Minimize the hassle (and your credit card bills) by planning a staycation instead. Stuck for ideas? Check out Earth911′s handy guide to planning the perfect Valentine’s Day staycation and start saving on cash (without skimping on the holiday fun).

Staycation Tip: Stave off cabin fever on your staycation by spending some time in the great outdoors. Enjoy a picnic in the park, bike an uncharted path or take a walk through a local pop-up park or community garden. Photo: Stock Photo

1. Plan ahead

The best way to plan a satisfying staycation is to duplicate your dream getaway at home. Sit down and think about your ideal Valentine’s Day plans and figure out a way to create alternatives on the cheap.

If you can’t quite afford a five-course meal at the Chateau Marmont, check out our recipe library and prepare a tasty dinner right in your own kitchen. If your Valentine’s Day fantasy involves a pricey spa, try one of our DIY pampering treatments to escape into at-home bliss.

Once you have your plans in line, clear your work schedule, find a sitter for the kids and take a moment to truly enjoy your home with your partner. Turn off the cell phones and don’t check your email for the duration of your at-home vacation to make you feel “away from it all.”

Still craving a real vacay? Cut back on transportation-related emissions (and vacation costs) by choosing a staycation at an inn, lodge or hotel in your area. Check out your region’s tourism website to find lodging near you and use our guide to make sure your pick is eco-friendly. Not sure where to start? A simple Web search with the word “tourism” and your town or region’s name should point you in the right direction.

2. Stay green

Like on any vacation, it may be tempting to let your green habits slip for a long weekend. But resist the urge and keep being green no matter where you go. Whether you stay at a local hotel or your own house, remember to help save water and energy and continue to recycle.

To up the green ante of your staycation, visit green businesses in your neighborhood, or grab a snack at an eco-friendly eatery. If you’re planning a picnic in the park, package your food in reusable containers instead of plastic bags and dine on portable reusable plates, like these from Preserve.

And you can never go wrong with getting outside for an hour or two. Enjoying the outdoors helps you remember why protecting the planet is so important; and you’ll save on energy, too! Instead of setting the thermostat to the perfect temperature and turning on the lights in every room, plan some fun outdoor activities to feel at one with Mother Nature.

Super Bowl decorations, temporary structures and signage are being removed from the streets of Indianapolis and recovered for reuse and recycling. Photo: Flickr/AngieSix

Everything Super Bowl is coming down in Indianapolis, but it isn’t being thrown away. It’s being recycled into wallets, purses, messenger bags and other accessories to benefit a local nonprofit, according to recent news reports.

This week, workers at Lucas Oil Stadium began the arduous task of removing layers of plastic and vinyl sheeting used as decoration, reports local news affiliate WTHR-TV. The Super Bowl numerals on Monument Circle came down on Tuesday, along with dozens of banners and tents downtown, reports RTV6 Indianapolis.

Some items, including NFL Experience equipment, stages and scaffolding used to build a zip line, will be disassembled and reused by the NFL as part of its Environmental Program, RTV 6 reports.

READ: Packers To Recycle Lambeau Field Scoreboards

Other materials, including banner fabric and durable vinyl sheeting, will be donated to People For Urban Progress, a local transit, environmental awareness and urban planning nonprofit, reports the Indianapolis Star.

The nonprofit focuses on employing local artisans while raising funds for better city infrastructure. In 2008, it salvaged roofing materials from the RCA Dome and turned them into memory-making accessories available for purchase.

Accessories made from Super Bowl XLVI decorations will be available online in about a month, WTHR reports. So, keep your eye on the People For Urban Progress online store to snag your own little piece of the Super Bowl!

INFOGRPAHIC: Green Impact of Super Bowl XLVI

Bee My Lovebug set by John & Kira’s

Bee My Lovebug gift set by John & Kira's

These stylish, hand-painted chocolates are almost too cute to eat – almost. Each Bee My Lovebug set is filled with mouth-watering salted caramel touched with fragrant basswood honey from the family-owned Draper’s Apiary.

To create these adorable Honey Caramel bees, John & Kira’s combines 64 percent organic Valrhona chocolate with fresh cream and a touch of sugar for a tasty ganache that’s perfect for love bugs. Choose from nine or 16-piece sets or their massive 27-piece tower.

Price: $26.10 for a 9-piece set

BUY IT HERE

Photo: Stock Photo

Starting this week, students from more than 600 colleges will square off to see who can reduce, reuse and recycle the most on-campus waste.

The Alcoa Foundation and Keep America Beautiful provided recycling bins, as well as training and tools for campus facilities managers, as part of the annual university-based competition, RecycleMania.

Schools will distribute recycling bins as they see fit and submit weight data for paper, cardboard, cans and bottles, food waste and general trash each week, KAB said. Totals are tallied weekly on an online scoreboard, allowing participating schools to monitor how their waste measures up to competitors.

READ: National Recycling Competition Kicks Off

This year’s RecycleMania began on Feb. 5 and runs through March 30. More than 5 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff – hailing from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five Canadian provinces – will compete in nine categories to see who recycles the most per-capita, who produces the least waste and who recycles the largest percentage of their overall waste stream. This year’s competition also includes a new e-waste category, KAB said.

“RecycleMania draws upon the energy of Millennials and their passion for ‘greener’ living to mobilize their peers to reduce waste,” said Paula Davis, president of the Alcoa Foundation. “We are proud to support this initiative and excited to see how creative schools get as they vie for bragging rights to the number one spot.”

READ: College Students On Board to Keep America Beautiful

In 2011, 630 participating colleges and universities collected more than 91 million pounds of recyclables and compostable organics through the challenge. This prevented the release of 127,553 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, KAB said.

Last year’s top schools included California State University-San Marcos in the Grand Champion category, Union College of Schenectady, N.Y. in the Per Capita Classic and North Lake College of Irving, Texas, winner of the Waste Minimization category.

READ: Cal State San Marcos Students Are Recycle Maniacs

This week, KAB also announced the winners of Recycle-Bowl, the first nationwide recycling competition for elementary, middle and high school students. More than 1,200 schools participated, recycling 2 million pounds of waste. First place went to Marshall Christian Academy in Albertville, Ala., where students recycled 41 pounds of waste per child and reduced garbage pick-ups by half, KAB said.

Check out RecycleMania online to view a full list of participating schools and track progress in real time.

Three years ago, Kate Drane was living in Chicago, working at a law firm as a recruiter and environmental initiatives coordinator.

“I was passionate [about sustainability], but I wasn’t educated enough about it,” Drane says.

While attending a graduate school fair, she happened to stop at the booth for San Francisco’s Presidio Graduate School and learned about their MBA in Sustainable Management, a business degree integrated with environmental principles. Realizing this program was exactly what she needed to help her become a more effective sustainability leader, she applied to the school, and within a few months, moved to California to start her “green MBA.”

Now Drane, who graduated from the Presidio last year, is launching a green business venture with four of her fellow Presidio alums: The Can Van, a mobile beer canning service that aims to bring Bay Area craft beers to a wider audience, while reducing the beverage’s environmental impacts.

Drane is part of a growing number of professionals who pursue a Masters in Business Administration to advance their sustainability careers and hone their skills for implementing environmental programs. Many of these eco-minded individuals are turning to dedicated green MBA programs like the Presidio’s degree or traditional MBAs that offer a strong sustainability or corporate responsibility focus.

The list of dedicated green MBA programs has grown over the last few years – from the Presidio’s program to the Bainbridge Graduate Institute’s MBA in Sustainable Business and Colorado State University’s MBA in Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise. But the number of traditional MBA programs that offer sustainability-related curricula is also on the rise, according to Maggie Davies, deputy director of Net Impact, a network of business professionals and students who want to harness the power of the private sector to achieve global sustainability.

The organization, which publishes an annual guide profiling MBA programs’ commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility, has seen a 171 percent increase in the number of traditional MBA programs offering sustainability coursework in the five years they’ve published the “Business as UNusual” guide, Davies said.

Green MBAs vs. traditional MBAs: What’s the difference?

So what’s the difference between a dedicated sustainable MBA program and a conventional MBA with a sustainability concentration?

While every degree is different, Jennifer Taylor, chief operations officer at the Presidio Graduate School, sums up the distinction when describing her school’s MBA in Sustainable Management.

“We’re not offering an MBA program with a sustainability concentration. We’re offering an MBA with sustainability woven throughout the entire curriculum – from beginning to end,” she says.

Though Presidio students take classes that sound like they came from the standard MBA course book – Managerial Accounting and Micro- and Macroeconomics – students learn how these topics relate to environmental and social responsibility during their lessons.

More particular to Presidio’s program, the school emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning and requires students to complete four consulting projects during their time at the school. Students are paired with either a company or nonprofit and apply their sustainability and business expertise to real-life projects in the areas of operations, marketing, finance and strategy.

Presidio also offers a dual MBA/Masters in Public Administration (MPA) in Sustainable Management to students interested in both the public and private sectors.

READ: Degrees in Sustainability: Risky or Worth It?

Across the San Francisco Bay, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is an example of a top-notch business school that offers coursework and projects in sustainability and corporate responsibility rather than a dedicated green MBA.

“[Students] can tailor their coursework to focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability,” says Jo Mackness, executive director of Haas’ Center for Responsible Business. “They have to take Haas’ core classes, but they can place an emphasis on CSR and sustainability.”

In the Center’s popular Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Projects class, teams of students work directly with major firms like Hewlett-Packard, Levi Strauss & Co. and Wells Fargo to address real-life pressing business issues and to plan and implement CSR projects.

Haas also gives its students opportunities to partner with small businesses and budding entrepreneurs at the school’s Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. Through the Center’s Clean Tech to Market program, business students build out the strategy to take the new clean technology, developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to the marketplace.

The following is an op-ed piece by Wes Muir, director of communications for Waste Management. It does not describe the views or opinions of Earth911.

For better or for worse, garbage can be heavy, wet and bulky. This has presented a challenge for cities, private citizens, businesses and waste collectors alike since the days of horse-drawn waste collection vehicles. This year, a new waste collection vehicle could change the landscape of waste collection for the better in the United States.

For decades, European cities have used a technologically unique vehicle called the “Rotopress” in the collection of waste, and this year, for the first time, Waste Management will introduce the Rotopress in North America. The Rotopress’ distinctive design improves collection efficiency and mechanical reliability, as well as reduces odor and noise in comparison to traditional collection trucks.

Improved design

The Rotopress, designed by German company Faun, has a cylindrical barrel that rotates waste like cement in a cement mixer. This rotating barrel mixes dry and wet waste, reducing free liquid in the system and distributing the weight of the waste more evenly within the barrel. This mixing process virtually eliminates leakage from the waste, which cuts down on odor and wear-and-tear on the machine caused by corrosion. The even distribution of waste also allows the vehicle to carry more waste per trip and decreases stress on the mechanisms.

Streamlined mechanics

The corkscrew design of the rear loading-truck has no blades and fewer moving parts than conventional haulers. This simple design ensures that fewer pieces get jammed, diminishing repair costs and inconvenience caused by vehicles pulled out of service. The “decoupled chassis” of the tractor trailer swivels on a hinge, allowing drivers to safely negotiate small residential roads and commercial alleys.

READ: A Day in the Life of a Recycling Driver

Increased fuel efficiency

The vehicle’s ability to carry up to 4 tons more waste than a conventional collection vehicle means that they take fewer trips to the landfill, which saves fuel. On top of that, the Rotopress is operated by a compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered truck, which emits nearly zero air particulate matter and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent. These vehicles will add to Waste Management’s fleet of more than 1,400 CNG-powered vehicles, progressing toward the company’s sustainability goal to reduce fleet emissions by 15 percent and increase fleet efficiency by 15 percent by 2020.

This new vehicle will be piloted in San Diego, Sacramento, Milwaukee and Camden, N.J., so keep an eye out for them in your neighborhood.

To curb waste, toothpaste giant Colgate-Palmolive Co. has partnered with TerraCycle on the Colgate Oral Care Brigade® since 2010 - a collection program that provides a second life for toothbrushes, floss containers and toothpaste tubes and caps. Photo: Flickr/theimpulsivebuy

Colgate-Palmolive Co. has pledged to reduce the waste it sends to landfills by 15 percent by 2015, according to the company’s latest sustainability report.

In the report, the company also committed to cutting the environmental impact of products and packages by 20 percent by 2015 through increasing the use of sustainable materials and recycled content.

In addition to cutting packaging weight, Colgate hopes to increase post-consumer plastic content to an average of 30 percent in all PET bottles by next year to meet sustainability goals.

The company’s recent global redesign of some toothpaste tubes and caps reduced consumption of non-renewable energy and natural resources by 30 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by about 50 percent, the report said.

The company also plans to reduce water and energy consumed in the manufacturing of its products by 40 percent and 20 percent respectively, according to the report.

READ: Pantene To Use Sugarcane Plastics in Packaging

The recycling of post-consumer plastic bags and wraps reached nearly 972 million pounds in 2010, according to a recent report.

This represents a 14 percent increase over 2009 and a 50 percent increase since 2005, according to the report developed by Moore Recycling Associates Inc. on behalf of the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

While the ACC called the findings a victory for plastic bag recycling, some environmental groups disagreed.

“By every measure, the recycling of single-use plastic bags is a failure,” said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste (CAW).

The group said the report shows promising growth in the recycling of “shrink wrap” and other plastic film – typically collected in the commercial sector – but doesn’t present ground-breaking numbers when it comes to plastic bag recovery.

However, the ACC noted that the data in the report does not support this conclusion, but rather that more plastic is being, and can be, recycled overall. “Focusing only on retail bags can have an adverse effect,” said Keith Christman, Managing Director of Plastics Markets for ACC. He suggested it is limiting to consumers and allows for missed opportunities to recycle other plastics.

“All measurable data shows strong growth in bag and film recycling,” said Christman. “It’s unfortunate that anyone would see that as a negative.”

READ: Japanese Inventor Turns Plastic Bags Into Oil

In the ACC study, plastic bags and wraps are combined into a category known as “plastic film.” According to the report, recycling of plastic bags alone increased by 27 percent between 2009 and 2010.

The ACC report estimates that bags make up 40 to 55 percent of the commingled bales collected at retail locations. But activists said that bags represent less than 6 percent of mixed plastic film from retail collection, citing a recent California study.

However, California is currently the only state that monitors plastic bag and film recycling. So, data showing the specific number of bags recycled in other states is unavailable for a comprehensive comparison. In California, the recycling rate for regulated plastic carryout bags is about 3 percent, leading many cities to explore bag bans to cut back on waste.

READ: More Cities Explore Plastic Bag Bans

The ACC does agree with the CAW about one thing: they both want to see the numbers improve.

In an effort to continue to recycle more plastics and film, the ACC formed its new Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG) – which includes members representing the full plastics film industry, from resin suppliers to film manufacturers, brand owners and recyclers. Founding members include Avanguard, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil, SC Johnson, Sealed Air and Trex, the ACC said.

“The FFRG looks forward to working with all parts of the polyethylene film value chain to make it even simpler to recover and recycle this valuable plastic material,” said Steve Russell, ACC vice president of plastics. One of the ways the group will be doing this is adding more locations for consumers to recycle plastic bags and film.

Plastic bags and wraps recovered for recycling are used to make plastic and composite lumber for outdoor decks and fencing, home building products, garden products, crates, piping and new film packaging like plastic bags, the ACC said.

“Since 2005, the recycling of plastic bags and film has increased 15 percent faster than other materials,” said ACC’s Christman. “It’s one of the most exciting areas of recycling today.”

READ: Students Help Haitians Build Homes From Plastic Waste

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include additional quotations from the American Chemistry Council on Feb. 8.

But other companies are finding that dealing with waste smartly can add to their business portfolio and generate new revenue streams. What was once thrown away can now even become transformed into a consulting business. The following are eight companies that find profit in trash, either from collecting or incorporating recycled and upcycled materials into their products.

Green Power-Player #4: GM produces eco rides like the Chevy Volt, but did you know the company also makes $1 billion per year selling scrap? Photo: General Motors

1. DHL

Within its Envirosolutions division in the United Kingdom, DHL not only makes money accumulating and recycling waste, but also advises companies on how they can more effectively and sustainably package their products.

Customers can access DHL’s packaging knowledge database and gain details on more than 4 million different types of packaging. But Envirosolutions also works closely with a bevy of clients from a large British pub chain (hauling away recyclables) to British Airways (reprocessing food waste). The company is also a master of efficiency: trucks that make deliveries to clients do not leave empty, but instead carry away used cardboard and shrink wrap to recycling facilities.

2. eBay

Give eBay credit for its aggressive electronics recycling program. Long known as the company that helps you empty your closets and find treasures in your basement, its Instant Sale program tackles the problem of tangled electronic waste supply chains. Users can mail in that unwanted iPhone or laptop and rest assured that any forgotten naughty texts or pictures will be erased before resale.

EBay also makes its fair share of revenues from all the used packaging, equipment and yes, even horse manure for your garden. Its breadth of waste management solutions, dare we say, give the company Waste Management a run for its money.

READ: eBay Debuts E-waste Trade-in Program

3. Ford

From its base in Motor City, Ford Motor Company works with partners like REPREVE to divert items like plastic bottles from landfills. The fabrics that REPREVE manufactures from these bottles will end up in the electric model of the Ford Focus.

As many as 2 million bottles will be collected at two large trade shows in January and will be combined with other post-industrial waste to create polyester. An average of 22 PET bottles will end up in each Focus Electric that will soon roll off the company’s assembly lines. With the American auto industry revitalized, look for other companies to take Ford’s lead in making money from having parts and interiors manufactured from recycled materials.

READ: Ford’s New Cars Cut Water Use, Recycle Bottles

4. GM

While Ford boasts about using recycled materials, GM shines as an avid recycling machine. The once-again world’s largest automaker makes $20,000 a month off of cardboard recycling, a pittance on its balance sheet but impressive nonetheless.

A much bigger number is the $1 billion per year that GM generates from selling scrap. Its 92 percent recycling rate is not a liability, but a profitable asset.

READ: Chevy’s New Eco Labels Show Cars’ Impact

5. Ingram Micro

The world’s largest technology distributor with operations on six continents, this $36 billion company is now starting to tackle the mounting problem of e-waste. Partnering with a major information technology recycler, Ingram Micro just launched a program that will help clients throughout its distribution networks dispose of obsolete technology safely and prevent it from entering landfills.

6. Nucor

The largest steel producer in North America has its origins in building small furnaces near junkyards across the United States and now stakes a claim as one of the world’s largest scrap recyclers. About one ton of steel per second are recycled at Nucor facilities, including 9 million cars annually.

7. UPS

The 3,300 UPS stores across the United States offer a one-stop repair service for customers who want their damaged laptops repaired. Unwanted laptops are refurbished and resold; the rest are sold to e-waste recyclers.

READ: UPS Tests Super-Efficient Truck

8. Valvoline

The motor oil giant, part of a $7 billion conglomerate, is dependent on other companies for its petroleum supplies and is therefore susceptible to price fluctuations. To that end, the company is revamping its supply chain and last year rolled out its new NextGen motor oil product that is 50 percent recycled.

With this NextGen’s acceptance taking hold at huge racing events like NASCAR, watch for more recycled motor oil and similar automotive products to enter the market.

READ: Valvoline Debuts Groundbreaking Re-Refined Oil

What are Recyclebank Points?

Recyclebank Points are earned through various green actions such as pledging to use less water, taking quizzes, making eco-friendlier purchases, and learning how to live a sustainable life. Check out Recyclebank.com for a full list of ways to earn points.

These points can be redeemed at hundreds of local and national retailers for discounts on groceries, a night out, or hundreds of other perks. Check out the Get Rewards page to see where you can use your points.

Please note: You need a Recyclebank Account to earn and use points. If you do not have an account, you will have the opportunity to create one on Earth911.com. It’s free and easy to join.

How do I get Recyclebank Points?

Currently, there are two ways:

1. Registering for the Earth911 Instant Expert Newsletter.
2. Reading stories on Earth911.com, with a maximum of 3 opportunities to earn each day. Simply read an article and click the “Get My Points” button at the end of the story, or on the last page of articles that contain more than one page.

In the future, we hope to offer you more ways to get points for making better choices!

I just signed up for the newsletter or read an article. Where are my points?
Newsletter: You must fully complete the signup process by verifying your email to claim your points. When you click the link to verify your email, you will be brought to a landing page where a Recyclebank banner that features the words “Get My Points” is located.

Click “Get My Points.” (example on right)

Articles: You must read to the bottom of an article or reach the last page of an article that contains multiple pages to reach the “Get My Points” button.

You also must have pop-ups enabled for this function to work. Then, follow the instructions by logging into your current Recyclebank Account or signing up to create one for the first time.

What’s next?

Make sure to add greentips@earth911.com to your safe sender list, and stay tuned for our emails that make you an expert in one green topic each week! We’ll announce future growth in our partnership with Recyclebank via the Instant Expert Newsletter as well. ]]> http://earth911.com/recyclebank/feed/ 0