Recyced HP Ink Cartridges

February 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Let us give numbers to computer-related wastes we dump to our planet. How many computers do you think is manufactured everyday? How many printers? How many computers do a person buy over their lifetime? How many printers? How long is the lifespan of a computer before we dump them in junkyards? How many HP ink cartridges are recycles today?

recycling hp ink cartridges
Since I was in high school, I used 4 computers already. The first one I shared with my siblings. The second one was bought by my parents for my college dorm. The third one I bought using my first few months of salary. The last one that I have is a laptop.

I didn’t know what happened to the first computer. It was just wasn’t there anymore. The second computer is still in our house accumulating dust in the storage area. I gave my 3rd computer to my cousin who’s in college when I bought my laptop.

Now, the story of HP ink cartridges are a bit more complicated. I have been using my HP Deskjet printer since I was in college. It’s reliable although now there’s always the paper jam every other page I printed. Since I started using the printer, when the ink has run out, I discard the ink like I discard a banana peeling and then buy a new one.

It just made me realize how much the earth is burdened with HP in cartridges. Imagine how many people use HP printers and imagine how many of them run out of ink everyday. Those ink cartridges will go to our junkyards and will still be HP ink cartridges for another thousand and more years.

This is why I just realized why it’s a good idea go buy recycled ink cartridges. I was hesitant to buy because they say that the printer gets easily broken down. But a lot of people are already using them and so far their printers are still running smoothly.

So as not to burden the earth more, I will start using recycled HP ink cartridges. I hope there’s a more permanent solution to that but in the mean time, I think it will help a bit.

Filed Under: Everyday Green, Recycling, Toxic Wastes, Water Conservation Tagged With:

Green Bath and Body Works Soap

January 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

organic soap

    When we lather our body with our favorite soap, do we know how many chemical ingredients in the soap that gets in contact with our skin and may enter our body through our skin’s pores? These are some of the ingredients used in making commercially bought soaps:
    -Coco Diethanol Amide
    -Sodium lauryl ether sulfate
    -Sodium silicate
    -Sodium tripolyphosphate
    -Caustic potash
    -Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid
    -Sodium phosphate
    -Benzalkonium chloride
    -Glycerine
    -Carboxyl methy cellulose
    -Triethanol amine
    These are only some of the chemicals that are used in making soaps. They are needed to give the soap the quality of a soap: hard, produces bubbles and can clean oil and dirt in our body. If we use a soap that has added qualities such as a moisturizing soap or a soap that has a scent, then more chemicals are added in those soaps.
    Most of the chemicals found in our bath soaps are not harmful but they are still chemicals. They enter our body through our skin. When they enter our body, they become toxins that need to get out either through perspiration or peeing. When they don’t get out and they accumulate, they will cause illness including cancer.
    Good news is that today there are a lot of stores that are selling organic eco-friendly bath soaps. These soaps may be expensive but they are not made from chemicals. The ingredients are all natural meaning they are sourced from nature.  Using organic bath soaps helps in greening our planet because thsee soaps are not manufactured with chemicals in the factories that use up a lot of energy.
    When we use handmade soaps and organic soaps, we can help in reducing the air pollution that the factories of popular bath soaps emit in their factories. Besides, organic soaps are really good to out skin. They don’t cause skin irritation and dryness. THey can smell really good too when they are added with natural oils such as lavender and rosemary.
Filed Under: Conservation, Energy Saving, Everyday Green, Green Homes, Green Tips, Pollution, Toxic Wastes, Water Conservation, Water Resources Tagged With: ,

Green Hair Shampoo

December 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment

natural shampoo

    Have you ever thought about what our ancestors used as hair shampoo when there were still no factories and no electricity? When my grandmother was still alive, she used a natural hair cleanser: gugo. Gugo is a Tagalog word for this brown thing that looks like very small branches. I remember when I was a child, my grandmother used to use gugo on my hair. I can’t remember where she got it.
    I am looking at the back of the plastic bottle of my hair shampoo. It’s a popular brand name of hair shampoo that I bought in the grocery and these are the ingredients: Sodium Laureth Sulfide, Sodium Lauril Sulfate, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Sodium Benzoate, Glycol Distearate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium and a lot more listed.
    I didn’t know I put that long list of chemicals on my hair everyday whenever I shapoo. Maybe I should get back to the natural hair shampoo. There are some people who use mayonnaise and avocado instead of conditioners and their hair are really shiny and soft. My roommate in College use beer to soften her hair. It didn’t smell nice but it did look healthy though.
    Come to think of it, using the bounty of our earth to clean our hair is not a bad idea. Here in the Philippines, “lauat” is a very popular herb for treatment of hair loss and dry hair. Green hair shampoo saves a lot of plastic bottle packaging and not to mention that toxins and chemicals that are produced that are harmful to the environment and to our own health.
    Maybe it’s time to go back to the basics. I regret I didn’t ask my grandmother where she get her gugo.
Filed Under: Conservation, Energy Saving, Everyday Green, Green Homes, Green Tips, Pollution, Toxic Wastes, Water Conservation, Water Resources Tagged With: , ,

Top New Year Resolutions for Greener 2009

December 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment

green 2009
A new year brings with it new beginnings. It is a good opportunity to start all over again. Isn’t it great? Whatever we did this year, however bad we did them, there’s always the time to start all over again when the New Year comes. The New Year brings with it hope that this will be a better year and that everything we did badly last year, we can always put them correctly again. It gives us the gift of a fresh start and build from there.

So here are my New Year Resolutions for Greener 2009:

1. As much as I can, I will try to reduce my use of materials made of plastics and styrofoam. They are non-biodegradable materials and when they are torn and we don’t need them, they’ll be clogging the rivers and killing fishes and polluting the soil for thousands of years. Plastic bags and styrofoam food keepers are very convenient in the house but as much as I can, I’ll use the more earth-friendly alternatives such as biodegradable bags and ceramic plates.

2. I will conserve water and electricity around the house. I’ll turn off the lights and unplug electronic appliances before I go to sleep. I’ll shut down my computer even if I’ll be gone for only an hour. I’ll turn off the faucet when I’m not using the water. These are all little things but I believe they can make a difference.

3. I’ll continue on learning more and sharing more the little things that we can do to put our share in saving our seas, air and earth.

That’s it. It’s a short list but it’s a start. They’re simple, little ways but I believe that they will count. Welcome Greener 2009!

Filed Under: Conservation, Energy Saving, Everyday Green, Green Homes, Non-biodegradable Waste, Water Conservation, Water Resources Tagged With: ,

Simple Ways to Save Water in the Bathroom

December 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment

More Tips on How to Save Water in the Bathroom

tabo

In my last post, I focused on how much water we can save if we just turn off the faucet while brushing our teeth. In this post, I will give you more tips on how to save water and money in the bathroom.

1. Use pail and “tabo” instead of shower or bath tub. Filipinos’ use of dipper is actually a water efficient technique. You can control the amount of water to pour on your body while you are taking a bath when you use a tabo or dipper.

2. Avoid taking long showers. You don’t have to stay under the shower for 30 minutes. One minute of shower uses at least half a gallon of water. If you take a bath for more than 10 minutes, that’s 10 gallons of water wasted every day. If you are using pail and tabo, use only the water that you really need for your daily bath.

3. Turn off the shower while you are soaping or shampooing.

4. While shaving, don’t clean your razor on running water from the sink faucet. Use tabo to clean your razor or plug the drain so that you’ll have water stored in the sink.

5. Use recycled water when taking a bath. During summer when there is scarcity of water, there are many Philippine households who store water whenever there is rain. Drums and pails are used to collect rain water. We can do this all year round, not just during summer. The collected rain water can be used in the bathroom.

I’m sure there are many other ways you can think of to save on your water consumption. If we conserve water today, we will have more storage of water in our dams when the El Nino or the summer season comes.

Filed Under: Everyday Green, Green Homes, Water Conservation Tagged With: ,
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