Home»  Blog

Blog - Green Before It Was Cool

The idea behind the blog is to highlight to people how easy it is for businesses to use and recycle office supplies and just how much of a positive impact this has on the enivronment.

In this day and age there are fewer and fewer excuses why businesses cannot adopt more environmentally friendly stationery avenues.

 

 

 

 

What do Recycling Symbols mean?

Nowadays there are lots of symbols linked to being green and recycling but what do they all mean?

 

 

Recycling Office Waste Electronics

Whether it is old company mobiles, fax machines, photocopiers or a broken printer, you can recycle most of your office electrical waste.

 

In order to find out if your product can be recycled simply answer the following questions:

• Does the office product/s have a plug?
• Does the office product/s use batteries?
• Does the office product/s need charging?
• Does the office product/s have a crossed out wheelie bin on it?

If the answer is yes to any of the above questions then it is possible to recycle your unwanted electrical office product.

 

So, if you do have an unused or broken electrical goods lying around the office there are a number of recycling options open to you including:

• Donate it to a charity such as Oxfam so they can recycle it and use the money to help those less fortunate than you.
• Take it to a local recycling centre so that it can be broken down for re-use or scraped completely.
• Get paid for sending them to recycling companies. Companies like Envirofone will take old mobile phones in exchange for money.
• Sell them on online auction sites as spare parts – you will be amazed how many people can use parts from old electrical goods.
• Take advantage of Retailer ‘Take Back’ Schemes where some retailers will collect your old electrical goods for recycling when you buy new goods from them.
• Look into Producer Obligations. Under the UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations all companies classed as 'producers' must provide you with a means of recycling an electrical product. You may be asked to pay a small charge for the company handling fee but there is no cost for the actual recycling process itself.

Also remember when you purchase your new office electrical equipment that Memorandum stock most consumables so why not get in contact with us for all your green office supplies and help us to help our chosen charities!

 

 

Regeneration game – Testing What You Can and Cannot Recycle...

Recycle Now, part of the WRAP Group, has designed and developed an interactive way to get you thinking about all things green. The game aptly named ‘The Regeneration Game’ aims to put your recycling skills to the test by putting a number of items along a conveyor belt for you to memorize whether you can recycle them or not.

The game also brings an individual touch to recycling by allowing you to enter your postcode at the beginning of the game so that the conveyor belt items are based around what you can actually recycle in your local area.

Why not stick your office postcode in and see what office products can be recycled near you!

 

 

Recycling Office Goods

With recycling becoming more common place everyday it is now easier to recycle more of your office goods than ever before. But what office goods can be recycled?

• Ink Cartridges. Most ink cartridges can be recycled including Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges, by being re-filled or used to make other cartridge components.
• Paper. Perhaps the most commonly used office good, paper can easily be recycled. Almost all local councils collect paper from the curbside as well as offering recycling centres at certain venues across cities. Reducing paper internally before it even leaves the office is also easy - by using both sides of a piece of paper or using scrap paper to take telephone notes.
• Plastic cups and bottles. Plastics are also easy to recycle within certain areas and can help to drastically reduce the amount of waste that comes from your office and ends up in landfills.
• Cardboard Boxes. Whether it be office furniture boxes, computer boxes or delivery boxes, all offices will have a small collection of cardboard boxes at some point. Make the most of free advertising sites such as Gumtree and post an advert for free moving boxes to collector. Someone around the corner from you is bound to be moving and these boxes will come in extremely handy. Alternatively you could use the boxes in-house to store old files or books.
• Computers and Electrical Goods. Most of your office electrical goods can be recycled by taking them to your local recycling centre, or you could take advantage of retailer ‘take back’ schemes where retailers take away your old electrical items when you purchase new ones.

By recycling your Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges, you and your business can do your bit to help the environment and create a healthier world for future generations.

 

 

 

Why should you recycle your Inkjet and LaserJet Cartridges?

In the UK alone we throw away an estimated 30 million Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges every year, almost all of which end up in landfill sites. When you think that the average inkjet and LaserJet cartridge takes 75 years or more to fully decompose, that is an enormous amount of ink cartridges that are sat in the ground slowly decomposing.

So, why should you recycle your Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges?

Below are a few good reasons why your Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges should end up in the recycling bin as opposed to the dustbin:

• 2.5 ounces of oil saved. It takes roughly 2.5 ounces of oil to produce a new ink cartridge and as oil is a non-renewable fossil fuel this cannot be replaced easily. By recycling your Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges you are helping to reduce the amount of oil that we use on a daily basis.
• Toxic Waste reduced. As with many modern day consumables, ink cartridges are filled with toxic chemicals which will leak into the surrounding soil when placed into a landfill site. This is obviously bad for the environment but moreover it is also dangerous for humans as these chemicals can leak into water and food supplies.
• Save natural resources. Each new cartridge uses around 3 pounds of natural resources to create which could be saved if Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges are recycled.
• Drive down your costs. Recycling ink cartridges and buying recycled cartridges instead of new ones can be a lot cheaper and better for the environment.
• Most brands now recycle. With some of the leading brands now offering recycling facilities, there is no excuse to not recycle your Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges – send them to us here at Memorandum and we will recycle them for you!

By recycling your Inkjet and LaserJet cartridges, you and your business can do your bit to help the environment and create a healthier world for future generations.

 

 

 

How is an Inkjet Cartridge Recycled?

So you have sent your inkjet cartridges to Memorandum who have passed them back to the manufacturer but what actually happens to the inkjet cartridge?

The recycling process for an inkjet cartridge starts once they get to the recycling plant. Most inkjet cartridges are made up of around 80% plastic whilst the rest of the components include electrical circuits, foam, labels, metal and residual ink.

The circuits, labels, foam and ink bladders are stripped off the cartridge and then spray cleaners remove any residual ink whilst magnets separate ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The residual ink is collected in barrels and disposed off using an environmental safe method meaning that any unused ink within an inkjet cartridge is still deposed of in a green way.

After the above process is completed all that remain of the inkjet cartridge is the plastic casing and components. This remaining plastic is crushed and then re-used within the manufacturing process to make new inkjet cartridges.

 

 

 

The Cost of Being Green

The Cost of Being Green

- Bad waste practices are costing UK industry at least 15bn each year.
- Every office dweller bins rubbish weighing the equivalent of 100 telephone directories each year.
- The average office employee uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper    each year.
- Nearly a third of workers never take a packed lunch to work a practice that contributes to more than 5bn of food being thrown away each year.

 

 

 

Cutting Down on your Office Waste.

In the last 35 years, the average person has increased the amount of waste they generate from 2.7 to 4.4 pounds per day creating a massive strain on the environmentand levels of resources.

The amount of waste generated can be easily reduced with a few everyday changes at home and at work – this article will suggest how you can do so at the office.

Buying Office Products:

Every office needs to buy replacement or brand new products but ask yourself whether you really need the product you are about to buy.

If it is an absolute essential then aim to buy from a manufacturer that supplies ‘green’ office solutions such as recycled packaging or environmentally friendly sourced resources. Also favor manufacturers that try to reduce packaging by decreasing plastic use and replacing with cardboard packaging instead.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the amount of hazardous material entering the environment try to source office products that are non-toxic, acid-free, chlorine-free or without volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Buying office items that are primarily brought for comfort and provide little utility use can also lead to increased amounts of office waste so try to consider the underlying goal of your purchase.

Are you just buying the product because you want it or will it actually make a difference to your working day – if anything considering whether a product is beneficial for your work day may lead to you saving money and the environment!

Getting rid of Office Products:

According to Envirowise, a government-funded group that advises business on sustainability, 70% of office waste is recyclable, but on average only 7.5% reaches a recycling facility.

Therefore educating your staff or co-workers as to what can be recycled will help your company to become closer to that 70% whilst helping the environment.
Additionally, getting into good habits like turning off light switches, closing doors and windows to maintain heat and cutting down on office take-aways at lunch time in order to decrease waste packaging will all lead to lower overheads, saving you and your business money.

Also make use of the many social sites available such as Gumtree, Amazon, Ebay and Facebook. All of these allow you to advertise items that you no longer use or need to people who may be interested in them. Selling items using these sites can add those all important funds to the social outing pot or alternatively you could donate the items to those less fortunate or someone who may be able to re-use it.

By selling / donating your unwanted items you are helping to decrease the amount of office waste going into landfills and are saving someone from buying from a manufacturer – adding to the environmental waste produced in doing so.
 

 

 

 

 

Getting rid of Plastic Cups in the Office

.

Water coolers are present in most offices and provide that cooling cup of water whenever you need it. However that little cup can do more harm than good for the environment…

 

Providing a visitor to your office with a small plastic cup seems like good business practice as it is highly unlikely that they will have their own cup with them! But that plastic cup is only going to end up in a landfill as it will not be used by the next visitor that comes along.

Oh, and you are paying for that privilege – lets hope you got the contract!

Buying glasses provides the perfect solution. Glasses can be washed and re-used for all your visitors and you can even buy recycled glasses to begin with.

Also suggest to your staff or co-workers that using their own glass is more beneficial than using a plastic cup.

If you find you still use some plastic cups then aim to buy those that can be recycled after use and provide a recycling bin for plastics in the office.

 

 

 

 

To Buy or not to Buy: Recycled Inks and Toners

Going green in the workplace can seem harder than it is – especially when it comes to consumable items such as ink and toner cartridges.

There are many choices on the market and choosing the ones that are environmentally friendly can become confusing.

For the purpose of this article compatible and remanufactured cartridges will be compared:

Compatible:
Compatible cartridges are genetic inkjet cartridges which are manufactured to be used with most high street printers and often match or exceed the original equipment manufacturer (or OEM) standards.

Compatible cartridges are considered an ecological alternative to buying OEM cartridges which tend to be more expensive and are sometimes not filled to full capacity - meaning that you get fewer pages per cartridge.

To a certain extent, the main difference between an OEM cartridge and a compatible cartridge is the price. Compatible cartridges are manufactured with brand new components and offer high levels of reliability and quality for around half the cost of an OEM cartridge. 

Remanufactured:
Remanufactured cartridges are exactly as the name suggests – they are cartridges that have been used before (perhaps more than once) and then taken apart to be made into new cartridges. As these cartridges are made from recycled components of other cartridges they are regarded as better for the environment than compatible or OEM cartridges.  

With reference to printing quality, remanufactured cartridges are produced to a high standard and as such should not affect your documents. The cartridge components are tested and go through a number of reprocessing steps before they are re-assembled and tested in printers. If they pass the ‘printing’ test, they are then completely re-filled and sold.

The tables below highlight the advantages and disadvantages of both types cartridge:

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Compatible:	Has only been used once	Can sometimes be mis-read by printers
	All parts are replaced with new components
	Will last as long as an OEM cartridge
	Is tested before it is re-sealed and sold
	Cheaper than OEM cartridges
	Tested to the same standards as OEMs
Remanufactured:	May have been used more than once before	Can sometimes be mis-read by printers
	Produced from old cartridge parts so is good for the environment	Recycled parts used to make up the cartridge may not be 100% perfect condition
	Tested to the same standards as OEMs so should produce high quality results

What every type of cartridge you choose for your office depends on your personal choice but remember these top tips when ordering / buying your cartridge:

1. Make a note of your printer brand, model and type before you order or buy.
2. Check that the compatible or remanufactured cartridge will work with your printer.
3. Do some research on your printer to check if it has got a chip embedded into it. If it has then this chip will stop any cartridge that isn’t made by the same manufacturer working.

 

Remember that here at Memorandum we supply ink and toner cartridges…why not take a look?

 

 

 

 

Paperless Office - Distant Dream or Just Around the Corner

 

 

 

In this technology driven and global warming threatened world, having a paperless office is no longer a distant dream. Gone are the days when everything should be committed to paper.

Every company can now easily bypass the time consuming and suffocating processes associated with excessive paper use. The Inefficiency of hefty old folders, files and reports scattered all over the office need not be a part of the modern office. No need to go through the hassles of storing documents in the already cluttered filing cabinet, it’s not really always necessary to print files.

If you want to join the anti-paper movement, here are some useful tips and ideas to get you started:

Get a Commitment

When you decide you truly want a paperless workplace, look no further and start to eliminate piles of papers, notebooks, mail, etc, on your desk. Remember to recycle them, instead of adding to land-fill. Now, this is the tough part, especially if you’re not the boss, convince your colleagues to follow your crusade against paper. Enlighten them by explaining the benefits of going paperless and try getting them involved in the process.

Start backing up data.

As a form of habit, you would normally photocopy documents and place them neatly in a properly labeled envelope or folder then store it in a filing cabinet. You can now ditch that process by using electronic filing systems that function like the traditional way of filing minus the paper. To guarantee safety of not losing these valuable documents, you can duplicate them to another hard drive, burn a CD, or you can also store them using online applications.

Seek support.

Make your relationships with your clients and merchants paperless too. Electronic invoices, email or fax will eliminate vast amounts of paper from your working day. Issue paper receipts to clients by demand, otherwise, do it electronically. Most of them would understand and even appreciate your endeavors. Who knows, they can be inspired to follow your campaign as well.

Think before you print.

As a rule of thumb, preview the document first and think if you absolutely need a hard copy. If you receive it via email, it’s really unnecessary and a waste of paper and effort to print it. Never underestimate the power of email as you can send and receive notes or important documents electronically. It’s much quicker and easier that way.

Scan whenever you can. While it’s a sensible quest to go paperless, it’s inevitable to deal with paper since some companies will still send snail mail and they simply aren’t ready to evolve to a paperless existence. You can nevertheless, scan these paper documents and make digital copies. To protect confidentiality, destroy them afterwards with an efficient paper shredder.

 

Learn how to convert and save files to PDF format. Instead of printing, faxing, or mailing a document or an image, print it to PDF and email it. You can even sign documents electronically by digitizing your signature and adding it to your PDFs.

Invest in a complete document management system.

In case you go gaga or serious about a paper independent workplace, consider acquiring one to conveniently convert paper records into electronic files. Depending on the needs of your business, you can perhaps choose something that has both archiving and imaging features.

Sure, it can be difficult at first to go paperless drastically, more than ever in a traditional paper-based office. But take it as a challenge and start the transition little by little. Taking it one step at a time will help you and your organization to effortlessly adapt to this change. Change is not always bad. The good news is, if you begin today, you will be able to reduce the cost of paper consumption; thus, saving trees too!

 

 

 

 

Plastic Bottle Houses

 

 

Do you have a collection of plastic bottles and just do not know what to do with them?!

Well artist Jasmine Zimmerman has the answer – make a plastic house of them!

The structure was used during City Sol Festival in New York and traveled around New York to demonstrate the effects of using single use plastic bottles and how these bottles, plus many other waste products can be reused or recycled.

 

 

 

Go Green by Telling The Time

 

 

Never be late for work again thanks to the flowing power of water!

Yes you read correctly – water! This clock, featured on ThinkGeek, allows the user to clearly see what time it is by running on water, or any liquid that is put in it. Instead of using batteries or a mains connection, the clock uses liquid such as water, coke and coffee – all the liquids you would find on the average desk!

And if saving energy, giving you the time and using up your cold coffee isn’t enough then this clock also doubles up as a vase! Going green has ever been cooler…or as pretty!

 

 

 

 

Going Green in The Office - The Definitive How To List

 

 

Well it is official…2008 is the year the World went Green!

From Green Energy to Green I.T, it seems every business is now on the act of offering green products & services.

Here are seven ways in which your office can go green:

1. Position is Everything.

Move all office desks closer to the windows so that your co-workers & you can get natural light throughout the day. Thus preventing you from having to have the office lights on in the middle of the day.

2. On / Off

So simple yet so effective - turn everything off before you leave the office. From printers to desktop screens & even the drinks machines. By simply turning off these electrical units every night you are saving energy & money. Who doesnt want to do that?

3. Recycled Paper

With 500,000+ tonnes of short life office paper being thrown away in the UK each year it is imperitive your stationary is green. Recycled paper takes half the energy to produce paper through as it does pulping trees, and saving the trees themselves is clearly better for our environment.

4. Email more

No, i’m not joking - email may be annoying especially when it is from your collegue who is sat 5 meters away from you - however email saves on unnecessary paper being wasted and enables you to access it alot of data and not lose it (that is if you don’t delete it by accident!)

5. Video-conferencing

Use (or install) video-conferencing to save travelling for meetings. There are lots of companies now offering this facility. The best app out there is still skype and the great thing about it is that it is absolutely free! For a more h-itech solution look into telepresence. Telepresece is a real game changer.

6.  Install Green software

There are ‘green applications’ out there that you can install to manage your computers energy resources. Edison can help you reduce enegy from I.T devices. You can set your schedule, choose how much energy you want to save & even see how much energy you are saving! Check out http://www.verdiem.com/ for PC Energy Management Software.

7. Recycle all toner cartridges.

This is a no-brainer…It takes 1.5 pints of oil to make a toner cartridge. By recycling cartridges you can help reduce landfill and preserve resources.

 

Recent Articles:

• Recycling Symbols
• Recycling Office Waste Electronics
• Regeneration Game
• Recycling Office Goods

Latest News

We're easy to get hold of...

Email:	enquiries@memorandum.co.uk
Phone:	0845 625 6000
Fax:	0845 625 6001
Address:	High Street
	Berkeley
	Gloucestershire
	GL13 9BJ