Tracy Farnsworth went straight from a business track in high school to a full-time job in mortgage banking in Burlington, Vermont. After having children, she built a freelance career in content writing and took online classes as time allowed. She completed Social Media Marketing and Digital Marketing certificate programs with Ireland's online Shaw Academy and completed several courses in SEO and analytics. In her free time, she's the “mom” to a very clingy rat terrier, and the pair walk at least a mile every day. She's also a novice baker who is trying to master the art of sourdough bread.
August 30, 2021
Why do some people still hesitate to embrace recycling? Between 2015 and 2018, the number of tons recycled increased by 2.2%. You might think that’s good news, but there’s a problem. While the number of tons went up, the overall recycling rate, including food and yard waste recycling, dropped. Decreases are attributed to these two […]
August 17, 2021
Think about the average lifespan of electronics. Most people will say you’re doing great if you can keep your laptop or cell phone going for five years. A printer is usually lucky to make it past nine years. Monitors have an average lifespan of eight years. Refurbished items have shorter lifespans.What happens when it’s time […]
July 27, 2021
Any plastic piece that’s less than five millimeters in length is known as microplastic. To better understand how tiny these pieces are, a grain of rice is a little larger. It’s about the size of a pencil eraser.Microplastics come from plastic that’s not recycled and breaks down. Small fragments chip or flake off as the […]
July 19, 2021
Recycling goes back farther than you might think. In the 1800s, collectors were known as “ragmen.” They would go from home to home looking to purchase people’s old rags. The ragmen sold those rags to industries that turned them into paper.At the same time, workers at local garbage sites would sort through the trash that […]
July 4, 2021
In 2018, over 292 million tons of waste were generated in the U.S. It breaks down to almost 5 pounds per person, per day. Everyone needs to make an effort to reduce waste. It’s not just a problem for consumers. It’s something that hotels, restaurants, industrial companies, retailers, schools, government agencies, manufacturing plants, and consumers […]
June 15, 2021
How well do the residents in your state do when it comes to recycling? In “The 50 States of Recycling: A State-By-State Assessment of Containers and Packaging Recycling Rates,” Maine and Vermont ranked the highest. They were followed by Massachusetts, Oregon, Connecticut, New York, Minnesota, and Michigan.Michigan did well with a recycling rate of 48% […]
June 1, 2021
Think about the last time you went grocery shopping. Starting with the produce section, you probably ended up with several plastic bags that contained your potatoes, some fruit, the cauliflower you needed, and your onions. Continuing to the meat and seafood area, you have more plastic and styrofoam. Even if you buy from the butcher or […]
March 22, 2021
The Canadian government came up with a plan to eliminate plastic waste. By 2030, Canada hopes to achieve zero plastic waste. Right now, around 3 million tons of plastic waste are disposed of and less than 10% of that plastic is recycled. Much of it goes to the landfill, but an alarming 29,000 tons end […]
March 15, 2021
In a lithium-ion battery, the anode and cathode hold the lithium ions. An electrolyte carries the lithium ions from one area to the other through the part called the separator. The movement between the anode and cathode creates the electrical charge at the positive and negative parts of the battery.As an electric current is used […]
March 8, 2021
Brewery giant Sierra Nevada gained some attention when it announced it was creating a recycling co-op for brewers. The co-op will help both breweries and small businesses in North Carolina recycle responsibly. If you think about the things a brewery uses every day, the list of potential trash becomes quite long. There are the grain and […]