eco-officiency blog » recycling

Recycling Expired Credit Cards

eco-officiency — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:00:13 +0000

Have you ever wondered what to do with your old credit cards, reward cards, gift cards and other plastic type cards in your wallet? With over 10 billion new cards place in circulation every year, most are thrown in the trash contributing more than 75 million pounds of PVC (plastic resin) in the landfill every year. In addition, with credit card fraud an ongoing issue it is usually not safe to throw these cards away in the trash. Now there is a company that recycles this plastic and destroys these cards responsibly.

Earthworks System is a PVC recycling company that began accepting plastic type credit, gift and reward cards for recycling in 2008. They target retailers who hopefully will send in large quantities of cards but they now allow individuals to mail them in too, knowing that these cards often don’t get back to the company who distributed them.

Earthworks grinds up old cards (ensuring they are disposed of safely) and crafts them into PVC sheets used to make new plastic cards. Retailers can then purchase Earthworks 100% recycled PVC material to make new cards. You can tell if it is a Earthworks card on the back just above the magnetic strip.
Your old plastic cards (both individuals and businesses) can be mailed to:
Earthworks c/o Halprin Ind.
25840 Miles Rd. , Bedford, OH 44146.

Type of cards accepted; ID cards, credit cards, driver’s license, library card, rental cards, membership cards, reward cards, shopper discount cards, and retailer gift cards.

e-waste: Recycle computer and electronics responsibly

eco-officiency — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:00:40 +0000

Many companies in the beginning of the New Year purchase new electronic equipment. It is important to discard e-waste appropriately by using e-waste vendors that are certified by the Basel Action Network e-Stewards program. This system of certification is an independent audit that ensures recyclers do not throw e-waste into landfills and to only send to developing countries that have responsible and safe means of destruction and disposal.

There was a responsible electronics recycling act (HR 2284/ S. 1270) that was introduced in Congress in June of 2011. This Act would prevent the export of non-functional or shredded electronic scrap to developing countries and make it illegal to dump electronics into the landfill. It has been passed down to the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment but as of today, the status is unknown.

Two great videos on the issues of e-waste;

Story of Electronics: Produced by the same organization as the Story of Stuff. An easy 20 minute video on where electronics go once they have no use.
60 Minutes Wasteland: First aired in 2009 and again in 2010, this gripping and telling investigative reporting on e-waste issues in China.

Go to eco-officiency’s website to learn about recommended places to recycle or donate unwanted computers and electronics.

42 Ways to Reduce Waste

eco-officiency — Tue, 10 May 2011 05:00:30 +0000

Collin Beavan, star of environmental movie, No Impact Man, came out with his list of 42 ways to not make trash. Collin did a one year experiment of changing he and his families behaviors to a more green lifestyle that he profiles in No Impact Man. One of the goals was to be zero waste and he came pretty darn close!

The average American generates over 1,600 pounds of trash per year- more than twice the garbage of the average European. If all Americans recycled paper, plastic and glass bottles, and aluminum cans, this would divert over 51% of the waste in our current landfills. If all Americans composted food scraps and yard waste this would divert another 25%. Each American has the potential to divert over 75% of their current waste just through recycling and composting.

Companies are trying to do their part. A report by McKinsey and Company called Reducing Our Footprint found that global companies have already taken measures to reduce more than 1.5 billion pounds of packaging waste since 2005. However there is still room for a lot of improvement. According to research published by the Natural Resource Defense Council, annually, airlines throw away 9,000 tons of plastic, enough aluminum cans to build 58 Boeing 747 jets, and enough newspaper and magazines to cover a football field 230 meters deep.

Another great website to learn more about reducing waste is Reduce.org.

Junk Mail: Get Yourself Off Mailing Lists

eco-officiency — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:00:04 +0000

Junk mail isn’t just a menace at home, it’s making its way into offices too. Not only is junk mail annoying and time consuming to go through, it needlessly uses significant amounts natural resources. Every year U.S. junk mail uses paper from over 100 million trees, fills over 420,000 garbage trucks and produces 51 million tons of greenhouse gases. There are few ways that you can get off mailing lists to reduce the paper overflow.

Contact the company directly and ask to be removed from their list. You can go to the ‘contact us’ page on most websites to get a direct email address.
Contact Direct Marketing Association and request your name and organization be removed from their lists.
New American Dream has partnered with an organization called 41pounds.org which says it can completely remove up to 95% of the junk mail you receive for a one-time fee of $41.

Discontinue Using Plastic Bags in Your Business

eco-officiency — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:15:12 +0000

Plastic bags are just a mess for the environment. Worldwide there are now 500 billion plastic bags used annually. If you haven’t seen the big plastic patch in the ocean, then watch this video from Good Morning America. Unfortunately, these bags are petroleum based and don’t seem to break down in our landfills or water causing major toxins and pollution issues. Cities like San Francisco have banned plastic bags and other cities like Boston and Portland are considering it. Be in the forefront and refrain from using plastic bags in your business. Here are some options;

Bring Your Own: Ask your customers to bring their own bags. Better yet, create a promotional re-useable bag and sell it. Companies like Chico Bag are nice convenient to carry.

Offer Compostable Bags: Consider purchasing and using compostable bags. Roplast Industries and BioBags both make good compostable plastic-type bags.

Offer Recycling: In the interim, offer recycling containers and disposal for the plastic bags. They need to be clean and dry and usually #2 or #4 plastic which most of the regular plastic shopping bags are made from. There is an organization called Plastic Bag Recycling that provides a system and container to help businesses recycle plastic bags.

Green Office Cleaning

eco-officiency — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:32:45 +0000

Most offices have a janitorial or custodial vendor who cleans offices. It is important to have your vendors support your organizations sustainability program.To encourage ‘green’ cleaning ask your vendor for the following;

Use green cleaning supplies. Make sure cleaning supplies are non-toxic and eco-friendly. Seventh Generation and All Green have a great line of cleaning products.
Turn off lights. Ask your janitorial staff to turn off all lights upon leaving the building. This supports accountability with this simple energy saving action.
Provide recycling and waste data. In order to improve recycling and waste management it is important to get data from your janitorial staff on the usage of receptacles along with rate of recycling. Make sure your janitorial staff is managing waste responsibly.

Top 10 Clues That You’re an Environmentalist

eco-officiency — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:09:58 +0000

Here are the Top 10 Clues That You’re an Environmentalist that was developed by the Natural Marketing Institute at the LOHAS 2009 conference:

1.    Your workplace doesn’t have recycling so you bring everything home
2.    Your Tupperware® collection consists of reclaimed takeout containers, yogurt containers, and salvaged jars
3.    You have maximized the number of places to dry Ziploc® bags in your kitchen
4.    You glare at people at the store who don’t have a canvas bag
5.    You double-glare at the ones who ask for things to be double-bagged
6.    You don’t blink when paying $5/pound for local, heirloom tomatoes
7.    Your conscience prevents you from jet skiing, despite it looking SO fun
8.    You worry about cow flatulence
9.    You have visions of drowning polar bears each time you adjust the thermostat
10.    Your friends have finally stopped asking you for advice on how to be green, knowing you will offer it soon enough…

Ask for Green Travel

eco-officiency — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:07:13 +0000

I travel a lot as a consultant. In some cities I see some great green stuff going on. It is easy to recycle, easy to get public transportation and travel green. In other cities in can be a constant struggle. I find the best way to get these cities on board is to continue to ask, even though I know the answer might be ‘no’ or ‘not possible’. I ask hotels about recycling program, I ask restaurants for their organic dishes, I ask the tourist information about public transportation. The more we as consumers ask, the greater liklihood, that cities, hotels and restaurants will start taking action. I would love to know how you travel green…

Conduct Your Own Trash Log

eco-officiency — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:54:23 +0000

I just finished a week long trash log. This is an exercise I ask of my clients and thought I better to do it myself. I wrote down each and every piece of trash that I had and what I did with it– recycled, composted or re-used or discarded. Then, with items I had to discard I wrote down alternative options for the future. Although I consider myself a trash ‘connoisseur’ I discovered through this exercise even how I can get better with my own waste. If you haven’t done it yet, I would highly encourage anyone to track their trash for a week. You will discover not only how much trash you really do accumulate but you will gain more consciousness before throwing it away. I’d love to hear your experience of conducting a trash log.