Bureau of International Recycling

http://www.bir.org/conventionwebsite/rome2012/home

How Retailers Benefit From Using Promotional Tote Bags?

By Danica Pemberton Green

People are becoming more aware of their contribution to the environmental degradation. Many are people are participating in energy conservation and preserving the environment. They start conserving water and recycling non-biodegradable wastes, environmental conscious people are now doing their part in the restoration of our planet.

Many retail business owners responded positively in the call of environmental advocates for businesses to "go green" and make the change in the society. One method that many retailers have implemented in their enterprises is giving away promotional tote bags. With the use of tote bags they are not only advertising their own business but they are also promoting green practices in the community. They convince people to use and reuse their promotional bags instead of creating more plastic wastes in the landfills.

Impact of giving away promotional tote bags:

1) Reduces the demand for plastic shopping bags.

Plastic shopping bag is the said to be the culprit for the mounting wastes in landfills that contaminates the soil and other natural resources. And it would take thousands of years before plastic bags decompose. This basically means that it still needs thousands of years before the mounts of plastic will decay and the number of plastics in landfill is growing every day. This is the result of excessive use of plastic bags that are instantly discarded after items have been purchased. Retail businesses are known to be the primary source of plastic shopping bags. If retailers will provide reusable bags to consumers plastic consumptions will drastically decline.

2) It serves as an economical medium for advertising and promotion:

Giving away promotional items like tote bags are affordable ways for a business owner to advertise their business, especially when compared to traditional forms of advertising. Just ensure that the bags you will be giving away are durable and have attractive designs that can induce people to reuse it whenever they go shopping in retail stores.

Although printed shopping bags are great medium for branding your company, tote bags are still the better alternative in terms of durability and eco-friendliness. Paper bags easily break when used for carrying heavy items while reusable totes can carry heavier things without tearing.

Some excellent and environment-friendly options are available when it comes to tote bags. Some of these include:

Canvas - this is a multipurpose material. It is made from cotton and the process used for weaving canvas results in a heavy-duty fabric that has the capacity to carry heavy items. Canvas is a smart choice for a shopping bag. It is sturdy enough to contain all the purchases without tearing or breaking. Lastly, canvas tote bags are washable.

Nylon- it is made of synthetic fiber that is versatile and durable. It is a great choice for creating promotional totes as it holds dye well. By using this material you can be sure that your company logo printed on the tote will stay for a longer time. Like canvas, nylon can carry heavy items without breaking or tearing. It is elastic and perfect for carrying bulky things like books.

Cotton- It comes from natural fiber and one of the inexpensive materials for producing promotional tote bags. Cotton is easy to maintain and can be washed and dry after used. Cotton shopping bags are meant to hold lighter items compared to canvas and nylon.

Danica Green is a branding aficionado who believes that a paper shopping bags and shopping bag design plays a crucial role in enhancing your brand image. She currently writes how promotional tote bags could significantly amplify your retail sales and keep customers coming back to you.

Earth Hour

Millions of people are expected to switch off their lights for Earth Hour today in a global effort to raise awareness about climate change that will even be monitored from space.

http://www.earthhour.org.my/

EWaste - How Are CIO's Protecting the Environment?

By Michael Lemm

Going green .... or protecting the environment .... has become even more of focus in companies today then ever before. In the US this is partly due to the new Obama Administration emphasis on the subject. But also because it's just plain the smart and responsible way to do business. One major segment of the overall effort is reducing and/or controlling E-waste.

E-waste is only part of the picture, though, of how CIO's can reduce harm to the environment.

For eWaste, many countries, US states, and even cities have eWaste proposals in various stages of becoming law. The common thread that is emerging is producer responsibility: the company that makes the stuff needs to be responsible for it at the end of its life. In some cases, companies pay a fee to a government recycling program. In others, the companies take the products back themselves. One very good source of information about these regulations is EIATRACK. All of the big equipment producers have product take-back programs; I suggest you speak with your particular vendors.

The problem of eWaste is also mitigated somewhat by a regulation that went into effect in 2006 in the European Union, and which is emerging as a common platform for laws in other places.

Called "RoHS" for Reduction of Hazardous Substances, it bans six specific substances in electronics (lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, and two flame retardants), subject to certain exemptions and limitations. The practical effect of this is that electronics will be less hazardous to recycle at the end of their useful life, and the stuff that eventually makes it into landfills will be less toxic.

Now, onto the broad question: How can CIOs help (or minimize harm to) the environment?

Probably the biggest thing, in my opinion, is to buy and operate less hardware.

Data centers use an enormous amount of electricity to run and cool the computers, and the generation of that electricity can contribute a lot of carbon to a company's carbon footprint. By fitting more virtual servers onto less physical servers, a company can use a lot less electricity--not to mention seeing other operational advantages.

CIOs can also make a positive impact by factoring electricity usage into enterprise purchasing decisions for workstations, and admin policy decisions (such as when workstations are put into hibernation mode after periods of being idle).

They can make technology and managerial decisions that facilitate working remotely: the pollution savings from non-commuting helps the environment, and the utility savings from not having a full-time office at the company help both the company's bottom line and the environment.

This isn't, of course, as simple as it sounds but plenty of companies are learning to to do it right.

Now what would YOU do.

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com. Michael also authors Small Business Resources Cafe with resources, tools, tips, & insights for small businesses. The Cafe is always open. So .... grab a cup of Joe & sit awhile! 

Are We Aware Of The Impact Of Ewaste On Our Health And Environment?

By Nischal Sanghavi


As swanky electronic gazettes have become the new lifestyle status symbols of the modern society, more and more people have started taking to adapting and flaunting latest technology equipments. The usage of mobiles, laptops, mp3 players, computer, LCD TVs and home equipments with advanced technologies have become common. With new upgrades in technology everyday, old equipments are fast phasing out because of obsolence. This obsolete, non-working, non-repairable but durable equipments obviously find there way into the garbage.

According to N.M. Taphani, Regional Officer, Pollution Control Board, this Electronic Waste is highly dangerous for environment and hence should not be disposed with the regular garbage. Electrical and electronic equipment are made up of a multitude of components, some containing toxic substances which can have an adverse impact on human health and the environment if not handled properly. They should be segregated and disposed as per the norms However, according to him the disposal of all domestic waste is the responsibility of Municipal Corporation or civic authorities. Hence, they have not been taking any action on the matter. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of the Government of India has developed a special guide for issues and problems created by eWaste. However, the workgroup for this divison are currently functional only in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Vendors in the business of used computers says, they often come across non-working computer parts whose repairing may cost more than a new one. They usually throw such parts like display cards, network cards or mother boards of old computers into the nearest dustbin alongwith other garbage. According to Dealers of home equipments, used Television and Electronic equipments are purchased by dealers as buyback. This second hand equipments if working are usually resold to small vendors from nearby villages otherwise they are sold to scrap dealers in town. These scrap dealers in turn use some of the useful material from the equipments and throw away the rest of then things in garbage. According to Mobile phone showroom owners, when they come across non-repairable phones, they keep the working parts of the phone into their inventory and throw away the stripped phone.

There are many people who change handphones almost every 6-8 months as the one he is using either gets outdated or becomes non-repairable due to extensive usage. They normally sell the old phones for peanuts to second hand vendors. Environmentalist Dr. Vinod Pandya say the toxins and chemicals released by disposing this waste creates dangerously harmful effects to human body. According to him, the quantity of eWaste is drastically increasing in our environment and if it is not controlled using specified methods, it will create unpredictable harm to the environment. According to an Assistant Engineer working in the Solid Waste Management department of the civic authorities, they do not collect Industrial Waste and Bio-medical Waste in their garbage. The rest of the waste collected is send to the Porcessing Plant. At processing plant they segregate solid wastes received during garbage collection, however, he is confident that they are not receivng any eWaste with the garbage. He believes that there are many Rag Tickers who pick up this waste material from dustbins and hence, these waste do not reach the Processing plant.

Sove of the eWaste generated due to common human activities are as follows :

1 Breaking, Recycling or disposing Releasing of toxins into the soil, air and groundwater Of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

2 Burning of wires Induces formation of dioxins

3 Burning of Printed Circuit Boards Induces alarmingly high formation of dioxins

4 Destroying Circuit Breakers Creates Leaching of Mercury

5 Breaking or CRT Glass Leaching of Lead

Nischal Sanghavi, B.E.(Electronics), MBA, Businessman and Freelance writer for The Times of India.