Cast Your Vote for Recycling

This week’s election may have divided us as a nation, but there’s one thing on which most would agree:  we need to do a better job of recycling.

Thankfully, there’s a day for that. America Recycles Day, turning 15 on November 15, may not rank up there in the public consciousness with major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but an estimated 2 million people will celebrate it at public events ranging from electronics collections to a recycled art show. Though many of the events will be fun, there’s a serious side to recycling that should not be overlooked.

• Recycling creates jobs. Millions of Americans are employed by companies that recycle, but consider this fact: much of the recycling effort cannot happen without public participation. The simple act of recycling and buying recycled products can create the momentum that builds materials markets and fills the supply chain of recycled materials that can help fuel our economy.  
• Recycling makes a huge difference in our communities. There are some interesting stats out there. For example, the number of cans recycled every 30 seconds equals the number of people who could fill an entire pro football stadium. Recycling just one aluminum can saves the energy equivalent of powering a 46-inch LED TV for 3 hours.  A glass container can go from the recycling bin to a store shelf in as few as 30 days. The list goes on and on. 
• Recycling is not that difficult. It just takes basic knowledge and a sincere commitment to become an active, effective participant.

 “Command central” for America Recycles Day is this website. It’s where you can register your recycling event, find a local event to attend or at the very least, make a deeper commitment to sustainability. The site offers a Recycling Locator by category, a cool way to reduce the number of unwanted catalogues you receive in the mail, and other goodies.

Most importantly, recycling is not, and cannot, be a one-day event. It requires a 24/7/365 effort by all of us to find the best ways to recycle, reuse and reclaim.

EverLights and Alderman John Pope Hold Free E-Waste Recycling Drive

Every May, Alderman John Pope leads his 10^th ward with a handful of green events around the community to encourage residents to go green and help keep our community clean. For three years, we have helped Alderman Pope achieve this goal by offering free electronics recycling to local residents and businesses for the entire month.

During his 13 years as Alderman of Chicago’s 10th ward, Pope has been known for his green initiatives and strong belief in creating a sustainable community. “Our annual green events are important because they help us educate community residents about sustainability programs that we feel are really important,” said Pope. “Residents have had a tremendous response to these programs over the last five years and we’re excited to see how we can make it an even bigger success in the years to come.”

EverLights Team With Alderman John A. Pope

We are happy to announce that the drive has once again been a great success. Thanks to the help of the employees at the Alderman’s office, and the efforts by both parties to spread the word about the drive, we were able to collect nearly 1,400 pounds of e-waste.

Although the month-long e-waste recycling drive has now come to a close, we want to remind all of our community residents that we offer free e-waste recycling at our location in Chicago year-round. Residents are allowed to bring up to 10 pieces of electronic equipment to be recycled at no cost to them. Our recycling process includes data and hard drive destruction, plus 100% recycling.  For more information, call our office at (877) 934-9873.

What New E-Waste Recycling Laws Mean for Businesses and Building Managers

We want to start this blog post out with a quick poll. You can choose not to participate, but we’d love it if you did!

If you answered “throw it away,” you could be in big trouble come January 1.

Businesses (and homeowners) in Illinois will be prohibited from sending old electronic equipment to landfills. While there is currently a law in effect that requires some of that electronic material to be recycled, the new regulation adds more equipment to the list, and creates bigger penalties for businesses that do not comply.

How big are these penalties? Currently the fine for violating the Illinois e-waste recycling law is $1,000 per incident. Once January rolls around, however, the fines will be increased to $7,000 for each violation. You may be thinking to yourself, “$7,000 isn’t much money in the grand scheme of things.” While that may be true, it seems pointless to accept a penalty when it’s so simple to safely and lawfully dispose of your material.

Because these laws require manufacturers to recycle a certain percentage of the equipment they sell, most will have a program in place for you to return used equipment. Since businesses and buildings go through electronic equipment more often, and in greater numbers than a homeowner does, these programs aren’t always ideal for them. Luckily, there are recycling companies (like EverLights) that make recycling e-waste safe and easy for businesses.

Our e-waste recycling process guarantees all of your information is safely disposed of. Before materials are shredded, all the information is wiped from your hard drives, ensuring nobody will ever get their hands on it. Once your information is removed, the materials go through a shredding and smelting process to break them down into their original forms. The “new” material is then sent off to manufacturers who use it to create new equipment, including electronics. Once the process is complete, we’ll send you a certificate of recycling, proving that your materials were recycled following all regulations.

If you’re not recycling electronic equipment at your office or building, you should be. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s also required by law. Plus it’s really easy.

We’re more than happy to answer any questions you might have about this topic. Feel free to give us a call any time at (877) 934-9873 or send an email to info@everlights.com and we’ll help you out.

How EverLights Made Its Earth Day Celebration a Huge Success

During the last few weeks you may have noticed how excited we were about our plans for Earth Day. This year we decided to take our previous Earth Day efforts to the next level by hosting three separate e-waste recycling drives and participating in two Earth Day fairs hosted by a few of our other clients.

The e-waste drives were a brand new experience for EverLights, and we were really anxious to see how everything would turn out. Thanks in large part to our Earth Day partners, Lowe Construction and Management Company and NorthShore University Health System, we were able to collect an incredible amount of e-waste.

So how did we do it?

On Monday, April 16 and Tuesday, April 17, Lowe Construction and Management Company welcomed EverLights into two of its buildings. Monday’s event was held at 70 E. Lake St. and Tuesday’s event was held at 815 W. Van Buren. Tenants were invited to bring us any old electronics they needed to get rid of, and we provided the participants, and other tenants, with a few free items to thank them for stopping by. Between the two buildings, we collected over 600 pounds of e-waste, as well as a few fluorescent lamps and batteries.

On Friday, April 20, NorthShore University Health Systems gave us the opportunity to set up a similar recycling drive in each of its 4 hospitals, as well as three of its office locations. During these events, hospital employees were asked to bring old electronics in from home and the items were collected free of charge. Through these e-waste drives, we collected over 5,000 pounds of e-waste! Going into the day, we weren’t sure what kind of turnout to expect. When we brought the equipment back to our warehouse for final counts, we were thrilled to discover how much we had collected.

When we combine the totals from all nine events, we collected over 5,000 pounds of e-waste in a one week span. We are incredibly proud of how the events went, and we cannot wait to do it again next year.

We would like to give a final thank you to our partner companies, Lowe Construction and Management Company and NorthShore University Health System, and their employees and tenants, for making our first Earth Day e-waste drive a tremendous success. Without their help, and the help of all our employees, these events would not have been possible.

3 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

With Earth Day fast approaching (April 22), we’re getting really excited to see what some other businesses and organizations around the country have in store for us. The Earth Day Network has a campaign called “A Billion Acts of Green.” The program is designed to encourage people and businesses around the world to take the pledge to go green and help celebrate Earth Day. There are only 12 days left until Earth Day, and the Earth Day Network has almost reached its goal of 1 billion pledges. We encourage you to log on to www.earthday.org and take the pledge today. Once you’ve done that, consider participating in one of the following Earth Day events. Even doing one small thing can make a huge difference.

Earth Day on the National Mall

If you’re in the Washington, D.C. area, this event is the place to be. From noon until 7 p.m. a rally will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Tens of thousands of environmentally-conscious people from all walks of life and all parts of the country are expected to participate and they will be joined by civic leaders and celebrities for this incredible Earth Day event.

A few highlights of the event:

•   Free and open to the public
•   Top musical talent (Sting and John Legend performed in 2011)
•   Prominent speakers and celebrities
•   Youth rally and voter registration
•   Live news coverage, global webcast
•   Renewable energy demonstrations
•   Non-profit and embassy booths
•   Interactive exhibits

For more information visit the event page.

5K For Earth Day

Here’s a fun event that those of you in the Chicago area might be interested in.

Please join Green Dot Environmental as they celebrate their 3rd Annual 5K for Earth Day presented by Merchants Banc on Saturday, April 21, 2012. Beginning with a family friend 5K run/walk, the race will culminate at the Humboldt Park boat house with a free Green Living Expo including great music, family entertainment, delicious food, exciting vendors and shopping, environmental education and fun for the whole family. Stop by this fun event if you’re in the area on Saturday, April 21 and learn about a number of ways to “go green.” Race participants will each receive a free t-shirt and recyclable tote bag.

For more information, visit www.earthday5kchicago.com.

Earth Day E-Waste Recycling Drives

After participating in the Earth Day celebration by hosting events in our own community the last few years, EverLights decided to expand its reach. This year, EverLights will celebrate Earth Day by hosting a number of E-Waste recycling drives across the city. We wanted to take the things we’ve been doing well in our own community, and make an impact on a larger audience by doing something similar in downtown Chicago. By setting up shop in the lobby of our partner buildings, we will be providing the tenants and visitors with a convenient location to bring old electronics, while also giving them a forum to ask any questions they might have about e-waste or fluorescent lamp recycling. Listed below is our calendar of events from April 16 – April 23.

Date: Monday, April 16, 2012

Time: 9 a.m. – Noon

Address: 70 E. Lake Street

Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Time: 9 a.m. – Noon

Address: 815 W. Van Buren

Date: Thursday, April 19, 2012

Time: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Address: 303 E. Wacker

Date: Friday, April 20, 2012

Time: 9 a.m. – Noon

Address: North Shore Hospitals (Evanston, Glenbrook, Highland Park, Skokie)

Date: Monday, April 23, 2012

Time: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Address: 111 S. Wacker

Please direct any questions about the e-waste recycling drives to EverLights by calling (877) 934-9873.

Celebrate Earth Day by Recycling Your E-Waste! (Update)

On April 22, 2012, people across the globe will be participating in the 42nd annual Earth Day celebration. Earth Day was originally created to generate awareness and appreciation of our natural environment. In 1970, Earth Day was celebrated for the first time in San Francisco and a few other cities around that area. Since then, it has gained international recognition and is celebrated by more than 500 million people in 175 countries each year.

In years past, EverLights has participated in Earth Day events in our local community, such as 5k walks, e-waste recycling drives and local park clean-ups. While we are very proud of our past efforts to help improve the environment, we decided it was time to take it one step further. This year, EverLights will celebrate Earth Day by hosting a number of E-Waste recycling drives across the city. We wanted to take the things we’ve been doing well in our own community, and make an impact on a larger group by doing something similar in downtown Chicago. By setting up shop in the lobby of our partner buildings, we will be providing the tenants with a convenient location to bring old electronics, while also giving them a forum to ask any questions they might have about e-waste recycling.

We were very fortunate to find two buildings to help us hold our inaugural e-waste recycling Earth Day program. Our great partners at Lowe Construction & Management Company will help us celebrate by allowing us to collect e-waste in their lobby on two separate days during the week leading up to Earth Day.

Calendar of Events

Date: Monday, April 16, 2012

Time: 9 a.m. – Noon

Address: 70 E. Lake Street

Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Time: 9 a.m. – Noon

Address: 815 W. Van Buren

Date: Thursday, April 19, 2012

Time: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Address: 303 E. Wacker

Date: Friday, April 20, 2012

Time: 9 a.m. – Noon

Address: North Shore Hospitals (Evanston, Glenbrook, Highland Park, Skokie)

Date: Monday, April 23, 2012

Time: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Address: 111 S. Wacker

On each of these days you will find EverLights in the lobby of the building listed. We will be on hand with a box to place the e-waste in, informational materials about e-waste recycling laws and other recycling regulations, and a free Earth-friendly giveaway for all participants.

The cost of recycling will be covered by the buildings, so tenants can recycle as much as they would like at no cost to them.

Come on out and help EverLights celebrate Earth Day by recycling your old electronics. Not only will you be helping the environment by recycling, but we’ll also give you a free gift to take home. Want to know what it is? Stop by our event and find out!

For more information about the Earth Day events, or for lamp and ballast recycling information, contact us at (877) 934-9873 or by email at info@everlights.com.

E-Waste Recycling Red Flags

Think before you act. It’s a thought that is preached to us our entire lives by parents, teachers and pretty much anyone else we meet. As common as it is, we all still have the tendency to jump into things without thinking about the effect our decision can have.

This also holds true in the business world. When we see the opportunity to make our lives easier, it’s easy to dive right in without a second thought. Building managers, engineers and business owners will face a number of temptations as new e-waste recycling laws pop up around the country. In order to prevent you from giving in to those temptations, we’d like to provide a list of things to look for in an e-waste recycling company that should be considered “red flags.”

Paying for E-Waste

If your e-waste recycling company pays you for the materials you’re sending them, odds are little to nothing is actually being recycled. In order to comply with the new e-waste recycling laws, a lot of businesses will be tempted to work with a company that pays for the materials. The idea that you can follow the law and make money is too good to pass up, right?

While that may seem like a good idea, it almost guarantees that the e-waste will end up in the wrong place and will not be tracked properly. It also puts you at a higher risk of receiving one of the $7,000 fines that can now be handed out to businesses that fail to recycle e-waste. To avoid potential complications, it would be in your company’s best interest to stay away from this practice.

Accepting E-Waste for Free

This idea goes hand-in-hand with companies that pay for e-waste. People don’t always realize is that it costs money for a company to properly recycle the materials found in electronic equipment. While the end result of the process is obviously to make money, the recycling companies need to cover the costs of breaking down the equipment into useful materials. In order to cover those costs, recycling companies have to charge a small fee when accepting the materials from your business.If the materials are accepted for free, or are paid for, there is a good chance they’re ending up in landfills, incinerators or are sent overseas to be broken down at a low cost.

While paying for something you could get for free isn’t the most appealing idea, spending a little money on e-waste recycling could end up costing you less in the long run. Not only will paying the low cost to recycle save your business from any potential fines, you could also use your recycling certificate to position yourself as an environmentally friendly company.

Failure to Track E-Waste

If you’re going to spend the money to recycled your e-waste properly, you probably want to know where it goes and what’s done with it, right?

Any business can say it recycles all of its materials properly, but the only way to cover your tracks is to work with a company that will provide documents proving that your e-waste was recycled correctly. At the very least, you should receive a certificate of recycling each time you send electronics to a recycling company. This certificate will list what type of equipment was recycled, and how much of it there was.

The best e-waste recycling companies are those that take the process a step further. These companies will track the serial number on each piece of equipment so you can see exactly where it has been and where it is going. This not only gives your business the comfort of knowing all your information was erased properly, but it also provides you with proof that everything was recycled properly in case you’re ever questioned.

If the e-waste recycling company you work with falls under any of these three categories, you should consider other options. EverLights guarantees that all the e-waste it receives is processed in the United States and none of the materials are sent overseas. We have the ability to track all of your electronics and will always provide you with a certificate of recycling at the end of the process.

If you have any questions regarding e-waste, lamp, ballast or battery recycling, please feel free to call us at (877) 934-9873 or send an email to info@everlights.com. If you have anything else our readers should be on the lookout for, please feel free to share it in the comments section below. We would love to hear what you have to say!

How Will You Celebrate Earth Day?

We love having a healthy planet to live on, don’t you? When you think about it, that’s the whole reason EverLights exists. And with Earth Day only two months away (April 22), we decided it was time for us to figure out how we are going to celebrate one of our favorite days.

We were sitting here thinking of ways to celebrate when something clicked. We needed to host an e-waste recycling drive. E-waste is a hot button issue right now, and we feel obligated to do something about it.

What Are We Doing?

The next step was figuring out how we were going to do this. It’s easy to approach people or businesses and tell them why they should be recycling. The hard part is getting that same group to take action.

So we came up with a simple solution to the problem. To make recycling as easy as possible, we’re going to partner with a few buildings around Chicago during the week leading up to Earth Day to help collect e-waste and educate people about the new legislation. By setting up shop in the lobby of these buildings, we’ll be providing the tenants with a convenient location to bring old electronics, while also giving them a forum to ask any questions they might have about e-waste recycling.

It’s our hope that people will have a better understanding of what should be done with electronics once these events are over. Whether they decide to recycle with a company like EverLights or donate the equipment to charity, we’ll be happy knowing that the materials are not ending up in landfills.

How Can You Help?

This idea is still in the planning stages, and we need your help to make it a success. EverLights is looking for four or five partners to host an event in your building. We will provide more details for those who express interest. What we can tell you now is that we will set aside a date and time (9 a.m.-noon) to set up in your lobby. We will bring a large gaylord with us on that date to place the e-waste in. When the event is over, our driver will bring the e-waste back to our warehouse for processing. You don’t have to do any of the work.

Tenants can participate by simply bringing us your e-waste. We want all of it. Bring whatever you have and we’ll recycle it for you. We’ll also give you something in return. We’re not going to tell you what that is yet. You’ll have to come see us to find out.

If you’re interested in participating in our e-waste recycling drive for Earth Day, send an email to dkehoe@everlights.com or call our office at (773) 734-9873. We’ll go over all the specifics and add your building to our list of participants.

This is a great opportunity to get involved and make a difference. You can come pay us a visit even if we don’t hold an event in your building. We’d love to see you!

5 Questions You Should Ask Your Recycling Company

With new e-waste recycling laws popping up around the country, we wanted to give you a set of questions to ask your current recycling company, or a company you are considering working with. Although this specific list was compiled with e-waste in mind, some of the questions can also be used when recycling other materials.

Don’t worry, we’ll tell you what you should expect to hear in response to these questions too. If the recycling company tells you something different, or doesn’t give you a straight answer, we suggest you take a pass on working with them.

1. Is my information safe?

Sensitive information is the number one reason companies hesitate when setting up an e-waste recycling program. We can’t really blame them, either. Identities are stolen all the time, so it makes sense to take caution. The recycling company you send your e-waste to should have a system in place for removing all valuable information and destroying hard drives that store it. At EverLights, our process includes wiping the equipment of all valuable information, shredding the hard drive and tracking each piece of equipment that comes through. Which leads us to the next question your recycler should be able to answer.

2. How can I be sure my information was destroyed?

It’s easy for a company to say it handles your e-waste a certain way. But it’s all talk unless the company can provide you with documentation that shows what happened to your equipment and where it ended up. Before you go calling your current recycling company to ask why you haven’t received any detailed information about your e-waste, keep in mind that it is an extra step in the process, and requires an extra time commitment from the recycling company. Most recyclers that do offer this service only do it when requested by the customer. If you want to make sure your information is safe, ask your recycling company to provide you with the proper documents. If the recycler cannot do that, it might be time consider a company that values your safety.

3. Where is my e-waste sent?

All the e-waste laws, both new and old, are great. We can’t wait until all 50 states are on board. The issue that remains, however, is that there are very few regulations controlling where the e-waste we produce ends up. Because of that, some companies will find loopholes in the system and send e-waste to places like China and Africa. Breaking down the equipment is less expensive in these places, and is also dangerous for those who do the work. There are little to no safety regulations in place, which allows companies to put employees in an unsafe environment. Using a company that does this could damage your company’s image, as well as its bank account. We advise you to stick with a recycling company that keeps e-waste in the U.S., even if it costs you a few extra dollars.

http://www.greenpeace.org

4. How can I prove I recycled?

The wrong answer to this should be the biggest red flag of all. As a business, you are required to recycle certain materials and can receive hefty fines for failing to do so. Any responsible recycling company should provide you with a certificate of recycling for each project. It will be hard to find a recycler that doesn’t do this, but if you do, we suggest getting away as soon as possible.

5. How much will it cost?

The final question, which is often the deciding factor for businesses, is the price. We can’t sit here and tell you what it will cost to recycle your e-waste because every company is different. What we can do is suggest that you stay away from companies who will pay you for the equipment. We understand the temptation of working with a company that will pay you. The problem is that your e-waste usually won’t end up being recycled. If these companies can’t resell your electronics, the equipment usually ends up overseas to be broken down for almost no cost, or in landfills. If that happens, the waste can be tracked back to your company, causing big problems. In our opinion, it’s worth paying the small amount it will cost you to recycle to save yourself from thousands of dollars in fines.

Now that you have these questions as a reference, shop around a little. Find a recycling company that can guarantee your safety while keeping your costs at a minimum. Each of these aspects are important in their own way. If one of them can’t be answered by the recycling company, move on to the next place.

EverLights can guarantee that your information will stay safe, offers tracking services for delicate information, we never send e-waste overseas and we provide recycling certificates for every project we work on. If you have any questions about our e-waste recycling services, or any other services, give us a call. We’re always happy to help!

How to Recycle Your E-Waste

Here’s the situation. You’ve read our previous posts about e-waste recycling, or heard about the new laws from other sources, and you decided it’s time to get serious about recycling your old electronics. Now the question is, how do you do it?

Well you’re in luck, because we have all the answers to your problems.

One of the many services EverLights offers to its customers is e-waste recycling. That should come as no surprise, considering how much we talk about it. We strive to make this entire process as easy on our customers as possible. This starts from the very beginning when a new call comes in asking about recycling and lasts the entire duration of the project.

We offer three easy to use recycling options for e-waste, all of which can be used by any of our customers.

Bulk Pickups 

EverLights will come to your location, whether it is a warehouse, office building or any other job site to pick up your old electronic equipment. In order to make the pickup go as smoothly as possible, we can bring packaging to your facility a few days beforehand. By doing this, we are able to expedite the process the day of the pickup, saving you time and money.

Pickups are usually recommended for businesses with large amounts of e-waste. We will also work with you to recycle your lamps, ballasts and batteries at the same time, if you choose to do so. This makes pickups more worthwhile and can save your business money.

Mail-In Recycling Program

Our mail-in recycling program, EverMail, isn’t just for lamps and batteries. You can use it to recycle e-waste too! It works the same way as our other options. Simply order one of the e-waste recycling boxes, put your equipment inside and send it back to us. Everything is covered in the initial cost of the box, so you don’t have to worry about any extra fees later on. This is the most cost-effective and efficient option for businesses that only have a few pieces of equipment to recycle.

Click to Order!

On-Site Drop-off

This is exactly what it sounds like. The final option we offer is an on-site drop-off. This is available to any business, regardless of size, and is often the easiest way to recycle. Simply bring your e-waste to our warehouse. We’ll help you unload the equipment, weigh it and send you on your way (once you’ve paid, of course). It really is that easy.

Want more information about e-waste recycling? Check out some of our previous blog posts or read our e-waste recycling green paper. There is a lot of great information in them, so make sure you check them out.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share. We’d love to hear your feedback!