If there is one thing that Americans do a lot of, each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is spend money. Last year, according to an recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau, 19 billion cards, letters, and packages were delivered during that period. The Census Bureau also reports that, during December 2008 alone, $28.2 billion was spent in department stores. While all that spending, giving, and receiving may be good for the economy, it wreaks havoc on the environment.

“A lot of resources are being used, and a lot of trash is being produced,” explains Gary Null, an award-winning talk show host, notable author, and the founder of Progressive Radio Network (PRN). “We know the devastating effect that this has on our planet. It is important to do our part to try to keep the holidays as environmentally friendly as possible.”

With a population of 308 million in America alone, if each person tossed one extra piece of garbage, this holiday season, the additional waste would be quite alarming. There are things that we can do to achieve an eco-friendly holiday. Start by keeping the following tips in mind: » Read more

Have you ever wondered why most plastics are marked with a number from 1 to 7 inside a recycling symbol? The simple answer is that each number represents the type of resin made to produce the plastic. Because each resin is different, these numbers influence how that product can be recycled, though the most popular today are clear plastic drinking bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) #1 or milkjugs and soap bottles made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) #2 plastic. Plastics with codes #3 through #7 might be accepted as part of your recycling program, but these products are not easily recycled, and are often sorted out and incinerated. (An excellent chart explaining the differences between the types of plastics can be downloaded from earth911.com)

The first PET bottles were recycled in 1977, and since then, plastic bottle recycling has increased to more than 2.4 billion pounds annually. In fact, according to earth911.com,  more than 80 percent of communities across the nation collect and recycle plastic bottles, and in recent years, the number of U.S. plastic recycling businesses has nearly tripled. More than 1,600 businesses are now involved in recycling post-consumer plastics.

Recycling 1 ton of plastic saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space. Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for up to six hours. And recycling one pound of PET plastic bottles saves approximately 12,000 BTUs (British thermal unit) of heat energy–that’s enough energy to bring about eight gallons of water 180 degrees from freezing to boiling. And, producing new plastic products from recycled materials uses two-thirds less energy than is required to make products from raw materials! » Read more

Do you change your car’s motor oil? If so, you’re considered a do-it-yourself (DIY) oil changer! According to the American Petroleum Institute, more than 50 percent of all motorists fall into this category. DIY oil changers generate approximately a quarter of all used motor oil that has the potential to be reused or recycled: that’s about 150 million gallons of used motor oil each year!

When you change your own oil, you take responsibility for properly disposing of your used oil, too. Mobil oil wants to help you with that: Just enter your postal zip code here to find the location of the oil recycling or disposal facility nearest you.

With business activities in some 200 countries and territories across six continents, ExxonMobil realizes the potential environmental impact of its operations and desires to maintain the highest standards for environmental stewardship. Because Exxon/Mobil believes protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility, the company has joined with Earth 911, www.earth911.org a nonprofit network that provides access to local environmental programs in the United States and parts of Canada, to make it easier for consumers to properly dispose of their used motor oil. » Read more

In the near future, we’ll be bringing you interesting, entertaining, and sometimes off-the-wall stories, photos, videos, music, and works of art from around the internet. We hope to make eCycle Cafe a place where you’ll want to pull up a chair, and spend some time.

You might discover an up-and-coming alternative band from Illinois, or a hip-hop trio from Cali, or maybe rediscover an obscure, underground favorite from the Sixties. You might come across a fascinating article about civilian space travel, or a silly something on the travels of Hollywood space cadets. Maybe you’ll see an inspiring piece in our artist’s gallery, or decide to inspire others with your creations.

While the other pages of our website are devoted to the practical matters of recycling your printer cartridges, cell phones, and iPods, eCycle Cafe will be about anything and everything you tell us you want it to be (within the bounds of decency, of course). We hope that you’ll join us in making this page the place to be, by sharing your opinions, creations, and good sense of humor.

We’ll kick it off with this:

Can’t wait to hear from you.