I meet regularly with Susan Daywitt, owner and  CEO of SLM and our marketing team to tweak SLM’s sustainability campaign.  We are committed to meet at least once per month to review where are waste is going.  This is where Danielle hits me with the trash island.  In the middle of our conversation about composting the bathroom towels Danielle says, “By the way, did you know about the big trash island in the pacific?”

This why we MUST recycle.  As a society we cannot be blind to what we throw away any longer.

I really do not need to say anything else.

 

There are many ways to reduce the amount of money you donate to the gas pump.  Every summer or holiday we see the usual spike in gas prices. You can save on gas by adjusting your habits.

 

• The way you drive your car and maintain it can make a difference on your gas consumption. 
• Do more than one errand at a time.  Take time to plan out your route so you are more effective.
• Shop on line
• On longer rides, use cruise control
• If you are lucky enough and live close to work; bike or walk.
• Car pool or take public transportation
• Avoid being a lead foot and sudden braking
• Avoid long idles
• Lighten up your car. Take the extra weight out of the trunk
• Go the speed limit
• Put your car into overdrive
• Keep tires properly inflated and aligned
• Keep your car tuned up and do regular oil changes.

EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory

 

Like it or not, we need our planet.  Without it we are dead.  We are connected to it for survival.  The little steps you and I take have a huge impact on our tomorrow.  Challenge yourself to try!

Go Green! Save our planet!

There is no way to really know how many cell phones are recycled each year.   You can do your part and take all the phones you have that are hidden away and show them new life!

You probably don’t know that cell phones contain precious metals, copper and plastics.  Harvesting these keeps them out of landfills, saves energy and resources.  Almost all of the materials used in a cell phone can be reused and recycled into jewelry, electronics, plastics and automobiles.  The batteries can also be recycled!

According to the EPA:

• Recycling just one cell phone saves enough energy to power a laptop for 44 hours.
• If Americans recycled all of the 130 million cell phones that are tossed aside annually in the United States, we could save enough energy to power more than 24,000 homes for a year.
• For every one million cell phones recycled, we can recover 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, 33 pounds of palladium, and 35,274 pounds of copper; cell phones also contain tin, zinc and platinum.
• Recycling one million cell phones also saves enough energy to provide electricity to 185 U.S. households for a year.
• Cell phones contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and brominated flame retardants. Many of those materials can be recycled and reused; none of them should go into landfills where they can contaminate air, soil and groundwater.

Studies have indicated that Americans get a new cell phone every 18 to 24 months!  So the next time you purchase a new phone, recycle the old one.  Do your part!  You can make a difference!!

 

Technology moves faster and faster.  Just when you purchased your iPhone 3 out came version 4.  According to the EPA, http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/plugin/cellphone/index.htm Americans discard 125 million phones each year, creating 65,000 tons of waste and making old cell phones the fastest growing type of manufactured garbage in the United States.  It is estimated that we upgrade our cell phones every 18 months!  So where do they go?

Call2Recycle is a nonprofit organization that offers both retailers and consumer throughout the US and Canada fast, easy ways to recycle cell phones.  Visit the website and see how easy it is.

Flipswap is able to recycle almost all of the cell phones it receives.  If Flipswap cannot recycle the phone, they plant a tree!  Flipswap estimates that almost 450,000 trees have been planted!  Oh, forgot to mention, they pay you for your phone! (see rules on their web page)

ReCellular manages in-store collection programs for major mobile phone providers.  ReCellular also partners with Easter Seals and the March of Dimes, Goodwill and other non-profits.   Check them out.

Think Green!

Next week part two…”Why should you recycle your cell phone”

 

The University of Colorado’s Recycling Services claims that recycling one ton of paper will save 17 trees, 60 lbs. of air pollution, 2 barrels of oil, 24,000 gallons of water and 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space. (the size of a Ford pick up truck)

Knowing that we can save the earth by recycling, why is paper recycling or any recycling such a challenge? People hate to change habits.

If you are not recycling at home or in your office, it’s long past time to begin. The EPA http://epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/paper/faqs.htm#offices states that each office worker generates 10 thousand sheets of copy paper per year.  That is two pounds per person per day.  WOW!   Do the math!  Now that is at work, how about home? The average American uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year. Stop and think about that.  According to the US Census http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/index.php there are 308,745,538 people counted in the United States.  That is a lot of trees.

Office paper for recycling includes:

Computer print-out (high grade): color barred or blank.

White ledger (high grade): non-glossy, printed or unprinted white, including letterhead, typing, writing and copy machine paper.

Colored ledger: non-glossy, printed or unprinted colored paper.

Mixed office paper (lower grade): unsorted paper including: office paper; manila folders; white, colored and glossy paper; junk mail; tabulating cards; pamphlets; brochures. Groundwood computer paper (low grade): looks like phone book paper.

Take newspapers, and place them in brown bags, which can be recycled with newspapers, or tie them in bundles with twine (a natural fiber). Colored advertising inserts can also be recycled with newspapers. Be sure to remove rubber bands, plastic and anything that is not paper.

Place all mixed-color paper together. This includes anything from magazines to junk mail. Staples do not need to be removed. Remove all plastic stickers, membership cards and anything that is not paper.

Separate paper into three groups: white office paper, newspaper, and mixed-color paper.

Reduction of paper waste is as important as recycling. Use both sides of each piece of paper. Circulate memos rather than copies for everyone or use electronic mail or bulletin boards. Use the smallest amount of paper necessary for the message. Reuse copy machine paper as note pads. Institute a central filing system to reduce the need for multiple file copies. Purchase only paper that can be recycled (colored paper is not as valuable). Emphasize the importance of purchasing recycled paper products. Use reusable items such as washable coffee mugs, dishes and cloth towels. The list of ideas is limited only by your imagination.

So, why should you recycle paper?

Because it’s good for the environment, it will save more trees and it is our social responsibility to take care of our planet.

I have been training Melissa, a new service agent, the past few weeks. She asked “what happens to the paper we collect?”  Great question!  I would like to share my answer.

 

So what does happen to the newspapers, envelops, unwanted junk mail, magazines, copy room paper that you put into your bin every single day?

 

Once your recycler picks up the load they take it to a recycling center or MRF (materials recovery facility) where the paper is sorted and stripped of plastics and metals.  The paper then moves onto a paper mill where the heavy lifting takes place.

The paper goes through a de-inking process.  It is shredded and mixed with water to make pulp.  The goop then is washed, refined (combed), cleaned and turned into and oatmeal slushy by a huge mixer.  The recipe then calls for dye and additives.  Once the mixture is ready the oatmeal slush is then poured onto a large conveyer belt that is really a screen.  Modern technology uses computers and sensors to make sure the paper is the right temperature, consistency and thickness.  I cannot even imagine doing this by hand.

The conveyer belt, which is really a screen, carries the pulp as water is drained away.  I learned, to my amazement, they recycle the water that is extracted!!  The pulp is now a very rough paper sheet. In the industry we call this a web.  The web is squeezed between massive rollers to press out the remaining water.  The rollers also get a nice smooth and uniform surface.

The web is then put through heated rollers then wound onto large rolls. These are massive 25 ton, 30 feet wide rolls.

The rolls are then cut to manufacturer specifications and shipped off.

White office paper is desirable and recyclable.  Think before you toss it out.  Today’s magazine is tomorrow’s toilet paper!

Go Green!

Those who know me know I am not fond of plastic.   If I could do away with it I would.  The thought of all those little baggies out there clogging up the landfills makes me sad.  For my readers who have found “Snack Taxi” http://www.snacktaxi.com  or “PB Green”  http://www.pbgreenbags.com or opted to make your own, hats off!

Reusable snack and sandwich bags are easy to make or buy.  You will save money and save the planet!

For the rest of my readers who cannot break themselves away from plastic I am thrilled to introduce you to Ziploc’s new recycling program.    http://www.ziploc.com/Sustainability/pages/Recyclability-and-Earning-Rewards.aspx

Go to the link and check it out.  They are offering prizes!!

Be responsible, save our Planet!  Go Green!

My plastic bottle has been collected, grinded, rinsed, melted, and strung out like spaghetti and now it will be pelletized!

Pellets or nurdles are very easy to transport and sell to manufactures.  The uses for these nurdles are endless.   Manufactures can easily feed the pellets into huge machines called hoppers.  The hoppers will melt the plastic and then pour the mixture into a mold and a new product is born.  Recycled plastic products are everywhere.   Since nurdles come in so many colors and sizes the uses are endless.  They are even used in teddy bear stuffing!  Brilliant! It is fantastic that we can reuse our plastic so efficiently.  In researching this article I also found the down side, which I had no clue.  Brilliant, right?

I learned that nurdles are shipped by tanker trucks.  Each tanker is loaded onto a container ship and then sailed off to its destination.  It is believed that during the transport to the tanker and from the container to the plant, nurdles are escaping into our oceans and onto our beaches.    I would like to scream!  Such a great thing to recycle and yet we cannot seem to pay attention to the details of not spilling the load.

This should not deter me or you from doing what is right.  Any plastic that has a recycling symbol on the bottom must be recycled, period.  It is our social responsibility to do so.

Here are few things made from recycled plastic!

 

 

Be responsible, recycle!  Go Green!

Continuing on our mission to become more sustainable plastic recycling remains hot on my list.  If I could do away with plastic I would.  The EPA states that in the year 2000 24.7 Million tons of plastic were thrown away.  1.3 million tons were recovered and recycled.  I have not been able to find more recent stats on the EPA site.  http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/report-00.pdf

Plastic is with us forever.  Once it goes into a landfill it will stay there for eternity.  Plastic does not decompose.  Recycling plastic is the single biggest step any business, community and family can do.  It is socially responsible.  We are planet Earths stewards.  It is our responsibility to look at how we are going to reduce our carbon footprint by recycling plastic.

Plastic is broken into seven different categories.  Each category (plastic number) is grouped together then grinded by huge machines.  This is tough going because plastic is not easily shredded and grinded.  Once the plastic is shredded it then gets a bath and then dried.  The plastic then goes through a process call “pelleticizing”.   This is a process of molding the plastic into the shape of a pellet.

The next part of the journey is really interesting.  These pellets are then sold to manufactures to re-use into a new item.

 

Next time I will talk about what these pellets become.  Recycling plastic should not be an option for anyone.  Oil and natural gas go into the process of making a plastic item.  These are two energy resources we want to save.  The other is our land.  Go Green, Be Sustainable, and Protect our Planet!

Webster defines sustainable as “relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damage”

So how do you go about the task of merging your business with your environment?  How do you go about using the gifts of the earth without destroying it?

You can buy local produce and meats

Compost

Recycle all your light bulbs

Use cloth napkins or use recycled napkins

Repair leaking faucets

Look for products with minimum packaging

Don’t buy bottle water

Go online for bill paying

Opt out of phone books

These are but a few thousand ways you can make a difference.

You will hear this word more and more as we move into the future.  To become sustainable will not be an option it will impact all aspects of our lives.

What will you do?  How will you make a difference?

 

Stay tuned… next week….