Recycling Hub

Make a compost pile to recycle your food waste

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:16:18 +0000

Did you know that according to the EPA, every year we generate around 14 million tons of food waste which is 106 pounds of food waste per person 570,000 tons of this is composted for a 4.1% recovery rate. The rest, or 13.4 million tons is incinerated or landfilled and occupies 6.3 million cubic yards of landfilled MSW. Although most food waste will eventually recycle on their own with help of weather and animals. We still waste garbage bags and containers in the process.

Why not make a compost pile in the backyard to recycle the food waste? You can use the compost for your home garden. If you have a yard, it’s time to consider it. There’s no need to start big. Even a small compost container can get it going. Most people put vegetable waste in the compost pile. You should try to avoid anything that’s been cooked. No meats. By just composting vegetables, fruits, and paper products, we can make a big difference each year.

Newspaper should die out to save trees

admin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:47:40 +0000

In this day and age, one wonders why they still print newspapers. How many of us actually read local papers? Maybe some retired people still do. But we can all get news online. In fact, all the publishers should only have an online presence. Do you know that half million trees must be cut down just to produce each week’s Sunday newspapers? What a waste. All news should be delivered online. Even if people recycle their papers, it’s still a waste of energy producing it. If people choose not to recycle their newspapers, then it will end up in the landfill somewhere.

Approximately paper that costs 1 billion trees to produced are thrown away every year in the U.S. Can you see the terrible waste? It means 1 billion trees could have been saved to absorb the carbons in the air. Instead they were cut down and milled into papers.

How to recycle old TV?

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:51:02 +0000

The flat panels are just so much better and takes much less space. If you stay in older hotels and motels, the rooms look terrible with the old TVs. As more families upgrade to flat panel televisions, safely recycling their old and bulky TVs become a problem. In 2007, Americans had accumulated 99 million TVs in storage and discarded nearly 27 million TVs. Of the TVs discarded, approximately 18 percent were recycled. Between 2004 and 2007, the number of TVs that entered the waste stream increased by 14 percent.

Old televisions contain lead, copper, steel and aluminum that can be recovered through recycling. Recycling TVs helps to conserve natural resources and energy, and reduce pollution resulting from the extraction and processing of raw materials from the earth.

Before you find a recycling place for your TV, try donating it first. Although the analog TVs are harder to find a donation place, if you call around, some organizations might still take them. Other large retails and manufacturers will take your old TV and offer a small gift card.

Source: EPA

How do I recycle my old computer?

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:41:33 +0000

Like most people, I put my old computers in the attic or basement. I don’t want to give it to someone since the hard drive still has my old documents on it. After a few years, I accumulated 2 desktops and 2 laptops in the attic. The problem with that is it’s not good for the environment or my organization in the house.

Also a working computer is a terrible thing to waste. Donating computers to those who need them is a win-win opportunity. Reusing computers benefits communities, helps use valuable materials wisely, and keeps working PCs out of the trash. Businesses that donate computers are helping others obtain access to technology that is now almost a necessity for education and communication. Just be sure the organizations will take your computer.

Another way is to recycle. Best Buy, Sony, and many other stores now will recycle the computers for you for free. I personally like this option better since my old computers are so slow and the batteries on the laptops are dead. Just check with the retailers’ websites for their recycle help.

How do I recycle cellphones?

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:33:32 +0000

My cell phone plan is a two year contract. I’m usually excited about upgrading my phone. However, there’s one little thing that bothers me, how do I recycle my old phone? Most carriers don’t want old phones. Rather than adding it to my growing collection of unwanted mobile phones, recycle it!

In 2007, approximately 14 million Americans recycled their used cell phones. Today, donating or recycling cell phones, PDAs, chargers, and batteries has never been easier. You can even donate your working cell phone or PDA to benefit your community. When cell phones and accessories are in good working order, some programs donate them to worthy charities or sell them at a discount to those in need.

Recycling cell phones helps the environment by saving energy and keeping usable materials out of landfills. Cell phones and PDAs are made of precious metals, copper, and plastics-all of which require energy to mine and manufacture. Recycling conserves these materials so they can be turned into new products. Cell phone collection programs can be accessed from almost everywhere in the US. Many organizations, such as cell phone manufacturers, retailers, network carriers, charities, and state or local solid waste programs offer cell phone donation and recycling programs.

Source: EPA.gov

Get your whole family to recycle

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:19:52 +0000

We all know that we need to recycle as much as possible. But the trouble is sometimes we just don’t have time or don’t feel like taking the trouble to place an item in the recycle bin. It’s particularly harder to get our children and husband to recycle. Men sometimes simply don’t think about those things. Unless it’s beer cans or newspaper, most men don’t bother to recycle small items.

There are things we can do to make it more convenient to recycle. Don’t place the recycle bin too far from the kitchen trash can. If you place the recycling bin in the garage, kitchen closet, or outside, it’ll be hard for them to remember. Place the bin side by side with the trash can, and mark it with a giant sticker, “Recycle”. Your children and husband will remember it next time. Mine did.

Recycling protects US manufacturing jobs

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:04:23 +0000

You probably would have not thought about this, recycling protects and expands US manufacturing jobs. How is that? Because the people who are involved in collecting, transporting, sorting, and reusing are all here in America. These jobs can not be shipped overseas. So when you and your family make the effort to recycle, you’re helping to put people to work.

Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. Collecting used bottles, cans, and newspapers and taking them to the curb or to a collection facility is just the first in a series of steps that generates a host of financial, environmental, and social returns. Besides the global benefits, recycling can benefit the local community as well.

Consumers are beginning to buy more recycled products

admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:49:07 +0000

I was at Barnes & Noble last Saturday reading some random books, and saw the center tables where they keep some new books that just came out. Then some little purses made of newspaper and other used paper products caught my eyes. They’re not much bigger than a regular wallet, but come in different colors. The newspaper and magazine were made into woven materials, and bright colors were painted. They look nice and handy. I was thinking that they would make perfect gifts for girl friends for birthdays and Christmas.

If stores like Barnes & Noble start carrying these recycled products and place them in a prime location, it tells you that consumers are becoming more aware and are buying them. Which is an excellent news. In fact, if you’re in the craft business, it might be a good place to venture into.

Purchasing recycled products helps the environment even more

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:40:29 +0000

More and more families are recycling everything they can possibly recycle. But did you know that by purchasing recycled products, we save the environment even more. Purchasing recycled products completes the recycling loop. By “buying recycled,” each consumer plays an important role in making the recycling process a success. As consumers demand more environmentally sound products, manufacturers will continue to meet that demand by producing high-quality recycled products.

Businesses’ goal is to keep customers and make profits. If they can gain more loyal customers by providing what the consumers want, they will do it. As consumers, we should be the first to initiate. Have you noticed that Wal-mart is carrying some organic toilet papers now? Because they have to. To the businesses, it’s all about market share and profitability. So if they know that they can profit from it, they will go to the manufacturers asking for recycled products. When we use these products, we no longer are causing another tree to be cut down. We don’t even need to hold rallies or tell the retailers. Simply buying the recycled products will do. They keep track of the sales so they’ll know before we even realize it.

Source: EPA

Can I put papers in my compost pile?

admin — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 21:52:14 +0000

This is a good questions. Many of us wonder whether we should throw papers, newspapers, cardboard into the compost pile. Yes, but there are some things to do before we throw them in. One we need to shred the papers, shred them into pieces to make it easier to recycle in the pile. Cut up the cardboard also. These materials are called brown materials which provide carbon.

Most brown materials include:

shredded pieces of paper
small pieces of newspaper
cardboard
paper rolls
dry leaves
smaller branches
twigs
straw
sawdust
used potting soil

Source: EPA