Why is E-Waste Recycling so important?

When your electronic device stops working or is replaced with a newer model – where does it go? If you don’t donate or recycle it – it will probably end up like 80% of the global electronic waste: dumped, traded, or recycled in potentially harmful ways.

It’s safe to say that the e-waste problem is enormous on a global level, and can be seen as the toxic legacy of our hyper digitalized age. To give you a bit of perspective, more than 48 million tons of electronic waste are produced every year, 6.9 million being generated by the US only. Moreover, the amount of worldwide e-waste is expected to go beyond 50 million tons in 2020.

The average individual owns three or four electronic devices that are usually replaced with newer generations every two years. As expected, the majority of the obsolete devices go into the trash can, ending up in landfills, poisoning the soil and water with chemicals such as lead, mercury and cadmium. While discarding your old electronics in the trash bin may be the handiest option, here are some solid reasons why you should take recycling into account, put together by our team at Gold Circuit E-Cycling:

·       E-Waste leads to severe pollution.

Electronic waste can take thousands(!) of years to decompose, and during that time, it has damaging effects on the environment. Toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury and cadmium are released into the soil, water, and air, contaminating the environment on multiple levels. For example, if the toxic residues end up into the groundwater, it will make its way to streams, ponds and lakes – which are sources for animals, plants and humans. As a consequence, e-waste can compromise the food chain and amplify numerous health risks.

Another common way of getting rid of e-waste is to burn it incinerators – which may sound like the right solution, but it’s actually harmful. Electronics are composed of plastics, glass, metals and other materials which produce dangerous emissions if burned instead of being recycled properly. Apart from the direct risk posed to animals, humans, and plants, emissions result in greenhouse gases, ultimately influencing climate change and global warming.

If your e-waste doesn’t end up in landfills or incinerators, the ocean is another viable dumping area. Electronics are rich in microplastics and non-biodegradable materials – therefore, once they reach the ocean, they become deadly to fauna and fauna, causing ecosystem disruption.

The Cost of Electronics

• Producing a computer along with its monitor takes at least 1.5 tons of water, 48 pounds of chemicals, and 530 pounds of fossil fuels.
• Compared to disposal in landfills or by incinerators, reusing or recycling computers can create 296 more jobs per year for every 10,000 tons of computer waste processed.
• Only 20% of e-waste is documented to have been collected and recycled, despite high-value recoverable materials such as copper and gold.
• Americans throw away an estimated $55 billion in e-waste material annually (more than 2019 Gross Domestic Product of many countries.)
• By recycling 1 million cell phones, more than 35,000 pounds of copper, 33 pounds of palladium, 772 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold can be recovered.
• The excessive amount of lead in e-waste, if released into the environment, could cause severe damage to human blood and kidneys, as well as central and peripheral nervous systems.

E-Waste in the U.S.

• Americans spent $71 billion on telephone and communication equipment in 2019, nearly five times what they spent in 2010 even when adjusted for inflation.
• Americans now own approximately 24 electronic products per household.
• Only 19 states have laws banning electronics from the regular trash. In states without such rules, like Nevada, electronics often end up in garbage and recycling bins.

^·     Recycling one million laptops can save enough energy to run 3,500 U.S. homes for a year.

• In the United States and Canada, every individual produces roughly 20kg of e-waste annually

Recycling e-waste rather than leaving it at a landfill is a responsible choice for the environment. By recycling, any of the materials that can be recycled can be reused and made into other items. 

When it’s time to say goodbye to electronics in your home or office, we’d love to be your first stop for items that can’t be donated or repaired. Give us a call today if you have any questions at 888-283-0007. We look forward to helping reduce your waste production and helping you recycle your old electronics in a safe manner!

Fun ways to teach your kids about sustainability

The concept of “living sustainably” has gained a lot of attention, given the global context and the urgency of shifting towards a less wasteful lifestyle. A lot has been done to raise awareness about the necessity of sustainability and recycling, but we still have a lot to learn and improve. Part of ensuring that our children have a better future is to teach them about the importance of “green living” from a young age. It requires patience and time, but it can be done in a fun and entertaining manner.

Here are a few fun ways to teach your little ones about sustainability and spark their interest in becoming responsible consumers when they grow up:

1.      Teach them what recycling is

It can be difficult for kids to understand how discarding a plastic bottle in the dedicated recycling bin instead of the regular trash bin makes a difference You can talk to them about what happens if people don’t recycle and watch documentaries on the topic together, or even take them to a local recycling center to show them what happens with recycled items. You can drop by our facility with your little ones anytime if you live in our area.

2.     Get into DIY projects

Kids love creating things, and their imagination should be fed continually. Engaging them in fun DIY projects and repurpose or upcycle something that would typically be discarded could serve as a valuable lesson on how we could easily cut down on personal waste. Here you have some nice and creative ideas to get started.

3.      Plant a garden together

If you have a garden (lucky you!) with a sad and lonely spot, it’s time to turn it into something beautiful with the help of your little ones! Planting is a great way to stimulate your child’s senses of touch, sight, sound, taste, and smell – and spark their interest in nature. They’ll love getting their hands a bit dirty and watch the little seeds grow into a plant – especially if it’s an edible one. Kids may become more inclined to eat vegetables if they’ve planted them.

4.      Clean up a local beach, park, or playground

Here’s one of the most eco-friendly family activities ever: invent an outdoor clean-up game and get your kids to be more physically active. Moreover, studies show that the most direct route for caring for the environment as an adult is participating in “nature activities” before the age of 11. You could challenge them to compete and see who’s the fastest cleaner, while indirectly teaching them civic responsibility. Teaching them about the importance of respecting the community and not littering is appropriate at any age. 

Here are some interesting recycling facts you could teach your kids while completing activities:

• 75% of our rubbish can be recycled.
• Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees.

• Recycling one aluminium can save enough energy to power a TV for three hours.

How to be eco-friendly during the pandemic lockdown

The coronavirus pandemic has put our social lives on pause and forced us to change our habits drastically - and the situation may stay the same for weeks, if not months.

Naturally, many of us use this time worrying about their health and professional affairs – which can elevate the levels of stress and anxiety. On the bright side, the environment seems to benefit from this situation, and experts show that the coronavirus has cut emissions more efficiently than years of climate negotiations. There has been a significant drop in air pollution and CO2 levels.

In this article, the Gold Circuit E-Cycling team is offering a few suggestions of activities that you can do during this time that can help you focus your energy on improving your sustainable lifestyle skills while staying vigilant and safe.

Below are a few ways to take action for the planet while self-isolation, and we hope they’ll stick after the global health crisis recedes.

Try to go green with your diet & compost

Time is our best friend during these strange times – and it gives us plenty of opportunities to get creative in the kitchen. If your list of New Year resolutions included eating more veggies, fruits, and plants, now it’s the perfect time to try some plant-based recipes and reflect upon your food waste. For the latter, the most accessible solution is provided by composting.

When the food in your trash goes to a landfill, it emits methane, a greenhouse gas that amplifies climate change. Compost does a lot more than cutting down emissions since it’s used as garden fertilizer and reduces the need for chemical options. According to the EPA, compost can capture and eliminate 99.6% of volatile organic compounds from the air. Learn more about composting here and have a look at some super-easy plant-based recipes here.

Volunteer for Earth Day

This year, Earth Day is going online for the sake of public health, and you can apply to become a volunteer here, without leaving the safety of your home. It has never been easier to do your part in the collective efforts against climate change.

Undertake an upcycling or DYI project

You already know that our mantra is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – and being stuck at home gives you plenty of time to start your own project and boost that creativity! There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram that teach you how to turn an old t-shirt into a tote bag, knit your own sweaters or even repurpose old plastic shampoo bottles and turn them into decorations. The only limit is your imagination…and the patience that goes into online research.

And...last but not least, recycle! Our facility is still functioning as usual. Keep an eye on our main website and our social media platforms.

For inquiries, give us a call at 888-283-0007 or drop us a line at info@goldcircuitecycling.com

How to be more eco-friendly in your daily life (part 2)

In our previous article, we've shared a few tips on how to lead a more eco-friendly life without making drastic changes. The summary is: recycle more, buy fewer things you don't need and waste less food. Our suggestions imply a slight mindset shift towards a more sustainable life which benefits the environment and your bank account as well.

Now we're back with a few extra ideas, as easy to implement as the previous ones.

1.  Buy recyclable/biodegradable replacements for your kitchen staples.

We've recently discovered a really nice eco-friendly brand that produces compostable paper items such as coffee filters, baking paper and sandwich bags, as well as 100% recyclable aluminium foil and trash bags. They're called If You Care and you can order their products online. Moreover, in the recipes section of their website you can find many meal ideas which are both healthy and waste-free. If you intend to make your household more eco-friendly, check them out!

2. Bring your own bag at the grocery store or do shopping online.

You've probably never thought that being a bit lazy can do wonders for the environment, but think about it for one second: by having groceries delivered at your doorstep, you eliminate car trips and carbon emissions. A single delivery van makes one trip for multiple customers, and many supermarkets should offer the option of "no bags" to make your shopping experience even more sustainable.

However, if you have to do your own shopping, bring your own bag to the store and cut down on single-use plastic bags. You can even buy a cute and cheap fabric tote bag!

3. Compost!

Such an easy thing can make a big difference, since food remains make up nearly 30% of total landfill waste. By composting, you can prevent your leftovers from letting off methane - and you can use the composted materials to fertilize your garden. That's what we call a win-win situation!

You can buy an affordable composter online or you can check out companies in your area that will literally come at your door to pick up your leftovers. Check out this link for the best composters on the market or this page to find companies in charge with this in your area. 

To learn more about our recycling solutions, visit our dedicated websites here:
www.goldcircuitecycling.com www.recycleyourfoam.com/

For inquiries, give us a call at 888-283-0007 or drop us a line at info@goldcircuitecycling.com

How to be more eco-friendly in your daily life (part 1)

If you’ve decided to go green in your daily life, congrats, we’re proud of you! Starting a more sustainable life involves a lot of effort, research, and determination - but making the decision means you’ve already completed the most challenging step. Don’t let the pressure of being the ideal eco-friendly consumer affect you; it’s perfectly fine to start small and allow yourself to make mistakes until you become more familiar with the concept. Remember that we don’t need a handful of people to do zero waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly.

That being said, if you’re new in the sustainability world, here’s a couple of simple ideas to get you started: 1. Recycle more. 

You’ve probably seen this one coming, given the fact that we’re a recycling company. But we’re not encouraging you to recycle only the materials we’re currently taking in at our facility, but also paper, plastic, metal, glass and everything you can. To give you a bit of perspective, by recycling one short ton of paper, you can save 17 mature trees, according to the EPA - and it takes less energy to create paper from recycled materials than create “virgin” paper. The recycling stats in America don’t look good at all, due to the lack of knowledge that you can easily acquire by surfing the internet and informing yourself. Moreover, if you can convince two friends to recycle more, you’ve contributed a lot to an eco-friendly future. 2. Buy less.

Being a compulsive shopper is terrible for both the wallet and the environment, while the simple act of thinking twice before purchasing something goes a long way. We are not telling you to buy only the bare necessities and stop enjoying yourself, because the problem isn’t that we buy things we don’t need - the problem is that we buy A LOT of things we don’t need under the belief that they’re going to make us happy. We don’t need jewelry, home decorations, or custom-made clothing items - but they all are fruits of the labor of talented people that deserve to be supported. As long as we don’t mistakenly consider these objects essential for our happiness, it’s perfectly fine to get them and enjoy them. 

3. Waste less food. 

In the US, food waste is estimated at between 30-40% of the food supply, and it impacts society in two major ways: wholesome food that could’ve helped feed people in need is sent to landfills, and it leads to a waste of land, water, labor, energy used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing and disposing of discarded food. Read more on the topic here. About Gold Circuit E-Cycling and Recycle Your Foam

To learn more about our recycling solutions, visit our dedicated websites here: www.goldcircuitecycling.com www.recycleyourfoam.com/.

For inquiries, give us a call at 888-283-0007 or drop us a line at info@goldcircuitecycling.com

Tips for eco-friendly Christmas gifts

Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also a time of peak waste. To give you a bit of perspective, Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve period than any time of the year - and it amounts to one million extra tons of garbage per week. While green already is the traditional color of Christmas, we could start giving it an additional meaning by becoming more eco-friendly and conscious by cutting back on obvious excesses, such as useless gifts, unrecyclable wrapping paper, and even food. 

The great news is that more and more people become conscious and consider making the most out of the festive season without wasting Earth’s resources (and money). To be of help, our Gold-Circuit E-Cycling team compiled a list of eco-friendly gift ideas:

1. Fewer objects, more experiences.

Statistics show that about 35% of Americans have at least an unused Christmas present that collects dust somewhere in a corner. Why buy objects that only look nice but have no real purpose when you can purchase a gift that keeps on giving? Try holiday vouchers, concert tickets, cinema tickets, memberships for services that your loved ones would enjoy, sponsorships for organizations such as WWF or World Vision. Choose truly memorable and purposeful gifts, that add value to their lives. 

2. Buy local or create your gifts.

There are lots of small businesses that create beautiful, unique handmade objects which are also recyclable and eco-friendly. By buying from them, you support the local economy and get to offer more thoughtful gifts that’ll surely put a smile on your dear ones’ faces. Of course, if you’re handy and good at baking, sewing, painting, and not only, you can craft your own gifts and even save money in the process.

3. Switch to eco-friendly wrapping materials.

Imagine this: if every American family wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. The shiny, glittery wrapping papers and ribbons may be adorable, but they’re not recyclable. You can switch to green alternatives such as brown paper, newspaper, raffia, string or textiles. For example, we can all take inspiration from Japan, where a method of using cloth to wrap up gifts was invented long ago. You can find lots of such colorful fabrics on Etsy - and they can be used again and again.

4. Take the vintage route.

Think outside the gift box and don’t be afraid to incorporate pre-loved treasures on your Christmas shopping list. The age-old stigma around offering used objects is long gone - but of course, they should be in good condition. The resale market has been growing rapidly in the US, and you can find lots of stores and independent sellers that commercialize awesome goods at very reasonable prices (including authentic luxury clothes and accessories). Imagine how much the Earth could benefit from our mutual decision to embrace second-hand gifts!

Two reasons why you should recycle styrofoam

As bans on single-use plastics and straws gain more and more global attention, we shouldn’t lose sight of another less popular form of plastic that’s incredibly damaging for the environment: styrofoam.

This material is frequently used, yet seldom recycled due to the high costs and energy associated with the operations. Thankfully, our facility is fully-equipped with all the machinery necessary to keep styrofoam away from the environment and give it a new purpose after its first life comes to end. 

Moreover, we’ve created a division dedicated only to styrofoam recycling to raise awareness within our community and simplify the process. Check out this article to learn more about what styrofoam is and what’s our solution.

Secondly, let’s see why is it so important to recycle styrofoam.

It poses a huge danger for the environment

We cannot stress this enough: plastics shouldn’t be thrown away because there’s no “away”. Plastics do not decompose over time and pose serious health concerns for both aquatic and terrestrial life. And yes - styrofoam is made of thousands of pieces of non-biodegradable plastic, even if the name doesn’t suggest that. Keep in mind that small changes add up to big results - and when it comes to protecting the earth and repairing the already-done damage, every individual action matters.

It can be recycled over and over again

That’s the best quality of styrofoam: it can be recycled and repurposed over and over again. In our facility, for example, the most part of our volume comes from residents, businesses and municipalities that collect it from their communities. After recycling, we send the newly-created volume of EPS to be transformed into picture frames, baseboard/ceiling moulding, house/building insulation or insulation board. And then, hopefully, the materials get back to us and the cycle continues. Hello, new life - good-bye, landfills and resources waste!

A few things to keep in mind

While we’d love to be able to recycle each and every type of foam, at the moment we are unable to accept packing peanuts, food containers, colors other than white, and foam that is dirty or contaminated. We’ll let you know as soon as we find a convenient manner to expand our range of services.

To learn more about our solution, visit our dedicated website here: https://www.recycleyourfoam.com/.

For inquiries, give us a call at 888-283-0007 or drop us a line at info@goldcircuitecycling.com