Have You Looked Up Lately?
I know the store is a bit overwhelming, but have you looked up at the ceiling lately? We installed skylights. The manufacturer refers to them as Daylighters. What a difference. The colors in the store jumped to life! Prior to the skylights, the rooms had a metallic feel with a cast of gray. The install for 40 something skylights was time consuming, loud and neat to watch. The weather wouldn’t cooperate. Each night that we would schedule an install, it would rain or snow.

Here is the step-by-step, simple process to add skylights on our store:

1. Create a drawing to maximize the light. We choose a 'checkerboard' layout.

2. Inspect the layout from the floor of the store to see if the drawing makes sense. We have a lot of "stuff" hanging from our ceiling. Several openings were moved to fit.

3. The roofing company prepped the roof. They would layout the skylight openings on the roof, cut out the membrane and insulation. At that point they would run the Milwaukee circular saw through the steel roof. If you like tools, you will love this saw! It cuts through metal like its butter! It was really cool. :)

4. Install the curb (basically a metal box with no top or bottom. It had a lip to screw to the roof.

5. Install the skylight on the curb.

6. Insulate and clean up all the vinyl membranes for the roof and move to the next skylight.

7. Each skylight install required about 2 hours.

Our skylights were installed to be supplemental lighting only. At some point we may connect some of the lights to sensors that will turn them on and off. I'm sure some of you will get excited and send emails demanding we install the computers to control the lights with the skylights. Stay Calm... we did install new lights when we put the skylights in. Our kilowatt consumption has dropped significantly. Controlling the lights is nice but we can do more inside the store to drop our energy consumption. The light control project is a lower priority. Some day...

Paper vs. Plastic: Which to choose? Which to use?
Some of you have noticed that we have recently run out of paper bags for groceries. Here is what’s going on:

Up until the recent past, we used only misprint plastic and paper bags. They were bags which were rejected and were headed for the garbage pile. We purchased them and gave them another life in our store.

We received many complaints about our plastic bags because of the quality; they ripped easily, were too small, etc. In response to our customer requests, we began to purchase our own higher quality plastic bags which are also larger so we can put in more items and let you have one bag instead of two.

Up until now we have used misprinted paper bags, which is why you’ve seen so many company names on them. We save them from the garbage pile and save money, the savings of which we pass on to you. Typically, we go through four truckloads of bags each year. That’s a lot of bags.

As our last supply was running low, we started our next search for misprints. The problem started when none of our suppliers had any bags because fewer businesses are using paper bags. So, have we given up on paper bags? No. We’re looking for a good price and are trying our best to give you, our customers what you want.

In the meantime, we hope you will bear with us. Feel free to bring in your own paper, plastic and reusable bags for your groceries. We will be happy to use them. We also have other ways that we and you can help the environment.

1. Bring in your own bags when you shop, whether paper, plastic or reusable

2. Bring your plastic bags back to Jungle Jim’s and recycle them. We have two dumpsters in the far corner of our parking lot for recycling plastic. They are open to the public. The dumpsters are located close to the Michael Drive entrance.

a. From Michael Drive: Drive in the entrance and turn left. You will see the dumpsters in front of you on the gravel.
b. From Route 4: Drive the length of the store toward the field at the back of the parking lot. Turn left at the end of the parking lot & you’ll see them.
c. From Gilmore (the Serpent Entrance): Just keep going straight. They will be on your right side.

Jungle's Recycling Bins
It's true! We have two Rumpke recycling dumpsters next to each other in our parking lot. To find them, come in Jungle Jim Drive and go straight back; you'll run into them. They are in the far corner of the parking lot, close to the radio towers.

For a business, saving money is the bottom line. If we can reduce overall costs by separating materials such as cardboard from trash, implementing a recycling program can be a cost-effective and environmentally responsible solution. Rumpke Recycling works with us to reduce waste removal costs through recycling programs. It’s all about saving some “green”. From conserving the earth’s resources to saving money, recycling offers an opportunity to do the right thing and save money at the same time.

From finding ways to recycle more items in an effort to conserve landfill space, raw materials and energy, to adapting its services to save businesses and consumers time and money, recycling offers an advantage for making this world a better place for everyone. If you have any questions about your recycling materials, please call Rumpke Recycling at 513-242-4600.

What can you drop off for recycle?
Plastics classified as #1 or #2 (Jungle Jim's plastic bags are Plastics #2), Newspaper, Junk Mail, Magazines, Catalogues, Box Board, White & Colored Paper, Computer Paper, Brown Paper Bags, Cardboard Boxes, Steel Food Cans, Aluminum Cans, Glass Bottles & Jars.

What is NOT allowed for recycle?
Plastic not classified as Plasics #1 or #2, Pizza Boxes, Wood, Light Bulbs, Egg Cartons, Trash, Tires, Oil Containers, Chemical Containers, Window Glass, Plastic Toys, Styrofoam, Flower Pots or Batteries.

Aluminum:
A lightweight, silver-white, metallic element. It is mined in the form of bauxite ore where it exists primarily in combination with oxygen as alumina. Aluminum is used in a variety of ways, but perhaps most familiarly in the manufacture of a soft drink cans.

Bale:
A large compacted bundle, usually rectangular, of compressed and bound recyclable materials.

Baler:
Equipment used in the recycling industry to compress materials into a uniform rectangular cube for loading into trailers for shipment to end users. Balers can be horizontal or vertical indicating how the force of the pressure is applied to make the bale. Bales are secured by metal wire ties.

Biodegradable:
Capable of breaking down or decomposing rapidly under natural conditions and processes.

Bond Paper (Commonly called white office paper):
A durable paper usually used for documents such as forms, offset printing, copy paper, stationary, etc.

Buy-Back Center:
A recycling facility where consumers can drop-off recyclables and receive payment for them.

Close the Loop:
The last, and highly important, step in the recycling process when a consumer buys a recycled product after it has been put into a recycling program and reprocessed into a new item.

Compactor:
Equipment used in the recycling and waste industry to compress materials to increase hauling efficiencies for handling materials. Compaction can be upwards of a 3 to 1 ratio. Receiver boxes are attached on the compactor unit and removed when full or the compactor and receiver box may be one total unit.

Composting:
The controlled biological decomposition of organic material in the presence of air to form a humus-like material. Controlled methods of composting include mechanical mixing and aerating, ventilating the materials by dropping them through a vertical series of aerated chambers, or placing the compost in piles out in the open air and mixing it or turning it periodically. (EPA)

Computer Paper (Commonly called CPO, computer print-out):
One of the highest grades of paper. It includes green-bar, gray/blue bar and white computer paper.

Construction and Demolition Debris (C & D):
Waste resulting from construction and demolition projects.

Corrugated Cardboard (OCC, old corrugated cardboard):
Boxes or other items made from layers of paper glued together with a ruffled or grooved pattern inside.

Curbside Recycling:
A process of collection in which recyclables are set out in containers at residential curbsides for pickup and transfer to a designated collection site or recycling facility.

Drop-off Box:
Designated location where recyclables are accepted from the public. No cash is paid for recyclable materials at drop-boxes.

E-waste:
A general term for electronic products that have reached the end of their useful life. These include computers, monitors, printers, copiers, fax machines and many other common electronic items.

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Plastic #2:
This is a colored or opaque plastic used in laundry detergent bottles and milk jugs. It is recycled and used for more detergent bottles, trash bins and base cups for plastic soft drink bottles.

High Grade Paper:
This is relatively valuable paper such as computer paper, ledger paper and white office paper.

Mixed Paper:
The commingling of various recyclable paper, such as: white paper, colored paper, card stock, brochures, junk mail, envelopes with and without windows, magazines, etc.

MRF - Material Recovery Facility:
A facility that sorts recyclable materials by type, then cleans and compresses them before shipping them to reprocessors.

Non-Ferrous Scrap Metal:
Metals which contain little or no iron, such as aluminum, copper, brass and bronze.

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET) Plastic #1:
A type of clear plastic used to make some household cleaning product bottles, soft drink bottles and other kinds of food containers. It is used to make new cleaning product bottles, carpets, fabric and insulation for winter jackets.

Post-consumer recycled content:
Recyclable items that are manufactured into new products.

Tire Derived Fuel (TDF):
Blending tire chips with coal or another fuel material to power boilers. Tire chip burn very similarly to coal.

Used Beverage Containers (UBC):
A technical term for aluminum cans.

Universal Wastes:
A class of hazardous wastes that are widely generated by both individuals and businesses, including non-alkaline batteries, pesticides, thermostats, mercury containing devices, and fluorescent lamps.

Virgin Product:
A product made with 100 percent new raw materials and contains no recycled materials.

Waste Audit:
The process of identifying types and quantities of items in the waste stream. A waste audit is a major step in planning a waste management system. It helps determine if changes need to be made in purchasing supplies and it helps encourage waste reduction and recycling in daily activities.