The Letterville BullBoard: Trash

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Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :

Cleaning up around the shop today got me wondering - how much trash do you produce in a week? Not counting signs made with Murray Hill Bold on an arch or all-cap Old English

, I mean garbage - used transfer tape and scrap vinyl and liner paper, empty paint cups and stir sticks, junk mail, coffee cups and fast-food wrappers, etc. I'm not a high volume vinyl shop, and I'm amazed at how much trash is produced when I do vinyl - a high-volume vinyl shop must generate tons of waste in transfer tape and liner paper alone. BTW, Our trash goes into the dumpster which is paid for by condo fees, emptied once a week, and goes to the Preston incinerator.

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"A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson)

Cam
Finest Kind Signs
256 S. Broad St.
Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379
"Award winning Signs since 1988"

Posted by Jon Peterman (Member # 528) on :

one of those hidden costs of doing "cheap" vinyl signs. i use my plotter 2 or 3 times a week and am surprised at the amount of waste and the added trips to the landfill, between house garbage and biz garbage once aweek is not enough. cant wait for burn season

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jon peterman
109 mardan dr
grants pass, or.
97527
signjon@cpros.com
a.k.a. dc-62
success is getting up more times than you fall down

Posted by Tim Whitcher (Member # 685) on :

I have a 4 yard dumpster that is usually stuffed full weekly. A lot of cardboard boxes, app. tape, release liner, a few dried paint cans, useless wood pieces (rare), and Mickey D's coffee cups..... oh, and a mess of vinyl "weed".

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Tim Whitcher
Quality Signs & Design
107 E Adrian St
Blissfield, MI 49228
qualitysigns@cass.net

Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :

Well, as far as physical garbage goes I fill 2-3 large garbae bags, mostly the stuff you mentioned junk mail linersheet and transfer tape. I am also good for 3-4 bowes a week, banners gemini letters, router service stuff. Occasionally I toss old signs that I removed and replaced, I save up my cardboard tubes from rolls of vinyl until I get a bunch (every couple of weeks).
The city collects it every Monday on the curbside.
As far as "trash" goes I usually produce some every chance I get. Let me talk some now... "Yankees Suck!", "You wish you could shoot pool like me", "Ford Sucks", "What's the matter, mommy won't let ya","Knicks suck" "That sign needed to be replaced the day it was installed", "Rangers Suck"

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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?"

Ken McTague
The Witch city
Salem, MA

Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :

...a couple of rollers, a little masking tape...(to hold patterns) and whatever dust gets swept off the floor.

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DrQuill - Mural Woman
PEACE SIGNS
logodesign2@icqmail.com

"With every breath, we have a choice." --Linda Silver Eagle
Georgia, USA

Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :

trashy post cam!!! LOL

i produce a lotta trash in a "work week".

backing from vinyl, weeded material, radius corners from various substrates,
sawdust, dried up paint in dixie cups, s**t that i have thrown up against the wall(LOL)

post-it notes from jobs that i bid on that just didn't pan out.

styrofoam coffee cups, beer cans, dull x-acto knife blades,
sketches i have thrown in the trash,

there is a song there somewhere...

http://www.markfair.com/fairsign/fairsongs.html

mark

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Mark Fair
http://www.markfair.com/flash.html

[This message has been edited by Mark Fair Signs (edited July 03, 2001).]

Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :

Hi Heads,

Lots of trash here also, however, I recycle everything I "can" ...(get it? huh huh)

The junk flyers, mail, packing catalogs, old phone books, paper track from the vinyl, boxes, tubes, pop cans, old sign catalogs, and all plastics just to name a few.

I think we toss out 6 big bags of trash per week if we don't recycle. When we recycle, 4 bags are recycle and 2 are just plain yucky stuff (cat litter, ferret litter, female stuff...Im gonna puke) and most of what is in the refrigerator.

So I think our waste management commitment is pretty good, even though I would like to see it at 90% recycle and 10% landfill.

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Draper The Signmaker
Bloomington Illinois USA

Get To A Letterhead
Meet This Summer! See
you there!
309-828-7110
drapersigns@hotmail.com
Draper_Dave on mIRC chat

[This message has been edited by Dave Draper (edited July 02, 2001).]

Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :

were i paint at...the carport....not much garbage. i pallete my paint in those 3 way divided poly-plastic picnic dinner plates...now thats a mouthful. i been usin the same plates for 5-6 years...i let the paint dry in the plate, 6 mos later i take a screw driver to it and it all peels out and i got a new plate. in the office(were the plotter is) i got 32 gal container...fill it up at least once a week. we still recycle some paper....but the vinyl(weeded and mistakes) go in the trash..

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joe pribish-A SIGN MINT
2811 longleaf Dr.
pensacola, fl 32526
850-944-5060
BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND

Posted by Bill Davidson (Member # 531) on :

Trash?
you wanna see trash?
look in a commercial shop,
a small one even,
1 cutting,
2 weeding, and
5 people applying vinyl all day.
I created 4-5 cans full every single day!

has anyone ever tried to calculate the volume of trash created in this trade now? how about the backing paper mfr, the backing paper coating mfr. then the app tape paper mfr. then the app tape adhesive mfr. then the vinyl mfr, and the vinyl adhesive mfr. now the waste from trimming any of these. then the waste from the weeding. and now, how bout the pollutants created by any one of these processes????? all that to actually use up to 40 percent of the product. better hope Greenpeace doesn't suddenly become aware of what we are doing to the planet.

then stop to think how much of a quart of paint turned into Waste.

I used to think of this often when I worked in the commercial shops. Is it more economical to use vinyl? or do we Have to, because of the poor planning of the customer?

food for thought.

JPBill

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Bill'n'Annie Davidson
Now in Oz, for keeps,
she always has been,
i'm new here.. & love it!
Sylvania, NSW, Aust.
coupa@planet.net.au
Email me if you need some
help on a big job,
or little one....

Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :

I fill one 32 gallon trash bag per month, vinyl scraps and paper products only, including some coke bottles and snickers wrappers.

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Mike Pipes
Digital Illusion Custom Graphics
Lake Havasu City, AZ
http://www.stickerpimp.com

Posted by PKing (Member # 337) on :

Cam,are you trying to start that paint VS vinyl trash again? Everyone here knows that paint is Less Expensive,Less Waste,and Less of a learning curve that paint is!
If you don't start no trash Cam.There won't be no trash.
he he he

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PKing is
Pat King of
King Sign Design in
McCalla,Alabama
The Professor of
SIGNOLOGY

Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :

You are right Cam.....lots of trash with vinyl. When I had my shop, the complex had big dumpsters. Now being home~based......some weeks I really have to 'compact' that trash.

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surf or MoJo
on mirc
Cheryl J Nordby
Signs by Cheryl
Seattle WA.....!
signsbycheryl@hotmail.com
The person who laughs at himself will never cease to be amused!
http://www.thisismycool.com/signs/

From sharp minds come sharp products

Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :

I'm not trying to "start" anything... I just noticed the amount of waste generated by vinyl use, and wondered how a high-volume vinyl shop deals with it. Getting rid of garbage might still be "free" in a few places, but in the East garbage is big business and often a political issue, and can be expensive. At our commercial condo we keep a lock on the dumpster on weekends to prevent unauthorized use - residential garbage has to be in yellow "Town of Stonington" bags for curbside pickup, and some folks will avoid that cost by finding a commercial dumpster. I haven't heard of a recycling program for vinyl waste (especially liner paper) but it seems like there should be one.

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"A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson)

Cam
Finest Kind Signs
256 S. Broad St.
Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379
"Award winning Signs since 1988"

Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :

Ok I have stared to caculate:
I have selected 10 letterhead at random and based on vinyl use and an average "regular"trash generation I have conclude...
The average letterheads waste per week:

Weeded vinyl:34 Yrds. (thats a mix of HP and intrm.)
Vinyl backing paper: 82 yrds.
Painting by products(empty cans, rollers etc..): 12 lbs.
Junkmail: 14 Lbs.
coke bottles, lunch containers, waste food, etc.: 23lbs.

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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?"

Ken McTague
The Witch city
Salem, MA

Posted by PKing (Member # 337) on :

The Application Tape issue can be solved with the use of the Speed Press System.Don't know about the liner paper though.With the price of disposal I wonder if the investment in this type of system would be helpful(pay off)in the long run!

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PKing is
Pat King of
King Sign Design in
McCalla,Alabama
The Professor of
SIGNOLOGY

Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :

Here in our town residents are given one trash tag per week for pick up on a 32 gallon trash can, after that tags are a buck a piece. Recycling program here is a joke but we haul what we can down to the center. At my shop we keep a 2 yard dumpster which surprisingly we rarely fill. On the other hand, the local residents do their bit to help me fill it to avoid buying extra trash tickets. You should have seen the war that ensued when I asked my neighbor to kindly desist using my dumpster. Businesses, apparently, are a second arm of the government; there to assist the citizens in their daily needs.

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Wright Signs
Wyandotte, Michigan
Since 1978
www.wrightsigns.outputto.com
All change isn't progress, and all progress isn't forward.

Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :

I know my trash is at least 3 times greater than it was when we painted more.

Thankfully my trash guy doesn't mind.

You guys forgot to mention the boxes the vinyl comes in as well. So we have liner, wasted vinyl and the box, not to mention the plastic bag it is wrapped in too.

But every year they take out more lead out of the paint because it is bad for the environment.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm !

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Bob Rochon
Creative Signworks
Millbury, MA
bob@creativesignworks.com

"Some people's kids"

Posted by Mayo Pardo (Member # 138) on :

I help out in a large volume shop and every week we totally fill (and sometimes overfill)a dumpster which is about the size of a volkswagen beetle, if you were to square off the beetle. If I'm estimating incorrectly, I'm guessing too small. The dumpster is actually taller than a VW beetle. There's a big vinyl sticker on the side of this dumpster, placed there by the "waste management" company, that says "NO TOXIC WASTES" which always gives us a laugh.

OK I vote we all start adding a surcharge on every vinyl job for trash removal. Oil change places charge you for accepting/disposing of the used oil when they
change your oil. Tire dealers charge you to take your old tires. Battery places charge you to take your old car battery. I've been getting estimates from body shops to repaint my Chevy S-10 pick up truck and they are including stuff like shop rags, sandpaper, and paint waste disposal on the estimates.
It seems like everything is now ala carte pricing when just a short time ago it was an all you can eat buffet for $6.99. IF you catch my drift.

Having seen Pat King's trash can, he must be the most ecological guy I know because he's always got that thing full, but it's always the exact same trash that's in it! How does he do it??? He even totes it around to Letterhead meets with him, as if to brag "See - I only produce THIS LITTLE TINY BIT OF TRASH and you could too if you painted more."

Actually Pat's trash can is the best invention since coloralls. Make sure he shows it to you at the next meet :-)

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EmpY® is also known as Mayo Pardo. Known to wander Australia, currently in Elgin IL.
I cut stuff on my router table.
847 931-4171

I also refill inkjet cartridges for people (someone's gotta do it) http://www.difsupply.com

Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :

so...when they take all this scrap vinyl to the incinerator, they burn it right? That sucks.

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DrQuill - Mural Woman
PEACE SIGNS
logodesign2@icqmail.com

"With every breath, we have a choice." --Linda Silver Eagle
Georgia, USA

Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :

Yes Linda that does suck, but we never see the destruction, cuz they position the chimney at such a hight to reach to airstream and it takes it to someone elses back yard many many miles away.

Actually you might be breathing my trash and I someone elses trash.

Gotta love the band-aid society we live in. Don't fix the problem...just cover it up!

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Bob Rochon
Creative Signworks
Millbury, MA
bob@creativesignworks.com

"Some people's kids"

Posted by Graham Hodge (Member # 168) on :

I live in the bush, away from town and have the luxury of being able to burn rubbish. I sort all the paper from vinyl, even removing scrap vinyl from backing sheet then burning the vinyl (oops, I mean paper, sorry Linda)along with cartons that cannot be recycled.
One of my suppliers uses black plastic to package Foamalux and corflute sheets. I reuse it to package signs or sometimes return it to the supplier so they can reuse it, which they appreciate because it is a costly material.

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Gray M. Hodge
Cam River Signs
Somerset, Tasmania.

Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :

Interesting post. I really notice the difference in trash. Since I do almost all my work on site and work out of my truck it's quite apparant. My truck has a camper shell, I have a sliding platform that carries my kit and tote trays carrying all the various tapes, sponges and whatever, the killer kart is to one side and the stepladder is underneath. It's pretty well full. I have a small ( probably 2 gallon ) trash can. I can do five or six big rigs striped/graphics/lettering in paint before the trash can becomes overflowing. Six big rigs in vinyl? My truck isn't big enough let alone my trash can

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George Perkins
Millington,TN.
goatwell@ionictech.com

"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"

http://goatwell.tripod.com

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