Recycle

I come from a tennis-playing family. My parents play. My brothers play. My grandparents, aunts, uncles and even a few cousins play. As you can probably imagine, we have A LOT of used tennis balls always lying around. My family tries to recycle or reuse most old tennis balls so they don’t end up in a landfill - like the 20,000 metric tons of that end up there each year. So what can you do with used tennis balls? We tackle this question in today's Where Can I Wednesday column.

Ever wonder where you can recycle your TV? Look no further - we solve the problem for you in this week's Where Can I Wednesday column. Don't throw your TV in the trash. Pennsylvania State law, the Covered Device Recycling Act, prohibits you from throwing away electronics (like a TV) with your regular curbside garbage. Here's where to Recycle CRT & LCD Televisions in Philly:

Not enough sustainable art in your life? Revive, an art show featuring over 5,000 square feet of recycled and upcycled art, is happening at Hancock Garage on June 8 at 7:00 p.m. All 16 artists were required to use at least 50% recycled/upcycled materials. Find out about the artists and why you should attend, after the jump!

Our Twitter (and offline) Friend & Health Coach Ali Shapiro has a recycling conundrum to address with one of her bathroom essentials: @greenphillyblog Any ideas on how to recycle burnt out electric toothbrushes. It says recycle appropriately but don't know where! — Ali Marie Shapiro (@AliMShapiro) May 6, 2013 Good question Ali! You can't toss those electric toothbrushes in your single-stream recycling bin. We reached out to the Philadelphia recycling powers, who addressed the problem: (Find out how/where to recycle old toothbrushes, after the jump!)

I recently held a small gathering at my casa and wanted to welcome my guests with local, delicious beers. The more local the beer, the less carbon to get that beer from the brewery to my apartment. Plus, the added bonus of my choice to pick up the beer via hoof would only decrease those carbon emissions. However, carrying the beer on foot for a few (but long!) short blocks caused a dilemma: I didn't want to carry glass bottles all the way home. My new criteria was a case of aluminum cans. Find out more about these beer covers and where to recycle them, after the jump!

Last year, we visited where you can recycle your old sneakers, which included local spots like Philadelphia Runner. We also addressed how to recycle your old flip flops, since we all know how many we can collect for a little post-run relaxation. So what are you to do in 2013? Good news for you runners - there's more opportunities this year to give your old kicks a new life! (Find out how and where, after the jump!)

The big game is right around the corner - The PUPPY BOWL! (Speaking of which, fun fact! Last year, 9 of the pups came straight from Pennsylvania SPCA shelters!)  (Oh, and that other game for those football fans.) With Puppybowl and Superbowl translates into dips, appetizers and parties! And with all those dips come chips! Herr's, Lays, Sun, Tortilla, and many other chips! Oh, chip heaven is on the way for me! But now the green question... Can you recycle those chip bags?

Trying to get rid of that old computer, laptop, tablet, monitor or television? A new Pennsylvania state law, effective tomorrow, prevents you from throwing out electronics curbside with the rest of your garbage. (Not like you would, anyway...) Unless your municipality (Find out the 411 on this new rule, after the jump!)

Do you ever wonder if you really need to scrape that last bit of ketchup or maple syrup out of the jar before tossing it into the recycling container? Are clean recyclables key to an efficient and successful recycling process? The answer... well, it depends. Residue left on plastic or glass containers is typically flushed out with water at some point in the process. Goo and gunk  traces on steel and aluminum cans is most likely burned away during the recycling operation as well. Essentially there's no need to waste tons of water by running the faucet repeatedly over your recyclables—even if you were to get them pristine clean, they'd probably end up getting washed again. However, you do NOT want to throw half-full food items in the recycling bin as this can lead to mold, insects, vermin and other unsanitary conditions.