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8 Lesser-Known Facts About Semi-Trucks Every day, hundreds of thousands of semi-trailer trucks make their way down America’s highways and interstates. While most passenger vehicle drivers are familiar with the sight of these 18-wheelers, relatively few people have any good idea of how they function, or why. Here are eight of the lesser-known facts about the nation’s semi-trucks. 1) How Semis Got Their Name Curiously, semis are not named for the part of the vehicle that contains the engine [...]

The Urgency of the Global Plastic Problem In the U.S. and around the world, plastic has only been in widespread production for a little under 70 years. In that relatively short amount of time, production totals have reached an incredible 9.1 billion tons. Unfortunately, Americans and people in other countries currently recycle only a small percentage of our plastic output. Unless some basic changes take place soon, the global plastic problem will only grow more and more severe over time. [...]

Benefits of Natural Gas Semi Truck Engines As cars and trucks are constantly evolving and changing, companies must continually evaluate what the best choices are on the market, both for their own best interests and for the interests of the future of the planet. One promising new development is compressed natural gas. This new technology offers many benefits, which is why here at Ecology, we’ve made a commitment to transitioning to these types of semi truck engines by 2020. Discover [...]

Environmental and Economic Benefits of Scrap Metal Recycling Any time a single material is produced in massive amounts, it has the potential to become an environmental and economic drain. And scrap metal is something we produce a lot of in the United States. How much? About 150 million metric tons every year, with about 85 million of those tons being iron and steel. Other metals that produce large amounts of scrap include aluminum, copper, stainless steel, lead, and zinc. All [...]

The Top 4 Most Important Waste Items to Recycle We all know that recycling is important. But, there are a few items that are a bit more important to recycle than others. So, make the extra effort and be sure that you are recycling these items: 1. Aluminum Cans Aluminum cans are easy to recycle and doing so makes a big impact. These commonly found cans are 100 percent recyclable. When you recycle aluminum cans, much less energy is required [...]

Things You Should Never "Wish Cycle" in Recycling Bins Reading the title, your first question is likely, “What does it mean to wish cycle?” Well, wish cycling is something that most of us are guilty of; we have some trash in hand, pass a recycling bin, and ask ourselves if the item we need to throw away is recyclable or not. Without a clear answer, we put it in the recycling bin and hope for the best. But this poses [...]

5 Dangerous Effects of Green Waste Dumping Imagine you see someone dump their grass clippings, garden waste and weeds into a forested area just outside a residential complex. Perhaps it’s really an extension of the person’s own backyard, or they drove little ways from their house to take it there. It seems harmless, right? After all, garden waste and other compost materials are organic and are not technically trash. Green waste can naturally decompose, so why not dump it anywhere? [...]

Avoid Tricks of the Trade with a Reputable CRV Center Recycling is something that all responsible citizens take part in. In addition to receiving the refund value for CRV items (aluminum cans, plastic bottles, glass, etc.), you get the satisfaction of knowing that, through recycling, you’re making a difference in the future of the planet. Through recycling, pollution and the release of toxins are reduced, there’s less need for mining and fewer natural resources are affected. Unfortunately, there are some [...]

7 Green Near-Future Recycling Techniques to Anticipate Science is constantly advancing, bringing us more and more innovative recycling solutions. Some of the newest techniques are on the cusp of becoming common practice. Check out these recycling techniques you can anticipate seeing over the next few months and years: 1. Recycling concrete and rebar Swedish student, Omer Haciomeroglu invented a robot that makes it possible to recycle concrete and even rebar when demolishing buildings. Typically, all of the materials in an [...]

5 Most Commonly Recycled Scrap Metals and their Sources Scrap metal recycling is a wonderful way to reuse resources and avoid the high economic and environmental costs of mining. Because metal is present in many products and items that we use in our everyday lives, scrap metal is plentiful. Even so, much more recycling could be done than what is currently actually happening. Only about 30% of metals are currently recycled, meaning that 70% of metals could be recycled, but [...]