When I first saw this picture,
I was shocked that, in Austin, we send so much to the landfill that we could be
recycling – 44%!
Then, I began observing
recycling habits of businesses and activities around me. I now know why this
percentage is so high.
At several of my doctor’s
offices, there is a water dispenser with plastic recyclable cups and a garbage can to put the cups in (no
recycling bin).
Many local fast food eateries
serve their drinks in recyclable cups and, again, only a trash bin to put the empty ones in.
Recently, while I was putting
gas in my car at a convenience store, I noticed 5 aluminum cans and several
empty plastic bottles in the trash can by the pumps. There was a recycling can outside by the front
of the store, but nothing near the pumps were they were really needed.
UGH!!!
It is so frustrating. We need more education, more awareness and,
most importantly, more passion to recycle. I wish I knew how to make that
happen. ANY IDEAS????
One small solution to some of
our “what goes into our landfill” problem has to do with the amount of textiles
we are currently throwing away.
In 2014, an Austin Resource Recovery study found that its curbside customers were sending over 3,300 tons of textiles to Austin landfills each year. This, too, is shocking.
On December 5, 2016, the City
of Austin will launch a new free service for its curbside recycling
customers. It is called Simple Recycling. This service will
help curb the amount of textiles that go into our landfill. They will provide green collection bags to
put clothing and household items in. The
bags can be placed near the blue curbside bins on recycling day. Simple
Recycling trucks will follow the City of Austin recycling trucks and pick up
these items to be reused or recycled.
One important feature of this
service is that they will take THE ONE
LONE TENNIS SHOE (to be reused for the rubber content) and THE TORN T-SHIRT (to be recycled for
its fabric content). These are some of
the items that normally end up in our landfill.
Above is a photo taken at a Simple Recycling presentation for the City of Austin Recycling Block Leaders. On my right is Adam Winfield, Founder/President of Simple Recycling. On my left is Jason Burke, Vice President of Operations.
These gentlemen are very committed to keeping items out of our landfill that can be reused, resold, or repurposed. Their business makes it convenient to get rid of holey underwear or one lone sock without throwing it into the trash bin. Their organization will give these items a new life. Adam and Jason are definitely a part of the solution to "NOT IN MY LANDFILL".
Kudos to Austin Resource Recovery for getting Simple Recycling as a part of the solution to achieve our City's goal of zero waste by 2040.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST TO
THIS BLOG ANY RECYCLING QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE. I WILL RESEARCH YOUR QUESTIONS AND POST THE
ANSWERS.
