This is the end…
So after what we have done, the town of Columbus will most likely get its public recycling bins in the future. It may not be an ideal victory because the bins are not up yet, but the result should come soon enough. The funny thing is that after we had started our project, we discovered that the town was already thinking of an idea like public recycling bins. This is because of a man named Steve Sobiek who is part of the Greater Columbus Energy Task Force. They have power that mere students don’t. While it is hard for us to determine what impact (if any) we had on the future of the town, at least the possibility of us helping is there. Perhaps we helped by putting a small spark under the project.
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.
Default.aspx
Blog Update 10-30-08 – Hearing the Voice of the People
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.
New Continents Discovered!
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
World says hello, humans respond with force
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!
