At the end of every April, we as a global population observe Earth Day to remember the planet Earth and devise creative, fun, or even easy ways to give back to the place we call home.
It’s incredible to think about, but Earth really is a fragile place, despite its size and immense power. From ground and water pollution to global warming, things have been happening to the Earth for the last 150 years or so that have started to harm it.
This has been due largely to human activities, such as the heavy industries that produce greenhouse gases that force the planet to hold onto more heat. Mathilde Degletagne with BizBiz Share explained “Saving the planet is not just riding a bike or putting stuff in the recycling bin from time to time. Companies have to do their part. Because they represent a big share of global pollution.”
Then, add in the fact that many people across the world throw things away that should actually be safely recycled. We often see this with electronic waste, or e-waste, which usually contains heavy metals and other materials that pollute soil and water and can destroy entire habitats.
You may not think that the simple act of you throwing your old hard drives in the trash can actually have an impact on the environment, but it is this attitude throughout the world that really does affect planetary health.
Therefore, in honor of this recently past Earth Day, we at Newtech Recycling would like to document six ways you can do your part to save the Earth.
Of course, you know one way is to keep recycling those old electronics. We are happy to help out with this. Get in touch with us today to start recycling the right way!
1. Watch Your Water
Saving the planet encompasses all kinds of areas, from recycling to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limiting water consumption.
Water use is easy to lose control of, if we’re being honest. We’ve probably all done it: let the sink run a bit longer than we knew we needed, or taken a longer shower than necessary. Bernadette with Uke-Tuner told us“Don’t leave a tap running. When there are leaks, get them fixed.”
The thing is, Earth’s water supplies are finite, and even treating wastewater for reuse eats up a lot of additional energy that has the potential to harm the environment. Bernadette also stressed “Water is a precious resource that is also limited – so we need to save as much as we can.”
Why not make things easier on the planet and your wallet by reducing your water usage wherever you can? Take shorter showers, turn the water off when brushing your teeth, and don’t run the washer or dishwasher unless absolutely necessary.
You can also forget about buying all those big packages of water bottles and opt instead for a single refillable bottle.
That reminds us of something, as we’ll mention in the next point.
2. Reduce Your Plastic Use
Look, we know what it’s like: plastic is everywhere. People use water bottles, product packaging, and all kinds of other plastic materials every day. When those things have outlived their useful lives–as in, when we’re finished drinking from a water bottle–it’s really easy and tempting to throw the thing away.
The problem is that plastic takes about 450 years to break down in a landfill, which is where household garbage ends up going. That’s a long time, and it’s why landfills are always stuffed to the brim with a ton of waste.
Instead, why not recycle your plastic in municipal bins? It’s as easy as throwing it in the garbage.
For all that non-household plastic, such as computers and other electronic components, there are e-waste recycling companies such as Newtech Recycling.
Of course, there is a right and wrong way to do everything.
If you’re wondering how to prepare a computer for disposal, Newtech can help you with that. That way, when you’re ready, we can come by and do a mass pickup of everything you have at your home or office.
3. Drive More Responsibly
It’s unavoidable at this point that cars are out there. There are more than one billion cars on the planet right now, and most of them are your typical, gasoline-drinking workhorses.
So how can you be smarter and more environmentally conscious about your vehicle ownership?
Well, beyond shelling out more bucks for a hybrid or all-green transport, one really easy thing you can do is to stop idling there as if you have to be ready to pull away in an instant.
If you’re idling for more than 30 seconds, you’re doing it wrong.
Has anyone ever told you that idling emits as much carbon dioxide as a car in motion? It’s true. If you’re waiting for someone to come out of the house, and they said they’d be right out, but now they’re going on three minutes, turn the engine off!
If your vehicle is off for about ten minutes, that’s a pound of carbon dioxide that won’t be sent freely into the atmosphere to add to our existing greenhouse gas problem and make the Earth warm up faster.
You can also use your vehicle’s cruise control option if you have it and are on the highway for long stretches. This reduces the amount of gasoline you use, since you won’t be doing a lot of speeding up and slowing down.
Everything matters when it comes to the environment, and changing your driving habits is among the easiest things you can do to help.
4. Be Mindful of Your E-Waste
The United States gets rid of almost 400 million electronic items every year. By “gets rid of,” we mean it gets disposed of in one way or another. The truth is that less than 20% of those items is responsibly recycled, and that figure matters.
Your electronic waste–that is, your old desktops, laptops, printers, copiers, hard drives, keyboards, monitors, televisions, and so on–usually contains heavy metals that are toxic to humans, animals, and plants. These metals include chromium, arsenic, cadmium, and lead, to name a few.
When you throw them away, they go to landfills. And if those landfills are older or not properly sealed, then those metals and other materials could end up in the ground. There, they can leach into the soil and pollute the ground and water. And that, over time, can kill plants and animals and even affect humans when the pollution spreads.
But, if you’ve been wondering, “Where can I recycle a printer?” or “How can I safely get rid of my old hard drives?” you can rest assured knowing that there are solutions.
Newtech Recycling is happy to take your old e-waste off your hands and recycle it the right way. We destroy your hard drives in unrecoverable ways, extract the harmful materials from the objects themselves, and safely dispose of what remains.
This is an easy and guilt-free way of eliminating cumbersome waste while knowing you’re helping to save the planet.
5. Plant More Greens
We said before that every little action helps when it comes to being environmentally friendly. It’s a huge planet with lots of people on it, but if you truly want to do your part, you can help the general Earth Day cause by planting some things around your property or wherever you can!
If you’ve got the space, why not plant some trees, shrubs, flowers, and the like? Greens add oxygen to the planet, provide living spaces for all kinds of animal species, and are simply good for the planet in great volumes.
Of course, planting a tasteful tree in the yard will also go a long way toward increasing your property’s value!
6. Reduce Everything You Can
Our final piece of advice is to reduce your use of every type of expendable resource possible.
Go to your utility companies and select the option for paperless billing. This obviously reduces the amount of trees that need to be destroyed for paper production, and it’s also safer. With none of your sensitive account information being sent via mail, you have fewer chances of having your data stolen.
You can also reduce your use of plastic by opting for reusable canvas bags at the grocery store. Every time you take a plastic bag, the store needs to replace it and will produce another one, essentially.
You can reduce the amount of plastic that goes out of that store by bringing your own reusable bags. Then, you will have left no plastic footprint behind there!
There are other, somewhat less practical ways to reduce your energy usage, such as by investing in hybrid cars or solar panels for your roof. These moves are available only to those who can afford them, but if you’re in a spot where you can, why not go for it?
Recycle Your E-Waste with Newtech Recycling
No matter what else you decide to do to help save the planet, recycling your e-waste is going to be huge. All that stuff is useful while it lasts–the printers, tablets, and cell phones–but when you’re ready to upgrade, those items have to go somewhere.
For the planet, don’t let that “somewhere” be a landfill.
By using an R2-certified electronic recycling company such as Newtech Recycling, you can reduce waste and help to save the planet where you live.
For all your electronics recycling in CT, PA, NY, and NJ, turn to none other than Newtech Recycling.
Call us now to get a quote.