Recycling Program
Thorough and responsible recyling is the most important step a business can take to practice good environmental stewardship. It does not have to be costly or complicated, nor does it require a great deal of space for a business to set up recycling recepticles in their facility. The most challenging aspect of implementing a recycling program is raising environmental sensitivity among workers and motivating them to be diligent about recycling the trash they create. It isn’t always easy to change old habits, so it may require mandatory company policies or other incentives to get employees to recycle responsibly.
Now-a-days, there are recycling options for almost everything from office mix, to soda & pop cans, plastics, cardboard, glass, fluorescent & incandescent light bulbs, batteries, electronic gadgetry & equipment, computers, cellphones, carpets, furniture, pallets, wood products, scrap metal, yard debris, kitchen scraps, and many other items & materials. Very little of what businesses throw out needs to end up in our landfill, yet when looking into most business garbage bins one continues to find objects of which more than 80% could be recycled! We all need to do the best we can to dispose of these items responsibly so that they do not end up in our landfills. We at Nash Janitorial are eager to partner with our clients in their efforts to recycle. If you are one of our regular clients and you have items that you are not able to recycle through your weekly refuse service, we can transport these items to the appropriate recycling facilities for you at a reasonable cost. Please give us a call or email us for more information about our “We Recycle Program”.
The five “R’s” :
REDUCE! RECYCLE! REUSE! RETHINK! REPAIR!
Below is a list of local and national recycling centers that make it easy and convenient to dispose of all kinds of recyclables. Under Recycling & Sustainable Living Products you will find links to a number of companies that sell biodegradable trash liners, recycling containers, recycled paper products and more.
LOCAL RECYCLING CENTERS & COMPANIES
www.bringrecycling.org One of our nation’s oldest non-profit recyclers. Keeping useful items out of the landfill!
www.lanecounty.org/PW/ Lane County Public Works. Awesome website! The Waste Management Division in Glenwood recycles over 28 different materials! Check out the website’s Waste & Recycling links, and the Master Recycler Program.
www.oregonecycles.org A new statewide program that provides free recycling of computers, monitors and TVs.
www.nextsteprecycling.org Located in Springfield. Free recycling of computers, monitors and TVs. Small charge for other electronic items.
www.sanipac.com Sanipac is Springfield and Eugene’s best garbage collection service in our opinion. They have an excellent website that explains their recycling program and provides lots of good information on comingling and recycling with several useful fliers and charts to help you recycle properly.
www.kashless.org A website dedicated to reuse, recycle and free giving all in one place. All the items on this site are free. With Kashless you can post an item you want to give away. The post can show up on multiple sites as well as facebook and twitter. If you find something you want contact a giver then set up a time and place to meet. It is that easy.
www.earth911.org This website will connect you to places in town and around the country where you can recycle all kinds of waste, and household & personal items. Even items like eye glasses, wire hangers and trophies.
www.laneforestproducts.com The place to take your yard debris, wood waste, rock, concrete, sod, asphalt and dirt! Thank goodness for Lane Forest!
www.svdp.us/recycling-manufacturing.php St. Vincent de Paul’s reuses practically anything you have in your home. Check out their webpages on recycling and manufacturing. St. Vinnies is also set up now to recycle Styrofoam, both in white block and peanuts. Call Monica at (541) 607-5033 to schedule an appointment if you have Styrofoam to recycle and she can provide more details.
www.goodwill-oregon.org/donations_material.html Goodwill has convenient drop off sites all over Eugene & Springfield for most personal and household items. See their list on their website.
Drop off sites for fluorescent bulbs can be found at various places in Lane County. Find a listing at: www.lanecounty.org/PW_WMD_Special%5Cdocuments%5CCFLbrochure.pdf
The 36 page Lane County Recycler’s Handbook can be found at: http://www.lanecounty.org/PW_WMD/default.htm You’ll find several other great brochures to print out on recycling. The Recycler’s Handbook is also printed in Spanish.
www.encoreoils.com Now we can even recycle our cooking oil! In Eugene there is a drop off center located at the SeQuential Retail Station, 86714 McVay Hwy, Eugene, OR 97405. Tel. 541-736-5864.
NATIONAL RECYCLING CENTERS & COMPANIES
The growing numbers of recycling services is commendable, but we need to “think locally” in terms of recycling in order to reduce our carbon footprint. Most of the items we need to recycle can easily be taken to our very own Lane County Waste Management Division in Glenwood at their Central Receiving Station at 3100 E 17th Street, Eugene, 97403. Tel. 682-4120. We recommend doing that before shipping items off to other areas of the country.
www.batteryrecycling.com Recycle all battery types, anywhere in the U.S.
www.call2recycle.org Rechargeable battery & cellphone recycling program.
www.floortec.net/used_carpet_recycling.htm The company that started www.call2recycle.org
www.carpetrecovery.org Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is a joint industry-government effort to increase the amount of recycling and reuse of post-consumer carpet and reduce the amount of waste carpet going to landfills.
www.lamprecycling.com Fill the EasyPak containers with waste and ship them back via FedEx for recycling. They recycle lamps, batteries, thermostats and electonic waste items. Electronic waste includes any electronic components that power on and have any chip or board parts. This includes, but is not limited to computers monitors, telecom gear, fax machines, and televisions.
www.loosefillpackaging.com The Plastic Loose Fill Council (PLFC) was founded in 1991 to develop, promote and implement the original use and subsequent recovery, reuse and recycling of polystyrene loose fill, commonly known as “packing peanuts.”
RECYCLING & SUSTAINABLE LIVING PRODUCTS
Recycling, Biodegradable & Compostable Liners:
www.ecosafeplastics.com Trash & compost liners for business or home that are biodegradable, excellent quality, and not extravagant in price.
www.biobagusa.com Biobags are sold in Whole Foods Markets nationwide and by the online retailers listed at www.biobagusa.com/order_retail.html . These bags are 100% biodegradable and compostable. Recommended on Oprah.com and MarthaStewart.com.
www.hescoinc.com Go to their online catolog to find Tyco blue recycling liners. The Tyco liners are blue and clearly marked for recycling. They are used in recycling containers and are not for trash.
www.plasticplace.net This company also sells blue plastic recycling bags.
Recycling Recepticles:
www.grainer.com Graingers has a huge assortment of recycling collection & shipping boxes, and trash and bin containers.
www.plasticrecyclebins.com A large variety of corrugated plastic recepticles that are recyclable.
www.recyclingbin.com A variety of recycling containers in different designs and colors.
www.uline.com Mostly plastic and metal containers. Some corrugated cardboard.
www.calibex.com An interesting variety of recycling recepticles.
www.usplastic.com More recycling containers.
www.bettymills.com More recycling containers, but limited on corrugated cardboard containers.
www.fibrexgroup.com Fancy recycling containers. Very nice but very pricey.
www.EasyPac.com This company has recycling containers for all kinds of items and it has a program that will ship items off to recycling centers.
Hand Towels & Toilet Tissues Containing Recycled Fibers:
www.unisourcedirect.com Look under janitorial supplies and you will find a few paper products that are Ecologo and Green Seal certified.
www.hescoinc.com Hesco sells a few EcoLogo and Green Seal certified paper products also.
www.terrachoice-certified.com Terrachoice will lead you to products certified by EcoLogo. Just write in the product you’re searching for and you find choices for handtowels, toilet tissues, cleaners, and soap products. You can then email or call the wholesaler to find out where the retailers are in your area.
Most of our local retailers and janitorial supply stores have a selection of paper products that contain post consumer recycled fibers. Just make sure that they are labeled with the EcoLogo or Green Seal stamp so that you know they are certifiably green.