Time to Go Green, Ladies!

Boro-Wide Recycling Corp.

Maspeth, NY 718-416-1656

www.BoroWideRecycling.com

It's time to embrace more than just a green thumb in our energy efficient economy, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

They have come out with an online manual, 'Why Green Is Your Color: A Woman's Guide to Sustainable Career,' to help women seek out green economy jobs of the 21st century.

It is designed to help women ascend themselves to the middle class by skillfully approaching a job market that has been heavily sought after by men.

Green efficient jobs are quickly emerging and developing, and it's time for women to take notice.

If you'd like to find out more about jobs in the green economy, check out wasterecyclingnews.com, and dol.gov

RecycleMania 2012 Is In Full Swing! Is Your School Participating?

Boro-Wide Recycling Corp.

Maspeth, NY 718-416-1656

www.BoroWideRecycling.com

There are still a few weeks left in this year’s RecycleMania 2012. 

For those kids who are visiting colleges within the next few weeks, RecycleMania is a great way to see your future University's school spirit and their will to clean up the environment.

Each spring, college's across the US participate in an 8-week competition to see which school can collectthe most trash and recyclable materials. These statistics are ranked in various categories based on who recycles the most per capita, the best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste and which school generates the least amount of combined trash and recycling.

Every week there is an updated ranking where participating schools can follow their performance against other colleges and use the results to rally the campus to reduce and recycle more (http://recyclemaniacs.org/about).

The winning school's receive an award made out of recyclable materials and win the right to host that category’s special traveling trophy for the coming year.

The overall goals for this program are to motivate students and staff to recycle more and reduce waste, grab attention to campus recycling programs, encourage colleges to improve their recycling rate and decrease waste over time, and above all, to have a fun and fair competition.

Is your school participating in RecycleMania 2012? If so, tell us about it on our Facebook Wall, linked HERE! 

Have recycling questions? Feel free to call us at Boro-Wide Recycling at 718-416-1656 and we’ll help!

Are Banning Plastic Bags A Good Idea?

 Boro-Wide Recycling Corp.

Maspeth, NY 718-416-1656

www.BoroWideRecycling.com

When you're in the supermarket, do you choose paper or plastic bags?

Most people choose plastic because it can be used in a variety of other ways after you bring the groceries home from the store. They can be used for small garbage can bags, a garbage bag in your family car or even to pack a few things with you for a short trip.

Believe it or not, some stores are banning the use of plastic bags- and they are losing business because of it. In these stores, shoppers have become creative, using thin plastic bags from the fresh vegetable sections of stores to carry out groceries. 

This isn't the best solution and is a waste of resources. But, there is some good news...

Plastic bag recycling is on the rise. A number of major retailers have set up recycling boxes at the entrances of their stores to encourage recycling. Indeed, plastic bag recovery has increased by 31% since 2005. This growth is more than nine times greater than the 3.4% increase in recovery of all municipal solid waste from 2005 to 2009, according to U.S. EPA data. Recovery of post-consumer film, which includes plastic bags and product wraps, grew to an estimated 854 million pounds in 2009. Bag bans will reduce the motivation for those recycling efforts (wasterecyclingnews.com).

Recycling bags could also present a health challenge as some bacteria from food could stay inside the bags and cause illness when cross-contaminated with other foods. It could even come in contact with the conveyer belt at the supermarket and provide a danger to other consumers.

What are your thoughts on plastic bag recycling? Do you think it's beneficial or harmful?

If you have any questions or concerns about plastic bag recycling, contact us at 718-416-1656 and we can help answer your questions!

Motorola Claims Data Remains on Refurbished Devices

Boro-Wide Recycling Corp.

Maspeth, NY 718-416-1656

www.BoroWideRecycling.com

Motorola Mobility Inc. says some of their refurbished tablets have been sold with prior owner’s data still listed on the devices.

The consumer electronics giant has learned that there have been 100 cases where the original owner’s information was not completely erased from a Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi tablet before it was resold. The problem stems from 6,200 tablets that were resold by Woot.com between October and November, 2011.

"While this matter likely affects only a small number of refurbished units, Motorola has a strong commitment to its consumers and is proactively responding to mitigate any risk to its customers," the company said in a news release on February 3rd. "Motorola has confirmed that any refurbished units sold outside the time period in question were properly refurbished (wasterecyclingnews.com).”

People who buy these tablets may have access to documents, photos and user name/passwords that were not reset before the item was returned. All of this information should have been erased by the previous owner when they were sent back.

If you are returning an electronic device that could have personal information on it, USA Shred could help you protect your identity by shredding documents and electronic data (www.usashredinfo). Click on the link to learn more about how this works.

Make sure you recycle your old electronic devices. If you have any questions about what devices can be recycled, call us at Boro Wide Recycling at 718-416-1656 for more information.

Does Going Green Really Benefit Everyone?

Boro-Wide Recycling Corp.

Maspeth, NY 718-416-1656

www.BoroWideRecycling.com

In today's society, everyone is all about going green. They want to make sure they recycle everything that is made of recyclable materials and put it in the appropriate garbage can for the recycling companies to pick up. 

However, doing all of this is costing recycling companies a lot of money! Does this make sense?

Municipalities across the country are turning to privatization to balance their budgets, yet they demand the vendor spend millions to accommodate them. They want to move from rear-load service to automated; they want CNG trucks; they want everything imaginable recycled; they want yard waste to disappear; and now they want food waste collected (wasterecyclingnews.com).

If this was the case, how many trucks would be going up and down public streets on a daily basis? This would cause damage to the roads we all drive on, and more money to pay for the damage these trucks would cause. Who would be paying for all of the construction?

Plus, gas prices are soaring again these days, adding a heavy cost for recycling companies to continuously drive their trucks day after day to pick up all the materials it needs to.

So the question is, "Does going green really benefit everyone?" It doesn't seem that way. Let's hear what you have to say on our Facebook Wall, linked HERE. 

If you have any questions regarding recycling and what materials can be recycled, call Boro-Wide at 718-416-1656.

Study: Bottle Deposit Laws Create Jobs

Boro-Wide Recycling Corp.

Maspeth, NY 718-416-1656

www.BoroWideRecycling.com

 

If you thought that states with bottle deposit programs created more jobs, you are absolutely correct!

A study that was recently released called “Returning to Work: Understanding the Domestic Jobs Impacts from Different Methods of Recycling Beverage Containers,” shows that bottle deposit programs create 11 to 38 times more jobs than curbside recycling systems for beverage containers.

“We found that if we had a nationwide container deposit program, that would support 90,000 jobs,” said Susan Collins, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute (CRI). “That’s worthy of note, and that’s just for containers,” (WasteRecyclingNews).

One driver of container-recycling jobs equates to the number of full-time workers needed to collect, sort and transport the materials. Bottle deposit programs, in which containers are handled more or less individually, employ an average of 7.34 full-time employees per 1,000 tons of containers. On the other hand, curbside systems use 1.66 full-time employees in an automated system and 4.46 in a manual system.

A handful of states have bottle bill deposits. Michigan has a nearly 97% return rate with a 10-cent deposit, while California’s redemption rate is 88%.

To read more about this, click on this link: http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/arcshow.html?id=12012301401

Over 35 Tons of "Ticker Tape" Will be Dropped Today at the Canyon of Heroes Parade Honoring the World Champion New York Giants!

Boro-Wide Recycling Corp.

Maspeth, NY 718-416-1656

www.BoroWideRecycling.com

The forecast calls for Big Blue skies — and a blizzard of confetti — when the world champion New York Giants stroll down Broadway today.

As the New York Giants ride up the “Canyon of Heroes,” waving to admiring fans, shredded paper, once ticker tape, now recycled unprinted newspaper, will rain down on the Super Bowl champs.

Between 500,000 and 1 million jubilant fans are expected to crowd the Canyon of Heroes and welcome home the Super Bowl champs with a full-blown ticker-tape victory parade.

Workers at Atlas Packaging in Red Hook, Brooklyn, were busy shredding the 35 to 50 tons of confetti yesterday that will be dropped from the skyscrapers today.

John Cioffi, the manager at Atlas Packaging, said his plant has supplied paper for Giants parades in the past, as well as Yankee parades and previous Veterans’ parades. He pushed the city into buying paper after he heard about enthusiastic fans tossing their paychecks and payroll sheets out windows during parades.

Sanitation crews will begin cleaning up immediately as The Sanitation Department has 336 workers already lined up to clean up the mess! The last time the Giants had a parade, in February 2008, about 36.5 tons of debris was swept up. In 2000, a parade for the Yankees dumped 46.7 tons.

“We’re stuck with about three weeks of paper still being blown off the ledges of the buildings. It just stays up there until we get some real windy days and then the paper comes down, sometimes you think it’s snowing outside, that’s how much paper is coming down,” said Joe Timpone, Senior Vice President for Downtown Alliance, who is overseeing distribution of shredded paper for confetti.

The Giants' parade will start at Battery Place and Washington Street and proceed up Broadway. No tickets are needed to stand along the parade route, though you may need a hall pass from your boss.

Following the parade in Manhattan is a 3 p.m. rally scheduled at the Giants home, Met Life stadium, in East Rutherford, N.J., where New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to attend.

Boro-Wide Recycling would like to congratulate the New York Giants again on their Super Bowl XLVI win!