Why ecards are not killing Christmas

Modern Technology has transformed the world in which we live; especially in business, but new technology always has detractors. Recently, electronic greeting cards have come under attack from the Bishop of Hertford, the Rt Revd Paul Bayes. He slammed e-cards for crushing the festive spirit and stealing vital income away from charities that use greeting cards as a way to bring in funds during the festive season.

Alongside fair trade retail group, Traidcraft, the Bishop of Hertford is now looking to convince the public to begin buying traditional Christmas cards instead of using digital ecards. In lots of ways he may be right about individuals sending e-cards, but when it comes to corporate businesses the story is certainly different. Corporate e-cards are now hugely popular and doing a lot of good in the world in the following ways:

Saving trees

It may be true that e-cards are taking a slight bit of the fun out of sending cards to family and friends, but look at it from a business point of view. An organisation has to send out thousands of festive greetings rather than just a few, which has a huge effect on the amount of paper used. This means that every year hundreds of thousands of trees are cut down around the world to support corporate festive greeting cards. This is destroying the natural rain forest and habitats of exotic animals that are being forced to the edge of extinction by our paper usage. So sending an e-card makes sense when the environment is your top consideration.

Cutting carbon emissions

Businesses are being pressurized to cut carbon emissions vastly to hit Government targets and put an end to climate change. This makes the logistical ease of e-cards the perfect way to slash carbon emissions each festive season. Rather than having to transport thousands of cards to clients across the globe it takes just the click of a button to pass on festive greetings without harming the environment.

Giving something back to the environment

A bonus of buying your corporate e-cards at eco2greetings is that instead of just saving trees being pulled down and reducing your carbon footprint, they will even plant trees on your behalf. For every order of e-cards you place the team will plant ten trees across the world in the neediest areas. They will even promote this within your e-card to show your customers just how much you car about the environment.

Green and Clean Construction Sites

When working in construction, how often do you consider the materials being used and, more importantly, those being left behind?

It isn't a sector that most people contemplate when they think about being green and environmentally friendly yet, just like any other industry, they should play their part in going green.

Doing so can help the world, improve your business’ public image or simply boost morale. To this end, here are a few effective ways to improve your construction operations and go green.

Disposal

In most cases, the majority of materials can be recycled. Wood, metal and plastic are common examples.

As the world increasingly looks for sustainability, the construction sector is one area that should be leading the way. It is one thing to have a sustainable building but the process itself should be equally beneficial.

Luckily, there are plenty of disposal options for construction sites to use and it’s important to remember that government rulings dictate that all construction projects In England with a valued of over £300,000 must have a site waste management plan (SWMP) in place.

This should outline what waste your site will produce, how it will be disposed of, who will be responsible for the disposal process and the details of site where your waste will be sent.

Construction waste disposal provided by Bywaters is just one example a carrier who will handle your waste disposal for you and, if used, would be included within relevant SWMPs.

Materials

As stated, most materials can easily be recycled but that is still no excuse to not be proactive in your initial choice. Some, such as concrete, are not known for being environmentally friendly being both difficult to make and reuse.

An alternative choice would prove beneficial in a number of areas and many modern buildings now use metals and glass far more widely in the designs. Aside from creating the modern look seen in sleek city or urban residences, this approach uses materials that can (and may have already been) recycled.

As this area becomes more important, being able to offer such environmental benefits will help your company appeal to those who hold this as a high priority. Many people are concerned about their carbon footprint and don't want to be the owner of an impacting build.

What can't be recycled?

There will always be certain areas of construction where recycling isn't as easy, such as when dealing with hazardous waste. Yet even here there is always something that can be done.

Specific companies and services deal with this waste safely and find other uses for it where possible. An environmental service, such as Bywaters, can advise you on the safest way to get rid of these sorts of materials so that you’re business is kept as green as possible.

Making your business greener

The majority of businesses are making the conscious effort to go green as the new agenda continues to overflow with stories about carbon emissions and global warming. It is more than just saving the environment that is on the mind of a business though. Firstly, going greener normally means streamlining your organisational methods, which not only boosts the environment and productivity, but will more than likely save money over the longer period. Better still, consumers and other businesses are more likely to want to align with an organisation that has greener credentials and has taken steps to minimise their environmental impact. Here are some of things a business can do to improve its eco-friendliness:

Educate and involve staff

A business is nothing without its employees, so it is important to adjust their potentially wasteful behaviour. The main one being that many employees will drive separate cars to work even though they are coming from the same direction as many other colleagues. Instead of bringing their own vehicles you can encourage them to car share on the way to and from work to cut down on their carbon emissions and fuel consumption. By involving staff in being greener you can make them feel like a bigger part of the business and more motivated.

Appliances and energy consumption

The amount of energy that appliances and machinery use up on a daily basis is astonishing. It is important to understand your appliances and see how they perform to make sure you don’t have it on a setting that uses more power than necessary for the jobs you are doing on it. Keeping them maintained and efficient is another way to make a subtle difference to your levels of energy consumption. Also, always make sure that appliances, machinery and lights are all turned off when the factory or office is closed as otherwise you are throwing money and your green ambitions out of the window.

Paper usage and recycling

Paper usage is a big issue when it comes to life in the standard office. Unnecessary printing of emails, reports and letters is causing mass deforestation and causing environmental issues. One good way to save wasting paper is to try and do many more things electronically, like invoicing and paying bills. Christmas holiday eCards are a great way to stop the excessive mail out of festive greetings that squanders countless amounts of paper, which increases the deforestation issues. Reusing paper is also a simple way that can cut your paper wastage quickly as can ensuring that your staff recycle everything possible to boost your eco-friendly nature.

Recycling: Mercury in Mining

Mercury has important local variations that have an average abundance in the earth’s crust. It is a natural component of the earth and the mercury ores that are mined usually contain about one percent of the mercury.

The importance of mercury in mining:

• It has a unique properties
• Have been used in mining, industrial processes and product
• An environment pollutant
• A potent toxin

Mercury in mining and other related extraction can constitute the human mobilization of it for international use in processes and products. Mercury from stocks and recycled mercury can be considered as an anthropogenic re-mobilization of mercury formerly extorted from the ground. 

Why Implement a Safer Waste Disposal?

Sorting our waste or garbage is very much appreciated anywhere in the world. Many homes practice segregation and proper waste disposal to ensure that everything will be brought to their respective destinations when collected. But how are we to know that our waste had really been properly disposed once they leave our homes? Finding the right waste management and disposal pick up service that can guarantee that your segregated garbage has been safely brought away is your best option in ensuring that all your efforts have continuity.

There are actually many Bin Hire Melbourne companies that you can contact for pick up and collection services that truly appreciate your contribution to a cleaner and greener environment. You must also keep in mind that having an effective and safe waste management is a great mover in advocating to your locality the importance of recycling and proper waste segregation. Dirty Harry's Bin hire for instance can propagate the advantages of Green practices and the benefits of safer waste disposal in the most cost-effective way. With easier and more convenient options, being Green and practicing safer waste disposal can be a fun and useful activity for the whole family as well as for your neighborhood.

Using Our Imagination and Creativity

A little bit of imagination and creativity could help us earn money and yes, live better lives. And why would I say that? You see, many times we would complain about our lack of finances without realizing and seeing that there could be opportunities surrounding us to earn. For instance, the simple act of separating our waste (what can be recycled and not) can even help us earn. A number of people have in fact done this: convert trash into cash. They sell away some of their trash that can still be sold and recycled (like bottles, plastics, used clothing). Some of them also use their creativity and created useful products from what should have been part of their trash (bags and rugs made from used newspaper and clothing). Perhaps it’s about time for us to look around with new eyes and exercise more of our creativity and imagination. This can only benefit us, our loved ones and our community more.

Bulacan Capitol Eyes Recycling Plant

Good news to all citizens of Bulacan! Bulacan Capitl plans to open a recycling plant after Governor Wilhelmino  M. Sy Alvarado announced that the Provincial Government of Bulacan will build their own Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at the compound of the Bulacan Medical Center which will be managed by the Bulacan Environment and Natural Resources Office (BENRO). This project is in coordination with the Provincial General Services Office or PGSO.

Governor Alvarado issued a Memorandum No. 52 instructing all department heads, capitol employees and owners of establishments within the provincial capitol ground to segregate garbage which will then be hauled to the proposed MRF at the BMC Compound.

He added that those who will not follow the guidelines on proper waste management will be meted with appropriate penalties and fines.

Airtight Bags

I know its been quite a while since I last posted here. I have been very busy in the real business world as we have imported several 40 footer containers of recyclable materials to sort in our sorting facility and re-export these to other countries either China or Indonesia. These are the two countries that we currently focus on export as we have our own people who could help in business dealings.

We previously imported mixed scrap plastics / post consumer scrap from Europe. We then sorted all the scrap in the warehouse and found out that there are different kinds of plastic. As these are post consumer plastic scraps, some would arrive with even stinky food residue but still fully sealed by anylock sealing rods.

The procedure of waste collection in Germany starts from the household. Each household comes in individual garbage bin for plastic, paper, kitchen waste and glass. These bins are then collected by private companies for proper disposal, send for recycling or other processes. But I am surprised to see how the consumer follows government regulation especially for garbage disposal. For kitchen waste, they would normally package it with anylock bag sealers so the food residue will not decay so fast.

Last year, I was in Germany and bought several bags of anylock slide and store. Its the easiest and simplest way to store food in the refrigerator. You just have to put in a airlock bags, fold the upper portion, push the bag sealers towards the end and bingo food is preserve longer as it is airtight. In using bags, you can store more items in the freezer as it doesn't eat so much space.

No Plastic on Wednesday

Attention fellow shoppers, let this be a reminder that on September 23, several government agencies and business establishments have established a Memorandum of Agreement that there will be no free plastic bag every Wednesday. If the consumer has no reusable bag, then they will be charged for a fee.

This campaign is called "PagbaBAG ko, PagbaBAGo". I hope that this is just start for us. Let us help each other a better world, a cleaner environment, less plastic.

Thus, we at Recycling loop, are making ways to help our local environment here which I will post in the coming days once the project is feasible.

photo from internet

So again, no plastic on Wednesday!

5th World Recycling Forum - Hongkong

The leaders in the field of technology, manufacturing, resources, recycling, legislation and policy-making will meet at the 5th World Recycling Forum - Hongkong.

The topics are:

* OEM's success and challenges regarding recycling
* Implementation of extended producer responsibility
* Best available technologies for dismantling, sorting and recycling
* Quality standards in recycling - how to check and monitor?
* Global trade and transboundary movement of raw materials and waste
* Update on worldwide recycling laws and regulations
* News about processes and plants for recycling and recovery
* "Good Morning Asia!" Reports about recycling and raw materials businesses
* Reuse, repair and recovery of used equipment

The forum is a platform to exchange information, to meet your business partners and to get easy access to new potential clients.

This is very beneficial for our company Mondo as we are basically more on the recycling and sorting of recyclable materials. I hope we could attend this forum.

And to visit Hongkong too! I was there a long time ago..

Island Cove's Trash Bin

We went yesterday with the kids to Island Cove's Animal Island. It was my first time to visit that place and I am amazed. The place is really good for family outing.

While strolling their Animal Island, I could not help but take a photo of their trash bin. It looks so colorful and neat, you wont get confused where to throw your trash.




Good Job Island Cove!! Two thumbs up for you!

SM Supermalls Trash to Cash

Going for shopping? Malls? Why not bring your recyclables along?

Time to time, I come across many programs that support recycling. One of that is the SM Supermalls Recycling Market - Trash to Cash.

You can bring in your trash like :

1. Scrap paper and cardboard
2. Empty ink toner cartridge
3. Plastic bottles and plastic scraps
4. Used lead batteries (from cars, UPS/Voltage regulators)
5. Aluminum, tin cans, busted rechargeable lamps
6. Polyesterene, styrofoam, junk cellphone, cellphone batteries (not for recycling/buying)

Part of the sales will be given to Environmental Causes.

Next schedule is on August 1 and August 7, 2009. Mark in your calendar!

Recycling Centers / Junk Shops in Quezon City

Thanks for the suggestion friend. I will post here the Recycling Centers / Junk Shops per city otherwise my posting will be very long.

Metalline Enterprises
18 Diamond Ave.
Greenheights Subd.
San Bartolome Novaliches, QC 1123
Tel. 4173358
Contact: Giovanni

Linis Ganda
123-N Domingo St.
Cubao, QC
Tel: 7271219/ 4100383 / 0917+9239742
Contact: Winnie Larez

Quezon City Parks Dev't Foundation, Inc.
Quezon Memorial Circle Admin. Office
Elliptical Road, QC
9243395, Fax 9243412
Contact: Gemma/ Susan/ Chay

Paperland Ind. Corp.
Leiland Drive, Balintawak, QC
3618531
Contact: Johanne Tan
-all kinds of paper

Embuscado Trading
Mendez St., Baesa, QC
3617113/ 3624142
Contact: Windy Embuscado
-paper recycler

Winrock Ind. Services
8-A Oliveros Drive,
Unit 7, Balintawak, QC
3624504
Contact: Mimie Yee
-plastic recycler

Good Samaritan Foundation for the Disadvantaged
Unit 1-J RM Commercial Arcade,
80 Ramon Magsaysay Blvd. QC
7161499/7161399 (fax)
jwalker@tri-isys.com
-aluminum cans

Joreli Junk Shop
739 Quirino Hwy, QC
Tel : 936-2594

Auro's Junk Shop
Duncan Aurora
Tel : 7151935
2181 Mindanao Ave., Quezon City

AM Junk Shop
JP Burgos St., Escopa, Quezon City

Mrs. Brito
N7 920 Sanbeda St.
San Beda Vill., Proj. 8, QC
Tel: 971464 / 983733
-bottles in bulk quantities

CP Junk Shop
102-D Tandang Sora, QC
-scrap metal

Basco Secondhand Lumber
105 Tandang Sora, QC
- Lumber

AR Merchandise
325 Tandang Sora, QC
-scrap iron

Nolasco Jose Uy
2815 Aurora Blvd.
Tel: 7111520

Arcadio A. delos Reyes
293 Roosevelt Ave., QC
Tel: 371-5127
- newspapers per kilo

Rolando Barrientos
1 Sct. Santiago, QC
Tel : 373-2333
- white paper, metal, bottles, paper (min. amount - 500 kilos)

Leo Mar Junk Shop
31 Malumanay St., QC
Tel : 9224597
- white paper, bottles, metals, newspapers (per kilo)

Ever International Trading of the Phils.
280 G. Araneta Ave., QC
Tel : 356051

Everlasting Junk Shop
13 Cabalata St., QC
Tel: 712-2829 / 7320688
- bottles, scrap metal

Ang Tok Junk Shop
2211 Rizal Ave.
Tel: 254-2289
-bottles, scrap metal

B. dela Cruz Junk Shop
1119 Laguna Ext.
Tel: 252-1338

Jesus Sta. Maria
Leeland Dr. Balon-Bato, QC

Tan Digna
37-L Banawe, QC
Tel: 7324688

APC, ABC, DMG Junkshop
Visayas Ave. (Between Pasong Tamo II Bridge & Culiat I Bridge)
-bottles, metal, newspapers

CP Junk Shop
102-D Tandang Sora, QC
-scrap metal

Basco
105 Tandang Sora QC
-secondhand lumber

Waste Paper

As the paper and plastic business is not really good at the moment, we concentrate now in waste paper trading as this business does not involve any capital. We are just the indentor or the agent of both papermill and the supplier.

We have several suppliers mostly from Europe and Australia and now I am starting to source for additional suppliers from Korea and Europe.

We are serving 2 papermills in Indonesia for their waste paper requirements. Since one week, we have served 3,500 MT of waste paper with an earning of approx. USD 7,500.00. Not too bad right? Not bad at all for an extra income with no capital.

But this business is also not easy. We as indentor act as the middle man and most of the time, the recipient of blames, confrontation and all sort. But we dont create problem, we are the pacifier for both parties and oftentimes should the materials shipped by supplier is not in accordance with the buyer's expectation, we also lose our share! Meaning lose our income too!




Anyway, these are the common waste paper sold in the market today.

OCC 90/10 - 90% Old Corrugated Cartons, 10% Other Paper
OCC 95/5 - 95% Old Corrugated Cartons, 5% Other Paper
SMP - Mixed Paper
ONP - Old News Paper

Garbage Sells

Garbage Sells! You might wonder how this could work. But indeed there is money in trash - in almost all kinds of trash. As a matter of fact, this business is becoming famous.

Every Pinoy must encourage recycling even at home. I can still recall when I visited Germany before, recycling at home is really strong that even kids know how to separate plastics from paper from kitchen waste. It just needs some push and control in our household especially our househelpers.

This is my suggestion:

Normally our kitchen has a trash can right? So make that as the can for kitchen wastes eg. vegetable peelings, etc. Then hang 2 plastics at the back of the door. One plastic for paper and one plastic for all plastics.

When the plastics are full, put them outside the house in a separate container. When these containers are full, you can sell them to junkshops or to bote-dyaryo guys roaming around villages.

The SM Waste Market offers venues for us to trade-in our recyclable materials. Companies in the same trade have their own booth. These are junk electrical equipment and appliances; used lead acid batteries; used PET plastic bottles; and aluminum or tin cans. The waste market also serves as a drop-off area for polystyrene or styrofoam scrap, junk cellphones and cellphone batteries.

With the waste market at the malls, converting trash to cash is as easy as going on a shopping spree.