EcoMonday: Giftwrapping. What to do with it?

This is going to be a short one, because we know you have a ton of stuff to do in the next FIVE DAYS before Christmas. *Shrieks.* (Have you done all your shopping? We haven't.)
Anyway. We want to take three minutes and talk to you about gift-wrapping. Do you know that, although most plain gift-wrapping paper is recyclable just in your standard curb-side recycling bin, all that fancy pretty stuff with the foil and the glitter and the flocking isn't recyclable? And neither, regrettably, is tissue paper.
That's right, it just gets lumped in with all those unrecyclable plastic adhesive bows. Never mind, it's okay. We know you already have a ton of it purchased.
But hey, there's good news. Gift wrap is totally reusable. We're not going to suggest you make beads out of it, or whatever, like some well meaning and talented people do, but we are going to suggest that you take an iron to the stuff. Yes, you can iron your gift wrap. Takes all the creases right out.

Iron your giftwrap, reuse it next year. Who knew?

As for the plastic bows, well, those are reusable too, but harder to store.
So this holiday season, don't go at your gifts like some kind of sugar-plum-crazed four-year-old. Hang onto the stuff. You'll reuse it next year, feel good about what you're doing for the environment, and hey, save yourself a little money. (We at the Hub Twoffice haven't purchased giftwrap for something like a decade!)

What's your favorite holiday earth-saving tip?

EcoMonday: Closet Purging, and what to do with it

We've written before about our flooring and how important textiles are to the recycling industry. Textiles can be recycled again and again without much breakdown in quality, but they can sit in landfills for decades, not getting enough sunlight or moisture to break down.

Where does all this cloth go?

So what can you do? Here are a few tips as we head into the holiday season.

• Freecycle it. Freecycle is a nationwide online network of people who are are constantly "gifting" items to each other. You send out a note describing what you have to give away and wait. (All posts are moderated, and the entire board is watched over very carefully for spammers and other unsavory sorts.) In our experience, you don't wait very long, and your stuff will go to someone who wants it. There are at least four Freecycle groups operating in Philadelphia, according to where you live.
• Give the gift of comfort...to an animal. Animal shelters often need old sheets, towels, and blankets to provide warmth to a furry friend. Consider giving your bedding and linens to an animal shelter before you put them in a landfill.
• Dress someone for success. Dress for Success's Philadelphia branch takes new and gently worn suits to women who are just getting back onto their feet in new careers after economic hardship. The group also provides networking opportunities and career counseling.
• Get someone to help you. Pottstown-based Recycling Services, Inc. has open community drop-off days for everything from your electronics to your curtains, so take advantage of their open house days and put your stuff in their hands for repurposing into something new.

Now go on--purge your closets, both at work and at home, and know you're doing something good.

What's your favorite way to recycle?

EcoMonday: Electronics Recycling

Oh, woe is us: So many electronics, so little recycling.

Let's just address briefly why on earth you'd even try to properly recycle your computers or old electronics.
1. Space: There's no room in your office for that enormous cathode-ray-tube monitor. Plus, that industrial beige doesn't go with your new office decor. Ugh.
2. Data: What if you need to retrieve a file from 1998? It's easier if you don't have to dig out the enormous hard drive in the back of the office storeroom. Also better if you know sensitive data's been properly destroyed.
3. It's the earth, stupid: Hello! Computer chips and components are often made with heavy metals that can be harmful to the earth if just left in a landfill.
4. Your trash is someone else's treasure: So many people can use your discarded electronics, you early adapter, you, so that your sleek MacBook Air (*so* 2008) is someone else's great find. Or, on a more serious note, donating your cell phone can help save someone's life.

So how do you go about recycling your electronics?

First, make sure all your data is wiped. ERevival will send a team to pick up all of your old electronics--everything from VCRs to plasma screens--and reliably destroy all of your data. Their Web site, as well, is a goldmine of great information about recycling your electronic waste.

Second, find a reliable recycler. If you have a smaller amount of ewaste that won't qualify for a large-scale pickup, you can take your old computers, printers, or cell phones down to Goodwill, who will take them off your hands for recycling or resale. (Although the Reconnect program is sponsored by Dell and Microsoft, you can drop off any brand of equipment.)
There are a lot of charities that will gladly take your mobile phone off your hands. At any Verizon retailer, you can drop off your old phone as you're picking up your new one, and your old phone will go to support Hopeline, which provides potential victims of domestic abuse with mobile phones so they have an independent safer phone line to use.

But Hopeline's not the only choice. Here's a great listing of other charities and companies who put your used mobile phones to good use, with almost no effort on your part. And here's a good list of resources in Philadelphia that will help you to recycle efficiently.

There are a lot of good reasons to recycle. And a lot of good ways to do it.

What are your favorite e-waste recycling tips?

EcoMonday: The facts about paper

Paper recycling and conservation has been around for so long that most people and offices do it just out of habit. In fact, we did a small survey around The Hub's twoffice, and we discovered that the most common answer people gave when asked why they recycle paper or conserve it, was a quick shrug of the shoulders and an easy, "I'm saving trees!"

That's nice. It really, really is. But the average office worker uses something like 10,000 sheets of copy paper alone per year,* so we'd like to think that keeping all that paper out of the stream might be doing more than just saving trees. There are a few more benefits to recycling or saving paper, some of which stem from the act of saving trees, some of which don't. Let's take a look.

1. Paper has many lives
Recycled paper doesn't just end up being made into post-consumer recycled office paper. In fact, the more paper gets recycled, the shorter its fibers get. At the end of its life span, paper fibers might be not be long enough to be suitable for office use, but shorter fibers are suitable to make everything from egg cartons to newsprint.

After recycled paper becomes egg cartons, we've seen them repurposed yet again. Image via Craft Elf.

2. The carbon cycle
Saving trees comes a flip side: Although many forestry companies say they plant trees to make up for the ones they've cut down, they're neglecting one critical part of the equation: Each tree that's cut down releases carbon dioxide back into the air through the natural process of decomposition. So if we can reuse paper that's already out there, we can prevent more carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

3. Quite simply, a more cost-efficient office
In many cases, we use our shredded documents as packing materials instead of purchasing packing peanuts or bubble-wrap. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it does add up.

It's not quite like this, but you get the idea. (Photo: ThisisBase.com)

4. Saving Landfill Space
Paper takes up quite a bit of landfill space. Imagine 4 million tons of office paper. That's what the EPA says we use on average in American offices each year. That's a lot of land area. And since paper takes about a month to break down in a natural, aerated environment, you can imagine how long it'll take to break down in a non-aerated landfill surrounded by other garbage.

For all these reasons and more, we recycle and try to keep virgin paper out of our office. We're curious: What other items do you recycle in your offices?

*Source: EPA Recycling Paper FAQ.