I get a lot of e-mails for local events, and many of them, are cleverly marketed to look rather interesting. But when I realized I was available mid-Saturday to attend the Recycling Panel to update Albuquerque on the state of recycling... I wrote it in all my calendars, and convinced a friend to come with me.
It is totally indicative of my interest in learning that I neglected to notice that the panel was part of a larger event-- the 9th annual Recycle Festival!
So last Saturday, I dragged my young friend along, fueled by some delicious chiliquiles, into a room of about 30 people facing a panel of 5 people, two of whom I knew (one used to live in my house, another I know through his waste management job).
While waiting for the final panelist, the facilitator was probing the audience for what we were curious about.
I admitted, "I have always been a recycling Nazi/ambassador (depending on which side you're on). When I moved here, I had the opportunity to tour the recycling sorting center, which provided great insight into the behind-the-scenes world of recycling. I'm the kind of person that pulls bottles out of trash cans and makes quips at people for not walking the 3 feet to the recycle bin. So I feel like I should be equipped with the best information."
At the Friedman Recycling Center, I saw how they used magnets to pull out metals, and wind to sort the paper. They used employees to further sort, and then baled everything up and sent it away. It was there that I learned the 5% rule-- that whatever gets sorted only has to be 95% of that substance. This was illustrated as we walked around a big bale of papers, complete with pipe cleaners from some child's art project poking out.
Part of the discussion on Saturday was centered around a big change to that rule. China has vowed to no longer accept the world's "Garbage". Recycling plants (predominately in China) have started sending back anything with more than .5 percent contamination.
What does this mean for recycling?
"We should think of quality over quantity" said one of the panelists, as a take-away. This directly contradicts my previous method, which the panel shamefully referred to as "aspirational recycling."
Since seeing the recycling center, and their publications about everything that can be recycled, I was definitely the kind of person who would toss anything that wasn't plastic film or food waste and think, "they'll figure it out".
But with the new recycling standards, people like me need to get in check. Quality over quantity means thinking about the energy that goes into processing the things we put into our green bins, and imagining what it's going to be on the other side.
(We talked briefly about greenwaste, which unlike material recyclings is usually recycled locally, saving another precious resource).
I walked away from the talk feeling excited, and a little ashamed. One of the questions to the panel was how we can justify, living in a severe drought state, the water necessary to rinse out our recycling. No one had a conclusive answer to the same question that I was asked by a family member when I was home for Christmas, so I did some research. I read 8 articles from California, Australia and in between (if you're looking at a Mercator map), and this one tells the fullest story, which can be summarized saying: use gray water to rinse the food out of your plastics, metals and glass so you're not wasting water.
If you're new to recycling, or you don't have the time or opportunity to visit your local plant and attend panels of recycling agents-- you can download the Recycle Coach App, which has a search option for all your queries.
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Monday, January 20, 2014
Piles and Piles (warning: lots of “mis-use” of grammar ahead)
What have I been up to in the last two weeks? Other than a one week vacation in Port Aransas from my ‘vacation’ at my parents house, I have been continuing the process of ‘down-sizing’.
In addition to making decisions about what items I really need on my next life adventure, and those that I just want, I have been deciding what to give away to the homeless for my friend’s ingenious birthday party in which we gave coats (and blankets and gloves) to the homeless in Downtown Austin who are sent to the curb when the shelter shuts down at 10:00pm.
One of the piles that has cropped up in my inch by inch sort of my room is the ‘miscellaneous crap’ that isn’t of any value such as old key chains, shirts from old jobs that I once imagined I would quilt or sew into something, pieces of rope, blank notebooks, etc. These items have been fated to the lucky young man at the donation center in Goodwill. Amil read me an article that I haven’t been able to find myself about how Goodwill will take any condition of fabric, beyond the “gently-used” that they advertise. With worn clothing, they’ll send them to 3rd world countries (which sounds really sweet, but actually makes the economy for native clothes-sellers obsolete, thus making third world countries more dependent on hand-outs…). For scrappy things, they put them all together and sell them as such, and if that doesn’t sell, or if it’s not good, they supposedly send leftover textiles to a place where they make rags, or use it for stuffing pillows or insulation, or perhaps send it to a company that actually recycles cotton (recycled cotton feels really good, like an old t-shirt, but will last a little longer).
I had a little pile of all those weird, semi-technology things. VHS’s that have been taped over, an LED light keychain that had burned out, and the inside of a greeting card. After a little research on earth911.com, I found that Best Buy will take almost everything I had, including old CD’s, but they didn’t list old camera’s (unless they were digital), and some of my other misc. items. I was happy to find, however, after driving out of my way to another recycling center that did claim to take everything, but didn’t actually exist, that if you stand in a short line at Best Buy, the cheerful assistant will claim that they take EVERYTHING in the box, and bring it on back. What happens after that, I can only guess, but for now… I have done my work. (Maybe when I get sponsored to live A Year without Trash chronicling my life of avoiding waste, I’ll dig a little deeper).
I had a large pile of media- DVD’s, VHS, and books that I thought might be worth some money. I say large pile, but it probably only included about 30 things, compared to the 50 or so books I brought to Half Price Books a few years ago on my first stage of Operation Reduce. (I was a lot more connected to stuff then… thankfully, I’ve outgrown my pack-rat tendencies…). I brought my lot to ½ price, and made out with $15! Not bad, considering they probably couldn’t sell half of it. Like Goodwill, Half Price sends their unsellable merch overseas, though I’m not aware of the economic downfalls of sending literature to 3rd world countries. Since then, though, I’ve filled another crate with books, these I’m hopefully going to make more $ on.
I have two, er, three more piles (at least worth mentioning in this blog). A little pile of stuff that I’ve created that I don’t really want (like purses) that I’m either going to try to sell on Etsy, or give away (anyone want a purse?) A much larger pile of stuff is all the clothes that I don’t wear anymore that are actually kind of cute, trendy and don’t have holes (hence the reason I don’t wear them anymore, hehe). Buffalo Exchange will usually take some stuff, but they can be picky, so I have a back-up plan of another consignment shop. If none of that sells, I might try to list a few things on ebay, but the rest will be destined to that poor goodwill clerk.
Although there is one more, much bigger pile… I will end the blog here for today, and leave you in suspense, as am I, about what my crap is worth tomorrow. Oooh, we’ll see!
Part 2 I’m back after two half-day Austin adventures! And I have some news of progress in the way of my down-sizing.
My last pile is actually a whole room. I should have taken before and after pictures of my closet so you could be as amazed as my father at how much I could fit in there. It was literally wall to wall and floor to ceiling in some places, but remarkably, as of today, there is a floor, and an empty spot on the shelves. (Also remarkable is that the shelves are still standing after the 100 or so pounds of collectibles I’ve had on them). When I was young I was interested in a lot of things. I had an interest in nature that was nurtured to an extent, but I could tell there was a clear value given to things. In fact, I remember my mom or grandma saying once that I “HAVE to collect SOMETHING.” And so it began: Rings, posters, old alcohol bottles, incense, Barbies and dolls (though those were just given to me) snow globes and Elvis memorabilia. And those were just the collections that could be categorized. I also had a pretty good collection of just…stuff… birthday presents, gifts from other countries, misc. candy, notes from friends etc. When my parents moved while I was in college, all this crap got wrapped up and put in boxes in what was to become my room…and there it has stayed as I graduated, and held jobs all over the country, and moved in and out of the house with my fiancé.
It wasn’t until this opportunity, the ol’ “Between jobs” schtick, that I’ve had a chance to sort through it all. In the past I had vowed to keep it all until “some other time,” and if I imagine any other time than no, I picture myself chunking ALL of it in a box for Goodwill…so I am thankful that I have the time to sort through things, pause on the sentimentality of it, then try to sell it. I have listed a few things on ebay—my graphing calculator and signed Chevelle Cd made me the most so far (though nothing to make a living off of, for sure). I have a few Elvis items that don’t look too promising, and I’ve sold some boxing gloves and a coat.
In addition to making decisions about what items I really need on my next life adventure, and those that I just want, I have been deciding what to give away to the homeless for my friend’s ingenious birthday party in which we gave coats (and blankets and gloves) to the homeless in Downtown Austin who are sent to the curb when the shelter shuts down at 10:00pm.
One of the piles that has cropped up in my inch by inch sort of my room is the ‘miscellaneous crap’ that isn’t of any value such as old key chains, shirts from old jobs that I once imagined I would quilt or sew into something, pieces of rope, blank notebooks, etc. These items have been fated to the lucky young man at the donation center in Goodwill. Amil read me an article that I haven’t been able to find myself about how Goodwill will take any condition of fabric, beyond the “gently-used” that they advertise. With worn clothing, they’ll send them to 3rd world countries (which sounds really sweet, but actually makes the economy for native clothes-sellers obsolete, thus making third world countries more dependent on hand-outs…). For scrappy things, they put them all together and sell them as such, and if that doesn’t sell, or if it’s not good, they supposedly send leftover textiles to a place where they make rags, or use it for stuffing pillows or insulation, or perhaps send it to a company that actually recycles cotton (recycled cotton feels really good, like an old t-shirt, but will last a little longer).
I had a little pile of all those weird, semi-technology things. VHS’s that have been taped over, an LED light keychain that had burned out, and the inside of a greeting card. After a little research on earth911.com, I found that Best Buy will take almost everything I had, including old CD’s, but they didn’t list old camera’s (unless they were digital), and some of my other misc. items. I was happy to find, however, after driving out of my way to another recycling center that did claim to take everything, but didn’t actually exist, that if you stand in a short line at Best Buy, the cheerful assistant will claim that they take EVERYTHING in the box, and bring it on back. What happens after that, I can only guess, but for now… I have done my work. (Maybe when I get sponsored to live A Year without Trash chronicling my life of avoiding waste, I’ll dig a little deeper).
I had a large pile of media- DVD’s, VHS, and books that I thought might be worth some money. I say large pile, but it probably only included about 30 things, compared to the 50 or so books I brought to Half Price Books a few years ago on my first stage of Operation Reduce. (I was a lot more connected to stuff then… thankfully, I’ve outgrown my pack-rat tendencies…). I brought my lot to ½ price, and made out with $15! Not bad, considering they probably couldn’t sell half of it. Like Goodwill, Half Price sends their unsellable merch overseas, though I’m not aware of the economic downfalls of sending literature to 3rd world countries. Since then, though, I’ve filled another crate with books, these I’m hopefully going to make more $ on.
I have two, er, three more piles (at least worth mentioning in this blog). A little pile of stuff that I’ve created that I don’t really want (like purses) that I’m either going to try to sell on Etsy, or give away (anyone want a purse?) A much larger pile of stuff is all the clothes that I don’t wear anymore that are actually kind of cute, trendy and don’t have holes (hence the reason I don’t wear them anymore, hehe). Buffalo Exchange will usually take some stuff, but they can be picky, so I have a back-up plan of another consignment shop. If none of that sells, I might try to list a few things on ebay, but the rest will be destined to that poor goodwill clerk.
Although there is one more, much bigger pile… I will end the blog here for today, and leave you in suspense, as am I, about what my crap is worth tomorrow. Oooh, we’ll see!
Part 2 I’m back after two half-day Austin adventures! And I have some news of progress in the way of my down-sizing.
My last pile is actually a whole room. I should have taken before and after pictures of my closet so you could be as amazed as my father at how much I could fit in there. It was literally wall to wall and floor to ceiling in some places, but remarkably, as of today, there is a floor, and an empty spot on the shelves. (Also remarkable is that the shelves are still standing after the 100 or so pounds of collectibles I’ve had on them). When I was young I was interested in a lot of things. I had an interest in nature that was nurtured to an extent, but I could tell there was a clear value given to things. In fact, I remember my mom or grandma saying once that I “HAVE to collect SOMETHING.” And so it began: Rings, posters, old alcohol bottles, incense, Barbies and dolls (though those were just given to me) snow globes and Elvis memorabilia. And those were just the collections that could be categorized. I also had a pretty good collection of just…stuff… birthday presents, gifts from other countries, misc. candy, notes from friends etc. When my parents moved while I was in college, all this crap got wrapped up and put in boxes in what was to become my room…and there it has stayed as I graduated, and held jobs all over the country, and moved in and out of the house with my fiancé.
It wasn’t until this opportunity, the ol’ “Between jobs” schtick, that I’ve had a chance to sort through it all. In the past I had vowed to keep it all until “some other time,” and if I imagine any other time than no, I picture myself chunking ALL of it in a box for Goodwill…so I am thankful that I have the time to sort through things, pause on the sentimentality of it, then try to sell it. I have listed a few things on ebay—my graphing calculator and signed Chevelle Cd made me the most so far (though nothing to make a living off of, for sure). I have a few Elvis items that don’t look too promising, and I’ve sold some boxing gloves and a coat.
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