Via – Eco-Chick

Why is it important to use programs such as the public library? It comes down to the fact that sharing is better for the environment. Why create more objects than we need, only to have to dispose of them later? By using the library, many people can utilize fewer resources.

How Borrow-by-Mail works: First of all, you need to be a member of the library, which is free. To request a book, follow these steps:

1. Search for the book (or other item including DVDs) from the library’s home page.
2. Once on the book’s detailed page, click Request Item.
3. If not logged in already, log in with your library card number and PIN.
4. Select location for delivery: Borrow by Mail.

Each item requested by mail costs $2. You may return the items to any Miami Dade Public Library or by mail, paying the postage yourself. Return labels are provided.

For questions, contact (305) 375-BOOK or your local branch of the library.

This guide is meant to help residents learn how to dispose of items properly, as well as provide ideas on where to donate items that may still have further use for another individual. Updates to this list will be continuous. For additions, deletions, and corrections, please contact: greenermiami@gmail.com.

There are some general organizations that accept varied donations:

Goodwill: Non-profit. Provides education, training, and career services to people with disadvantages. They accept many items including clothing, household items, furniture, computers, vehicles. Items should be clean and in working condition. Drop off at any Goodwill location, or arrange a pick-up for large items.

Craigslist: Local community classifieds and forums. Post your item for free, or sell it locally.

Freecycle: Free group organized locally, with the purpose to give and receive items for free. Join the Miami Yahoo group. Post a listing for your item. Provide free of charge to person interested.

A – Z listings

Air Conditioners: Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE, must be undamaged and in working condition.

Appliances: Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE, must be undamaged and in working condition.

Batteries: Miami-Dade County recycling, green bin. Rechargeable – Check Call2Recycle for drop-off locations near you.

Boat: Miami Rescue Mission, handles DMV paperwork and pick-up. (305)573-6340.

Books: Ask your local library if they would like the donation. SoBe Thrifty (map)

Boxes: see Cardboard.

Car: Miami Rescue Mission, handles DMV paperwork and pick-up. (305)573-6340.

Cardboard: Miami Waste Paper, 2120 NW 14^th Ave, Miami (map). 305-325-0860. Monday – Friday 7 am – 5 pm, Saturday until 12 pm. A very industrial looking place, they will let you drop off your cardboard. They even pay $3 for 100 lbs. Similar businesses: Southeastern Recycling (map) 305-634-1180, Eco Paper Recycling (map) 305-887-5864.

Cell Phones: Recellular Trade-In, Wireless Recycling, Call2Recycle, TerraPass. Miami Beach: North Shore Park & Youth Center (map) and City Hall Answer Center (map), call 305.673.7080 for more info. Most Best Buy stores have prepaid envelopes available at the entrance/exit of the store.

Chemicals: Miami-Dade Home Chemical Collection Centers (West Dade: 8831 N.W. 58th Street, South Dade: 23707 SW 97th Avenue Gate-B) open 9 am – 5 pm, Wednesday – Sunday.

Clothing: Goodwill, SoBe Thrifty (map), Monday-Saturday 10am – 7pm. Located on Miami Beach, the store provides funding for HIV/AIDS clinical programs. Chapter 2 (map), Wednesday-Saturday 10am – 4pm. Items must be ready-to-wear: clean, pressed, all buttons, no stains/holes, on hangers if applicable. The revenue helps provide professional attire and career skills training to low income women seeking employment.

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs: Miami-Dade Home Chemical Collection Centers (West Dade: 8831 N.W. 58th Street, South Dade: 23707 SW 97th Avenue Gate-B) open 9 am – 5 pm, Wednesday – Sunday.

Computers: Working condition – SoBe Thrifty (map). Non-working condition – Miami-Dade Trash & Recycling Center.

Cooking Oil: Put old cooking oil and grease in a container with a lid, freeze it then put it in the trash.

Electronics: Residents of unincorporated Miami-Dade County only – Trash & Recycling Center Drop-Off, with locations in North Dade, Palm Springs North, Golden Glades, West Perrine, West Little River and Moody Drive.

Eyeglasses: Any Lenscrafters store location, which goes to the Gift of Sight program.

Furniture: SoBe Thrifty (map), Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE, must be undamaged and in working condition

Grass: Do grasscycling, and help the environment.

Hair: Locks of Love, minimum 10" long plus other requirements. Used to create wigs for financially disadvantaged children with long term hair loss.

Household goods: SoBe Thrifty (map)

Ink Cartridges: Miami Beach: North Shore Park & Youth Center, 501 72nd St.; City Hall Answer Center, 1700 Convention Center Dr. (map) call 305.673.7080 for more info. Most Best Buy stores have a drop off station located at the entrance/exit of the store.

Lighting Fixtures: Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE, must be undamaged and in working condition.

Magazines:

Military Uniforms: Army Navy Military Surplus, Cutler Bay (map) 305.232.7631 or Miramar (map) 954.981.1974.

Motor Oil: Up to 5 gallons, various locations in Miami Dade. Earth911 allows you to search by zip code.

Moving Supplies:

Newspaper: Don’t have recycling pick-up at your home? Stephen P. Clark Center, 1st floor near information desk before entering security. Whole Foods in Aventura between the registers and the cafe. Miami Waste Paper, 2120 NW 14^th Ave, Miami. 305-325-0860: A very industrial looking place, they will let you drop off your newspaper. They even pay $1.75 for 100 lbs.

Oil-based Paints: Miami Dade Home Chemical Collection Centers (West Dade: 8831 N.W. 58th Street, South Dade: 23707 SW 97th Avenue Gate-B) open 9 am – 5 pm, Wednesday – Sunday.

Packaging Peanuts:

Paints: also see Oil-based Paints. Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE.

Pesticides: Miami Dade Home Chemical Collection Centers (West Dade: 8831 N.W. 58th Street, South Dade: 23707 SW 97th Avenue Gate-B) open 9 am – 5 pm, Wednesday – Sunday.

Plastic Bags: Most local grocery stores offer recycling of plastic bags, such as Publix and Winn Dixie. Typically accept all types of plastic bags, including those from department stores, newspaper sleeve bags and clear dry-cleaner bags. Handles made from other plastics, paper or string must be removed as they are contaminants. The bags must be clean and dry.

Plumbing: Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE, must be undamaged and in working condition.

Pool Chemicals: Miami Dade Home Chemical Collection Centers (West Dade: 8831 N.W. 58th Street, South Dade: 23707 SW 97th Avenue Gate-B) open 9 am – 5 pm, Wednesday – Sunday.

RV: Miami Rescue Mission, handles DMV paperwork and pick-up. (305)573-6340.

Solvents: Miami Dade Home Chemical Collection Centers (West Dade: 8831 N.W. 58th Street, South Dade: 23707 SW 97th Avenue Gate-B) open 9 am – 5 pm, Wednesday – Sunday.

Tires: Up to 4 standard automobile tires, residents of unincorporated Miami-Dade County only – Trash & Recycling Center Drop-Off, with many locations.

Tools: Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE, must be in working condition.

Vehicles: Miami Rescue Mission, Goodwill

Wedding Gown: If you are willing to ship it, send it over to Making Memories – a nonprofit that uses the proceeds from the dresses to grant wishes to breast cancer patients.

Wigs:

Windows: Habitat for Humanity ReSTORE, must be undamaged and in working condition.

Biz Ideas, a new category to GreenerMiami, will cover ideas for businesses that I think should exist in the Miami area and other areas. You may take these ideas and develop them in complete confidence. If you’d like to team up with me on one of these ideas, that’s great, too. Use them, talk about them, and make them happen – and be sure to let me know how it goes!

Our first Biz Idea is based off of PhillyCarShare’s business model (thanks for the tip, Treehugger). Here’s the idea: rent cars to people not by the day, but by the hour. Have cars located around the city for easy pick up and drop off. Include in the price: insurance, gas, maintenance, and child-seats. Use hybrids/fuel efficient cars and also have trucks available for larger loads.

PhillyCarShare’s Mission:

PhillyCarShare is a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization dedicated to reducing automobile dependency in the Philadelphia region through community-based car sharing – improving neighborhood livability; increasing transit ridership, walking, and biking; improving air quality; promoting economic development; mitigating development; mitigating parking demand; and increasing accessibility while alleviating the burdens of auto ownership.

And their prices? $15/month for an Advantage membership, $5.90/hr plus 9 cents/mile. Customers only pay 2 hours from midnight to 8am.

So, using those numbers, if a car was stationed in Brickell, and rented to go to the nearest Wal-Mart,  2 hours / 24 miles, it would cost just under $14.

Think about it – for people that may live in walking distance to work or use public transportation to get there and only need a car occasionally, or any number of other different scenarios. It could work in Miami!

This book is a fun and interesting read – I highly recommend it.

Ben and Jerry talk about the beginning of their business, how they got started, and how they made decisions on the direction of their business.  They also talk about a concept called Social Responsibility which will talk a lot about here in GreenerMiami in the future.  I’m not really a Ben & Jerry’s customer, in fact, I can’t even think of the last time I had their ice cream.  But this book made me want to be associated with them. 

The idea of social responsibility basically boils down to companies doing the right thing.  Something interesting that they talk about in the book Is the difference between for-profit companies and nonprofit companies and the difference that they can make .  While obviously there’s a reason that both types of companies exist, I really became convinced that for-profit, responsibly companies are the way to go. American consumers and the American public in general put so much trust into businesses – many times more so than the government. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to see which companies are doing well and which aren’t – you just need to look at the bottom line.  So why not create a company that makes a profit and usesome of those profits to support good causes? And at the same time use your consumer base and your place in society to send out a message.  Sometimes activists are viewed very negatively – this is a different twist on activism that can be viewed much more positively.

Now, I could provide the Amazon link with my Amazon vendor ID attached to it, encouraging you to buy the book and receive a commission. But the truth is, I don’t want you to buy the book – I just want you to read it.  The Miami-Dade Public Library System owns seven copies of this book and one audio book. If you’re not a member – join.

If it’s been many years since you’ve entered a library: The concept is the same, but the technology is modern. You can search through the entire card catalog online, request that the book, DVD, etc. that you want and it will arrive at the library of your choice.  The automated telephone system calls you when your selections have arrived, and will hold them there for one week for pick-up…all at no cost to you.  And the best thing? When you’re done with the book you give it back and someone else can use it. Sharing!

Sharing is another concept we will be talking about a lot here at GreenerMiami. Graham Hill of Treehugger has been talking about it for a while under the name of "Product Service Systems", as he did recently in an interview in IF by PSFK. Read about the idea – but it’s basically sharing things that individuals don’t need to own. Netflix is the perfect example. So is the public library.