While the world stands steady and waits for a leader, one printer company is taking the bull by the horns. After years of sitting back and watching consumers discard their used products in the trash one manufacturer has made a statement.  Lexmark has taken the first of many steps in the right direction.

In celebration of Earth Day, today Lexmark released the findings of a Life Cycle Assessment that looked into the environmental impact of discarded toner cartridges. Finding that sending a used toner cartridge back to Lexmark for recycling, as opposed to discarding it in the trash, reduces the overall carbon footprint of those toner cartridges by up to 60 percent.

By throwing away your used printer cartridges creates large volumes of waste, but did you know that it takes 2.5 quarts of oil to produce the petroleum product that creates the plastic shell of a printer cartridge. By reducing the amount of waste that goes into the landfill and reusing the old shells, you can reduce the amount of oil that is consumed daily.

Lexmark now offers a free collection program for its ink and toner printer cartridges. On Lexmark’s website, you can request a prepaid return envelope for printer cartridges or print a return label for multiple toner cartridges (remember to save the box it came in) to send them back to Lexmark for recycling. Lexmark pledges that 100% of the printer cartridges it collects are either reused or remanufactured for recycling.

Also celebrated for a company that makes its money by marketing printers and printer cartridges, Lexmark urges customers to print less. “They have made it a priority to train its customers on what steps they can take to implement responsible printing practices, such as printing less and recycling, to reduce the negative impact to the environment,” said Marty Canning, Lexmark vice president and president of its Printing Solutions and Services section. They suggest customers print only what they need, use double-sided prints as much as possible, and employ digital document processes and paper-less features such as scan-to-email to share documents. The company also recommends purchasing the highest-yield printer cartridges, which helps cut costs and reduce waste.

Another benefit of recycling toner cartridges is the cost advantage. Typically a recycled toner cartridge costs less to manufacture and that savings is passed on to the consumer. So the next time your in the market for a printer cartridge, Check with your local supplier and try and take advantage of going green. Your children and grandchildren will thank you for it when their not too busy texting.

The decision to build your own windmill , has to be founded on a few  criteria  that include , but not esentially limited to, the dimensions  of your property , the mean  velocity  and availability  of the established air currant . Unite  this with the fact that technology, techniques and recently developed  materials have made the realistic use of wind power for individual properties a reality. So now is the best time to get answers to the question as to why you should “build your own windmill?”

I am sure these are the top  six Inducements  for you to at least  think about   whether to build your own windmill which might  be a functional addition to your energy portfolio, or start of, your Green alternative  energy  solutions for your place .

One – The financial  reason  is almost certainly the greatest  with the invariable  uphill   spiral  of energy  costs over the last few years , caused  partly by the rising  needs  of the newer global economies of India and China and in part through the uncertanty  in the Middle East.

Two – By making  your own windmill you would be making use of one the most abundant free  energy sources – windflow

Three –Unlike solar panels, wind power works even when its cloudy, day or night

Four – inovative  windmill designs  are very flexible and can be adapted  to provide energy for a whole series  of applications. Less powerful  models  can be used to power individual appliances, adapted for marine usage or made portable for use with RV’s. Larger  models can be constructed  to be able   to make considerable repayment  to the reduction of   energy  costs for your home .

Five -  By studying the guides and instructional videos readily avaiable  online , the worry  of making  your own wind mill is lowered to a straightforward step by step process.

Six – The cost and complexity of building a modern wind turbine  has many advantages over building  a solar system.

(I have to add an addendum, in that your choice of alternative energy source will of course be dictated by the size and position of your property, a larger windmill usually requires a property size of about 1 acre to be practical.)

All in all given the right property and sufficient wind speed (which can be calculated using the inbuilt maps included in the guides), then the decision to build your own windmill is a very viable alternative to solar power.