Recycling Companies

Good morning folks. Another week in paradise is ahead. Saturday was a day of recycling in my neck of the woods. My brother and I hosted a Halloween party and we didn’t even have to remind everyone to recycle. We put the green bin outside and the bottles and cans piled up. Remember when I said it takes one week to fill our recycle bin, this week it took one night. Well done to all our guests. I went as Fredo Corleone from “The Godfather.” I can’t tell you how many people asked, “Who’s that?” Some people need to catch up on their movie history.

This week I thought I’d do a search for various recycling companies around the U.S. The websites I’m going to discuss looked interesting and ready to help raise awareness.

A website called CharMeck had lots of options for people who want to know what to recycle, how to organize it and where to leave it. I was more interested in how they promote their companies. This portion of the site gives a list of what to recycle and once you click on the hyperlink of each category, it takes you to the company listings and also gives addresses and phone numbers for comments and questions. If any of you have family and friends in North and South Carolina and if they’re interested in recycling certain products, tell them to browse through this site out.

For those interested in lamp recycling, here is a gem for you. This site has a list of addresses and emails to contact. I have to help my fellow Arizonans. There’s contact information for Earth Protection Services Inc. which has an office in Phoenix. The entire website is lamprecycle.org and the portion of the site I focused on was “lamp recyclers (U.S. and Canada).” The website as a whole is very detailed including the benefits of recycling florescent bulbs and also the state lamp regulations for every state.

The last site I want to bring up is about the Salvation Army. When I was a kid I remember donating clothes. I thought this would be a good opportunity to check out the Salvation Army site. This one I found discusses recycling in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It highlights textile recycling and one statement in particular sums up what the Salvation Army is about to lots of people who are less fortunate.
“The income The Salvation Army receives from its recycling activities helps to fund beds for the homeless, cups of tea for the thirsty, food for the hungry, comfort for the lonely, sick and deprived, and much, much more.”

Well folks another week ahead of court reporting for Reporting Public Affairs and working on an Ecotourism story with Alison Slater, a fellow classmate. Check out her blog that has a video of our interview with Mark Frederickson, who teaches Sustainable Ecotourism. Enjoy, have a good week and stay relaxed.

Kids and Recycling

Kids and Recycling

Good evening folks, first off let me just say that this weekend was just what I needed. I’m a big fan of blues music and I got my fill. I saw B. B. King at the Diamond Center with my brother and some friends and today I went to Reid Park for the Blues Festival. For those of you who missed it I recommend going next October. Good food, music and it was free. Those who went really got spoiled.

For this week I thought I’d take a look at websites that involve kids and ways to teach them about recycling. The first site I found was called Just For Kids Recycling. In this site there are many questions about recycling and waste. Short answers are provided after clicking the question. One of the answers on what is considered recyclable mentioned that playground equipment can be recyclable. I learned something new today.

This next website gives lots of information on the three R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) but the main reason I chose this website is because at the end of the page are lists to other linked sites. Kids can go in and search for facts and even participate in different activities to help them learn about recycling.

The website is:

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/recycle.htm

The “Recycle” portion of this website gives a pretty good overall definition of recycling which I don’t think I added to this blog in the first week. That would have been a good way to start but hey, better late than never. Here is one definition of it:

“Recycling occurs when you save and take reusable materials to places where they can be remade into either the same product or new products, rather than to just toss them in the trash. Making new items from recycled ones also takes fewer energy and other resources than making products from brand new materials.”

In the next paragraph I thought it was interesting when it talked about recycling products like a soda bottle and how it could be made into “T-shirts, combs, or hundreds of other plastic goods that can be used for many years.” I can’t wait to drink a soda and think to myself, ‘this will be a comb I might buy at the store.’

This next site called Kids Recycle Page will also provide fun ways for kids to learn about recycling. More games and facts are provided. The search is a little easier as well.

Wal-Mart also seemed to get involved with children and recycling. This site discusses how children can help and which Wal-Mart locations kids can take bags of recycling to. Unfortunately entries were taken until August but something tells me this isn’t the only year this will happen. Good luck to future particpants. The website is:

http://www.kidsrecyclingchallenge.com/index.html

Hope everyone has a good week and stays relaxed throughout the chaos. Talk to you all next week.

Workplace Recycling

Good evening readers. Back to the Sunday night blog. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was a little more relaxing which was nice. I went to Tucson Meet Yourself and ate. I’m glad my brother dragged me to it. It was just I needed. Hope you all like the new photo; it’s the recycling in my house. It might be time to take it out to the bin but we might be able to fit a few more things in there.

Tonight I want to talk about office recycling. I just got off work and the most recyclable item I noticed was printed paper. Just walking around I saw four bins with lots of paper but I didn’t see any spots for recycling bottles or cans, etc. I might have missed them but from quick glimpses I didn’t see any.

I searched and found this website that discussed ways to recycle around the workplace. The overall site is:

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/WasteAtWork.htm

There were a few categories I focused on. The “recycling” and “key office wastes and what to do with each one of them.”

Recycling in the workplace, I have no doubt is being brought to the attention of more employees, but I think it depends on the work environment and the dedication of people to want to recycle. Some companies recycle one or two things but not others that are just as important. Take my example from earlier about the printed paper. Of course some people will participate more than others but reminding fellow employees to recycle just might make even a difference. I remember in one of my previous jobs, cardboard boxes were never thrown away.

To get very specific of the section I’m talking about, here’s the link:

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/WasteAtWork.htm#_Recycling

There were lots to the “key office wastes…” portion. The bullets helped in reading ways to minimize stationary. I used to type letters to a friend of mine who lived in Massachusetts but I’d send them by mail. When she responded, she’d write in pen on the back of my computer printed letter. It’s good to reuse paper clips and scrap paper as well. A lot of things on this list seem to be easy to remember when working but I forget almost all the time.

Recycle
Set up an office paper-recycling scheme. White paper is of a high grade and so is in demand from the paper industry. The market for this quality is much more stable than lower grades.
Check with your current waste management company whether they offer waste collection services for recycling.
Get in touch with your local authority recycling officer to check the services available. These may include storage containers or compacting equipment for large amounts of waste paper, as well as the handling of confidential paper waste.
Send CDRoms for recycling (see contacts)
Recycle ink cartridges or refill for your own use
Encourage staff to participate in recycling by keeping them informed about recycling performance.
Train your staff on the segregation of waste and provide appropriate storage containers, which are clearly labelled.

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/WasteAtWork.htm#_Key

This is similar to what I was talking about with reminding fellow employees about recycling. It would be a tough job and I think one of the most forgettable recycling materials is ink cartridges. When we run out of computer ink, recycling it isn’t the first thing that’s on my mind. The ink is out, well time to throw it away and get another one. I might have to reuse a sticky paper to remind myself.

Hope you enjoyed this folks. Have a good week and stay relaxed.

Freecycle and a Recycling Robot

Good morning readers. The second week in a row I’m writing on a Monday morning. I do not like this trend. Hope everyone had a more relaxing weekend than I did. My weekend was full of traveling around Tucson and into Vail with a fellow Cat Scan classmate. We’re in the process of writing about how various golf courses in Tucson manage their water. We’ve taken a lot of photos but now it’s a matter of getting the interviews we want. Time is ticking away.

I didn’t get to talk to people about what they recycle but once again the internet comes through and so I found more interesting stuff you folks should check out. Last week I found this freecycle website and I looked a little more into it. Tucson has its own Freecycle Network group. There are 8,496 members in the Tucson group. The website didn’t look like much but the information it provided can be very helpful for those interested in joining. I want to reference a couple things from this website but please visit it anyway.

Here’s some brief information on the Freecycle Network:

“The Freecycle Network is open to all who want to recycle that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it's a chair, fax machine, piano or old door, feel free to post it. Nonprofit groups are welcome! One constraint: everything must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages. More info and list guidelines are sent on membership approval.”

For those who are interested in the statistics of the Freecycle Network and wonder how many joined, there’s a chart that shows it. The numbers fluctuate but it has come a way since beginning in 2003. This and more can be found at this website:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle/

I also found another website that’s full of materials that should be recycled. One product I haven’t brought up is yellow pages recycling. This website has a lot on recycled materials and I’m probably going to reference it again in the future. This is one section of the website on recycling yellow pages.

Yellow Pages
· The dye in these directories makes them unsuitable for normal recycling. Also large numbers are discarded around the same time, as a new edition arrives, and so much material would taint batches of paper pulp.
Most collection services will take Yellow pages through a box collection or from designated local collection points. Contact your local council for more information.

What Happens Next?
Yellow Pages are treated in a different way to other types of paper. Covers and glue are removed, pages are shredded and used in lots of imaginative ways: for animal bedding, Jiffy bags, cardboard and insulation for houses. An innovative scheme in Devon used shreddings beneath road surfaces to reduce noise. Near the Tewkesbury-based Highbed Paper Bedding company, some larger stables send used bedding for composting, so ensuring yet another ‘life’ and making maximum use of old Yellow Pages.

http://www.recyclingconsortium.org.uk/recycling/index.htm

I thought I’d leave you all with a funny article to read. This was on the same website where I found the recycling consortium index. It’s about a robot named Cycler and it teaches kids how to recycle. Kids were excited to see this recycling robot. It made me chuckle, did any of you have a recycling robot visit your school because I didn’t.

http://www.recyclingconsortium.org.uk/news/index.htm

Have a good week folks and stay relaxed.

If you wish to learn more about freecycle, read John DeDios story:

Freecycle Network Offers Tucsonans a Sense of Responsibility, Community

Good morning readers,

It feels weird posting on a Monday morning. I’m used to updating this on Sunday nights. Like any normal college student this last week was crazy. I put together a story on green foods and products and ran into some difficult people for interviews but got the job done. That’s all I can ask for.

I interviewed Mike Elton, the store director for Sunflower Market, and without asking a question regarding recycling he told me he recycles in his household.

“I try to buy products, like recycled cartons,” Elton said. “I recycle my newsprint and my cans and bottles.”

I know it sounds like basic recycling but hey every little bit helps. I thought to myself if he works at a place like Sunflower Market, I hope he recycles. Just kidding.

I also interviewed Joanna Kewin, the office manager at Destech, said she’d love to recycle more when her and her husband Sean get a house.

I found a couple of new websites on recycling that might interest you folks. If you get a chance, check them out. The first one I found is called The Green Girl Recycling Services. This company is out of Colorado and they go out and pick up your recycling. On the main page I noticed they pick up wood pallets and I don’t think I’ve mentioned anything about wood recycling on this blog. Unfortunately when you click on it, it says, “More info soon.” In the “About us section,” there’s information on various ways to recycle and how to prepare the items.

This is a list of what this company takes and what they don’t. Here are some items I thought were interesting. If you want to look at the whole list the site is:

http://thegreengirl.com/about.html

Hard-to-Recycle Items:1. Packing Peanuts-tied in plastic bag, books, sneakers, small scrap metals, clothing, computer components and loose plastic bags.

The following is a list of all of the items that The Green Girl recycles and how to prepare them for recycling.
Glass:
Jars and bottles only (Green, white and brown).
No dishes, mirrors, light bulbs, window glass, auto glass or drinking glasses
Please rinse glass out well, labels o.k.

Cans/Steel/Aluminum
Aluminum, tin and steel cans (rinse please)
Aluminum foil (please rinse if soiled)
Aluminum pie pans and go-to containers (rinsed)
No scrap metal with the aluminum please

Once again I recommended looking at the whole list.

This was a little less than what I’ve wanted to address but there’s always next week. This week I’ll look around this site called freecycle.org. Until then take care folks and have a relaxing week.