Double Duty Recycling

[#1]

A couple of industrious and thoughtful coworkers of mine added a twist to their recycling efforts that I thought I would share.   They live in areas which do not have curbside recycling programs so they went online to see what local resources might be available.   They collected their bottles and cans, brought them to the nearby recycling center, and then donated the proceeds to charity (in this instance it was Safeway’s Easter Seals drive).  I thought that was a very cool way to get some extra mileage out of one simple “act of greenness”.   The centers require that you sort the materials and remove the plastic caps from the bottles (check your center’s policy as they may vary by location) but you don’t have to wash or crush them.  I’d love to hear about “double duty acts of greenness” that you’ve done!

[#2]

I am from a small community in Montana.  There is limited recycling capabilities and I am trying to pursued my store to allow the local university to drop plastic bottles off at the store and have the store transport the plastic bottles with the plastic bags we recycle to Spokane.  I am having trouble getting the corporation on board do you have any ideas of how I can get them to work with me? I am on the Student Senate at my school and have them and the recycling crew willing to make sure all the bottles are cleaned out before we take them to the store and everything. Feel free to email me directly at e_craven@umwestern.edu

I appreciate any help and if your stores are doing something similar please send me info on that

Thanks

Elida Craven

[#3]

Hello Elida,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond. The reason why our store is not able to recycle the bottles from your University group is because it is not possible to mix thicker types of plastic with the plastic film that we recycle. In past discussions with Trex, the thicker plastics do not melt at the same rate as the film which would create production issues for Trex at their plant in Nevada.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and hope this answers your inquiry.

~Kate