If your home is like mine, the holidays left you with a huge mess. Empty boxes and torn wrapping paper litter the floor after the kids excitedly open their gifts. It’s so tempting to gather it all up and through it in the outside garbage bin.
But this is a great opportunity to not only recycle, but to reuse. Almost all of the wrapping paper and boxes can be recycled, so consider keeping your contribution out of the landfill. And for the reuse possibilities…they are practically endless. I’m pretty sure that most of the ribbons I use have been used for several years. And many of the boxes that hold the gifts are great to use for packaging gifts next year. Do you realize that many stores now CHARGE you for a gift box? Sheesh, I’ll save mine for next year, thank you. Not to mention the gift bags. I LOVE getting my gifts in those pretty little bags. Especially since I know I will be using it for someone else’s gift somewhere down the road. Do you know how much those things cost? They are outrageous. No way would I throw them away. They are too valuable.

Now what are we to do with the tree? If you use an artificial tree, it’s a pretty easy decision. You fold it up and store it for next year. Simple. And if you are lucky enough to live in a warm environment and purchased a live tree including the root ball, you can get to work planting it in your yard to enjoy for years to come. But what about cut trees? Most communities offer some sort of Christmas tree recycling. The lucky ones have curbside pickup to recycle their trees. The rest of us need to decide what to do. What convinces me to haul the tree to the recycling facility is a couple of things.
I was willing to haul it home after I purchased it, so I can just as easily take it to be recycled.

Some communities use the old trees to shred and cover pathways and trails through parks. This helps to repair and reduce the damage we create as we enjoy our hikes.

Some communities turn the old trees into mulch and then provide it to the public for free! What a deal. Spring is just right around the corner, by the way.

So that pretty much covers what we can do to reduce our holiday effect on the environment. Now it’s a new year and we can begin thinking about getting a fresh start.
Some resolutions to consider:

- Resolve to begin recycling if you don’t already. You can start small. This site provides a wealth of information about getting your recycling efforts off the ground.

- If you already recycle, step it up a notch. If your curbside recycling service doesn’t accept a particular item (like glass or cardboard), resolve to begin taking that item to the drop off facility in your area.

- Resolve to purchase more products packaged with post consumer recycled materials. The higher the percentage listed on the package, the better.

- Resolve to purchase more items made from recycled materials. Paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, and many other paper products fall into this category.

- Resolve to purchase more items in bulk, thus reducing packaging waste.

- Resolve to create at least one creative craft using something you might otherwise throw away. This is fun, gets your creative juices flowing, can reduce stress, and is a g reat way to spend some quality time with your family.

Just about everyone has heard about the benefits of recycling. It’s nearly impossible to read a magazine or newspaper, or watch TV without seeing or hearing some news about the various forms of recycling. Recycling paper was one of the first types of recycling to be introduced to the general public and is still one of the most often practiced kinds.

Continually cutting down trees to make paper is depleting the resources we have out there despite re-planting done by some companies. When too many trees are cleared away the natural habitat for animals and plants is destroyed. This can have a very negative effect on our society as a whole. In addition, the trees that are cut down can no longer remove the carbon dioxide from the air we breathe.

One way to reduce the number of trees being cut down for paper is to recycle paper. In this type of process the recycled paper is turned back into pulp. It gets mixed in with new pulp and turned into new types of paper. This is done so that the overall quality of the paper is still very good. When paper is recycled the fibers can weaken. Mixing them with new pulp improves the quality of the end product.

Paper recycling is simple because everyone uses paper in some capacity and you are most likely to be able to find paper recycling bins around the community. In addition to recycling the paper you use in your daily activities, reducing the amount of paper you consume is beneficial as well. Here are a few~some suggestions to help you limit the amount of paper you use everyday.

Go Paperless

One great way to reduce the amount of paper in your paper recycling bin is to go paperless as much as possible. Just about every bank, utility company, mortgage company, and credit card group offers a paperless way to take care of business. Most people already have an Internet connection in their homes, there is no reason to not make it work for you in every way. Paying bills and managing accounts online save the paper the invoices and statements are printed on as well as save you the expense of a postal stamp. While no one wants to run the postal workers out of jobs, it just makes more sense to take care of business online where ever possible. It’s faster for you, saves tons of paper, and saves money in postal costs.

Efficient Use of Your Printer Paper

Conserving paper used in is a good way of limiting your paper consumption. Let’s say you are printing some information to share with family or friends or for your own use. Instead of printing everything on one side of the copy paper only, why not print on both sides. Many printers these days have the ability to print on multiple sides so that you are using half of the paper for your project. Of course, there are times when you need to print on one side only but for many print jobs, double-sided printing is just fine.

You can also re-use some paper. If you have to print something out on only one side or it just takes one side of the paper, when you are finished with the paper, save it and print on the clean side. Keep a stack of used paper by your printer for use when you don’t care what is on the other side.

Use Recycled Paper Products

Pay attention to the paper you buy – you will find more and more of it is recycled. Many notebooks will say on the back if they are recycled or not. Even office supply companies are offering reams of recycled paper. It is still the same great quality that you want for your business so don’t worry that it has been compromised. You will feel good knowing you are doing your part to recycle and to cut down the number of wasted trees that don’t really have to be destroyed in order to have paper.

You can do your part to recycle paper by collecting it and then dropping it off at collection centers. This can include papers at home you don’t need and newspapers. Should you need to shred various types of papers though you can do so and then take the shreds for recycling. Have a set location at work for paper that can be recycled as well.

Brief A Forever Recovery Recycling Introduction By Nina K.

Recycling

During the 1960s and ’70s it was thought that emissions from factory chimneys and sewage pipes constituted the biggest environmental problem. But since then, due to new, worldwide “Eco-laws”, these discharges have decreased considerably. Instead, the focus has switched to the environmental problems associated with the goods that are produced and consumed in modern society. Many of the most environmentally damaging substances are currently being supplied through glass bottles, newspapers, plastic bags, coke cans, cardboard boxes and sweet wrappers just to mention a few.

To tell you what recycling is and what the word actually embodies may seem strange to you. I am sure all of you think you know exactly what it entails. But in theory recycling involves the separation and collection of materials for processing and re-manufacturing old products into new products, and the use of these new products, completing the cycle.

Glass is one of the most common man-made materials. It is made from sand, limestone and sodium carbonate and silica. The ingredients are heated to a high temperature in a furnace until they melt together. The molten glass from the furnace cools to form sheets, or may be moulded to make objects. Actually glass is completely recyclable and making products from recycled glass rather than starting from scratch saves energy resources. Recycled glass is made into new beverage bottles, food jars, insulation and other construction materials. Usually, clear glass containers are recycled into new clear glass products, while coloured glass containers are recycled into new coloured glass products.

In fact, the recycling of glass as well other products, such as aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, car tyres, newspapers and certain plastics is a growing industry in most of the world today. In South Africa however, we don’t have a very high level of recycling. There aren’t enough people who take an active interest in the environment and try to do their bit in preserving nature, by for example, taking used bottles, aluminum cans or even leaves and other garden refuse to recycling sites. This is probably due to a lot of reasons. The first and foremost being that, in South Africa, we don’t have many recycling centres and, lets face it, how many of us really sort our rubbish before throwing it in the rubbish bin?

Since it is now these products, and no longer industrial emissions, that accounts for most of the environmentally harmful substances being discharged in nature the conditions for environmental efforts have fundamentally changed. As the “release sites” or the polluters, have become so numerous, a totally new system for controlling and handling environmentally harmful wastes is needed.

One way could be to transfer the responsibility for this to the producer of goods, according to the established principle “the polluter pays.”

However, I found this principle not be all that efficient in practise. To find out what is actually being done at the industrial level, I spoke with William Footman, one of the regional managers of Nampak, which is one of South Africa’s 2 glass manufacturers. He told me that the reason we don’t have a very developed glass recycling programme in this country, is due to the fact that we only have two factories where glass can be recycled back into beverage bottles. And as it is far too expensive for the companies to transport old bottles back to their factories for recycling, they would rather produce new, rather than re-use the old glass.

But, producers who put a product on the market should, quite simply, be responsible for taking back as much as is sold. What is important for environmental policy is the creation of a system in which each producer assumes his responsibility. But should all the responsibility lie on the producers? Every consumer who buys these products should make an asserted effort to help keep our planet clean.

I searched the Internet to find out exactly how poorly we as South Africans compare to the rest of the world in recycling. The country that has been in the forefront of recycling, particularly for household waste, is Sweden. Swedes have to carefully recycle and separate their own rubbish for the refuse collectors on a daily basis. Even in the middle of their very cold winters, in raging snowstorms, the Swedish people go to the recycling stations with their household trash to perform the daily ritual of separating cardboard from plastics and glass from biological waste.

Actually nearly all 1st world countries and many developing countries have developing or already highly developed recycling programmes, and South Africa desperately needs to jump on the ‘recycling wagon’. A step in the right direction could be to build recycling plants all over the country. Every town should set up a sufficient number of collection stations and every household should share the responsibility and sort their rubbish to ensure that batteries and electrical appliances are not thrown in landfills, that glass, aluminium cans and plastic bags don’t clutter the country-side. Working together with the producers, consumers should send items back to factories, to be recycled and thereby reused.

The process of recycling, for example paper, entails the conversion of waste paper to various types of finer grades of paper. First, careful sorting is required so that items such as plastic wrapping, paper clips and staples can be removed. Waste paper is divided into categories such as newsprint; typing and computer paper; and magazines, which have shiny paper and coloured inks and need special treatment. Next, the ink must be removed. This is done by soaking the paper and breaking it up into small pieces in giant washers, then treating it with chemicals that loosen the ink so that it can be rinsed away. Sometimes more than one such chemical must be used because many types of ink must be removed. Finally, the wet, shredded waste paper is blended with other materials according to the type of end product that is desired. Old pieces of cloth, which are used to produce the finest, most expensive grades of paper, may be mixed in. Wood pulp and other forms of cellulose such as straw may also be added in varying proportions. If white paper or paper for greeting cards or stationery is to be produced, bleach may also be added to lighten it; if newsprint is to be produced, a mixture of red and blue dyes is added to reduce the greyness of the final product. Chemical preservatives are also added at this point.

At this time, the fully treated material is a sort of liquid sludge that is ready to be made into paper. In most papermaking operations, the sludge passes through a machine called a beater, which is essentially a very heavy roller that presses the fibres in the sludge together and squeezes out the water. The paper is formed and held together by the natural interlocking of the long cellulose or cloth fibres as they are pressed and dried. No glue is used in the process and in fact, the natural glue in wood is removed chemically before the paper is made.

A refining machine brushes the roll of sludge to smooth out irregularities. The papermaking machine presses the sludge into thin slices, which are then further dried by pressing or by being placed in furnaces. Finally, the paper is polished or chemically treated to give it the proper finish and lastly packaged and sent to customers.

The papermaking process itself is pretty much the same whether one uses virgin materials, recycled materials, or a mixture of the two. The difference is in the preparation of the sludge. Recycled material requires careful sorting. This in turn means that the paper mills must have a place to store waste paper and the staff to sort it, as well as a means of disposing of waste paper that cannot be used. Removing ink from waste paper also requires special chemicals, equipment, and equipment operators. As a result, some paper mills are not set up to use any recycled materials. That’s why the forests are getting smaller and smaller.

Also, not all paper products can be made with recycled paper. Brown grocery bags, for example, can be recycled into other types of paper, but they must be made, at least partially, out of virgin materials because only virgin materials have the long unbroken fibres that give the bags their necessary strength. Unlike glass bottles and aluminum cans, which can be recycled an infinite number of times, paper cannot be recycled indefinitely. Each time it is recycled, its quality degrades slightly because the fibres become more and more broken. At some point recycled paper has to be mixed in with virgin material, and eventually after repeated uses, it ends up in a landfill or and incinerator.

Obviously as recycling plants and collection sites have to be set up all over the country and for all the various types of materials we use in every day life, it is going to be a very expensive process to start, but it is vital that the wheels are set in motion before it is too late! In turn this will lead to many new jobs opening up for unskilled as well as skilled people in South Africa helping to keep our country cleaner as well as decreasing unemployment and thereby promoting the economy.

By Michael Russell

Recycling is a priority in the United States. In fact, the United States recycles more than 24 percent of its waste. This is the highest percentage in the industrialized world. This is only appropriate considering the United States also produces the most amount of waste in the industrialized world. Recycling can bring out about economic and environmental benefits.

The recycling industry has made a vital contribution to job creation and economic development in the United States. In 2000, the recycling industry was responsible for more than 1.1 million jobs and a yearly payroll of $37 billion. For every 10,000 tons of waste that is recycled, 36 new jobs are created. If you were to incinerate the 10,000 tons of waste instead, only one job would be created. In addition, for every employee there is collecting items that can be recycled, there are 26 employees that turn these items into new products. There are as many employees in the recycling industry as there are in the automobile and truck manufacturing industry. Also recycling industry employees make more money than employees in other industries.

Recycling helps prevent global climate changes by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions can result from the manufacturing, use and disposal of products. Greenhouse gas emissions are a part of nature and they help create climates that sustain life on earth. If greenhouse gas emissions reach dangerous concentration levels, then you might see rising global temperatures, sea level changes and other climate changes. Recycling can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the following ways:

Manufacturing paper, plastics, glass and metal from recycled materials requires less energy than manufacturing these products from virgin materials because the recycled materials have already been processed. Also if you were to use virgin materials, you would have to spend additional energy extracting and transporting the virgin materials. For example, recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy required to make new aluminum from virgin materials. Recycling steel and plastics would require 60 percent and 70 percent less energy, respectively, than making these products from raw materials. Recycling nearly any material will require less energy than producing the material from virgin materials. In 2005, recycling saved over 900 trillion BTUs, which is the same amount of energy used in 9 million households annually. This energy conservation results in less fossil fuels being burned. This means that less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere. If 6 tons of glass and one ton of aluminum were recycled, then 1 ton and 13 tons of carbon dioxide, respectively, would not be released into the atmosphere.

Recycling also keeps materials out of landfills. This is important because materials in landfills can decompose and release methane gas. Methane gas is a greenhouse gas that is 20 to 30 times more dangerous to the environment than carbon dioxide. Municipal solid waste landfills are responsible for 34 percent of methane gas emissions attributed to Americans.

Waste combustion from incinerators can release greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Recycling can reduce these emissions by keeping materials out of incinerators. In 2003, recycling kept 72 million tons of material from incinerators and landfills.

The A Forever Recovery Benefits

By Tom Tessin

One of the best ways to help our economy, our environment, and get cash back is by recycling. Recycling is not only a nationwide thing in America but it is being done world-wide. You would be amazed at all the things that you can recycle and get cash back. One of the popular items is plastics many bottles and containers are used to make carpets and the recycling centers are more than glad to pay you so much per plastic container. Along with that program companies who use cans to bottle soft drinks, juices and other liquids pay the consumer cash back for the return of the containers.

Since many of us are a computer user that means we need to purchase ink cartridges and the ink cartridge companies are willing to pay you to bring back your empties. Companies that sell car batteries are willing to give the consumer a core cash back fee as the manufacturer can reuse in order to create new batteries. These items are all harmful to the eco system if left in landfills. It is wise to utilize the cash back system in order to put money in your pocket but better yet to help our eco system. We only have one place to live and that is earth so we need to take care of it by using recycling we can do just that.

There are other places that offer cash back like when you buy a lot of product and need to take a wood pallet you will receive cash back for the return of the pallet. Insurance companies are willing to give you a big discount on your premium if you pay your bill and shop on-line so that they do not have to use paper. We need to save our trees and by going paperless we are doing just that. It is important that you think of the many different ways that you can get cash back by recycling or cut down on the cost of your bills by going paperless and shopping on line. The Holidays is a great time to get cash back by shopping on-line and going paperless. Many merchants offer you great bargains and cash rebates if you shop on the internet with them. I like to think of it as “go green”, “think green”, and “get green.” When you “go green” you are shopping paperless, “thinking green” you are saving in as many places as possible and of course “get green” means you are getting paid for recycling.

Recycling A Forever Recovery Cash Back

By Ross Bainbridge

A large number of plastic containers and bags are used on a daily basis. Plastic waste is one of the biggest causes for increased water and soil pollution. Plastic recycling offers one of the best solutions to the increased plastic waste in the environment. Plastic recycling is the process of breaking down used scrap and waste plastics to recover usable material for the manufacturing industry. Plastic comprises of a large number of resins and complex chemical structures that are melted down to create new fibers.

Plastic recycling is a complex procedure. Plastic recycling industries can face a large number of unique challenges. One of the key principles to be followed while recycling plastic is that different types of plastics cannot be mixed before recycling. Plastics of different polymer structures and resin composition are identified by using standard codes on the basis of their melting and crushing capacity. Plastic materials identified under a particular code can be mixed and recycled with other plastics of the same code. Plastic materials consist of a few dyes, fillers, and additives, which are not easily recyclable.

The obstacles of recycling plastic can be overcome by using an elaborate monomer recycling process wherein the polymer undergoes an inverse polymer reaction of what was used to manufacture it. The end product of this procedure is a mix of chemicals that form the original polymer, which is further purified and synthesized to form a new polymer of the same type. Another solution to the problem is the use of a thermal de-polymerization process, which involves conversion of assorted polymers into petroleum. The procedure accepts the mixing of any type of polymer.

A Forever Recovery Plastic Recycling

By Bobby Peck

Governments everywhere are advocating reusable, recycled bags at a breakneck pace.

It was a big week for shopping bags indeed. The end is drawing near for our disposable, gutter-clogging, tree-hanging one-time use friends. On the other side of the coin, eco-friendly RPET bags (think the Whole Foods bag) are enjoying their time in the sun like never before.

Effective January 1 large grocers and retailers in New York State that give plastic grocery bags to their customers must provide recycling bins for returned bags. It seems public awareness about the adverse effects of the typical petroleum-based shopping bags has finally boiled over into legislative action. This law has a two-pronged effect. Beyond the obvious, it represents a push towards using reusable grocery bags. Instead of buying a bin that uses up retail space and hiring a transport service to collect the throw-away bags, merchants are thinking that it is better and more profitable to simply give their customers reusable bags. Flexible manufacturers such as Factory Direct Promos offer custom branded reusable bags that are cost-effective enough for mid-size merchants to get in on the action as well. Not only do retailers get to save the Earth, they can do it in style with their unique custom branding.

On the other side of the country, today (December 18th) Los Angeles is celebrating the second annual “Day Without a Bag.” L.A., historically one of the more eco-conscious cities out there, is making a major push to eliminate the unsightly disposable plastic bags completely. According to KTLA,

“In January, the county Board of Supervisors told large grocers to lower the number of plastic bags used by 30 percent by 2010 and by 65 percent by 2013, or else face an all-out ban. In July, the Los Angeles City Council ordered plastic bags to be removed from store checkout counters by July 1, 2010.”

This is more great news for all of the stakeholders. Reusable grocery bag manufacturers will enjoy increased sales, citizens will enjoy a cleaner city, and retailers, in using custom branded reusable bags, will get to have their message on the single most used product in their entire inventory.

Our brothers across the pond are getting in on the action as well. Tesco, Asda, and Sainsbury (the three largest U.K. supermarket chains by sales) pledged to cut their use of disposable plastic bags in half. According to Bloomberg, this will eliminate enough waste to fill 60 Olympic-size swimming pools by this spring.

A Forever Recovery and the Law

Drug addiction is not selective when it comes to the demographics of the individual and their families that are affected.  It is non-selective when it comes to people’s lifestyles affecting any and all walks of life in its process of destruction.  Unfortunately today, the standard treatment and recovery facilities fail in their attempts to provide the client with certain specific needs which will enable them to be treated and recover successfully.

A Forever Recovery takes into consideration more specific needs such as the client’s own spiritual beliefs so that they are never forced to adhere to those beliefs contradictory or different from their own.  Standard facilities claim that if the client does not accept their techniques and therapies, they have no hope for recovery, therefore disregarding the individual’s spiritual rights.  Instead, we offer the client an environment that allows them to heal while walking their own spiritual paths.

The techniques and therapies offered with A Forever Recovery have 5 “designated tracks” which are utilized in order to compliment the cognitive therapies of our program.  These therapies include:

Additionally, our counselors are extremely knowledgeable in the numerous types of drug rehab modalities.  They have worked in Christian (or Faith-Based) facilities while others have worked in standard 12-Step centers.  Additionally, there are other counselors that have undergone treatment and recovery for their own addictions as well, having been treated in cognitive programs or have walked their own spiritual paths.

A Forever Recovery Holistic

21st Century A Forever Recovery Recycling Author: Beverly Clarke.

RECYCLING ALL TYPES OF PAPER

Let’s assume that you don’t print out the North American average of thirty plus pages per day or buy the morning newspaper or even buy highly prepackaged goods at the grocery store, you could be astonished at just how much paper waste you render in a given twelvemonth period. Recycling paper results in monumental energy, fresh water, carbon dioxide and natural resource savings – as much as seventy-five percent in many cases.

Paper also happens to be one of the most recyclable items. Clean office paper can now be easily separated from its inks and toners, with the resulting pulp being employed in a broad assortment of products, including new paper that’s nearly indistinguishable from the old. More often, however, paper is combined together with news print and additional kinds of subordinate grade paper products to produce a lower-grade or “down-cycled” type of paper product. You will be able to achieve a big benefit by recycling what paper you are able to and composting the balance as add-ons of “brown matter” that keeps the high nitrogen kitchen waste adequately provided with carbon.

REDUCING THE WASTE MATERIAL YOU BUY

The most crucial component of the recycling power structure is the reduction of waste as a number one priority. This is most frequently managed by devoting rigorous care to the things you buy. You can establish a campaign to buy items with minimal packaging. While such decisiveness often times requires you to make a primal shifting in what motivates your buying

urge, such a thoughtful carry through is frequently attained when monetary resources are low. Let packaging comprise part of your buying decisions even as much as what’s inside. There’s just about always a low-packaging item. Select packaging that can be composted at home (like paper or twine) or recycled as often as feasible over plastics that will persist for hundreds of years.

Determining just how to make more of the items you utilize in your day-to-day life for yourself makes an enormous impact on how much rubbish for which you will even need to project. Those who produce and prepare their own food, composting the leftovers and returning them back to the soil as compost, have little (if no) trash to be concerned about.

By: Ben Franklin

This great big planet seems to be getting smaller and smaller. As more people call it home, the need to conserve, preserve and recycle is becoming more and more evident. While it’s not possible for one person to solve all the world’s problems when it comes to preservation and conservation, a single human can make a huge difference in a single community or an area.

Recycling is one of the best ways a person can make a difference in their community. The effort is relatively simple, generally supported by curbside pick up and can even be financially beneficial. Plus, it benefits the planet.

If you doubt the necessity to recycle, take a look at your weekly trash. Now consider what items could be pulled out and saved from a trip to a landfill. Cuts the number of bags down by a lot, doesn’t it?

If you’d like to get started recycling, but don’t know how, here are some ideas:

* Check with your local government authority to see if there are curbside recycling programs in place. If your government doesn’t have them, perhaps your trash handlers do. In many communities there are special, designated days for recycling of certain items. There’s not even a need to take the recyclables to a special collection site – it comes to you instead.

* If there is a recycling program in place, find out its rules and regulations. Depending on location, some items may be accepted and others may not. There may even be special bags or bins necessary to make sure the pick up program can easily identify what’s meant to be recycled and what’s meant for the landfill.

* If you don’t have a recycling program, check with a recycling company. These do exist and they handle everything from cardboard to aluminum and copper and more.

In general, the following items are accepted by recycling programs. Keep in mind though some of these items can net you cash if you turn them into a company rather than put them through a curbside service. In some cases, a lot of money.

* Glass. Many types of glass can be recycled. This will oftentimes have to be rinsed out. Check with your local program for information on types accepted and prep steps necessary.

* Aluminum. This is one that can net you money. Check for local regulations on its recycling, but keep in mind if you go through a lot of cans, you could be throwing money away if you don’t recycle, not to mention wasting landfill space.

* Copper wires. Electricians often come into contact with this. When stripped of its covering, this can net some serious cash at a recycling place.

* Newspapers. These are great for recycling. There’s no need to throw them away. Newspapers can be worth money for those who recycling them, too. In fact, many youth organizations do newspaper drives to make themselves some extra cash. Rather than selling a product, they collect your junk for their fundraising.

A Forever Recovery Savings