extent, and isRead More →

When you think of recycling bottles or cans, you mostly think of aluminum or plastic. Most of the cleaning items in our household come in plastic bottles; think of your laundry detergent, disinfectants, kitchen and bathroom cleaners, shampoo and conditioner, and lotions, perfumes, and other liquids that are most commonly found in your household. We often wait until that last drop of shampoo to wash out the plastic bottles and recycle them, but what about aerosol cans? Do you recycle or dispose of those the same as you do plastic bottles? Aerosol cans usually aren’t the first thing to come to mind when it comesRead More →

Local Organization Recognized for Exemplary Performance,  Standard of Excellence Las Cruces, NM June 5, 2018– Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, presented the Animal Control and Codes Department of Doña Ana County the President’s Circle Award—which recognizes exemplary performance by certified affiliates of Keep America Beautiful in creating clean, green and beautiful communities—at the recent Keep America Beautiful National Conference. In qualifying for the President’s Circle Award, Doña Ana County has met Keep America Beautiful’s standards of merit by conducting an annual Community Appearance Index (a tool used to visually assess overall appearance of communities through indicators such as litter, illegalRead More →

You can create a kit for just about anything. In your home, you can have a cooking kit, first aid kit, baking kit, or maybe even a sewing kit. In your car, you might have an emergency kit to help you whenever you need tools. Kits are used to make everyday life easier and more efficient, but did you know you can also make one to help you be more environmentally friendly? With the help of a few useful items you can create a “Zero Waste Kit” to help reduce waste in your home and community and eventually be waste-free. You might be worried aboutRead More →

Now more than ever, recycling right is an important thing to do. The term “recycling right” is important in remembering what the best and most efficient way to recycle is. It also refers to knowing the items you can or cannot put in your recycling bin, differentiating between the different kinds of plastics, and lastly, making sure the recyclables you turn in are clean. However, one of the most important things that helps you recycle right is avoiding throwing things in your recycling bin that do not belong. When deciding whether to throw something in your recycling bin or your trash can, it is easyRead More →