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There’s good news to be found around Oakland when it comes to recycling. According to a recent survey conducted by the city, since 2000 recycling has gone up by 33%. This translates into a reduction of garbage headed for landfills by about 27%. All totaled Oakland residents have recycled over 700,000 tons of magazines, junk mail, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, paper and yard waste. All 700,000 tons of that recyclable material has been converted into reusable materials. This has provided many businesses with a much improved bottom line. With numbers like these you’ll also find that many essential resources like forest growth and waterways have also been protected. It simply a win-win all around for Oakland residents.
If you are new to the city or new to recycling then you need to familiarize yourself with the parameters of the Oakland program. For residents in one to four unit buildings there is a once a week pickup of garbage and recyclable materials. Oakland utilizes a three cart system. The green cart is for yard trimmings or food scraps that can be recycled. The gray cart is for bottles, cans, jars, paper and cardboard. The burgundy cart is for all the rest of the garbage or non-recyclable materials. This doesn’t include electronic waste or hazardous materials. They have to be handled separately.
To someone observing from the outside it might seem like this three cart system is a bit complicated. But many Oakland residents have found that once they fall into the routine of recycling it’s easy to remember which type of garbage goes into which garbage bin. The big issue is what to do with all of those things that don’t fit into the recyclable bins. This is especially true for piles of cardboard left over from moving boxes or the delivery of large items like a television or kitchen appliance. When those types of materials have become too big for the weekly pickup it might be time to call in the pros. In this case the pros would be experienced junk haulers who have a big truck waiting to be filled up – Junk King Alameda.
Once you make the decision to hire professional junk haulers for your excess cardboard you don’t have to stop there. The same junk haulers are more than willing to cart off all the rest of the stuff you might have around your home or apartment that you’re just dying to get rid of. Once again, it’s an issue of something being too big to be thrown out in the weekly garbage pickup. This could mean a sofa or bedroom set you been hanging onto or left over construction materials from a remodeling job. There could even be piles of yard waste like tree trimmings or sod that you need to get rid of. The bottom line is that you’ll have an empty truck at your disposal that can be quickly filled up. Just remember you don’t have to do any of the heavy lifting!
Have you heard of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization or NSGCD? These are the folks who are the frontline of helping those individuals whose hoarding problem has become a major area of concern in their lives. The NSGCD provide special training to those individuals who want to become a hoarding specialist and earn a certificate signifying they have gone through a rigorous set of exams and education courses to help people with the hoarding disease. Most of the hoarding specialists that go through this program are clinical therapists or psychologists. That’s because when a person takes hoarding to a dangerous level they are doing so because of a deep-seated psychological problem. Even if a house is cleared out there will still be the underlying emotional and mental issues that need to be dealt with otherwise the hoarder will just start hoarding all over again.
There is a fun little Internet site called Yelp which is also a mobile phone app. The initial purpose behind Yelp was to give folks a chance to share their reviews of local restaurants. You could go to an eatery, enjoy a meal and then post your comments as if you were a critic at large. You can even snap a picture of your dinner and post that. As Yelp grew in popularity it began to expand its base of reviews. Now anything and everything can be reviewed on Yelp. This holiday season even residential displays of Christmas lights were given the Yelp treatment. This was a great way for folks to find out where the hotspots around Oakland where for seeing Christmas lights.
One of the most popular items to purchase at Christmas time our electronics. These aren’t just the gifts that you give to the special people in your life but it’s also the gifts that we give to ourselves! With prices dropping the closer you get to Christmas, it’s hard to resist the temptation of a new computer or a flat screen TV. The moment you buy yourself or someone special a new electronic device, whatever they had been using before that becomes electronic waste or e-waste. Quite often whenever we get a new monitor, computer or TV the old one is tucked back into a closet or stored down the basement. That’s because we instinctively know these items should not be thrown out with the regular garbage but at the same time we aren’t sure what to do with them. In the case of e-waste recycling or disposal, it’s best to leave it to the professionals to handle the delicate task.
As any artist will tell you, “art isn’t easy.” Creating art is especially challenging if you don’t even have the proper space to create in. Perhaps it’s time to convert a spare room or garage into your own private art studio. Of course, you don’t have to be a professional artist to have an art studio. You could convert that spare room into a kind of arts and crafts room that allows you to explore your creative side through some of the many craft or gift making type of projects you enjoy. Even if you just had a hobby that you like to explore wouldn’t it be great to have a room in your home dedicated just to that? To accomplish this goal it might mean making clearing out the junk you’re keeping in storage in your spare room. That’s easy to handle especially when you can call upon professional 
There is a lot we need to do to get ready for the holidays but if you work in office one thing that will be on the schedule could be the annual Christmas party. An office Christmas party is a tradition that has been around as long as there have been offices. Just as long as there have been these Christmas parties there have also been legendary stories of coworkers enjoying too much eggnog which leads to some embarrassing situations that go down in the annals of office history. If this is the first Christmas party you’ll be going to at your Oakland office there are some things to keep in mind to make sure you do not become the stuff of office legend.
There is one way to make sure your teenage kids stay safe this Halloween: Let them throw a party in your Oakland home. Before you freak out at the prospect, this can actually be a great learning and bonding experience. Plus, if all goes according to plan it should be a lot of fun. First, you’ll want to lay down some ground rules. Determine who is going to be responsible for what and put it in writing. This way there shouldn’t be any confusion as the party approaches.
You can really tell a town’s priorities by the type of festivals it holds. For some places, music tops the list of things to do on a warm weekend as jazz or bluegrass festivals pop up. Other communities like to show off their creative types by offering up art fairs. Here in Alameda, some local organizers know just what pleases the residents: Food trucks. That’s why they are holding another in a series of food truck festivals at the Alameda Fairgrounds. During this foodie fest, over 20 varieties of mobile chefs will be offering up their culinary treats to the masses. With all the trucks to choose from, how can you pick just one?
If you’re tired of dealing with the same kitchen appliances that aren’t performing up to standard then it’s time you replace them. As you embark on your appliance shopping excursion, you’ll want to do a bit of considering first. Although you might think it’s simple to just swap one stove for another or trade an old refrigerator for a new one you actually have the opportunity to make some smart choices that can have a great impact on your energy bills and the way you use your kitchen.