Waste
is an unwanted or undesired material or substance. It is also referred to as rubbish, trash, garbage, or junk depending upon the type of material and the regional terminology. In living organisms, waste relates to unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from them.
Most waste is comprised of Paper, Plastic, Metals, Glass, Food Waste, Human and Animal Waste and Wood.
Although most of this waste is recyclable, very few of it makes it to a recycling facility. Plastics, Metals and Glass can sit in landfills for millions of years before they break down. And when incinerated, they release toxic fumes. In developed area, there are services that will remove these materials, and properly recycle them. But for most people, no service exists. Recycling takes much energy, a lot of labor, and does not leave much of a final product. For most of the world it is a lot easier to just throw it in the garbage than take the hassle of recycling it.
Education and awareness in the area of waste and waste management is increasingly important from a global perspective of resource management. The Talloires Declaration is a declaration for sustainability concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of environmental pollution and degradation, and the depletion of natural resources. Local, regional, and global air pollution; accumulation and distribution of toxic wastes; destruction and depletion of forests, soil, and water; depletion of the ozone layer and emission of "green house" gases threaten the survival of humans and thousands of other living species, the integrity of the earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the heritage of future generations. Several universities have implemented the Talloires Declaration by establishing environmental management and waste management programs, e.g. the waste management university project. University and vocational education are promoted by various organizations, e.g. WAMITAB and Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.
Recycling
We all know that it’s better to re-use an item than throw it away. It’ll be good for our budget since we don’t have to buy a new item, it’s very good to our environment which happen to be our only planet. Recycling cuts domestic waste that should’ve been dump in landfills. If each one of use does our share and recycle, the world will be a better and clean place to live.
Simple steps to follow
Search for programs in your area that involves recycling. Usually they have centers that process the items to be recycled.
Segregate the items to be recycled. For example, aluminum cans, plastic drink bottles, and newspapers, you will want to have separate bins for each type of item, as well as a waste bin for non-recyclable wastes.
Leave your bins in an appropriate collection area, or take your recycling to a processing center yourself once you've accumulated enough to make it worth the trip.
You can check out a good resource for recycling programs in the U.S. at http://www.nrc-recycle.org/consumers.aspx
A lot of states provide small cash rewards for each item recycled, not bad huh. Also, some centers require you to wash items or remove labels or lids. Find out what your center requires before making the trip.
Here are the following items that can be recycled:
Newspapers, TV guides, Magazine, Phone books, old books, love letters from a creepy guy
Car Batteries, Flashlight batteries, any batteries
Bottles, jars, other glass items
Paper and plastic bags (reuse first if possible)
Juice/soup/milk cartons
Plastic Bottles, Plastic Containers
Cans and tins
Recycling E-waste
Electronics have revolutionized our lifestyle. Telephones, radios, TVs, computers and cell phones are items we use daily. These items make up the bulk of electronics that threaten the environment, because of their hazardous ingredients.
This section of waste is referred to as electronic waste, or e-waste.
Reuse and proper recycling prevents e-waste from reaching landfills, provides usable items to organizations that need them and recaptures valuable resources.
As new products hit the market, relevant information and resources are necessary to ensure old items are properly discarded. So, next time you upgrade that cell phone, or get the latest video game system, think twice about what happens to the old gadget:
Donate it. Either give it to a friend or family member that could benefit from a change. Old to you, is new to someone else. There are also organizations that collect old electronics and resell them for profit.
Consider renting or leasing electronics. If you’re going to upgrade in a year anyway, why waste the money?
If you do buy, buy green! With the ever changing and growing field of technology, companies make better devices that are more aware of their environmental impact. Research a product before you purchase it and support businesses that are doing their part.
Recycling Organic Materials
Composting is the aerobic decomposition of biodegradable organic matter, producing compost. (Or in a simpler form: Composting is the decaying of food, mostly vegetables or manure.) The decomposition is performed primarily by facultative and obligate aerobic bacteria, yeasts and fungi, helped in the cooler initial and ending phases by a number of larger organisms, such as springtails, ants, nematodes and oligochaete worms.
Composting can be divided into home composting and industrial composting. Essentially the same biological processes are involved in both scales of composting, however techniques and different factors must be taken into account.
It is important to distinguish between terms such as "biodegradable", "compostable", and "compost-compatible".
A biodegradable material is capable of being broken down completely under the action of microorganisms into carbon dioxide, water and biomass. It may take a very long time for a material to biodegrade depending on its environment (e.g. hardwood in an arid area), but it ultimately breaks down completely.
A compostable material biodegrades substantially under composting conditions, into carbon dioxide, methane, water and compost biomass. Compost biomass refers to the portion of the material that is metabolized by the microorganisms and which is incorporated into the cellular structure of the organisms or converted into humic acids etc. Compost biomass residues from a compostable material are fully biodegradable. "Compostable" is thus a subset of "biodegradable". The size of the material is a factor in determining compostability because it affects the rate of degradation. Large pieces of hardwood may not be compostable under a specific set of composting conditions, whereas sawdust of the same type of wood may be.
A compost-compatible material does not have to be compostable or even biodegradable. It may biodegrade too slowly to be compostable itself, or it may not biodegrade at all. However, it is not readily distinguishable from the compost on a macroscopic scale and does not have a deleterious effect on the compost (e.g. it is not a biocide). Compost-compatible materials are generally inert and are present in compost at relatively low levels. Examples of compost-compatible materials include sand particles and inert particles of plastic.
Visit this site for more information on composting compostathome.info
Convert a Car to Run on Vegetable Oil
Diesel engines can run on three basic types of fuel: petroleum diesel, biodiesel, and straight vegetable oil (SVO). Diesel fuel produces carbon dioxide, pollution, particulates and sulfur emissions and increases reliance on foreign oil because it comes from petroleum. Any diesel engine can run on biodiesel. Biodiesel is a clean-burning fuel made from domestic, renewable plant sources, such as oils from vegetables, peanuts, soy beans, canola/rape seeds, hemp seeds and some grains. It has undergone the process of transesterification, a simple chemical modification of ordinary vegetable oil that makes the fuel usable in diesel engines and keeps it from thickening at colder temperatures.
Nearly any newer diesel engine can be converted to run on vegetable oil as long as it doesn’t have rubber seals in its fuel system (only older diesels use rubber seals). The rubber seals will deteriorate when exposed to vegetable oil over time because vegetable oil acts as a solvent.
Install a vegetable oil fuel conversion kit or have a mechanic do it. You should keep the original gas tank to hold regular diesel or biodiesel fuel for cold weather. Install a second tank for vegetable oil. The conversion kit should include hoses from the car's radiator to the vegetable oil tank to heat the oil via a heat exchanger before it enters the final fuel filter and injectors inside the engine compartment.
Get vegetable oil. New vegetable oil is easiest to acquire but very expensive. Restaurants will often give you their waste oil for free. Chinese and Japanese restaurants are best because their oils comes out cleanest. The oil should be amber in color. Oil from other types of restaurants may also be suitable but could require more filtering to remove food particles. You will need a few containers for transferring the oil from the source to your filtering destination. The five-gallon jugs that the restaurants receive the fresh oil in work fine. Restaurants are usually happy to give you these containers since it saves them disposal fees.
Filter the oil. Use filter bags that are rated to 0.5 microns thick. To increase the life of your filter bags, first allow the oil to sit in a barrel for about a week to let particulate matter settle to the bottom. Then, pump or scoop the oil into a filter bag suspended above a fresh empty barrel from the top of the barrel (since most of the food particles matter and possible water is at the bottom). Start your engine using regular diesel or biodiesel fuel from the normal gas tank. Once the engine and vegetable oil are warm (after about 15 minutes depending on weather), switch to allow the vegetable oil to flow into the fuel source.
Switch back to diesel or biodiesel a few minutes before you stop your engine for any time (about 10 minutes depending on the temperature) to make sure the vegetable oil is purged from the fuel line and injectors so that they don't become clogged when the engine cools
Recycle printer cartridges.
Probably the easiest and most cost-effective way to recycle used printer cartridges is to refill and reuse them. These kits are easy to find at most anyplace you buy cartridges. Included in each one is black and/or colored inks, syringes, needles, gloves to protect your hands and instructions. The cost of the refill kits depend on the manufacturer, ink color and the amount of ink you get in a kit. By using refill kits for your printer, you not only save a bundle of money, but you don't have any cartridges to get rid of either.
The manufacturers of ink cartridges understand the problem with their products clogging up our landfills as well. For this reason, many companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Epson and Lexmark, just to name a few, offer their customers instructions about how they can recycle their printer ink cartridges. For detailed information about each recycling program, visit the individual website of the company who makes your printer ink. Some companies will even pay for the cost of shipping the cartridges to them.
Another way to recycle used printer ink cartridges is to take them to retailers such as Office Depot, OfficeMax or Staples. Some companies will simply accept the cartridges and recycle them as a free service to their customers. Others, however, may offer you a trade for your cartridge. Turn in your old cartridge, and you may get a free product, a store coupon or a discount on a new one.
How to Make $ from Recycling Ink Cartridges
Collect empty or used inkjet, laser, and/or toner cartridges. And if you're feeling adventurous, even old cell phones. Ask family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors to save their cartridges for you. Collect them in a box or a plastic container so leftover ink does not ruin anything. (If collecting cell phones as well, store in a separate container.)
Check out the following web-sites to determine which company fits your collection the best. Browse through their price lists. Identify your ink cartridges using the brand name, and cartridge number. This is the info you will use to determine which site accepts which cartridges, and can be found on your cartridges label or the box it came in.
Web-sites:
www.staplesrecyclefored.com
www.tonerbuyer.com
www.advantagecartridge.com
http://www.ecyclegroup.com/
After picking which company is going to work best for you, request their recycling kit. This will typically include free shipping labels, specific packing instructions, forms to fill out, and how to ship the cartridges. Take note that each company will have a minimum number of cartridges that can be sent at one time. It ranges from 6-20 depending on the web-site.
Once you receive the recycling kit and have enough cartridges to send, it's time to pack them up. Wrap each cartridge in newspaper, bubble wrap or most cartridges will come with a small envelope from the manufacturer to ship the cartridge back to them for recycling. These are also convenient to use for shipping. Pack wrapped cartridges in a box, seal with packing tape, and place appropriate shipping labels on the box.
Each company will specify how to ship, whether through mail, using UPS, or Fed-ex. Take package to appropriate drop-off location.
Wait for your check and continue collecting cartridges!!
If collecting old cell phones to recycle. Follow the company's web-site instructions for shipping those.
Web-sites that offer cell phone recycling:
www.advantagecartridge.com
www.eCycleGroup.com
How to Recycle Your Computer
Technology advances in leaps and bounds, and today's hot new technological item becomes tomorrow's paperweight in a distressingly short period of time. It's easy to forget how durable most technological items can be, and that an "obsolete" computer still holds considerable use for the right buyer. If you're upgrading your old Mac or PC to a new system, you can recycle your old computer rather than just throwing it out.
1. Decide if your computer can be recycled. If it still functions, then you can likely donate it to a charity or give it to a business which specializes in refurbishing computers. If it isn't working, however, it should probably be set aside for responsible destruction.
2. Call local schools and ask if they could use an older computer. Most public districts, especially those with limited funding, are happy to see donated electronics in their classroom for student use.
3. Research companies that buy or recycle old computers. Many computer manufacturers will take back old models, and electronic recycling firms might even buy it from you if it still functions. Be sure to call them to find out if they will accept your computer.
4. Include things such as the keyboard, mouse, printer cables and other accessories with your computer. Charities which accept it will need them to operate the machine, while recycling or refurbishing outlets may be able to use them with other computers.
5. Make sure you still have original copies of the software, particularly the operating system. Charitable organization need the OS to function, since they often lack the resources to purchase new ones. You must pass along the original disks, the user manual and other forms of documentation to ensure that the donation is legal.
6. Adhere to any packaging or delivery instructions that the organization asks you to follow. Some may require careful packaging, while others may need you to bring it to a specified place.
7. Get a receipt for your computer, including a tally of all the accessories and hardware included along with it. If you've donated it to a nonprofit organization, you can likely use it as a deduction on your taxes. If you've sold it to an organization to recycle, you want to make sure they have everything they need, and a receipt is the best way to keep records.
8. Set aside the documents, software and owner's manual for your new computer. It will make things easier when the time comes to recycle it.
9. You can always ship them to me!
Save the planet! Save our future!
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