Western Disposal

Shrinking the Waste Stream: Why Recycling Is So Important

Recycling is in everyone’s best interest. It can reduce costs of new materials, lower greenhouse gas emissions, preserve natural wonders, and lessen the demand for energy and fossil fuels. By understanding why recycling is so important you can also gain a greater understanding of the benefits it has to offer. Shrinking the waste stream and refining it into a sustainable process is one way you can make a difference.

Preserving Natural Resources

By recycling conscientiously, the demand for new materials and raw product from the earth is decreased. Recycling helps to ease demand by providing items that can be used again for many applications. Some materials can be used to create post-consumer products, like napkins, that are in high demand. These items are then highly biodegradable, so even their second iteration does not add to the waste stream. Many other materials like aluminum can be recycled entirely, eliminating the need for waste management and new manufacturing entirely.

Reducing Energy Use

Creating new materials and products from scratch often uses more energy than recycling, and recycling returns materials into the manufacturing process. This energy conservation reduces the overall demand for energy, helps keep energy costs down, and helps to preserve the environment by cutting down on the production of greenhouse gases that would otherwise take place in the manufacturing of new materials.

Cutting Down on Carbon

Not only does recycling help eliminate much of the carbon production from new manufacturing, it also lessens the need for the greenhouse gases created during extraction and refinement of new materials. Whether the impact is felt at a logging plant or a power station, recycling impacts the overall production of carbon in nearly every aspect of the new item to waste cycle. Recycling can eliminate many of the steps of the manufacturing process, which in turn reduces the greenhouse gases that would otherwise be produced.

Western Disposal offers many recycling and waste management services to Boulder businesses as well as residents, including single-stream recycling that enables homeowners to get involved in recycling without a lot of fuss. Call us at (303) 586-1100 for more information.

Why Your Metal Waste Should Always Make It Into the Recycling Bin

Metal is one of the most recyclable materials that often finds its way into landfills. Many common metal waste items are 100 percent recyclable, such as aluminum cans and foil, as well as iron. Instead of sending these products to your Boulder landfill, consider having them recycled via a recycling service or gathering these items and dropping them off at your local recycling center.

Metal Is Highly Recyclable

Many metals, especially aluminum, can be entirely recycled. That means that one aluminum can can be broken down without a single piece of waste and made into a new can. It’s a complete waste to have this kind of metal end up in a landfill, where it will take up space and sit for decades among other waste that doesn’t biodegrade.

One of the key facts about the high recyclability of metals is that they can often be reused over and over again without compromising their strength or overall composition. This is especially true of aluminum and steel. Anything from soda cans to auto parts can be made, recycled, and remade indefinitely. This reduces greenhouse gases and waste energy, and keeps these products out of landfills.

Recycled Metal Is Sustainable

Because many kinds of metal can be reclaimed almost entirely, it reduces the need for mining fresh metals or creating new alloys. This also cuts down on greenhouse gases and the energy used in manufacturing. Instead, this helps industries work towards net-zero carbon emissions and provides metal products at reduced cost to consumers.

By recycling your metals responsibly, you’re contributing to the overall reduction of carbon emissions, waste energy, and helping to bring your own costs down while perpetuating sustainability. It’s not a bad practice—so get started with Western Disposal of Boulder. Our locally-owned facilities have an investment in our Colorado customers. Give us a call at (303) 586-1100 today, or head to our website to learn about our full range of recycling and waste management services.

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Find out the proper recycling or disposal procedure for hundreds of materials; learn the location, hours of operation and fee schedules for the transfer stations and drop-off depots. Keep up to date on special events like holiday tree drop-off, free document shredding days and much more.

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Tips for Becoming a Better Organic Gardener

With demand for organic and pesticide-free food growing rapidly, many organic farmers are looking for ways to improve their output and crop quality. One of the best ways to do this is to take a closer look at the compost you use, which supplies the soil with the nutrients necessary for thriving crops. Take a look at the following tips on how to be a better gardener through your composting methods:

Add Compost at the Right Time

In order for soil to reach peak nutrient density, it must be given enough time to meld with the compost. In cooler climes, such as the Boulder area, this means spreading the compost in your garden once in fall, before the ground freezes. This way, the compost can further decompose all winter long. In warmer climates where the ground does not freeze, compost should be added twice yearly—once in the spring and again in the fall.

Use the Right Amount of Compost

The amount of compost required for rich soil depends on the age of your garden. If this is its first year and the soil has never been used for growing crops before, add between two and six inches of compost to infuse the soil with organic nutrients. If you are just refreshing an already-existing garden, add a quarter of an inch or less.

Turn the Compost Consistently

Oxygen is essential to the decomposition process, which is why you will need to mix the compost pile every so often to ensure that air can circulate through it. To get compost with the highest amount of nutrients, only turn it once. This makes the process take longer—about six weeks—but because nutrients are lost when you disturb the pile, the quality of the compost will be superb. If you need your compost sooner, turn the mix every 3–7 days, and the composting process will be done in 2–4 weeks.

You can always count on Western Disposal of Boulder to help you with your organic-gardening needs. We can supply you with high-quality compost mix made with recycled waste and answer any questions you may have about the composting process. Contact us at (303) 586-1100.

If You Want To Do Your Part To Make Boulder Green, Start By Clicking Through These Links To Learn More About Recycling And Organic Gardening

According to recent statistics, only about one-third of the garbage generated in the United States is recycled, and organic food can carry such high price tags at the grocery store that its health benefits are often overlooked. You can play your part to make Boulder a healthier, greener place to live by using these links to learn more about recycling and organic gardening:

• Check out SmilingGardener.com’s page on how and when to use compost in your organic garden. 
• Duracell has a fact sheet with information about how to dispose of certain types of batteries.
• Find out what happens to your recycled plastic shopping bags in this article from Earth911.com.
• The health benefits of picking organic food over non-organic food are innumerable, especially for kids. You can read about the top ten benefits that organic food provides for kids in this article from The Huffington Post.
• Keep America Beautiful, Inc. has published a number of statistics on recycling rates in the United States. You might be surprised by some of them!

For more information on the benefits of organic gardening and recycling, call Western Disposal at (303) 586-1100.