CustomEarthPromos - Eco Blog US

Clearwater Systems, which designed the water treatment solution named Dolphin WaterCare, will be showcasing it's latest water conversation system at the Greenbuild International Conference Expo this year. This expo is an amazing forum for all manufacturers to showcase their eco-friendly products as well as services. So, the company has decided to promote its water treatment system at this expo and has also taken up the initiative to support this event by becoming a silver-level sponsor. Clearwater Systems - Marketers for Eco-Friendly Businesses Clearwater Systems is among the few companies that are concerned about the environmental degradation that is taking place at present. For the last 10 years, this company has been making efforts to try and help out architects as well as engineers in designing eco-friendly projects so that they can acquire a LEED certification. Till date, this company has worked on around 350 projects, comprising of present buildings as well as those under construction, and has helped all of them in getting a LEED certification. Clearwater Systems to Promote Eco-Friendly Promotional Items Clearwater Systems has come up with an interesting water treatment method, HVAC, for this year's Expo. According to the CEO of the company, Anupam Bhargava, this treatment system is extremely beneficial and will help reduce the corporate environmental footprint. The water consumption at general commercial spaces is progressively increasing at a steady rate. At present, in the US, approximately 4.9 million corporate and commercial buildings use around 10 billion gallons of water everyday. This water consumption can be compared to the water flowing over Niagara falls every four hours. So, undoubtedly, commercial spaces in the US need to regulate their water usage systems  to reduce their environmental footprint. The water system, HVAC, will help improve the water usage efficiency within commercial spaces. It is designed to reduce drinkable water usage as well as used water discharge. It will also help reduce the corrosion scales and control the levels of bacteria within the water. If commercial spaces use this system, they can acquire a LEED certification with ease and can cut down their operational expenses as well. This product will be serviced regularly by officials at Clearwater Systems, so consumers don't need to be worried about it's maintenance. Additionally, Clearwater Systems is a member of the Green Building Council, US, since the year 2001, and has been producing eco friendly promotional items for years now, so consumers can rest assured of their quality standards. Source

In Orlando, a city-wide program has been chalked out to deliver rolling carts to houses. The carts will replace the recycling bins that are currently being used. Instruction charts attached to the rolling carts will guide residents on the materials that can be placed in the carts for recycling. Also, the charts will have the collection schedule for the recyclable materials. The program is known as single-stream recycling and it involves a complete change in recycling strategies. City officials believe that the program would drastically reduce the garbage collected in the landfills. The New Recycling Program and Recycling Bins The manager at Waste Management Inc.'s Recycle America, Jimmy Rodriguez, feels that the new recycling program would double up the recyclable material accumulated in the facility. More recyclable material means that more money can be generated by producing eco friendly promotional products. The previous recycling procedure using the blue and red recyclable bins, ensured that one level of sorting was done at homes itself; but as the bins were small, most of the recyclable material was dumped in the garbage truck. The rolling carts will be in burgundy or teal colors to distinguish them from the black colored garbage carts. The carts have a capacity of 96 gallons so that a large volume of material can be recycled. The state's Department of Environmental Protection mentions that recycling program using single carts have become popular in Florida. Local communities such as Lake Mary, Kissimmee, and Apopka practice it already. Recycling Material into Eco-Friendly Recycling Bins The recycle plant established by Orange County required segregation at an initial level; people ensured that glass, metal, paper, and plastic were placed separately. Later in 2005, a contraption that automatically separated the material was incorporated in the plant. This is because The risk of contamination was high when different kinds of recyclable material mingled together. If plastic bags make their way into the refuse, they jam the machinery and cause a shutdown. When the equipment is in order, a tractor scoops the recycled material. The material is then loaded onto a conveyer and emptied into machines where cardboard, paper, cans, gravel, and bottles are sorted by a spinning disk. Aluminum material is drawn away by electric current and plastic is sent to a different channel. The sorted material is sold to be reproduced as different products; plastic bottles are made into carpets, aluminum scraps made into cans, and newspapers are made into pizza boxes. Source

The University of Iowa (UI) Recycling team has come up with a unique recycling project to reduce wastes at football games. If the supporters of the playing teams recycle their cans and other plastic wastes, they can help their team win the Gameday Challenge. This event is held among various colleges to try and reduce the waste production at football games that are hosted by them, and it's results will be announced on November 15, America Recycles Day. More About University of Iowa Gameday Challenge This challenge is the brainchild of the recycling team at UI. The teams comprise several units such as ARAMARK, ECO Hawk student organization, Waste Management, Facilities Management, UI Athletics, The Office of Sustainability, and The Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. This challenge is aiming at reducing at least 60% of waste collected at all the football games of the season. The competition is based on the belief that the fans would recycle everything they consume during the game so as to make their team win. Once a football game is over, there is a lot of waste generated, such as plastic cups, bottles, souvenirs, and popcorn buckets. The fans only need to dispose these materials in Waste Management's recycling containers. These containers are green and gold in color and are spread out in the entire stadium. But while disposing these materials, the fans need to ensure that they don't dispose food or plastic bags along with them. University of Iowa Supports Eco-Friendly Promotional Items After the game is over, the environmental studies students of UI will split up into groups and audit the waste that has been collected during the game. This audit will help in formulating data on what waste products the fans choose to recycle during the game. These students will hand over this information to the Kinnick's managers who will be able to better their recycling system through it. This recycling team will also teach school children, from high schools located in the vicinity, the method of waste segregation on Sundays. They will take the children to the stadium and teach them how to sort out recyclable wastes from the rest of the garbage. Once the students have sorted out the wastes, Waste Management will deliver it to the nearest recycling facility. This exercise will teach the children the importance of recycling as well as eco friendly promotional items. This initiative has been taken up as part of UI's 2020 Mission which aims at reducing the waste disposal into landfills. Source

GSP (Global Soap Project) is a NGO initiated in 2009 by Derreck Kayongo along with his wife Sarah. Derreck hit upon the idea for the creative venture when he noticed leftover scraps of soap in an US hotel. Today, several such leftover soaps sourced from different hotels are processed to create a new recycled soap bar that is shipped across the world . History of Recycled Soap Bars Derreck Kayongo, the Senior Advocacy Director of Care USA for the southeast region hails from Uganda. He stayed as a refugee in Kenya for many years during which he had to endure miserable living conditions where even soap wasn't available. In 1992, when Derreck checked into a US hotel, he learned that the leftover soap bars used by guests were discarded. It spurred him to draft a recycling mechanism to put the discarded waste to good use. He took the idea of recycling soap bars to the next level by introducing it to Vicki Gordon, the Vice-President of InterContinental Hotels. Vicki was pleased with the idea and saw in it a great scope for business venture. He presented the idea to the Georgia Hotel Association and was rewarded with an enthusiastic response. About 13 hotels signed up immediately for the soap recycling process. According to Vicki, the idea was popularized by word of mouth and soon a board was formed. The committee members were equipped with expertise on the latest recycling technology. Studies were made on the various recycling aspects and the knowledge gathered was used for effective soap recycling. Derreck invested his savings on the first recycling machine which produced recycled soap bars sourced from soap scraps obtained from Atlanta hotels. Recycling Soap Bars Shipped as Eco-Friendly Promotional Items The first batch of soap bars had drawbacks; they were was shrunken in size and were hard as well. As better equipment was used, the problems were eliminated and the soap quality was enhanced. Later, MMS Enterprises, a property firm based in Georgia contributed space for the new soap bars. Now GSP has advanced soap making technology and volunteers from various backgrounds to support their venture. About five thousand pounds of soap scraps sourced from different hotels are processed at Derreck's soap factory. The soap scraps are first separated out based on their composition and color. Batches of soap scraps undergo extensive tests in laboratories and are clinically processed to free them from pathogens. Next, they are ground into a fine paste and passed through a soap machine. The emerging products are shining bars of soap that are packaged as eco friendly promotional items to various countries. Source

A recycling program has been initiated at Cheshire. As a part of this program, an automated truck will collect recycling containers from households on a bi-weekly basis. Solid waste will, however, continue to be collected every week. The Recycling Program The recycling containers are to be distributed to all households in the town. Pamphlets, bearing information about the program, will also be given out to each house; citizens can also read about the program from the the town's website. The containers are designed to hold recyclables for almost two weeks. Containers come with lids so that materials are not blown away. An RFID card is placed on each of the dark green recycling containers for identification purposes. Materials that can be recycled are simply thrown into the containers without bothering to arrange, fold, crush, or bundle them. The containers have wheels so that they can be easily transported to the curb for material collection. Containers of 96 gallon and 64 gallon capacities are to be given out. The program aims to increase recyclables and decrease solid waste in land fills. To spread awareness about the recycling program, the town will adopt the “Code Red” system which is a reverse calling mechanism used to contact town residents during crisis. Cheshire has decided to resort to single stream recycling to minimize the amount of trash sent out to the Wallingford waste burning plant. Producing a Recycling Program With Students' Support Students at the Cheshire High School have teamed up with town officials to address the town's environmental issues. Michael Milone, the Town Manager, is pleased with the enthusiasm shown by the students. Milone is supporting the student recycling group which is arranging an educational campaign to show town residents how the recycling program works. The automated recycling program is due to start late November; meanwhile the residents are being educated on how to make best use of the distributed recycling containers. The students are explaining the mechanism of composting to cafeteria staff and educating them on saving the right kind of food scraps. A video is also being created by the students to upload it on the town's website. Methods on energy conservation are also being explored at Cheshire's Energy Audit Committee. The school's boiler system and lighting systems are investigated to arrive at energy- friendly alternatives. Best use of the recyclables is also being explored to create useful eco friendly promotional items. Source

The Founder and President of www.gogreenwebdirectory.com, Paula Keif has launched a new range of handmade soy candles. These candles, popularly known as the Green Koala collection, are available at a store named Artisans. This store is located in Hingham and has a lot of Keif's other handmade products such as soaps and body lotions as well. Keif is a staunch believer of using eco-friendly products and has been making organic candles, soaps, and body lotions for a couple of years. Her website, gogreenwebdirectory.com, has a list of all the green services in the Massachusetts region and has been helping people to incorporate organic products in their daily lives. Green Koala Collection - from a Commoner to a Green Revolutionist Paula Keif has made immense contribution in promoting organic lifestyles, specifically in the Massachusetts region. She is an organic product maker herself, but her prominent contribution to the field of organic lifestyles has been her website, gogreenwebdirectory.com. Keif and her husband decided to create this website while they were planning the construction layout of their house. The couple wanted to build an eco-friendly house, so they researched a lot about the green companies in their region. Once they finished their research, they decided to publish this data for all the people who required any green products or services, specifically in the Massachusetts region. Kief's Eco-Friendly Promotional Items Kief makes her candles using the best available organic ingredients. She states that her candles are ideal for every home, as they don't have harmful effects. Her organic products, such as soaps, candles, and body lotions can be purchased from Artisans, her store in Hingham; she has received positive feedback from all her customers so far. Being an innovative person, Kief uses a variety of natural ingredients for her products, such as soy wax, amber, tea, ginger, lemongrass, cotton wicks, and mango. The Advantages of Using the Green Koala Collection According to Kief, people should switch to using eco-friendly promotional items for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, since these products are made using organic materials, they don't leave an environmental footprint. Secondly, these products are safer to use, especially in the context of small children. And lastly, according to her, these products add a natural charm to households and help people lead healthier lifestyles. Kief is currently experimenting with natural flavors for her latest products and wishes to establish her brand over the years. Source

The Columbus Elementary School in Yamhill County, Oregon has launched an effort for reducing waste production by incorporating a green lifestyle into its daily routine. The school has decided to ship its waste materials to a recycling unit and is making tremendous efforts to involve the young students in this process as well. Columbus Elementary School's Reducing Waste The Columbus Elementary School is one of the many schools in the US that is trying to reduce its waste production by incorporating an eco-friendly waste disposal system. The school regularly transports its recyclable waste such as juice cans and chocolate wrappers to a recycling unit where these waste materials are used to manufacture new products. CB Mason, a member of the Columbus PTA, is in charge of this initiative at the school. She collects  waste packages and prepares them for shipping everyday. According to her, this program is not only helping the environment but also inculcating a sense of responsibility in the minds of the students. Having looked at the impact the project has had, she feels that many other institutions are likely to adopt a similar program. Where Is the Waste Recycled into Eco-Friendly Promotional Items? The school disposes its waste materials by shipping it to a recycling unit. The recycling unit is managed  by TerraCycle, a re-manufacturing company. This company supports many schools in their efforts to recycle by buying their waste materials. Sometimes, instead of buying waste materials, the company just supplies useful equipment to the schools in exchange for their wastes. For instance, the organization does not buy waste materials from the Columbus Elementary School. It simply exchanges eco-friendly promotional items manufactured by the company, such as green bags, for the wastes. And the school administration presents these recycled products as awards to their students for achievement in sports and extra-curricular activities. Other Educational Institutions Involved in Reducing Waste The Grandhaven Elementary School is another school that has been following a similar recycling policy. As a matter of fact, CB Mason was inspired by this school's success story and decided to incorporate this system in Columbus Elementary School as well. This program has helped Columbus Elementary School in recycling products from aluminum to plastic and has also enabled them to purchase stationery such as pencils, pens, and glue packages. So, the TerraCycle officials are expecting many other schools to adopt this policy, looking at its beneficial effects. Source

Officials of the Leon County Waste Disposal Department have launched an initiative to educate residents on the right way of disposing campaign signs, with the elections right around the corner. Waste management officials in the county have requested the residents to dispose campaign signs and banners at the county's solid waste facility or the Marpan recycling unit. Every time there is a huge public gathering, the city council goes through a lot of trouble in disposing off the collected waste. So, to make their work during the elections easier, the officials have set up Marpan recycling bins in various parts of the county this year. Where to Recycle the Campaign Sign Boards Most residents tend to throw away campaign signs in the normal waste disposal bins. But officials say that since these signs are made of corrugated plastic, it is not the correct way to dispose them off. Campaign signs and many other plastic banners are made up of corrugated plastic that can't be recycled. So, officials have requested the residents to help them dispose these boards in the right way. They have asked all the residents to dispose these signs in marked cans, instead of tossing them into the normal waste dumps. Another way to dispose off campaign signs without harming the environment could be to drop them off at the county's solid waste disposal unit. The county plans to sell these sign boards back to companies that use corrugated plastic, and then those companies will help recycle these materials. But if these signs are mixed with normal waste, then the county will have to dump them into landfills. This is why county officials have asked residents to segregate campaign-related waste from normal waste. Recycle Campaigning with Eco-Friendly Promotional Items Carol Gentry, the Education Coordinator for solid waste management in Leon County, states that if the candidates and their supporters try and make an effort, they can carry out their entire campaign in an eco-friendly manner. She suggests that campaigning could be done using recycled paper or plastic that can be easily re-purposed after it is over. If the candidates use eco-friendly promotional items and handmade or cardboard banners, then they won't have to spend a lot of money on their campaign, and their campaign will also stand out from the others as well. Also, once the election campaigning is over, it would be very easy for the county to recycle these boards. Now that the elections are over, all neighborhoods will be filled with overwhelming numbers of banners and campaign boards and the waste management officials are hoping that their initiative will help reduce the recycling burden, at least this year. Source

On November 1st the ban on single-use plastic bags went into effect in Port Townsend. According to the ban all the stores and their customers will have to change the shopping habits and witch to using wholesale reusable bags. Retail stores will have to stop using flimsy plastics and instead supply the customers with paper and reusable totes. Each paper bags will be charged about five cents, which will then be used to pay for the entire cost of the program. Most shoppers seem to have understood the seriousness of the situation and have already switch to reusable totes in order to avoid the fine that they will have to pay if they use single-use plastic bags. Town council members are in favor of the ban and are hoping that they will face no problems while implementing it. Ban Supporters Believe Plastic Is Harmful in Port Townsend Supports have said that plastic is quite harmful to the planet and they hope that the ban will motivate and encourage others to invest in quality reusable bags instead of continuing to rely on the retail store to provide them with paper totes. Even though most shoppers are in favor of the ban, there are few residents who feel that the ban will not make much of a difference. The people not in favor of the ban feel that it is much of an inconvenience while shopping. Port Townsend in Favor of Residents Using Wholesale Reusable Bags The ban was approved by the Town Council members on the 2nd of July, which made the city the 7th Washington city in order to pass a similar bag ordinance. Bainbridge Island, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Bellingham, Issaquah and Seattle are the other cities in Washington that passed the ban. The ban on single-use plastic bags also went into effect on the same day in the City of Bainbridge Island. The banned bags fall within the specific limitations: plastic bags that are thinner than 2.25 mils aren't supposed to be used. One mil is equivalent to 1/1000th of an inch. Stores can instead provide the customers with standard sized paper bags for shopping purposes. The rule has been implemented in order to encourage the residents to utilize reusable bags to keep the environment clean and reduce the increasing rates of plastic pollution.

The student group of New Technology High School, Napa, California, has decided to back one of the City Council candidates of Napa. According to a media release, the students will be handing out promotional reusable totes, in support of Alex Pader. Alex Pader in Favor of Using Reusable Totes and Banning Plastic Shopping Bags The students are working together on a project for the school, which is about the disadvantages of using single-use plastic shopping totes. Since their topic is regarding anti-plastic bag usage, the students are wholeheartedly supporting Alex Pader, who is a young City Council candidate in Napa, who also supports the usage of reusable bags. Anna Yip, who is one of the seniors at New Tech, said that the student group is planning to spend quite a few hours distributing reusable bags for free to the shoppers on the 28th of October, in north Napa. Student Group Decides to Spend $283.18 on Wholesale Reusable Totes According to the statement by Yip to the City Council, the student group was asked to prepare a research report on a candidate and create campaigns in support of the candidate. The students have been asked to come up with a plan as to how their campaign would affect and reach the targeted audience ahead of the elections. While doing their research, the students felt that Alex Pader was the best candidate as they felt he had a clear stance on environmental issues. More specifically, Alex Pader was talking more about the issue of plastic bags, and had his argument clearly detailed on his official website. The students decided to spend about $283.18 on the reusable bags, which would each have the logo of Alex Pader on them, in order to give away to the public. Locations at which these bags will be given away are Bel Aire Plaza and Trader Joe's. Students of New Tech High are planning to reimburse themselves by hosting movie night fundraisers later in November. Pader has also donated about hundred dollars in order to show his support for the student's project. Disposable Plastic Bags Harmful to the Environment Disposable plastics are not just harmful to the environment but also are a significant cost to the Napa City and to the Authority of Waste Management. According to a Nay Area study, it was found that disposable plastics actually cost twenty cents for each bags, when you take account for the cost of purchases, taxes and garbage rates. So it is always best to utilize reusable totes instead to get rid of all these issues. Source