Composting 101: Environmental Benefits

It's that time of year--when residents begin planting, fertilizing and anxiously awaiting the arrival of fruits, vegetables and herbs from their home garden. If you're looking for ways to take produce-growing to the next level, consider composting. Composting is a great way to neutralize your garden's pH while releasing a variety of healthy nutrients into the soil. If you're thinking about starting a compost heap to improve your garden's soil quality, consider the environmental benefits of your efforts.

1. When used on a large scale, composting has been found to "detoxify" contaminated soils by limiting toxic runoff into rivers and lakes. And because it's a natural way of treating the soil, gardeners can avoid the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides--which also saves money.
   
2. Composting adds beneficial nutrients to the soil, which encourages the growth of worms and healthy bacteria. These micro-organisms aerate the soil and break down into bio-available nutrients that fend off garden pests and soil diseases.
   
3. Composting reduces the waste stream, since you're recycling yard and kitchen waste instead of tossing it. It's a responsible addition to any home recycling program.
   

To make the most of your composting efforts, don't limit compost use to your garden. Spread it around flower beds, trees--and even around trouble spots in your lawn. It's especially beneficial in areas with poor soil quality, since wet soils will drain better--and sandy soils will retain essential moisture.

Cardella Waste and Integrity Recycling Launch New iPhone App

Cardella is excited to partner with Integrity Recycling & Waste Solutions of Flemington to launch the first-ever conservation calculator iPhone app. This Green Machine Conservation Calculator can be downloaded for free from iTunes, and measures your environmental impact based upon provided recycling amounts.

By inputting paper, metal, plastic and wood recycling tonnages into the Green Machine, consumers and businesses will receive an environmental impact report that measures their conservation savings in gallons of oil, kilowatts of electricity, liberated landfill space and other eco-friendly terms. Cardella and Integrity hope that consumers will use the Green Machine app to (1) understand their personal impact on the environment, and (2) track the ongoing reduction of their carbon footprint.

“The Green Machine recycling calculator should be a favorite among industry professionals looking for environmental information related to their recycling efforts—and a staple for anyone who wishes to measure their recycling programs’ successes,” says David J. Cardella, one of Cardella's principals.

Currently, the Green Machine is only available for iTunes and Apple users. If you're a Blackberry or Droid user, however, don't despair. The app may soon be able for those platforms, as well. Visit the iTunes Store to download the Green Machine today, or call Cardella’s recycling experts for more information about this cool conservation tool.

Bright Ideas About Light Bulbs

If you've already made the move from incandescent lighting to fluorescent lamps in your home or facility, congratulations. You're saving energy, and reducing your carbon footprint. In fact, according to the Energy Star website, "If every American home replaced just one light with an ENERGY STAR [compact fluorescent lamp, or CFL], we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, about $700 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to the emissions of about 800,000 cars."

Interested in switching to CFLs? Just remember that each fluorescent lamp contains a small amount of mercury, and while the lamps do not release mercury when they're intact, it's important to dispose of them properly. Mercury, which is a known neurotoxin, should be properly handled in order to minimize human exposure and landfill/water contamination.

If you're looking for a safe way to recycle the CFLs used in your home or business, contact Cardella Waste Services today. When you schedule your pickup of old bulbs, we'll send you UN-certified safety packaging to protect your family and employees. It's simple, fast, and affordable--and you can schedule today by calling Cardella at 1-800-548-7001.

Upcycling: A True Environmental Investment

If you’ve spent much time on our website (or hanging around our blog), you probably know that we’re huge fans of sustainable living. As a waste management company, we have a big responsibility—to reduce the waste stream and help companies build green by recycling and upcycling as much as we can.

Not familiar with the term upcycle? Think of it as “repurposing” your junk. So…instead of your glass water bottle being melted down and formed into a new water bottle—you paint your glass bottle and call it a bud vase.

At Cardella, we’ve taken upcycling to a new level. Partnering with Scrapile, a NYC company, we pass along wood leftovers from construction sites. Then Carlos and Bart, Scrapile’s resident artists, upcycle the discarded wood scraps to create innovative bench, table and accessory designs. Browse their website and you’ll find that their pieces are better than any furniture available at the retail store!

We’re proud of our collaborative upcycling efforts. If you’re interested in becoming part of the green revolution, tune in to next week’s blog for tips about how to salvage your household junk through creative upcycling.

Cardella is Going Green

If your facility uses fluorescent bulbs to light workspaces, retail environments and warehouses, you know that they can be difficult to throw away. Fluorescents are made with mercury, an element associated with neurological problems in both adults and children. These bulbs are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and cannot be thrown in solid waste containers or sent to landfills. When bulbs are broken, mercury vapor is released into the air, increasing the chances of environmental pollution and mercury-related health conditions.

To help you safely dispose of the fluorescent bulbs used in your business, Cardella offers a new bulb recycling service. Customers can order prepaid EasyPak boxes online or over the phone. These EasyPak boxes are custom containers designed to securely transport your old bulbs so they can be safely recycled—with no danger to you or the environment.

Interested? Call today to inquire about eco-friendly bulb disposal—or to order EasyPak boxes designed for battery and electronics recycling, too. It’s just one more way that Cardella is going green—and serving our valued customers in New York and New Jersey.

More Green Giving with Recycled and Sustainable Gifts

If you read our last blog, you found some great tips about reducing your holiday gift waste. By opting for waste-free wrapping, embracing the e-card and buying rechargeable batteries, you’re taking some small steps toward reducing your carbon footprint and making the world a cleaner place.

As you put the finishing touches on your gift list this year, visit the following websites to find innovative, recycled presents to impress your recipients—and save a tree or two.

Shop thrift and consignment stores for cool, vintage items you won’t ever see at the mall. You’ll find chrome appliances, antique dolls, glassware, jewelry and more when you visit The Thrift Shopper online for thrift store listings by zip code.
Browse MakeStuff.com for a variety of homemade holiday gift ideas. The site also includes a list of crafty items you can make from recycled materials.
Buy beautiful, sustainable fabric by-the-yard for quilts, clothing and other gifts. Near Sea Naturals carries knit, woven and pre-cut fabrics made from natural fiber choices.
Check out Scrapile—one of our favorite manufacturing partners—for furniture created from recycled bits of lumber. Their stools, benches, tables and wood accessories make creative gifts for that hard-to-buy-for someone.
Don’t forget your pets when you’re buying recycled. Visit Planet Dog for Orbee-Tuff RecycleBALLS and RecycleBONES—made from Orbee-Tuff fiber waste that would otherwise go into the waste stream. Many of Planet Dog’s products are also guaranteed to stand up to aggressive chewers.

For those trying to live sustainably, there are hundreds more eco-friendly gift ideas online. Take the time to be ecologically responsible this holiday season—and join Cardella in our quest for a greener tomorrow.

Giving Green This Season

Estimates indicate that U.S. consumers dispose of millions of tons of additional trash during the holidays, making it a perfect time to think about conservation and recycling. But how can you remain festive while downsizing your carbon footprint? Use the following waste reduction tips to “green up” your holidays.

1. Opt for e-greetings over snail mail. While everyone enjoys holiday cards, they usually end up in a sea of wrapping trash by January 1.  Avoid paper waste by sending electronic greetings and holiday letters to computer-savvy friends and family. In addition to being eco-friendly, you’ll cut your holiday postage budget by 50 percent or more.


2. Think outside the wrapping paper roll. Companies like Delight.com and ReusableBags.com encourage consumers to go waste-free by enclosing gifts in holiday-printed, canvas shopping bags. Baskets, bins and buckets are also reusable—and become a creative part of the gift.


3. Give experiences instead of “stuff.” Tickets to a baseball game, theater performance or museum make great, green gifts—and offer the recipient and the giver a chance to spend time together.


4.  Pass around a box to collect reusable bows, bags and tissue paper. Even crumpled gift wrap can be shredded and reused to protect fragile items before they’re stored or mailed.


5. Don’t forget the rechargeable batteries. PDAs, gadgets and children’s toys seem to eat batteries, so get creative by adding a charger and some rechargeables to electronic giveaways.


6. Recycle Styrofoam peanuts rather than sending them to the landfill. Visit the Plastic Loose Fill Council for a drop-off facility near you.

Businesses and construction companies looking to become “waste-wise” this holiday season can call (800) 548-8001 to schedule a personalized recycling consultation. At Cardella, we urge all NY/NJ businesses to partner with us in creating a greener tomorrow.

More about Cardella’s Community Commitment

If you’re familiar with Cardella Waste—you know that we never hesitate to champion a worthy effort. We’re aggressively pursuing one of those efforts every day, as we make it our continued mission to contribute to a greener tomorrow. Through our state-of-the-art, 24,000-square-foot materials recovery facility, our innovative recycling technology and our impressive landfill diversion rates, Cardella is helping residents and business reduce their carbon footprints and protect valuable natural resources. And while we specialize in fulfilling LEED requirements for construction projects, our customers can rest assured that we recycle salvageable waste for all jobs—not just LEED-specific projects. If you’re new to Cardella, call us today at (800) 548-8001 for more information about partnering in our eco-friendly initiatives.

Cardella Joins Meadowlands Regional Chamber

We’re pleased to announce that Cardella Waste Removal, premier New York/New Jersey provider of container rental and recycling services, recently joined the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce (www.meadowlands.org). Representing the company are Bonnie Pfleiderer, sales manager, and David J. Cardella, vice president.

The Rutherford-based Chamber’s co-sponsorship of “The Meadowlands Challenge,” an initiative of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, particularly interests us. The Challenge encourages area businesses to examine their energy use and recycling practices and find ways to improve performance in those areas. Specifically, the Challenge suggests offices increase the variety and quantity of items they recycle.

As specialists in recovering recyclables from the waste stream, we can help area businesses in their improvement efforts. Cardella collects mixed waste, sorts for recyclables, and furnishes businesses with reports on types and quantities of materials recycled.

Visiting Garbage Truck Helps Drive Home the Importance of Recycling To Adlai E. Stevenson First-Graders

As part of their Earth Day observance on April 23, 2009, more than 100 first-graders at Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Fairfield, N.J., listened politely as I talked to them about the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling. But they really got excited about seeing one of our shiny red and green garbage trucks up close!

I took one of Cardella Waste Services’ trucks to my seven-year-old son David’s school as the highlight of my Earth Day presentation about where garbage goes and how long it stays there.
Using slides illustrated with cartoons designed to appeal to my young audience, I explained that a banana peel’s landfill life might be only three to four weeks, an aluminum soda can might last a year, while a plastic jug could still be there a million years from now.

I told them that’s why it’s so important to reduce the amount of garbage we send to landfills by re-using containers, and recycling what we can’t reuse.
To reinforce my points, I gave the kids Earth Day tee shirts, stickers, coloring books and press-on tattoos—but the real hit was the garbage truck. Each first grade class had its picture taken beside the truck, and the driver and I demonstrated how it works. The truck clearly was the best part for the kids. They especially loved the horn!

Citi Field

We recently wrapped up our work on Citi Field, the new world-class home of the New York Mets. Working with Hunt-Bovis, construction managers, Cardella Waste recycled all of the waste material from the demolition of Shea Stadium (its former site is now a parking lot) and from the construction of the spectacular new stadium, which officially opened on the Mets’ 2009 Opening Day.

Going Hybrid

Consistent with Cardella Waste’s “Green” focus, we’ve just purchased our first Green vehicle for a member of our sales team. Although fuel prices are coming down, we still have an obligation to the environment – and this addition to our fleet reflects our philosophy of working toward a “greener tomorrow.” We expect our new Toyota Prius to be followed by other hybrids as we gradually replace our company vehicles.