GoGreen sponsors the Eco Village for The Ultra Music Festival in Miami 2019

GoGreen was a proud sponsor of the Ultra Music Festival’s Eco Village for 2019.  Aligned with other wonderful organizations like Lean Orb, Unify, The New Tropic, Lady Green Recycling, Namo, SurfRider Foundation and others, the Eco Village spread the following message: 

In an effort to engage the community in joining us on this mission, we are pleased to undertake the following initiatives:

·        Engaging attendees in our Mission: Home environmental initiatives through our onsite Mission Control team.

·        Expanding the onsite Eco Village to provide increased environmental education and awareness content.

·        Introducing an environmental volunteer program through Clean Vibes in which volunteers can assist Clean Vibes with our recycling and composting programs as well as our Leave No Trace initiatives.

·        Participating in education, restoration and cleanup events on Virginia Key after our event.

·        Educating vendors, staff and crew on Ultra’s sustainability initiatives.

LBGT Stonewall Festival

GoGreen was proud to be the only curbside recycling choice at the annual 2018 Stonewall LBGT Festival in Wilton Manors Florida.  All attendees recycled responsibly throughout the weekend festival.  Our EcoBins provide the community with the perfect recycling option during festivals, or any other day of the year.  Thank you to all our sponsors for helping our clean streets initiative.

Municipal Elected Official’s strong support for our EcoBins

GoGreen launched its clean streets initiative in the City of Wilton Manors, right in the heart of Fort Lauderdale in South Florida.  During the launch, we tested the exterior and interior of the eco bin which prompted several design changes and improvements.  We also engaged with the community to educate them on how to use the eco bin and why it was important for the community.  We were overwhelmed by the support from local businesses who pledged sponsorship for periods  from 1 to 3 years.  The Clean Streets initiative proved that the community can and will take ownership of their environment when given the chance.  Illuminated recycling logos and deposit doors caught the attention of the pedestrian traffic and alerted them to recycle responsibly.  

Stainless steel is a green product

Stainless steel is a green product. It is 100% recyclable, as it is not coated with any toxic material it does not produce toxic run-off. A huge difference can be made by companies and individuals by simply choosing stainless steel over non-recyclable materials. During production, stainless steel uses scrap metal as its primary raw material , with up to 70% of the product coming from recycled material. Increased efficiency in process technology has also decreased the amount of energy required to manufacture stainless steel. Even if stainless steel is not recycled and it does find its way to a landfill or disposal site, it will have no detrimental effect to the soil or groundwater. Stainless Steel is the preferred material for green building throughout the world. Its impact on the environment is minimal when compared to other materials and its life impact reduces significantly as it used and recycled.

LED lights are up to 80% more efficient than traditional lighting such as fluorescent and incandescent lights. 95% of the energy in LEDs is converted into light and only 5% is wasted as heat. This is compared to fluorescent lights which convert 95% of energy to heat and only 5% into light! LED lights also draw much less power than traditional lighting; a typical 84 watt fluorescent can be replaced by a 36 watt LED to give the same level of light. Less energy use reduces the demand from power plants and decreases greenhouse gas emissions.

A glass bottle that is sent to a landfill can take up to a million years to break down

A glass bottle that is sent to a landfill can take up to a million years to break down. By contrast, it takes as little as 30 days for a recycled glass bottle to leave your recycling bin and appear on a store shelf as a new glass container.  Glass containers are 100-percent recyclable, which means they can be recycled repeatedly, again and again, with no loss of purity or quality in the glass.  Recovered glass from glass recycling is the primary ingredient in all new glass containers. A typical glass container is made of as much as 70 percent recycled glass. According to industry estimates, 80 percent of all recycled glass eventually ends up as new glass containers.  Every ton of glass that is recycled saves more than a ton of the raw materials needed to create new glass, including ,300 pounds of sand; 410 pounds of soda ash; and 380 pounds of limestone. Making new glass means heating sand and other substances to a temperature of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit, which requires a lot of energy and creates a lot of industrial pollution, including greenhouse gases. One of the first steps in glass recycling is to crush the glass and create a product called “cullet.” Making recycled glass products from cullet consumes 40 percent less energy than making new glass from raw materials because cullet melts at a much lower temperature. Because glass is made from natural and stable materials such as sand and limestone, glass containers have a low rate of chemical interaction with their contents. As a result, glass can be safely reused, for example as refillable water bottles. It can even be used to make fences and walls. Besides serving as the primary ingredient in new glass containers, recycled glass also has many other commercial uses — from creating decorative tiles and landscaping material to rebuilding eroded beaches.

Plastic has emerged as one of the most widely used materials

Plastic has emerged as one of the most widely used materials, there are around 10,000 types of plastics, right from pet bottles to kids’ toys and even clothes. Studies show that a major chunk of the global waste is composed of various kinds of plastic, that can cause a negative impact on the environment. So, plastic recycling was introduced, to produce new products from discarded plastic scrap and waste. In other words, such recycling can be defined as a procedure, which is used for reprocessing such waste into new products. The first and foremost benefit of recycling plastic is conservation of petroleum, which is getting scarce. Large amount of petroleum is needed for making new plastic products, and around 40% of the petroleum consumption can be reduced by recycling old and discarded plastic. The benefits of recycling plastic include a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases. In other words, greenhouse gases are emitted while burning petroleum, and if the amount of petroleum used in making plastic is reduced through recycling, the emission of these gases will also reduce.

Even the landfill space can be saved through recycling. It is said that removal of one ton of plastic for recycling spares a landfill space of around 7.5 cubic yards.

One of the important environmental benefits of recycling plastic bags and bottles is that, it saves animals, birds, and a wide range of aquatic creatures from death due to ingestion of plastic. The chemicals in plastic can also pollute the soil as well as water.