Recycle 2 Save

It's crazy - as I scroll through business social media posts I am seeing an uptick of anger in regard to plastics and recycling. Seemingly angry people call out others for irresponsible behavior, false information, and despicable treatment of our environment. Passionate comments, varying degrees of first-hand knowledge, and lots of blaming and pointing. This public platform seems to be what people need to vent or blame.   I struggle. Should I celebrate that people are taking notice? It seems like the wrong kind of notice, not necessarily productive or positive but attention nonetheless. I wholeheartedly agree that we have some problems when it comes to "stuff" I see these as the three most significant issues:  1. Litter is a big problem.  2. Items being landfilled are a big problem. 3. 100% recyclable (and in demand) items being littered or landfilled is a HUGE problem.  What solutions do we have?  Litter is a big problem . An unpopular but pretty basic iss...

I've posted many times before about the "real issue" with recycling. Spoiler alert - it has a whole lot more to do with who is doing it than the items in need of it. We're presently feeling pretty deflated - we'd love some real suggestions on how to fix this. Let me give you a little back story: Right around the time COVID was at its peak, recycling markets were also doing pretty terribly. Due to health and safety as well as overall costs, a large number of public recycling programs were being cut or closed entirely. Recycling is what we do so we wanted to try and step in and provide a solution for residents who no longer had recycling access. We decided to ramp up our residential collection bins onsite and provide this service free of charge. We purchased some bins and to ensure that we were setting things up for success we invested in clearly worded labels to avoid recycling confusion - we had signs made and posted them . Our bins received an overwhelming rec...

You come home from work and in place of the organized and mess-free home, you left this morning, you enter chaos. Even an amateur hunter could follow the trail across the entire first level and lead to the bedrooms of the accused. Step by step, sock by sock and paper by paper anger rises as you walk. You are about to blow. With so many examples of wrong behavior, how can you open the door and celebrate the homework that is currently being worked on?  It may be a leap, but in my mind, this is the current state of recycling.  We read articles, watch news stories, and see blips on our social media. Recycling is going in the wrong direction and the pollution and destruction of our environment are at an all-time high, or is it? Sometimes when you are so close, you cannot even make out the big picture, you are not getting an accurate view, it's just all blurry and messy.  Recycling by nature is messy (both figuratively and literally). When you are dealing with "trash" you don...

  Holding way too much in my arms and hands, not a finger to spare (I am a huge fan of the lazy man's load - as my husband always tells me), I try to use my foot as the lever to open the door in front of me. After the first few failed attempts I struggle to shift the weight of the many overflowing items in my arms and reach with my elbow. Somehow, almost unexpectedly the door abruptly swings open, I lose the disheveled balance of every item that I was haphazardly clinging to, and one by one they crash to the ground. "Stupid door" is my immediate and gut response. As I look back and chuckle (now), how did I not think that would happen, how can I call anything but my actions "stupid"?   Despite my newfound clarity, after the fact, it is so hard in the moment to recognize that our own decisions are often what lead to unfavorable outcomes. Frustration, disappointment, embarrassment, and sometimes fear (during larger mishaps)  take over and we feverously search for a...

Sometimes it's all just about image but other times it really does go much deeper than that to real environmental and sustainability goals. The largest problem is cutting through the talk and determining what to believe and who is just greenwashing. There has been a good deal of negative talk lately about the use of plastics and their effect on our environment. When plastic items are not recycled and are landfilled, or worse, littered I agree, they have a large negative impact on our environment.  The idea of reducing or ending plastic consumption has opened doors to new products. Some of these options are catching on simply because they are not plastic. While some may be good options others are just a form of bait and switch, creating no real environmental benefit or at times negative effects.  https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/12/11/If-you-re-using-paper-but-you-re-putting-a-plastic-liner-in-it-you-haven-t-really-solved-anything-Footprint-talks-sustainable-packa...

 If we gave you .10 cents for every water bottle you recycled, would you recycle more?  https://www.news10.com/news/legislation-introduces-revised-bottle-bill-to-include-ten-cent-returns/ I can say with a great deal of confidence that it would not affect the recycling rate in my household. What would it affect? Well, that is a good question.  The stated goal of the bill is to increase recycling rates and promote recycling participation with some monetary motivation. The downfall is that much like most rebate/refund programs there tend to be those who try to exploit them. An episode of Sinfield speaks to bottle redemption road trips.  I have never enjoyed the muttered complaints without a solution but I don't think there is one clear, single solution.  I take that back. There is one clear solution that would make an enormous positive impact on recycling and launch forward the circular economy. The solution is so incredibly easy and I've said it so often that I ev...

In order for goals to be kept and exceeded people need to be motivated. Some people have an easier time getting and staying motivated all by themselves, others need periodic stroking, some need consistent prodding, while others may need to be pulled.  Knowing what motivates people to start as well as how to keep them going can help to shape your message and improve your impact. This would go for something as common as New Year health goals, organization practices, quitting smoking, eating healthier, or improving the recycling and waste reduction in a household, or business. We are very biased but we feel that recycling is pretty essential. We do also feel that following the first two R's first is necessary (1. Reduce & 2. Reuse). We want to be sure that as an organization we are helping to motivate residents and businesses alike to continue to improve their recycling impact.  So, please help us out.  Tell us what motivates you to recycle with care & reduce waste?...