Here is a recent press release I wanted to share from the Eye of Dubai, announcing the partnership with the Green Foundation and an United Arab Emirates company to help raise funds from recycled electronics in an effort to help educate children in Kerala, India.

Recycling Electronic Waste to Help Educate Children

The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group has formed a partnership with The Green Foundation to recycle all unused, redundant and end of life electronic items across the organisation. Funds raised will be donated to the Red Crescent Society, which is the chosen charity for 2011 for the Group, and this campaign will help towards educating children in Kerala.

In addition to business related donations, staff have also been encouraged to donate their own personal old electronics items including mobile phones, laptops, gaming consoles, mp3 players and digital cameras.

Melissa Clements Chief Corporate Communication & Marketing Officer, Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Holding LLC, said, This initiative serves two important purposes for us. It helps generate important funds to educate children and at the same time it prevents dangerous electronic items from polluting the local environment in the UAE.

Dominic Gothard, Chairman & CEO of The Green Foundation added; We are delighted to be working closely with one of the UAEs most respected local companies. It is very encouraging to see businesses who have played a pivotal role in the UAEs past taking such progressive and responsible steps to ensure that great causes benefit today and their environment benefits tomorrow.

Here is a recent announcement from Reuters Africa, written by Alister Doyle, about a new International project by the Environmental Protection Agency to help track electronic waste from the United States.

Project to track US cellphones, TVs for recycling

OSLO, May 1 (Reuters) – A new international project will try to track discarded U.S. cellphones, TVs and other electronic waste to help recycle everything from gold to rare earths and protect human health, U.S. and U.N. officials said on Sunday.

Many electronic items end up at the bottom of drawers at home when they break or get outdated. Many are shipped abroad for recycling. Others get dumped in normal trash bins and vanish into landfills or are incinerated, releasing toxins.

Only about 10 to 15 percent get recycled properly, said Ruediger Kuehr, executive secretary of StEP (Solving the E-Waste Problem), a project led by the U.N. University that works with firms such as Dell and Nokia.

“Tracking flows around the world … is fundamental to work out solutions,” he told Reuters of $2.5 million in new funds over five years announced on Sunday from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help track U.S. electronic waste.

The project will work with port officials in West Africa and Asia to try to estimate flows of everything from flat screen televisions to computers sent to developing nations for repair or recycling. Health laws in such nations are often lax.

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In honor of Earth Day, the Huffington Post provided a list of Earth Day activities. Here are some of the activities that they highlighted.

Earth Day Activities: How To Get Involved

Exactly 41 years ago today, the inaugural Earth Day was celebrated with 20 million participants in the United States. Today, April 22, 2011, Earth Day is bigger than ever, with estimates of more than one billion peopleexpected to participate worldwide.

There are a number of opportunities for you to get involved. Earth Day activities range from a picnic to attending an event or sending a text message donation. (And there are plenty more ideas below.)

By choosing to live a green lifestyle, you will not only be improving the environment, but also your health and the well-being of generations to come.

What are you doing this Earth Day? Add your activity to the slideshow below, or tweet it to us using the hashtag #EarthDayFun.

Here is one of the recommendations:

ACT: Text “TREE” to 85944

The Green World Campaign, in partnership with Earth Day New York, will launch an initiative to “ReGreen the World” focused on supporting the United Nations Year of Forests 2011.

By texting “TREE” to 85944, supporters will help global tree-planting initiatives in environmentally damaged areas of the world. The text message will be a one-time donation of $5 to fund the planting of five trees.

Donations will be used to plant trees in countries such as Kenya, a nation where forests cover only 2% of the land. According to the campaign, planting new trees can increase biodiversity, reduce atmospheric CO2, and offer economic self-sufficiency for struggling communities.

For more information, visit the Green World Campaign’s website.

InkCycle, the producers of grenk, the green line of remanufactured ink and toner cartridges is celebrating Earth Day with a giveaway.

The first 10 people to complete the steps below will receive a complimentary grenk inkjet cartridge for their inkjet printer, organic t-shirt and a pen and notebook set. Not all printers are compatible.

1. “Like Us” on Facebook
2. Like our Facebook comment, “grenk is good”
3. Email your name, address and make and model of printer to grenk@mediagiveaway.com

Grenk is a line of remanufactured ink and toner cartridges designed to leave the smallest environmental footprint possible. Powered by InkCycle, grenk delivers brand name quality at a fraction of the cost.

Check us out on Twitter: @GrenkInk

Here is an interesting article from a local New Jersey paper the Patch.com, written by Adam Hochron.  Within the article Hochron highlights some specific items that can be recycled, which the average consumer may not be aware of, what we call electronic waste, such as computers T.V.’s and camera film.

The article focuses on the local town recycling center to send these items.  To find a e-cycling center near you, I recommend going to www.ecyclingcentral.com.

Five Things You May Not Have Known You Can Recycle

There is more to recycling than just newspapers and cans and bottles

By this point most people know that when it comes to recycling, things like newspapers, magazines, cans and bottles can be recycled. But at the Howell Township Recycling Center, there are other more modern things that can be more effectively disposed of rather than just leaving them on the curb. Below is a list of five of them.

1. VCRs and DVD Players- Do you still have that old VCR sitting in your entertainment unit? Have you not used it since Disney classics like the Little Mermaid and Aladdin came out the first time around? It might be time to say goodbye to the classic piece of equipment and focus on something in more of a disc shape.

And if you have a DVD player and have updated to a  blu ray player this is a way to make more room for that and your new collection of movies.

2. Speaking of making more room, if you have upgraded your television to a flat screen, high-def, 3-D screen, then you might not need the big 27 inch box sitting in your basement. Sure your kids might marvel at how big it is and wonder what all the extra room is for, but you can show them pictures of that and the old black and white TV you grew up with on the internet.

3. The Howell Recycling Center will also take that old computer off your hands that is doing nothing more than collecting dust on your floor. If you can fit all the memory on your old computer onto your new one several times over, it is probably time to leave the unit behind for the newer streamlined model.

4. If you have a camera sitting around somewhere that still uses film, and you have no idea where to go to get a new roll, then the Howell Recycling Center might be just the place to say goodbye to the 110 film using piece of outdated technology. If your camera still needs a flash cube, it is probably a sign that there is something better to take your pictures with anyway.

5. When was the last time you sent or received a fax from something other than one of those all in one machines that also prints, scans and copies? If you still have one of those machines with the phone attached, and you have no idea what to do with it, the Howell Recycling Center is happy to take it off your hands. They will also take that old copy machine you might have around the office.

In an effort to promote e-waste recycling, the eco-activists here at InkCycle, have decided to celebrate March Madness with a giveaway.

The first 20 people to enter to win will receive a complimentary grenk inkjet cartridge for their inkjet printer, grenk reusable coffee mug and a pen. Please include your contact information and type of printer in your email. Not all printers are compatible.

Enter to win through:

Email at: grenk@mediagiveaway.com

Twitter:@GrenkInk retweet #grenkisgood with a link to the press release: http://mwne.ws/hDjcLT

Facebook: ”like” us and write on our wall about the promotion

Thank you to The Recycler for featuring InkCycle and its project aimed at decreasing electronic waste. According to the article, Inkcycle celebrates the success of it’s e-waste project, the company diverted 493 tons of e-waste and recycled 588,209 pounds of inkjet cartridges and 397,718 pounds of toner cartridges in 2010.

InkCycle, a company with a recycled line of ink and toner cartridges known as grenk, is celebrating the success of its e-waste project. The company believe that its media campaigns have been a key to its recycling efforts after working to educate national media, trade press, consumers and businesses regarding the benefits of recycling e-waste.

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Here is an article from Green Technology World, written by Jayashree Adkoll, about the first fully automated consumer electronics recycling kiosk with built-in cash dispenser.

ecoATM Unveils eCycling Station Consumer Electronics Recycling Kiosk With Built-In Cash Dispenser

Approximately, 500 million new electronic gadgets are bought by U.S. consumers each year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (News – Alert). And, average U.S. household currently owns 26 different consumer electronic devices making the total to nearly 3 billion devices in all, many of which are no longer in use and are un-recycled thereby increasing the toxic waste.

In an effort to encourage consumers to responsibly resell or recycle unused devices, a San Diego, California-based provider of automated self-serve kiosk system, ecoATM, announced that it has launched a new fully automated consumer electronics recycling kiosk, eCycling Station, featuring built-in cash dispenser.

According to ecoATM, the eCycling Station provides convenience, immediate financial incentive, and personal data removal for consumers. It leverages a patented, advanced machine vision, electronic diagnostics, and artificial intelligence to evaluate and buy back used electronics directly from consumers for cash or store credit.

This completely consumer self-serve consumer electronics recycling kiosk can not only electronically and/or visually inspect virtually any consumer electronic device, but can also connect consumers in real-time with a broad worldwide secondary market to ensure best pricing.

Grenk recently released a press release on the top 10 green trends for 2011 which has been featured on a variety of the top news sites.

GreenBiz.com has recently released its fourth annual State of Green Business Report 2011.  The report highlights the increase in sustainable practices by many corporations even in a time of recession.  Many companies have committed to a variety of green initiatives such as; reducing waste, saving energy and utilizing alternative sources.

State of Green Business Report 2011

The fourth annual edition of our State of Green Business report continues our efforts to measure the environmental impacts of the emerging green economy. We document how well — or poorly — companies are improving their environmental performance despite the challenges posed by the Great Recession, and begin to note promising signs for a sea change in corporate sustainability efforts.

The free, downloadable report measures the progress of U.S. business and the economy from an environmental perspective, and highlights key trends in corporate culture in regard to the environment.

This year’s report shows a dramatic shift is occurring in mainstream business: Companies are thinking bigger and longer-term about sustainability — a an analysis of businesses in 2010 shows that even during economically challenging times, many companies invested more in their sustainability activities and made bold new sustainability commitments. For example:

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