Utility Tracking and Benchmarking Blog | WegoBlog

Whether you want to be a more informed citizen or just want to kill some time before 5 on a Friday afternoon, WegoWise has got you covered. With the long weekend ahead of us, you're sure to have lots of ways to fill your time, let us help you get the most of your weekend and the newly crisp fall weather with some ideas for a green holiday weekend.  So peruse our best links, give us some feedback and be sure to share some of the info you just gleaned with other interested parties at the parties you are hopefully attending this weekend. Brought to you by Dan,Nate, Lily, Catherine, Casey, and Joanna.

Whether you want to be a more informed citizen or just want to kill some time before 5 on a Friday afternoon, WegoWise has got you covered. Election Day is right around the corner, but it's not too late to make greener choices than you did four years ago.  So peruse our best links, give us some feedback and be sure to share some of the info you just gleaned with other interested parties at the parties you are hopefully attending this weekend. Brought to you by Dan,Nate, Lily, Catherine, Casey, and Joanna.

Last week, we looked at how construction teams can reduce their environmental footprint by using good construction waste management practices.  In the second part of this two-part blog post, we’ll look into what happens when a building has outlived its usefulness, and must come down in order to make room for a new structure or land use.  Demolition recycling is an important step in a building's life cycle, as material reclamation and good recycling practices can divert over 90% of the building's material from the landfill.

Whether you want to be a more informed citizen or just want to kill some time before 5 on a Friday afternoon, WegoWise has got you covered. Halloween is right around the corner, but it's not too late to make it a little greener than last year.  So peruse our best links, give us some feedback and be sure to share some of the info you just gleaned with other interested parties at the parties you are hopefully attending this weekend. Brought to you by Dan,Nate, Lily, Catherine, Casey, and Joanna.

At both the beginning and end of their life cycles, modern electronics are a risk to the environment. Both the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3, today's top mobile phones, are excellent examples of this. The process of putting these devices together starts, of course, with raw materials. The expensive, hard-to-find substances that polish the glass, make the screen's colors pop, and ensure the vibration buzzes are called rare earth metals--and extracting them from the earth can be messy. The refuse, or tailings, left over from mining are mildly radioactive and toxic acids are required as part of the refining process. When disposed of irresponsibly, the waste products from these mines have harmed nearby communities and poisoned water supplies. 

Before your building draws it’s first kilowatt-hour, burns a single therm, or taps a drop of water, it will have already been responsible for tons of waste material left over from the construction process. At the end of your building’s life, things get even worse, as many buildings are demolished and landfilled without taking advantage of the recyclable materials stored within.