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 Geographics Recycled Business Cards 65 lb Card Stock White 350 Cards per $13.07 Time Remaining: 24d 13h 37m Buy It Now for only: $13.07 |
 Geographics Letterhead 100 Sheet Bamboo Weaved Recycled 3037 $8.99 Time Remaining: 21d 16h 54m Buy It Now for only: $8.99 |
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Geographics Recycled
Environmentally Friendly Trends of the Office Printer Industry
Businesses still rely on their printing equipment to produce reports, invoices, payroll stubs, and other physical information documents that back up digital information. Reducing the waste from this daily output of paper and ink is good for both the planet and the bottom line of the company. Voluntary compliance was easy to attain since there was money to save so business interests led the way, realizing that every method of belt-tightening was in their best interests to compete in a stagnant economy.
With the advent of Energy Star qualified machines like large format printers that can reduce energy, there has been a reduction in the chemicals and particle emissions that are health hazards with older printers. There has been an entire industry sector created for recycling toner cartridges. For years they were a constant source of toxic waste. Each year, almost one billion empty printer cartridges collect in landfills and release toxic fumes that pollute the environment and compromise the health of populations exposed to them.
Paper accounts for ten percent of emissions for the entire manufacturing sector and one-third of the waste in municipal landfills. This waste produces methane, which is even more damaging to the ozone layer than is carbon dioxide. Due to the recession many people are involuntarily helping the environment since their paychecks are no longer being issued so there are fewer envelops and pay stubs to add to the garbage. A sick joke to be sure, but in these days of the never-ending oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico even the most optimistic environmentalist could easily despair and drag his carbon footprint over to the liquor cabinet when he sees all the progress made saving the Earth take such a giant step backward.
Even now with this awareness less than half of North America's paper is recovered for recycling. Recycled paper is one aspect of materials; the printers themselves should be updated. If a company is planning to purchase big printing machines like hp large format printers they should determine how much electricity it will use and how much it will conserve in downtime. New printers will cover their purchase cost in energy savings in time.
Raw materials and energy are two major recurring costs companies must bear to operate. Recyclable materials reduce waste and trim the budget. Better energy efficiency reduces greenhouse gas emissions and can reduce the cost of electricity by up to half when modern products such as high-tech printers are used. Companies who lag behind in setting these areas as a priority simply won't be able to compete; there is an incentive to develop innovations that can make optimal use of resources.
It was expected years ago that computerization would eliminate the need for paper. Instead, it has allowed for business expansion on such a scale that service and retail sectors have grown, along with their need for flyers and correspondence on a large scale. Paper still thrives in the office environment and it will only be through a monumental effort that everyone will be computerized to a level that paper use can be drastically reduced, as was forecast by the futurists so long ago.
About the Author
SEO consultant Pat Boardman writes this in respect to CELL-A-NET HP Printer Maintenance in Ontario, who provide Managed Print Solutions and printer office supplies for the GTA, Mississauga, and Burlington region.
I need help with clutter control, especially of 'other peoples/dead relatives stuff that I ended up with.?
I have so much accumulated, but don't know where to start. I'm afraid of tossing something I could get money for, and this is important, as my husband died of cancer leaving me with a mortgage, health care bills and 2 youngsters. When I sold some very nice furniture at a general auction I really got "taken" . Where do I find best prices for things? list on ebay one at a time? (ug!)
A couple of specific questions:
1. Are old National Geographics worth anythiing, or should I donate/recycle. they go back to the 60's.
2. Record albums. They were my husbands, hundreds of them. I saved about 200, and got about .25 cents each for about 200. they don't want the rest . should I just toss them?
3. old atari games, unused (we had a consession yrs ago)
4. big disk movies, a system that competed w/video yrs ago. Good stuff: last seasons skiis used once. Waterford crystal. Beleek China. boxes and boxes of colored glass, china, nice knick nacks.I'm overwhelmed, please guide me!
National Geographics from the 1960's are worth nothing:
http://uttm.com/stories/1999/03/18/deleted/main39419.shtml
I would ask your local library if they want them to complete their collection -- if not, recycle them.
For all of the other items, you can generally list them for free on http://www.craigslist.org -- you may need to renew the listings a few times.
Many people have warned against using eBay and I have to disagree. The beauty of eBay and other on-line auction sites is that you have a GLOBAL set of buyers instead of just the people from the surrounding couple miles who show up at the flea market or read the pennysaver. You can have a minimum sale price you will accept if you don't want to let things go too cheaply. You get to re-list most items for free if they don't sell. Etc.
Record Albums: There are lots of people who collect the old vinyl LP's, 45 RPM singles, and so on. Value will depend entirely on what specific album it is. You are going to have to type in each and every album 1 at a time into the search engine to find out what they are worth. You might have luck through one of the vinyl LP collector groups:
http://www.solidviper.com/
http://www.vinylrecords.co.uk/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Collecting/Vinyl/
As a hint, start by alphabetizing them by artist name, so you can look through whole lists on-line faster.
The good albums put up on eBay or sell through a specialty vinyl LP dealer. The rest put in a box and give them to someone at a flea market who is already selling vinyl LP's.
Old Atari games: Very sale-able. Put them up on eBay, individually but be willing to "combine shipping for multiple wins". Make sure the listing says they are NIB (New In Box) Unopened. If they are for the Atari 2600 look here:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/atari2600/
If for a different Atari platform, just type in "Atari _____ game group" into the Yahoo search bar and you will find enthusiast groups. As you can see by the following eBay search, these things can fetch a decent price:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=Atari+2600+games&category0=&submitSearch=Search
Video Discs: Again, there are collectors out there. Not as many as for video games, but they are there.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=Atari+2600+games&category0=&submitSearch=Search
Here is someone with specific wants:
http://puosu.dna.fi/~kerappo/ld/ld-want.html
Craigslist is a very good place to advertise these, it is global but can be narrowed to local listings to avoid shipping, and it is free so you can afford to wait for the few interested buyers.
For the skiis, contact nearby high schools and colleges -- most have a ski sale each winter. Failing that, these are good items for the pennysaver.
Knick nacks -- again, good eBay items if you know exactly what they are. But if they are just "this knick nack thing" then it will be very hard for buyers to find your listing so eBay probably will not get a good sale price and may cost you money in the long run. Your local flea market would be better.
Crystal, China, and colored glass -- these can be very valuable, or hardly worth anything. You need to have MULTIPLE antique dealers or specialists look them over. Don't just take the first dealers word for it that they are only worth a couple bucks. The number of people on PBS's "Antiques Roadshow" who get their whatsit appraised at $100,000 after the local dealer offered them $100 for it is stunning... These are the kinds of things you really need to research and learn about to not get taken.
My condolances on the loss of your husband.
The Recycled Boat