Greensource Blog

Children's Hospice South West Mobile Phone Amnesty

2011-11-30T08:47:00.001-08:00

Children's Hospice South West and Greensource Solutions launch our mobile phone amnesty on 1st December 2011.

This will run until 31st January 2012 and we are aiming to receive 1000 mobile phones - that's 1000 messages of support for the families who receive respite care, emergency support and end of life care at Little Bridge House, Charlton Farm and Little Harbour over Christmas and the New Year.

Participating is easy! Simply fill in the contact form on the website and you'll receive a freepost envelope to return any handsets you have.

Any mobile phone, regardless of age or condition can be accepted and will be reused or at worst recycled.

We hope that supporters of the Hospice and recyclers alike will think of us at Christmas time if they get a brand new handset from santa!

Above and Beyond is our newest charity partner!

2011-08-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce our new charity partner, Above and Beyond.

This charity is the fundraising arm for all nine of Bristols central hospitals - which is close to all of our hearts here at Greensource.
They invest in projects that provide gold-standard care, and make a real difference to patients in Bristol.
Each year Above & Beyond provides approx £3 million to the hospitals - a fantastic level of support for our marvellous NHS.

Welcome on board and we look forward to collecting cartridges and mobile phones from their supporters!

Greensource sponsors a gorilla for Barton Hill Primary School!

2011-04-13T03:47:00.000-07:00

Greensource Solutions has sponsored a gorilla statue for Barton Hill Primary School - local to us in Bristol.

This is part of an education and fundraising scheme that Bristol Zoo Gardens have devised as one of the celebrations for its 175th anniversary. The idea is similar in principal to other animal statues seen around the UK (pigs, lions and donkeys all spring to mind). The statues are decorated by artists and displayed to raise awareness and to fund raise.

We are really pleased to be supporting Barton Hill Primary. They are one of the closest schools to Greensource Towers and we saw a selection of designs the kids had submitted from their work in the art group. We reckon the finished Gorilla will look amazing!
It, with all the other school gorillas will be displayed in a prominent location in the Bristol community for 10 weeks during the summer of 2011.

We'll post pictures when the gorilla has been painted.

Greensource Solutions has new partners!

2011-04-13T03:13:00.000-07:00

Greensource Solutions is proud to announce not one, or two, but THREE new partners it will fund raise for!

We always like forming new relationships and these three all have meaning for us:

Bristol Zoo Gardens is so much more than a visitor attraction; we’re also a leading conservation and education charity.

We are involved in a growing number of field conservation projects, working directly to safeguard threatened plants, animals and habitats. Projects range from breeding programmes in the Zoo to conserving species in the wild such as the native White Clawed crayfish, to the lemurs of Madagascar and orphaned gorillas in Cameroon. Gorillas are a critically endangered species and the gorilla sanctuary we support in Cameroon provides a safe haven for young gorillas that have been orphaned by the bushmeat trade. It costs over £100 to provide one month’s supply of leaves to a gorilla at our primate rescue centre in Cameroon.

One of our successful conservation breeding programmes has been the recent birth of twin asiatic lion cubs to first time mum Shiva and dad Kamal. Asiatic lions are a critically endangered species and to protect them from extinction Bristol Zoo is participating in an
internationally co-ordinated breeding programme. It costs over £700 per month to enable us to participate in these breeding programmes.

For further details of how you can support of work please visit our website www.bristolzoo.org.uk
Registered charity number: 1104986

Bristol Zoo Gardens is an institution to us. Many Greensource staff are members of the Zoo and this new partnership coincides with the Zoos 175 anniversary. Being local means a lot to us, as does the philosophy the Zoo maintains in its care of the animals, support of projects overseas and its education programmes.

Respect for Animals campaigns against the cruel and unnecessary international fur trade, believing fur farming and trapping to be morally indefensible.
Every year 75 million animals are killed solely for their fur, a product that no one needs. Animals are farmed in factory conditions or trapped and brutally killed in the wild.
Respect for Animals undertakes education, research and lobbying for the benefit of animals, campaigning against the fur trade for many years. Our research and educational programmes have lead to a drastic decline in fur sales in the UK but fur wearing remains as popular as ever elsewhere in the world.
Find out more at www.respectforanimals.co.uk

This organisations work and campaigning resonates with us.

The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society has been working across Northern Ireland since 1967 promoting the appreciation and enjoyment of good architecture of all periods and encouraging the conservation, restoration and re-use of Ulster's built heritage. As an environmental charity we are very much concerned with sustainability and recycling.

With your support we can continue to:
* Provide information, advice & training for individuals & groups undertaking restoration projects.
* Campaign to protect buildings at risk and bring them back into use.
* Influence planning policy in favour of architectural heritage & good design.
* Increase the enjoyment of our built heritage through an annual programme of events.
* Increase the appreciation, awareness & recording of our built heritage through publications.

To find out more about our work and how you can help make a difference to the protection of the architectural heritage of Ulster

visit www.uahs.org.uk

The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society is a charity recognised by HM Revenue & Customs No. XN 48188 and a Company Limited by Guarantee No. NI35582

We are so pleased to have another partner whose work concerns Northern Ireland.

We look forward to working with Bristol Zoo Gardens, Respect for Animals and Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in 2011 and beyond and hope our relationship with each of them is long lasting and fruitful!

Have HP curbed their Planet Partners cartridge returns scheme?

2011-02-25T01:54:00.000-08:00

I recently had an email from a company in Bristol I'd previously contacted to promote our charity recycling scheme.
They had declined our services, because they were using HP's freepost returns scheme which suited their use. However a month later they told me "it would appear that H P are no longer accepting individual cartridges...we only found out as we print labels on line and it stated no longer available."

This could be great news for the printer cartridge recycling industry!

Despite fierce competition, Hewlett Packard still dominate the printer market and the cartridge remanufacturing market make more compatible HP cartridges than any other brand.

I wonder if margins are squeezing HP now? Their scheme diverted cartridges from landfill, but I would wager the scheme was purely in place to restrict the number of empty cartridges available to remanufacturing companies like us - HP appear to have no other financial benefit from this relationship.

I'll wait and see if more enquiries come to us from Hewlett Packard customers (fingers crossed!)

Super 3D printing

2010-12-23T02:29:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year I passed on some super space age printing technique that a supporter of ours told me about. Well, my boss saw that some bright spark has printed a real car!!!?!

Sometimes this world makes me feel analogue...

Printeco supports Children's Hospice South West for one year and raises thousands!

2010-12-01T01:40:00.000-08:00

Greensource Solutions Printeco cartridge range has supported Children's Hospice South West for one year now and we are extremely proud to tell the world that £14,894 has been raised for the charity from Printeco cartridge sales!

This is a fantastic amount. We support Children's Hospice South West in a variety of ways and approached the charity in 2009 to propose the Printeco partnership.

Greensource donate £2 to the charity from the sale of every Printeco cartridge sold.

Our Printeco cartridge range includes over 300 different compatible toner cartridges. We remanufacture them at our site in Bristol to strict standards - each cartridge has a 2 year guarantee. The cartridge will match or exceed the quality of its branded equivalent and they cost significantly less (in some cases they can be up to 70% cheaper).

Just as important as all of this is their environmental performance. Because these cartridges are remade from empty cartridges, they use a fraction of the energy in their production (compared to branded cartridges) and because Greensource Solutions operations are all at our Bristol location, less road miles are travelled throughout the (second) life of the cartridge compared to overseas imports or many of our competitors.

In short, we think you should use them! If you are interested in finding out more about our Printeco range, or getting a quote on the cartridges then contact our sales team:
sales@greensource.co.uk
0117 3042396

Greensource Solutions unveils it's new website

2010-12-01T01:15:00.000-08:00

We are proud to present our new and improved website. A lot of work has been done to this version to make it easier to navigate around and find what you want to.

On a design related note, this is an official move from cliche green that we (and a zillion other environmental companies) championed for many years.
Now this isn't to say that green is not a great colour and it's connotations and symbolism is in everyones mind. But one day recently something snapped in the psyche of Greensources marketing department. From that point on there has been an almost religious fervour in selecting any colour other than green when designing.

I think the site design is fabulous and the new site tops off what has been a fantastic year for Greensource Solutions.

Onwards and upwards!

How do you catch a ghost?

2010-11-02T09:43:00.001-07:00

Now, I wouldn't say we're superstitious here, but somethings are unexplainable...

We employ three drivers at Greensource. Part of their job is to go and collect empty cartridges from businesses local to us.

There's always been competition and sometimes cartridges will have been taken by another collector - I guess we've done the same on occasion. Most collectors are charity affiliated and most businesses retain loyalty to a certain collector, because of the charity they support.

However the course of events since 2007 has changed this in Bristol. Greensource acquired the two other cartridge collectors local to us and effectively all this argie bargie of one man taking another ones cartridges should have ended...but it didn't.

There is a mysterious/indescribable/ninja/ghost woman who drifts in and out of offices in Bristol taking empty cartridges. I'm starting to obsess about this particular individual though the more I dig the less I know.

Soze cartridge recycling - yes I do support charity!

So, getting in to the role of chief investigator at Greensource I ask all the businesses we collect from and who are aware of this woman who she works for, if they have contact details, even what she looks like! And I come up with zip.
People are genuinely unable to even describe this woman. It's like she has the ability to stand in a room and do what she chooses without anyone even seeing her.

This is becoming surreal and laughable and I am enjoying the jokes with our donors about it.

But there is a serious side that I am more than happy to make platitudes about.
We collect to raise funds for our charity partners and two of these charities are local to us - St Peter's Hospice and Children's Hospice South West. So beyond my bafflement I see our charity partners missing out on something they deserve.

The ghost collector does mention to the businesses she frequents that a charity benefits. But no one seems to pin point which one...The two mentioned most commonly are NSPCC and Clic Sargeant.
I'm really taking the role seriously now, so phone up both charities and dig a little and find out no one regionally or nationally is aware of someone in the Bristol area doing this on their behalf. This is weird - and possibly fraudulent.

My mind is racing, trying on the one hand to justify what the cartridge ninja does (simply a good person, supporting charity very anonymously) while pragmatically building up a case against this (seriously, how easy is it to go and sell empty cartridges for the average person and why is it all so vague!!!!)

Experience of working with charities leads my cynicism on, as official relationships need to be airtight and a regular supporter/volunteer would be known by someone

And now my own paranoia takes hold. What if I do unmask a fraud, who has been living off this for years and ruin their life? Maybe I'll unleash a monster hellbent on taking revenge - it happens!!!

What 2011 holds, for us and the cartridge pixie time will only tell.

NB I like telling this story because it adds a different kind of colour to the business than the CMYK we deal in.

Greensource Solutions unveils the online cartridge recycling search tool

2010-09-24T02:36:00.000-07:00

Greensource Solutions is proud to announce its online cartridge search tool is now live and ready for use!

Printer cartridge recycling is a subjective thing. Sadly not every cartridge can be accepted by us (and other collectors in the industry) as not every cartridge is refilled.
We've always published a cartridge guide that people could look at online, or receive from us. However, if you don't live, eat and breathe cartridges like us it could be a tad unwieldy.

After some thought and a lot of development there is a new way to check whether we can accept the cartridges you want to recycle.

The idea is simple, you have cartridges you want to check can be recycled?
Go on the cartridge search tool and select the brand of the cartridge. Then check the list and hey presto we hope you have cartridges we can accept!

We also provide information in the subsequent email sent out which can direct you to what to do with cartridges we can't accept - you can also check out this previous blog

All of this is done to reuse, reduce landfill and raise money for our charity partners

3d Printing!!!!

2010-09-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

A supporter of Greensource Solutions passed this onto me recently. 3D printing!!!!

It's not like that though! 3D printing is not about making blurry pictures, these printers actually make physical things like prosthetic limbs, quirky lampshades or houses!!!

I only found out about this, because Greensource Solutions is involved in printing, but not NASA style printing.

The principals seem similar: The machine gets a design sent to it from computer and adds layer upon layer of whatever material it uses and hey presto there's your finished product.

Apparently this technology has been around for sometime, but it feels very 21st century to me.

Battery car, or Diesel - which has least impact?

2010-09-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

Straying from the normal fare, my boss passed me this interesting report produced by the Swiss Government which calculated the impact of a battery powered car compared to a diesel powered vehicle.
Believe it or not, diesel vehicles come off better in the study. The clincher is the source of energy that battery cars use to power up - if the electricity comes from a dirty power station then it doesn't look good.

This study most importantly (in my mind) raises that age old dilemma of how people perceive change. In this particulat example, Battery power has clear advantages if its power can be obtained from clean sources. But the transition will always cost dearly.

Check out this Infographic about Recycling in the UK

2010-08-09T01:32:00.000-07:00

Claire from Recycling.co.uk forwarded Greensource Towers this lovely looking infographic about the levels of household recycling that currently occurs in the UK. Here's a small version of it...

Infographic by Recycle - Don't bin it, recycle it

I was fascinated and slightly horrified by the decomposition times of things I am guilty of throwing away (nappies take 550 years!!! that is a long time smell).

I think it's time to build that DIY pyrolysis chamber in my back yard.

Definitely worth a read.

Got toners you can't recycle?

2010-06-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

We collect empty printer cartridges. We've done it for years! We do it because many printer cartridges have still got a lot of life in them after they've run out of ink. So an empty can be refilled, reconditioned, remanufactured, turned into a compatible (there's a lot of different phrases that people use).

I like to think of it as 21st century rag and bone because we take what many see as rubbish and give it new life

"Greensource Solutions, how can I help?"

However, there's always been cartridges no one wants to refill. Sometimes we think we have a good answer for this, sometimes all we can say is dems da breaks.

After extensive planning and research I thought to provide some answers to where this detritus might go - other than landfill which we never like to promote (in some cases, unless you are willing to pay that is all there is though). Click on the manufacturer name where relevant to go to their web page.

THE MANUFACTURERS RETURNS SCHEMES FOR TONERS

Brother

Have a freepost scheme for many of their empty cartridges that we can't accept.

Canon

Use Ereco to recycle all of their empty toners and cartridges that cannot be refilled (often the C-EXV parts).

Danwood

Have a returns scheme (publicised in their brochures) in partnership with Accutec. Call Danwood head office T: 01753 630000 for more information.

Epson

Their inkjet cartridge range can be returned!

Gestetner

Online they state their toner cartridges all have a returns label in the box. On a side note Gestetner is part of the NRG group which is owned by Ricoh.

Hewlett Packard

All cartridges we can't accept can be returned to them via their Planet Partners programme.

IBM

No scheme in place (NB there are several IBM types that are the same as various Lexmark that are good).

Ikon

See Ricoh below.

Kodak

On their website they say that certain retail outlets will accept their inks (but give no specifics).
16/07/10 UPDATE!! After speaking with their customer service line, they currently don't have any UK based returns scheme and suggested seeing if the retailer would accept the empty cartridges.

Konica Minolta

Operate the World on loan scheme. They use Ereco to recycle all of their empty toners and cartridges that cannot be refilled.

Kyocera Mita

Will collect empty toners if you buy from them - a swap out agreement with a healthy helping of commercial cheek.

Lanier

See Ricoh below.

Lexmark

Have a inkjet and laser collection program for the cartridge we can't accept.

Mannesman Tally

See Printronix below.

Nashuatec

Online they state their toner cartridges all have a returns label in the box. They are part of the NRG Group which is owned by Ricoh.

Online they state their toner cartridges all have a returns label in the box.

NRG Group

Runs Nashuatec, Rex Rotary and Gestetner brands. This company is owned by Ricoh.

Oce

(Part of Canon now who bought them out recently) Do have information about toner bottle recycling on site, but of the three options returning to them is the last and it doesn't seem guaranteed they will accept.

Oki

Operate their own returns scheme using freepost bags/labels.

Printronix

They took over Tallys laser printer range when Tally went bust in 2009. They no longer operate the printer cartridge return scheme, as it costs too much for them and their customers.

Rex Rotary

Online they state their toner cartridges all have a returns label in the box. They are part of the NRG group which is owned by Ricoh.

Ricoh

Use Ereco to recycle all of their empty toners and cartridges that cannot be refilled.

Note that Lanier and Ikon are both brands owned by Ricoh (Lanier is part of their US division and Ikon are a Ricoh company)

Sharp

Use Ereco to recycle all of their empty toners and cartridges that cannot be refilled.

Tally

See Printronix above.

Toshiba

Charge £40 per boxed collection, of which they pay 50% of charges. TNT collect on their behalf.
email: consumables.orders@toshibatec.co.uk

Xerox

If we can't accept it, then try Xerox customers to the Green World Alliance website.

As you may have noticed, a lot of these companies have chosen to use Ereco to provide this service to their customers.
Now, as much as we want to promote the recycling industry and reduce landfill...£30 per liner bag of toners!!!

I would find it hard to justify this cost to my colleagues in accounts.

The carbon footprint of your mobile phone

2010-06-09T06:48:00.000-07:00

The Grauniad have published this article that tries to quantify the carbon footprint of a mobile phone use.
Fairly interesting stuff on one level - I like the fact it breaks down the various stages of a mobile phones manufacture.
However, like all calculations in this impossibly complex field it could never take into account every circumstance and some of the withering responses from readers point out its various shortfalls.

One thing close to our hearts here is mobile phone reuse. The article points out that nearly 2.7 billion phones are in use worldwide (nearly 50% of humans use one apparently), however what could never be easily confirmed is how many of these phones are 2nd, 3rd or 4th hand.

This in our humble opinion must account for a sizeable proportion out there. Our industry frequently bandies about the figure that an estimated 90 million phones are lying redundant in draws across the UK alone!

What cannot be denied is that mobile communication and increasingly internet access from handheld devices is ubiquitous in our society and clearly all over the planet and this has to have an impact on our world

Mobile phone industry emissions equal to the car and aviation industry?

2010-02-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

It has been claimed in a news item on Edie.net that the mobile phone industry generates 183 million tonnes of CO2 annually which is approximately 0.7% of global emissions.

The report continues to quote Deloittes telecoms partner, Tony Cooper, "Telecoms businesses are responding to this issue, but there is still significant progress to be made in areas such as increased network sharing, reduced power consumption, improved field force effectiveness and reduced handset renewal."

After checking out google (classic - the extent of 21st century research) I saw Treehugger had expanded on this story and included a manifesto by the GSM Association that aimed to provide a blueprint for the industry to reduce its emissions significantly.

These figures seem big! However, it seems perfectly feasible none the less and I hope this info can increase the pressure on the industry to improve it's energy performance.

On this very blog we reported on developments by Nokia to manufacture a phone that never requires mains charging which from the perspective of the end user would mean big savings were possible.

As a phone user in England, I have been guilty of getting wowed by a new handset with every contract - not necessary surely (wifey negotiated a much smaller contract fee with T-Mobile if she didn't get a new handset, so it is a reality but I guess it's in the big contract providers interest to continue to lavish us with new handsets). I've heard the European market doesn't work like this and our company collect unwanted handsets to resell or recycle.

Less energy use please!

Greensource Solutions partners with Friends of Paradise Wildlife Park

2010-02-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce that we have gone into partnership with Friends of Wildlife Paradise Park to raise funds for their work by collecting empty printer cartridges, mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras and sat nav devices. These will be reused or recycled.

Friends of Paradise Wildlife Park (FoPWP) is a registered charity
(charity number: 1108609) based at Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. FoPWP is run by people with a real passion for animals who are dedicated to raising awareness for the conservation of animals both in the UK and Internationally.

To date, thanks to the effort put into fundraising by all our volunteers, those who attend our events, Paradise Wildlife Park and its visitors; FoPWP has been able to raise thousands of pounds for animal conservation charities worldwide including: Gyps Vulture Project, Wildlife Vets International, Hill Top Animal Sanctuary, 21st Century Tiger, World Land Trust through BIAZA, Save the Rhino and the EAZA Campaigns, including this year’s for European Carnivores to name but a few.

Numerous fundraising events are run throughout the year by FoPWP raising funds which are then available in the form of grants to any animal based project worldwide. A list of previous grants can be found on the PWP website on the dedicated FoPWP page.

Please help us to continue our important conservation work of raising funds and awareness for conservation efforts around the world by volunteering at one of our events, joining as a member, making a donation or coming along to one of our events.

Go to www.pwpark.com to find out more about FoPWP and Paradise Wildlife Park.

An honourable mention also needs to go out to Ashley at Paradise Park for efficiency beyond the realms of the charity world! (Ed. please note that all of our charity partners are extremely efficient)

Greensource Solutions partners with Ulster Wildlife Trust

2010-02-17T06:23:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce a new partnership with the Ulster Wildlife Trust. We will be raising funds for the Trust by collecting empty printer cartridges, mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras and sat nav devices. All of these things will be reused or recycled.

The Ulster Wildlife Trust is your local nature conservation charity working across Northern Ireland for a natural environment rich in wildlife, valued by everyone. We are the only local charity dedicated to protecting all of our local habitats and species, both on our land and in our seas.

With your support, we can continue to:

• Engage with thousands of children and young people to inspire them about their natural environment.
• Maintain and grow our network of nature reserves as havens for local wildlife and people.
• Protect threatened species like the red squirrel, barn owl and Irish hare.
• Work at the heart of the community helping others to boost the wildlife value of their local parks and green spaces.
• Lobby government and elected representatives to ensure that legislation and policies are in place to conserve and enhance Northern Ireland’s biodiversity.

To find out more about our work and how you can help make a difference to local wildlife and wild places, visit www.ulsterwildlifetrust.org

The Ulster Wildlife Trust is a charity recognised by HM Revenue & Customs No. XN45269 and a company limited by Guarantee No. 12711

Greensource Solutions welcomes new charity partners

2010-02-17T06:14:00.000-08:00

It's always a treat to announce we have a new charity partner, so for two to come along so close together is double bubble!!!

I will pay each charity the respect of giving them their own post so details will follow...

The Greensource Totaliser

2010-01-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

Greensource Solutions supports Children's Hospice South West in several ways - most recently creating a partnership where we give them £2 from the sale of our every one of our Printeco cartridges.

To celebrate this and to register the fact we are children of a certain era (see pic above) we've built the Greensource Totaliser which has its pride of place on the Greensource Solutions homepage.

The Totaliser speaks! it's already registering £1048 raised from Decembers sales.

We look forward to seeing the total grow...

Greensource Solutions now collect unwanted MP3 players, digital cameras, Sat Nav and other handheld digital equipment

2010-01-18T07:26:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce that we can now accept various unwanted handheld digital equipment.
This mainly consists of MP3 players (like Ipod, Zune, IRiver), Sat Nav units (TomTom, Garmin, Navigon etc) and Digital Cameras.
These can all fit snugly into our freepost bags which already whizz across the mighty Royal Mail system stuffed full of lovely empty ink jet printer cartridges and unwanted mobile phones and PDAs.

We are always open to queries about the more unusual digi items people may want to pass on - if we can find a home for it we will take it.

As always these donations will raise money for our charity partners (which we always like to tell people) and you can specify the charity partner you wish to support with a donation.

Greensource Solutions pledges £2 from the sale of every Printeco cartridge for Children’s Hospice South West

2010-01-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

With a new decade we are proud as punch to announce a new dimension to one of our existing partnerships

Greensource Solutions will support Children’s Hospice South West by donating £2 from every Printeco cartridge sold to contribute to the charity’s work with life-limited children. This partnership began on December 1st 2009.

Greensource Solutions, the Bristol based printer cartridge and mobile phone recycler and office supplies company, already raises money for Children’s Hospice South West by collecting empty printer cartridges and mobile phones from its supporters.

The company is proud to support the charity and this latest arm of the partnership will greatly increase the money raised for the work Children’s Hospice South West is committed to. “We have a history of supporting charities through our work and it is a great honour to forge this new aspect of giving with Children’s Hospice South West” says Patrick Sheridan of Greensource Solutions. “We love the fact that every Printeco cartridge sold raises £2 for the charity, which is unique in the cartridge remanufacturing industry and is such a transparent method of support”.
Karen Willis, Head of Fundraising at Charlton Farm, said: “We are delighted that Greensource have decided to support us in this way. Not only can people raise money for Children's Hospice South West by recycling their cartridges but now they can raise money when they buy them too!”

Greensource Solutions has been remanufacturing its own Printeco brand of compatible cartridges since 2007. The process uses empty printer cartridges and so helps reduce the carbon footprint of businesses. They are quality guaranteed for two years and are significantly cheaper than their branded equivalent.

The company has seen sales of its Printeco range increase dramatically in 2009. This was triggered by many businesses looking to make savings in the economic downturn and their stationery bill is often one of the first areas to be scrutinised.

Children’s Hospice South West provides the only hospice care for life-limited children and their families in the South West of England. In the South West there are more than 1,000 children with life threatening illnesses. Caring for a life-limited child can be an exhausting and lonely experience and can put immeasurable strain on the family. Our two hospices, Little Bridge House in North Devon and Charlton Farm in North Somerset are places where families can stay for respite and relaxation, friendship, expert palliative and end of life care. This support for the families starts from their referral to our hospice and continues into bereavement.

To find out more about Greensource Solutions Printeco range contact the Greensource sales department:
T: 0117 304 2396
E: sales@greensource.co.uk
To find out more about Children’s Hospice South West please go to their website:
www.chsw.org.uk

Epson inkjet cartridges can now be recycled!

2009-09-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

One of the main issues in the printer cartridge recycling industry is Epson inkjets and the fact that no one will accept them to be recycled.
As part of the industry I regularly try to explain to Epson users why this is, admittedly without knowing a precise answer except no one wants to buy the empties to refill them.

Epson have responded to customer pressure over the years by allowing them to return empty inkjet cartridges to Epson Express Centres and also providing a return address (though this was not a freepost address so eyebrows were raised).

Epson now have a freepost address to return empty inkjet cartridges to!
This isn't new news either - CNet reported this news back in October 2008

However, there is a caveat. After checking the site I noted that of approximately ten randomly selected inkjet models listed, only two were accepted for return.

Not the result Epson users had hoped for I guess, but certainly a step forward.

Here is the link to Epsons website again:
http://content.epson-europe.com/environment/collectandrecycle/en/

Greensource Solutions partners with New Futures Nepal

2009-09-15T02:37:00.000-07:00

Greensource Solutions is pleased to announce that it has a new charity partner.

New Futures Nepal is a UK registered charitable trust. It was established in 2002 by a group of like-minded people who, having spent time trekking in Nepal, wanted to give something back to the people of that country. Disabled and orphaned children live a harsh life in this desperately poor country (one of the top 10 poorest countries in the world).

Without regular financial support and assistance they are often reduced to begging on the streets, living rough and are prey to unscrupulous traffickers and drug barons.

The charity obtained UK registered charity status in July 2003. We are a non-governmental, non-political and non-religious organisation.

The charity is engaged in raising funds to provide assistance and relief and to support cases of need, hardship and distress for Nepali children and adults. We are the main providers of financial support to two homes for disabled and orphaned children and adults; one in Kathmandu, Nepal and one in Kalimpong, Northern India. In these homes we care for 32 resident children, 2 disabled adults and we provide salaries for 7 carers. Our funding also helps to cover medical care and treatments required as well as education for all the children living in the homes. We also support one-off projects providing shelter for street children and aid for community projects throughout the Himalayan region.

The charity’s total administrative costs are under 1% and all the trustees work voluntarily for the charity A trustee visits Nepal at least once a year to oversee our projects and confirm that funds are spent as intended.

New Futures Nepal is a registered charity: 1098661

We at Greensource Solutions look forward to working with New Futures Nepal and raising money for them through collecting empty printer cartridges, mobile phones and PDAs.

If you wish to know more about New Futures Nepal and the charities work please visit our website www.newfuturesnepal.org or contact us at info@newfuturesnepal.org

Greensource mobile phone recycling scheme name checked in Grauniad

2009-08-25T03:42:00.000-07:00

It's always nice to see us referenced in the media. the Guardians Ethical Living blog said we were a better option for recycling mobile phones, than the subject of their article - Air Miles.

Greensource Solutions and SUMS partner to sell PDAs

2009-07-06T02:37:00.000-07:00

Greensource Solutions and SUMS have gone into partnership to sell 3500 Dell Axim X51 PDAs to the education sector in the UK.

Greensource Solutions, a Bristol based printer cartridge and mobile phone recycling company, have joined forces with SUMS, the developers of award winning software applications for the classroom, to offer schools and City Learning Centres a fantastic opportunity to purchase Dell Axim X51 PDAs installed with the SUMS software.

These PDAs were donated to Greensource Solutions from a large pharmaceuticals company to be reused and raise money for our charity partners and a foundation that the staff at the company are starting.

Greensource Solutions have pledged to give 50% of all profits to these causes.

The decision to approach SUMS and go into partnership with them was made after seeing their expertise in hand held learning.

Both companies wanted the education sector to get the benefit of this offer.

The PDAs with SUMS software installed are retailing at £50 per handset when 10 or more are purchased. This is so much cheaper than the price of many PDAs on the market today (that normally retail for hundreds of pounds) – before any learning applications have been bought.

Sadly this offer is limited to the 3500 units available.

The current specifications of each unit are listed below:

MODEL: Dell Axim X51
PROCESSOR TYPE: Intel PXA270
PROCESSOR SPEED: 416MHZ (Dynamic speed throttling to save power when not in use).
RAM SIZE: 64MB
ROM SIZE: 128MB
ONBOARD STORAGE: 76MB
WIRELESS: Bluetooth (WIFI available with add-on. Compact Flash card not supplied).
DISPLAY: 3.7 inch 16BIT colour
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows mobile 5
EXPANSION SLOTS Compact Flash (storage or accessories) and SD cards (storage only - SDIO, max size 2GB)

Each unit will come with the charging cradle that also has a data transfer connection.

For more information contact:

Patrick Sheridan
Greensource Solutions
T: 0117 3042390
patricks@greensource.co.uk

Mobile phone manufacturers agree to universal charger

2009-06-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

In what can only be described as sensible behaviour, it's been reported today that 10 of the main mobile phone manufacturers have agreed to adopt a universal mobile phone charger.

The change will take place from 2010 and the all important connector will be a Micro USB (note that after reading comments on Guardian website and consulting with a colleague it has been established this is different from the Mini USB connector as is seen on many digi cameras).

Consumers vent their spleens whenever something like a £20 replacement charger gets in the way of our essential communication tools. Is this the beginning of harmonised electronic equipment? (I don't know what that means, but I like the sound of it)

Mobile Phone Amnesty 2009

2009-06-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

Our ever popular and thrilling Mobile Phone Amnesty has just begun. This event promotes mobile phone and PDA recycling (like we always do) but participants get entered into our prize draw and could win one of the following:

Elonex Web Book (running Windows XP)
A night's stay at the plush Thistle Grand Hotel in Bristol for two people including breakfast
A day pass to Centre Parcs Longleat for 6 people
Sainsbury's gift vouchers

After a little head scratching at Greensource HQ, Vaughn (the brains behind the Mobile Phone Amnesty) decided to change how we classified all donations.
In short, phones and PDAs are now graded so more valuable models get more chances in the prize draw to win a prize.

We think this is a fairer reflection of rewarding those with top phones as they will raise the most for our charity partner for this event St Peter's Hospice - and of course we reckon it means all those iPhone owners are scrambling to get their buff hardware back to us sharpish!

Top marks as well for the light entertainment legend who hosts the website for us.

Please note this event runs for a limited period so contact us to enter or get more info.

Greensource have PDAs, will sell!

2009-06-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

We recently were donated nearly 4000 Dell Axim X51 PDAs by a large pharmaceuticals company.
This is an amazing donation and we have pledged to give 50% of all profits from the sales of these to our charity partners and a charitable Foundation that staff at the company intend on creating.

I hope this means a cheque for big money will be cut for these charities shortly!

For all interested parties these devices will be on sale shortly through our usual outlets.

Nokia are developing a mobile phone that may never need mains charging

2009-06-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia move closer to producing a device that will never need plugging in to the mains to recharge!

Ambient electromagnetic radiation--emitted from Wi-Fi transmitters, cell-phone antennas, TV masts, and other sources--could be converted into enough electrical current to keep a battery topped up, says Markku Rouvala, a researcher from the Nokia Research Centre, in Cambridge, U.K. said the Technology Review yesterday.

I won't quote all the details of this development, will just say the ramifications of this are massive and far reaching for electronic equipment that can survive on small amounts of power.

Though it's not new technology (Nikola Tesla discovered this phenomenon) a company like Nokia could pull one of the coups of modern times implementing this - imagine no more chargers and free power.

I also like to hope that once one multinational releases a product with a feature so helpful for the customer and the energy used by us, we consumers will come to expect this and all other businesses will have to follow suit.

Greensource donate £650 to St Peter's Hospice

2009-06-10T03:11:00.000-07:00

It's always nice to spread news like this. Airbus in Bristol contacted us recently with a large quantity of printer cartridges surplus to their requirements and after collecting them we have raised £650 for Bristols St Peter's Hospice
We have been a partner with St Peter's Hospice since 2008 collecting empty printer cartridges and mobile phones to raise funds for the work they do.

They are a great charity who provide an invaluable service for those with life threatening illnesses and their families and being local to us makes it all the more worthwhile.

New Sony Ericsson phone looks to have better environmental credentials

2009-06-08T06:18:00.001-07:00

The Guardian reported last week that "Sony Ericsson will unveil two "green" handsets tomorrow with a carbon footprint 15% lower than current models."
This model looks pretty snazzy to me and I like Sony Ericsson mobiles so all good to them.
Reading the article shows a lot of "improvements" are packaging based which is all good but doesn't deserve too big a slap on the back in my opinion.

Congratulations to our partner St Peter's Hospice

2009-06-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

We at Greensource Solutions are partners with St Peter's Hospice who provide an invaluable palliative care service at two hospices in Bristol - so they are close to our hearts.
The volunteers who work for the charity have just been honoured with the Queens Award for Voluntary Service which is the equivalent of an MBE.
Three cheers for them!

New partnership between Greensource Solutions and World Development Movement

2009-03-31T01:06:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that Greensource Solutions has a new charity partner it is collecting empty cartridges and mobile phones for.

The World Development Movement (WDM) campaigns for a world without poverty and injustice. Our world has the wealth and means for all to live comfortably and to end poverty.

Yet despite this nearly half the world’s population live on less than £1.40 a day and over 11 million children will die from poverty-related illness this year.

We believe that charity is not enough. The policies of governments and companies are keeping people poor by exploiting them to make bigger and bigger profits. Unless we challenge them, we are allowing this injustice to continue. We challenge the powerful by lobbying decision-makers to put an end to practises that harm the world’s poor. We work in solidarity with activists around the world to tackle the root causes of poverty, researching and promoting positive alternatives which put the rights of poor communities before the interests of big businesses.

We are currently campaigning on two major issues. On climate change, we are lobbying the government to reduce UK carbon emissions by saying no to airport expansion and coal. On trade, we are campaigning to abolish unfair trade deals including those between the European Union and the global south.

We have already achieved great successes on debt cancellation, genetic modification, the arms trade, workers’ rights, and access to water.

To join us and take action, go to www.wdm.org.uk.

The World Development Movement
Registered charity no. 1064066, registered company no. 2098198

Greensource Solutions are very happy to announce this new partnership. Anyone wishing to support World Development Movement by donating empty printer cartridges, mobile phones or PDAs should contact us on T: 0117 3042390 or email info@greensource.co.uk

Motorola W233 is billed as Worlds first carbon neutral mobile phone

2009-02-02T02:22:00.000-08:00

Mobile phones have been the subject of scrutiny in the UK in regards to recycling. They were included in the WEEE directive back in 2007 so legally cannot go in landfill (good news and I sometimes wonder how many still might end up there - I know the local tip AKA Recycling Centre in Bristol near us are pretty hot on all electrical waste and keep it separate to sort it).

The good thing about phones is economically there is obvious value in them and in our contract heavy system people update their handsets regularly. This has meant the recycling market of which Greensource Solutions is a part of has been eager to collect unwanted phones for over a decade. Charities often benefit too which is good.

Motorola has now unveiled their new handset, the W233 which their press release states is the Worlds first carbon neutral phone and its housing is made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles and is 100 percent recyclable.
The packaging has also been minimised and plant based dyes used. It all sounds good so fair play to Motorola for putting their money into this and importantly the handset looks good too!

I hope the recycling industry will have no issues with reselling this handset in years to come - Lucy Siegle raised an interesting point in the Guardian recently where her recyclable mobile phone needed to go in an anaerobic digestor to break down properly - reuse first!!

Greensource Solutions mention in The Waste Paper

2009-01-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

There was an article about printer cartridge recycling in an online magazine The Waste Paper that came out recently and Greensource Solutions was featured.

http://www.crn.org.uk/the_waste_paper/features/printer_cartridge_recycling

Welcome to Greensource

2009-01-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

Our company has been in the recycling industry since 1993 dealing with empty printer cartridges and more recently mobile phones and PDAs. We sell our own brand of Greensource Imaging Supplies compatible cartridge, oem cartridges, printers and all other office supplies.
And it can't be forgotten that in all of our time as a business we have supported charities (the cartridge and mobile phone collection schemes support their work and our Greensource Imaging Supplies cartridge donates £2 to our nominated charity with every unit sold).

We want to keep you informed about what Greensource Solutions is doing and also about the issues we hear about that affect us and you - like cartridge prices, waste and recycling.

Blog on!

Thanks and enjoy from Greensource