People watching TV in 1990 might remember seeing commercials from DuPont declaring that empty plastic containers weren’t trash—they were “full of potential,” and that potential could only be harnessed by people recycling plastic. That same year, Coca-Cola began making bottles using recycled plastic. By 1992, there were nearly 5,000 curbside recycling programs in the U.S....Continue Reading

People who strive to be environmentally conscious might ask themselves if there is anything that one person or one business can do to lessen the impact of climate change. It’s such an overwhelming problem that it can be hard to believe that small-scale actions could make a difference. Using recycling services really can make a...Continue Reading

You have a lot to think about in the course of a typical day. The fate of your disposable coffee cup probably ranks low on the list of your daily concerns. Wonder no more: Whether you toss it in a trash can or in a recycling bin for mixed paper, that cup is almost certainly...Continue Reading

Maybe you’ve heard about scrapping but aren’t quite sure what it is, whether your business is supposed to be doing it, or whether it’s worth the effort. The scrapping definition is pretty easy to guess at (spoiler: it involves scrap metal!). Why it matters, though? There are both financial and environmental answers to that question....Continue Reading

The world has gone digital, you say? Tell it to the people who dispose of your paper. As they well know, paper is still everywhere. Paper makes up about one quarter of all trash in the U.S., according to the EPA, and nearly 20 million tons of mixed paper ends up landfilled each year. But...Continue Reading

Quick quiz: Which of the following could contaminate your recycling? Cardboard frozen food boxes A bag of shredded paper from your shredder An empty, unwashed dog food can Plastic garbage bags If you guessed all of them, you’re already ahead of the game when it comes to sorting recyclables. Contamination is a huge and costly...Continue Reading

Some of the electronics that were on the cutting edge a decade ago are nearly obsolete now. (Here’s looking at you, iPod Touch.) Electronics of all kinds have limited lifespans. When you’re done with them, you could turn a storage room into an electronics graveyard – but why do that when you have electronics recycling...Continue Reading

Recycling is both socially and fiscally responsible, as you surely know. Adding less waste to our landfills and using less of our limited natural resources – what’s not to like? Just about everyone at your workplace likely agrees. But if yours is like most companies, your current recycling processes probably leave a lot of room...Continue Reading

Plastic is like trees: it’s everywhere, and you know it when you see it, but you probably can’t explain the difference between types. And why would you be able to? Life is complicated enough without having to commit to memory the ways that HDPE differs from LDPE; unless, of course, you work in the plastics...Continue Reading

Your intentions may be good, but your recycling practices may not be – and it’s time to change that. The term “wish-cycling” was coined to describe the phenomenon of people recycling things that they think or hope can be recycled. The pizza box made of cardboard (covered in grease), the plastic peanut butter jar (still...Continue Reading