The word cardboard generally refers to any heavy-duty paper product. The most common form of cardboard is corrugated cardboard. This type features a wavy cardstock sheet that?s squeezed between two other cardstock sheets.

Corrugated cardboard is made from sturdy and long-lasting material, and is best used for packaging. The production of cardboard is often considered a costly one, because more resources are required to complete it. The good thing is that cardboard can be recycled. Here are a few tips for the proper recycling of cardboard.

Which Types Of Cardboard Can Be Recycled?

According to recycling experts, two types of cardboard can be recycled. These are flat cardboard and corrugated cardboard. Flat cardboard is generally used in packing cereal and shoe boxes, while corrugated cardboard is often used in packing boxes, because it has a ruffled layer between two pieces of cardboard. These two variants can easily be recycled through your tow o city?s curbside recycling program.

While it?s quite rare to find 100 percent recycled cardboard material, most recycling facilities create a blend of both recycled and new material, to make the end-product much sturdier. The packaging may sometimes be identified as using ?25% recycled or post-consumer material?.

How To Recycle Cardboard

? Before you contact your local recycling facility, first tear or break down all the cardboard boxes you have at home, until they are flat in a stack. You may also need to break cardboard down, depending on your town or city?s recycling program, so that it easily fits in a brown paper bag. You may also bring it along with your mixed paper wastes.

? Cal or notify your local community recycling facility, and find out whether they accept corrugated and flat cardboard. If your local recycling program doesn?t accept one or both cardboard types, then take your boxes to the local supermarket, since most supermarkets will take in the boxes.

? Also determine whether your local recycling facility accepts or recycles waxed cardboard. Waxed cardboard types include milk and juice cartons. Call your state or county recycling department for more information regarding waxed cardboard recycling.

These days, it?s easy for consumers to recycle the cardboard items they have at home. Most city and municipal recycling agencies collect different types of cardboard, along with other common recyclables such as metal, glass, plastic, textiles, aluminum and electronic products. Consumers can also deliver cardboard by bulk to a recycling facility. By promoting the recycling of cardboard and other materials, we help promote the use of recycled materials, and also help reduce the number of trees that need to be harvested for producing paper products such as cardboard.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or popularly referred to as CFL?s, are a type of fluorescent lamp. Most CFL types were produced to replace incandescent lamps, and these are noted to have efficient life spans, and also feature a considerably reduced light output.

What?s The Average Lifespan of a Typical CFL Lamp?

According to lighting experts, the average lifespan of a CFL unit is from 8 to 15 times that of an incandescent lamp. Incandescent lighting units generally have life spans of around 750 to 1,000 hours. CFL units however, use less power and have longer shelf lives. While CFL?s have a quite higher purchase price, it can save as much as 30 dollars in electricity costs over the lighting unit?s life span.

Environmental Issues Regarding The Use Of CFLs

While compact fluorescent lamps have longer life spans, and save you money on electricity bills, these products contain mercury, which makes their disposal a quite complex one. CFL?s, and other fluorescent lamps generally have small amounts of mercury inside them that are used as vapor inside the glass tubing.

A typical CFL unit will contain as much as 3 to 5 mg of mercury, while some contain 1 mg or less. Since mercury is a highly-toxic material, its disposal in landfills or incinerators poses a major health safety issue, because burning or burying them in the ground can contribute to air and water pollution. This has prompted the National Electrical Manufacturers Association in the US to voluntary cap the amount of mercury placed in each CFL unit.

The European Union has also required lighting manufacturers to cap their CFL mercury content too. The US Environmental Protection Agency also estimates that if all CFL?s produced in the US were dumped in landfills, this would amount to 0.13 metric tons, or 0.1% of all mercury emissions in the US.

How To Properly Dispose And Recycle CFL?s

Here are some tips and precautions for the handling, disposal or recycling or compact fluorescent lamps.

? Find out if your town or city has drop-off points or centers where mercury-containing items are accepted. Because different states have different regulations regarding the handling or disposal of materials containing toxic ingredients, check on your state or city?s recycling regulations first.

? Place a CFL bulb in two plastic bulbs. Most US states require that you place a CFL bulb in two plastic bags, so that it?s mercury content won?t seep out if the bulb gets broken.

? Find out if there?s a retailer in your town or city who accepts the trade-in of old CFL bulbs. Some retailers like Ikea, have major recycling programs for CFL?s, however they may levy a small fee for disposal. Also determine whether your state allows the disposal of CFL bulbs in your weekly trash. Also dispose broken CFL bulbs by scooping the fragments or powder using a stiff cardboard, and also place the materials in a sealed plastic bag, and stuff this into another bag as well.

According to recent figures, the United States is considered as the number 1 garbage-producing country in the planet. The Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA, states that the United States has 10,000 municipal and 3,000 urban landfills. The sad thing is that most of these landfills are tightly sealed, to prevent the garbage from leaching and contaminating nearby rivers, lakes, streams or seas.

The tight sealing of these landfills though effectively inhibits the natural degradation of organic wastes. What happens once our landfills reach full capacity? Could recycling help provide us with answers to our looming garbage crisis?

How The Recycling Movement is Picking Up Steam Today

Because environment advocates and government planners worry about the threat of a full-blown garbage crisis, more and more programs are now being implemented to prevent the overflowing of our landfills. More states and counties have now adopted a wide array of recycling and waste recovery programs.

Some US states are already far ahead of the rest when it comes to implementing recycling programs. In Portland, Oregon for example, recycling bins are in every street corner, while in Albuquerque, New Mexico, there is a clear lack of curbside recycling programs and facilities. Some US states are also offering used electronics recycling programs. Cities like Gallup, New Mexico have recycling initiatives where residents are paid one cent for each pound of plastic bottle they turn-over for recycling.

Positive Recycling Facts And Figures To Cheer About

The last time the US Environment Protection Agency released data regarding

The national recycling data was way back in 2005. While the current figures have yet to be released, the 2005 data has indicated a positive improvement for recycling and materials recovery. Here are some positive developments to cheer about:

? An estimated 8,550 curbside recycling programs are now operating in the United States, and these recycling and composting programs have recovered 32.1 percent, or 79 million tons of material solid waste. The total number though does not include data from hazardous, industrial and construction waste.

? The level of composting, or the process of recycling leave, grass and other organic items, rose from 3,227 in 2003, to 3,470 in 2005 alone.

? From 2005 alone, 50 percent of all paper products in the country was recycled, which amounted to 42 million tons of recycled paper. Container and packaging recycling has also increased by forty percent.

The amount of solid waste ending up in US landfills has also decreased by 9 million tons from 1990 to 2005, and the number continues to decline each year. While the not-so-recent figures may be encouraging, The EPA and other environment groups still contend that the US still needs to do more to fully address the issues of garbage and waste disposal.

Recycling, or the method of re-processing and reusing waste items and materials, has long been practiced by many societies. Artifacts and archeological studies have indicated that as early as 400 BC, ancient waste dumps have shown less household wastes, especially during periods where there was a reported scarcity in resources. The lack of household wastes in ancient dumpsites has clearly shown that more waste was being recycled, due to the scarcity of new materials.

Recycling During The Pre-Industrial Age

During pre-industrial times, there was clear evidence of the collection of scrap metals like bronze, iron and steel in Europe. These scrap items were often melted down and formed into new products.

In medieval England, people collected ash and dust from wood and coal fires, and these were used as base material for brick-making. During these times, recycling was motivated by the economic advantage of getting recycled feedstock, instead of simply buying new raw materials. The absence of a public waste removal and disposal system also made recycling a necessary task during these times.

The Lack Of Resources Encouraged Recycling During Wartime

The outbreak of two major world wars in the early 20th century brought crippling shortages of precious natural resources. These major world-changing occurrences dipped available resources, and forced governments to encourage recycling. During World Wars 1 and 2, governments urged their citizens to conserve wood, paper, textiles, fiber, and even donate metals and precious jewelry. During these timess, governments and private businesses organized strict resource conservation programs, which were often continued even after the war ended.

Recycling During The Post-War Era

Recycling went full steam even after World War 2 ended. During the 1970?s, rising energy costs and the oil embargo forced companies and governments to heavily invest in recycling initiatives. The idea of placing a recycling trailer behind the back of a waste management vehicle allowed for the easy collection of garbage and recyclable materials in most US cities.

The economic boom of the post-war years eroded the ideals of conservation and the wise use of resources from the consciousness of most people in the developed world. However, the growth of the environmental movement, and the celebration of the first Earth Day in 1970 put conservation and recycling back in the mainstream. While recycling has not yet been fully accepted by some societies, recent figures suggest that public acceptance, and the market for recycled products, has significantly risen. Today, most cities and towns have laws and enforced systems for collecting and handling recyclable material.

One of the major reasons for the increasing popularity of recycling, is the need for reducing the amount of garbage sent to landfills. The recycling initiatives of today have already diverted 32 percent, or 60 million tons of garbage, from our landfills.

Computers are an important part of our daily lives these days. We use them for sending e-mails and other office correspondence, and we also use them for surfing the Internet, or for watching our favorite movies and TV shows. We also use the PC for networking with friends or family.

However, what happens when the PC you have at home becomes obsolete? Will you be simply throwing these down the landfill? Let\’s have a closer look at the benefits of recycling computers.

Obsolete Computers Are a Good Source of Raw Materials

Even if you\’re home computer is already one useless piece of equipment after a few years, it won\’t mean that it\’s totally useless. An obsolete computer actually serves as a wonderful source of useful raw materials. However, if the old computer is not properly disposed or handled, it can be a source of harmful toxins and carcinogens, which pollute the environment and can cause death and injury to both man and animals.

Rapid advances in technology, coupled with low initial costs has resulted in an ever-increasing surplus of computers and computer parts worldwide. The Environmental Protection Agency of the US estimates that there are 30 to 40 million surplus PC\’s in the US alone, and that 63 million PC\’s were either traded for replacements, or simply throw away last year.

The Rise in The Numbers Of Surplus PC\’s Is Posing A Serious Environment Threat

The EPA further adds that most of today\’s electronic waste often ends up in landfills, or gets incinerated. The dumping of these waste in landfills, or their burning in incinerators, is already having a very negative impact on the environment. Because a computer has different components that are made from a wide array of raw materials, these release toxic ingredients like mercury, lead, cadmium, and other radioactive material into the groundwater, soil or air.

Many Computer Parts Can Be Recovered Through Recycling

Because of the toxic nature of most of the computer\’s parts, the storage, handling,disposal and recycling of computers is a sensitive task. The good thing is that most of the materials used in making computers can actually be recycled. Materials such as aluminum, tin, silicone, iron, copper, gold and a wide array of plastics, can be reused or re-processed, which help in reducing the cost of manufacturing new computer units.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 used to be the main federal law governing the recycling of computers. However, new federal bills, such as the National Computer Recycling Act, have been introduced to reduce electronic waste, and mitigate their environmental impact. Many computer manufacturers are now also offering some form of recycling to their clients. The user can request that his old computer be picked-up by the manufacturer, or the company can get them for recycling at specified drop-off points, where they also coupons to customers for use in purchasing future computers or parts.

Recycling is an activity that?s both earth-friendly and profitable. Recycling helps us save on precious natural resources, time, energy and money. It can also provide a suitable income-earning potential for those who wish to engage in collecting and selling recyclable materials. Among the most commonly-recycled materials include glass, plastic, textiles, electronic components, aluminum, cardboard and scrap metal. Here are a few helpful insights on the basics of scrap metal recycling.

You can actually get money from recycling scrap metals. At the same time, scrap metal recycling can also be a good hobby, especially for those who like trying different ways for spending their leisure time. Its easy finding scrap metal dealers today, since these dealers can be found in every city or town. You can also search for them in your local Yellow Pages. These dealers not only accept common scrap metals, but also rare metals like tungsten or chromium. Here are few simple steps for profiting from trading recyclable scrap metals.

? Before you collect or look for recyclable scrap metal materials, first determine how much each scrap metals item fetches at the local scrap dealer. You may already know that anything made from metal has got some value to it, from a metal wire or can to large steel beam. When collected together, these items are sure to earn you decent sums of money.

? Go around your street or neighborhood, and find out the areas where you easily can find scrap metal items. To easily find sellable scrap metal items, search at the curbside, as well as check your neighborhood junk shop to find valuable scrap metal items. You can also contact a business or shop that removes or fixes metal accessories from homes or motor vehicles. You can also sell the wiring from electrical items; however just make sure that you safely collect and keep them.

? Set aside some space in your front or back yard for storing your collected scrap metal items. If you don?t have a backyard, then you can rent vacant space in someone else?s home. A scrap metal collection of around 50 pounds is good enough to earn you a decent return.

? Sort your collection of metals into different types. You can try sorting and separating light and heavy items. Just make sure you have a system that?s well-organized and easy to manage.

- Whether you treat scrap metal recycling as a business venture or a profitable and interesting hobby, devote your time and energy for the job. Prepare a schedule for the collection of your collected scrap metal items, and remember to follow the schedules, so that you?ll be able to fetch a decent amount of cash whenever you?re able to collect a sufficient amount of metal items.

Derived from the Greek word ?plastikos?, which means capable of being shaped or molded, plastic refers to a wide array of synthetic or semi-synthetic solids that are used in producing a wide variety of industrial products and items.

When compared to materials such as metal and glass, plastics generally require a longer recycling process, because plastic has a high molecular weight, and it has larger polymer chains. Heating is generally not enough to dissolve a plastic material\’s large molecules, as compared to organic molecules. Here are some major facts regarding the recycling of plastic.

Plastics Require A Lot Of Time And Energy To Recycle

Plastic is a truly versatile product. It can either rigid or flexible, opaque or transparent. It can also be made to look like silk, wood or leather. It can be made into plastic toys, containers or even heart valves. There are 10,000 different types of plastics, and the raw materials for plastic are natural gas or petroleum. The process of recycling plastic starts from the time the material is made, to the time it is once again reused as a new product after the recycling process.

Today, most cities and towns have recycling facilities, where residents drop off their recyclable items at collection facilities, and the plastics are sorted, cleaned, as well as reprocessed into new materials. However, unlike materials such as aluminum, which can easily be mixed with other aluminum variants, there are different types of plastic, with each carrying a resin identification code. This means that each plastic resin type has to be separately recycled.

What Happens Once The Plastic Reaches The Recycling Center?

Once you send your used plastic items to a recycling facility, the workers here inspect the items, and look for contaminants such as glass or rock, or other plastic types which the plant cannot recycle. The plastic is then washed and chopped into flakes, and is sorted in a floatation tank, to determine which plastics sink or float.

The plastic flakes are then dried in a tumble drier, and are melted afterward in a machine called an ?extruder?, where heat and pressure melt the material. Because there different types of plastic, each variant at different temperatures. The molten plastic is then forced into a fine screen to separate the contaminants, and the molten plastic is formed into strands.

The strands are then cooled in water, and are chopped in uniform pellets. The recycled plastic pellets can then be made into different products, from carpeting materials to flower pots, lumber substitutes and many more.

While many of us frown on plastic, the sad thing is that we\’re using more and more of them than ever before. If you\’re worried about the effects of plastic on the environment, here\’s how you can personally help. Try reusing plastic products as often as you can, or you may try using other alternatives such as paper or cloth. If you\’re buying grocery items, buy the product refills instead of the new plastic containers. Best of all, follow the three R\’s ? reduce,reuse and recycle.

Styrofoam is a closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam material that?s made for thermal insulation, packaging and other craft applications. The Dow Chemical Corporation owns the trademark for the product, and this is used for a wide range of applications. Among these include insulated sheathing, pipe insulation, packaging and craft applications. Styrofoam is also placed under roads and other structures to prevent freezing, thawing and other soil disturbances.

The Terrible Environment Legacy of Styrofoam

Because polystyrene is made from petroleum, it?s highly-flammable and contains a toxic chemical called benzene. Styrofoam is known to take a long time to break down once it?s disposed and thrown in a landfill. It has been noted that animals who ingest it incurred blocks in their digestive track, causing starvation and death. Styrofoam continues to be a commonly-used material, because it?s used for padding in appliance packaging, and for storing different food items. Because of Styrofoam?s highly-toxic nature, nearly two dozen cities in the United States have banned its use for whatever purpose.

Neat Ideas For Recycling Styrofoam

Instead of just throwing Styrofoam straight into the garbage bin, you can actually recycle this material, and create in into different items or products. Here are a few important guidelines for recycling this toxic, non-biodegradable material.

? You can actually use Styrofoam as a fishing float. You can also turn it into a pool, bath or beach toy for your kids. Slice or cut out simple shapes, and make a sail using a toothpick, lollipop or some thin stick. You can also design Styrofoam into rings or squares that the children can use as a float in the pool.

? Styrofoam boxes can also be used for leftovers to help germinate seeds. Make a few holes in the bottom layer, then add some dirt, seeds and water. Styrofoam blocks can also be used in vases for making unique silk flower arrangements. You may also cut Styrofoam strips into flat strips for use as plant markers. Styrofoam meat trays may also be used for placing your watercolors, paint, clay dough and other materials.

? In the United States, the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers has organized a mail-back initiative, where consumers can send their polystyrene packages or trays through the regular postal service. However, if you really got a lot of Styrofoam in your storage room or cellar, you may be able to make some money out of it. You can refer to the Recycled Plastic Markets Database, and look for buyers of a wide array of plastic and polystyrene packaging.

While it may take some time before the use of Styrofoam and other polystyrene products is discontinued, all of us need to continue dealing with the Styrofoam that ends up in our hands or kitchen tables, and also ensure that it doesn?t end up in our landfills. The good thing is that expanded polystyrene foam packaging is being recycled at a rate of around 10 to 12 percent each year, which is a good start at least.

Recycling is an activity that’s long been used by many societies. During these times where a lot of people worry about environmental issues such as pollution, global warming and the depletion of natural resources, recycling has become a way of life for many people. Many materials can be recycled, from paper, glass, metal, aluminum, clothing, textiles, electronic goods, to light bulbs and even used water.

Why Recycling Used Water is Important

Water recycling is primarily done to turn back dirty water into something that’s useful. While the thought of using recycled water may be offensive to some, recycled water actually has a lot of uses. It can be used for watering wetlands, crops, as well as for other industrial uses. If properly treated, recycled water can actually be used again as drinking water.

Reusing or recycling water means that you?re saving money on your water bills, because you’re using less of it, and also means that you’re actually using less fresh water for watering your lawn, washing your car and washing your clothes, plates and other items. Conserving water, as well as recycling used water, puts less strain on local water treatment facilities, and also makes more fresh water available to communities for drinking, washing and cooking.

How Water Recycling Is Done

Most sewage today is generated by residential, institutional, commercial and industrial establishments. This includes household liquid waste from baths, showers, toilets, kitchen sinks, which are disposed through the sewer system.

In a waste water recycling process, dirty water goes through a maze of extensive cleaning and treatments. The treatment methods may include the use of chemicals and other methods which eliminate bacteria and other harmful matter, as well as to return water back to its safe-to-use state.

Recycling water helps to ensure the livability of fragile natural ecosystems such as swamps, rivers, streams and lakes, and also helps in the management of existing water sources.

Recycling Black And Gray water At Home

Most of us don’t even know that there’s a definition for different types of waste water. There’s “black” water and there’s “gray” water. Water is considered gray when you wash clothes, clean vegetables, take a shower, brush your teeth or only lightly contaminate the water. Gray water can also be reused or easily recycled. Black water refers to water that’s used to chop meat, rinse fish, or flush the toilet. Black water can not easily be recycled, because it may contain feces or other bacteria, therefore it needs to go to a waste water treatment plant to be properly recycled.

As potable water supplies are becoming more limited, and there’s fear of widespread water shortages, recycling water has become a popular idea these days. Recycling water not only helps households, businesses and other industries, but also helps allow wildlife and other fragile ecosystems to survive.

Paper is a fine, thin material that’s commonly used for writing and packaging. Paper is produced by pressing moist fibers like cellulose together. The cellulose pulp is generally derived from wood, grass or rags, which are dried into flexible sheets.

Paper is a versatile material, which offers a wide array of uses. Paper has been used for centuries, from the 2nd Century in China, to the water-powered paper mills of medieval Europe. While paper has been a very important aspect of our lives, the careless and wasteful use of it can lead to a mounting garbage problem.

The production of paper also is costly, and during these times where we hear a lot of horror stories regarding environmental degradation and pollution, the quest to save our forests requires that we lessen our consumption of paper and other wood by-products.

Paper Recycling Helps Save The Forests

As the demand for paper and wood increases, more and more timber is required to meet the ever-growing demand for wood pulp. In most cases, this means the irreparable loss of wildlife habitats and ecosystems, because old-growth forests are often replaced by forest plantations. This helps explain why recycling paper does more than save trees, since it also helps save the wildlife habitats and ecosystems that rely on them. Here are a few simple but helpful paper recycling tips to keep in mind.

- Make it a point to regularly collect old newspaper, office papers and magazines from the office, or from your neighbors, and initiate a used paper collection drive. The old newspapers and used office papers can be sent to a recycling center, while the old magazines can be reused in clinics, nursing homes or libraries.

- At your office, encourage the use of electronic mails instead of constantly writing office memos. Also promote the use of copiers or printers which have an option to print or copy on both sides. Also encourage your coworkers to actively participate in any recycling program.

- At home, encourage family members to use both sides of paper. Educate your kids and other family members about the importance of paper recycling, and teach your children to bring home the paper they used in school, instead of throwing them. You can also request your kid’s school to initiate their own recycling programs.

Trees not only serve as sources of paper or packaging materials, but also serve as a natural habitat for many birds and animals. They also provide us shade, fresh air, and prevent flooding too. Trees also absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which affect the earth’s temperature. This helps to explain why recycling paper is very important, because our survival depends on how we carefully manage our planet’s resources.