Tag: recycling

by Incredible Planet Staff

Recyclable Ink Cartridges: From Production to Disposal


Business

The ink cartridge; another thing that we take for granted, actually, without it, our printer is practically useless. Just think about the last time when that machine ran out of ink, it seemed pretty worthless at the time, didn’t it? Ink cartridges are a real pain in the neck when they become empty, but the full ones keep our world going. But, what happens in the life cycle of an ink cartridge? When did it first appear? How many are we using, and what should we do with them when they run out of ink?

First things first, let’s start with the definition of an ink cartridge being a container for the (liquid) ink. Of course, ink cartridges are used in inkjet printers, not laser jet or dot-matrix one, there are two kinds: black and coloured. The coloured ones have magenta, cyan, yellow and black. These are the colours needed for all the other shades. Usually, printers have detectors to warn the user that the ink is about to expire.

Back in the day, there was no warning when the ink was running out, and you would have to replace the ribbons, or add toner to a computer reservoir to continue printing. All that was going on until 1984, the year when inkjet printers and cartridges were invented, but it was not smooth sailing at first, it took a couple of years until the inkjet printer cartridges were massively adopted. People loved them because you can use them to print on virtually anything: paper, film, or fabric.

Basically, the most important part of the cartridge isn’t the plastic container, nor the ink, but the print head which controls the extraction of ink. After all, that is what this is all about. There is a lot of science behind it. The orifice plate, for instance, is only 25 microns thick, in layman’s terms, it’s as thick as the third of the hair on your head, and this teeny tiny plate is responsible for how much ink is used.

If you have wondered how much time should pass before you replace your cartridge, it’s really hard to say since it mostly depends on the number of pages you are printing, and on how much ink you’ll need for it. So, there is no real answer.

However, there is an answer to how many ink cartridges are wasted every year, and the numbers are shocking. On average, around 8 cartridges are thrown away every second in the US, which means that 25 million printer cartridges end up on landfills every month, an Australian study revealed that a staggering 45% of print cartridge users (home or business) said that they still throw cartridges in the trash. If you know that a cartridge takes over 1,000 years to decompose, it’s obvious what kind of irreversible damage human carelessness can cause to the environment, for this reason, you should consider recycling ink cartridges. This way, we could save over 38,000 tons of metal and plastic going into landfills yearly, which would be pretty impressive, right!

By the way, if you have noticed that cartridges are way more expensive compared to the actual printer itself, you would be absolutely right in your observation. That’s an old trick used by manufacturers: a relatively cheap printer, and a pricey ink cartridge. Of course, the way around this is to refill the cartridge instead of buying a new one.

Therefore, the next time you decide to purchase a new cartridge, don’t just throw the old one away, recycle it properly, and you’ll be doing a huge favour to the environment and generations to come.


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by Incredible Planet Staff

5 Interesting Ways To Reduce Environmental Impact At Work And Home


Business

Most of us can come up with interesting ways to reduce the environmental impact of our lives at home. There are quite a few methods that people already know about – while we will talk about a couple new ones. But it is at the office where most people are stumped. How do you continue remaining productive while ensuring that you are not unnecessarily harming the environment?

  1. Assess Water Usage

Installing a water meter at the office is a good way to get a reading of how much water is being used by the entire floor. Automatic taps that shut off after a set number of seconds can help a lot. Using water-saver shower heads, energy-efficient toilets and new plumbing can also help a lot. While your employees are not going to use the toilet fewer times, the amount of water that is used during each visit to the bathroom is drastically reduced with these measures.

  1. Custom Shopping Bags

It is incredible how many plastic bags we can accumulate from a single shopping trip. Whether it is for groceries at home or office supplies, it only takes a few trips to get a massive collection of plastic bags. Avoid plastic waste by purchasing quality custom shopping bags through a site like Custom Earth Promos. These bags are made with “green” materials and are reusable.

Not only are the bags great for the environment, but they are also a lot of fun to use! They look fun, classy and you will surely get asked about them when you are next at the office supply store or a grocery store.

  1. Paperless Office

Going paperless is an incredible way to reduce waste in an office environment. Think about how many papers are just lying around in cabinets, unused. Now think about the papers that are thrown out or shredded each day. Most companies run on the internet these days. Going paperless with invoices and important documents will help the planet in a big way.

  1. Recycle

Recycling is something that you can do at home and at the office. It is all about being aware about the products that you can recycle. Bottles, cans, paper and other items are all recyclable. Have separate containers in the office where employees can easily distinguish between regular trash and recycling. Remind them about recycling periodically so they develop this great habit.

  1. Energy Efficient Fixtures

Light bulbs, LED monitors and other appliances can provide energy savings even with regular use. Motion-sensor activated lights are another option. If no one is in the room, they will immediately turn off. It does not even need to take someone in the office remembering to shut them off before they head out.

Making changes to the way we behave in the office is not easy. But a few adjustments can ensure your business runs as it is now – while using less resources! It is a great feeling when you know that you are reducing your environmental impact at home and work.

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by Incredible Planet Staff

Christmas Cash: 3 Easy Ways To Earn Some Extra Money


Lifestyle

It seems like the Christmas season arrives faster each year. The amount of money that you make during the year doesn’t seem to catch up as quickly. This means that you either create a strict budget, make a shorter shopping list or find ways to earn extra money for the holiday season. It’s sometimes easier to earn extra money for a few months or even a few weeks so that you can get all of those presents checked off your list.

Surveys And Rewards

Most stores have a reward system in place that allows you to earn points for each dollar or a certain amount that you spend. You can use those points for items in the store or gift cards, which can mean a few gifts for people on your shopping list. Another option is to complete surveys online. There are numerous survey sites that allow you to submit your opinion about various topics or complete surveys that are emailed to you. Some sites will let you cash out each week so that you have money on a debit card, but many will send a check once you reach a certain amount, every two weeks or once a month. You can usually convert the amount you earn into a gift card as well.

Recycle

There are a few things that you can recycle to make money. Look around the home and the outside of the home to find scrap metal that you don’t need. You can also advertise services to pick up scrap metal from other people. Find a recycling center or a scrap metal yard, like Cozzi Recycling, to turn these items into extra cash. You can also recycle aluminum cans with the larger pieces of metal that you can collect. This might be a time-consuming process, but it’s a little extra money to buy a few gifts for the people you love.

Drive Around

By NaBUru38

If you like driving, then consider working for some of the companies that are similar to cab services. You can set your own hours and accept the passengers you want to instead of everyone who needs a ride. You will need to use your own vehicle and insurance, but you can usually opt out of driving for the company whenever you want. This means that you can work long enough to make Christmas money and go back to your normal routine.

Making extra Christmas money doesn’t have to be hard work. There are a few fun ways to earn money right from your home. The best thing about earning extra money is that you don’t have to spend a long time performing the job unless it’s something that you would like to do after the holidays. You can also do some of these jobs with the rest of the family or friends so that everyone has extra money.

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by Incredible Planet Staff

Top Tips for Rubbish Removal, Recycling and Reuse in Sydney


Business

More than likely (unless you are zero I mean zero waste like that girl who has a single jar of waste from a whole year! Yes wow) than you will have a rubbish bin of some sort and use it regularly.

However, (especially the older generation) what should and should not be placed inside different coloured bins is not common knowledge. Even millennials and the unintentionally non-environmentally conscious individuals may not have wanted or have been educated at school or by friends and family of the options of rubbish removal Sydney.

Councils are trying their best to educate all, from children to the older generation with flyers, seminars and one of my favourite the stickers on bins with pictures and crosses and ticks. This is my favorite not only straightforward and effective and can be easy to understand for visual learners perfect for the non-English speakers. After all, we are a multi-cultural society.

So here, let me give you a brief education on waste if you don’t already know.

What can I throw out in my household bins?

Most councils have three bins, with different coloured lids making it easy to differentiate between them. Each bin has a separate list of Do’s and Don’ts however the easiest way to explain is:

  • General waste (usually has a red lid): All your food scraps, tissues pretty much anything that isn’t recyclable, from your garden as long as it is not a chemical or electronic.
  • Recycling (usually has a yellow lid): Anything with the symbol includes steel cans, glass bottles, plastic containers, cardboard, and paper to name a few. I should mention most councils use a co-mingled disposal where glass and cans are mixed with paper and cardboard instead of cardboard only.
  • Garden and Organics (usually has a green lid): As its name suggests for leaves, twigs, cuttings, dead flowers, etc. Strictly no food scraps!

Your council will supply you with a calendar which details the day each week that your bin is collected. Also, most councils alternate the weeks where they will pick up the recycling and garden bins. The General Waste bin in most cases is collected weekly with no exception of holiday periods including Christmas!

What is not allowed in ANY household bins

The main things that are outside of the everyday household rubbish, recycling, and garden categories and are not permitted in any household bins due to the requirement for specialised waste disposal.

These include:

  • E-Waste: electronics, computer parts, and batteries
  • Paints, liquids and chemicals
  • Construction materials such as concrete and large pieces of metals

Council pickups

Visit your local council website for scheduled Council pickup dates, where free of charge Council trucks pick up everything from your bikes to cupboards for free.

Also (2), most councils give you two free council pickups a year, all you need to do is book them and place a sticker on your pile of rubbish, and before you know it will be picked up for FREE!

Where does my rubbish go?

Landfill: (Red Bin)

While removing any junk, you can always call a local rubbish removal Sydney company. Transported to a local landfill. The larger councils will transport waste by rail to larger landfills which have Bioreactors. The Bioreactor breaks down rapidly to produce methane which is used to generate green energy a great form of renewable energy.

Reprocessing Facilities/Landfill (Yellow Bin)

Transported to a landfill where it sent to a reprocessing facility to be sorted. When you recycle you save landfill space and your sorted recycling materials are sent to be made into new products. A great reason to recycle.

Composting Facility (Green Bin)

Green waste is taken to a specialised composting facility to be screened for inorganic material like glass and then composted. Once the composting process has completed and most of the waste has decomposed compost can be turned into mulch either sold to the public, retailers or sold by the council!

Tips to Reuse

  • Freeze foods that are left over from cooking instead of throwing them out. There are plenty of smart blogs and recipes to reduce food wastage!
  • Use scraps: old bread to bread crumbs
  • Use pill containers, shoe boxes and any other container you have lying around for storage.
  • Use left-over newspaper, fashion tissue as wrapping paper
  • Donate clothes to Op shops instead of throwing out.

Tips to Reduce Waste

  • Compost: feed the worms in your garden, will help your garden grow.
  • Recycle: your waste will get turned into clothing, new bottles, etc.
  • Switch to online statements, save paper.
  • Avoid Disposables to reusable containers for lunch.
  • Repair holes in clothes or glue together ceramics or shoes.

Council Initiatives

With the ever-increasing environmental awareness throughout society, local councils are jumping on board to spread the word, and with that, they usually offer free Council seminars and courses. Courses can include sustainable living including the importance of rainwater tanks and vegetable gardens to composting systems and how to grow worm farms.

Worth a look and did I mention that it’s FREE!

What If I am a business?

You will not have regular bins, even if you do, it is strictly against the law to use them. Depending on your area and business type you may need to use a private contractor.

Businesses are required to have specialised categorised waste streams to safety based on your industry and waste.

They include (briefly):

Trade waste: this is a red bin for business, even if a business is a café, it is not to know what business-like waste will be included such as metals, crockery, etc. Those (except construction) are approved.

Recycling: for paper and cardboard only, it is scarce to find a co-mingled bin.

Medical waste: to prevent any chance of spreading any contagious or harmful diseases any rubbish/tools or gloves need to be destroyed at high temperature in a specialised facility.

Construction skips: for large pieces of metal, concrete slabs and pretty much anything construction based.

Wrap Up.

Unfortunately, in our disposable society partly due to the cheap cost of electronics and clothing makes it very attractive and too easy to throw out and replace a $10 kettle or a stretched $5 singlet from Kmart.

Apart from becoming waste aware, and helping the environment recycling and reusing can save you money even when you shop, recycled clothing and toilet paper, etc. can be cheaper.

Also, if you want to take your environmental awareness to another level you can restrict any clothes, tools, and chemicals to 100% natural and sustainable. If you are willing to dish out the cash that is.

There are plenty of resources online, in books and on TV to continue to learn about waste, where it goes and how you can play a part.

Even basic home recycling makes a significant difference, you are saving rubbish from a landfill and more than likely it will be turned into anything from new glass bottles, cans, paper, car parts and even clothes!

Awesome, right?