WASTE WATCHERS BLOG

  What to do when the price of recycling beer bottles rises? For many towns around the country—like Deer Lodge, Montana—the answer isn’t an elegant one: make trash cans larger. For cities like Hollywood, Florida, the response was more carrot than stick. Here, a full recycling bin counts toward your next full beer, and it’s an incentive concept worth examining for businesses interested in curbing costs.

Many people are shocked to learn that 84 percent of clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators. Upon learning this, we wanted to know what is driving that outcome and what kind of impact it has on the environment. Here's everything you need to know about why managing textile waste is so challenging, the impacts it has on the environment, what brands are doing to reduce textile waste, and how your business can take action. Continue reading to learn more!

  FAST FACTS: Before you dive into the main content in this post, check out these surprising facts about textile waste:

As a business owner or manager, vowing to become more socially responsible is a great objective to strive for! We’ve outlined 6 ways that your business can improve its social responsibility this year!

  2021 is right around the corner and while this has been anything but a normal year filled with unprecedented challenges, 2020 has also brought along with it a newfound awareness, resolve, and resilience collectively, which we can use as motivation to create a brighter future as we turn the page on this next chapter.  Undoubtedly, there are already a slew of blog posts in our inboxes suggesting lofty goals for businesses and individuals to consider as they enter 2021. However, we know how overwhelming those messages can be after a tough year, so we’re here to keep it short and sweet.  Every habit, whether for an individual or an organization, takes small steps to build into an ongoing practice. As we all prepare to welcome what we hope to be a fresh start, consider adopting one or more of the following sustainability tips with a little intention and be sure to take the time to appreciate the positive changes, both big and small, that ensue. 

During the holiday season, Americans produce an additional one million tons of waste each week! We put together a resource that will help you reduce your waste this holiday season.

  I think most of us can admit that we’ve collectively experienced a strange year, to put it mildly. And as 2020 draws closer to its end, there seems to be a sense of relief that has settled in for many as we wade into the gift-giving season. However, if you’ve read any of RoadRunner’s recent blogs, wishing you a “green” holiday or sharing sustainability tips to encourage more eco-friendly habits during upcoming festivities, you may have picked up that this time of year is responsible for a significant increase in waste generation (see below). Moreover, the average holiday waste figure above is based on data from previous years when much of the world wasn’t living through a global pandemic—An ongoing event that has shifted the way many households live, how businesses operate, and the type of waste we all create.  With this in mind, we wanted to talk about a material that most businesses and households are probably quite familiar with, more so now than ever before: Cardboard!  Given that many of us are working—or, at the very least—shopping from home, we’re likely well aware of how cardboard makes its way into our space, in the form of online orders, takeout meals, ongoing deliveries, office shipments, and more. In an effort to not only educate, but also motivate you, to recycle your cardboard appropriately, we put together an infographic called: Cardboard Recycling 101 to share some interesting facts, explain the lifecycle of this material, and, most importantly, encourage people to reuse, recycle, or upcycle it this holiday season and into the new year.

During the holiday season, Americans produce an additional one million tons of waste each week! We put together a resource that will help you reduce your waste this holiday season.

  It likely comes as no surprise that people generate more waste during the holidays than any other time of year—25 percent more to be exact. And given the unexpected circumstances that 2020 brought with it this year, that percentage isn’t expected to decrease any time soon. If anything, with all the online shopping, deliveries, and takeout orders, we’re likely to see an increase in holiday waste generation.  It's also worth noting that we're already deep into prime “waste generation season,” which falls between Thanksgiving and New Years, annually. So we thought it would be helpful to share not just the staggering facts about holiday waste, but also some helpful solutions to reduce waste (and hopefully recycle more) during this time and beyond. Before sharing more about the landscape of holiday waste, consider that reducing waste at your business or home doesn’t just positively impact the environment, but can also help save money by lowering recurring expenses. The reason for this is when unexpected waste increases occur, typical vendors can be required to service your location more frequently, or pick up a lot more trash than what was agreed upon in a waste contract—often resulting, most commonly, in overage charges and unexpected fees.  That’s why it’s important to not only anticipate when waste increases may occur for your business, but also work with a waste and recycling hauler that makes it easy to change service frequencies, add new streams as needed (e.g. cardboard, mixed paper, etc.), and help you avoid unnecessary charges when possible.  All that said, please see some key stats below to put the increase in holiday waste into perspective and check out our sustainable holiday infographic for tips on how you can reduce waste this season and into next year!

During the holiday season, Americans produce an additional one million tons of waste each week! We put together a resource that will help you reduce your waste this holiday season.

  It’s officially the season of giving, receiving, eating, and...recycling? Okay, maybe we made that last one up. But, did you know that during the holiday season, Americans produce an additional one million tons of waste every week!? At RoadRunner, we’re all about celebrating the holidays enthusiastically, but like to do so in the least wasteful way possible. Rest assured, we’ll let you in on our secrets to best prepare you to sustainably celebrate the holidays too. Even though this winter season may be completely different than years past, one thing remains the same: There will be a lot of trash filling our cans. Potentially even more than previous years given the general increase in online orders (and shipping materials), takeout meals, and other pandemic-related deliveries. The average American tosses out 25 percent more garbage during the holiday season—Thanksgiving to New Years—than any other time of the year. And, as we mentioned, with many of us more reliant on delivery services than ever, this means that we need to be both proactive and mindful about reducing the amount of waste we generate and dispose of! Here are some of RoadRunner’s top tips to help you make this holiday a “green” one.

Small Business Saturday is an American shopping tradition held annually on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Get a head start on your holiday shopping by supporting your favorite small businesses on November 24th!

  Can you believe it’s almost Thanksgiving? We can’t! This year, among many things, has felt paradoxical—time flying one minute and standing still the next. But despite the unforeseen circumstances of 2020, a major theme that's been consistently present is the resilience among people and institutions in the face of challenges. One area where this resilience is apparent is in the support of small businesses. Whether a local restaurant, unique consignment shop, or small town bakery, there have been numerous examples of communities coming together to support the businesses they love most...even amidst a global pandemic. And, this makes sense when 99.9 percent of businesses in the U.S.— 30.7 million to be exact—fall into this category and contribute to keeping our economy healthy. However, as winter sets in across the country, and COVID-19 cases rise, it’s important to not lose sight of the momentum behind supporting small businesses before, through, and after the holidays, even if that support looks a little different this year. Moreover, it’s worth noting: some small business owners, while grateful for the influx of support, have also struggled to keep up with mountains of new orders or expanding their supply chain, especially if their products are handmade, require customization, or are created with specialty ingredients or parts.  That’s why, it’s important to support these business owners with patience and proactivity top of mind—Shopping earlier this year and giving small store owners the space, understanding, and time necessary to fill your order within the constraints of their business and resources.  This coming week marks the 10th annual Small Business Saturday, but is still happening to call attention to the importance of shopping at small businesses, which, no matter what year it is, happens to be the backbone of our local communities and national economy. So be sure to keep reading for why you should support small business, a few sustainability tips to keep in mind while shopping in-person or online, and a roundup of local businesses to support in key markets (plus, a map for how to #ShopSmall in your area).

Each year, November 15th is dedicated to recycling in America! We’ve provided all the information you need to know so you can get involved!

  Each year, November 15th is dedicated to recycling in America! The day was started by Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and many communities across the country host various events to promote, celebrate, and raise awareness about recycling before and after this special day. Below, we've provided all the information you need to know so you can get involved for America Recycles Day and apply these learnings well beyond a single event!

In the midst of a variety of news stories, it’s easy to have missed some of the smaller, more positive stories in the sustainability sector. Thankfully, this is where RoadRunner has you covered! In our latest blog post, we’re rounding up some of the latest sustainability news you should know and highlighting helpful takeaways from each article in hopes of inspiring your business to get involved as well!