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 13, 2021
Almost 5 pounds of waste is generated by one person every day in the U.S. That’s more than 292 million tons per year. Of that waste, about 69 million tons were recycled correctly, and about 25 million tons of food waste was composted. That still left around 198 million tons going to landfills.In the 2006 […]
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 […]
May 18, 2021
It’s easy to recycle cardboard and paper, but people don’t always understand the process. When you recycle paper, what happens to it? Tossing empty boxes, cereal boxes, greeting cards, egg cartons, mail, and printer paper into a curbside bin takes little time. Bills that have confidential information are often shredded first by the resident. The shredded […]
May 2, 2021
Vermont became the first state to mandate composting of food scraps. While this was the first state-wide mandate, there are cities across the U.S. that have also discussed or implemented laws requiring food waste to go into composters instead of the trash. California is set to start its mandatory food waste composting requirement in 2022. You’ve […]
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 […]