Start Your Own Eco Business-00-991 (outdoor pets)
No commentsBy topgreen
There are many benefits to running an online business, and one of the most important benefits is the environmental ones. Its becoming increasingly clear that we need to be paying close attention to how our actions affect the environment. Choosing to work from home can have a positive effect on the environment. You can be making money with your computer and going green at the same time. Sounds good, right?
One of the biggest environmental benefits of starting a home business is obvious. You will significantly cut down the amount of pollution that you are creating by avoiding the daily commute to work. Instead of spending a half hour or more in your car helping to exhaust the worlds supply of limited oil and contributing to greenhouse gasses, youll head from your breakfast table to your home office in your slippers if you want to.
While the savings in pollution may be one of the biggest environmental benefits, running a home business gives you the flexibility to make many other choices that affect the environment.
Your office supplies When you work in a company office, the supplies bought are done so with little thought to the environment. In your home office you can choose pencils made with wood from sustainable forests. You can choose the best recycled printer paper that you can afford.
Your clothing When you work in an office, you understandably need to dress professionally and often need to have a large, varied wardrobe. When you work from home you can buy a few organic cotton t-shirts and jeans to work in and have an eco-friendly work wardrobe.
Your lighting, heating and cooling - Offices are large energy hogs. People who work in a cubicle cant turn off the lights when they are going to be gone from their cubicle. Not too many workers would be happy with the office manager keeping the heat down and telling employees to wear an extra sweater. When you have a home business you can use CFL bulbs in your lighting and turn the lighting off whenever youre not using it. You can adjust the thermostat to save energy and choose to put on another sweater if its chilly or wear a tank top if its warm. You are in control of these things that affect the environment.
Your food choices This may seem like a stretch, but really its not. People who work in an office tend to go out to lunch or order lunch in. Its not very easy to eat an environmentally friendly diet with organics or local foods that way. But when you work from home, you can eat eco-friendly foods without a problem. Dont forget the coffee choices, too. You can brew organic, fair trade coffee at home for a more environmentally friendly coffee break instead of having to accept the cheap coffee at work.
When you add all the little environmentally friendly choices that you are able to make with your own home business to the big environmental savings youll get from giving up the commute, its easy to see how working from home not only benefits you; it benefits the environment.
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Is There A Need For Mobile Phone Recycling?
By Clayton Fisher
Do we need to recycle cell phones? Absolutely!
For the longest time, I was one of those who never had a clue that cellular phones can be even be recycled. A lot of people these days have one or several cell phones hidden in a closet somewhere. After a while, when we rediscover these cell phones, these will probably end up in the garbage bin, and eventually, in our town’s dump site.
Could there be a better, more environmentally-friendly solution? Let’s recycle our cell phones.
The Great Cell Phone Deluge
Here are the facts about the sorry state of cell phone recycling in the US today. Every year, 37 million more old cell phones are hidden in our drawers, and 10 million more units end up in our landfills. Out of the 125 million used phones discarded every year, only 9.4% are recycled. There are now close to a billion total discarded cell phones in America, today.
Like most electronic waste, cellular phones contain metals and chemicals that are extremely lethal to humans. Toxic heavy metals like lead, mercury, and cadmium are found in the circuit boards and batteries of cell phones. Carcinogenic chemicals like brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are also found in the casing of many cell phones. Lead, one of the most dangerous metals known, has been associated with brain development problems in children and diminished brain functions in adults. Cadmium mixtures are carcinogenic and exposure to this element can cause liver, kidney (irreversible, and often fatal), respiratory and bone density complications.
In regards to solid waste disposal and landfills in this country, can we guarantee that the electronic wastes we deposit in our landfills wont be able to leach harmful chemicals to our underground water systems? I dont know about you, but Im not prepared to take chances on the health of my family or yours, in such uncertain conditions. The probability of contamination is always there. Putting e-waste in our landfills is tantamount to poisoning ourselves.
How Do People Make Money From Cell Phone Recycling?
If you need fast cash, recycling your old phones can be quite a good source of money. You can arrange for the transaction in the internet, and the phone trading or refurbishing companies will pay as much as $50 for each phone you sell them. So, how do these businesses get paid. Simple. They market these phones, for a good mark-up, to wholesale (usually in lots of 100) buyers in Africa or Asia. You made some money from the sale of a used item, while helping bring communications capability to the developing countries. Think about it.
Umicore, a European recycling firm, harvests precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, copper, and coltan, as well as manufacturing recyclables like glass and plastic from tons of old cell phones. They call this recycling of precious metals surface mining. Theres actually more gold to be harvested in a ton of used phones than from 17 tons of gold ores! Less than half of 1% of the electronic waste that go through the recycling process can not be returned to the production cycle and is then burned for energy generation.
Its not advisable to try and extract valuable metals from your old wireless on your own, because of the toxic industrial chemicals involved plus the fact that theres just barely a trace of these metals found in each cell phone. The largerecycling plants make money by processing millions of old cellular phones.
How do you recycle cell phones?
Donate your cell phone to your favorite charity.
Im sure that, in the past, youve given assistance to a charitable organization like The Salvation Army or a health-advocacy and support organization like the Smile Train. Well, did you know that you can also help them through cell phone donations? Its certainly a good opportunity to help your trusted non-profit collect funds for their altruistic activities, by giving an item thats otherwise, useless. In the hands of these organizations, your cell phones could be instrumental to make a difference in other peoples situations.
Give your old or used phones to family or friends.
How frequently do Americans change their cell phones? A study by EPA shows that a sizable majority of people replace their cell phones every 18 months, on average. Obviously, after 1 and years of use, these old phones are still quite functional. You can extend the utility of these phones by giving them to a relative or a friend. Dont forget to ask your friend or relative to recycle the phones properly, when the time comes for them to discard it, later.
Recycle cell phones through recycling and refurbishing companies.
Another method thats fast and convenient is to sell your outdated mobile phone in the internet. Cellular phone trading and refurbishing sites, like Pacebutler Corporation in Edmond, Oklahoma will pay as much as $50 for each cell phone you sell to them. Just go to their website, find out how much theyre buying your phone, request for a pre-paid shipping label, and send them your phones. How fast is this process? Usually, youll have your check within 4-5 business days after they received your phones.
Recycle cell phones through the manufacturer or service provider.
Cell phone producers are always focused about their supply of production resources. Companies like Nokia, Alcatel, Motorola, as well as service networks like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, all have cell phone trade-in or repurchase programs to make sure that they have a constant supply of recyclables for their production cycle. Mailing your old phones back to them ensures that these units are recycled properly. Many companies will cover shipping, and most have their own drop boxes in phone stores nationwide
Ive shared with you here just some methods to recycle that old cell phone in your locker, right now. Dont forget to share these tips with friends and ask them to recycle, as well. Together, we can create so much good helping preserve the environment and safeguarding our own health, through cell phone recycling.
Lets recycle old our cell phones, today. Its an easy call to make.
Clayton Fisher contributes articles to the Pacebutler Recycling and Environmental blog. Pacebutler Corporation of Edmond, Oklahoma is one of the phone trading companies that buy used phones directly from US phone users. If you would like to donate cell phones to your favorite non-profit , please visit the cell donations page.
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Using Recycled Moving Boxes
By Amy Nutt
When you move, you are going to have a huge impact on the environment. Any time someone moves, they inevitably do away with loads of belongings that they no longer need. You have probably seen the curb of your neighbor’s house when he moved piled high with junk and items that were once valuable to him.
Of course, when you move in to your new home, you are also going to face a situation where you are going to impact the environment. Once you are done unpacking, what are you going to do with all of those cardboard boxes? One way to help reduce your impact on the environment when you move is to look into your options for recycled moving boxes.
Environmental Impact of Moving Boxes
You may not think that the moving boxes you use when you move will make that big of an impact on the environment, but they do. Think about the fact that one ton of cardboard takes up nine cubic yards of landfill space. While you do not have one ton of cardboard after your move, you do have quite a bit, and what you recycle is kept out of the landfills. Also, corrugated cardboard boxes are the most prevalent type of paper waste, so recycling your boxes and using recycled boxes makes a huge difference in the environment.
Creative Ways to Get Recycled Moving Boxes
If you want to use recycled moving boxes, you have several options to consider. The tried and true way to gather moving boxes for your move, without buying them, is to contact your local grocery and other local merchants and ask them if you can have their boxes. You may or may not be able to have them, but it never hurts to ask.
Keep in mind that these boxes are not always ideal. Sometimes they are damaged, as grocery store workers are not careful when they open them since they do not need to keep them. Sometimes the cardboard has been damaged by the knife when the boxes were opened, so they will not hold up well for another use. There is also the risk of pests when you get boxes from a retail store, especially when they originally held food. Some boxes may have been spilled on as well, so you may end up throwing away many of the boxes that you receive. This, of course, eliminates some of the benefit of recycling.
Another option is to purchase recycled moving boxes. These boxes are typically more affordable than regular ones, and they are made as durable as brand new moving boxes. You can order them online or from a local box recycling company. Either way, you will get what looks like new boxes but will be benefiting from the fact that you are using recycled materials to house your belongings during your move.
If you do decide to use recycled moving boxes, be sure to check the dimensions of the boxes before you order. What one person labels a “wardrobe” box to another is not large enough. Rather than relying on the labels the box recycling company places on the boxes, take out a tape measure so you can visualize what the actual measurements will be. Make sure you have boxes that will hold your valuables.
Using recycled cardboard boxes when you move is easy and does not have to cost much. You simply need to know where to look to find great boxes that are going to be thrown out or are made from recycled materials, make your order or request, and start packing. You will rest easier knowing that your move is going to make less of a negative impact on the world around you.
Specializes in Recycled moving boxes, used and Recycled boxes and supplies and promotes green-to-green environmental savings.
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 9:30 pm and is filed under environmental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
