Posts Tagged ‘energy efficiency’

Five Tips to Make Your Holidays a Little Greener This Year

It’s getting colder (though not as cold as it should be here in Eastern North Carolina), the days are shorter, and nights longer. The holidays are here and with it an opportunity to have fun while creating an environmentally friendly celebration.

Make your holidays joyous in spirit and gentle on the environment with these five tips from Carolina Fibre!

Be conscious of gift wrapping.

When it comes to wrapping those gifts, consider natural, renewable materials over the shiny and metallic gift wrap. Newspaper, cotton, and woods are excellent options that add charming character and a personal touch to your gifts.

Sift through your Sunday paper and find stories that resonate with each gift recipient. For example, comics for the family clown, a sports story for the sports enthusiast in your friend group. Grab pages from old, worn-out, or damaged books for the co-worker who loves to read and write, or various advertisements from an old magazine for the marketer in your life. Old greeting cards are an innovative replacement for gift tags. According to a study at Stanford University, if every family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

Do holiday lights right.

Recent research shows that if everyone replaced their conventional holiday light strings with LEDs, at least two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity could be saved in a month. So, it goes without saying: at home, in the office, and around the tree, make it a point to use LED holiday lights.

They’re more energy-efficient and will save you money on your electricity bill this season!

Decorate with items found in nature.

Avoid buying cheap plastic items that fall apart easily, cannot be recycled, and take up space in landfills. Using green plants and fresh flowers, fruits, pinecones, and evergreens for home decorating are creative and stylish ways to protect the environment.

Natural holiday decor saves money and provides organic beauty. Green holiday decorating ideas are simple and classic, plus they create more time to enjoy the festive season and relax with family and friends.

Compost when the celebrations are over.

When the holiday season is over, try composting your pine garlands, dried up wreaths, and other flower arrangements.

Unlike fake Christmas trees, real trees are recyclable or compostable – so go real this year. If you already have a compost heap, your tree will have a happy home. Tree branches provide a generous base layer for composting. In both cases, chop the tree into smaller, more manageable sections, and add to your compost bin. If you don’t have a compost pile, some cities will convert your tree to mulch for free, which is fabulous for your garden later in the year.

[Click here for more Christmas tree recycling ideas!]

Set an earth-friendly table this year.

The leading cause of deforestation, and another massive source of greenhouse gas emission, is agriculture. The choices you make when you’re at the grocery store can help you reduce your agricultural carbon footprint.

Meat intake is an excellent place to start; just by slightly reducing your meat consumption, you can help reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions. You can also be environmentally conscience when the meal is over by:

  • Saving scraps.
  • Distributing leftovers.
  • Utilizing your freezer.

Make this holiday season one to remember by creating new traditions with your loved ones, saving the planet, and having a blast by bringing these earth savvy and festive projects to life!

What steps has your family or workplace taken to green the holiday season? We’d love to hear; let us know on our Facebook page.

Why Recycling and Using Recycled Paper at the Office is so Important

There has been a lot of discussion about reducing our American workplaces’ footprint, but unfortunately, statistics show that U.S. companies continue to be huge contributors to environmental destruction. Pollution, climate change, waste in waterways, and deforestation are just some of the environmental degradation that comes from our corporations. Many of those contributions are in the form of discarded paper.
But why does saving trees matter, and why should American companies care? Let’s explore the many benefits of using recycled paper and how we can help our earth by initiating a paper recycling program at your office.
The benefits of recycling paper and using recycled paper.
When your office recycles and uses recycled paper, you help promote a more sustainable corporate climate and a healthier earth for decades to come. Among other benefits, recycling your paper and using recycled paper may:

  • Save forests and reduce environmental degradation.
  • Reduce landfill waste.
  • Reduce pollution.
  • Save energy.

Keep reading to find out how these can help your business and our environment!
Save forests and reduce environmental degradation. 
Recycling paper allows your used paper to be repurposed. This article from Small Biz Trends shows that paper products can typically be recycled into additional paper products seven times before the materials start to degrade. This highlights how recycling dramatically reduces the need for raw materials needed to make new paper products.
Many people think saving trees isn’t a huge concern since it’s always possible to plant more trees. However, not only is this a misconception, but healthy forest eco-systems are essential for preventing soil erosion, sustaining healthy waterways, and maintaining wildlife habits. Over-managing our forests disrupts these processes that are vital to our eco-system. Even when trees are replanted, it can take forests decades to recover.
Research shows that almost half of the trees cut down in the U.S. are headed for paper production. By utilizing recycled paper and recycling your office’s paper products, you can help reduce these numbers and maintain healthier forests.
Reduce landfill waste.
Our American landfills are growing every day. Because they are so full, they are taking up large parcels of land and destroying essential natural resources. Waste dumps are also significant emitters of methane gas, one of the primary gases proven to be responsible for climate change.
By using recycled paper and recycling our paper, we can help slow the rate at which our landfills are filling up and the number of greenhouse gases generated by them.
Reduce pollution
The paper production procedure is a crucial contributor to environmental pollution. While using recycled paper doesn’t completely reverse these effects, it does greatly diminish them. Recycling paper also limits the amount of pollution that ends up in our waterways.
Saves energy.
According to an article in the Printing News, the energy needed to produce paper from raw materials is almost double what it takes to make paper from recycled paper.
Supporting paper recycling results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions and reduces the drain on energy resources.
[Need some tips on encouraging sustainability in the classroom? Click here!]
Recycling paper can save your business money!
On top of all the environmental benefits, recycling your paper and utilizing recycled paper can save your company a lot of money in the long run.

  • Investing in paper recycling may make your office eligible for tax credits.
  • Utilizing recycled paper can help your company gain approval among clients, who are demanding that brands take steps to limit their footprints.
  • Purchasing recycled paper drives up demand for these materials, which reduces the cost of recycling as the industry invests in the necessary infrastructure to meet demand.
  • Choosing sustainable options such as recycled paper will push down the cost of these goods. As resources grow scarcer, the price of paper goods will skyrocket. Investing in recycling now can help keep the cost of paper more reasonable over the long term.

How to set up a paper recycling program at your office. 
Now that you know all the recycling paper benefits, it’s time to put that new knowledge to good use by initiating an office paper recycling program. Here are a few tips to get started:

  • Designate an office “green team.”
  • Use a waste audit kit to determine the volume of your waste.
  • Research collection options.
  • Identify what to collect.
  • Select appropriate recycling bins.
  • Use images to so your team can quickly identify each bin.
  • Contact a professional recycling company like Carolina Fibre! At Carolina Fibre, we offer extensive recycling services, including paper, plastic, and aluminum recycling, and confidential shredding. Our confidential shredding service ensures your company is protected against identity theft and the divulgence of private information by complete destruction of company records. Once the information is shredded, we send a certificate of destruction for all materials destroyed.

Not only does investing in recycled paper provide your office with some immediate benefits, but it’s also simply the right thing to do when it comes to preserving the natural resources relied on by everyone.
By knowing the facts, engaging your team in a recycling program, and investing in recycled paper products, your company can help make our future healthier and more prosperous for us all.
With the services and facilities offered by Carolina Fibre, it’s easier than ever for businesses to jump on board with green efforts here in North Carolina. Contact us today if you’re ready to get started on your company’s commercial recycling plan!

Five Tips for Giving Love Back to Mother Nature

February may be classified as the month of love, but it doesn’t have to be limited to your significant other. As a supporter of sustainability and an enhanced ecosystem, Carolina Fibre looks for ways in everyday life to protect the environment. We’ve made Mother Nature our valentine this year, and have laid out these five easy tips for “greening” the Earth.

1. Replace Home Appliances with Energy Efficient Models 
A significant portion of homes’ energy is dedicated to running appliances. Replacing them with energy efficient models can reduce emissions by up to 3,000 pounds per year. Today’s major appliances don’t use the same level of power as older models because they’re required to meet federal energy efficiency standards. Look for the Energy Star® label when choosing which appliances save the most money on your power bill. These models are the most energy efficient in any product category.
2. Purchase a Vehicle With At Least 30 Miles Per Gallon 
Specific brands and types of cars may be visually appealing, but lacking in fuel efficiency. Luckily car manufacturers realize the shift in consumers’ green views and are steadily producing and promoting high performing miles-per-gallon automobiles. A vehicle that gets at least 30 miles per gallon reduces carbon dioxide by approximately 2,500 pounds a year over a car that gets 10 miles less. Review the Environmental Protection Agency approval guidelines to find the best eco-friendly, affordable car for you.
3. Walk, Bike, Carpool or Use Mass Transit When Possible 
It’s more common than ever to see single riders driving to and from work. This may improve our self-sufficiency and independence, but the major increase in CO2 emissions from vehicles does not benefit the environment. Every gallon of gasoline saved diverts 22 pounds of CO2 emissions, and driving 10 miles less per week eliminates about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. If walking is an option, take advantage of the health benefits associated with it. Every mile walked burns about 100 calories—improve the ecosystem and energize your body for long-term gains.
4. Use Environmentally-Friendly Cleaning Supplies 
There was a time when our world didn’t think twice about toxic chemicals found in cleaning products. As long as kitchen counters and floors shined, we were happy. But with evidence that older cleaning supplies negatively affect on our health, people are extremely cautious about what they buy. Seek out more natural cleaning products that contain organic ingredients like beeswax, coconut oil, baking soda, citrus oil, vinegar and cleaning salt. Make sure to dispose of any harmful cleaning supplies properly following the Cleaning Institute® guidelines.
5. Request a Home Energy Audit to Pinpoint Energy Wasters 
An energy audit provides information about how much energy homes consume and suggests what can be corrected to improve energy savings. The average family in the United States pays over $3,000 in utility bills per year and a thorough audit can cut that price in half. Energy assessments include checking insulation, leaks, ductwork and appliances. Request an audit from a professional technician to maximize energy efficiency and start saving money!
Sustainability is all about changing our everyday habits we often don’t think twice about, whether it’s running the air conditioning 24/7 or avoiding taking the bus because we feel more secure in our cars. Carolina Fibre Corporation is a Greensboro, NC recycler, and we operate our facilities with a primary focus on sustainability.