An estimated 375 million inkjet cartridges are disposed of each year in the U.S. and a staggering 73% of them are only used once. The stats for laser jet printers are no better. This is both a waste of resources and money. Now you can recycle your cartridges and contribute to the materials used to produce remanufactured cartridges.

Many cartridge companies have the capability to reuse almost 100 percent of used cartridges to produce new ones, adding only new ink. It takes about 80 percent less energy to remanufacture the cartridge plastic compared to producing a ink cartridge it from new materials. Also, remanufactured laser cartridges use about half the amount of oil needed to make new cartridges. The process of recycling cartridges saves more than 38,000 tons of plastic and metal from going into the landfill.

You can also reduce your consumption by printing less. Not only will this save cartridge use, but it will also save paper. When your cartridge does run out, there are plenty of options that should be consideredyou can recycle it in the following ways:

Reasons to Re-Use Ink and Toner Cartridges

• Re-using and recycling cartridges uses less energy and resources. It takes around a half gallon of oil to make just one typical laser printer cartridge. This goes to show that every cartridge saved makes a big difference.

• Oil is a non-renewable material and re-using and recycling cartridges conserves oil.

• Printer cartridges also use aluminium and steel and these resources are also preserved when cartridges are re-used.

Ways to Re-Use Cartridges

• Refilling: One way to get the most use out of your printer cartridges is to refill them. Refilling your printer cartridges is far more economical than buying new ones.It should be noted that cartridges can only be refilled a limited number of times before they need to be replaced. The average is three times.

• Professional refilling: For those that don’t want to take on the refill process themselves, there is the alternative of having empty cartridges managed by an outside organization. This is not as economical as refilling cartridges yourself but it may be more convenient.

• Recycling: Often the same companies who collect cartridges for refilling will also collect ones which can’t be refilled. They will often pay a fee for every cartridge recycled and they will ensure that the cartridges are either re-manufactured or recycled safely and kept out of the landfill.

Purchasing New Cartridges: Buy Green

When you do need to buy a new cartridge, the greenest choice is to buy re-manufactured cartridges. These cartridges are less expensive than brand new ones and they come with a guarantee to work as well as newcartridges.

Make Cartridges Last: Use Less Ink

• Use draft quality where possible. If you’re just printing something for yourself or internal distribution, draft quality is usually fine and saves a lot of ink.

• Print in black and white rather than color wherever possible. This uses a lot less ink and color ink is considerably more expensive.
• If you are printing a lot, consider whether printing two sides to a sheet in a landscape format would work.
• It can be more economical to print photos as a professional printing shop.

Resources for Recycling Toner Cartridges

Castle Ink Cartridges     (New York Area)	Recycle your ink and toner cartridges.
FreeRecycling	Recycle Ink Cartridges and get cash! Recycling inkjet cartridges is a great fundraiser, help schools and nonprofit organizations to fundraising success or make some extra cash for you or your company.
FundingFactory (For Organizations)	Educational and nonprofit organizations within the contiguous United States and Ontario, Canada, can earn technology, classroom and recreation equipment, and even cash through the Funding Factory Recycling Program.
eCycle Group   (California)	Recycle your inkjet and toner cartridges for cash. We have some of the best buy prices in the business. Guaranteed fast payment bi-monthly!
Toner Buyer.com	Both of these companies buy empty ink and toner cartridges
Cash for Empties

        

Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life, but your special day can also result in harm to the environment. It has been calculated that the average wedding can result in up to over 15 tons of CO2 that it also causes substantial environmental damage.

Luckily, if you do not have the time or know how, there are many wedding planners that specialize in eco-friendly weddings. However, there are many easy steps that the do-it-yourselfer can do to minimize waste on their special day.

Invitations

One way to cut down on paper usage, you can send e-cards or emails instead of sending out card invite. This would allow you to limit paper invites to those without computer access. For those paper invites, be sure to use recycled paper.

Flowers

The flower arrangements can be one of the most expensive and wasteful portions of the wedding. Try to get double use of the flowers by arranging to use the same flowers for the wedding and reception. The flowers could have a second life by drying and pressing the flower petals for use as handmade thank-you notes or for placement in your wedding memory book or photo albums.

After the wedding, you could dry and press the flower petals and use them to make handmade thank you cards for your guests and/or incorporate the petals into your wedding scrapbook or photo album. Also plan to have the leftover flowers sent to a hospital or a nursing home. .

Food

There are nearly always leftover food items at weddings. In the first place it’s a good idea to order the food with restraint, as people never eat everything there. If you do have leftovers, choose a venue that supports the environment and has a waste composting capabilities.

If composting is not an option, encourage guests to take home the remaining food or donate the food to a local charity.

Wedding Favors and Decorations

If you opt for favors, avoid disposable itmes that are not recyclable such as disposable cameras.  Use leftover decorations, and napkins either reusable or recyclable Go for favors which are not personalized with your names, so that they can be reused for future use.

Catering Service

This may be one of the most visible ways to make your wedding green-everyone talks about the food at a wedding. Making simple choices like using biodegradable utensils and plates that can be composted. Also choose organic and local food for the cuisine.  

Honeymoons

Following the wedding, it's time for the honeymoon. There are global opportunities for eco-tourism options that get get you fare of the beaten path. There are many companies that specialize in outdoor adventure activity and environmental advocacy. These companies promote sustainable tourism which safely connects people with the world's greatest places and adventures. By combining the economic power of sustainable tourism with the ingenuity of those connected with nature and aware of its peril.

        

Generally food waste is organic and will decompose, but when mixed with other waste in the landfill food waste actually contributes to the production and release of harmful gases which potentially cause environmental damage. In fact, food scraps are the third largest segment of the waste stream with nearly 26 million tons generated each year. Of the overall waste stream,about 12% is food-related, behind paper and plastic

However, by composting your food waste, you can actually put that waste to good use by putting it back back into the earth. The resulting compost can be used in a variety of different ways to support your yard or garden. 

Compostable Food Items:

• Uncooked vegetables and peelings
• Salad
• Fruit
• Tea bags
• Crushed egg shells
• Coffee grounds
• Non-food materials such as plants and flowers, grass clippings, leaves and shredded paper, cardboard.

Non-compostable Food Items:

• Food which has been cooked. Cooked food, even vegetables, can attract vermin
• Meat or fish
• Dairy products
• Non-food items such as cat or dog litter, large pieces of wood, coal ash
• Plastics and metals.

How to Compost

You will need to buy or make a compost bin to effectively to manage your waste to create compost. Check with your local municipality for compost bin rebate programs.

Place your compost bin on a level, well-drained area. Make sure that the base of your compost bin is open and place it on soil ideally. This is so that the compost can absorb nutrients and moisture from the soil below easily. It also enables creatures like worms to get into the waste and they help break it down into compost.

Cover the compost bin with a water-proof cover. Every three months you will need to stir the compost pile until it is ready. The process can take anywhere from four to 18 months depending upon your climate and the types of waste in the compost pile. The compost is ready when the compost is a consistent dark brown and develops an earthy smell.

Tips for Composting

• The ideal composting mixture will be a combination of all the materials in the first list above.
• Small items tend to compost faster. Cut larger items into smaller pieces to speed the composting process.
• Add fresh water periodically to maintain the needed moisture level for a healthy compost pile, but do not over-water. If your compost pile gives off a strong odor, add less water and add wood chips or cardboard  to soak up the additional moisture.
• Access to direct sunlight will speed the composting process. 

Easy and Quick Composting

For those that may not want to deal with the physical demands or time it takes for a compost pile to mature, we recommend the use of a tumbling composter. Tumbling is the most effective method for making compost quickly because it evenly mixes nitrogen and carbon materials(green and brown) for optimal eco-interaction. Add the benefit of complete distribution of moisture, air, and organic microbes throughout the batch and you'll create conditions perfect for express composting. Vented ends provide optimal aeration so this tumbler will help create finished compost 4 to10times quicker than a tradition composting bed. Plus its resistant to animal entry and it's easy to turn. Just load up the composting drum and tumble it a couple times a week. Nature will do the rest as it creates nutrient rich organic compost in as little as 3 weeks.

If you are interested in a yard composter, you can visit http://www.greenlivingeveryday.com/category-s/40.htm to see our full line of home and garden composting products.


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• If possible, reside in a home within walking or biking distance of work and shopping.
• Ride a bike or walk for trips for tasks that are within a couple of miles.
• Utilize public transportation or carpool whenever possible.

        

                          

Anyone who has a iPhone knows that battery life can be a significant issue. Novothink has come up with a solution that harnesses the power of the sun to keep your iPhone up and going, the Solar Surge for iPhone.  One key benefit of this charger over others is that this is the only one to be Apple-certified.

The Surge features a solar panel on its back, connected to a 1500mAH lithium-ion battery. There are Indicator lights to let you know the status of the charge and the current strength of your light source, while an additional speaker is built into the bottom to compensate for the iPhone's own speaker being covered. The case also provides a cutout for attaching wrist straps, carabiners, or other clips to charge the device while hiking, biking or other outdoor activities.If you find yourself without adequate sunlight, you can also charge the Novothink Solar Surge via USB.

For our first test, we placed battery depleted iPhone into the Solar Surge without charging. We placed the Solar Charge in sunlight for an hour and a half. We then calculated that we were able to get nearly fifty-five minutes of talk time on the iPhone before the phone needed additional charge. We then charged the Solar Surge for sixteen hours to get a full charge. From a full charge, the Solar Surge provided over six and a half hours of talk time on the iPhone.

As a bonus, Novothink offers a free app from the App Store that helps you plan for extended trips. The app, Novothink Solar Planner, lets you adjust for sunny or cloudy trips and app usage, and it tells you how long you’ll need to keep the Surge in the sun to keep it – and your phone – juiced up.

The Novothink Solar Surge for iPhone is a recommended power solution for iPhone users with the need to keep connected on the go.

        

On 8:30pm, Saturday 27th March, the WWF are encouraging everyone to switch their lights off for 1 hour to help recognize the increasing problem of climate change.  It is widely accepted that climate change is causing the ice caps to melt and seas to warm, threatening ecosystems and coastal areas around the world. This is also causing related effects in other places as rising temperatures are causing increased droughts , threatening the most vulnerable animals and people worldwide.For just 1 hour, 8:30pm, Saturday 27th march, many landmarks and cities throughout the world are showing their support for Earth Hour and recognizing the danger of climate change by switching the lights off during this time. To find out how you can participate, go to http://www.earthhour.org/TakeAction.aspx.

        

We were introduced to the Perfect Scents Air Freshener by one of our customers. This natural air freshener is non-aerosol made solely from all-natural essential oils. It comes in a 100% recyclable container. Another nice feature is the continuous spray of the canister. Which allows for spraying the natural air freshener at any angle.

We tested the Exotic Tropical Rainforest for our test, but it also comes in Bountiful Bamboo Breeze. The scent is light and refreshing, but able to power through odors. The 7 oz. air freshener seemed to provide more total sprays compared to other similar size air fresheners. 


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In this tight economy, businesses are increasingly looking for ways to cut operational expenses and provide service to their customers. One area that offers opportunities to save now is lighting for your offices and buildings.

Starting in January 2012, all lamp technology sold in the U.S., including both incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) will be required to meet efficiency requirements set by the Energy Independence Security Act.

Currently most incandescent bulbs do not meet these requirements leaving room for the growing CFL market to brighten. A money-saving and environmentally friendly way to do so is to start to convert your building's lighting to CFLs.

According to Energy Star,each CFL bulb installed saves an average of $5.41 in energy costs, 51kilowatt hours and 78 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The number of CFL shipments has grown tremendously from 21 million lamps in 2000 to 397 million lamps in 2007.

Below are some tips from testing and certification organization CSA International on what to look for when purchasing CFLs:

1. Choose only a CFL that is certified by a nationally recognized testing and certification organization to ensure it has been tested and certified to the applicable standards for safety and performance. A certification mark should appear on both the product and the packaging.

2. Choose an Energy Star qualified CFL to ensure it will provide the greatest amount of energy savings.Energy Star Qualified CFLs also have a minimum two-year warranty.

3. Choose the bulb that best suits the fixture. CFLs with globes are available in various sizes and shapes to fit most fixtures. They look similar to traditional incandescent bulbs and may look better in fixtures with exposed bulbs.

4. Determine how much light is needed. Check you fixture to ensure the light is the proper size and wattage. Light output is described as"brightness" and is measured in lumens.

The chart below shows the energy use in watts of an incandescent light compared to the energy use of a standard CFL for the same amount of brightness.

 

        

   
The Solar Wild Grass is a great product to bring a unique lighting effect to your landscape. We put the lights in place just over 6 weeks ago and are pleased with the consistent performance and overall quality of the product. After initially charging the grass for 1 full day, the lights have received enough sunlight  each day to provide hours of  lighting in the evening hours.

The fiber design of the grass allows you to shape the grass into the shape of your choosing, even tying multiple strands together to create a bouquet.


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We were skeptical to try Nellie’s Laundry Soda as we were sure it would not clean as well as regular detergent. We do a lot of laundry and deal with a lot of stains and typically use a major brand detergent and occasionally a stain remover on tough stains. We are willing to spend a little more on detergent to get a brand that would clean and remove stains without extra work.

We were surprised by the small scoop included in the Nellie’s Laundry Soda. We didn’t think it would be enough to clean the clothes but I decided to give it a try. We poured the powder detergent into the regular washer dispenser that allows for both powder and liquid detergent. We did not apply any stain removers or extra clean agents to the load.
 
The clothes came out of the wash clean and free of minor stains. The clothes were fresh but did not have an overwhelming scent as they do with some other brands. We were amazed that such a small amount of soap cleaned the entire load. We continued with several more loads and received the same results each time.

If you are looking for an all natural, safe and reliable laundry soap, Nellie’s passed our tests on all counts.