Recycling Projects Update

When I first started writing this blog, I mentioned some of the projects I had been working on. I thought it was time for an update.

• Styrofoam recycling signs at my local grocery store

Since the City of Austin now accepts Styrofoam for recycling, I began a campaign with my local HEB grocery store to post signs in the meat and egg sections that Styrofoam was now accepted at our Recycling and Reuse Drop-Off Center.  I chose the meat and egg sections because that is where there is a lot of Styrofoam packaging.

A request to promote my idea was sent by a City of Austin staff member to the HEB main office.  I began following up.  I would call the HEB staff person in charge and, week after week, was asked to call back.  Finally, after 3 to 4 months and 20 or more phone calls, the request was denied.  BUMMER! Above is a photo of the sign I had in mind for HEB to post.  I will not give up!

I feel public education is the key to successful recycling.  If people don’t know how to recycle, reuse or repurpose something, it goes into the garbage can and then into the landfill.

• Neighborhood collection project 

My neighborhood project to collect items that needed to go down to the Recycling and Reuse Drop-off Center in far south Austin was moderately successful.  I asked my neighbors to save their Styrofoam, batteries and light bulbs (items easy to collect and transport) and I would take them all to the recycling center.  Four neighbors brought their stuff to me.  One of them brought 3 years of batteries.  I ended up with a carload.  I will do this again later in the summer.

• Composting alert!

I learned something very alarming about composting that I want to pass along.  Animals (particularly dogs) who eat compost can have a severe allergic reaction.  This is not uncommon. The problem is a fungus that can be in decomposing objects, including compost.  Be sure your beloved pet does not have easy access to your compost.

The problems with recycling

The two main problems with recycling are not knowing how to recycle an item properly and not having a convenient way to collect recyclables at home.  Here is a wonderful web site from the City of Austin called “what do I do with.” Type in the item and you get information on how to recycle it.  Please refer to my May 6 post for “convenience ideas.”

• Future projects

My efforts will continue in public education.  One project is to help the City of Austin Resource Recovery Department keep the “what do I do with” web site as current and complete as possible.  Another project is to enlist the aid of the City’s Zero Waste Commission to get Austin’s grocery stores to post signs about Styrofoam.

Question from a reader:

Why can't we put pizza boxes into our curbside bin?

Pizza boxes are made from corrugated cardboard.  When the cardboard becomes soiled with grease, cheese or any other food, the cardboard cannot be recycled because the paper fibers in the cardboard cannot be separated from the oils during the pulping process. This makes the cardboard unrecyclable.

Some people take the clean cardboard top off and put it into the recycling bin.  That cardboard may look grease-free, but in fact it has absorbed some of the grease from a steamy hot pizza.

SPECIAL NOTE:  No matter how clean you think your pizza box is, when it goes onto the conveyor belt at the recycling plant, it gets thrown away!

I have had some wonderful questions posted on my blog.  Please feel free to post any recycling questions.  I will answer them!

Recycling Challenges

In our hearts, most of us want to help maintain the health of our planet by recycling.  We know it’s the right thing to do, but our lives are busy and it’s not always easy. Below are some ideas to help make recycling more doable.

Recycling in Austin is actually pretty easy since we can put most of our recyclables into our blue curbside bin.  The first challenge is how to collect these items conveniently. The second challenge is what to do with items that cannot be collected at the curb.

SOME SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE THINGS EASIER

For curbside pick-up:

• Put a small container in or near your kitchen to collect items that can be picked up curbside.  I have a small wastebasket under my kitchen sink just for these items.

• In the office or room where you have junk mail, magazines, newspapers, etc., keep a basket or small box to collect these items.

• The 2-inch ball of aluminum foil is an interesting challenge.  The City of Austin asks us to compress our clean foil into a 2-inch or larger ball. I pitch my small pieces of foil (from the tops of sour cream, cream cheese and yogurt containers) next to my kitchen recycling wastebasket and put it into a ball when I have enough.

• Washing jars can be a challenge.  The City of Austin recommends a light rinse, but has anyone ever “lightly rinsed” a peanut butter jar? Here’s what I do – I add some detergent and very hot water to the jar, shake well, and that’s it.  Better yet, get a 4-year-old to lick the jar! 

For Plastic bags that go to collection bins at the grocery store:

• For plastic bags, bubble wrap, clean ziplock bags etc., I put a grocery bag in my broom closet. When it’s full, I take it to the grocery store and unload it. 

For items that need to go to the Recycling and Reuse Drop-Off Center:

• I keep a small box in the garage where I put all my batteries, light bulbs, Styrofoam, and other small things to take to this center. Batteries can also go to the libraries and bulbs can also go to Home Depot, but at least they’re together for a recycling trip somewhere.

I welcome any suggestions from my followers as to what you do to make recycling more convenient.

Composting

I want to share my story about what I love about composting and what the challenges are.

Long ago, my husband and I had a wire cage compost bin. We filled it to the top with dry leaves and then added food scraps, thinking that’s all we had to do to get compost. However, we never really got great compost.  Also, critters would comb through our bin at night and we would find food scraps around the yard the next morning.

We had always wanted to create good compost, so recently we took a free composting class with the City of Austin.  We learned many things, including why our composting efforts had not worked.  The problem in our previous attempt was that we did not build our compost pile gradually with the proper proportions of brown material to green material. We learned a lot in the class. At the end, we were given a free covered compost pail to collect our food scraps. After that, how could we not start composting?

Our quest then began for a compost bin that would work for us.  We thought we wanted a tumbler, but discovered that they were too small, too heavy, too expensive, and a pain to assemble.  We finally found the perfect bin for us.  It was a PVC coated wire bin with cabinet door-like wire closures on top. It set up easily and the top door kept the critters out. We bought it at The Natural Gardener here in Austin. We loved it so much we went back and bought a second one.

I worried about our having strong enough backs to turn the compost, but I soon learned it was no big deal.  We add the material very gradually and stir it in.  We have set up the second bin so we can now let our first one cook and be totally ready to use at the beginning of the summer. 

Here is what I LOVE about having a compost pile – as I prepare meals, I am often left with carrot tops from our garden carrots, old lettuce, tops of leeks and other various food scraps. I actually turn this green matter into wonderful dirt for my garden, grass and all my other plants instead of its going to the landfill. My tiny garbage can is never even half full and my compost bin is cooking away.  There have been no problems with critters or odors.

If you live in Austin, you can sign up for a free composting class here. Completion of the class includes a $75 compost bin rebate.

As always, please feel free to post any recycling or composting questions.

HAPPY COMPOSTING!!!

Plastic Recycling

There are recycling bins that collect different types of plastic at all the H.E.B. and Randall’s grocery stores, Home Depots and Lowes Home Centers, Targets, and Wal-Marts in Austin, Texas. These bins, unfortunately, have very incomplete listings of what they will accept.  In fact, according to Plastic Film Recycling’s website, http://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/, they accept many items that are not listed as being recyclable.  Items they do accept are:

•         All clean and dry zip lock bags.
•         Plastic cereal box liners (if it tears like paper, do not include); this includes the bags from cereal boxes, crackers, and biscuit and cake mixes (they must be clean and dry).
•         All film and plastic wrap that surrounds packs of toilet paper, water bottles, and paper towels.
•         Plastic bags - retail, newspaper, dry cleaning, bread, produce, and other plastic bags labeled #2 and #4. Please do not include food bags, such as those from frozen vegetables or salad mixes.
•         Plastic shipping envelopes, including Tyvek®, bubble wrap, and air pillows (remove labels and/or deflate).
•         Furniture and electronic wrap.

If you live outside of Austin, the website above lists all collection locations in the U.S., and a complete list of items collected at these bins.

Recycling more plastics has greatly reduced the amount of trash that goes into my garbage can.  It is amazing how much room the film covering my Sam’s Club paper towels, takes up.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK RECYCLING QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF THIS BLOG IF YOU LIVE IN AUSTIN.  I HAVE DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON CREATIVE WAYS TO RECYCLE LOCALLY.

New Items to Recycle

There have been some exciting new changes to recycling in Austin in the last few months.  They are listed below in my TIPS OF THE DAY.  If you do not live in Austin, check with your local recycling company to see if they take these items.

TIP OF THE DAY #1

Styrofoam can now be recycled at the City of Austin Recycling and Reuse Drop Off Center in south Austin. This is very exciting because many of us use a lot of Styrofoam.  I did not realize how much I use until I started saving it – all my meat packaging, egg containers, doggie boxes and drinking cups from the Sonic are all now recyclable.   Only requirement is that it be clean and dry.

 TIP OF THE DAY #2

For many years we were not allowed to put shredded paper into our curbside recycling bin in Austin, BUT NOW WE CAN!  Shredded paper must be placed in a paper bag with the top part rolled down so the paper won’t fly out.

Introduction

I have always been passionate about recycling. Many years ago, I became the neighborhood Block Captain for the City of Austin. The City would send me updates about new items to be recycled and, through a neighborhood email, I would let my neighbors know. I would also send out reminders around the holidays about seasonal items (like most gift wrap paper) that can be put into our curbside recycling bins.

When there was a possibility that Austin would ban plastic bags, I got very involved in that campaign. We were successful!

After the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference adopted the Paris Agreement, I thought long and hard about what little ole’ me could do to make a difference.

Following are some things I have done:

• Purchased a fabulous compost bin and began composting
• Gave up my 64 gallon garbage can for a smaller 32 gallon can
• Met with the director of Austin Resource Recovery to share some ideas about community education
• Organized a neighborhood Styrofoam collection and took a carload of Styrofoam, batteries and some hazardous chemicals to our local Recycling and Reuse Drop Off Center
• Began a campaign with my local HEB grocery store to post signs in the meat and egg sections that Styrofoam is now recycled at our Recycling and Reuse Drop Off Center

I will be posting recycling tips on this blog. It will apply mostly to Austin, but there will something to inspire readers elsewhere to check out what their community is doing.