Empty Planet

These are the locations we chose as being the best for permanent recycling bins in Columbus. They’re all near heavy foot traffic areas where there are currently only garbage cans.

We can’t wait to see the bins in Columbus someday.  Maybe they will look similar to some of these public recycling bins that are all over the country and even in Europe.

Whoever is reading, remember that recycling begins with you.  In your home, your business, or now in public, think about recycling.  Here is a short video that shows all you need to know about home recycling, in case you have forgotten anything.

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In our first posting we talked about the current recycling situation in our home towns. Now we have focused our goals on one town that we thought would be the easiest to work with and that is Columbus, WI. We chose to focus on only one town because of logistics. There was no feasible way to work with every town, plus with our focus set, we can do more with this one town.

We decided to start with the heart of any town, the people. We wrote up a small survey that we handed out over multiple days in order to get a good sample. The survey is fairly simple and straightforward. Its purpose is to show that people are concerned about recycling and the state of landfills in the area. We tried to show that the idea of public recycling bins would be a positive one, and an idea that people would support. We know that Columbus has a little extra money sitting around, and we figured that by showing public support we would make a better case to using that money on public recycling bins. Stay tuned for the final blog post to see results from the survey, but until then you can look at the survey itself at the bottom of this post.

Some of those who we surveyed asked other questions about the idea of public recycling. We were prepared with facts about a similar program that is going on in Ney York City. In New York, there are blue and green bins all around the city. Blue bins take glass, cans, and plastics while green bins take paper products. The bins are managed by city workers who monitor them and empty them when needed. On the city’s web site, in the FAQ it clearly states how they plan to take care of their bins when they say, “Successful public space recycling required ongoing monitoring of bins by maintenance staff.” When the city is this involved the public is sure to notice and be grateful for these public bins. We hope that in the coming days we can at least get the city of Columbus to consider public bins.

NYC Bins

Our survey – recycling-bin-survey

NYC web site - http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/recycling/public_space_recycling.shtml#highlights

We also talked with officials in Columbus about what is happening right now.  Currently, there are some very nice public garbage cans, but only in the downtown area, and they are just a year old.  These cans exist through the efforts of Main Street Columbus, a downtown development organization.  According to Main Street’s Executive Director, Kim Bates, the city of Columbus didn’t seem interested in providing these public waste bins.  In fact, funding for these garbage bins, planters, and benches came from local businesses sponsorships and resident donations.  Each trash receptacle costs $997.00, but they are large and made out of concrete.  The city works department maintains and empties the bins.

I asked Kim if anyone had brought up the idea of adding a recycling element to these bins.  She said no, but that was a good idea.  She says she is already doing some public recycling… when she finds a bottle or can in the new planters!  I also asked her if she thought people would use a public recycling container.  She said “definitely”.  She believes “people are trained enough” these days to use a recycling bin properly.  Plus, Columbus is making many efforts to be labelled a “green” community, so it would make sense to recycle.

My town:

Columbus is a small town about 20 miles northeast of Madison. It has a mix of blue-collar and “old hippie” citizens. The town waste company accepts glass, metal, paper, cardboard (see below), and #1 and #2 plastic. Unfortunately, almost all cardboard packaging is “glossy” (i.e. the outside surface is shiny), so cereal boxes and most other packaging ends up in the trash. The limits on plastic stink too, since aside from plastic soda bottles (that are almost always #1), most plastic packaging is #5 or #6. That ends up in the trash, too.

There is some good news, which is why I first came up with the idea for increased availability of designated recycling containers. The town recently received a grant for just this kind of thing, so I hope to convince them to divert some of those funds for setting up recycling barrels next to the trash cans around town.

SO… what is the recycling situation in YOUR community? How easy is it to recycle, and are there any measures in place to reduce or reuse first?

…Which reminds me, Columbus is currently testing different models of LED streetlights to replace the current low-efficiency lighting grid. I took part in a survey about them a couple of weeks ago- my wife and I walked around town with a survey sheet, noting which ones were too dim, too bright, or just right (and a few more criteria). Check out the Columbus Water and Light website for more energy-saving programs.

Marshall, WI - Scott Peterson

In Marshall, the village has contracted with Waste Management to collect garbage and recycling from homes and businesses. All residents must currently use official WM bins for garbage and recycling. These bins are emptied into the garbage truck using an automated arm. We are able to put just about everything in the recycling bin, including cereal boxes, and no more bundling of newspapers or boxes. Complete list of what’s acceptable is here.

On public streets, there are very nice garbage containers that appeared in 2006. Before this, individual businesses could provide bins if they wanted to. Village Clerk, Sue Peck, says there are about 12-15 bins around town and that they cost about $300 apiece. The bins were purchased using Tax Incremental Funding as a part of a downtown revitalization project. A recycling component was considered, but ultimately the higher cost ended that possibility.

Surprisingly, some businesses complained about the new garbage bins being placed outside their buildings. The bins were moved away from these complainers. Also, some businesses allow the bins to fill up completely and make no effort to take care of them. I guess the business owners would prefer garbage to pile up on the street outside their doors! The Village is ultimately responsible for maintaining and emptying these bins.

What would people do if a recycling bin suddenly appeared on the streets next to, or a part of, the garbage bins?

Muskego, WI

Muskego is a suburban town in south eastern Wisconsin.  Every household has a full sized recycling container that is placed on the curb along with the trash cans on the trash pick up days.  These bins are made to last for years and are payed for through taxes.  There is list of acceptable and non acceptable items for the bins, including some directions like to bundle newspapers in stacks no higher than 10 inches.  The usual limit on only #1 and #2 plastics also applies.

From my understanding, the city does not have public bins for trash or recycling.  All waste disposal units are under the control of the business that places them there.  Units are usually secured in some way so that they can not be carried off, or blow away in a storm.

Overall I would consider recycling easy in Muskego.  But like with most things, the responsibility to recycle is placed on the citizen.  Things like advertising is present in newspapers to help encourage people to take part in the act.

Adam Wiegel

Belmont, WI

Belmont WI is a small town in the southwest corner of Wisconsin.  It has only about 900 people.  They do have about the same things as the other towns.  We have the recycling bins that people place outside of their houses for pick up along with the garbage bins. They do not have very many garbage bins around town and I know that they do not have any type of recycling bins around town for people to place recyclable items in.

I think that if we were to place recycling bins around town we would be able to collect quite a bit.  It would save my town a lot of garbage that is now just thrown on the ground.

Let’s try and communicate on this post and see how it goes.

Well, not really “new”- they’ve been known about for more than a decade, but only in recent months have the new masses been getting any attention. The two masses are created from the garbage that is funneled to the Pacific, as well as any loose trash that makes its way to the ocean. Ocean currents draw it to the two locations, forming a mass more than twice the size of the United States.

Since the garbage floats just under the surface of the water, it doesn’t show up on satellite pictures, which means that no one can see it unless they actually travel to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

But it’s probably OK. Sure, the plastics absorb hydrocarbons, DDT, and other toxins, and yes, those are eaten by fish who then get eaten by us. But really, if there was a problem I’m sure the plastics industry would tell us.

Approximate areas of new continents Plasticia and Styrofica

The average American produces 4.5 pounds of waste per day. Not that much until you consider the effect of 300 million+ people chucking garbage in tandem:

1,350,000,000 pounds. That’s one billion, three hundred and fifty million pounds. Every day. All week long, every month. That’s only four hundred ninety two billion, seven hundred and fifty million pounds per year. USA!