Exploring Durham’s Scrap Exchange

A place worth checking out in Durham is the Scrap Exchange. It’s a nonprofit that sells the most random stuff that factories and businesses probably would have thrown away. Instead of going to the landfill, Scrap Exchange volunteers pick up the eclectic materials and take them to the the nonprofit’s 13,000-square-foot warehouse in downtown Durham.

If you have a penchant for exploring, it’s easy to spend hours in there on your first trip. Blue barrels line the front of the store and are filled with everything from puzzle pieces to leftover lapel pins. There’s also an art gallery that always features unique pieces. The latest exhibit is the $20 art show, where everything in the gallery is for sale for $20.

At NBC17, our reporters have been exploring ways to save money, something we’re all trying to do a little bit more of given the increase in gas and food prices. I told our news director how rad the Scrap Exchange is, so he sent me there with a photographer, who helped me put together my first-ever package for TV. I also took my own camera and produced a story for Durham.MyNC.com, a community news site that our station also produces. Here’s the resulting video or you can read the full story here.

I’ve asked some of you this before, but what are some of your favorite places in Durham (or around the Triangle for that matter) where you can spend a lot of time without spending a lot of money? Who knows, maybe I’ll have a chance to feature it.

I got dirty this weekend

I love planting flowers in the spring. I’ve planted a small flower garden outside at least four of my apartments since college. There’s something soothing about getting your hands dirty, planting small flowers and watching them grow and bloom.

Below is a pic of the area I had to work with. As you can see, I had to clear a lot of pine straw and random debris from the area.

And here’s a quick recording of the work I did Sunday. I still have a long ways to go, but it’s a start.

OK. I guess I have a really long way to turn it into my own little sanctuary. Maybe my landlord should give me a break on the rent for beautifying the place. Hmmm. Now that’s an idea.

Scooby Doo took a bike ride to work with me today

I rode my purple beach cruiser to work today. You may remember that I took it to the bike shop a few weeks ago to be repaired, and even though they didn’t do a very good job, I decided to chance it and give up my car for the day.

It cost me $35 to fill up my VW Golf yesterday, so something has to change.

So I filled up the Scooby Doo book bag my sister gave me a few years ago and hit the streets. It was pretty fun, especially when I was going down hill.

I can’t promise this biking to work thing is going to become a regular part of my routine. First, my bike is one speed, which makes getting up the hills a bit of a challenge (though avid-biker Donald swears it’ll get easier after two weeks). Second, I was a little sweaty by the time I got to the station, and it wasn’t even hot or humid out this morning. So I can’t imagine how icky I’d be during the summer. There’s no shower at work.

It took about 30 minutes, but of course I had to stop and take pictures. I think if I stick with it, I can make it to work in 20 minutes, which isn’t bad.

(I took a pic of my Scooby Doo bag because I think it’s too funny that it’s the only book bag I own).

If any of you can offer some tips on how to bike to work on warm mornings and still manage to look somewhat fashionable, I’m all ears. I know I’ll need a bigger bag, but cramming clothes, shoes, make-up and all my work gear into one bag might become tricky.

What’s that on my doorstep?

I stopped by my house for lunch today, and I found this waiting for me:

I approached my doorstep with a little trepidation because I wasn’t expecting any packages, especially any that would come in a plastic bag. Turns out the bag was just filled with two new phone books. I’ve only lived in Raleigh for three months, and I’ve already received two deliveries of phone books. Seems a little excessive to me. Do people really use phone books anymore, what with the Internet and all?

What’s worse, is it turns out I can’t just dump my old phone books in with my weekly recycling. The News & Observer reports that it’s OK to put the old books recycling bins if you live in Durham or Orange counties, but not if you live in Raleigh or Cary:

That’s because taking phone books in the curbside bins usually results in less revenue from a town’s recycling processor, according to Linda Leighton, waste reduction specialist with the City of Raleigh. The books have to be picked out of the bins by hand so they don’t mix with other paper goods. And they’re hardly worth the trouble.

Luckily, if you live in Raleigh or Cary you can still recycle your phone books. You just have to drop them off at one of these approved locations.

So do you ever flip through the phone book anymore? Does it annoy you that they’re automatically dumped at your doorstep?

Bar Owners Are Helping Me ‘Go Green’

North Carolina lawmakers have made keeping my New Year’s resolution so much easier. That’s because starting next week state law will require bars and restaurants to recycle beer and wine bottles. My resolution is to recycle everything that the city of Raleigh collects curbside.

This resolution shouldn’t be too hard for me to keep, because I already toss all my recyclables into a bin each week … right down to my toilet paper rolls. But when I’m at work, I’ll toss my plastic half-and-half containers into the trash. This never bothered me until I noticed my former roommate and coworker, Tim, keep a stack of recyclables at his desk to be brought home. Likewise, when I go to a restaurant or a bar, I let the staff throw out my plastic cups and glass bottles.

But, under my resolution, I plan to be more like Tim and take all my recyclables home and dispose of them properly. I hadn’t considered that my trips to the bar might require me to bring an oversized bag for all my bottles or, as an alternative, only drink what’s on tap. But it’s a moot point now, thanks to this new law.

What will be interesting, of course, is how it’s enforced. Anyone else willing to take on my recycling resolution?