7 Ways to Make Your Business More Sustainable
Sustainability can be defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. There are three pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social.
In terms of business, a sustainable or green enterprise refers to one that has a minimal negative impact or possibly even a positive impact on the environment, community, society, or economy.
There are many ways your business can become more sustainable, but focusing on environmental impact, here are our top tips to boost your business’ efforts:
1 Go Paperless
A significant amount of paper printed in the workplace ends up in the bin before the day is out. Almost all formerly paper-based documents can now be handled digitally, for example, invoices, timesheets etc., making switching to digital simpler. Moreover, storing documents on cloud-based servers rather than print hard copies saves paper but also means you will never lose anything important.
2 Recycle More
About 75% of waste materials that end up in the grey bin could be recycled. The reason that a lot of people don’t recycle more is that it requires a little planning. However, at The City Bin Co., we will do this for you by;
- Carrying out a waste audit of what your business throws away and what’s recyclable.
- Putting a recycling plan in place & providing staff recycling training
- Stationing recycling bins throughout your office
- Providing a Bindex detailing your business’s recycling rates, allowing you to easily track improvements made and cost savings.
3 Switch to LED lighting
Bright LED lightbulbs use 4 to 10 times less energy than halogen and incandescent bulbs. One of the easiest ways to conserve energy is to switch out your current lightbulbs and replace them with LEDs. Although LEDs can be more expensive up front, they will pay for themselves over time through reduced energy usage and fewer lightbulb replacements.
4 Give your employees reusable water bottles and keep cups
An easy sustainability win is to ban plastic bottles at work and give your employees reusable bottles and keep cups. This change will need to be facilitated by installing water fountains or water coolers so that employees use these sources for drinking water. At The City Bin Co., we all use our own reusable cups, which saves the equivalent of 64,000 takeaway coffee cups a year.
5 Use Sustainable Products
Whether you are a restaurant or office block, your business can use sustainable products, such as printer paper, cleaning products or to-go containers.
6 Start Composting
If you own a restaurant or café that produces used coffee grinds and leftover food scraps, composting is not only a great way to divert waste from landfill but will also reduce your waste bill and it makes a brilliant resource to have your plants thriving. If you don’t have a garden to use your compost in, you can give away free compost to customers or donate it to local gardens.
7 Create a Sustainability Culture
For your organisation to be truly sustainable, you need to get buy-in from your employees. There are many ways in which you can instil green habits within your employees, here are some examples:
- Hang clear signage and posters that act as reminders to recycle and turn off lights etc.
- Encourage employees to take part in “greener” activities by rewarding sustainable practices such as riding a bike to work instead of driving.
- Make sure bins are clearly signposted and in the most useful location for your employees to dispose of waste correctly.
If you are interested in discovering how we can help you meet your sustainable business goals, click here.
If you have any great sustainable business tips, we would love to hear them – contact us on any of our social media accounts below!
Most Sustainable Olympics Yet?
The organisers of the Olympics wanted to create a “minimal impact Games”, through a series of steps outlined in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Sustainability Plan.
The majority of venues that will host events already existed with several reused from the Tokyo 1964 Olympics and podiums and medals have been made from recycled materials.
The sustainability plan claims the games are moving “towards zero carbon” by “focusing on maximum energy savings and use of renewable energy”.
Read on for 10 design projects that aimed to make the games more sustainable…
Torch by Tokujin Yoshioka
The Olympic torches, designed by Tokujin Yoshioka, were made up of recycled construction waste from temporary housing used in the aftermath of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The designer used an extrusion technique to produce the 71-centimetre rose-gold torches, which resemble the national flower of Japan, the sakura flower. Both the relay torches and cauldron holding the Olympic flame are fueled by hydrogen instead of fossil gas.
Electric e-palette vehicle by Toyota
The autonomous and electric e-Palette vehicle was designed to transport Olympic and Paralympic athletes around the Olympic Village without generating emissions.
Japanese car company Toyota modified its existing fleet of e-Palette vehicles to better suit the needs of athletes who required fuss-free and comfortable transport.
Some of the modifications include widening the doors, lowering the flor and adding electric ramps to enable passengers – particularly wheelchair users – to board easily and quickly.
Medals by Junichi Kawanishi
Japanese designer Junichi Kawanishi extracted precious metal from old mobile phones and other e-waste donated by the public to create reflective, ribbon-like rings around the edge of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals.
Kawanishi’s winning medal design was selected from a competition that drew entries from more than 400 professional designers and design students. The medal cases which are manufactured from dyed Japanese ash wood, have been designed by Shinya Yoshida.
Beds by Airweave
Japanese bedding company Airweave produced these lightweight recycled cardboard beds and customisable mattresses for athletes.
Of the 18,000 beds and customisable mattresses created for athletes at this summer’s Olympics, 8,000 will be repurposed for use by athletes at the Paralympics.
The brand claims that the mattresses, which are made from polyethylene fibres, can be recycled an unlimited number of times.
Japan National Stadium by Kengo Kuma
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma created a wooden lattice design for the Japan National Stadium, which will house the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics events.
Torchbearer uniforms by Daisuke Obana
Recycled plastic bottles collected by Coca-Cola have been used in the white T-shirts and trousers worn by torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay.
The Tokyo Olympic Association designed the unisex Olympic torchbearer uniforms under the theme “hope lights our way”.
The designs all feature a sash with a chequered pattern that is known in Japan as ichimatsu moyo. The same pattern can be found in the Tokyo 2020 logos.
Basketball & Soccer Uniforms by Nike
Sportswear brand Nike used recycled polyester made from plastic bottles and recycled nylon as well as rubber and yarn waste from the company’s factories to create these uniforms.
Among them are soccer jerseys for the American, Korean and Nigerian teams, alongside kits for the USA’s men and women basketball teams.
The brand says that the uniforms will be the “most sustainable” and “highest performing” to date.
Podiums by Asao Tokolo
The winners at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics will receive their medals on podiums made from 24.5 tonnes of discarded household plastics.
Japanese artist Asao Tokolo gathered the plastics from the Japanese public before recycling the material and turning it into filaments, which were used to 3D-print the podiums.
The equivalent of 400,000 bottles of laundry detergent was collected to create all 98 podiums that will be used during the Games.
Olympic Village Plaza by Nikken Sekkei
This temporary structure by Tokyo studio Nikken Sekkei was built using 40,000 pieces of Japanese wood. The pieces of cypress, cedar and larch were “borrowed” from local governments across Japan.
The timber space will be used as the central meeting and dining place for athletes, officials, guests and the media within the Olympic Village throughout the games.
Skateboarding Uniforms by Nike
Bright colours and geometric patterns adorn the skateboarding uniforms that Nike has designed for the first skateboarding competitors at the Olympic Games.
According to Nike, all of the skateboarding jerseys are made up of 100 per cent recycled polyester from “water bottles and other things that would go to waste”.
The sportswear company has created uniforms for the United States, France and Brazil. They will all be bringing teams to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to compete in the sport’s first street and park competitions at the Olympic level.
From original article at dezeen.com
Top Rubbish Removal Tips for your Next DIY Project
Rubbish removal is something every home and business owner must be aware of when starting a DIY project. Here at The City Bin Co., we want to remove the hassle of waste clearance by offering three rubbish removal solutions in Galway and Dublin.
To eliminate some of the stress of undertaking a DIY project, we have put together our top tips for dealing with waste from any DIY project.
Consider the size of your DIY project…
The amount of waste you create will depend on the type of project undertaken. Firstly, the size of the DIY project indicates how much waste is likely to be produced during work. Secondly, you will have a better idea of what types of waste likely to be met along the way.
Figuring out how much waste your DIY project will create will help determine if you need to hire a skip, if you should avail of a junk collection service, or if you can manage to dispose of your waste at your local recycling centre.
Educate yourself on waste disposal procedures…
Improving your knowledge is an important part of the DIY rubbish removal process. There are many useful blogs and tutorials available online. Some great topics to start with include environmental waste disposal, DIY guides, best rubbish removal practices in Ireland, waste recycling and upcycling ideas. Once you understand waste removal best practices you will be better equipped for getting rid of junk from your property.
Pick a suitable rubbish removal solution…
We have two hassle-free cost-effective options for rubbish removal in Dublin and Galway, Skip Hire, and our Junk Collection service.
Skip Hire
We have Skip sizes to suit any size DIY project you’re starting.
- Our mini skip is perfect for DIY jobs, general clear-outs, or renovations on your business or home.
- Our standard skip is suitable for large home or work clear-outs, as well as bigger home renovations.
- Our large skip is the perfect option for large projects, or large producers of waste domestically, industrially or for your business.
Junk Collection Service
Our Junk Collection Service is a great low-cost alternative to skip hire, or if you do not have enough space on your premises for a skip. Our hassle-free Junk Collection Service is a simple and effective rubbish removal option for households and businesses undertaking DIY projects.
Happy DIY-ing! & if you book one of our collections, we’d love to see your ‘before & after’ shots!
Earth Day 2021
When is Earth Day 2021? What is Earth Day about? How are people celebrating Earth Day 2021?
There are many questions surrounding the ever more important Earth Day! Earth Day 2021 will take place on April 22nd. Earth Day is the international day of environmental action, first celebrated on April 22nd 1970, and now attracts an estimated one billion people every year, from 193 countries.
10 Simple Ways to Mark Earth Day 2021
1. Get Moving
A great way to celebrate Earth Day 2021 would be to start finding transport alternatives that reduce your carbon footprint whilst getting you moving. The fewer cars on the road, the less carbon emissions polluting the air. Help our country reach the EU target of a 50 % reduction in emissions by 2030.
2. Shop Smart for Clothes
We all love treating ourselves to a new outfit every now and again, but we can do so in a way that is environmentally friendly! Buying materials that’s already been used is great for the Earth because it doesn’t involve new resources. Second-hand clothing apps such as Depop have all kind of beautiful clothing pieces, shoes, and accessories, and you’re saving money as well as the planet.
3. Plant Something
Trees clean the air and give off more oxygen (one large tree can supply a day’s supply of oxygen for four people), among many other benefits. Plant a tree in your garden – they are proven to increase the value of property by approximately 15%. If you are not ready to commit to planting a tree, another great option is to start growing your own fruits and veggies, which will benefit your health, whilst reducing the amount of fossil fuel emissions spent in having to transport the produce to supermarkets.
4. Tune into Earth Day 2021 Events
Join the world leaders for Earth Day 2021 for three days of climate action from April 20th – 22nd.
On April 20th you can join the global youth climate summit led by Earth Uprising featuring youth climate activists including Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Villaseñor, and Licypriya Kangujam.
On April 21st Education International will lead the “Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit”, which will feature prominent activists, focusing on the crucial role that educators play in combating climate change and why we need transformative climate education now. On April 22nd “Earth Day” Earthday.org will host its second Earth Day Live digital event at 12pm Eastern Time. The theme of this year’s Earth Day is Restore Our Earth™. Tune in to learn more about natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems.
5. Conserve Energy at Home
We are all spending a lot more time at home and this has been reflected in the 9% increase in carbon emissions from the residential sector in 2020. There are many small changes we can make in the home to conserve energy. Some simple examples include turning off lights and electronics when not in use, using a timer thermostat, hanging the clothes on the line instead of using the dryer, and using LED lightbulbs.
6. Recycle your Electronics
Recycling your old, unused or broken hairdryers, computers, tablets, phones and other electronics saves natural resources while also reducing pollution. Your WEEE items can be recycled for free at your local recycling centre – see here for directions to ours!
7. Buy Local
Buying local produce and other items reduces shipping distances from food sourced overseas, whilst also supporting local businesses and communities. Food in grocery stores travels on average 1,500 miles to get to you. All that shipping can cause an increase in fossil fuel consumption, carbon emissions and pollution. When you buy locally, produce and other items travel a shorter distance to arrive at your doorstep.
8. Reduce your Paper Waste
Some great ways to reduce your paper waste is opting for online billing, removing your name from unwanted mailing lists to reduce junk mail, and thinking twice before you print something.
9. Use Reusable Bags
To avoid having to purchase plastic bags from the shops, keep a stash of reusable bags in the boot of your car that you can use again and again.
10. Follow the 3 R’s
By looking for ways to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle in your home wherever possible you will save resources, energy, and money on your waste bill. We have many fun DIY project ideas like this Garden Bar on our blog and social channels (see below) for both kids & adults!
How will you mark World Earth Day? We’d love to know! Share your Earth Day 2021 plans with us on our social channels!
DIY Bar – Weekend Project
Who doesn’t love a bit of DIY on a Saturday afternoon? Not only that, but this one will allow you to sit back and relax at the bar after a hard day’s work. Yes, that’s right, a BAR!
Team member, Caoimhe Sheridan, takes us out of the (home) office and into the garden with this fun and functional DIY bar.
To build this upcycled bar all you will need is:
- 2 crates
- 2 planks of wood (longer than the width of the crates)
- Screws
- A drill
- A saw (preferably electric)
- Fun decorations
Step 1: Simply cut one of your crates in half.
Step 2: Position the full crate on its side, slotting the half crates into each side to build the bar structure. Drill at least two screws into either side of the bar.
Step 3: At this point you can sand down your wood, but this is optional. Once the bottom structure is sturdy, add one plank of wood on top, screwing as you go. Next, cut the other plank in half and attach to the two sides of the bar.
Step 4: Spice up your bar with any decorations you can find. We painted the bar counter and a recycled cardboard frame, adding fairy lights and candles to finish it off.
Step 5: Finally, don’t forget to send us on a snap of your creation to marketing@citybin.com. You can also share to your favourite social media channels!
IBM Hackathon winner helps fight rash of wasted food
food waste2
IBM recently called on developers in the U.S. to use open-source technology to create solutions to fight food waste. The Food Waste Developer Challenge wrapped up in August and the winner of the competition has just been announced.
Food waste is a major issue in the U.S. By the USDA’s estimates, 30-40 percent of the food supply goes to waste. In 2010, when the agency compiled its most comprehensive food waste figures, that corresponded to roughly 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food.
The consequences of this waste range from food security to ecological issues.
“The land, water, labor, energy and other inputs used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing of discarded food are pulled away from uses that may have been more beneficial to society,” according to the USDA, “and generate impacts on the environment that may endanger the long-run health of the planet.”
Incredibly, given that food security is such a pressing issue in this country and elsewhere, food waste is the single largest component going into municipal landfills, according to the EPA.
IBM, along with partner AngelHack, created the Food Waste Challenge on the premise that coders can help create a more transparent and real-time supply chain tracking how food is sold and fulfilled with waste reduction in mind. Developers in the contest were asked to leverage IBM’s code patterns and data sets to create new solutions that dramatically reduce waste through grocery and food chains. Some of the tools at their disposal include IBM Watson Visual Recognition, IBM Blockchain, and chatbot APIs.
One month and more than 100 registered teams later, IBM has announced that a winner is a group called FreShip.
FreShip combines software and hardware to minimize food waste through constant monitoring along with a smart eCommerce platform that allows food that would otherwise be wasted to be resold elsewhere. FreShip places Arduino and NB-IoT technologies in food shipping containers to help monitor food freshness during transport. Smart bidding contracts are deployed via blockchain.
“Using IBM Watson machine learning, FreShip analyzes photos of food to determine how fresh it is and provides options for what to do with food instead of letting it go to waste,” according to IBM. “For example, if a supermarket orders bananas and due to shipping delays the bananas are too ripe for them to sell, instead of them being thrown away, FreShip would allow them to redirect this shipment of bananas to a manufacturer that could use them.”
The result is a reduction in the loss for the supermarket, as well as less food waste.
For winning the contest, FreShip will get a few thousand bucks. A bigger prize, however, maybe the exposure the first place finish brings. IBM will be inviting the FreShip team to a dinner summit with grocery industry leaders, as well as showcasing the technology through various IBM channels.
The City Bin Co. – New Sustainability Partner to Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby and The City Bin Co. are delighted to announce a three-year official partnership which will see The City Bin Co. take on the role of Sustainability Partner to Connacht Rugby.
The City Bin Co. has over two decades of experience in waste management and innovation and now brings this knowledge to an organization keen to place a greater emphasis on sustainability both on and off the field.
Announcing the new partnership, Head of Commercial and Marketing at Connacht Rugby Brian Mahony said: “This partnership is much more than a traditional partnership. We are committed to reducing the amount of single-use plastics and waste going into landfills and The City Bin Co.’s expertise in the field of sustainability is central to making this happen. Both Connacht Rugby and The City Bin Co. have their roots in the province and we see this as a natural partnership, to provide ongoing guidance and education not only to the team and supporters but also to the next generation of green ambassadors.”
Commenting on the exciting new partnership, Gene Browne, CEO, The City Bin Co. added: “We are excited to come on board with Connacht Rugby as Sustainability Partner for the next three years. Connacht Rugby has a long tradition and presence in local communities with a very devoted and growing fan base, but are also very aware of the legacy they want to create for the future, which is what makes the partnership such an excellent fit for us. Through various initiatives and activations, we will bring awareness in a way that is directly aligned with Connacht Rugby’s community-driven purpose.
We look forward to supporting the continued success of Connacht Rugby in the seasons ahead.”
The Zero Waste Dream
Across the UK last week, homes and businesses took part in Zero Waste Week. The project is a grassroots campaign, raising awareness of the environmental impact of waste and empowering participants to reduce waste.
The idea is for millions of people around the world to reduce waste through reuse, recycling and repurposing material for a longer life.
But, in truth, the solutions to waste are very complex. They involve global industry, trade and profit. Indeed, the very basis of today’s economy requires fundamental change to combat waste.
What is Zero Waste, and what can be done to achieve it?
Zero Waste is in its aspirational sense a very simple goal; to reduce the amount of materials we use that aren’t recycled or composted to zero.
But of course, as soon as you examine the details, things become more complex. If an old plastic bottle is burned to make energy (called incineration), not recycled, does that still count as Zero Waste?
Or, if a plastic bottle that was manufactured very efficiently, using very little CO2 or energy isn’t recycled, is that worse for the planet than recycling one which used lots of energy in inefficient production? Remember, recycling itself takes energy, and has CO2 impacts too.
For these reasons, the simplicities of much Zero Waste campaigning, and those powerful calls to action don’t really stack up in the real world. Most of us want goods, like flatscreen TVs, whose components we can’t recycle.
Even more fundamentally, we all need hospitals, but the syringes must be individually packaged in sterile, expensive, hard to recycle packaging for health reasons. Who among us would consent to a reused syringe?
So the truth is, Zero Waste is a useful goal, but it can’t become reality for many years yet, if ever. What can be done is to consider the best ways for society and industry to improve sustainability. And that’s where the circular economy comes in.
What is the circular economy?
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is leading the race to a circular economy. In the Foundation’s words, a circular economy is one that is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times.
The circular economy is about designing things right to begin with, at global and industrial level, so that recycling is easy if or when products finish their useful life. When we get this right, Zero Waste has a shot at success.
With a circular economic model, the flatscreen TV we previously couldn’t recycle would be designed differently, so it could be easily and profitably recycled, or reused.
The circular economy is vital, because individuals like you or I can’t really change how a flatscreen TV is made. This is up to manufacturers. Globally, these need to be shown the potential and the possibilities of more circular industries.
Then, you and I just need to drop our TVs off to the Council for recycling, when hopefully, in the future, they are designed better for this purpose.
All of this is complicated. But essentially, for Zero Waste to work, the circular economy needs to become a reality. Then, big manufacturers could sell us products we would willingly recycle.
It all goes to prove that the biggest aspirational, environmental challenges, require buy in from industry, not just activists on the street. As ever, a combination of forces conspire for the greater good.
Originally published by www.contentcoms.co.uk
Apple’s Environmental Progress in China
First, it announced that Lens Technology, which produces glass for Apple, has committed to using 100% renewable energy for all of its Apple operations by the end of 2018. Lens, which is the first Apple supplier to commit to using fully-renewable energy sources, has entered into agreements with local wind energy suppliers to fulfil its commitment.
Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said:
We want to show the world that you can manufacture responsibly and we’re working alongside our suppliers to help them lower their environmental impact in China. We congratulate Lens for their bold step, and hope by sharing the lessons we’ve learned in our transition to renewable energy, our suppliers will continue to access clean power projects, moving China closer to its green manufacturing goals.
Second, Apple announced that all of its fourteen final assembly sites in China comply with UL’s Zero Waste to Landfill standard, which “certifies all of their manufacturing waste is reused, recycled, composted, or, when necessary, converted into energy.” Foxconn met the Zero Waste to Landfill standard earlier this year at two of its assembly sites. Twelve other sites were added more recently.