This post was prepared and published with the help of environmentally concerned members of   Dumpster Rentals Cooperative : Dumpster Rentals in Seattle , Dumpster Rentals in Sacramento , Dumpster Rentals in Phoenix and Roll Off Containers Phoenix .

The first vital stage in recycling paper is to keep it separate from general waste. Once paper has become mixed with other kinds of garbage it cannot be recovered. Perhaps yOll already save your old newspapers and magazines for special collection, or perhaps you are involved in a voluntary papercollecting program in your community or at school. These programs are beginning to spread. But, of course, separating...

Paper and printing have formed a basis for modern civilization. These two inventions meant that knowledge could be recorded and widely spread; laws, literature, science and philosophy could be communicated across continents and oceans. Even computers rely on paperfor printing out. We have also come to rely on paper packaging, from the paper bag to the cardboard box. Then there is writing paper, tissue-paper, wallpaper and tracing paper-paper comes in many forms and has hundreds of uses. 

Paper was first made inChina 2,200 years ago. The basic process was the same as it is today. Plant fibers are suspended in water, drained through a sieve, then dried and rolled. The Chinese used mainly hemp fibers. When papermaking spread to the West, recycled textiles were used -mainly linen, then later, cotton.

A hundred years ago the demand for paper grew so fast that new milling techniques were developed, and wood fiber took over as the main raw material. In the United States at the turn of the century, 60 percent of the fibers used were from wood pulp, but 40 percent were from waste paper and rags. As the demand for paper grew, new mills were built, and new supplies ofmaterials were sought. Fast-growing trees were specially planted in different parts of the world to produce wood pulp more cheaply....

You may know about the problem of waste at first hand, because you have to walk every day through streets strewn with litter. Or perhaps you have seen news reports about the waste crisis in New York. This crowded city has simply run out of land on which to dump its garbage. In recent years the authorities have been loading New York's waste onto huge ships which then go off down the coast in search of a garbage dump with room to spare.

It is hard to believe that, for centuries, most of our garbage has been dumped onto open ground and then forgotten. Now the problem has caught up with us. As our towns and cities have grown, there is not enough land to spare for this kind of dumping. And even where land is available, most people understandably do not want the dump near where THEY live. Aside from being unsightly and smelly, if not properly managed these "landfill" sites can be dangerous. Rotting waste forms a chemical soup which leaks into the ground. In time, this poisonous mixture can seep into streams and rivers. As organic waste including paper-decomposes, it also produces a dangerous gas called methane, or "marsh gas." Some old landfills have been earthed over and then built on. It has been known for houses built on old landfill sites to start to shift as the gas builds up. 

At...

Do you like to cook? Do you know how to fix Georgian style lamb BBQ? Are you enjoying ‘Satzivi’ (chicken in walnut souce)? Do you know how to bake a whole salmon? I do. I like to cook and I am happy that my folks appreciate my cooking. And I am happy too. I like to work in my kitchen since I truly believe that food prepared with love has it’s own “super nutritious” qualities.

What I don’t like, though, is to throw a lot of organic waste (vegetable peels, grease, bones etc.) into my kitchen garbage can. Like many of us, I understand that decomposition of such biodegradable waste is a major source of the greenhouse gas methane so whenever possible I try to compost food waste I generate. Yea, well… ‘whenever possible’. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Why? Simply because I like my kitchen clean and odor free and even though I realize that composting is the right thing to do but having waste food containers in my kitchen always driving me nuts. Cleaning the containers is another ‘enjoyment’ that comes as a separate challenge.

The solution came with the new product: ‘Bag to Earth’. With this product I can achieve to both keep landfills clean and keep my kitchen and my food waste bins clean and odor free. 

So what is the ‘Bag to Earth’? ‘Bag to Earth’ www.bagtoearth.com is an...

This post opens a series of publications devoted to just a one topic 'Paper Recycling' within a huge global problem Waste Control. The goal of this series of publications to spread knowledge and share best practices on how each of us can get involved waste control initiatives and environment protection movements.

These posts are prepared and published with the help of environment protection enthusiasts from local Waste Management Companies: Dumpster Rentals in Seattle , Dumpster Rentals in Sacramento , Dumpster Rentals in Phoenix and Dumpster Rentals in Brooklyn .

The problem of waste is an enormous challenge facing all modern societies. In fact, it is a problem that affects the whole of our planet.
On the one hand we are producing and consuming more and more commodities,...

Investigating Zero Waste programs

Where is the "away" in "throw away"?  Eighty percent of what we produce is thrown away within six months of its production.  Rather than focus solely on "end-of-pipe" solutions, we have to think about how to prevent the manufacture of products that quickly end up in the waste cycle.   Zero Waste programs, which seek to reform the systems of production, construction, and consumption in order to address the growing waste crisis, have been successful in encouraging communities to adopt zero-waste resolutions.

Research Zero Waste programs and encourage your city or town to adopt a resolution.

This is the fourth issue of the series of posts “365 Ways to Save the Earth. It is devoted to environment protection and energy saving. Read the previous post here Roll Off Dumpster Rentals Blog . This time we would like to share a few more tips and easy-to-do recommendations on how we can contribute to saving not-renewable resources and protect our environment and our communities for ourselves and future generations.

Use wood for heating.

America's forests cover 745 million acres, or 33% of the entire country. Of that total U.S. forested area, 495 million acres, or 67 %, are commercial forests that are used to produce timber for wood products.  

Canada's forests cover 397.3 million hectares (ha), other wooded land and other land with tree cover, which represent 53.8 percent of its total surface.  Canada is the home to 10% of world's forests.

As a source of energy, wood does not contribute to global warming.  Although burning it releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, the amount given of is the same as the amount absorbed while the tree...

Pollution severely affects the world’s oceans, and three-quarters of the debris that pollutes the seas comes from the land. Every year, 14 billion pounds of garbage are released into our oceans world-wide. The flexible plastic loops that hold together six-packs of beverage cans are often dropped on beaches. They seem harmless, but they become deadly once they float out to sea, where sea birds, seals, and dolphins may trap their beaks, heads, or snouts in them – often with fatal results.

A study in Texas found that 70% of all the trash found on that state’s beaches was made of plastic. Plastic never biodegrades; instead it photo-degrades, a process in which it breaks into ever smaller pieces, which then may be consumed by fish and wildlife. Make sure your own rubbish does not reach the sea. Help reduce litter on the street or it will end up in storm drains, which eventually empty into the sea.

Composition of Phone Books

As with any recyclable, knowing exactly what phone books are of is important. The books’ composition can affect the end user selected, the collection methods, or even whether the books are recycled at all.

Needs of Paper Mills

The components a particular mill can handle will depend on the product into which the old telephone directories (OTD) is being made and upon that mill’s technology for handling inks, glues, etc. A basic understanding of the papermaking process is useful in matching the optimal end user to OTD from a specific community.

Most mills begin the recycling of OTD by shredding, or “hogging,” the books. This may have been done earlier, prior to baling, depending on the mill’s specifications and who processed the OTD for shipment to them. The baling strips are removed and the shredded books are processed with chemicals and water to remove ink, coatings, and glue. De-inking technologies very by mill, and are closely guarded trade secrets.

This cleaned fiber may be mixed with some virgin pulp fiber, depending on the recycled content of the end product. The wet paper mixture is thinned and passed into sheets, dried by hot air...

Computer Printout

Computer printout is the most valuable of the high-grade office paper. It may have colored bars and may be impact or nonimpact (laser) type. Many markets prefer to purchase colored-bar paper. Usually it is a green bar. Many markets prefer impact type or not to mix impact and laser. It is important in planning an office paper recycling program to determine precisely, what the market requires.

Computer printout is generally considered too valuable to mix with other high-grade papers and should be kept separate and free from contamination. Some manifold white ledger paper may appear to be similar to computer printout. Where there is not ablolute certainty, a market expert should be consulted.

White Ledger

White ledger should generally be considered any fine white writing, printing, typing, or copy paper containing no color other than black. The market must always be consulted for precise specifications. Certain qualities of book pages, completely separated from covers and bindings, might be allowed in this grade by certain markets.

Other Office Paper

Colored  ledger should generally be considered any fine...