How to recycle e-waste in Dallas – A guide
Thanks to our increasingly digital lives, planned obsolescence, and the availability of low-cost electronics, e-waste is among the fastest-growing waste streams across the US. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, Americans now own an average of 24 devices per household, including devices such as cell phones, laptops and monitors, and game consoles. Despite our growing…Read More…
The pros and cons of single stream recycling
There are many challenges facing recycling programs in the US today. In 2018, recycling rates (including composting) stood at 32.1 percent across the nation, down from a previous high of 34.7 percent in 2015. This drop, alongside rising levels of almost all types of waste, means that more trash is going to landfill than ever…Read More…
74 recycling facts + statistics for 2022
Paper | Aluminum | Glass | E-Waste | Plastic | Textile | Food | C+D | Steel In a world that simply has too much waste, recycling is an important practice to reduce landfill disposal. Landfills are notoriously bad, for both us and the environment, releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses such as methane…Read More…
Circular Economy of Cardboard
Did you know that making one ton of virgin cardboard requires three tons of trees? It’s also been estimated that half of the 85 million tons of paper consumed in the US every year is for wrapping and packaging products. As always, the best way to reduce your impact on the environment is to reduce…Read More…
Microplastics – A macro-level problem
Recently there has been a growing awareness about a type of pollution called microplastics. These plastic particles have been discovered everywhere from Arctic snow to Spanish sea salt, and consumers are rightly concerned about how microplastics affect humans and whether or not they are toxic. Yet despite their ubiquity, there is still much we don’t…Read More…
Greenwashing — What is it and how transparency can beat it
Today, “sustainability”, “eco-friendly”, “fair-trade”, and “recyclable” are more than just buzzwords, they’re at the forefront of new product designs targeting increasingly eco-conscious consumers while also delivering more equitable and sustainable returns on investments as they spur future growth. Partly due to consumer demand, and partly thanks to the ESG framework laid out by former United Nations…Read More…
Where can I recycle my e-waste in Washington DC?
Despite being regarded as the ‘clean city’, Washington DC generates around 800,000 tons of waste per year, and like many of America’s largest cities, it’s fair to say that effective recycling isn’t thriving in the nation’s capital. As of 2019, the waste diversion rate was 23%, a percentage which the city has been hovering around for the…Read More…
Chicago recycling – The windy city aims to revamp its blown-over recycling program
The City of Chicago has had an up-and-down start to recycling in the last 10 years. In 2008, the failing “blue bag” program – where residents were to separate recyclable material into identified blue bags for removal – was rejuvenated and replaced by a blue cart program. Then, in 2017, the local government went a…Read More…
How to recycle electronics in Boston: A guide
As the most populous city in New England, and the 21st most populous city in the US, Boston produces a notable amount of trash. Around 1.2 million tons of trash every year, with about 75% of that ending up in landfill or incinerators. However, The City of Boston and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is now seeking to reduce this to 20% with…Read More…
2020: A dumpster fire of a year – What does it really mean
How do dumpster fires start? The photo of the dumpster on fire has become ubiquitous in 2020 and analogous of an unprecedented year coming to a close, but do you know what actually causes a dumpster or waste fire? Fires can begin when hazardous and electronic waste items are discarded in the trash rather than…Read More…