Welcome back!

As we gear back up for the school year here at Jewell, we're also gearing the blog back up. I encourage you to subscribe, follow (in the right column), or check back often to see what we're blogging about here. Or, become our fan on Facebook and get updates from the blog there. Either way, make sure to leave us comments and let us know what you think about it!

I thought we'd start the year of blogging with a bit of information about cardboard recycling, since we're expanding that on campus this year. We started in the residence halls last spring, and now with the help of two CJS Recycling Interns, we're taking it campus wide, so look for the new bins throughout campus, next to the paper and plastic bins. So, here is some information to spur you on as you're breaking down those boxes.

"Recycling cardboard (like any other type of paper) reduces the demand for new paper from virgin pulp, thereby saving trees and decreasing the amount of pollution generated in new paper production. Finally, because cardboard is such bulky waste, recycling it saves significant amounts of space in landfills and reduces pollution in areas where trash is incinerated." (www.riverwired.com)

"Facts about recycling 1 ton of corrugated cardboard:
Saves 17 trees from having to be cut down and used for pulp
Saves 7000 gallons of water
Saves 11 barrels – 462 gallons – of oil
Saves more than 3 cubic yards of landfill space
Corrugated can be recycled an average of 7 times before the fibers become too short and they are filtered out as sludge during the pulping process, which is then used as cover at landfills." (www.papertrail.com)

According to the EPA, paper products take up 34% of landfills. (www.epa.gov)

Making the pulp used in unrecycled cardboard creates sulfur dioxide, a gas that contributes to acid rain. (www.valleyrecycling.org)

Finally, it is important to buy recycled cardboard (and other recycled products) in order to close the loop. If we don't create a market for recycled products by buying them, companies cannot afford to use our recyclables in their manufacturing, which defeats all of our effort in the first place.