Whether we like it or not, being green is not something that can be compartmentalised to just one area of our lives. Once we become aware that practically everything we do affects our planet, whether for better or worse, it becomes our responsibility to view our every action through a green filter and to constantly strive to improve and add a pinch more of environmentally-friendliness to our habits.

As the green bug begins to catch on in practically every industry on every continent, manufacturers and consumers alike are forced to turn their attention to aspects of their lives that could formerly be solved by the presence of a giant dumpster out back. The recycling tsunami is catching up with everyone, everywhere, and the printer industry has not come out unscathed.

Recycling printer consumables is one of the easiest and simplest ways to keep your conscience compatible with your printing needs and keep the printing industry as green as possible. While it may be obvious that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, what is less obvious but holds just as true is that the advantages also far outweigh the effort involved in bringing recycling to your printer consumables.

If, as many studies show, nearly 90 percent of the 24 million home computer users in the United Kingdom also own a printer, and if each of these households uses between two and four printer cartridges every year, many millions of printer cartridges are consumed on an annual basis. If each of these were recycled responsibly, not only would tons and tons of usable resources be injected directly back into the manufacturing stream, but it is even very possible that the need for brand new cartridges might be eliminated entirely. An accomplishment like that would represent a giant stride toward making the planet a greener place, and it can all start with the simple act of recycling your extra printer parts.

Most of the planet’s waste is unceremoniously dumped into giant landfill sites, which sit like festering sores on the otherwise lush landscape of our home planet. These landfills contribute to ground water contamination and greenhouse gases emission as well as the spread of disease and filth to all their surroundings. If the over 50 million disposable printer accessories that end up in these landfills every year in the United Kingdom were to instead be recycled, a generous amount of waste would disappear and landfill sites would grow by that much less on a yearly basis.

Some companies operate in an environmentally responsible manner and do everything they can to reduce a cartridge’s carbon footprint. Each year, in the UK, 50 million non-biodegradable printer cartridges are binned and end up in landfill sites. Some of the plastics used to manufacture cartridges can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, leaving more than enough time for their toxic chemicals to spread into the soil and pollute the environment.

The 45 million cartridges binned each year could…

Cover Old Trafford football pitch 17 times.

Build a brand new Blackpool Tower.

Cover Brighton Pier ten times, which would stretch 3 miles out to sea.

Almost fill Big Ben.

Stretch the length of Hadrian’s Wall 15 times – 73 miles!

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Cartridge World, providers of printer consumables such as refill ink cartridges and toner cartridges.

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Cartridge World (http://www.cartridgeworld.co.uk), providers of printer consumables such as refill ink cartridges and toner cartridges.

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Cartridge World, providers of printer consumables such as refill ink cartridges and toner cartridges.

Category: Advice
Keywords: recycling, printer consumables, inkjet cartridges, toner cartridges