Ways to Be More Green and Recycle
There are many ways to reduce your carbon footprint, be more green, and recycle. You can ensure your commercial waste bins include recycling bins and that your commercial waste disposal is done correctly and ethically. Some of the best examples are buying less stuff and recycling or composting. Others involve buying recycled office products and getting involved in local clean-up programs. You can help the planet by learning more about green living no matter what you do. And remember: there are many ways to save money as well! Please click here for more information and pricing on commercial waste.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Be More Green: Buy Less Stuff
Buying less stuff means buying items that last longer. This will result in a decrease in the need for commercial waste collections. This helps the environment and saves money at the same time.
- Purchasing durable goods also saves money over time.
- It is also more ecological to buy used items than buy new ones.
- Secondhand items are also available if you’re on a tight budget. By buying fewer items, you’ll have less stuff to dispose of.
- There are many ways to be more environmentally friendly and recycle. You will save money on your small business waste collection.
- Purchasing less stuff means reducing your carbon footprint.
- You won’t need as many commercial waste bins! Making new physical goods requires raw materials from the earth, processing energy, and transporting fuel.
- Purchasing fewer items means less trash to be dumped or composted.
- You can also save money by using recycled or secondhand goods.
It may not be as easy as you think. However, the savings will be well worth it. Buying less stuff doesn’t mean having to give up certain items you need. Studies have shown that consumers who buy less stuff also have better well-being. This may be because they don’t have as many possessions as others. Some people feel better after releasing the burden of ownership. Another study found that consumers who buy less stuff tend to experience lower psychological distress and more favourable personal well-being than others.
Hence, reducing your consumption is a surefire way to make the environment and yourself feel better.
Be More Green: Business Recycling
One of the best ways to be green is to recycle. Recycling saves energy, but it also helps protect the environment from pollution. It also reduces the need to extract raw materials and the amount of waste in landfills. And it allows products to be used to their maximum capacity.
Recycling helps save energy and cuts the cost of producing new materials by about 70%.
This way, we can use the money we save on other needs. The energy saved by recycling glass bottles and aluminium cans can power a light bulb for four hours. Not only does recycling help save energy, but it reduces our dependence on foreign oil. Recyclables also reduce pollution caused by waste burning. And as recycling reduces waste in landfills, it also keeps potentially methane-releasing waste out of the atmosphere.
This is important for the environment because landfills add contaminants to groundwater. However, this method of recycling has its critics. Some argue that recycling has become too easy and wasteful. Instead of being more green, consumers should reduce the amount of stuff they use. This means using less and not buying the eleventh water bottle. It is better to recycle a glass jar than buy a new one.
The same is true for plastic bags. And by reducing the number of items we use, we can make a more significant impact.
Be More Green: Composting
Composting is a natural way to recycle unavoidable food waste. Compost is a great way to reduce trash and enrich plant soil. Its benefits are numerous. More than three-quarters of all trash in the U.K. is compostable, and it diverts food from the trash and landfills. It also helps stabilise soil and replenish nutrients while diverting carbon from the atmosphere.
It can also be used as an organic fertiliser and significantly reduce food waste in the garbage. Food scraps are alive and full of energy. Composting these organic materials is a simple solution that can significantly impact them. To learn how to compost, visit CompostNow.com or the Veolia commercial waste website. You’ll be amazed at the results! By following these simple guidelines, you’ll be on your way to being more green and recycling! The NRDC encourages composting as a way to reduce food waste.
Aside from the immediate environmental benefits, composting can also have many indirect benefits for humans and animals. Composting helps the soil replenish nutrients and improves the structure and porosity for better root growth by reducing waste from landfills. It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by preventing the need to use chemical fertilisers. Lastly, composting helps save money by reducing the amount of trash thrown away.
Recycling codes |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
7 |
PETE |
HDPE |
V |
LDPE |
PP |
|
Polyethylene Terephthalate. |
High Density Polyethylene |
Polyvinyl Chloride |
Low-density Polyethylene |
Polypropylene |
All other plastics |
Be More Green: Air Conditioners
If you’ve been looking for ways to recycle and be more environmentally friendly, you may be interested in air conditioners. Today, most air conditioners are highly inefficient, contributing to climate change and global warming. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, indoor space cooling will use 10% of all electricity consumption by 2020 and 16% for homes. Most indoor cooling electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide into the air and promoting global warming.
Many retailers offer free disposal services to purchase a new air conditioner. Others allow you to trade in your old air conditioners for a discount on a new one. Depending on where you live, you can even donate an air conditioner to a local nonprofit organisation to receive a tax deduction. Some utilities also have recycling programs for old air conditioners. Some utilities even pay “bounty” payments for your old air conditioner.
Contact your local reuse centre if you want to donate your old air conditioner to an organisation. Some stores will take your old model for free, while others will trade it for a discount. There are two ways to recycle an air conditioner. The first option is to donate your old unit to a local charity. This way, you’ll be helping a charity and earn a tax deduction for your donation.
Be More Green: Clotheslines
If you haven’t heard, the Clothesline is a fun and green outdoor event. Held each September, the Clothesline Festival is free for kids and adults. It is also an opportunity to recycle and be more environmentally conscious, as participants will help the environment by hanging up their clean clothes. The Clothesline Festival will also feature a solar-powered water station, Ranger Recycling stations, and bicycle valets to help people recycle.
Be More Green: Buying Recycled Paper Towels
Purchasing recycled paper towels is an easy way to reduce your environmental impact and kitchen waste. Recycled paper is made from manufacturing waste fibre and repulped finished paper from obsolete inventories. Recycled paper is often rougher and has fewer fibres than virgin paper. It can come from various sources, but white recycled paper towels are generally processed without bleaching.
Meanwhile, brown paper towels are not bleached. Most paper towels are made from wood, cardboard, and other by-products. They are then pounded into pulp, which weakens the natural fibres. This pulp is then subjected to several chemical treatments. Once the pulp is made, it is made into squares of rolled paper. To make one ton of paper towels, approximately 17 trees are cut down, and 20,000 gallons of water are used.
This process creates a ton of waste. It is easy to reduce your environmental impact by purchasing recycled paper towels, even when you don’t use them every day. Recycled paper towels contain post-consumer fibre and are manufactured with only 20 per cent virgin wood products. The less virgin wood product, the better for the environment. The recycled material will reduce your water use and help keep forests alive.
In addition, the recycled paper towel will not require bleaching to achieve the white colour. Cutting down on driving A new poll shows that people are wrongly ranking climate action strategies and overestimating their impact on the environment. They overestimate the impact of less effective green actions like recycling and underestimate the number of people displaced by climate disasters. Recycling is further down the list than other green actions, such as reducing the number of children.
According to the Perils of Perception survey from market research firm Ipsos, the most effective method of reducing carbon footprint has fewer children. Luckily, tailpipe emissions have decreased 99% over the past half-century, but the number of vehicles has risen by 9%. Nevertheless, each vehicle emits 4.6 tons of carbon dioxide every year. By avoiding driving, you are doing the planet a huge favour. Try to carpool or combine your trips to reduce the number of trips you take. In addition, try to use public transportation instead of your car.
Be More Green – Learn more about UK business waste statistics here
Other useful links from our Commercial Waste Centre
Why Should Your Business Go Paperless?
Choosing a Garage Waste Management Service
Developing an EMS for Hazardous Waste
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