Links

The following links contain useful information about reducing, reusing, and recycling. Clicking on the following links takes you to websites not maintained by the City of Oakland. The content may be interesting, useful, or outrageous; the City of Oakland is not responsible for the content.

Table of Contents:

• Business Recycling
• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
• Local Government Agencies
• State Government
• Federal Government
• Junk Mail
• Kids
• Events
• Sustainable Development
• Construction & Demolition Best Practices
• Computer Recycling
• Reuse
• Phone Book Recycling
• Carpet Recycling
• Advocacy
• Trade Journals & Recycling Websites
• Trade Groups

Business Recycling

• The Bay Area Green Business Program certifies "green" businesses. Find out who's green, or how your business can become certified.
• The Bay Area PAPERLESS Outreach Campaign helps offices reduce paper use.
• The California Integrated Waste Management Board has many free resources for businesses.
• Awards are available from the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the Business Environmental Network, and others.
• The Recycling Business Assistance Team (R-Team) is a resource network for recycling-based businesses. Within the California Integrated Waste Management Board, it offers a variety of services including business development and technical, financial, and marketing assistance.
• The Green Hotels Association helps hotels "go green." Green Globe provides certification for "Sustainable 21^st Century Tourism."
• Printer's National Environmental Assistance Center has information for the printing industry.
• For colleges and universities, visit the College and University Recycling Council.
• Greenbiz.com bills itself as "The Resource Center on Business, the Environment, and the Bottom Line."
• SustainableBusiness.com is what it says.
• InBusiness magazine is "dedicated to helping innovative individuals grow sustainable enterprises."

back to top

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

• Locally, the Recycled Paper Coalition consists of well-known businesses (such as Bank of America) committed to buying recycled paper.
• The California Integrated Waste Management Board has a Recycled Content Product database.
• The US Environmental Protection Agency has their own Environmentally Preferable Purchasing website.
• King County (Washington) has a website on their green purchasing program.
• The National Association of Counties has a Local Government Environmental Purchasing Starter Kit.
• Conservatree is perhaps the leading supplier of information about recycled paper.
• The Buy Recycled Business Alliance, part of the National Recycling Coalition, is particularly geared towards large corporations.

back to top

Local Government Agencies

• Alameda County Waste Management Authority provides information for all of Alameda County. Learn about low-cost compost bins, household hazardous waste, and how recycling works in other cities in Alameda County. This site is particularly helpful for learning where to recycle unusual items.
• Other local recycling information can be found for San Francisco, Western Contra Costa County, Central Contra Costa County, Santa Clara County; and for other large California cities such as Los Angeles, San Jose, and Long Beach.
• Earth's 911, also known as 1-800-CLEAN-UP, has environmental information for many areas, including nearest recycling centers and more.

back to top

State Government

• The California Integrated Waste Management Board is responsible for the state's 50 percent recycling goal, and maintains a wealth of information at its website, including models predicting what's being thrown away in different areas, or by different types of businesses. Also included are waste prevention tips for home and work.
• The California Department of Conservation is responsible for the state's bottle bill. Their website is a good place for information about California Redemption Value (CRV) beverage containers.

back to top

Federal Government

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency has an Office of Solid Waste with information on a wide variety of topics.

back to top

Junk Mail and Waste Prevention

• Junkbusters has complete information for stopping all sorts of unwanted mail.
• Business junk mail is the target of National Waste Prevention Coalition's information.
• The Center for Democracy and Technology has their own "Opt-Out" website.
• Waste Prevention World, part of the California Integrated Waste Management Board's website, is "a site about doing more with less."

back to top

Kids

• Recycle City has games, activities, facts, and graphics - from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

back to top

Events

• In November, America Recycles Day recognizes Recycling and Buying Recycled.

back to top

Sustainable Development

• The City of Oakland Green Building Resource Center is the first place to look.
• For a European perspective, check out the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
• The Centre for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies collects, analyses and enhances the international exchange of impartial information on new, cost-effective, energy-saving technologies.
• Although Oakland is not yet included, click here to learn about Green Maps.
• For colleges and universities, the non-profit Second Nature may help out.

back to top

Construction & Demolition Best Practices

• Environmental Building News has archives of green building newsletters.
• Our neighbors up north are doing interesting things. This site is for King County (Seattle area), Washington.

back to top

Computer Recycling, CDs, and Videotapes

• For local and international options, the Parents-Educators-Publishers website lists donation options.
• Locations in California that accept computers for reuse and recycling are listed in ElectronicsRecycling.net.
• Floppies for Kiddies is self-explanatory.
• GreenDisk is a company that recycles disks.
• Ovid Technologies recycles CDs. EcoMedia and the Lacerta Group recycle various tapes.
• The computer website CNET.com posted an article on green computing.
• The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition encourages clean computers.
• It's a bit far away, but the Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Recycling and Economic Development Officials has some useful information.

back to top

Reuse

• Rummaging through Northern California helps you find second-hand stores and more.

back to top

Phone Book Recycling

• Pacific Bell's Smart Yellow Pages recycling website.

back to top

Carpet Recycling

• Evergreen Recycling's website.
• Monsanto's recycling information.

back to top

Advocacy

• The Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) is an association of recycling businesses, community groups, municipalities, and individuals committed to promoting, expanding, and institutionalizing recycling.
• The California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) is a state-wide association similar to NCRA. Both NCRA and CRRA are affiliated with the National Recycling Coalition.
• Californians Against Waste has been a driving force in recycling advocacy for California.
• The Grassroots Recycling Network is a national grassroots group advocating reducing, reusing, and recycling.
• The National Waste Prevention Coalition consists of recycling professionals focusing on Reducing and Reusing.
• The Municipal Waste Management Association is part of the US Conference of Mayors.
• Zero Waste America advocates for a garbage-free society.

back to top

Trade Journals & Recycling Websites

For the in-depth information about recycling (more than most of us want to know), there are trade journals:

• The Internet Consumer Recycling Guide has "information for regular folks" Their goal is "to help make recycling so easy and automatic that it blends into the flow of everyday life."
• Resource Recycling is perhaps the oldest journal dedicated to recycling.
• BioCycle covers composting.
• WasteAge covers solid waste.
• MSW Management is the official journal of the Solid Waste Association of North America.
• Recycler's World is geared toward companies that buy and sell recyclable commodities.
• If you can get past the ads, the Global Recycling Network has commodity prices for recyclables, and more.
• For one person's take on everything related to recycling, check out Operation: Landfill Elimination.
• A very comprehensive list of environmental industry and cleaner production / pollution prevention magazines and newsletters is available here.

back to top

Trade Groups

• The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. has lots of information on scrap metal.
• Forestweb has lots of information on paper.
• The Society of the Plastic Industry has lots of information on plastic, as do the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers and the National Association for PET Container
  Resources.