10 Ways to Go PaperLess March 15, 2012

If I had a nickel for everyone who told me they wanted to go paperless, well, I could buy several reams of paper.  The truth is that our society is nowhere near going paperless.  In fact, our actual individual consumption of paper is up in the past decades!  But we can all take one or two free or easy steps to have less unwanted paper in our lives.  The less that comes in, the less you have to organize.  Take a few minutes and do just one or two of these steps, and have less in your life:

Steps to go PaperLess

1. Stop your newspaper, or subscribe to only one day a week.

2. Get off direct mail lists at the Direct Mail Association site.

5. Let magazine subscriptions expire if you didn’t read them last month.

7. Display kids’ artwork with clever front-loading storage frames from DynamicFrames.

 

Read the rest of this excerpted article where it was originally published on ShopGetOrganized.

What steps will you take to reduce your paper piles?

 

Recycling Do’s and Don’t for Single Stream Recycling: From The Source March 6, 2012

Before heading to the Waste Management Materials Handling Facility (pronounced merfs by those in the biz) in Northeast Philadelphia, I asked my peeps what they wanted to know about recycling rules. Your questions, and maybe a few you didn’t think to ask, are answered here, thanks to Patty Barthel at Waste Management.

Why can’t we put pizza boxes in for paper recycling?

If the box is super clean, break it down and throw it in. But if it’s greasy or stuck with cheese, it contaminates the rest of the paper in a batch to be recycled.

Must we separate plastic bottles from their caps?

HA! NO! This was actually the question everyone wanted to know. If you are concerned because the cap and bottle are different levels of plastic, worry no more. Apparently, plastics get baled together and sent to a plastics recycling plant, where they are crushed, ground, floated, and who knows what else. Then they are made into new plastic goods and  – surprise! – new fleece jackets you wear to the gym. So no, don’t separate your water bottle from its cap, and don’t throw the caps in the trash.

Must you separate the lids from glass jars?

I keep the lids on my recycles so my kitchen doesn’t smell. It turns out, that’s just fine. The glass usually breaks in the truck, and separates from the metal lid anyway. Glass going through the recycling plant is all tiny shards at the end of the line.

Are magazines recyclable?

Yes. Even paperback books can be recycled. Hardback book covers can not be recycled, but if you tear the covers off of books, you can send the pages to recycling.

Envelopes with plastic windows?

I have known people who stress over putting envelopes in recycling if it has a plastic window. This was a problem when recycling was a new industry, but now there are appropriate tolerances in the system that allow for this sort of thing.

Can shredded paper go into recycling?

YES! Go ahead and shred your old checks, but put the shreds into paper bags or directly in your bin, NOT in plastic bags, or it will go to the landfill. I saw one of these while I was there, headed out the back end of the plant.

If I’m not sure it’s recyclable and I put it in, what happens to it in the end?

“If you put it in the bin and we don’t need it, we’re going to throw it away,” says Patty. Makes sense. They are recyclers, not magicians, so about 10% of what comes in still goes out to the landfill.

How clean should food containers be?

Lightly rinse, then toss in the bin. Labels are no problem, either.

Can you recycle aluminum foil?

No. Foil isn’t desirable. Even foil pans, like the ones you carry to the church supper, aren’t very desirable. But if they are large enough and very clean, the system may still bale them with metals, so if it makes you feel better, throw them in.

Electronics?

Not here. But there are some great places to take your old PC, fax machine, TV, or phone. My favorite is Best Buy, because they are everywhere and take everything.  Whole Foods recently hosted electronics recycling events in my neck of the woods. Be on the lookout for other take-back events in your community.

Here’s a shocker: TOYS!

You know those gigantic colorful toys, like swimming pools, kitchens, and rocking toys? Once they’ve been enjoyed, passed down, and completely sun-faded, they too can be baled along with other rigid plastics, like buckets. However, toys that have lots of metals and electronics, like cars, won’t make the cut. It’s a good idea to think of this when you are making the initial purchase.

Some of those colorful blobs could be plastic toys heading for their next life.

Styrofoam and packing peanuts?

Sadly, no, even if it is marked with a “5”, styrofoam does not get recycled. At all. Ever. Stay away from it if at all possible. But if you ever become the proud owner of packing peanuts, you can drop them off at UPS Stores and many other places that pack and ship, and they’ll re-use them.

What about batteries, CFL lightbulbs, and needles/sharps?

Household batteries are one of the hardest things to recycle. CFL bulbs are so new, they are confusing.  And used needles should be handled properly, of course. Why should you care? It turns out that batteries have really nasty stuff in them. Those metals should really be recycled, not leached into our landfills. Waste Management has a nifty solution. Order a mail-order recycle pack at Think Green From Home, and ship your stuff once a year or so.

Hazmat  Recycling

Don’t send your hazmat stuff here or, God forbid, dump it in the trash.  Take your full paint buckets, household chemicals, and other hazmat to an approved facility or county drop off.  Even tires are considered hazmat, not recycling.

 

While I learned a lot on this trip, the industry is constantly changing. I hope the next time I take the trip, they are taking styrofoam and pizza boxes. Please be open to changes to your local recycling process over the next few years.

What else do you want to know about the recycling process?

Going Paperless…Or at Least Less Paper September 4, 2011

It’s so appropriate that on the day I start a tech series, my iPad misbehaves. Actually, it misbehaved so badly that the Apple “genius” replaced the entire unit.  So now I’m on my third iPad in just under 12 months, and I’ll spend the next day downloading settings and getting it to work with me again.  Grrr. You’ll hear more about on what I love and don’t love about my iPad later. 

But it is so lovely when technology really does simplify your life.  I’m on the hunt for tools that really save you time or aggravation so I can share them with you this month.  I think I’ve found a solution to one of my worst clutter monsters…business cards. My great system for filing business cards worked, but it always seemed so passive, separated from my MS Outlook that I depend on so much, and it started growing out of the box this year. Is there a way to eliminate those cards once and for all?  Is there a slick way to email trusted vendor contact information directly to clients when they need great painters, electricians, and other great resources that I work with, information that is stuck in my business card box in my office?

I am infatuated with my new NeatDesk. This isn’t some organizer slang, but an actual brand name. You might know that I am not always the tech specialist in the room, but ever since I saw the NEAT scanning capabilities about two years ago, I realized the power. 

NeatDesk

The solution looks like a scanner, but the magic and power is really in the accompanying software.  Setup took me about 25 minutes. Not bad considering most of that was trying to figure out how to temporarily disable security software on my desktop. I also took another 20 minutes to watch some very informative videos. You’ve gotta love when a software company provides great instruction to make the power of their tools completely obvious. 

What started out as a search for simplicity in my card file blossomed to many, many possibilities.  This photo shows the types of paper that I hope to eliminate from my office:

Paper Be Gone

• Business cards
• Business receipts for my smaller second business (www.PregnantEntrepreneur.com) 
• Banking receipts (Most of these I toss, but I have this small account that I keep receipts for reasons that won’t interest you.)
• Informational articles- Trust me, even a professional organizer keeps some ideas that look wonderful in a magazine but have no immediate application in real life.  
• Backlog of professional articles
• That little pile of -what the heck is in that pile???- that is always to the left of my phone. Just kidding, it’s mostly recently acquired business cards that have not yet gotten filed, but it’s always there. 

Can the average person and small business really go paperless?  I looked into several other options before choosing to bring this machine in-house.  There are card scanners by companies like Dymo that are too uni-tasker for me.  There are regular flatbed scanners (I already own a decent one integrated with my relatively new-ish printer), but they don’t have the software needed to really make sense of scanning large batches and mission critical information.  There are programs like PaperTiger, but that forces a whole new indexing system that never felt right to me and requires a class to learn how to properly use it.  There scanning services “in the cloud,” like OfficeDrop, which get pricey at $20 or $30 per month but are good options for high volume users with lean staff.  Yes, you can even take pictures on your iPhone and store them away, but you only have an image, and not a high-fidelity, searchable, IRS-acceptable document storage system.  

 

Are you intrigued by the idea of getting your paper out of your office and into memory?  I’m going to play with this new toy for a few days, and I’ll be letting you know about the capabilities, and also what the downsides are.  Like any technology, it’s not for everyone, but I know that it is for some of you, especially those with businesses or a deep-seated need to go paperless.  I’ll keep you posted. I’m wondering what other paper problems NeatDesk might be able to solve, so throw your comments and questions my way and let me see whether it is up to the task.

 

It looks like tech month just took on a whole new meaning, as it appears I’ll be upgrading my 6 year old computer as well.  Wish me luck. 

 

In full disclosure, the Neat product was supplied to me for evaluation purposes, but I am not being compensated for this review. 

Responsibly Dispose of Paper, Electronics, Drugs and Hazmat April 12, 2011

April is the month for spring cleaning events.  No, not those that take a mop and a sponge.  You can make a real dent in your household clutter by responsibly disposing of old papers, electronics, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and household hazardous chemicals. 

Paper shredding events are very common in the weeks following April tax filings.  Immediately after filing your tax return is a great time to clear out your oldest records that your CPA recommends you destroy.  Most people should keep the past seven years of financial records and shred earlier ones, but check with your personal advisor.  If you aren’t sure what to keep and what to shred, consider implementing a filing system that tells you what to keep and for how long.  For those without a personal home shredder, these outdoor events are very handy.  They are often offered by banks, municipalities, and community service organizations.  Usually the sponsoring organization hires a professional document destruction company to bring their shredding containers or trucks on site, and usually the shredding is done right in front of you.  These are usually offered to individual consumers, although many small business owners can make use of the service if their volume is small.  The sponsoring organization may have certain guidelines for the event, such as proof of residency, a limit on the number of bags or boxes that can be dropped off (usually two to four), the types of material accepted (staples and paper clips are ok; hardback books, binders, and computer disks are not), and a minimum fee or suggested donation (usually under $10).  You can find one of these events in your area by doing a Google search for “shredding event” and your town, zip code, or region name. 

Electronics recycling events are a little harder to come by, although they have increased in the last five years.  Also called e-waste, all types of electronic gear can and should be properly recycled.  According to www.earth911.com, a reputable source for information and recycling locations,   “While e-waste only accounts for two percent of the U.S.’ garbage in landfills, it accounts for 70 percent of overall toxic garbage.”  Old TVs, computer monitors and CPUs, mice, keyboards, cell phones, cords, chargers, even fax machines and standard phones can all be recycled.  But if you are planning to attend an event, be sure to check in advance what they recycle.  There are fees (usually $10) for some items like monitors, and some items are accepted at one event but not another.  If you are turning in a computer, be sure to remove the hard drive and crush it before sending it to a recycler in order to protect your data.  Simply erasing it isn’t enough since forensic efforts can recover almost anything from old drives.  This is especially important if you are sending it to a center where they may chose to refurbish your gear rather than breaking it down for raw materials.

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs have been historically hard to dispose of properly.  For years the advice was to mix drugs with coffee grinds or kitty litter before tossing in the trash or to flush it down the toilet.  Not only are the fish and other marine animals being affected by our Viagra and Lipitor, but we make it more challenging to have clean water for ourselves.  So now the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is doing the right thing.   The DEA announced the second nationwide prescription drug take-back for April 30.  Last September, Americans turned in over 242,000 pounds-121 tons-of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by more than 3,000 of the DEA’s state and local law enforcement partners.  This year’s event will take place Saturday, April 30th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time when DEA and its partners will hold the second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day at sites nationwide. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.  You can find collection sites closest to you by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and then entering your zip code.  

Finally, if you are about to clean out the garage, don’t mistake those half-empty bottles of paint, lawn feed, and lubricants for trash.  Those are hazardous materials (hazmat) that need to be properly disposed of.  If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t pour it down the drain.  Most counties, townships and other municipalities have designated hazmat collection sites that accept household chemicals several times each year.  Usually the events are free, but to ensure they are not collecting industrial waste they are limited to residents, so be prepared to show your ID.  Do a search on your municipality’s website for their annual collection calendar.  It may mean you have to make a separate trip on a future Saturday, but it means a lot to those of us who drink the water.  Thank you. 

Note for PA and NJ residents:  These events are easy to find.  I was able to turn up shredding events for this coming Saturday 4/16 in Malvern, Paoli, and Ambler.  NAPO is also hosting one at the Conshohocken IKEA on April 30.  There are electronics recycling events at EZPCRecycling.com (610-621-4944) in Ambler, PA this weekend as well.  In South Jersey, Goodwill Industries loves to have your old computer gear any day of the week; you can drop it off at any retail or donation site.    Almost every major police agency in my area seems to be participating in the DEA event on April 30, so take-back sites are easy to find.  Hazmat collection sites might be a bit harder to find, but start with your town, township, or county site searching for “household hazardous waste.” In PA and New Jersey, the counties are the collection sites.