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.
November 11, 2021
As the pandemic impacted daily routines, some cities and towns had to stop accepting recyclables in curbside bins. Others stopped taking certain types of recyclables and asked people to throw those items away instead. A lack of workers, budgetary concerns, and an increase in the number of recyclables all play a part. What would happen […]
October 26, 2021
Did you know there are several types of recycling? It’s not surprising if you don’t. Most consumers don’t stop to think about what happens to the items they put in their curbside bin. You’ve done your part as soon as you send off the items for recycling. What happens at a recycling facility? It’s just as […]
October 18, 2021
Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to the items you put out in your recycling bin? What about the ones you bring to a recycling center? Each goes through a process of collection, processing, and eventual reuse.Some items are more challenging to recycle than others. That’s why you start to run into […]
October 7, 2021
Labor shortages are hitting cities across the U.S. Waste and recycling is just one industry impacted by the lack of applicants. Jacksonville, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; Miami, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; and Northampton, Pennsylvania, are just a few cities struggling to find enough drivers for recycling and trash pick-ups in the past few months. Currently, more […]
September 29, 2021
Break down the numbers when it comes to household waste. There was over 294 tons of waste generated in the U.S. during 2018. Of that, about 94 million tons were recycled correctly or composted. That’s about 32% of all waste is recycled. Many states want to improve recycling rates. It often means coming up with […]
September 22, 2021
Per the EPA, 292.4 million tons of waste were generated during 2018. Of that, approximately 94 million tons were recycled or composted. That’s only a third of the trash that’s generated is actually recycled or composted. If you take out composting rates, only 69 million tons were recycled. There’s a lot of room for improvement, […]
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 […]