Posts Tagged ‘benefits of energy’
Friday, November 27, 2009
Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste
I wanted to share this story that 60 minutes did in August about where electronic waste is ending up after being dumped here in the U.S.
(CBS) This story was first published on Nov. 9, 2008. It was updated on Aug. 27, 2009.
60 Minutes is going to take you to one of the most toxic places on Earth — a place that government officials and gangsters don’t want you to see. It’s a town in China where you can’t breathe the air or drink the water, a town where the blood of the children is laced with lead. It’s worth risking a visit because, as correspondent Scott Pelley first reported last November, much of the poison is coming out of the homes, schools and offices of America.
This is a story about recycling – about how your best intentions to be green can be channeled into an underground sewer that flows from the United States and into the wasteland.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Google Removes Trash Cans to Promote Recycling
According to an article from Mother Nature Network, Google has made several eco-conscious changes at its London office. One of the more creative changes Google implemented is the removal of trash cans from individual employee desks. Instead of simply tossing away garbage without a second thought, employees now have to get up and walk to a centralized disposal and recycling station. This small change has led to an increase in onsite recycling — if the employee is already walking to the disposal center, it is easy to make the decision to recycle the waste.
After an after-hours check of employee computers, Google implemented an educational program to help employees understand the energy benefits of powering down their computers at night. This is a low-cost way to save Google money and reduce the company’s carbon footprint.
Google’s removal of employee trash cans is an ingenious idea. It costs nothing for a business to remove the item and direct employees to a centralized disposal/recycling location. This one little step led to a significant increase in recycling rates at the company, 50 percent, and helps Google meet its green initiative goals.
What do you think? Would this make you more likely to recycle? Is this something you could implement at home?