-- Make the world a better place with your empty ink cartridges

Did you know that your empty ink cartridge can help you earn some money or fund your favorite charity simply by not throwing it away! Very often we do not know what to do with the empty cartridges and they invariably find their way to the trashcan. Given these cartridges are made of plastic, they are not biodegradable and end up polluting the environment in various ways.

A recent study done by a US based agency the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has found that 67% of the empty cartridges are sent to landfills, 15% are burnt to ashes and a mere 18% are recycled.

If the percentages don’t look intimidating enough, here are some actual figures, every year over 400 million cartridges with a combined weight of 200 million pounds are dumped into landfills.

Recycling these cartridges is a far more useful option. Here are a few benefits in recycling cartridges can do:

1/ Help us reduce our ink bills, as recycled ink cartridges are a lot cheaper compared to new ones.

2/ This way we can help reduce pollution and reduce the amount of plastic that goes into polluting the earth.

3/ We can send them over to companies that assist charities with the profits.

Some institutions generate money by recycling cartridges

Oxfam for example can help raise money from empty ink cartridges. Visit http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/recycle/toner.htm and you can read both about the work Oxfam undertakes as well as how they fund charitable work using the money generated from cartridges.

Refilling Cartridges

Refilling cartridges is good option. The replacement cartridges must be made to the exact specifications and standards of the manufacturer and not simply refilled. Just because they come cheap, you don’t want them to ruin your print quality and risk ink leakage.

Refill kits are available and they are typically very easy to use. If this option is availed they can save you up to 70 percent on the purchase cost. They can be purchased online from sites that sell ink cartridges.

A refill cartridge typically contains the component parts, ink, syringes and clips, to refill the empty cartridge with new ink. Instructions are provided with the kits to fill the cartridges. This is certainly the best way to improve the life of a cartridge as you can take of it yourself without having to pass it around.

If you would rather not refill the cartridges yourself, they can be bought from another supplier but here is a list of things you want to keep in mind while doing that.

1/ The yield needs to be checked - Which means, the estimated number of pages one cartridge can print.

2/ Density of the remanufactured cartridge - The density should be between 1.3 and 1.6. This number is derived after running a test on a number of cartridges, as testing just one will not present the accurate density.

3/ Inspection and replacement of components - The drum, wiper blade and the drum roller are the key components. They need to be checked before making a purchase.

4/ Each model of a printer uses a different toner - If the same toner is used for all the cartridges it could affect the yield without affecting the printing quality. This means, lesser number of pages printed per cartridge and hence higher cost per page.

5/ The label - Once the cartridge is remanufactured the label needs to be replaced by the supplier and the label should indicate which machine the cartridge goes into. If the label is not removed, it could be considered as copyright infringement.

6/ Check with the supplier if they would fix your printer if the ink bought from them causes damage to your printer. This in some cases would be an indication about the quality of ink inside the cartridges.

Potential problems that incorrectly filled cartridges can cause

Sponge filled cartridges refusing to print after re-filling. Here, the sponge is used so that it holds back the ink and it does not flow freely into the print head. The problem could arise from air bubbles trapped inside the layer of ink. This is known as a vapor lock situation. Precautions need to be taken so that this does not happen. While filling the cartridge, the syringe needs to be plunged deep into the cartridge and ink pushed out slowly till it appears on top of the sponge.

If the problem has already occurred, then try holding the cartridge with the print head pointing down on top of a waste paper basket and swing it upwards and stop suddenly. If ink appears on top of the print head, the problem is probably fixed.

The refilled cartridge does not print but a new one does

Check for vapor locking first. If that is the problem then the method described above can rectify the problem.

If this does not work, it could mean the print head or the venting path is blacked. If something is covering the venting path, try removing it. Please be careful not to increase the size of the venting path.

If it still does not work, then it possibly means that the print head openings are blocked. In this case there is not much you can do given the regular means available. However, you can try and scrub it with cotton dipped in distilled water or holding it over steam for not more than a minute. This does not happen regularly but if it does, you can refer to the printer manual and follow the instructions to clean the printer head.

Useful information

It is frequently asked if the warranty on a printer would be considered void if refilled cartridges are used. The answer is technically NO. Often the manufacturer will encourage purchase of branded cartridges and discourages the refilling but that is largely for commercial reasons. Otherwise it is perfectly all right to use refilled cartridges.

About the Author

John Sollars is the managing director of Solar Electronics, suppliers of inkjet cartridges and pc peripherals based in the UK. To access a comprehensive online shop of original and re-manufactured printer inks please visit http://www.mega-office.co.uk

Author: Gareth Davies
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-- Alternatives to Heating Your Home with Oil or Natural Gas

The recent spikes in oil and natural gas prices have put the topic of alternative fuels for home heating at the forefront of discussions around the country. Alternative fuels that in the past were seen as marginal, odd, or strictly for rural use are getting a second look.

Wood heat has been used for generations in the rural U.S., but has been replaced in the past fifty years or so by central heating provided by oil- or gas-fired furnaces. However, in recent years, wood stoves have been making a comeback. Attractive stoves by Jotul and other manufacturers have taken their place in communal living areas like kitchens and living rooms to supplement heating while providing a cozy ambiance to the rooms. Wood furnaces, both internal and external and in many new designs based on the latest technology, provide the ability to load the furnace so as to provide hours of central heating before needing re-stoking. An advantage of burning wood, at least in rural areas, is that it can be locally obtained; people with a wood lot can get it with "sweat equity", and can supplement their income by supplying their neighbors as well.

New plant-based fuels like wood pellets and corn pellets can also provide heat when used in specially designed, clean-burning furnaces and stoves. In addition, more and more people are taking a new look at biodiesel, a fuel manufactured from vegetable oils, primarily soybean oil. Most furnaces can use B20, a fuel made of 80 percent traditional heating oil and 20 percent biodiesel, without any adjustments; some people are getting their furnaces adapted to be able to burn B100, a fuel made entirely of vegetable oils. The biodiesel burns much cleaner than traditional heating oil, but has its own problems (for one thing, biodiesel tends to cause rubber gaskets to erode), so be sure to check with your furnace servicer or manufacturer before you opt for B100.

If you choose to use B100, and your furnace will handle it, you have a couple of options. B100 is becoming more available around the country; check on the Internet to find a supplier near you. Also, waste oil - that is, used vegetable oil discarded by restaurants - can be filtered and used in some furnaces. Several furnaces on the market are designed to burn waste oil. Commercially manufactured B100 has an additive that keeps it liquid at low temperatures, which recycled vegetable doesn't contain, so do your research - and check again with your furnace servicer - before you attempt burning used vegetable oil.
We're facing a new world with lots of challenges in terms of how to heat our homes, especially in colder winter climates. Luckily there are technologies like wood gasification and biodeisel, available today which can help us move away from our decades-old dependence on fossil fuels.

Author: Aldene Fredenburg
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-- EMF dangers and how to protect against them

Look in your pocket or in your bag or on the table next to you. In one of those three places it is probable that you saw a device that could cause your injury or death at some point in the future. What is it you ask? What is it that I carry with me everywhere? What is this object that you say could hurt or kill me or possibly those close to me that I care about? It is your cell phone. The make and model are irrelevant; they all produce unnaturally high amounts of EMF or electromagnetic fields.

If it was just a threat to ourselves there might not be such awareness, but it's the fact that people near us that could be adversely affected as well. Those little bundles of joy that are the centre of your life are affected more than anyone else. The question you need to ask is: What can I do about all this? I don't have the power to get EMF emitting cell phones banned or anything like that. There is something you can do though, to minimize the risk of harmful radiation effects to yourself and those close to you.

There are many radiation protection devices available today to help you get rid of this threat that is hanging over your head every time you pick up that phone. There are wide selections of products to suit any need you might have, in many shapes, at a range of prices that will allow anyone to afford this absolutely necessary protection.

There are hands-free devices that will protect you from this potentially lethal threat as well as helping you comply with current regulations. These regulations can actually be encouraging us to use non-radiation protective ear pieces that are increasing the amount of radiation directed into our heads. So, to ensure you are protected you need to ensure that the ear piece or hands-free kit you use is one of those specially designed to protect you and others in your vicinity.
There are many different types of devices available for you to choose from, but the best way to ensure you are protected from radiation is to use a combination of devices, bearing in mind that a cell phone will affect any part of the body that it is close to, not the head alone. You need to aware that to be completely protected you need to have some form of protection when your phone is in your pocket and not being used as well as a method of protection while you are using your cell phone.

The cell phone is making communication easier all the time and no-one wants to give up that convenience, but it must be paired with the awareness of the inherent dangers associated with this convenience. To eradicate this danger we need to take the proper steps to ensure we have sufficient radiation protection.

All EMF protection information has been researched and written by Juliette Pickup
EMF Protection Devices
Author: Lyle Robertson
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