Most households in Australia now have at least one computer and with the lifespan of a personal computer ranging from 2-5 years that is a significant amount of ewaste. After six years it was finally time to upgrade my laptop, the conundrum is what to do with the old one, which still works, albeit slowly. So it seems there are now more options for reuse and recycling of computers, time to find out what they are.

There are many materials in old computers and monitors including gold and platinum that can be recycled and some that can’t. As well as recyclables there are also toxic substances so if there is life left in the old dog, its a good idea to look for opportunities for reuse first.

Reuse

If it still works consider donating it to a charity like ‘Reverse Garbage‘ or put it up on FreeCycle.

Contact GreenPC, ‘computer refurbishers’ who then make donated computers available to low-income communities, individuals and community organisations.

Dell will pick up Dell-branded equipment from any location in Australia and NZ. Visit the DELL website and fill in the forms for the items you would like collected.

The Bower reuse and repair cooperative, accept a wide range of items including computers.

Recycling

The first stop to find out what computer and ewaste recycling facilities there are near you is to check out Recycling Near You.

The government agency Sustainability Victoria in partnership with companies including Apple, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, IBM etc has been piloting a computer take-back and recycling scheme in Victoria (ByteBack) since 2007 in Victoria. Or try:

• 1800Ewaste will collect electrical devices from any capital city location for a small fee
• Computer recycling.com focuses on businesses and can offer a buyout on some equipment.
• Greenbox are ‘innovative ecyclers’. Specialising in recycling end-of-life IT equipment for businesses.
• Wesley E-Recycling refurbishes computers for individuals, low-income earners and non-for-profit organisations.
• ERNi (Equipment Recycling Network Inc) recycles donated computers for people with disabilities – Maroondah, Victoria.
• Cashforcomputers, purchase old computers and either recycle or provide to their affiliate, computersforall; Melbourne, Victoria.
• PC Graveyard recycle computers and other electronic and electrical items free of charge. Pick up or drop off. covering Geelong, Ballarat and parts of Melbourne, Victoria.
• MRI (Aust), offers computer recycling with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
• RecycleIT as the name suggests, recycle old computers. They accept all computer and personal electronic goods for recycling from the public free of charge – Perth, WA.
• E-Cycle Recovery; recycles electronic goods including computers, Adelaide, South Australia

Now there seem to be plenty of option to breathe new life into my old laptop.

]]> http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/index.php/2010/06/11/ewaste-reuse-and-recycling-computers/feed/ 1 http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/index.php/2010/03/05/green-cleaning-without-chemicals/ http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/index.php/2010/03/05/green-cleaning-without-chemicals/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:10:54 +0000 admin http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/?p=503 I often get asked about eco-friendly cleaning and green cleaning products. Cleaning to me is a necessary evil. I don’t like doing it but I like having a clean house so I haven’t paid much attention to cleaning products and generally grab one with ‘green’ or ‘eco’ in the name without getting into the nitty gritty of whats in it or how it stacks up against the typical cleaning products.]]> I often get asked about eco-friendly cleaning and green cleaning products. Cleaning to me is a necessary evil. I don’t like doing it, but I do like having a clean house. As a result I haven’t paid much attention to cleaning products and generally grab one with ‘green’ or ‘eco’ in the name, without getting into the nitty gritty of whats in it, or how it stacks up against the typical cleaning products.

I have tried out a few eco-friendly cleaners, to varying degrees of success, so I thought I’d document my eco-cleaning efforts and try out a few more on the way. The main hurdle I found early on is that a lot of green cleaners don’t have the highly perfumed ‘pine/lemon/lavender fresh’ smell that is added to a lot of the mainstream versions. I now try and ignore the smell element when comparing cleaners as it is irrelevant when it comes to whether the product gets the floor, sink or whatever clean.

So here it is. Feel free to let me know if you have tried any others and at the end of the day if you really can’t face doing it, there is a new breed of Green Cleaning Companies who will come around your house to do it for you. Check out GreenClean

Surface cleaners (kitchen and bathroom)

Safe Care Clean bathroom cleaner. Initially I wasn’t sure about this product, probably as I was used to using cleaning products with a strong scent. But the more I used it the more I liked it. It cleaned the bath, sink and loo a treat and really made the tiles shine. A bit expensive but well worth it.

The High Performance Surface Cleaner also did a great job. The best part is that it is safe to clean children’s toys and play equipment.

Natures organics Earth Choice multi-purpose cleaner (available from Coles). This did a good job and was affordable. The bottle is made of recycled plastic and the ingredients are biodegradable and it had a fresh scent.

Bicarbonate of soda to clean the sink and tiles. Make a paste of the bicarbonate of soda, scrub into sink, leave for a bit and rinse. This did work well providing the gritty bicarbonate of soda was rinsed off thoroughly.

Toilet

Vinegar – two cups of white vinegar in the toilet bowl at night. Leave over night and give a quick scrub with the loo brush in the morning to remove water marks, germs, mould and stains. This worked OK but I wasn’t keen on the vinegar smell.

Greenworks toilet bowl cleaner. This worked pretty well and smelt pleasant which is kind of what you want when cleaning the loo.

Dishwashing liquid and dishwasher powder

Natures organics Earth Choice Dishwash Concentrate (available in Coles). This is priced around the same as the standard supermarket brands and does a great job. A plant based formula, it is grey water safe, biodegradable and the bottle is made of 100% recycled material. Again pretty happy with the results.

Squeek Dishwasher powder. Its difficult to find eco friendly dishwasher powder. Squeek contains no phosphates and is safe in biosystems. This works every bit as well as standard supermarket brands, but its not easy to get hold of so you have to buy online.

Soapnuts. These worked quite well in the dishwasher and are by far the most natural option.

Bicarbonate soda paste to clean grills and barbecues. Make a paste with water, apply and leave for half an hour or so, then scrub off. This worked well on the BBQ. I used an old scrunched up piece of foil to scrub off the old food.  I was pretty happy with the results.

Window cleaner

Coles greenchoice window cleaner was pretty cheap and did an okay job cleaning windows and glass tables.

Vinegar, water and old newspaper. For windows and mirrors mix two tablespoons with a gallon of water, dispense through spray bottle and scrub with old newspaper. This worked remarkably well on dirt, greasy finger prints and smears.  Neat vinegar works well on bird poo. I’d recommend to everyone to try this.

Deodorising

Carpets. Sprinkle on bicarbonate of soda, wait half an hour then vacuum up. This worked well on the bit of carpet that the baby had vomited on.

Bins or fridge. Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda at the bottom of bins or place a cup of bicarbonate of soda at the back of the fridge to neutralise nasty niffs. This worked pretty well and definitely reduced residual odours.

Floors

Vinegar and water used to clean wooden floors. Mix ¼ cup of white vinegar and 1 litre of warm water. This worked well and cleaned the marks off the floor without removing the varnish.

Earth Choice hard surface cleaner and Green Works natural floor cleaner. Neither are recommended for wooden floors but worked ok in the bathroom giving clean shiny tiles.

I’m looking for a natural mould removal recipe now….

Overall verdict. The old fashioned recipes worked far better than I expected and I’ve always got bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar in the cupboard now. A bit of essential oil goes a long way too to make the house smell fresh.

The idea behind it is quite simple actually, during printing, ‘Ecofont’ literally ‘shoots’ holes into the letters that you have typed, to reduce the ink used by up to 25%.

The Dutch company claims it was the holes in cheese that gave them inspiration for the design of their software that has helped to extend the life of print cartridges and reduce the amount of landfill each year.

Ecofont allows you to work with your customary font such as Arial, but when it comes to printing you hit the Ecofont print button. The resulting documents look great, save money and help you save the environment as well. Ecofont professional is available from January 2010.

For more information and a free download of the Ecofont software, you can visit the Ecofont website.

For more great ideas to green your office check out our article Go Green While You Work.

The content of mobile phones varies between models, but they contain plastic and heavy metals including cadmium, lead, nickel, mercury, manganese, lithium, zinc, arsenic, antimony, beryllium and copper. Some of the contents, particularly cadmium, lead, mercury and brominated plastics can harm the environment if not handled properly.

Over 90% of the content of a mobile phone can be recovered to make new products according to Mobile Muster. The mobile phones are dismantled and the parts of the phone can be used to help repair other mobile phones, or they are recycled. The metals from mobile phones are extracted and can be ending up in copper roofs, copper piping, ski bindings and jewellery. Nickel obtained from batteries can end up being used to make stainless steel products such as saucepans. Plastic materials are shredded and used as construction materials, for building roads or to make other plastic products such as traffic cones.

There are now plenty of opportunities to recycle or reuse old mobile phones through Mobile Muster – Australia’s mobile phone industry’s official recycling program. Drop offs can be found in phone shops and through mobile muster facilities dotted all over the place. It is easy to set up additional permanent collection sites in schools or businesses or to organise a muster. So dig out those old mobile phones and get them reincarnated.

Go green while you work

For the majority of us, who haven’t won the lottery, a significant portion of our lives will be spent working. Whether we work at home, on the road, in a workshop, office or factory there are a various ways that our activities have an impact on the environment.

The first thing to do when trying to reduce the impacts of your working environment is to find out the impacts that working has, in other words, to work out the baseline. Look at material use, electricity and water consumption, travel and social impacts. Once you have reviewed what the impacts are you can then put measures in place to reduce them. Creating an environmental policy and environmental management system also provides a good sign to customers or clients that you are actively addressing the environmental impacts of your work activities.

No two workplaces are the same. However there are some activities that are required in all jobs. Here are a few easy activities to go green at work.

Computers and printers

• When buying computers look for those with an energy star rating.
• Choose models whose life can be extended through upgrades and repair and choose equipment which has a recycled content or is recyclable. To help decide check out the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).
• Don’t leave computers, monitors and other equipment on standby when you leave work…turn them off.
• Opt for laptops as they use up to 90% less energy than desktops.
• If you have a desktop go for a smaller screen – they use less energy.
• Inkjet printers are more energy efficient than laser printers.
• When selecting a photocopier make sure it can use recycled paper, can print double sided and choose a smaller one if you can.

Data centres can account for as much as 40% of your office’s electricity bill. Make big savings with the latest in data centres, virtual servers and optimised heat removal and outdoor air cooling systems.*

Use the latest Multi Functional Devices to get rid of teh separate fax, scanner, printer and copier. They also warm up quicker and use next to no power on standby.*

Furniture and work clothes

• Try and avoid getting clothes dry cleaned, harsh chemicals are used in the process. Aim to spot wash, cold wash or look for a service with eco friendly processes. Great new innovations such as the 100% recycled paper, Aussie designed and made greenhanger, which can replace the more eco-damaging wire hangers.
• Office furniture is generally resource intensive, made from man-made fibres and can increase office air pollution through the emission of volatile organic compounds from the glues and finishes. Choose furniture with recycled content and/or made from renewable resources.
• Avoid wearing a suit and tie in summer and save on the air conditioning.
• If you require a uniform opt for natural materials, companies like Moral Fibre have fair-trade organic cotton aprons, bamboo polo shirts and other attire which can be custom designed.

Go carbon neutral

• After making all efforts to minimise the impacts of yourself and your suppliers you can calculate your carbon footprint and offset the rest. The ABC has provided a summary of the business eco footprint calculators. Once you have worked out  your emissions you can offset the rest. To find out how check out our Carbon Offsetting page.

Kitchen and bathroom

• If you have a coffee making machine, avoid getting one with a separate fridge.
• Turn the fridge off over holidays if there is nothing in it.
• Get waste separating facilities, including, if you can, organic waste which can be put in a worm farm or compost.
• Use a mug, avoid polystyrene cups and plastic plates.
• Microwave ovens with a LCD clock display use energy. Keep it switched off at the plug to avoid wasting energy when you are not using it.
• Only switch on the dishwasher when full and use the economy cycle which is more efficient than hand washing.
• If you need disposable picnic ware opt for biodegradable products such as Biopak made from agricultural residues.
• Opt for organic, locally produced, or fair-trade tea, coffee, biscuits or fruit.
• Tissue paper, toilet rolls and paper towels should be bought which are made from 100% post consumer waste.
• Employ cleaners that use green cleaning products and biodegradeable binbags. Or if you buy the products yourself purchase low- toxicity eco-friendly cleaning products and dishwasher liquid. Available from supermarkets, but bigger ranges available through eco superstore such as Todae.

Re-usable mugs can be significantly lower in greenhouse impacts than disposable cups, but it depends on how much hot water and energy is used to wash the mug and how long you use it for. Reusable plastic mugs are probably the best option, less waste, less energy to manufacture than ceramic and they can eventually be recycled.

Money

• Place investments, banking and superfunds into ethical companies. Check out http://www.eia.org.au for more information.
• Offer discounts or salary advances for eco friendly transport options such as purchasing a bike or a season travel pass.
• Register to receive shareholder correspondence electronically and companies such as eTree provide donations to LandCare.

Power & Water

• Purchase Green Power or even better install solar panels or wind turbines.
• Install water tanks and use water efficient fittings in the bathroom and kitchen.
• Filter tap water rather than providing bottled water.
• Use natural light and ventilation where possible.
• Turn off lights after exiting a room.
• Unplug chargers when not in use.
• Use a desktop lamp (with energy efficient bulb) rather than turning on all the main lights.
• Use energy efficient bulbs.
• Use natural heating/cooling, or take a jumper to avoid excessive heating or cooling. If you have the heat or cooling on – close the door/windows.

The big energy users and greenhouse gas emitters in offices are lights and computers. Switching them off when they’re not needed will save more than all other actions put together.*

Reporting

• If you are doing some of these great things to reduce your environmental impacts, then you might as well include it in your public reports (electronically of course). The Australian government has put together guidance in the form of a Framework for Public Environmental Reporting.

Social responsibility

• Donate time, resources or volunteer to help local charities or other good causes. For local volunteering opportunities check out Go Volunteer.

Software and hardware

• Internal devices which run off your computers power supply are more efficient than external devices that need to be plugged in separately.
• Use rewritable USB sticks rather than one-use CDs for transferring information around.

Stationery

• Avoid printing, use email or review documents on screen.
• If you need to advertise, look for alternatives to flyers or posters. Such as e-marketing campaigns. If you do use fliers use recycled paper.
• Purchase 100% post consumer waste recycled paper or blends with virgin pulp from sustainably managed plantations. The Guide to Environmental Copy Paper provides details of what paper to look for and where to buy it.
• Print double sided / two to a page.
• If you have printed single sided, use the blank side as note paper before recycling.
• Reuse envelopes.
• Avoid using bleached or coloured paper.
• Look for alternative pens made from recycled paper, cornstarch or other novel materials. Producers include EcoPaper, Pilot also produce a range made of recycled materials.
• If you need business cards, use recycled paper, minimise the amount of printing and opt for printers with eco-friendly printing practices such as The Online Printer. How about having them half normal size to reduce overall resources. For more tips on eco-friendly printing check out the Greener Print Procurement Guide.

It takes 1 litre of water to make 3 sheets of A4 paper.*

Supply chain

• Question your suppliers and select those that actively consider the environment and aim to continually prove their environmental performance.
• Purchase items which have a long life and can be upgraded, repaired easily or are part of a take back scheme and recycled at the end of their life.
• Buy products with minimal packaging or which have recycled, reusable or biodegradable packaging.
• Aim to purchase local products and services, or if they are only available overseas, ask questions about the raw material, manufacturing and transport processes.
• Aim to buy recycled products. Visit the Buy Recycled Business Alliance (BRBA) website for access to their Recycled Product Directory.
• Purchase items which have reduced environmental impacts. Select items with eco-labels. To find out which ones to look for and what they mean, visit our Eco-Labels page.
• Keep your mind open to eco-innovations and consider Industrial Ecology principles to minimise the impacts of the materials and energy consumed.

Travel

• Select office facilities near home or encourage working from home to reduce commuter miles.
• Avoid driving, get the bus or get on your bike.
• Avoid travelling for business meetings, use facilities such as CO₂NeutralConferencing to set up videoconferences, WebCASTs or VideoCASTs.
• Use flexitime to avoid travelling in peak hours.
• Consider getting a scooter or retrofitting your pushbike to create an electric bike.
• If you do drive to work try car pooling – make it easier by setting up a page on the company intranet site.
• Make available secure parking facilities for bikes/kayaks/scooters. For more information on how to make the workplace cycle friendly visit the Travelsmart website.
• If the company purchases or leases pool cars, opt for small, efficient or hybrid cars. To find out what is available and recommended in Australia visit our ‘Choosing a hybrid’ article.

Waste

• The best way of working out how to reduce your waste is to find out what waste is produced by conducting a waste audit. You can do this in house or call in a waste auditor.
• Provide waste separating facilities in the office (paper, plastics, metals, organic waste). The amount that can be recycled will depend on your local council or the office waste contractor. To find out more check out our Waste essentials guide.
• Recycle mobile phones through Mobilemuster.
• Provide a container for deposit of batteries which can then be recycled in bulk. To find the nearest recycler go to Recycling Near You.
• Recycle empty toner and inkjet cartridges. Companies such as Green Planet Recycling pay for the privilege, or try Recycling Near You to find where to send them. For more information visit Planet Ark.
• Reuse then recycle paper.
• Save paper clips, elastic bands and other bits and bobs for reuse.
• E-waste is a growing problem and the components hold valuable resources that can be reused or recycled. For more details and for e-waste recyclers check out Clean Up Australia’s site.

A tonne of recycled paper saves 13 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 31,780 litres of water, 4 tonnes of CO₂ and 4m³ of landfill space.*

There are always opportunities to green up at work, so set up a suggestion box to get inputs.

* facts from ABC Green at Work