Buddy Boyd of Gibson's Recycling Depot and some of the Urban Ore staff in Florianopolis, Brazil.

This past October, Urban Ore had the honor of being invited to the 7th annual Zero Waste International Alliance Zero Waste Dialog in beautiful Florianopolis, Brazil!

Download a copy of the Lone Recycler (11.6MB pdf) for an exciting tale of Zero Waste.

The Lone Recycler is a comic book dating all the way back to 1984. It was created by Nancy Gorrell, a children’s illustrator and longtime friend of Urban Ore. It was written in response to the growing threat of incinerator proposals in the Bay Area. Although the comic book is suitable for children, it also ties into our Policy Planning work. You can download a 11.6MB pdf copy of the Lone Recycler by simply clicking on the image above. It is great for children to read and the message is still very relevant. Includes a coloring page as well.

Since then many people have suggested adding Rs to the hierarchy, and good Rs, too, such as “Rethink” or “Rot” or “Refuse” (emphasis on the second syllable). But I’m fond of the original three. They are simple and have the ring of fundamental structure, like Readin, ‘Ritin’ and ‘Rithmatic. Three is a near-magical number that turns up in the structure of religion, mathematics, musical chords, and other important places. The three-legged milking stool doesn’t rock unevenly the way a four-legged stool can.

Theres no real need for more Rs. All the original 3 can be subdivided and incorporate the newer suggestions. Compost (“Rot”) is a form of Recycling, applied to yard debris. Refuse (accent on the second syllable) is a subset of Reduce, as is Extended Producer Responsibility.

The 3Rs are all phrased as imperatives, commands, so just saying them makes a clear imprint on our brains to do it. This clarity is lost if we fog up the intention with a fluctuating number of Rs. Making them imperatives is far superior to more passive frameworks, such as California’s vague and confusing not-a-mantra “Source Reduction, Recycling and Composting, and Transformation.”

Me for the 3 Rs!

Some of our more hard to find items can be found on our Ebay page.

Happen to have an old Chrystler? Are you missing a stereo in that Chrystler? Well we have it here for you. We try and make some of the rarer items we receive more widely available via our Ebay store. Oftentimes, when there is not a local market for interesting merchandise, we try and give it a chance in cyberspace. Maybe someone in Japan would like the Urban Ore experience as well.

Sleek Danish Modern design to warm up your cottage.

We recently received this one-of-a-kind woodburning stove into our General Store. As you can see, it has a nice Danish Modern design as it was made in Denmark. See for yourself in these photos. This stove has since sold. Congrats to the new owner!

The proof is in the cast iron. Genuine Danish design for your modern collection.

This sculpture was made mainly from materials salvaged at Urban Ore by Bay Area artist Nemo Gould.

Artists from all over the Bay Area flock to Urban Ore not only for materials, but for inspiration as well. Take Nemo Gould for example. We frequently see Nemo wandering the aisles of Urban Ore looking for that next crucial piece to complete a current project, or to spark the idea for something new. He built this piece, entitled Nowhere Fast, using materials found at Urban Ore including: rocking chairs, vacuum cleaners and parts, optical test equipment, baseball bats, drafting table parts, lamp parts, power tools, safety toes, coffee table, “magic eye” vacuum tubes, neon bar tube, motor, truck tool box, wagon wheel, belt wheels, belts, chain, sprockets, faux ships wheel, fishing reel, etc.

Most of these materials were salvaged from the landfill either by being dropped off by customers or by our efforts to divert from the city dump. In a recent interview Nemo states that although he is “not trying to make any sort of environmental statement”, he is “always pleased… that [his] work can be used as an example of the potential value in things we throw away.” We are very proud to help him accomplish this.

If you’d like to see this sculpture come to life click here!

Making the old new again. We receive old cabinets daily for that rustic look desired today.

One of our biggest sellers is cabinetry. We have cabinets for days. Cabinets for your kitchen. Cabinets for your  bathroom. Cabinets for your study. Cabinets for you garage. We receive them almost daily and we keep them nice and organized for your perusing pleasure. Come look around today! No need for IKEA!

The City of Berkeley has produced separate zoning plans for several areas.

Cities that want green industries need to decide:  which kinds do they want?  Which ones should they set up first?  Which neighborhoods have correct zoning?Are there enough parcels?  How can entrepreneurs buy the land?  When we protect our industrially zoned neighborhoods, we can:

1. Make long-term jobs in the US.
2. Save greenhouse gases by producing goods domestically instead of internationally.
3. Save resources by using them domestically instead of exporting them.

Thas all!

One of many zero waste site plans that Urban Ore has designed.

Find the right space

Here are some questions you should think about when looking for land to locate your Zero Waste startup:

• Where is the nearest transfer station or landfill?
• Can you get access to the material being dumped?
• What vacant parcels are available within a reasonable distance?
• What is the per-square-foot cost of each?
• How much capital do you have to invest?

Design for function and type of material

For safety and efficiency, Zero Waste facilities should be designed with good separation between customers wanting to get rid of materials and recycling processors managing large flows of valuable resources to turn into cash flow.

Here are some space allocation guidelines we use at Urban Ore:  parking 15%; receiving 10%, sales 60%, office 5%, recycling & waste removal 10%

Consider these questions when contemplating a Zero Waste Facility design:

• Will you buy materials?
• What reuse categories will you sell?
• Will you be full-service, i.e., dealing with everything reusable that isn’t a boat or motor vehicle?
• Or do you intend to specialize, i.e., on antiques or on building materials or on household goods and clothing?
• How much of your expected inventory needs cover?
• For each site you think is possible, how will it be laid out?  Main functions:  parking, receiving, sales, recycling, office, waste removal.

We offer consulting services so drop us a line if you’d like some feedback on your design or need help starting a successful Zero Waste facility.