Recycling

I never got back to uploading the rest of my photos from Peru and writing about Machu Picchu, maybe tomorrow. I was going through some old files and cleaning out my desk yesterday and I came across some recycling tips. I thought I would share some of these great ideas for recycling or reusing items that are past their usefulness to you but perhaps not for someone else.

Cars, boats, trailers, rv's and motorcycles - you can always donate the car to a charity or you can use www.junkmycar.org. They will pick it or any other heavy equipment up and take it away. You won't get a write off but you will get rid of it. If you want the tax deduction then donate it NPR or any number of charities out there that will take them.

Cell phones - fewer than 20% of these are recycled (so sad). You can find cell phone charities on www.recyclewirelessphones.com

Computers - most manufacturers will take them for recycling - you will pay the shipping though - check www.mygreenelectronics.com
or donate them to charity - you can find charities that accept them at www.sharetechnology.org


I love this one because I have kids and years of collected crayons - you can recycle your crayons at www.crazycrayons.com/
They will melt them down and turn them in to new crayons. Fun!

Freecycle - this is one of my favorites and it goes for pretty much anything you no longer want. Go to Yahoo Groups and sign up for your local freecycle group. You post items that you no longer want on the group bulletin board and other people who want them will email you and come by and pick them up. I have used this a lot and its great. Everything ends up going in just a day or two. You can take stuff to goodwill but then you have to load it up and take. This way, the people who need or want it get it directly. You can also post items that you want and people who may have one they aren't using anymore will donate. Like a missing computer cord or something like that. It is wonderful.

Books - I donate mine to the local public library - some they put in to circulation, others they sell to raise funds.

Carpet - www.carpetrecovery.org click on "what can I do with my old carpet"

Shoes is good condition - www.soles4souls.org - we did a big shoe drive one year at work and donated all the shoes to this organization. They distribute to the needy. Also, Nike accepts old shoes to donate for inner city sports venues - www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe

Check out www.earth911.org this is a great overall resource for recycling and being green.

Tyvek - this is the stuff that some Fedex envelopes are made of as well as the wrap used to insulate new homes under construction. Dupont is the manufacturer and they accept Tyvek for recycling into the plastic lumber used in decking. Mail them to Tyvek Recycle, 2400 Elliham Ave #A, Richmond, VA 23237 - if you have large volume you may want to call ahead and get more specific instructions. Check their website.

Phonebooks - www.yellowpages.com/recycle

Prescription drugs - wish I had known about this one last year when my Dad died. The Starfish Project www.thestarfishproject.org They recycle meds to clinics in Nigeria - they won't take everything - check the website on what they will take and they will send you a prepaid envelope.

Christmas lights - wish I had this last week when I threw out some old lights! Ship your old lights to HolidayLEDs.com, Attention:Recycling program, 120 W. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1403, Jackson, MI 49201. They will send you a coupon for a discount on new LED lights which are much more energy efficient. Ace Hardware Stores also accept lights - just check their website for a location near you. www.acehardware.com

General recycling info - if you are separating your plastic, paper and cans - make sure you wash out food residue from cans and bottles - this can make the process more cumbersome and less profitable - causing some cities to halt their programs. Check to see what kind of paper your local hauler accepts. Ours only takes newsprint - not magazines or cardboard.

Here's to a greener earth. Happy Holidays

PPA Family in Peru

I am in Peru with Global Volunteers, an organization based in the US that covers programs in about 25 countries. Our volunteer group is #66 for Peru and we are a small group. Kelly and I are from Colorado and Pauline is from Chicago. Kelly was with us for a week and Pauline and I are two weeks. Edith is our team leader. She is the most amazing person. She's just 27 years old but has the wisdom of a much older person. She has the most wonderful laugh. I want to capture it on my video so that I can bring it back with me to cheer me up when I am down. She is always so positive and upbeat. She does so much for the children with so little and she cares so much for them. She is a real gem. I can't begin to describe her. You can see from the photos that she is small in statue (shorter than I am) but she has the biggest heart. The PPA is a very large campus that was built at on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The view is primarily blocked by trees and fences as it would not be safe for the children. I have included a few photos of the buildings, the dormitories, the kitchen, etc. just to give you some idea. The property is large and there are numerous buildings so maintenance and upkeep are costly. Sometimes the Global Volunteer groups do maintenance work such as painting and plumbing. GV helps where and when they are needed. Sometimes they have to help buy food. The price of food is going up and the children didn't have bread for several days until GV pitched in to help pay for it.

I am including photos of two of the little girls we work with each day here. One of them is going to be adopted by one of the previous volunteers. She has been working on it for about six months and Edith says it will probably take a year. There is an adorable little boy named Joseph who is an orphan. He is so bright and sweet. His eyes could melt the ice queen in to a puddle of water. He needs to be adopted. I wish I knew someone who could adopt him. Edith says she would adopt him if they asked her to but then she would not be able to work. She clearly loves him and wants him to have a good home. She helped care for him a lot when he was very small.

There are many programs that can't happen at PPA unless there are volunteers. This group being so small we could not cover everything. The children ask Edith to bring more "visitas". She says she will bring more and the children as her, "will they love us?" There are programs helping with the 6-12 month old children in the mornings and the afternoons, art therapy in the afternoons with the 3-5 year olds, taking children with physical therapy needs to Tonito Silva, Hospital care, Sibling group play, dulces suenos (sweet dreams) in the evenings and helping out with English in the afternoons for the older kids. There are also maintenance and building projects, painting the nurseries (Steve Martin and his family came this summer and he painted a giant Horton on the playroom wall). Think about volunteering for the children of Peru or if you don't think that is for you, go to global volunteers website and donate money - you can designate for Peru or you can let them use it for all their programs. But the children need you. Even a small amount can help - $10 would probably feed a couple of children for week or buy some diapers or other supplies or help pay for bread. Please think about it. Please go to www.globalvolunteers.org/sponsorship

A little bit about me

Here are a few photos of me here in Peru. My roommate Pauline is in two of the pictures and our "guide" from this past weekend is also in one of the photos. I think from looking at the photos I may be losing some weight. At least it looks so to me. I got something from the seafood last week and I couldn't eat for about a day. I have been really, really careful about what I eat ever sense then. On Saturday when we were traveling I went for 12 hours pretty much without food. When I did eat it was a terrible chicken sandwich. For dinner, I was afraid to order off the menu so I just ate spaghetti. Tonight was the first salad I have had in over a week. It was delicious - lettuce, apples, raisins, and shredded chicken with balsamic dressing. You have to be really careful about eating lettuce or salad at most places because they may wash it with tap water. The water here is really not safe to drink. They have a very high level of cholera. They talk a lot about what is good and bad for digestion which means they must have a lot of problems because of the water and the food. They also eat their large meal at lunch and eat very light for dinner.

Edith says she is very careful about eating in Cusco and the Machu Picchu area. So I will probably be starved by the time I get back. Maybe I will lose a few more pounds. One of my pairs of jeans is way too big right now. I have to keep pulling it up. I wonder if I will go back to eating US portion sizes when I get home.

Nazca Pottery

The is one of the local potters in Nazca. He is making pottery designs that are exactly the same as his Nazca ancestors. He does not change the patterns or add anything new. He keeps the tradition alive. The clay is a mixture of clay and sand - about 60% clay and 40% sand. The sand makes the pottery more porous so that it will retain the color better. In these photos he is making a small pot with two little funnels at the top joined by a handle. They used these pots to hold water and tied them around their waste when they had to carry the water a long distance. His potter was really beautiful. After he finishes hand making the piece (no potter's wheels), he will dry is slowing in the shade for a day or so. Then he will paint it will paints made from the ores in the area - iron, copper, etc. Then it is dried some more before it goes in to the "kiln". They don't used a closed oven kiln. There is an open topped oven. The pieces are stacked in the bottom and old pieces of clay are put on top of the new pots to made a top for the oven. There is room for wood underneath and wood is also piled on top of the clay. The wood above and below the clay objects his set on fire. They have to maintain a certain temperature (without a thermometer) for 8 hours (I think is what he said) then they let the wood burn down and the pieces are carefully pulled from the fire to cool. Here are some photos of the finished products including some very interesting fertility mugs (you will see what I mean).