A Styrofoam densifier helps Frisco Environmental Services minimize a difficult recycling issue. Photo: Frisco Environmental Services

By Bill Sullivan

After the gifts have been opened and the holidays are gone, Frisco residents annually are left with a nagging question:

What do you do with the Styrofoam?

One solution: If you can’t completely solve a problem, minimize it.

Crew Leader Magdelano Coria operates the densifier, converting the bulky Styrofoam into a more manageable product. Image: Frisco Environmental Services

That’s what is happening at Frisco Environmental Services, where Environmental Education Coordinator Jeremy Starritt came up with a creative way to make the best of a bad situation.
The department received an $88,850 grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments for the purchase of a Styrofoam densifier. Instead of dealing with mountains of Styrofoam that weigh virtually nothing, Frisco now can cut the ubiquitous packing material down to size (Styrofoam is about 95 percent air) with a process that accomplishes three goals:

• An economically sensible amount of Styrofoam can be loaded on to trucks headed to a recycling plant.
• By recycling, there will be less need to produce more Styrofoam.
• The amount of essentially non-biodegradable material headed out to the landfill will be reduced.

“It’s very cool, very futuristic,” Environmental Services Manager Pippa Couvillion says, adding that Frisco is the only city in the area to own such equipment. “We’re thinking ahead.”

She credits Starritt with this particularly forward-looking bit of thinking: He’s the one who wrote the grant proposal that brought in the revenues to pay for the purchase.

“Without condensing it, what you have is loose product sitting in bags,” he explains. “The closest place to us that produces Styrofoam is out in East Texas on the Louisiana border. For them to come and get a truckload of loose product which weighs 75 pounds total is not a good use of their time.”

Enter the new equipment, which went into operation in September. Starritt says it creates a 600-to-1 densification rate, turning that 75 pound load of polystyrene foam into something considerably more substantial.

Through mid-December, Environmental Services had condensed 30 yards of loose material into two four-foot high pallets. (Only Styrofoam used for packing large objects such as TVs or computer equipment is accepted; items such as egg cartons and food trays are not eligible for the program.)

“Now, when we fill a truck, it’s literally tons and ton and tons of Styrofoam, where it really is worth both the time and the money for them to get it. We’re hoping it will actually be a money-making possibility there.”

While making a profit would be a nice bonus, the positive impact on the environment is a sure thing. Once Styrofoam is created, it pretty much is what it is. About three million tons of polystyrene foam — Styrofoam actually is a brand made by Dow Chemical — is produced every year, most of it ending up in landfills, where it is virtually immortal.

If you are in the Styrofoam business, however, re-using the product is something of a no-brainer.

“It’s one of the easiest things to recycle,” Starritt says. “It’s even easier than plastic, because you don’t have to melt it down. They basically just have to shape it and harden it again, and it becomes whatever it is they want it to be.

“It’s basically a complete loop, with almost zero loss in product. With plastic, paper and everything else, you have up to 10, 15 percent reduction recycling every time. With Styrofoam it’s like a one percent loss.”

Now, those piles of light-as-air Styrofoam at Frisco Environmental Services will be small, denser, and ready to head off to the recycler. It’s a solution in line with the department’s mission to combine good stewardship with good economic sense.

“Everything we do here is not only to conserve the product, but also to develop a market for the product, too,” Couvillion says. “We could collect stuff all day long. We need the ability to make it into something of value before anyone will come and get it.”

Reducing a big environmental problem will help accomplish just that.

Finished product ready to be sent to the recycler. Image: Frisco Environmental Services

JoAnn Fritz shows off a pair of R.E.U.S.E jeans -- made from recycled fabric -- at Frisco's Blue Door Boutique. Image: friscogreenliving.com

By Bill Sullivan

When JoAnn Fritz and Glenda McMichael shop for new inventory for Frisco’s Blue Door Boutique, they usually come back with something a little out of the ordinary.

The Blue Door Boutique on Main Street in Frisco. Image: friscogreenliving.com

Sometimes, that can be a picture frame made from recycled materials. Sometimes, it’s a bird cage put together from recycled wood or metal. By the time they’re done, a fair number of items give the place a decidedly green edge, an edge they consider an important part of the store’s personality.

“It’s been fun,” Fritz says. “For the most part, people really seem to like the idea. It’s a great concept. Some of the things we have come in are absolutely gorgeous.”

So much so, in fact, that keeping them on the shelves can be a challenge for the women, who opened the store in July of 2008. During a mid-December visit, there was nary a picture frame or bird cage to be found.

If you arrive in the mood for an environmentally-friendly pair of women’s blue jeans or denim shorts, however, you have come to the right place. Amid the charmingly eclectic mix of accessories, antiques, gifts and clothing is a selection of R.E.U.S.E jeans and shorts, made up mostly (about 80 percent) from leftover materials culled from garment manufacturers in China.

“They take the scraps that normally would be thrown away, break them down, and reuse them in other products,” Fritz explains.

R.E.U.S.E  — derived from the company motto “Recycle.Environment.U.Save.Earth” – is the brainchild of George Powell, an apparel manufacturer from Orange County, California. On a trip to the recycling station with his young son a few years ago, the early retiree began to think about how the concept of reuse could be applied to the retail garment industry.

Mindful that Chinese factories churn out plenty of leftover cut cloth and defects, Powell decided to buy the scraps and run them through a machine resembling a shredder. What comes out is almost indistinguishable from cotton picked from the field – and without the expense and water waste of actually growing more cotton.

The new material is spun into yarn, woven into new fabric and cut into new jeans. Anything left over goes right back into the recycling process.

When McMichael and Fritz learned about  R.E.U.S.E., it seemed like a perfect fit for the Blue Door. The unique jeans have been both an interesting addition to their green inventory and a popular seller.

Jewelry made from older items is part of the inventory at the Blue Door Boutique. Image: friscogreenliving.com

While keeping green inventory is an ongoing challenge, the owners do their best to find new sources. Fritz points to a selection of jewelry made by a local artist from recycled items and some clever napkin rings crafted from recycled soft drink cans.

The Blue Door Boutique is a two-woman operation. McMichael and Fritz struck up a friendship years ago when their daughters played on the same soccer team. McMichael brings some experience in retail and also is founder of the Fingerprints pre-school, which she still operates.

“Between the two of us, we keep busy and have fun with it,” Fritz says.

Having weathered the economic downturn, McMichael and Fritz are optimistic that the Blue Door will remain a viable part of downtown revitalization.

“It’s a little more eclectic, a little bit different,” Fritz said. “With the economy being what it is right now, you have to find your niche and be a little different from everyone else.

“Hopefully, we’ve found a little niche that people are looking for.”

The Blue Door Boutique is located at 6975 Main Street in Frisco. The phone number is 214-705-7701.

According to projections, existing water resources will not be able to keep up with demand. Image: Frisco Public Works

By Bill Sullivan

According to the most recent draft of the State Water Plan, Texas faces serious challenges in keeping up with demand in the years to come. By 2060, based on current growth estimates, new reservoirs, existing reservoirs, ground water and interconnecting lakes will provide only about 77 percent of our water requirements.

What about the rest? Forecasts call for a whopping 23 percent to come from conservation and reuse. By just about anyone’s standards, that’s a whole lot of shorter showers and cutting back on watering the lawn.

“Without that critical part, the state of Texas is projecting that we can’t meet our water needs,” says Gary Hartwell, Frisco’s Director of Public Works. “So, we can’t continue to use water the way we have been.”

Hartwell and the city aren’t waiting to be overtaken by events. Frisco remains a growing community, and making sure there is enough water to go around is essential to the city’s overall plan.

Reuse is about to become a major component in that strategy. And, no, we are not talking about dirty or contaminated water flowing back into the system. After the appropriate treatment at one of two facilities presently in operation, the water Hartwell is talking about is almost good enough to drink — and certainly good enough to water city parks, school athletic fields or golf courses.

“Essentially, reuse is taking treated wastewater before it is discharged into the stream and moving it to irrigation purposes or agricultural purposes,” he said. “This treated wastewater is very, very clean. It’s clean enough to release into streams where you have your fish and wildlife.”

This Water Reuse Pump Facility will help the city reuse treated water for school irrigation systems and other uses. Image: Frisco Public Works

Currently, Frisco has two operating wastewater treatment plants available for reuse. One has the capacity to produce five million gallons of water a day; the other is being expanded to handle 10 million gallons. The city also has obtained a Type 1 usage permit for the treated water, which allows the product to be used in close proximity to people.

“That’s essentially 15 million gallons of water a day that is available to us if we have the system to deliver it where the irrigation needs are,” Hartwell said.

To that end, the City of Frisco has prepared a Reuse Master Plan, outlining where water lines could be installed all across Frisco over the next five years and on through the complete build-out of the city. In the short term, the focus is on locations adjacent to the park system and large school campuses that are in relatively close proximity to existing pipes.

At the moment, the city has has three reuse customers: Common areas of Pearson Farms, a greenbelt near the Stewart Creek West Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the Trails of Frisco Golf Course. Water is discharged into one of the ponds at the course and pumped from there as needed. The course is serviced by an existing 24” reuse line that can easily be tapped to deliver water to several nearby schools.

“When we were preparing the Master Plan, we actually went to the school district and asked what they thought about focusing on their campuses, and they were supportive of that idea,” Hartwell says. “Over the past year, we have met with the school district to move beyond an idea or concept to something that might really happen.”

About a month ago, Hartwell received an e-mail from City Manager George Purefoy advising of a joint work session with the city council and school board. Hartwell put together a presentation about the reuse program for the combined group.

When School Superintendent Dr. Rick Reedy asked about the cost benefits, Hartwell had a good and popular answer: Potable water comes at a cost of about $3 per thousand gallons, while the reusable water cost about 75 cents per thousand.

In addition to freeing up school district money for classroom use, reuse water also could make an enormous difference in times of drought. During peak watering times in summer, the city’s usage increases greatly. With the two treatment plants providing 15 million gallons, the demand for potable water could be reduced significantly, easing the drain on lakes.

During droughts, reuse water would not be subject to the same restrictions as potable water. Including it in the mix also would help delay, reduce, or even eliminate expansion of the water system, resulting in a significant savings to residents.

To make sure reuse water stays out of the mainstream, pipes carrying the water are purple, either painted or wrapped. Signage also will be deployed to distinguish reuse lines from their potable counterparts.

Distinctive purple pipes assure that reuse water is kept separate from the city's regular water lines. Image: Frisco Public Works

For water management purposes, the state is divided into 16 regions, all of whom are drafting plans to meet needs for the next 50 years as part of developing the next State Water Plan, due in 2012. Frisco is in Region C, which includes the likes of Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties. While the plan has a half-century reach, estimates suggest a gap between supply and demand by 2020, if not before.

Mindful of all that, the city is taking proactive measures to assure an adequate supply. Frisco, in fact, may be one of the few municipalities aggressively pursuing a reuse program.

“We’re at the cutting edge,” Hartwell said. “You’ve got to go to San Antonio to see a good reuse program. In the circles in which we run, I don’t recall anyone talking about their reuse program. I’m not saying other cities don’t have it, but I’m not aware of it.”

Hartwell hopes the city will start seeing the fruits of all this forward thinking by early next year.

“If things continue to work out well, I would like to think we might have a couple of schools using reuse water next spring,” he said. “It’s that close for us.”

IKEA’s Frisco employees are getting an early Christmas present. The Sweden-based home furnishings company is providing a new all-terrain bicycle to each of about 12,400 co-workers at its 37 U.S. stores.

About 12,400 IKEA U.S. workers are receiving new bicycles this holiday season. Photo: IKE

“It’s been a good year for IKEA, so what better way to celebrate our success than to thank our IKEA co-workers who made this happen,” said Mike Ward, IKEA U.S. President. “This is our way of saying ‘Thanks IKEA co-workers for being strongly committed to working together.’ We hope this bike will be taken in the spirit of the season while supporting a healthy lifestyle and everyday sustainable transport.”

In explaining the choice, IKEA offered the following regarding health benefits:

• “Bicycling is an excellent cardio-vascular exercise, which promotes heart health. Just like in any other aerobic workout, bicycling makes your heart pump harder. Also blood circulation increases and eventually, your resting heart rate will decrease.” (Helium.com; Benefits of Bicycling by Erich Rosenberger M.D.)
• “On average, commuting 10 miles a day by bike in 30 minutes, instead of driving a car burns 110,250 calories (keeping off 30 pounds of fat each year).” (Sources: Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, RailstoTrails.org, Fitsugar.com, Adultbicycling.com)
• “Cycling just 20 miles a week can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by 50%.” (Sources: Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, RailstoTrails.org, Fitsugar.com, Adultbicycling.com)
• “Countries with the highest levels of cycling and walking generally have the lowest obesity rates.” (Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia)

In terms of sustainable living, the company cited these incentives:

• “A short, four mile round trip by a bike keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe.” (WorldWatch Institute, www.bicyclinginfo.org)
• “In one year, riding a bike versus owning and driving a car will save an individual $8,000 in gasoline and general car maintenance and insurance costs.” (Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia)