The Top Five Digital Cameras Under $300 For 2008

If you are not a professional photographer, or if you are not taking up photography as a hobby, you do not have to get a really expensive digital camera if your only purpose for it is to capture the great moments in your life. The digital camera you would need would be something that you can whip out when something nice happens at home. It would also be something that you can easily bring along to special events and to your travels.

You can find such a digital camera to suit your needs for under $300. The five best digital cameras that you can get for under $300 are listed below.

Canon PowerShot A720 IS. Many experts in digital cameras have opined that the Canon PowerShot series is the best line available in the market today. It is therefore not surprising that it has cornered a good portion of the market.

What makes this particular digital camera so special? For one, it has 8.0 megapixels and its lenses have a 6x zoom. It also boasts of an increased usability that makes it easy for the person using it to control the pictures he or she is taking.

Nikon Coolpix P50. This digital camera poses itself to be a middle-ground camera. As it is, it is a good startup camera for anyone who wishes to learn serious photography, but it is wieldy enough to serve ordinary point-and-shoot picture-taking purposes. This Nikon digital camera model has 8.1 megapixels, and it also has a 3.6x zoom with a wide angle.

Canon SD1100 IS. Another digital camera coming out of Canon’s production line, this model introduces a couple of new features that were not yet seen in other digital cameras, be it from Canon or from any other brand. These features in particular are face detection and motion detection. Both are aimed at preventing picture blurring

Sony CyberShot DSC H10. This digital camera is designed for photographers on a tight budget – great for heavy-duty shooting and yet going for a mere price of less than $300. It has 8.1 million effective pixels and is fitted with a 10x optical zoom manufactured by Carl Zeiss.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5. This model from the Panasonic digital camera lineup is dubbed as a “Travel Zoom” camera. It has a powerful zoom lens – a 10x optical zoom – and yet the gadget itself is quite slim and handy. It boasts of 10.7 million pixels, a high-resolution 3.0 LCD screen, and the ability to make movies with a resolution of up to 1280 x 720 pixels. Other than that, it has 22 shooting modes and a built-in clipboard.

These are the five best digital cameras that people with $300 to spare can buy. Take your pick.

Fun Kids’ Crafts & Toys To Do With Your 5 Year Old On Your Inkjet Printer

Kids these days may prefer to play with their computers, PlayStations, Xboxes or Nintendo Wiis. Yes, even five-year-olds these days know how to use those gadgets, and many of them actually do. However, a creative parent would be able to divert the attention of their little ones with the use of some paper and their trusty inkjet printer.

The trick is to create toys and kids’ crafts with your inkjet printer. Here are a few ideas that you can use.

Jigsaw puzzles. You can download software that can create a jigsaw pattern on any picture. Use this on some of your child’s favorite pictures and print them on matte paper using your inkjet printer. Afterwards, you glue this pattern onto a piece of cardboard then cut it up to come up with the jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Coloring sheets. Some parents may think of coloring books as a bit old-fashioned, but they are still a great way of teaching children about colors, shapes and space. Your own kids will no doubt enjoy them. But you do not have to buy coloring books; you can just create coloring sheets using your own inkjet printer. You can download coloring patterns from the Internet, or make your own if you are handy with photo-editing software. Once you have printed out a bunch, hand them over to your kid along with a box of crayons and your child will be entertained for a whole afternoon.

Pretend food. If you are into baking customized pastries and cakes and if you have an inkjet printer that is dedicated to the creation of edible printouts, you can create pretend food for your kids. It does not even have to be pretend food at all. You can cook up your very own toffee or chocolate bar and wrap it up with your special edible inks. You can even use it to make a marshmallow wrap.

Scrapbooking. It is never too early to start scrapbooking, and you can teach your child how to make one using your inkjet printer. Maybe instead of using actual photos, you can print family photos on your inkjet printer. And then, you can give these printouts to your kids, along with materials used for scrapbooking that they will not choke on or injure themselves with, such as cardboard, colored paper and ribbons, and let them have a go at their own scrapbooking project.

“Rubber stamps”. Kids love playing with rubber stamps. You can make your very own unique “rubber stamp” by printing a pattern or a figure that you want on glossy or smooth paper using your inkjet printer. Once the paper is out of your inkjet printer, you can press the printed surface of this glossy paper on a dry and absorbent paper, and then you would have an imprint. While this may not be practical for daily play, it could be a wonderful way of adorning notebooks and scrapbooks.

There are many ways that you can entertain your children using an inkjet printer. You just have to be creative at finding these ways.

Wide Format Printers for Special Uses

Wide format printers may be considered one of the great innovations of the digital printing industry. After all, such machines have made it possible to produce huge, even gigantic prints without suffering any loss in terms of picture quality and color accuracy. However, wide format printers are specialized printers. They are not the type of printers to be found in households in general.

When we speak of wide format printers, we refer to those printing machines that produce prints ranging from a width of 17 inches to a hundred inches. Any machine that prints wider than that range is called a super-wide format printer. Usually, a wide format printer makes use of a roll of paper or textile rather than sheets to do its job.

Exactly what printing needs do wide format printers serve? Below is a list of the general uses of a wide format printer.

Party banners. Party planners and events coordinators always opt for professional-looking banners to decorate the venues for their parties and events. Party banners made using wide format printers are produced much faster and are more economical than other commercial printing processes. But such is not limited to party planners and events coordinators. Even people who host parties in the privacy of their own homes opt for party banners made with wide format printers because they are prettier.

Engineering and architectural plans. The plans produced by engineering and architectural firms need to be detailed, and printing them the regular way would not cut it. These firms use wide format printers to produce their plans, drawings and diagrams.

Education. Wide format printers are sometimes used to print out visual aids in lectures and educational programs. Materials printed for this purpose often include maps and copies of valuable art. There are museums that make use of wide format printers to produce copies of the art objects and artifacts in their keeping and use them on traveling lectures. It is much better than transporting the original pieces all the time.

Graphic design. Graphic design artists often use wide format printers to create samples of their work, especially when they are put on display for presentations, exhibitions and such.

Interior design and decoration. There are people who can get creative with how they decorate their house with the use of wide format printers. Some print their own posters and wall hangings using fabric that is friendly with wide format printers. People who cannot afford buying real art can make do with copies made using wide format printers and display them at home.

How To Find Help In Troubleshooting Your Samsung Printer

Printers, no matter how well you take care of them or how properly you use them, will have to give in to the pressure of wearing and tearing that comes with their use. The breaking down of a printer is inevitable over the passage of time, even if the said machine is a Samsung printer. When that happens, it becomes your task to find ways to troubleshoot the machine, which is the first thing you must do.

The First Steps

When your Samsung printer is new, you should anticipate the time that you would have to troubleshoot it after a period of usage. No matter how good the quality of the machine is, machines have a nasty habit of generating errors when you least expect it.

So, in anticipation of such a time, you should store the user manual that came with your Samsung printer as well as the warranty card or certificate that you signed up for when you bought it. Put these in a safe place where you would not forget about them. Naturally, the software that your Samsung printer comes with would have this manual installed in your computer, but it is always better to be on the safe side. Thus, when your Samsung printer decides to behave badly, you can always pull out your manual and consult it in attempting to troubleshoot the printer.

When the Manual is Missing or Out of Date

There will be times when the user manual that came with your Samsung printer would not be of help to you. In that case, the better alternative would be to get in touch with the customer support service of Samsung and see if they can do something about your problem in troubleshooting your Samsung printer. You can contact the Samsung customer support through their website or through their hotline number.

When you get in touch with customer support, take a note of model number of your printer. Each machine has its own quirks, so to speak, and a problem experienced with a particular model of the Samsung printer may be something uniquely its own. So, provide the model number of your Samsung printer when asked and describe in detail your problem. If you have the error code that your printer generates when you try to use it, even better.

Another thing you can do in your attempt to troubleshoot Samsung printer is to search blogs, tech forums and other tech websites for possible information on the error code that your printer generates when used. These resources may provide additional information that you may not find from Samsung’s side itself. They may help you understand what is it that is making your Samsung printer behave like so.

There is always a solution to every problem, even if that problem involves troubleshooting your Samsung printer.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters International

The Big Brothers Big Sisters International, or BBBSI, is considered to be one of the best brand names that the United States of America has ever offered to the world. The BBBSI is a non-government, non-profit organization that was created for the purpose of offering one-on-one mentoring to young people in challenging situations. Forbes Magazine has once named it as the best charitable organization in the United States.

The Origins of BBBSI

The BBBSI started out as a small organization in New York City more than a hundred years ago, in 1904. At that time, a court clerk named Ernest Coulter began work for the New York City Children’s Court. He found himself disturbed by the fact that so many young boys were finding themselves in this courtroom.

Out of this idea, Ernest Coulter decided to form the Big Brothers of New York City. He got a number of volunteers, and each volunteer was supposed to befriend a young boy in challenging circumstances. At about the same time, the Ladies of Charity of New York City began to work with young girls who were brought to the New York City Children’s Court. Later on, the Ladies of Charity became known as the Big Sisters.

Through the efforts of its founders, the work of the Big Brothers and the Big Sisters spread throughout the United States, gaining support all the way. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge became one of its patrons. Many other US presidents and notable figures in American politics lend their efforts to the work done by these two organizations.

In 1977, these two separate organizations merged and became the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. In 1998, the organization went international and became the Big Brothers Big Sisters International. They have an established presence in 11 countries outside the United States, namely Australia, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia and South Africa.

The Impact of BBBSI

BBBSI deploys volunteers, called Bigs, who are required to spend four hours every month with their Littles. The volunteers are rigorously screened by the BBBSI staff through interviews and background investigations.

There are studies reporting that spending time with adult mentors has truly led to a lot of positive effects among young people. As stated by the BBBSI official website, after 18 months of being mentored by a Big Brother or a Big Sister, the kids are less likely to get involved in using illegal drugs or alcohol, and are more likely to attend school regularly. Self-confidence is another reported result of spending time with a Big Brother or a Big Sister. Another outcome of mentoring is an increased ability to adjust to family members and to mingle with other people.

Ways To Use Epsom Salt For Healthy Living

Epsom salt is a chemical compound that has proven itself for having many uses. One such use that people have discovered for Epsom salt is for promoting good health. Why has Epsom salt come to be associated with healthy living? That is because Epsom salt has magnesium, and magnesium is a very important element in making sure that our bodies are functioning as they should.

By what ways can we use Epsom salt to help keep our bodies in tiptop shape? Here is a list of a few things we can do with Epsom salt for our health.

As bath salts. Epsom salt was first used as bath salts. A good soak in a tub filled with warm water and mixed with two cups of Epsom salt is great for detoxifying the body and relieving stress.

As a foot soak. The feet are often the most abused parts of our bodies, and it is not surprising when we feel pain in our feet. Soaking the feet in warm water mixed with half a cup of Epsom salt can take the pain away from the feet. Doing so also helps reduce the appearance of varicose veins and helps treat athlete’s foot and other fungal ailments commonly afflicting the feet.

As a facial scrub. Epsom salt can be an effective agent in cleaning and exfoliating the face. Exfoliating the face is necessary because it sloughs away the layers of dead skin cells from the face and allows newer, healthier cells to emerge. This is easy to do; all that needs to be done is to mix a pinch of Epsom salt with the facial scrub and massage it onto the face. Afterwards, rinse it off.

As a body scrub. Just like the skin on the face, the skin on the body also needs to be exfoliated. But other than that, massaging Epsom salt all over the body can also promote better blood circulation, soften the rough parts and help in making the skin tone look more even. Just rub Epsom salt on your skin and rinse.

As a hair cleanser. The shampoo, conditioner and styling products that we use on our hair often leave remnants on each strand, leading to product buildup. When product buildup happens on the hair, it can be hard for the nutrients supposedly supplied by shampoo and conditioner to be absorbed by the hair. To clear the hair of product buildup, mix Epsom salt with your shampoo and rinse thoroughly.

These are just some of the uses Epsom salt has that can help promote bodily health. Having some Epsom salt at home is always handy.

All You Need To Know About Epsom Salt

What is Epsom salt? Epsom salt is the name by which most people know the chemical compound magnesium sulfate, with the formula MgSO4. The compound is more popularly called by that name because it was first discovered in Epsom, England, where it was distilled and marketed primarily as a bath salt. The knowledge of Epsom salt and its many uses have been with us since the 1500s.

As mentioned above, Epsom salt has many uses, more than just being a bath salt. It is used in gardening and agriculture, in medical treatments, in beauty treatments, and in the production of tofu.

The Agricultural Uses of Epsom Salt

Plants derive energy from sunlight and the process that allows them to do this is called photosynthesis. The main component that lets plants get this energy is in turn called chlorophyll, and chlorophyll is made up of magnesium. Applying Epsom salts to plants, especially potted plants left indoors most of the time, encourages these plants to get more energy despite their limited exposure to the sun.

Epsom Salt in Medical Treatments

Epsom salt has properties that make it useful in treating patients with various illnesses. One of the uses of Epsom salt in medicine is as part of the procedure used by doctors in emergency rooms to revive patients who have suffered from cardiac arrest.

Epsom salt is also sometimes prescribed by doctors to treat patients suffering from colds, respiratory congestion and asthma. In the maternity ward and the nursery, Epsom salt is administered to delay or prolong the labor in women who are experiencing it prematurely. There are studies showing that intravenous application of Epsom salt to premature babies prevent the development of cerebral palsy in them.

In first aid, Epsom salt is applied to treat boils and carbuncles. It is also known to draw splinters from a wound.

The main use of Epsom salt comes in pain relief. Gels and compounds containing Epsom salt are given to patients suffering from fibromyalgia and osteoporosis. It also flushes out the toxins in the body that are brought about by stress and replenishes the magnesium that stress seeps away from the body. It relaxes the muscles and soothes away the pain.

Epsom Salt in Beauty Treatments

Aside from giving stress relief, which is also part of the aim of beauty treatments, Epsom salt also has clarifying properties that make it good for the skin and the hair. When used on the skin, it acts as an exfoliating agent and sloughs off the layers of dead cells from the skin. The clarifying properties of Epsom salt also help in treating excessively oily skin and in reducing the appearance of wrinkles.

TEXTILE RECYCLING

• Old clothes are accepted by recycling banks.
• Most home recycling bins, provided by your local council, accept old clothes and textiles.
• Old clothes could be donated to charity shops. Taking the old textiles to the jumble shops is another option.
• Rather than throwing away old textile items, they could be used to make cushion covers, cleaning clothes etc.
• Old woolies are shredded and re-spun taking half the energy of new wool. However, the re-spun wool needs to be washed thoroughly.
• It is estimated that, of collected textiles:

6% goes to waste

12% goes for fiber reclamation

19% goes for filling materials

21% goes for wiping cloths

38% goes for second hand clothing

4% goes for second hand shoes

• The textile recycling association may be contacted for more information regarding textile recycling. You can reach them through their website- www.textile-recycling.org.uk.

Advantages of textile recycling and reuse:

ü Reduces the need for landfill space. Textiles present particular problems in landfill as synthetic (man-made fibers) products will not decompose, while woolen garments do decompose and produce methane, which contributes to global warming.

ü Reduces pressure on virgin resources.

ü Aids the balance of payments as we import fewer materials for our needs.

ü Results in less pollution and energy savings, as fibers do not have to be transported from abroad.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL RECYCLING

• Buildings are made from many materials, many of which are recyclable such as metal, wood, glass, etc.
• Metals used for construction generally include steel, iron etc. The metals could be recycled according to their specifications.
• Wood and glass materials used in construction could be recycled with the appropriate recycling methods.
• Some construction items could be re-sold to the architectural salvage yards.
• Most of the building materials such as wood and bricks could be re-used.
• The recycling of bricks can be broken down into several different categories:

1. Demolition materials - Mixture of materials resulting from demolition of buildings
2. Salvaged materials - building materials salvaged from the materials remaining after demolition
3. Reclaimed building materials - The materials that can be generated from the careful demolition of an old building by hand which are suitable for reuse in their original form
4. Recycled building materials - The materials that can be generated from the careful demolition of an old building which are suitable for re-use as raw materials in the manufacture of new materials
1. Brick recycling involves the following steps:
   1. Crushing- There are lots of commercial brick crushers available today. They are capable of crushing the masonry into fine rubble.
   2. Recycling- The crushed rubble are again cleaned and used to create new bricks.

Advantages of brick recycling:

1. Bricks do not require disposal
2. Recycling reduces the waste dumped in landfill sites
3. Brick recycling saves the need to extract new raw materials from the earth
4. The cleaned bricks are an asset.

AIRPLANE RECYCLING

• More than 3500 airliners will reach their end-of-life between 2008 and 2025 at a rate of around 200 aircrafts per year.
• The aircrafts are the absolute sources of the valuable metal, ‘Aluminum.’
• Almost 80 percent of Aircraft parts are recyclable. Most of the fuselage and wings of jets such as Boeing 727 is made of Aluminium which can be sold as scrap.
• Once the engines, landing gear, avionics and components are removed from the aircraft, there is still value in the aluminium.
• This scrapped Aluminium will be later used to manufacture automobile parts including wheels and transmissions.
• Steel, found in the landing gear of planes like Boeing 707, is also relatively easy to recover.
• Recycling composite aircraft materials is trickier than working with raw metals.
• Composites using lightweight and durable carbon fiber are found more and more in newer aircraft, and make up half of each Boeing 787.
• Recycled carbon fiber is being tested for use in tires, paint, industrial injection molds, and sporting goods such as skateboards.
  
  

FACTS:

• According to Boeing, the largest manufacturer of jet airliners, about 7200 commercial planes including Boeing 737, 747 and Airbus A320, A340 models will be scrapped.
• Boeing, in 2006 co-founded the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association, with an aim to expand the airplane recycling rate to 90 percent from about 60 percent today.
• The lifespan of most commercial airliners is said to be around 30 years. Most of the airliners used today were born by 1970s and now there is a jump in the number of planes beyond use. So aircraft recycling will reach its peak through the next decade.

HOW TO RECYCLE WOOD

• In the first instance, you should contact your local authority to Visit at the wood recycling facilities they offer to the householders.
• Wood recycling ensures that the waste does not end up in landfill site where, as it is biodegradable, it produces greenhouse gases.
• The wood that cannot be reused as reclaimed timber could be recycled into any one of the following:

Ø Mulch- which prevents soil erosion, enrich soils, help limit water loss and moderate soil temperature change.

Ø Composting agent- Sawdust and wood shavings can be used as a bulking agent to improve air flow and decomposition.

Ø PET bedding- Untreated wood material could be used foe PET bedding.

Ø Chip board and medium density fiber board- A resin is mixed with the chipped wood and heat/ pressure is applied to the mixture to form a board.

• There is little scope for the recycling of domestic wood waste. While companies exist for the collection and reuse/recycling of pallets and crates for example, there are only a few such facilities for household waste.

FACTS

• It is estimated that 50 million cubic meters of wood are used in the UK every year. Almost half of these goes into paper making but two thirds of the wood is imported.
• Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
• The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
• Ten million tonnes of waste wood is produced each year in the UK
• Only 1.5 million tonnes of waste wood is recycled in the UK every year. The remaining 85 per cent is sent to landfill
• Wood sent to landfill produces methane gasses and contributes to global warming.
• The Government has now set targets to reduce the amount sent to landfill

HOW TO RECYCLE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

• Old electrical appliances are quite unlike common urban garbage. These are complex artifacts and many contain toxic chemical substances. Inappropriate disposal methods such as land fill or incineration can pollute air, soil and water.
• Most of the electrical equipment could be reused or separated into electrical equipment parts.
• Many of the electrical items that we throw away can be repaired or recycled. Recycling items helps to save natural finite resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending waste electrical goods to landfill.
• You can donate old working electrical equipments to the charity shops rather than just throwing them away.
• All new electrical and electronic products sold now carry the 'crossed out wheelie bin" logo to help you identify which products are recyclable.
• To avoid environmental and health problems due to hazardous waste substances in electrical and electronic goods, appliances marked with this symbol mustn't be disposed of with unsorted municipal waste, but recovered, reused or recycled using an official recovery system.
• To make recycling easier, when you take your waste electrical items to a Household Waste and Recycling Centre, they are now separated into the 5 groups below.

1. Large household items- washing machines, microwaves
2. White goods - fridges/ freezers
3. TV's and monitors
4. Gas discharge lamps
5. All other electrical goods

FACTS

Electrical goods are the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, growing by 5% each year

Each year in the UK we go through over 1.2 million tonnes of electrical waste. That is the equivalent of 150 thousand double Decker buses

75% of waste electronics end up in landfill sites

In the lifetime of 1 UK citizen 3.3 tonnes of waste electronics is created

Two million TV sets are discarded every year - most end up in landfill sites

"Over six million electrical items are thrown away every year in the UK. It is estimated that over half of them are still working or could easily be repaired

AUOTOMOBILE RECYCLING

• More than 80% of the material used in automobiles could be recycled.
• Fixing the repairs and using the old vehicles is better than dumping them straight away.
• The abandoned vehicles could be reported to your local council. They will remove them and take them to the recycling facilities.
• There are hundreds or even thousands of approved vehicle dismantlers and recyclers around the globe.
• Engine oil could be recycled at the civic amenity sites.
• You can contact your local council for more information regarding automobile recycling.
• These automobiles are huge sources of steel and aluminium.
• Moreover, almost all the parts of an automobile, from tires to plastic materials used in the automobiles could be recycled.
• There are also many automobile recycling programs conducted by several companies who offer a free pick up of the junk cars for recycling.

FACTS

1. The number of cars recycled in 1997 alone - nearly 13 million - would cause a traffic jam circling the Earth more than one and three quarter times.
2. Recycling just one car saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone.
3. Virtually every car taken off the road today is recycled - thanks to the steel and iron content.
4. It takes about 45 seconds to shred the average automobile into fist-sized pieces of steel for recycling.
5. The automobile is the most recycled consumer product in the world today.

HOW TO RECYCLE PRINTER CARTRIDGES?

• Ink cartridges have highly toxic materials. Hence disposal of these cartridges is a major issue.
• In addition to environmental benefits, there are also economic benefits to a consumer when they recycle.
• Using refill kits usually ends up costing you about only $3 or $4 per cartridge refill.
• You can typically refill an inkjet cartridge three times before it fully wears out.
• You can have them professionally refilled for you through the mail.
• Once the cartridge is worn out and cannot be refilled anymore, you can have it professionally recycled.
• You can take them to your local office store, as most should accept them and many even have a promotion where they give you something in exchange for your cartridge.
• Look for the instructions in the box of your new inkjet printer.
• Ring up the International Cartridge Recycling Association at (202) 857-1154 for more information about recycling printer ink cartridges.
• Most of the printer ink cartridge manufactures provide free return envelop for used ink cartridges.
• If all else fails, you can contact your local sanitation department to see if they have a special recycling location where products like ink cartridges can be dropped off.
  
  
  

FACTS

1. It is estimated that roughly 350 million cartridges end up in landfills every year.
2. It is estimated that between 80-90% of cartridges are simply thrown in the trash.
3. The number of cartridges ending up in landfills increases by more than 10% annually.
4. A brand new laser cartridge requires 3/4 of a gallon of oil to be produced.
5. Discarded cartridges still have small amounts of ink in them which can leak into the ground.
6. It is estimated that the engineering grade polymers used to manufacture the printer cartridges takes almost 1000 years to decompose.
7. You are being kinder to the environment by lessening the amount of cartridges ending up in landfill sites.

METAL RECYLING

• Metals generally fall under two main categories: Aluminum and steel.
• Testing the kind of metal waste you are having is very much simple. Steel which is a magnetic metal can be easily separated fro aluminium, as aluminium is a non-magnetic material.
• Beverage cans are usually made of aluminium whereas food cans are mostly made of steel.
• It has to be noted whether the drink cans are clean before recycling process is started.
• Home recycling bins, provided by the local council, usually accept metal.
• Aerosol containers could also be recycled once they are completely empty.
• Metallic film wrappers such as chocolate wrappers cannot be recycled.
• There are many cash for can schemes that may be operating around you.

FACTS

1. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
2. Every ton of recycled steel saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,000 of coal, and 40 pounds of limestone.
3. There is no limit to the amount of times that aluminum could be recycled.
4. More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product
5. A 60-watt light bulb can be run for over a day on the amount of energy saved by recycling 1 pound of steel. In one year in the United States, the recycling of steel saves enough energy to heat and light 18,000,000 homes
6. 1.8 billion drinks cans are made of steel
7. The recycling rate of all steel packaging is 46%; aluminum has a 23.4% packaging recycle rate
8. All steel cans contain up to 25% recycled steel
9. Its not just food and drink cans made from steel! - most of your deodorants, hairsprays, polishes, paint cans and other household and DIY products are made out of steel too!

RECYCLING PAINT AND OIL

• Waste paints, engine oil, oil filters, paint brushes etc contain toxic chemicals that are very harmful to the environment.
• Pouring oil and paint down the drain is really a bad idea. It may even damage a total ecosystem that they reach.
• Disposal instructions will be mention in the packs of the oils and paints. It is always wise and safe to follow those instructions.
• Donate unwanted paints and varnishes, as others can reuse them.
• Buy products in bulk whenever possible to reduce packaging waste.
• Use eco-friendly alternatives whenever possible.
• Seek the help of the paint manufacturer. Most of the paint manufacturing companies have their own recycling programs.
• It is possible to recycle the paint container after it has been cleaned and dried.
• Look into local paint recycling and exchange programs.
• The paint products can also be disposed safely at your local household hazardous waste collection program.
• It is very much important to recycle engine oil with atmost care. Because even a small amount of oil, disposed can cause considerable damage to the environment.

FACTS

1. Although latex paint is less harmful than oil-based paint to the environment and public health, all types of paint should be handled and disposed of properly.
2. A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.

HOW TO RECYCLE OLD BATTERIES?

Batteries of any kind are capable of producing the hazards like

1. Polluting the lakes and streams as metal vaporize in air when burned.
2. Heavy metals used in the batteries have the potential to leach from solid landfills.
3. These old batteries will expose the environment to harmful lead and acid.
4. Most of the batteries that are available today include corrosive acids in them.
5. They may cause burns and even damage our skin and eyes.

Hence it is very much essential to safely dispose the used batteries. Recycling is a better solution for getting rid of the used batteries without harming the environment. The following step could be taken into account while disposing the old used batteries:

· Batteries of any kind will have toxic substances. Recycling the used batteries is an excellent option than there disposal.

· Rechargeable batteries should never be thrown away along with normal household waste as the have some heavily toxic metals. They must be returned to the manufacturer for safe disposal or effectively recycled elsewhere.

· Sending any type of battery to the landfill or incinerator means the contents of the battery will ultimately end up getting into the soil, air, groundwater, and/or surface water, and thus eventually into the food chain and drinking-water supply.

· Usage of rechargeable batteries should be encouraged as it requires more power to manufacture an ordinary battery.

· Also, most of the local councils offer battery recycling services also.

· For more advice on safe disposal of batteries, one can approach the manufacturer of the same.

To find a company near you where you can drop off your old batteries for recycling, check out the comprehensive database at the Earth911.org website

RECYCLING CLINICAL WASTE

• Clinical waste is another kind of hazardous waste which needs great attention in disposing.
• Special care should be taken while disposing used needles and syringes.
• Get instructions from doctors or manufacturers on safe disposal of different kinds of medical waste.
• All the medicine containers, once empty could be recycled.
• Most local councils offer a free medical waste collection. It is good to contact your local council to get help on safe disposal of clinical waste.
• Some companies like Medical Waste Solutions Ltd are dedicated to clinical waste treatment schemes.

Due to the nature of clinical waste the opportunities for reduction, reuse or recycling are limited. However, the environmental impacts of clinical waste could be reduced by following these points:

1. Ensure effective segregation of all clinical and non clinical waste.
2. Continually review the collection and disposal method for clinical waste, using the waste hierarchy (e.g. introduction of reusable sharps bins)
3. Launch waste awareness campaigns
4. Continue Duty of Care Waste Audits

The removal of syringes and needles require atmost care. Here are some guidelines for safe removal of syringes and needles.

• Find a suitable container for disposal. Try to get a ridged plastic container with a screw top lid to place the needle or syringe in.
• If you can place something protective over your hand like rubber or thick leather gloves.
• If at all possible, do not touch the needle or syringe, Use something like tweezers or tongs to pick it up.
• If you have to pick the needle up with your hands, or if you are using something like tweezers, pick them up by the blunt end.
• Do not touch the sharp point with your hands.
• Do not put the cap back on or re-sheath.
• Place the sharp end of the needle into the container first.
• You can place more than one needle or syringe into a container, but do not overfill.
• Make sure the container is tightly sealed.
• Do not place the container in the regular waste, down the toilet or drain. Contact the clinical waste removers like Erewash Borough Council for safe removal.
• Wash whatever you have used to handle the items in an antiseptic detergent.

HOW TO SAFEFLY DISPOSE COMPUTER EQUIPMENT?

• Comprising of monitors, printers, hard drives, and circuit boards, the disposed computers are known as e-wastes.
• These e-wastes are not supposed to be thrown out along with the common household rubbish, as they contain highly toxic substance.
• The disposal of this hazardous waste requires atmost care and caution.
• It is estimated that, a single computer will contain approximately 2 kg of lead.
• The PCs are made up of a complex mixture of materials. This complex mixture makes these PCs very much difficult to recycle.
• You can safely dispose the e-waste by returning it to the manufacturer or donating the computers to a non-profit organization or transporting them to any professional waste disposal facility.
• The famous computer manufacturers offer a service to collect and transport the e-waste from your home to the recycling unit at their own cost.
• Professional waste disposal is same as the manufacturer’s schemes except the fact that you will have to pay for their service.
• A number of non-profit organizations collect electronic equipment including computers and printers, either for reuse or for de-manufacture and recycling. Recipients pay nothing for the equipment or buy it at a heavily discounted rate.

FACTS

1. As of 2005, more than 250 million personal computers have become obsolete in the United States.

2. Nearly two million tons of used electronics, including computers and televisions, are discarded each year.

3. According to the EPA, manufacturing one desktop computer requires fossil fuels and chemicals that amount to at least nine times the weight of the computer.

4. Electronics often contain useful materials such as precious metals, glass, and plastics that should be recovered rather than buried in a landfill.

5. Precious metals are used in computer circuit boards and of course glass and plastics are used for manufacturing computer monitors.

6. Recycling these products reduces the need to mine the earth for raw materials.

WHAT TO DO WITH OLD MOBILE PHONES?

• Most of the mobile phones in use today are recyclable.
• Old mobile phones could be donated to friends or family. This is a kind of reuse of mobile phones.
• Moreover, the old mobile phones are taken back by the manufacturers, for recycling.
• Mobile phone recycling schemes are also setup by some leading mobile phone manufacturers.
• Also, some companies like Carbon neutral; Turn on your mobile; Envirofone; Recycling appeal, have set up special scheme for mobile phone recycling.

Some of the key features of these mobile phone recycling initiatives are listed below:

CARBON NEUTRAL

Ø They can recycle all kinds of mobile phone. All you have to do is to send the mobiles for recycling to

Greener Solutions
(Future Forests Offer)
Freepost LONI7592
PO Box 32343
London
SW17 9ZZ

Ø You can visit their website www.carbonneutral.com for more information.

TURN ON YOUR MOBILE

Ø They offer a free postal service if your mobile phone is worth a very low value.

Ø Special delivery charges refunded if the handset you send is high value.

Ø Courier service for 10 phones or more - good for businesses.

Ø Refund cheque can be made out to a charity of your choice if you prefer.

Ø For more information, Visit at www.recyclemymobile.co.uk

ENVIROFONE

Ø Value can be seem straight away on the site

Ø They pay postage costs

Ø Charity donation by envirofone with every phone

Ø More information about the initiative could be found at www.envirofone.com

HOW TO RECYCLE ASBESTOS?

Asbestos is mostly used in UK as a building material. Much of the asbestos from buildings is now being removed. However, tonnes of asbestos still remain to be removed. Asbestos dust is dangerous when inhaled. Hence special care has to be taken while removing asbestos.

* Basically there are three types of asbestos that are in use today. White, blue and brown.
* The fibers with which the asbestos is made gets disturbed during the removal of asbestos. Moreover, these fibers are very much harmful if inhaled.
* Using face masks and hand gloves is advisory while handling asbestos.
* Packaging of asbestos should be done carefully before transportation. The asbestos should be kept damp and contained in plastic bags while transporting, to reduce airborne fibers.
* Most of the councils readily accept asbestos at their household recycling centers.
* You can seek the advice of your local council to get assistance in asbestos recycling.
* Few companies provide certain services to remove asbestos safely.
* A few precautions has to be taken for safe handling of asbestos:

Ø Wear a dust mask approves for use with asbestos.

Ø A plastic sheet could be spread out to collect the dust.

Ø This dust should be cleaned with a damp cloth, which should be sealed in a plastic bag while still damp.

Ø The asbestos material should be dampened to prevent dust escaping.

Ø Asbestos should be removed in sheets or components. Breaking up of the asbestos products should be avoided.

FACTS

1. About 15,000 metric tons of asbestos was used in the United States in 1999; most was imported from Canada.

2. In the past, asbestos was used in around 3,000 products manufactured worldwide, most commonly in the construction, car manufacturing and textile industries.

HOW TO RECYCLE PLASTIC?

* There are over 50 different types of plastic that are in use today. However, the mostly used plastics are HDPE, PVC and PET.
* It is good to deposit the waste plastic bottles at the local recycling banks.
* The plastic bottles should be cleaned initially, before taking them for recycling.
* Purchasing those containers that your residential recycling program won’t accept must be avoided.
* You can seek the help of your county’s department of public works or other recycling centers to determine what type of plastic to recycle and where to take them for recycling.
* Crush the plastic containers to save space in your recycling bin.
* The plastic bottles should be deposited in the recycle bins. Throwing away the plastic bottles in the trash should be avoided.
* Many of the recyclers do not recycle all kinds of plastics. It is necessary to find out what kind of program your community has, for recycling plastics.
* Remember to remove all the labels and caps from the plastic bottles before you send them for recycling.
* Follow your community’s instructions on what to do with your plastic bottles. Most often there is a special curbside collection for recycling, but otherwise take them to your local Bottle-Bank.

FACTS

1. Americans use a whooping 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour. And the sad news is that most of those used bottles reach the landfills.

2. Recycling plastic saves twice much energy as burning it in an incinerator.

3. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.

4. Americans throw away 25,000,000 plastic beverage bottles every hour.

HOW IS PAPER RECYCLED AT HOME?

To recycle paper, several pieces of scrap paper are collected.

* The collected scrap paper is torn into small pieces and is put into large buckets. If you need the recycled paper to be in color, just add small pieces of colored scrap paper in the bucket.
* Then one gallon of warm water along with a tablespoon of bleach is poured into the bucket.
* Now more water is added to cover the paper pieces completely.
* The scrap paper should be allowed to soak for atleast one hour.
* Next, place about one cup of soaked paper into the blender. Add two more cups of bleach water into the blender, too. Blend this paper and water mixture on high. If it doesn't blend easily, you need to add more water to the blender. This forms the slurry.
* Pour the slurry into another bucket and repeat the process until all of the paper has been blended.
* Different paper products like cardboards, newsprints, office papers are made by adding suitable materials to the slurry.
* The slurry is spread using large rollers into large thin sheets.
* The wet paper is then left to dry, and is rolled up in to sheets, ready to be cut.

FACTS:

1. To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
2. If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!
3. The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year!
4. Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
5. The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use waste paper is 50 to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.
6. Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.

HOW IS GLASS RECYCLED?

* The glass which is disposed in the rubbish bin will reach the landfills along with all other waste.
* Glass is recycled in all the glass banks around the globe.
* Many supermarkets have glass-recycling banks, enabling you to recycle glass on your weekly shop.
* Most home recycle bins, provided by your local council, usually accept glass.
* Glass collected at the curbside is usually color separated on the vehicle or is sold as mixed glass for color separation or for use in alternative markets.
* Glass from pubs and clubs is usually collected color separated in wheeled bins, but often it is collected in mixed bins due to lack of space.
* Glass is usually separated into three colors. Brown, green and clear.
* Recycled glass contains contaminants which must be removed before it is used to make new containers. Metal, paper, plastic, organics, ceramic and pyro-ceramic must all be removed. This is done using manual inspection and high-tech equipment utilizing metal detectors, vacuums, crushers, screens, lasers, digital cameras and even x-rays to detect and remove contamination.
* Once the recycled glass has been cleaned and prepared it is mixed with raw materials and the whole process of glass product manufacturing begins again.
* Recycling glass mainly constitutes of 6 major steps:

>> Dumping Glass
>> Glass Collection
>> Commercial collection
>> Removing contaminants
>> Container making
>> Alternative uses.

FACTS

1. Currently we landfill around 1,400,000 tonnes of glass each year. This is a real lost opportunity!
2. 100% of recycled glass can be used to make new glass bottles and jars, without any loss in quality.
3. Green bottles are made with up to 90% recycled glass content.
4. Can you believe that glass recycling in 2003 saved enough energy to launch 10 space shuttle missions?

HOW ARE ALUMINIUM CANS RECYCLED?

· The aluminium cans thrown into recycle-bins by the consumer are collected and transported to the treatment plant.
· In the treatment plant, aluminium is sorted, cleaned and made ready for reprocessing.
· They are then turned into molten aluminium through a re-melt process. This is done to remove the unwanted coatings and paintings present in the can.
· After that, the large blocks of aluminium, called the ingots are made. It is estimated that it takes 1.6 million aluminium cans to make an ingot.
· To give aluminium great strength and flexibility, these ingots are taken to the mills and are rolled into sheets.
· These rolled sheets are then used to make aluminium products such as cans, wrappers etc.
· The interesting fact is that it takes mere 6 weeks to complete all these processes and the aluminium cans will be back in the shelves.


















FACTS:

* Recycling one kilogram of aluminium can save up to 8 kilograms of bauxite, four kilograms of chemical products and 14 kilowatt hours of electricity.

* Anything made of aluminium can be recycled repeatedly: not only cans, but aluminium foil, plates and pie molds, window frames, garden furniture and automotive components are melted down and used to make the same products again. Used aluminium cans can be recycled to make new aluminium cans, aluminium windows can be recycled to make new aluminium windows and old aluminium engine blocks to make new ones. The recycling rate for aluminium cans is already above 70% in some countries.

* Aluminium beverage cans can be profitably recycled by individuals and groups and most countries have a national can recycling association which offers advice, support, and can put collectors in touch with purchasing organizations.

* Aluminium is the only packaging material that more than covers the cost of its own collection and processing at recycling centers.

Aluminium will never loose its properties no matter the number of times it has been recycled. This means that aluminium can be recycled forever.

Rare To Hear: Future Homes

If you’re planning to build a new home, and want it to be durable, unique, environment friendly and supremely livable, and then you might want to consider STEEL!

The concept of steel house may be strange to most of the people. These steel houses are slowly gaining bit popularity these days. it is a growing trend, especially in countries like India. Some communities in the United States condominium and townhouse association halls, and new health care facilities are being designed with steel, and the concept of residential steel buildings and homes is being tested in the U.S. with good results.

WHY STEEL?

To start with, the Steel House demonstrates the use of lightweight steel components to create a robust, transportable dwelling with a modernist aesthetic. Steel has many advantages as a structural material. It has a very high strength to weight ratio – a little goes a long way in structural terms. Although steel uses considerable energy in its initial manufacture, it can be formed into precisely engineered sections to ensure that no material is wasted. And steel can be easily re-used and re-cycled at the end of a structure’s life. In addition, a steel frame does not warp or rot, it doesn’t burn or add fuel to bush fires, and it is impervious to termite attack.

Everyone might think that the temperature inside a steel house would be very high during hot summer months, but that is not true. The proven fact is that, the steel houses built in India revealed that, on average, the steel house was one degree cooler in summer than a concrete home. The chief architect of these Indian steel homes says that is because steel walls are smoother than concrete and reflect more light, and because many of the materials he uses in designing the steel structure have an aluminum coating that increases reflective capacity.

Some of the key features of the steel houses are:

• Lightweight and readymade construction
• Weather-proof design
• Protection against cyclone, floods
• Steels homes could be built in shorter time frame using pre-fabricated steel and local materials
• Long lasting and easy maintenance
• Environment friendly
• Easier to build in rural areas where the bricks, sands, stone chips are scarce.
• Use of water above plinth level is minimized as steel homes are dry constructions.
• 10 per cent more living space than traditional homes.
• Less skilled labor is needed for construction

We will be seeing lots of such environment friendly steel houses in the near future.

For more, have a look at www.recycleinme.com

Industry Chat: No Price Hike For Steel In India Till August

According to Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union steel Minister of India, the prices of steel will not increase till the first week of August 2008. This conclusion is based on an agreement between Dr. Manmohan Singh (The Honorable President of India) and the steel manufacturers. Though there is a considerable hike of steel prices in the International market, Indian steel prices will remain unchanged till August.

“If the raw material prices increase in the International market, domestic steel producers will have to revise their rates too” , said Mr. Paswan. Moreover, a steel monitoring committee is represented by the Ministry to monitor the prices of various steel products.