SIMPLE RECYCLING SERVICE IN DANGER!

    I was so happy when Simple Recycling came to Austin. I had heard about them from friends in the Houston area who loved this curbside pick-up and recycling service. Since they started in Austin, Simple Recycling has diverted over 200,000 pounds of textiles from the landfill. Over 6800 Austin residents have participated so far.
    Now, on the January 26 Austin City Council meeting agenda, item #42 proposes to cancel the 3-year Simple Recycling contract immediately. The reason is that Goodwill and several other charitable organizations "BELIEVE" that their donations have been negatively impacted by this curbside service. These organizations have no data to prove this at this time.
    I believe we need many ways to help reach Zero Waste by 2040 and Simple Recycling offers one of these ways. They take items that most people just throw into their trash bins - that single tennis shoe, torn t-shirt, ratty towels, and torn underwear. No charity store can sell these items, so now with Simple Recycling, they do not go to the landfill.
    I still donate to my favorite charity, as do most of my friends and neighbors. Simple Recycling has not taken that choice away from me. Now these charitable organizations are trying to take my recycling choice away.
    There should always be discussion about this issue, but while these discussions are taking place, Simple Recycling should be allowed to continue its curbside service.
    This vote will happen tomorrow. If you feel strongly about simple Recycling continuing in Austin, please contact your City Council representative today. You can send one email to all City Council members at this address: <https://austintexas.gov/email/all-council-members>.

PLEASE HELP KEEP THAT T-SHIRT OUT OF THE TRASH CAN!

BULK COLLECTION ALERT

I love Bulk Collection week in our neighborhood.  It is a wonderful form of recycling – set out what you no longer want and others take it for their reuse or to sell. Whatever is left over, the City of Austin picks up and ALL OF THAT GOES INTO THE LANDFILL.

I never thought about the leftovers going into the landfill.  Rarely do I have anything left for the City to pick up.  I started thinking about this when my portable electric heater broke.  I was excited because Bulk Collection is next week.  Then I wondered what would happen to my broken electric heater.

If I leave it out for the City, it goes to the landfill OR I can take it to the Reuse and Recycling Drop Off Center where the components (electric, plastic and metal) will be recycled.

Clearly, I need to rethink what I put out for Bulk Collection.  From now on, I will take anything that is broken and can be recycled to the Reuse and Recycling Drop Off Center.  For example, broken appliances and broken lawn furniture probably have no appeal to people scouring the neighborhood, but are recycled when taken to the Reuse and Recycling Drop Off Center.

Before the City truck comes by, I will re-evaluate anything that I have set out to see if there is some alternative other than the landfill.

That is my plan.  Do you have any suggestions or comments?  If so, feel free to post on this blog.

If you have any other recycling questions please post them.  I will happily research the answer and post it.

NOT IN MY LANDFILL!

                                        

  

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.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOLIDAY RECYCLING AND REUSE CHALLENGES?

To my wonderful Lettuce Recycle blog followers – I would love your input on the following question:  WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GREATEST RECYCLING CHALLENGES DURING THE HOLIDAYS?

I can think of several examples, such as too much garbage and too many items to recycle. I am sure there are others.

Feel free to post your ideas to this blog.  If you have questions, I will try to answer them. 

RECYCLING JOURNEY - PART 2

Here is a question for my blog followers – WHAT IS THE MOST ECONOMICAL ITEM WE CAN RECYCLE??????

ANSWER: ALUMINUM!!!

Aluminum is one of the most plentiful substances on Earth – the most common metal found in the planet’s crust.  It is also a friendly element because it is often found tightly bound to other elements like rubies and sapphires.  The extraction of aluminum is done by electrolysis and is therefore very expensive.  The more aluminum we can recycle, the less has to be mined. Because aluminum cans are still thrown away, at some point it might become practical to “mine” them from landfills.

Recycling aluminum is a CLOSED LOOP PROCESS.  This means that no new materials are introduced during the recycling process.  Aluminum is infinitely recyclable.  The cans can be recycled over and over again without affecting the quality or quantity of the aluminum.  Because of this efficiency, more than 2/3 of all aluminum product ever produced is still in use today.

JOURNEY OF AN ALUMINUM CAN – I BECAME ANOTHER ALUMINUM CAN (AGAIN AND AGAIN)!

            As aluminum cans move along a conveyor belt, a special machine creates a reverse magnetic field that pushes them off the belt and into a bin. The cans are crushed and shredded into walnut-sized pieces. The pieces are screened to remove any non-aluminum materials and are then passed through a blast of very hot air to remove any paint or lacquer.

            The shredded aluminum is fed into a furnace where it becomes molten metal. It is then poured into a mold.  This cooled aluminum is called a “brick” or “ingot” and weighs 36,000 pounds.  It takes 1.5 million cans to make an ingot. The ingot is then heated just enough to be rolled into a coil that is 9 miles long.  Manufacturers use this coil to make new cans and lids.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENT TO THIS BLOG THAT RELATE TO RECYCLING. I WILL RESEARCH YOUR QUESTIONS AND POST THE ANSWERS.

THE RECYCLING JOURNEY – PART 1

What happens to those items we carefully put into our recycling bins or take to recycling centers?  We know they no longer go to the landfill, but what do they become?  Below is the journey of four items that many of us recycle.  In some cases, these new items return to stores and store shelves within 30 days. The source for the information below is Keep America Beautiful, Recycling Campaign http://iwanttoberecycled.org/learn.

JOURNEY OF A CEREAL BOX - I BECAME A GAME BOARD!

            Cereal box cardboard is sorted from other paper products into specific grades and types of fibers. At the paper mill, the fiber is fed into a hydrapulper where it is mixed with water and turned into a slurry that will be used in the papermaking process. The wet slurry is spread onto a cloth or wire web where it is formed into multilayered paperboard, similar to a three-layer cake.

Traveling like a ribbon around drying drums, the paperboard is dried and then wound into rolls — 100 inches wide and 5 feet in diameter — weighing about 2 tons, ready to be shipped for converting into an end product like a game board.

JOURNEY OF A STEEL CAN – I BECAME A BICYCLE!

            As material moves along a conveyor belt, the steel cans are removed by a very powerful magnet. They are then baled and shipped to a steel mill or foundry, where they are usually mixed with other metal like automobile parts. The steel is melted in a furnace at nearly 3000 degrees. It is then cast into slabs and rolled into flat stock (rectangular bars) or steel sheets. It is then cut into sections, rolled and welded into tubes, and used for products like bicycle frames.

JOURNEY OF A STYROFOAM CUP – I BECAME THE INSULATION IN YOUR ATTIC!

            Styrofoam cups, meat trays, egg cartons etc. are collected in Austin at the Reuse and Recycling Drop Off Center.  The center has a machine that first shreds and then melts the Styrofoam to condense it so it is suitable for shipping. The condensed foam is then sent to various manufacturing facilities to be made into baseboards, crown molding, and attic insulation.

JOURNEY OF A PLASTIC BAG – I BECAME A PARK BENCH!

            Retail plastic bags, bread bags, flexible plastic packaging from paper towels and toilet paper, etc. are collected at the plastics collection bins at grocery stores and many other retail outlets. They are processed by turning the plastic into pellets which are used to make more plastic bags, durable outdoor decks and fences, deck furniture, and building products.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments to this blog that relate to recycling.  I will research your questions and post the answers.