Burlington, Ontario - 3 September, 2004 -

Our enthusiastic host here in the middle of this mall was informing the Mission Green team that he stocks over 110 ink varieties. John Beson,Owner/Operator of the Island Ink-Jet store in Burlington, obviously loves his job. It's no wonder when you consider the good that Island Ink-Jet is doing. The 165-outlet franchise is spread across the country via the mall kiosk. Accessible to anyone, the kiosks allow people to bring in their empty ink-jet and laser printer cartridges and have most of them refilled on site. Just like getting your shoes repaired. Leave the cartridge there, do your shopping and come back 20 minutes later to pick up the refilled cartridge. Brilliant! We learned that, in the next 7 years, if all laser and ink-jet cartridges are saved from landfills, a link could be built with them that stretches to the moon, a distance of 356,800 kilometres. John also told us that, stacked end to end, the cartridges thrown away in Canada in one year could circle the earth,covering an equator length of 38,400 kilometres. Cartridges that can't be refilled can be sold to a recycler that takes them apart and reuses all of the pieces. But rather than do this, John donates those cartridges to a local school, Assumption Catholic Secondary School. Vice Principal, John Quinlan tells us that through the generosity of John Beson and Island Ink-Jet, the school can sell the cartridges themselves to the recycler and turn the profits into important resources needed at the school. The thing I liked about the whole setup is that the location is accessible and the franchise is doing something that benefits everybody. The environment doesn't have to absorb the plastic, metal and 1.5 quart of oil that is used to make one laser cartridge alone, the customer saves 60% by refilling instead of buying a brand new cartridge. The Employees of Island Ink-Jet can feel good about what they do. Island Ink-Jet's concise motto says it all: Refill not Landfill. http://www.islandinkjet.com/about.html

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