CarbonFeet

Each and every year thousands upon thousands of tons of trash is poured into landfills. Though we are in no immediate danger of running short on landfill space, this is expensive in terms of space, time, and energy invested, along with the sheer waste of materials that will not be used again. With that in mind, consider the reasons below for keeping your steel and aluminum cans out of the landfill by recycling them instead.

1. Aluminum that has been recycled is used for new projects within 2 months. On the other hand, it would take over 200 years for that same to break down naturally if were just thrown away.

2. Recycled aluminum and steel are have exactly the same composition as ‘new’ aluminum and steel. Recycled metals are simply melted down and then forged into new products, which can then be recycled again when they are finished being used.

3. Metal cans can be recycled for cash at many places. Various states offer five cents per can recycled, and certain centers offer between fifty cents and two dollars for every pound of cans recycled.

4. Recycling is not just about material savings, but also about energy consciousness. Each aluminum can recycled saves enough energy to run a television for 3 hours.

5. The 100,000,000 ‘new’ steel cans produced on a daily basis contain 25% recycled materials. That is the equivalent of 25 million reclaimed cans versus 75 million completely new cans. If people recycled more frequently, that number could easily jump to 50-50 and a huge amount of energy and resources would be saved.

6. There are can crushing machines on the market, including some that can be made at home for almost no cost. This removes the a commonly used excuse that recycling cans takes up too much space.

http://www.cancrusher.org.uk is a site offering information about recycling aluminum and steel cans.

Being an environmentally aware company not only looks good to customers and the community, it can also significantly reduce costs. So, what can be done to make a company greener and cleaner?

Reduce wastage – Practically every company produces waste of some sort, whether it be paper or left over raw products, and where there is waste, there is a way of reducing it. Being more careful and precise when creating products, using less packaging, and sending invoices electronically, are just a few examples of ways that wastage can be reduced.

Re-Use Paper – Paper is the most wasted item in most companies, despite it being relatively easy to re-use, or to not use at all. A few ideas to consider are printing on both sides of a piece of paper, keeping scrap paper next to the printer for use for internal / test documents, and sending emails rather than letters.

Buy Recycled Paper – Producing one tonne of recycled paper saves 3000 liters of water and 78% energy use. Air emissions of gases such as CO2 are cut by 95% and there is less pollution because recycled paper is not bleached with chlorine. As for purchasing recycled paper, it is no more expensive than virgin paper, and nowadays the quality is as good.

Recycle Printer Cartridges – Around 2 million printer cartridges are discarded every year. Recycling cartridges is easy as many suppliers offer a return scheme for used cartridges. Using recycled toner cartridges reduces demand for raw materials and they can be purchased for as little as half the price of non-recycled cartridges.

Re-Use Plastic Cups – Around 8% of global annual oil production is currently used in the manufacturing of plastics and the process of production uses harmful chemicals. (Waste Online, 2008) Plastics are non-biodegradable and may take hundreds of years to decompose. So, if an office has a vending machine, employees can re-use a plastic cup throughout the day or perhaps keep their own mug at their desk.

Recycle Aluminum – Aluminum is the most valuable and cost-effective waste stream to recycle. Metals can be recycled indefinitely and production from recycled metals requires just 5% of the energy required for primary production, whilst cutting CO2 emissions by a staggering 95%. So, why not set up a collection point next to vending machines or in canteen area?

Ware 4 Recycling Bins Ltd have been promoting cost effective bins, trolleys and waste containers for over 5 years. For more info, visit Ware 4 Ltd.

There are many reasons to buy used computers rather than new ones. While it is true than in many cases you should buy new electronics, this does not always apply to computers. Computers are a species all their own and you should keep that in mind while shopping. Before you buy a new computer read my reasons for buying a used computer.

Refurbished is another term for used. The difference is that these have at least been tested by professionals and possibly redone as well. You can usually count on them at least having a fresh installation of the operating system when you receive them. With these you can usually be sure they will be in good working condition when you receive them. A lot of these also come with at least a limited warranty.

If possible, always test before renting computers. If you are buying online then read the description carefully and you should ask questions if you are unsure of something. You should also know what all you will be getting. If you have a monitor then you may be able to buy a tower alone much cheaper. If you need the monitor then you can usually buy it with the tower cheaper than you can if you buy them separately.

You may want to get a computer that comes with a restore disk. If you don’t have this and you ever have the need to reformat your computer then you may have to spend a lot of money to buy an operating system. The restore disk will restore the computer to the original setting but anything you have downloaded or saved may be erased.

Warranties on new computers really aren’t as great as most people think. Most stores won’t accept a returned computer for any reason after 15 days. Past that time you have to call the company that made the computer and they will send you parts or ask you to send the unit in for repair. This can be a headache and take forever to get your computer back to running even if the company does as promised.

While I have known several people who have had no problems with companies honoring the warranties, I have had quiet a bit of problems in this area. In fact, I have had so many problems that I would prefer to buy used computers and then fix them myself if anything goes wrong. To me, this is just easier and cheaper in the long run.

If you look around you can find used computers that offer everything the new computers do. You can buy them with just as much memory and hard drive space, which are 2 of the main things I usually look at. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with these computers. People find that they either don’t need them or they have upgraded because they want a newer model.

If you are looking for a computer then you should at least think about used computers. This can save you a lot of money and you can still be just as happy with these.

At low prices and with such convenient access, computer recycling Toronto is an economically viable option for those seeking quality technology. Another recommended alternative is renting computers, which allows users to conserve money and test the platform first-hand.