It is easy to get started with recycling and living a green lifestyle while having an impact on your local, regional, and even the global environment. Here’s how to get started today.

Starting Small While Making A Big Impact – Recycling Bins And Beyond

Making a commitment and getting starting with a set of recycling bins is a huge step. Every item that you place in recycling containers saves that much room in a landfill, saves natural resources from being depleted, and reduces your carbon footprint. A full set of recycling bins on your curbside or taken to your recycling center every week adds up to a big change very quickly.

One of the best parts about recycling is that you can do it no matter where you are. Use your recycling bins at home, recycle while you are in the office, attending classes, and anywhere you can find recycling containers. Plus, by recycling, you will lead by example; once recycling bins start popping up in neighborhoods or at the office many other people take notice and follow that lead.

Knowing How To Fill Up Your Recycling Containers

Still, people can be reluctant to start using recycling containers. They might have difficulty sorting their waste or storing and using the extra recycling bins. Thankfully, recycling containers and their designs have improved greatly over the years. Multi compartment recycling bins plus nesting and slip together recycling containers make for easy, instant sorting while saving on space.

Much of the waste that we generate on a daily basis can be recycled. Plastic containers, aluminum cans, newspaper, office paper, magazines, phone books, electronics, and many more items can all be recycled. The best way to find out is to go to your local recycling center or contact city hall. You will be amazed at what you can put into your recycling bins.

Going One Step Further – Reduce And Reuse

You can go one step further than filling up your recycling bins. Reduce what you use and reuse what you do use. Every single item you can refrain from using has a huge impact; consider how much packaging, transportation fuel, and energy goes into every product. Use cloth napkins instead of paper and heavy duty plastic dishes for outdoor dining. Set your printer to double sided printing to cut your office paper usage in half.

After you finish using a product, find another use for it. Containers can be re-used to hold pantry items, hand soap, knick knacks, and more. Combine scrap lumber, wood stain, and a few hooks to create a decorative coat rack. The possibilities are endless.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle; start today and have an impact.

Putting More Than Just Paper Into Recycling Bins

Many offices utilize recycling containers for paper trash. However, going green involves utilizing your recycling bins for much more than scrap printer paper. Green offices today find ways to recycle as much of their waste as possible.

Magazines, newspapers, and cardboard boxes are all very common in many offices and they should be dedicated recycling bins for all of these items as well. Electronic waste is also prevalent in many offices. Electronics have to be properly disposed of and cannot go directly in the trash. This includes old computers, printer, copiers, company cell phones, toner cartridges, and any other electronic devices. Contact your local recycling center or check with city hall to learn the right way to recycle electronic waste.

In your office cafeteria, canteen, or break room, make sure you provide recycling containers for plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and any other recyclable food packaging.

Saving Money And The Environment By Using Less

A key initiative for many offices is a focus on reducing costs. Reducing the amount of materials used in an office to reduce costs goes hand in hand with green programs to reduce the amount of commercial waste generated. Here are a just a few great tips to reduce material usage, save costs, and prevent our country’s landfills from overflowing:

• Share magazines, newspapers, and trade articles between departments
• Use electronic billboards, memorandums, and posters instead of paper ones
• Print unimportant documents on scrap paper
• Enable double sided printing
• Provide porcelain mugs in the break room rather than disposable Styrofoam cups
• Install motion sensor lights that automatically shut off at the end of the day to reduce electricity usage

Promoting A Green Culture

The most important parts of all of these programs and techniques are participation and the right company culture. Rallying employees around recycling bins and green programs helps to create a sense of civic pride. Stress to employees that they are participating in making their own neighborhoods cleaner and greener. Stress to management that green programs show corporate stewardship of the environment on a local and global scale.

In the end, it is vital to lead by example; this will encourage participation and display how important a green office really is. Make it easy for employees to take part and really feel a sense of ownership. In addition, today’s recycling bins and programs are designed to be more convenient and attractive. At the end of the day, people feel good about working in a green office.

Keeping Recycling Bins Out Of Sight In The Kitchen

Many of the same technique that you use to keep your regular wastebasket out of sight in the kitchen work for recycling containers as well. You can place bins underneath the sink in a cabinet. You can also buy recycling bins with a slip attachment and slip it to the inside of a cabinet door. If you use this method, make sure to only fill this bin with light waste, such as plastic bottles, to avoid damaging the door. You can also use a clip on bin and attach it to your regular waste basket in order to save space.

There are also pull out slides that you can use underneath your cabinets. These have the added benefit of pulling out to make throwing away trash move convenient. With a sliding drawer, you can use larger recycling containers and fill them with heavier items (like glass bottles) without worrying about damaging anything. You can pull out your recycling bins when needed and then quickly hide them out of sight.

You can also use a lazy Susan rotating type of accessory under a corner cabinet. You can place a number of smaller recycling containers on the rotating platform and you can instantly store and sort all of your recyclables in one spot. You can buy a set of smaller recycling containers that clip to one another and keep them all in place as you rotate the platform.

Best of all, these tips will keep your recycling bins out of sight without having to put them outside or in the garage. Plus, who wants to head outside or into the garage every time they want to throw out a bottle?

Tips And Tricks To Fit Your Recycling Containers Into Your Home’s Layout

Today, recycling containers come in a number of different designs. For homes with a modern, contemporary design to them, there are recycling containers that are made from steel that go well with a modern kitchen design. Other recycling bin options include units designed with sharp lines and bold colors. While you aren’t literally hiding the receptacles, you are visually integrating them into the home.

Whether you hide your recycling containers or integrate them with your home’s decor, there’s no reason why you can’t make recycling convenient without creating an eyesore. When recycling is convenient, more and more people get involved.

Can I Put Electronics In My Regular Recycling Bins?

In nearly every case, no — household electronics do not belong in standard recycling bins. These goods often have hazardous components that are not allowed to enter landfills. For example, old CRT computer monitors and TVs (remember those bulky models?) contain heavy metals like mercury and arsenic. They are no danger to you in your home, however, when the equipment begins to break down, these metals will leach out into the landfill.

The best way to handle this situation is to set up separate recycling bins or any old container for specialty items. In addition to electronics, it could also hold fluorescent light bulbs, empty paint cans, empty chemical containers, car batteries, or any other hazardous materials. Waste Wise also sells clip on recycling bins that can be attached to other containers as a rider to hold electronic waste.

Can I Bring Electronics To My Local Recycling Center?

Yes! If you live in a town with a recycling center or municipal waste management center, they will take your electronic goods. They will either have specially marked recycling bins for electronic waste or a collection area where they can be safely sort it out of regular trash. There are also recycling companies that specialize in disposing consumer electronics.

Will My Waste Collectors Take My Electronic Waste?

For those who live in towns that offer either public or private waste pickup services, the garbage truck is not allowed to take computers and electronics. If they see this type of equipment in your recycling bins, they will refuse to take your garbage. Some cities can even levy fines for trying to improperly dispose of consumer electronics. Your best bet is to keep electronics out of your recycling bins altogether!

What Others Ways Are There to Get Rid of Old Electronics?

Sometimes reusing electrical goods is the best solution. Many people will take them off of your hands for free or buy them at a yard sale for spare parts. As the old saying goes, “one’s man’s garbage is another’s treasure.” You can try posting a note at local meeting places or on social websites advertising free electronics for anyone willing to haul them away. If the goods are still in working order but you upgraded, consider donating to charity.

Increasing participation in your project means that far less cans, bottles, and paper will end up in landfills and your company’s trash expense will be significantly reduced. A successful program also generates income and improves public image. Today’s recycling bins can feature your company logo, an event calendar, a community slogan, or any other marketing tool that will attract potential participants.

Selecting The Best Recycling Container

Overflowing containers are messy and unsightly and unlikely to be used. At the same time, oversized receptacles use up too much space and are more troublesome to empty. Selecting the proper size container is a major factor to increasing usage. Small, under desk receptacles work well for office programs, whereas large, colorful receptacles work far better at events, in schools, and in break rooms and cafeterias. If only bottles and cans are being collected, receptacles with round openings on top make their purpose clear and reduce the chances of misuse. Large volume, single stream containers work best in factory settings and in community collection programs.

What Color Is Your Recycling Bin?

Color makes a difference in usage, as well. Containers that blend in with the surrounding color scheme are often ignored, whereas more colorful units catch the eye and invite usage. Receptacles can also be order in colors that compliment the established decor while still maintaining their visibility. The psychology of color is another factor to consider. While green is certainly the color associated with being environmentally responsible, reds and yellows are far more visible and blue tends to impart a feeling of serenity and calm. Clearly labeled recycling bins that inform participants of what can and what cannot be recycled make it easier for people to participate in your program.

It’s All About Location

Placement is the biggest factor to in increasing usage of recycling bins. Break rooms and cafeterias provide plenty of recyclable materials, but placing unmarked receptacles too close to garbage cans simply turn in to yet more garbage cans. Placing repositories for bottles and cans somewhat apart from trash cans reduces the likelihood of misuse while still promoting the intended purpose. Paper recycling containers are best located close to printing and copying machines, in file and record storage rooms, and near mailboxes.

These projects can save companies, schools, and communities millions of dollars each year by reducing the costs associated with storing, collecting, transporting, and disposing of garbage. Many recyclable materials are also a source of income in the form of raw materials sold to processing plants. Increased sales that occur as a result of improved goodwill and a positive social image are yet another reason to build a successful program through the use of properly placed recycling containers of the correct size and color, clearly labeled with instructions in their usage.

Waste Wise Products has identified two major areas where we can encourage more participation. First, the right bins for recycling make the entire process easier and will help foster a sense of involvement in order to increase employee participation. In addition to the right recycling containers, the proper education on why these programs are so important and they benefits they carry convinces many people to put forth the extra effort to participate. Let’s take a look at what makes the right type of bins for recycling and how to educate employees.

Recycling Containers That Make A Difference

Making participation easier begins with a set of recycling containers. Garbage has to be properly sorted and then disposed of in multi-stream programs, but these parts often cause confusion and put people off from doing their part. The right recycling containers will solve this problem.

The best way to make sense of multi-stream programs is to use multi-purpose recycling containers. 90 gallon all-in-one units come with multiple compartments that are clearly marked with the different types of garbage and can be placed in a cafeteria or other large common area. Within each individual office, desk sized dual compartment recycling containers can help separate trash, or rider bins for recycling can be clipped onto a typical waste basket to instantly add another compartment.

Recycling containers should also be placed close to where garbage is generated. Recycling containers for handling paper should be placed near office printers, copiers, and fax machines. Bins for recycling glass and cans should be in break rooms, the cafeteria, and in each hallway. In addition, bins for recycling cardboard should be placed in shipping and receiving areas.

Waste Wise Products also offers a large range of fiberglass bins for recycling that can be customized with a company’s logo and slogan for a personal touch to help create a sense of involvement in a program.

Educating Employees
Even with convenient, easy to use bins for recycling, some employees will still hesitate to participate. At this point, a simple education program can do wonders. Have a companywide email go out every week and include one fact about how recycling will save money, energy, and our natural resources. Use facts like for every 1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time, and almost 2000 pounds of oil. Consider placing placards or notes on office boards that describe how many jobs are created from the processing and re-use of recycled materials.
In order to encourage participation in the office program, make sure your business has the right set of recycling containers while educating employees on the benefits of the program.

Business recycling programs allow you to cash in on valuable resources that have, until now, been an expense to dispose of. As any business owner knows, collecting, transporting and disposing of garbage is expensive. As the land available for land fills disappears, those costs can only increase. Instead of adding to your list expenses, recycling provides you with an additional source of income.

Manage The Manufacturing Process More Efficiently

The manufacturing process is notoriously wasteful. Damaged goods, improperly printed labels, and countless other discards build up rapidly in the manufacturing sector and must be disposed of in one way or another. Traditionally, this meant renting garbage dumpsters and then paying a garbage service to empty them.

Instead of paying for this disposal service, you can strategically place recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal discards throughout your place of business and sell these valuable resources. Not only will you reduce the landfill problem, but you will also increase your own profits.

Paper Waste Is A Waste Of Money

Offices, printers, secretaries and many other aspects of business use an extraordinary amount of paper to maintain in-house communication, as well as billing, advertising, and invoicing. Paper thrown in the garbage is money lost. Instead, recycling bins can be used to collect these natural resources, allowing them to reduce your garbage expense and increase your net income.

While designing more efficient methods of conducting business often seem as though they are more trouble than they are worth, recycling containers do not fall into this category. Recycling services are often tied to your normal trash service, or you can find a new provider online that will supply you with attractive, customized recycling bins that feature your company logo.

Get Employees In On The Action

You can easily get your employees to participate by contributing beverage and food containers, as well as paper products, by conveniently locating recycling bins in and around employee break rooms, cafeterias and smoking areas. Each and every recyclable item that is placed in a recycling bin is one less piece of garbage that you must pay to have disposed.

Bins for recycling are no longer the cumbersome and unattractive beasts they once were. Recycling bins now come in a variety of designer colors, a range of shapes and sizes and you can even order customized recycling bins to suit your place of business or industry.

When customers and clients see you using recycling bins, your goodwill account will skyrocket. They will be pleased to continue giving you their business, recognizing your concern about waste and pollution. They will assume, rightfully so, that your concern reaches them and the products they buy from you. You can be sure that they will tell others, leading to increased sales, as well as better profits.

Single stream recycling allows recyclers to throw all of their recyclable materials into the same recycling bin, increasing the likelihood of the recycling containers being used, reducing the amount of actual garbage that must be collected, transported, and disposed. The reduction in garbage expense alone can make the use of recycling bins worthwhile for an office, factory, or warehouse.

Cut Costs With Single Stream Recycling Containers

Instead of paying to have every bit of garbage collected, transported, and removed from your place of business, you can enlist the support of your local single stream recycling service to come and evaluate your current garbage flow. This evaluation will provide reliable predictions about how much money you can expect to save by installing and using recycling bins. Business managers and accountants know all too well just how expensive trash disposal has become. Single stream recycling containers can cut those costs significantly.

Recently, in Seattle, Virginia Mason Hospital implemented a major recycling effort in their facility. Within the first year, it was discovered that they had reduced their landfill contribution by 80%, at a cost savings of over $170,000. Those numbers are significant for any sized business. Instead of contributing to the problems caused by toxins in our soil and water supply, businesses that implement single stream recycling containers at their place of business are able to help themselves financially, while helping the world environmentally. Clearly, it is a win-win situation.

What Makes Single Stream Recycling Bins Better?

The biggest problem with recycling programs in the past has been insufficient participation and contamination. Single stream recycling bins increase the level of convenience by allowing participants to use a single recycling container for all of their recyclable materials. Instead of making room for separate recycling containers for glass, paper, plastic and metal, only a single container is needed, thereby increasing participation rates and reducing garbage expenses.

In addition to the added convenience, modern recycling service companies are able to provide your business with recycling containers that are specifically designed for your location in a variety of colors and sizes. Company logos can be added to your recycling containers, reminding customers of your civic-mindedness.

Healthy, Wealthy And Wise

Implementing single stream recycling containers at your pace of business is a great way to improve the health of our planet, to cut your garbage disposal costs significantly and to portray your firm as caring and conscientious to customers and potential customers alike. Your bottom line will improve as a result of increased goodwill and reduced costs, providing a wider profit margin in a day and age when many firms are struggling to stay afloat.

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Or if you have any additional questions about our recycling bins, please contact us.

If you operate a business, regardless of its size, you can easily incorporate recycling containers without impacting your budget. Today, we’ll explain how. You’ll learn a few tips for choosing the right locations for your recycling bins and how to encourage your employees to “go green.” We’ll also clarify why you should consider drafting a formal recycling policy for your office.

Choose Smart Spots In Which To Place The Bins

Because your containers will need to be emptied periodically, you’ll need to choose their locations carefully. Many business owners and managers are anxious to implement a recycling program and neglect to outline where they’ll place their bins. A little floor planning in the beginning goes a long way toward making it easier for your entire staff to take part.

Look for convenient enclaves that are near wide doorways or halls. Even though recycling bins are available in different sizes, larger units will need more room in order to be hauled and emptied. Also, consider locating your containers near your company’s mailroom and office printers. Of all materials that businesses discard, paper products are the most voluminous. Finally, keep in mind that your city or county may have specific safety requirements with which you’ll need to comply.

Make It Easy For Employees To Participate

For most businesses, the main obstacle that prevents employees from recycling is the lack of ease in doing so. If there are few recycling containers located throughout your office, your staff will be less likely to take part. For example, consider your sales department. They’re busy speaking with customers. When they need to throw away a container, memo, or fax, they are unlikely to spend valuable time looking for recycling bins in other departments.

Make it easy for your entire staff. Place attractive steel recycling containers in the lunchroom. Put roll out carts and utility bins in the warehouse. Invest in nondescript fiberglass bins and place them within each department. They’ll serve their purpose without calling undue attention to themselves.

Create A Formal Office Policy

Depending on your dedication to recycling, you may want to avoid “forcing” your staff to take part. To be sure, doing so may have the opposite effect. However, you should consider drafting a formal office policy that explains the details behind your effort.

For example, explain that all jars should be rinsed before being discarded. Cans should be emptied and crushed. If you’re using multiple recycling containers (as opposed to single streaming), include details regarding which materials can be placed within each container. Your company’s recycling policy does not need to demand employee participation in order to be effective. But, it can clarify your program and thus, encourage involvement.

Invest In Your Own Containers

You can borrow, rent, or buy your recycling containers. Smaller businesses often think the bins are expensive and therefore, opt to rent them. In truth, you can own your own fleet of containers without affecting your budget. The advantage is that you can have the text and graphics customized to suit your company. What’s more, some municipalities offer a number of incentives to encourage local businesses to implement a recycling program. Whether you’re using durable plastic bins, steel containers, or heavy-duty fiberglass containers, having your own fleet at your disposal eliminates rental fees and offers far more flexibility.

It’s simple to incorporate recycling bins within your company and encourage your staff to take part. The easier you make it for them to participate, the more likely they’ll jump at the chance.